Holiday Wrap up
Dec 31, 2007 Life
I’ve been thinking about this post for several days. There’s so much to remember. Yet by the time the celebrating comes to a close, my mind turns to mush, and I can’t remember much. None the less, here’s my stab at recaping the last week or so. (BTW, this post is really intended for my own memory. So you may find it a little boring. Sorry.)
Monday, December 24
We celebrated Christmas Eve at my parents house. My sister and her family surprised my parents by showing up from Michigan. My siblings and I were in on the surprise. Really I think them showing up was the best moment. My mom was thrilled to have all of her children at the same place at the same time.
On to the festivities, we ate a lot of Mexican food. I contriubted crème brûlée. While the dessert really didn’t fit the Mexican food theme, it was delicious. I think this is my Christmas tradition. Given the total calorie per serving, crème brûlée can only show up once a year.
Entertainment was provided by my brother and sister-in-law and my niece and nephew.
Tuesday, December 25
Oh, Christmas day! After getting a bit of sleep, I went back to my parents for presents and a bit of pinta action. Ross and I were lucky enough to receive a nice new gas grill. We spent the afternoon at movies. We saw Juno. I give it two thumbs up.
Wednesday, December 26
What does most of America do the day after Christmas? Go shopping. We gave the mall a whirl. Frankly I was unimpressed with the lack of sales. Do retailers really think that people are willing to pay full price after Christmas? I think not.
Thursday, December 27
This was the offical fix-it day. Yep, fit-it day. First I convinced Comcast that our internet moment was a piece of junk and need to be replaced. Luckily, I good pick up a new one from Comcast. After the requisit painful tech support call, the new modem was up and running. I love consistent internet service.
Next I fixed on our toilets. The flush thing broke and the fill valve was broken. So I replaced the toilet’s guts. At first I thought the task would be beyond me. But I’m always up for a challenge. Half way through the process, I thought about giving up as water sprayed in my face. Then pride kicked in and forged onward. Now we have a functioning toilet.
Friday, December 28
My sister decided we needed to embrace the greatest snow on earth for ourselves. Yep we hit the slopes. Since I married a non-skier, I haven’t skied in ages. But after a couple of moments on the slope, I found my groove. It felt good. I need to find some ski friends. Thanks Erica and Maddie for the fun in the snow!
Friday’s fun continued after the day at the slops. We had everybody over to our place for brawts. We broke in the new grill and showed the house to my out-of-town siblings.
Saturday, December 29
Ok my original plan was to clean, visit the grocery store, and then swing by my parents for dinner. I picked up a few things before my dad changed my plans. He called from the TV store. He just bought a plasma TV. It wouldn’t fit in his compact sedan, and my sibling has his SUV. So I rescued my parents. I can offically say that I’m so even with my dad for helping us with a plumbing problem we had. So even. After safley delivering the TV, I did pick up a some yardage from a local quilt sotre. A finished project will materialize tomorrow. Need less to say, I really didn’t get much done.
Sunday, December 30
I can honestly say, I didn’t accompish much on Sunday. In fact, I’m proud that didn’t do much. I did manage to watch a lot of Gilmore Girl DVDs and stich a bit of embroidery. I do love the Gilmore Girls. Why? Well that’s a topic for another day.
Well that pretty much concludes my holiday. Today, I returned work. Tomorrow, I rest up for my return to reality.
Full of Gratitude
On Saturday, I took a testthat I’ve been studying for over the last 6 months. It’s been a long road for me. After I registered for the test, we decide to sell our condo. The process of selling the condo, finding a house, moving our belongings, and setting up house really cramped my studying time. Over the last two months, I’ve really stepped up the studying time to 1-2 hours a night and of course weekends. While I really needed to give the test more, I gave it all I had. It was enough. I passed.
I’m so relived. My employer paid for the test. I would have felt awkward if I didn’t pass the test. Now, I feel little bit of euphoria, and I’m free to enjoy the holidays. Yea!
Act #1
We put lights on the house. This process was initiated by Ross. He order 200 ft. of lights, which sounds like a lot. I was surprised at how quickly we found a place for all the lights.
Next year we’ll order more lights for the tree. For some reason Ross thought one string (25 ft.) would be enough. Next year, we’ll order at least 3 more string of lights for the tree.
Act #2
Baking cookies. Now this is a big move for me. I’m not much of a cookie maker. My sister got that gene. Now last year, my sister gave me a cookie press for Christmas. I tried to use it once. It was a horrible experience. I couldn’t figure out how to use the press. The dough was too dry. So today, I decided to but this experience behind me.
I found a different recipe for cookie press cookies. This recipe had a lot of butter. I think butter is essential in pressing the dough out of the cookie press. However, I’m not sure that 1.5 cups of butter is necessary. So while the recipe was successful, I’m on the look out for a recipe that uses less butter.
As for the cookie press, I figured it out. Some of my cookies look OK. Others are kind of squished. Overall, the experience was positive enough to encourage me to use the press again. However, I don’t think it will be really soon. I pretty much satisfied my need to make cookies. Like I said, I don’t have the cookie gene. I guess my neighbors/friends will never get a plate of cookies for Christmas.
Act #3
I moved on to something that didn’t require my presence in the kitchen. I did a little embroidery, and I started to make some elf clogs. If my clogs are cute, I plan on making more for either ornaments or to use them as part of garland.
My Christmas fun is just beginning. Give me a couple more days, and I’ll have a ton of projects under way.
A Change in Seasons
Dec 2, 2007 A House is a Home, Life
A few weeks ago, I snapped this picture. This tree resides in our front yard. I like it more with out its leaves. Why? Well now I can see the berries.
Here’s a close-up of the orange berries. I wish I knew what kind of tree it is. I have so much to learn.
On Wednesday, we got our first light dusting of snow. I’m still loving this tree.
On Saturday, we got our first REAL snow storm of the season, lots of wet white stuff. I wonder how much snow this tree can hold?
