Cookies 2010!!

Not sure if any of you loyal readers remember my cookie post from last year. Let's just say that I basically said I was never doing sugar cookies again, they were a royal pain and they can kiss my big a$$. Feeling the love??

Well, my dear friend KC offered to assist once again with the cookie making. I think she may have later regretted this, because Roomie asked when we would be done baking and she very calmly said, "I don't know, whenever Red says we are done.". Clue taken!

Back to the baking...We didn't use the cookie cutters, but instead focused our creativity on frosting. I now have 40+ tips (they are actually a X-mas present, but I opened early, and repacked them), special food coloring, icing bags and I am good to go!! It is so much fun to decorate when you have the essential tools!

They may not be perfect, but they are soooo much better than my efforts last year! My roomie kept asking me where the mess ups were (so he could eat them). I eventually just let him eat the "keepers".


All packaged up and ready to deliver!

Xmas Light Tour

This past Saturday, my roomie took me and two friends on a Xmas light tour. It was such a delight, I felt like a kid riding in the back of the Good Times Van. (the van my parents had when I was growing up, and I LOVED IT). Anywho, he mapped out our plan and even created a playlist. So fun.

So, we head out to several Olathe neighborhoods. We went to Christmas Card Lane, where most homeowners had made a Christmas Card out of plywood. Cute tradition, but there were too many bah humbugs in the neighborhood. Then on to the Griswolds and OMG, it was great. Everyone in the little lane and culdesac totally decked out their house. Then....we get to the gem of them all....Paulines Penguins. Pauline loves penguins apparently and she has every single penguin blow up that exists. Anyone in the KC area must go see this. It is free, and will bring a smile to your face. Seriously. She even has a snow machine and Happy Feet (the movie) playing on a screen on her house. Pauline doesn't mess around!

Sorry for the quality of some of the pics.

Favorite one!


KC's Xmas card for next year!




This will NOT be our Xmas card!



P.S. We also went to Longview Lake. I don't want to be a negative nelly and get haters on here, but seriously think before you take the drive to this exhibit. It took us 1.5 hours to get through the park, but the light portion was only 15 minutes. Let's just say that my roomie the driver was sitting in a car for 1.5 hours with 3 impatient women. Probably not his idea of a good time!

Kid Rental

Craigslist allows lots of inappropriate ads, but I just couldn't find the appropriate section for a kid rental. You see, I am planning to do X-mas baking and wrapping this week and all of this would be "easier" if I had a kid to blame the finished product on.

Take the sugar cookie decorating as an example:


(decorated by Mickey)
It will taste just as good as something that I would fret over and spend a lot of time trying to perfect.

And the wrapping:

(b-day gift for my Mom wrapped in coloring book pages from twinkies - this was before Mickey liked to color)
It is fun to take your time and wrap the first few, pick out the perfect bow, etc, but after a while, I just throw everything into bags. They are reusable and so much easier.

Warning and Funny Story

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM OMAHA STEAKS unless you want them to call your house several times a day. We ordered a X-mas gift from them last year and obviously they REALLY want us back. Problem is, they have annoyed me so much I will probably never order from them again. Just wanted to give everyone (all 7 of you) a heads up.....

At the end of the story above, I was going to say that I was just being a good citizen, which sparked a funny memory. I went to a middle school called Liberty Middle School. There wasn't much to do in our town, so anytime anyone had a program (choir, band, etc), my friends and I would attend the program. We really just sat together and made fun of what was going on. Anyway, in the middle of a program, in walks a dog down the aisle of the auditorium. Me, without any pause, get up from my seat and escort the dog out. My friends got a hoot out of this. I then told them "I was just being a good citizen". They got even more of a hoot out of my comment. It was a running joke/comment for years.

Grateful

I have been so touched by the writings of Elizabeth Edwards. It is unfortunate that her death has made me aware of her writings. She was so poetic, true and honest in her words. I heard a quote on Good Morning America today that was so inspiring:

"The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered," she wrote. "We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful."

I so often wonder what my impact is, or will be, and it is comforting to be reminded that it doesn't have to be some grand plan, just a daily effort to have a positive impact. A little right now can mean a lot in the end.

Love to you all and here's to lots of hope in our near future.

Donner, Prancer, Mickey and Minnie

Santa has two additional reindeer this year!!

I didn't learn

..forgot to get a picture of the rolls, but on Friday AM I put some bbq beef in the crock pot before work and I (like an idiot) left the ciabbata rolls on the counter. Willie only tested a few, guess he prefers biscuits.

Will I Ever Learn

that Willie feels everything on the counter or table is his for the taking??

There were two biscuits on this plate. I went upstairs to grab something and I come back to one biscuit on the plate....





and one on the floor.



Damn cat wasted a perfectly good Grands biscuit. Momma wasn't happy.

Thanksgiving Recap

I had a great Thanksgiving. Our T-day was pretty low key, but of course my roommate had to spice it up with a turkey cook off. I somehow don't find it fair that I am responsible for multiple things plus the turkey and he just does one measly breast. Oh yeah, I brined it and I buttered it up for him. Anywho.....our guests were not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings and only one vote was officially cast for him. Smart guests!! :) He smoked his turkey and yes it was very delicious, however, I like the traditional turkey taste with the T-day trimmings.

After dinner we played a very fun game - Wits and Wagers. We teamed up and my sister in law was on my team. We were REALLY bad at the trivia part. Here are some of our very bad answers:
1. Year women got to vote: 1957 -
2. How much does a 747 jet weigh - 4000 lbs
3. How often does Pluto go around the moon - every 365 days

We realized that we were very horrible at the trivia part, and should probably take 8th grade over again, so we just laughed and put down bad answers while my roommate and his team used their brain. We were good for laughs at least. AND we did get the hang of how to Wager, so we didn't do too bad in the overrall game.

I cut the heck out of my finger on Wednesday when I was in a hurry chopping onions and celery. It was annoying having your thumb out of commission when you are cooking. I was too scared to get stitches....not sure if they were warranted or not, but I just bandaged it up myself since it was a clean cut.





I babysat my 2nd favorite nephew (Mickey is currently my favorite although he can drop down to second place at any minute - ha!), Bennie. This was one of the easiest babysitting jobs ever. He sleeps at least 18 hours a day. Rough life.