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18°C    

As of 12:17 pm yesterday, it is officially Winter here in my part of the world. 

Now, I know everyone does not experience the same kind of winter as we do here in NJ.  In fact, we often don't have the same kind of winter any two years in a row.  We've had really snowy winters and some where the snow could be measured in fractions of an inch.

What you can usually count on, though, is cold.  The temp has dropped 10 degrees from its high of 74 F.  This afternoon while I was trying to bake cookies, it was rather warm.  Since some of the cookies we only make at Christmas require the dough to be handled, it made for an interesting afternoon.  We made pizzelles, lemon slices, butter horns, thumbprints and the dough for the pfefferneuse is in the refrigerator still because it was very soft. 

I have a small bit of baking that I traditionally do on Christmas Eve and all our favorite foods will be ready. 

I have a small amount of shopping to do with Pk (which we will do after work tomorrow) and we're going out to dinner together to enjoy some quiet time before the holidays. 

I haven't wrapped anything yet.  I'll do it tomorrow and if I have to, Tuesday.   We're both working tomorrow and then we'll be on vacation.  We've already made some vague plans.  

The day after Christmas, there are manymanymany soccer games on and Pk has already said he wants to spend the day in his pajamas.  I'm totally behind that.

 Friday, we're going to Philadelphia to the Russian store to check out the Christmas stuff.   Saturday we may go to Lancaster.  One day we'll go to a matinee and we'll spend lots of time playing and sleeping.

I am knitting four different pairs of socks and two pairs of mittens and one shawl and a baby sweater so my hands will be busy.  I'd like to get the spinning wheel out (it got put away when we were putting up sheetrock) and play with some fiber.  Pk would like to get out into the workshop for a bit but that is dependent on the weather.

Which is where I started this, isn't it?  I'm sitting on my bed with the windows open listening to the night noises.  There are no insect noises, no crickets (although the damn stink bugs have not gone away.  El just removed one from the lamp here next to the bed.) and just random cars going by.  We're waiting for some heavy rain overnight and into tomorrow. 

I planned to wear red and white and wear my Santa hat but maybe not if it's pouring.  I'll cross my fingers......

Don't forget to wish folks a Happy Christmas Adam tomorrow!

I have no idea why but I feel like I am fairly glowing with holiday spirit this year.  It feels so strong that I am sure people see it streaming out of my ears. 

Things are not nearly ready.  I've only baked fruit cakes, nothing else (that's this weekend).  None of the presents are wrapped and some are still in transit.  I have shopping left to do.

But the house is decorated with favorite things and some new lights.  The Christmas tree is making everything smell like the outdoors. 

I put these snow flakes on my office door and they have been wildly popular.  I bought a book last year of snowflake patterns.  They teach you how to fold the paper and then how to cut them to form gorgeous flakes.  I have not-so-good scissors at work so I chose some of the less intricate patterns. 

I think the thing that is driving all this good cheer is the thought of a long vacation coming up in just a few days.  Pk and I realized last night that we haven't taken more than a long weekend in years and years.  And we've never taken almost 2 weeks at a time.  He's excited, too.

Our holiday plans are moving along.  Most of the cookies will get baked this weekend.  We'll work on Christmas Adam and then go out with some friends.  Christmas Eve will be for baking sugar cookies (and using the new cutters I got at the flea market) and babka and chocolate torte.  It will be for decorating the tree and drinking wine punch and coquita and eating ham and biscuit sandwiches.

The Penguinski has already started.  Em got an inflatable penguin in her spare room, El got an adorable upside down penguin mug and Kate?  Well Kate got a very necessary bit of penguinski.  Pk is preparing for an onslought over the next 2 weeks.

So, are you ready?  Are you feeling the holidays?  Things at work have been more stressful than I have ever felt and I think that plays a part as well. 

We are in the final countdown and I feel like Kermit running around flapping my arms saying Christmas is coming Christmas is coming!

"When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love."


~Thich Nhat Hanh

Being mindful and living in the present has been one of my goals for this year.  I have been focusing on staying in the moment and being conscious of paying attention to those people around me.  I'll probably keep it as a goal for the upcoming year.  I'm not quite there yet.

So, how are preparations for the holiday going for you?  We are in the middle of spackling and sheet rocking the living/dining/kitchen area.  Pk got most of the living room done and we agreed to stop all work on Sunday and begin decorating for Christmas.  It made for a busy weekend. 

We brought our tree into the house and stood it up in the living room.  It's not as big as in past years but it's shaped beautifully.  We bought it in the midst of the snow storm so we weren't sure what it would look like and were pleasantly surprised.

I made fruit cakes yesterday.  The recipe makes 6 of them this size.  After they cool, I take them out of the pans and then wrap them in rum soaked cheesecloth and wrap them in foil.  Some of them will go into the freezer and some of them will be given away as gifts.  I know a few people who like this fruitcake.   What I like best is giving away pieces of it and having someone tell me how good it is and then saying how they hate fruitcake.  "But that is fruitcake".  "No, Really?"  Yes, really.  It's full of various dried fruits and nuts and molasses and lots of spices.   I have only this week at work and then one day next week and then I'm off until Jan. 6.  I CAN'T WAIT.  We are testing our new program and life in our clinics goes on.  It's busy busy busy trying to fit in all the holiday stuff around our regular stuff.    I'll finish my shopping this week and then wrap the presents and next weekend, I'll be baking and baking and baking.    I love Christmas.

This was Sunday afternoon in our neighborhood.  Elanor and Pk and I decided to go and get our Christmas tree because it would be fun to go while it was snowing.

Well, it was snowing a lot harder than we thought and by the time we got to the tree lot, all the trees were completely snow covered.  The young men working there were using leaf blowers to clear them off and they just got covered right back up.

I think they said the snow fell at over an inch and hour and it was so beautiful. 

But by the time we got home, as you can see, the front steps were covered and the snow kept falling until we had about 10 inches.  It was a beautiful day (because I could watch it from the front window with a cup of hot buttered rum and some knitting).

I am making myself another pair of mittens.  I felt like doing a little colorwork.  I find it interesting but not terribly difficult so I can listen to a book.  This is some Manos de Uruguay that Kate gave me for my birthday and some white Australian Wool that Kylie gave me when she was here earlier this year.  These will be international mittens.

I started a pair for Pk in grey and red (manly colors) and with a celtic know motif on the backs of the hands.  It took a long time to find a pattern he felt was masculine enough.  (the pattern even has a scorpion that can be put on one of the palms but he said no). 

I spent all day Saturday sitting and working on these because my body was sore and turning purple in places I have never been purple before.  On Friday morning, I fell in the crosswalk of Walnut Street (I tried to step over a large puddle-it was raining-and tripped on the curb).  I fell flat on my face.  And people kept walking on by me.  My friend helped me up and I was soaked and dirty but otherwise ok.  As the day wore on, the soreness became more evident and by nightfall, the bruises were starting to show themselves.

Today, I am still purple but not as sore.  Advil, hot showers and rest helped.  When I was cleaning out my purse (I ruined it), I discovered that I fell hard enough to crush an altoids container!  This explains some of the purple.....

And today it is snowing again.  I must admit to feeling a bit happier when I look out the window and see the snow falling.  I know it will be a mess going home but what are you going to do?  I can't change the weather, I just have to deal with it.

Preparations for the holidays are moving along and I am looking forward to it.  I am taking off almost 2 weeks and I never do that.  A real break and time to just unwind and vegetate and regenerate. 

But, in order for that to happen, I have to do some work so off I go.  Unfortunately, the paperwork doesn't do itself.

"There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way."

~Gautama Buddha

Abraham Lincoln said "on the whole, most people are about as happy as they decide to be".  I think he and the Buddha would have had some interesting conversations regarding happiness and what it means and how one gets it.  I spend a lot of time talking in our groups here (especially this time of year) about happiness and gratitude.  It helps me remember that the only person responsible for my own happiness is me.

One of Peter Kevin's supervisors came into work sick last week which caused a cascading chain of events leading up to Elanor now coughing and sneezing.  It must be a fairly new virus because EVERYONE in our family caught it this time.  Pk spent the weekend preceding Thanksgiving sitting in one spot and vegetating.  I succumbed on the Wednesday before the holiday and El waited until the festivities were over.  It's a full on head cold and I can't remember the last time I had one like this.  We ran out of tissues and had to make a run to the store on Black Friday to get some more.  By that point, using napkins or any other less than soft paper product was not an option.  Today I am still congested but am feeling better-less sneezing and less runny nose.

But we managed to have a lovely holiday nonetheless.  For a change this year, I made French Apple Pie at Pk's request.  It has dried cranberries instead of raisins in it and has a confectioner's sugar glaze on the top.  Otherwise, it's pretty much an apple pie.  The dried cranberries add a tang to the pie that is delicious.

I changed the pumpkin pie a little bit as well.  I added just 2 tablespoons dark molasses to the custard and it made the flavor deeper and more complex.  Very very good.  It surprised me that such a small amount of molasses could make such a difference in flavor. 

I got this lovely thing in the mail.  It's the first part of a birthday present from Em and Jim.  Very pretty merino/silk fingering yarn.  I've always wanted to make Traveller's Stockings by Nancy Bush and I think this will be it.  The color is called Mermaid's Tail.  And the best part is?  I get 5 more months!  What a great gift.   Em cooked a delicious Thanksgiving meal.  And Pk fired the first penguinski shot across her bow.  He snuck one of those inflatable penguins into her guest room.  And now we have to be prepared for retaliation.  

 

We did apply a little bit of penguin love to our windows.  Did you ever feel these window stickies that are made of a gel like stuff?  It's sticky to the touch and feels really icky.  These are really popular here right now.  We have a couple of ice skating penguins on the front door.   The rest of the inside decorations will wait until Pk finishes putting up the sheetrock.  He has some time he has to use or lose at work so he's taking off 2 days each week in December and doing the sheet rock and putting on a coat of primer.  We are still trying to decide what color we want to paint.  The only sure thing is that we want some kind of neon color in the kitchen.

 

Hard to believe Christmas is only three weeks from today.  December is going to slip right through my fingers before I even know I have it in hand.  Tonight we are going to the Woodworker's Guild holiday dinner at a local Italian restaurant.  And there are things going on all throughout the next couple weeks.  The trick will be to attend the ones that we want to attend and let go of the things that we really aren't interested in.

 

I think it's time to make a schedule.....

 

 

I found a t-shirt that says this on it.  What a cool idea.  Pinatas that just appear so you can take out any aggressions and then get prizes! 

 

Sounds good to me.