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November 2011
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January 2012

Hope

Here it is, the last day of the year. I'm not going to do a lot of looking back, except to acknowledge that it was a hard year. But now, according to the calendar, it's over. I take a deep breath and look forward to getting together with family tonight, to eat and toast and ring in 2012. I have hope. I hope that work goes well, for Joe and for me and for SonnyeBoy.... Read more →


The Sky Is Golden

It's been raining all day -- the only day of the week that I had to drive, of course. To make matters more annoying, the reason I had to drive was to go to a dentist appointment! I kid. I have a great dentist, so I really don't mind going. Well, Christmas One was wonderful. I knocked it out of the park with Joe's big gift: an iPhone 4. (Did you see the hint in... Read more →


Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve. It's been a very nice day. The clerks at the grocery store were friendly and helpful. The salesfolks at the liquor store were too, and I was able to check out quickly because I only had two items. The traffic, though heavy, was moving and the drivers were courteous, even in the parking lot. The fridge is stocked. The beer and wine are chilling. I have wrapped all the presents for Joe... Read more →


Now The Wrapping Begins

I got Joe's final Christmas gift today. Probably, he won't guess what it is. Hopefully, he will like it! On the other hand, he can exchange it if he doesn't. Nevertheless, it's a pretty cool present! Especially since I got a great deal on it. For once, my Christmas shopping is done before Christmas Eve! Now I just have to wrap everything up -- for Joe, anyway. Alas, SonnyeBoy must protect and serve on Christmas... Read more →


I Doubt They'll Have a Drive-In Though

When I was a kid, our go-to restaurant was the Hot Shoppes. Hot Shoppes was a DC institution, founded by J. Willard Marriott in the 1920s. It was a both a drive-in and a sit-down place, just perfect for families and teens on dates. There were two near our house. Both featured a drive in, where you parked your car next to the speaker, pushed the button, placed your order, and waited for the waitress... Read more →


Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow

The lovely and talented MissMeliss hosts a site called CafeWriting, which has monthly, themed writing prompts. This month's is right up my alley: Trains! Option 5 in this month's prompt asks for seven things about trains, so all aboard! 1. My grandfather was a stationmaster for the B&O railroad. The station was at the end of the street, so all he had to do to get to work was walk a block. Because of his... Read more →


Bark and Bite

So I made good on my threat to make the butter cookies this morning, and it went pretty well! I worked on a small scale, dividing the chilled dough into quarters and rolling them out that way. I must have used the right amount of flour on the counter, because the stickage wasn't too bad. The cookie cutters actually worked too! I am forever overbaking cookies, so I was a little paranoid about burning these... Read more →


Baked and Decorated

Well, mroe or less. I still have a batch of cookies to bake. I am a little hinky about these cookies because they require rolling out and cutting with cookie cutters. The dough is currently getting nice and cold in the fridge. It tastes great -- maple-y and rich. I splurged and used some Kerrygold Irish butter, which is so tasty I have to resist just straight up eating it. See, I am not good... Read more →


The Decoration Plan

I have not done one iota of Christmas shopping yet, but I am going to do all of it in the next few days. I'm hopeful that everything will arrive in time! (Some of it will because it will be handed to me.) The house remains undecorated, but I have decided that this weekend is Decoration Weekend, when I will find and set up the wee tree that we have had the last couple of... Read more →