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Day 12:  Peace

A very happy Christmas to all.

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Day 11:  Lunch

Lunch with the visiting Jenny and Michaela.  Both are spending Christmas with their families in Smalltown.  Jenny, who often stays through New Year’s, has to leave Tuesday to attend a conference.  A horrible time of the year for a conference, but she acknowledges that it is for educators, so they target school vacation week.  But it’s vacation!

Michaela and husband John alternate Christmases between their parents.  This year Massachusetts, next year New Hampshire.  And though they visit only every other year, their visits are brief.  Fleeting.  Ten years of marriage and there is still tension from Mitch’s parents towards John.  (whispering) He’s not Catholic, you know — shhhh.  It seems that no one is good enough for their children.  Not even her brother’s seemingly perfect wife is up to snuff.  John said that today he overheard Mrs. B refer to her as “whats-her-name.”  Married for six years; two children.

[Aaaaarrrrghhhh.  Missed the midnight deadline again.]

Mitch and John typically blow in a couple of days before Christmas and blow out the day after.  So, their tight schedule and Jenny’s shortened stay allowed for a single window of opportunity for us to get together:  Christmas Eve, noon to three.

I headed up to Smalltown, and we went out for a light lunch and much catching up and group photos.  All are well, families too.

Thank you for the Godiva chocolates and the homemade almond biscotti, my wonderful friends.

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Day 10:  Clean

If clean is sexy, then damn! my house belongs in Hustler.

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8 and 9

Days 8 and 9:  Wrapped

I missed the midnight cutoff for posting last night.  I did, however, finish wrapping my gifts shortly after midnight.  Minus the bows, of course.  With the furry trio, ribbons and bows become cat toys in no time flat.  Instead, packages get the final touch shortly before distribution.  I did the wrapping on the family room floor.  The television was on, and there were more than a few ads for stores having big final three days sales.  Hahaha.  It made me feel good to be home wrapping instead of out with the panicky people rummaging through the picked over stuff.

Tonight is the bowling league party.  Yeah, good times.  A couple of buffet tables are set out for this potluck affair, and there are five dollar cash prizes if your pins set up with a colored headpin AND you get a strike on it.  That’s all it takes for bowlers to call it a party.  Much to Lala’s consternation (back when we were teammates), I quickly develop some good bowling skills when there’s a colored headpin and always manage to snag one of those Lincolns.  He thinks if I can do it for a paltry five dollars, I should be able to do it more often, for, you know, the team standings.  Nope.  It’s all about the money, honey.

My contribution to the potluck?  At Lisa’s and Dana’s insistence, I bring a tray of chocolate-dipped pretzels.  I made them on Tuesday and Wednesday, 100 in all, and half are for the bowlers.  I’m bringing a cookie tray, too.  They’re in the trunk of the punchbuggy, staying all chill.  Good thing, too.  If we had yet another of those unseasonably warm, fifty degree days as we’ve been having lately, my pretzels would be all melty.  Current temperature:  41 degrees.

I may be the only female at the alley tonight not wearing a Christmas sweater or red shirt, but I bet I’ll be the only one wearing a bowling pins, ball, and holly pin.  What a find!  I bought it at an antique store near Mom’s house.  It’s small, too, only about 1½ inches, so it’s not super gaudy.  Only bowling gaudy.  But I had to do it.  If I win five dollars tonight, it’s more than paid for.

Stuck in my head:  “Mele Kalikimaka” – The Blue Hawaiians  (Thanks for the musical card, Mom.)

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Day 7:  Links

You’ll want your speakers on for these.

First, the nice:

Very Merry Trio:  http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product|10001|10051|691852|18052;125170||P1R1S0|stores (view video!)

Next, the irreverent:

From Leah, the gift of Gaming.  http://www.banditos.info/speles/sobersanta2.swf  Use arrow keys to direct Santa to the glasses while keeping him off the tracks.

From Tina, the gift of Music Video.  http://youtube.com/watch?v=asWHBLt42bA

From Sandy, the gift of Personal Grooming.  http://shaveeverywhere.com/  (Don’t forget to go to the menu and check out the music video.)

I’m having trouble keeping track of what day it is.  Christmas is weird.

Stuck in my head:  “Thomas” – A Perfect Circle

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Day 6:  Brittle Be Easy

I was apprehensive about making peanut brittle?  I thought it would be uber messy?  Ha!  Peanut brittle is easy!  And kind of fun and interesting to make!

Yes, I will make it again.  And again and again.

I’m so cool now.  I make my own peanut brittle.

Microwave Peanut Brittle

1 cup raw peanuts
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda

Stir together peanuts, sugar, corn syrup, and salt in 1 1/2-quart casserole or 4-cup glass measure.  Cook in microwave for 7 to 8 minutes on high, stirring well after 4 minutes.  Add butter and blend well.  Return to microwave and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on high or until peanuts are golden brown.  Add vanilla and baking soda and stir gently until light and foamy.  Pour onto greased (buttered) cookie sheet and let cool completely.  When cool, break into pieces and store in airtight container.

Yeah, baby!

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Day 5:  Patrick

Now that the baking is done and the refrigerator and freezer crammed full of goodies, tonight’s tasks include doing the laundry that didn’t get done over the weekend and hosing down the kitchen.  Then I’ll do the chocolate dipped pretzels and maybe the peanut brittle.  I’m afraid the latter could be quite messy.  Anyone ever tried making peanut brittle before?  If so, I welcome your tips and advice.

My so-so assessment of this year’s new cookie recipe means I have no new recipes to post, but the easy fudge recipe is in my Recipes link.  (Not sure if you like peanut butter, Zen.)

In my post-baking haste, I neglected to mention the outcome of the highlight of our office party, the Yankee Swap.  I’m sure this goes by other names, but it’s one of those gift swaps where you buy a gift, but unlike Secret Santa, you aren’t buying for a particular person.  Anyone could end up with the gift you purchase (gag or traditional gifts allowed).  Names are pulled from a hat, and each person opens the gift of his/her choosing OR takes a gift that already has been unwrapped.  If you open a gift, and it subsequently is taken from you, you get to choose another gift, etc.  Usually, one or two items become the center of a vicious circle.  This year, we had several people coveting a set of colorful martini glasses.

I had my eye on the Hallmark Very Merry Trio – the snowman and the penguins – which was so much cuter than in the television ad.  One of the penguins shakes his jingle-belled tail!  Come on!  I snagged it from Tiffany (without remorse, because she annoys the hell out of me), even though I knew Sandy would take it from me, which she did.  What we didn’t expect, however, was the last person called, Patrick, to take it from Sandy.  Patrick wanted it for his wife and daughter.  So, I ended up with another Hallmark item, an ornament, which is fine, since I have quite a few of these.  I correctly deduced that it was from Linda, because it’s from the particular series that she collects.  I don’t have any from the series, but it is cute – an Eskimo and a husky puppy making s’mores over a campfire.  Thanks, Linda.

My contribution, an American Idol microphone-shaped shower radio (heh), wound up in Steve’s hands.  Oh, well, his daughters will like it.  And I know Steve will enjoy the dark chocolate truffles that I included in the gift bag.  Happy Hanukkah.

We had a raffle, too, and I scored a $50 Macy’s gift card.  Yea, me!  Origins counter, here I come!

And, when I came in this morning, guess what was on my desk?  A Very Merry Trio!  Patrick, knowing Sandy and I both wanted it, was both guilty and generous enough to go out over the weekend and buy one for each of us.  Thank you!

On the subject of Patrick, I must point out that towards the end of the party, he approached me and asked who was responsible for organizing the party.  I told him Linda was in charge, and he promptly went over and thanked her for her effort.  Astounding, because I cannot imagine any of the other attorneys doing such a thing.  They just take it all for granted, as if it just magically happened, like a Christmas miracle or something.

Thanks again, Patrick, for your graciousness and generosity.

Stuck in my head:  “Beside You in Time” – Nine Inch Nails

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3 and 4

Days 3 and 4:  Baked

I did it.  Six kinds of cookies this weekend.  This year’s newbie:  eggnog cookies.  They’re not as flavorful as I would have liked, but they certainly are edible.  In other words, they’re going on my cookie trays, but I likely will toss the recipe.  I made a batch of fudge, too.  That leaves just the chocolate dipped pretzels and my first try at peanut brittle.

My feet hurt.

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Day 2:  The Right Direction

The anchored tree was in its upright position when I came home last night.  Yea!  It is now completely decorated.  Let’s see which of the ornaments the felines will bat off today.  Oh, yeah, and like any cat household’s tree, the lowest tier of branches have no ornaments dangling from them.

My handmade cards went in today’s mail.  Photo to follow.

Tonight is our office party.  This is not to be confused with the firm party, a black tie affair held in Boston, which most of us staffers have not bothered to attend for the past two years.  They go all out, but it’s a pain in the ass drive, and then there’s the suckiness of not being able to fully partake in the open bar because of said pain in the ass drive back home.  Also, it inevitably seems to either rain or snow on party night, making the commute – not to mention the done-up party hair – a mess.  The prize goes to the year I drove up with Sandy, and just as we approached the parking lot of the party venue, I nailed a pothole chasm that I mistook for a mere puddle and wound up with a flat tire.  Do not think that I, looking lovely in my full-length ball gown and strappy high heels, got out in the ice and snow and jacked up my car.  That’s what AAA is for.  Nonetheless, the irony was pronounced.

No, tonight is OFFICE party.  Held here, at the OFFICE. Not much of budget to go on.  If we wanted to go out somewhere for the party, then we’d have to pay for our drinks and settle for hors d’oeuvres instead of a catered dinner.  We choose full bellies and free drinks over festive ambience, although I must admit my peers did a decent job of decorating the board room.  I should have thought to bring in some CDs.  I think some Nine Inch Nails on the surround sound system would liven the usual Christmas fare.  Geez, they don’t even have the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, and mine is on cassette.

I’m buying the CD for next year.

Weekend goal:  Six batches of cookies in two days.  Baking, not eating!!!

Stuck in my head:  “Level” – The Raconteurs

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Once again, I am going to attempt to post daily for the twelve days leading to Christmas.  As always, no promises.

Day 1:  Bad Kitty(ies)

I came home from work yesterday to find my yet to be decorated Christmas tree, in its stand, lying on the living room floor.  I suppose I should be thankful that it wasn’t decorated, so no ornaments were destroyed.

I stood the tree up in its stand but noticed that it was a bit wobbly.  A slight bump would send it toppling in the same direction.  I got down on the floor and examined the stand.  Yup, it was cracked.  Damn!  I slathered on some Gorilla Glue.  It seemed more stable, but that stuff is supposed to take 24 (?) hours to set up, and I didn’t want to take the tree out of the stand or leave the whole thing lying down for that long.  In fact, the plan had been to decorate the tree last night.  So I anchored the tree.  I’ve heard of people doing this, but it was a first for me.  I tied it to the handle of a tall wicker chest.

Already, I had decided to blame this one on Rory.  He was the most perturbed the prior evening when the erection of the tree in front of the window meant the removal of his loveseat perch from which to view the outside world.  He tried to look out the window from the wicker chest, but it wasn’t as good as the loveseat, and he was not pleased.  I figure he tried to use the tree as a perch sometime during the day.  Also, he is far more energetic than P.J. or Sam and, at a strapping twelve and one-half pounds, has the power to take down innocent tannenbaums.

That was setback number one.  The second came after dinner when I commenced the trimming of the tied tree.  Three strings of clear lights, but only two strings that worked.  By this time, I had already changed into my jammies and was too settled in to trek out to the store to buy another string of lights.  Double damn!

I put up the two working strings and then the popcorn and cranberry garland that I had strung over the weekend.  I suspected I would need more garland, perhaps one more long strand, but, no, I needed two more.  I spent much of the evening stringing popcorn, popcorn, cranberry, repeat until I had enough to fully adorn the tree.

On the way to work this morning, I picked up another string of lights.  Let’s hope the tree is standing when I get home – and remains standing after all my precious little ornaments are on it.

No more bad kitties!

Stuck in my head:  “Santa, Baby”