Calvin Strikes Again

First thing this morning.

Mom? Can we fill my pants with helium?

Errr....why?

So I can fly.

Um. The helium would all leak out of your pants because they're not sealed.

No, it wouldn't. We could use duct tape.

No. No, we can't. I don't have any duct tape.

Maybe we can get some at the store.

Maybe, but we don't have any helium, either.

We could call Mythbusters.

No. I don't know their number. And you don't either. Are you getting ready for school?

Oh. Yeah. One minute.

6:30 comes WAY too early for this.

Cookies

Hair pulled back? Check.

Nails trimmed and hands well washed? Check.

Counter-top and sink disinfected? Check.

All of this germophobia stuff is done for a reason. First, Ian hasn't been feeling well. I don't want to serve Christmas cookies with a side of flu to anyone! The second reason involves a memory...

I was invited to a friend's home one evening a couple years ago for dinner. She prepared the meatloaf we were going to eat after I arrived. After she mixed the meatloaf with hands I did not see her wash, she cleaned out the meat that got caught under her fingernails into the bowl! Needless to say, I could not eat anything that night, and I have never eaten in her home since.

Besides. Do I really want to give my Christmas cookies as gifts with a side of hair? No.

So let the Christmas Cookie Baking begin!

I haven't baked Christmas cookies since I moved in here 11 years ago. My counter-top is 30" wide by 24" deep, so I have very little working room. I decided it has been too long, so I got the ingredients and gave it a go. I only burned myself on a hot pan once.

I managed to extend my work space a bit by using the edge of the kitchen sink. Here you see the first batch of cookies ready to go in the oven.

Here, I balance the sheets of peanut butter cookies ready to go in the oven.


Thank goodness for stacking cooling racks! I used the top of my portable dishwasher to stack the racks on. It was JUST wide enough. :)


These are Pastel Mint cookies and Chinese Almond Cookies. YUM!

And my last two cookie recipes of the day, Peanut Blossoms and Peanut Butter cookies. I moved the racks to my counter-top from the dishwasher so they could cool overnight. Then into the freezer they go to await the gift-giving season.

I just looked at the photo closely - seems like somebody snitched a peanut butter cookie off the third rack!

Tomorrow I am going to tackle sugar cookies. I have a set of cookie cutters that have never been used. It's time!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My friend Nancy gave me this poinsettia for my birthday this year. Love it!

Calvin

I'm not sure what he was playing...hockey? contact baseball?

Stalked

Finished a great novel today. Stalked by Brian Freeman was excellent. Murder, mayhem, what more could a girl ask for on a pleasant Sunday afternoon?

Dave-1993

Another feel good, bad guys lose, good guys win, movie.

Door Prize

I won the door prize at Emily's baby shower. They played the "guess how big new mama is" game and I was only about 1/2" off. Some people were unintentionally not very kind to her. :D

I figured, since she looked like a thin girl with a basketball stuffed under her shirt, that the circumference of a basketball is about 29 inches, add ten more inches for the rest of her, and there you have it! My strip was 39 1/2" long, and she was 40" around.

It's all about the math. :D

'Christmas Fantasy' Christmas Cactus

Blossomed already....absolutely beautiful.