it's the most wonderful time, of the year....

Evelyn made these yesterday, and somehow I know that they were excellently yummers.


Snow! This is from yesterday evening, it's been snowing lots more, and it's coming down like a snow globe right now.


Miss Sonja K. helped decorate the gingerbread cookies. Saturday night, after a long busy day working at the Dome, I didn't feel like doing much, but Evelyn and Charlotte Claire and Camille wanted to do something fun. (Kathryn took Suzanne secret Santa shopping, and Jonathan was at a boys' weekend having fun). So we ordered chicken wings and a pizza, watched silly Hallmark movies, and made cookies. #coziness.



Okay, here's a story: I got a Christmas card in the mail from Wegmans, a grocery store chain here in the northeast, the best supermarket ever, and I am a supermarket geek. I almost threw the card away, but I scanned the print inside, and instead of just saying, "Merry Christmas", this card said, and I honestly thought it was a scam, but it said that I qualified for a prize for being one of their best customers. Visit the service desk to claim my $50 gift card and coupons, as well as a gift. ha, I thought, but I did it anyway. I presented the card at the service desk on Friday, and what????!!!!!! I was in the top 100 customers for my local store. Top 100!??? Indeed. The manager came to congratulate me, and present the gift box. I was floored. No scam here. Then the box itself held coupons for free things! A free pound of shrimp, free ready-made entrees, ect, and a bottle of herbed sunflower oil. Plus, a fifty dollar gift card.


This does mean that perhaps I spend too much at the grocery store, I mean, I go to Wegmans, but I also go to BJ's, and Tops, and Price Chopper.

Anyway, it was too much fun.

Yesterday, Cheryl and I took our husbands to the airport. Bill was heading down to Georgia to visit his parents, and Paul was renting a car to go to Boston for the week, for work. They just happened to both have to be at the airport at the same time, so Cheryl and I found ourselves in the town we grew up in, and we had fun...the Geddes bakery, first. That's where Margaret and Adrian got their wedding donuts, one year ago yesterday, Happy Anniversary! We were celebrating Abigail's birthday yesterday, so that was going to be the cake, a dozen assorted donuts, then three different muffins in a separate box for a birthday gift, Ab loves muffins.

Anyway. Cheryl and I went to Kmart, then to Target, and got lots of Christmas shopping done. We got coffee, and talked, and it was a great day.

Home...Evelyn had made cinnamon buns, and it smelled heavenly in here. I put a ham in the oven, then quartered some potatoes, tossed them in olive oil and seasonings, and roasted them up. We had apples sauce and veggies, too. Then dessert: gingerbread cookies (they were SO good!), the cinnamon rolls, the Oreo truffles I had made (do NOT make these. You have been warned. They are way too good. One package of Oreos, or store brand, I used Wegmans, all broken up, add an 8 ounce package of cream cheese, blended together until smooth. I dipped mine in a bag of chocolate chips, melted with a bit of coconut oil and some white chocolate melting wafers. Then for some of them, I added Andes mint chocolate chips, and made some minty ones. They are too good, so do not make them.). There were donuts, cut in halves, of course, and even quarters, for tasting purposes. I only had one thin slice of a chocolate frosted one, one truffle, and a few tastes of cinnamon roll...then like four gingerbread cookies. blah. But. Today is a new day.

We were celebrating Abigail's 31st birthday. She is my second oldest child, born back when I was a mere 21 years old. Ab is a very special daughter. She's my accountant daughter, and she's sweet and funny and genuine, faithful and kind and thoughtful. She's diligent and responsible, and she has a laugh that makes every one around her laugh too.

Some of us went in the hot tub in the evening, which was delightful under the falling snow. The little girls got out, rolled in the snow, and jumped back in. Not me, it was hard enough to walk barefoot in the snow then get into the tub, but hey, 104 degrees when it's 25 outside is pretty sweet.

Today, we are going on an adventure. Mirielle is picking me up, and we are going to a a bakery/restaurant in a small town a ways from here, owned by my brother's son's girlfriend, so my nephew's girlfriend, Mirielle's cousin's girlfriend. She bakes her own breads, makes everything fresh and is a pastry chef. So, we have been wanting to visit her restaurant, and today is the day. The snow is falling, it looks so Christmas-y, and we are off...and shh, I know, two days in a row of eating the wrong things...but I'll be careful.