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As I sit here writing this, the smell of freshly baked cookies is wafting my way. They’re for tonight’s Advent Garden celebration. If you’re not familiar with this ritual, see here and here for my postings about last year’s event, which was at my place. This year someone else is hosting, so all I need to do is make cookies and show up.
This celebration is a reminder of the light in all of us and for me it also marks the beginning of the holiday season. It gives me license to fill my advent calendar tree with treats (even at the ripe old ages of 15, 19 and 21 my children still jostle over whose turn it is on which day to pull the chocolate out of the calendar), set out the Christmas village on the large window sill in the living room, and – of course – launch into cookie making mode. Today it was Double Chocolate Cranberry cookies. They’re yummy and they’re a good way to make use of all the wild cranberries Joe and I picked this fall. Here’s the recipe:
1 cup of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
Cream together butter and sugar until you can’t see any chunks of butter. Add:
1 teaspoonful of vanilla
1 egg
2 tablespoonfuls of milk
In another bowl combine:
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 teaspoonful of baking soda
3/4 teaspoonful of baking powder
1/2 teaspoonful of salt
Mix these ingredients and add them slowly to the batter. Finally, add:
1/2 cup of chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup of wild cranberries (fresh or frozen, but if frozen do not thaw them first)
Mix together, form into small balls and bake on cookie sheets at 350 degrees F for 12 – 15 minutes, depending on your oven.
I’ve been doing my happy dance over the last day or two, after learning that I have lost eight pounds in the last five weeks. I can really see the difference now and I actually feel lighter. And more energetic. And healthy. And quite surprised because I never thought I would lose this weight.
However there is one downside…most of my clothes are hanging on me and I’m not flush enough to run out and buy a whole new wardrobe. Even if I did have the money I don’t think I would…I’m more of a second hand Rose kind of girl.
That’s where Sequels comes in. It’s a women’s clothing consignment store in town and it generally has some great finds. I have shopped there for years and have found everything from designer dresses to jewelry.
Yesterday I was on a mission for a party dress (our staff Christmas party is a week from today). I found something that’s very simple but classy, and with a store credit I had for some clothes I sold there earlier in the year, I only paid $15 for the dress. AND…the best news is that it’s in a size smaller than I’ve worn in several years!
In spite of my vow to not pay attention to the news anymore, I did happen to catch a story on CBC Radio yesterday that made me very sad. Apparently our bad economic times have led some people to hire professional shoplifters to ‘pick up’ Christmas presents for them. Yup, you heard me correctly. People feel so pressured to give unaffordable commercially-produced goods that they’re willing to resort to crime to do it.
What has happened to us? How it is that we have allowed ourselves to be hoodwinked into thinking that if we don’t give bling, then people will think we don’t care about them? When did spending time with loved ones and doing acts of kindness fall so out of favour? When did making simple homemade gifts become not just uncool, but uncouth? No, not just uncouth but totally unthinkable; unacceptable.
Some of my most treasured gifts I’ve been given are not ones that came from a store or cost a bundle. I bet most of you feel the same way. So how is it that we have ended up in this place??
There are many websites that provide all kinds of low or no-cost Christmas giving ideas, so I won’t go into all that here. But Unstuffed has a suggestion you may not have thought of. Sure beats a shoplifted bauble don’t you think?
Iris and I went to see the remount of ‘Varietease’ last night…a burlesque cabaret that was first performed this past spring. It was a hoot…not so much sexy as just very funny. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in a long time. Here is a (G rated) photo taken from the original run, courtesy of Andrew Hoshkiw’s flickr site.
For the majority of my life I have been slim. In fact I used to be one of those people who could eat as much as I wanted and never gain an ounce. I was able to get into my favourite jeans a week after have Alan, and it was the same with Iris.
Around about the time Jamie came along though, my metabolism changed, and for the past 15 years my weight has inched up to the point where I am 20 pounds more than I want to be.
I’ve moaned and groaned about this for several years. I exercise regularly, I eat pretty healthy food, so why was this happening? Well, about a month ago I decided I’d had enough. I didn’t feel good about myself and I was going to do something about it. So I’ve put myself on a bit of a program that really is all about portion control. I guess I’d lost sight of what a proper portion was. As a resut, I’ve lost six pounds and my goal is to lose another four by Christmas. I want to lose the other 10 by my birthday in April.
Even six pounds makes a difference….my clothes are loose (almost too loose) and people are noticing. Some weeks I’ve only lost one pound; others two or more. My goal is to have slow and steady weight loss – nothing drastic. Wish me luck!
I thought it was time to change my header photo, now that winter really is here. The photo, taken yesterday in the Central Yukon, was shot by a work colleague of mine. Isn’t it beautiful?
Our daughter is coming home on the week-end! York University has been on strike for over a week, and it doesn’t look like there’s going to be a settlement any time soon. Iris has been weighing the pros and cons of coming home versus staying in Toronto, and has decided that it makes more sense for her to come back to Whitehorse at this point. Hopefully once here she’ll be able to get a part-time job and earn a bit of extra cash. And hopefully they won’t settle just as she gets home!
I’ve missed the kids terribly this fall. Having two out of the territory has been harder than last year’s situation where Iris was the only one not here. Added to that, our youngest is into full teen mode these days, which means he’s rarely home, choosing the company of his friends over us. I think I’m missing the old Jamie as much as I’m missing Alan and Iris. Yup, it really does feel like I’m living in a big empty nest. That probably explains why I’ve taken up volunteering at the animal shelter…it’s a way of feeding my ‘mothering’ instincts.
But as of Saturday, my nest will be a little bit less roomy, at least for a while. And that makes this mother bird happy.
Have you ever been so furious with someone that you thought you were going to explode? Of course you have – we all have at one time or other. Have you ever been so angry that all you could do was sputter, unable to get out the words that were frothing on your tongue? Well, next time that happens, turn to Shakespeare for a little help.
My youngest son is studying Shakespeare at the moment, and one of his assignments is to find some Shakespearean insults. Well, let me to you…Shakespeare was the master of insults! The next time someone treats you wrong, pull out some of these lovelies, wind ‘em up and let ‘em fly.
Thou spleeny beetle-headed joithead! Thou odiferous fen-sucked miscreant! Thou pribbling ill-nurtured maggot-pie! Thou mangled pox-marked haggard! Thou crusty botch of nature! Thou puny hedge-born scut! Thou puking ill-breeding whey-face! Thou villainous weather-bitten popinjay! Thou currish milk-livered flax-wench! Thou yeasty spur-galled knave! Thou saucy fool-born malt-worm! And my personal favourite:THOU BURLEY-BONED POTTLE-DEEP SKAINSMATE!
There now, doesn’t that feel so much better?
I just received a CD of photos and video from a friend who saw Elton John in concert last month. The photos were great; the venue created a very intimate space. But it was the video of Elton performing Daniel that really blew me away. There was such power and depth to his voice…he could never have sung that song 20 years ago the way he sang it on the video. Once again it’s a case where youth might have outward beauty but age and experience trumps with stunningly beautiful complexity every time.
from today's Globe and Mail
To my Uncle George, who died at sea during World War II: I will remember you.
To my Uncle John, who came back from that war so shellshocked that he spent the rest of his days in a home being cared for: I will remember you.
To my Uncle Henry, who drank himself silly to forget the horrible things he’d seen and had to do during the war: I will remember you.
To my cousin Chester, who to this day can’t listen to the bagpipes because he says they bring back to life all the horrors he witnessed during the war: I will remember you.
To my dad and his best friend Garth, who went through all the training and were about to be shipped overseas when, thankfully, the war ended: I will remember you.
To my friend Elaine’s dad, who escaped a German prisioner of war camp and was shot in the neck doing so, but who somehow managed to survive: I will remember you.
To my friend Lynn’s dad, who spent months in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and was forced to eat rats and bugs to survive: I will remember you.
To all the mothers who have suffered the grief of losing children or husbands to war: I will remember you.
To the hundreds of thousands of people around this globe who have been killed, maimed, tortured, raped, starved, forced into camps, left homeless or without family, all in the name of war: I will remember you.
Some day – SOME DAY – our leaders will realize that war isn’t the answer; even with a ’successful’ outcome, it can’t justify the horrendous damage it causes. SOME DAY, we will find a better way of settling conflict.
I pray that I live to see that day.
