A Tradition Begins

"How come we never make Christmas cookies?" "Um, because it's two days before Christmas and I have tons of other stuff to do."

Of course that's what I was thinking, but not what I said. And I'm a happier and better mom for it. So we gathered our supplies from the grocery store . . . or . . .

. . . from the baking cabinet (and secret chocolate hiding place).

We made ourselves some cocktails - pomegranate orange fizz for Kathryn, Pinot Noir for me. Hey - we're on vacation!

And we began. First up: the sugar cookies. I cheated and bought the pre-cut frozen ones. Just bake . . .

. . . and decorate!

Peanut Butter Blossoms - unwrap twice as many Kisses as you need, eat half as many as you unwrap.

That way all the math works out just fine.

Everyone has a different name for these: Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Swedish something or others.

The perfect little hands of a future baker.

They get a little boring after the third roll through the sugar - but they are SO worth it.

The ghost of Christmas cookies yet to come. We had a such a great time. I hope she remembers to ask me next year. And I hope I remember to say "Yea - let's make some cookies again."

Outtakes

Unlike the treks, we here at the Wound Too Tight household have no shame when it comes to posting pictures of ourselves on the interwebs. Our recent Christmas card experience provides just such an opportunity. Mister fancies himself quite the photographer. We have lights and umbrellas and timers and - well, stuff I can't even name. This self photo really proves just how good he is doesn't it?

Dude - is that another chin?? Finally! I thought you'd be perfect forever.

C'mon honey - FOCUS! We have to get this done tonight!

Time for the stand-in. She looks so thrilled doesn't she? Jon - the lighting is too light!

Too dark. Plus - will she be cleaning up at all or is that the look you're going for in the Christmas card photo? Early PJs and pony tail?

OK - I see we've cleaned up and dressed for the picture. Or at least I think we have. Hello - flash??

This picture says "Not everyone will be receiving cards this year because we spent all the extra money on braces"!

"Well then I just won't smile at all - how about that!"

"I am not adjusting my bra strap!"

No - you still can't be in the card Jon - but your eyes look really good in this picture and I do like the scruff!

"Do my eyes match my sweater?" Why haven't we fixed the lighting yet?

Guess who just found out that there is nothing - absolutely nothing - behind any one of the doors in that advent calendar! Yep - just a prop!

Finally, somewhere in the mix of funny, goofy, too light, too dark, wardrobe malfuntion and what have you, this gem stood out. That's my daughter!

It should be noted that from start to finish, I have nothing to with the Christmas card. From conception to mailing, and everything in between, this is and always has been Jon's baby! I do no stamps or envelope licking or anything. I know - I'm lucky!

How Many Days??

Jon and Kathryn take Holli to Petco every year so she can participate in the Christmas frenzy. Holli loves shopping for her own presents. She tolerates participating in shopping for presents for her feline brother and sister. Once home, the presents are hidden in a secret place, only to magically re-appear on Christmas morning. You know dogs - "out of sight, out of mind".

Sort of. Much like the bell on her "go outside" door, Holli has been ringing this "not bell" since the presents went in to the secret hiding place on Saturday.

"Open dammit"

"Maybe I can just get my nose under there and open it up from the inside."

" Oh, I'm sittin' right here until the jolly fat man comes and opens up the closet and gives me those

damn presents. I don't care how many days it is until Christmas!"

Dogs! Just to mess with her, today I think I'll move the presents and see just how long it takes her to figure out she's guarding a bunch of coats and the silver chest!

Cativersary

Hi! It's Sammy. Mom says she's having trouble finding her blog voice lately. Something about nothing to blog about, being boring, nothing much going on - blah, blah, blah. But I have lots to say. Something BIG is happening here. I've been living here for one whole year now and we have been celebrating for a week already. And it doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon!
I LOVE these guys! They don't talk to much but they are loads of fun. You can knock them over and then Mom puts them right back up on the step and you can knock them over again. Mom doesn't seem to like this game all that much but Tig and I have a blast. Plus - those antlers and Santa headband on the dog - you can just bat at those for a while. It's kind of fun and it doesn't seem to get Mom all that mad.

Dad brought this in from outside just for me. Serious fun. Dudes. One night, I climbed up it and then it fell over and then Dad came down in the middle of the night to play with me. He even got the vacuum cleaner out, which is so cool because I love to chase the cord on the vacuum cleaner. Dad was kind of cranky and used a lot of different words. I went up to snuggle with Mom - under the covers. The next night there was a string holding up the tree. Not so much fun.

I've decided to make "under the tree" my new lair. I put all my special things under there - my sponge, my blanket (which I dragged from the Kitty Condo in the basement), my favorite green Sharpie, and a pencil. In honor of my love for my new family I think I will give them each one of these precious things. Except Tig because he's a brat. Mom should get the sponge because she's the one that yells every time it's missing (tee hee hee!), Sissy should get the pencil because she has LOTS of homework now, Dad should get the blanket because ... no wait, Holli can't have the Sharpie because it won't match her fur ....
But for now, I must protect them against anyone who comes near!

Week In Pictures

Out of Sorts

The bad news is that I have just a horrible migraine today and am headed back to bed and then perhaps a nice fire, some tea and my mittens.

The good news is that even when I'm not feeling well, and need to escape for a few minutes of privacy into the rest room, Sammy will always follow just to keep tabs on me. It's her way of checking in and asking: "Is everything OK in there?"

Later....

Smitten

I'm so completely in love with these that I went stash diving immediately and found some Knit Picks Palette tucked away for I-don't-know-what and found three colors that I love. I soon had a sweet picot cuff and the beginnings of the color work portion on the cuff completed.


I had great plans for yesterday as it is the only day home for the rest of the week. Surely you thought I'd be farther along. But alas . . .

I had an eye doctor appointment yesterday.

Jon returned home early Friday evening. I kissed and hugged him hello. Then I grabbed a cat, a blanket and this DVD set on loan from Jeanne.
I did not emerge until Sunday morning. Season One is in the bag. Frak!! Where did the weekend go? I wonder if he's going out of town again soon??

There Will Be Bag

It's still gift time here. We've changed recipients however. Went to see some pals last night that I've not seen in way too long and there was a birthday to celebrate. Here's what I took. Let's just see how long it is before you see these little treasures posted again out on the internets, k? Then you can know whose birthday we were celebrating.
Some soft and yummy Misty Alpaca sock yarn. Not exactly this person's color range, but then there really wasn't anything in her color range. Maybe she'll re-gift it. I wouldn't blame her if she did. Heck, my birthday's coming up; maybe I'll get it back.

Clever. Put cat paw anti-skid things on your socks. I guess so you don't slide around in your shoes?

Proof that I have absolutely NO imagination whatsoever, the new "it" book and a Zecca pointy scissor cover-upper thingy. What I lack in creativity, I make up for in volume. Now to pack it all up and wrap it...

And lo . . . there will be bag. Gift Bag.

Box Redux

An very observant now-blogless-formerly-K3Tog-Jeanne noticed an really important "other box" in the background of yesterday's picture. See it . . . there underneath the attack guard kitty. Yeah, I know he's asleep, but he'd snap to attention if you came REALLY close to that box.So that was "the BIG" present. Not the one just sort of shoved at him as an afterthought. A nice, big, shiny, SONY BluRay disc player. Now, it should be noted that I am not an authorized electronics purchased for the household. I am only allowed to purchase said items when given a web url and told to point, click, pay, ship. This one was a no-brainer though. Until we I got it home. Where to put it, where to put it?? Well, under here looks like a good starting point. Ya got yer TV and ya got yer cabinet for yer TV stuff.

Yeah - no room. Full up with other electronic stuff. All of which makes it very complicated to actually watch TV or a movie or something you recorded yesterday. Sometimes, I have to call him during the day and ask how to do one of these things. Totally blows my cover.

The bedroom cabinet could have been an option but looks like were plum outta space here too. Ah, that's ok. Who needs HD movies in the bedroom anyway?

Looks like something in the basement "Tower of Power" has got to go. It's probably best that it goes here. I think a TV this size, really needs HD movies.

Dog added for size comparison. And because well - she's a dog!

Yeah - he REALLY needed that BluRay! Because as you can see, he has all the other crap!