My first 4 days away from work.

I've kept myself super busy in the last 4 days that I've not been working (Fri, Mon, Tue, and today).

After stocking the pantry with baking necessities on Friday afternoon, I set to work in the kitchen whipping up pumpkin cookies with homemade caramel icing, cathedral windows (a holiday must), and pumpkin chocolate chip bread. In an attempt to try out some new hot drink recipes, I also put together traditional chai (a recipe from some international students and from scratch, of course) as well as a crock pot pumpkin spice latte.

Sunday we celebrated Christmas with Kyle's family, which was really fun and oh-my-the-food. We ate all day long and had a great time with the kiddos and the rest of the family.

Monday was a girls' afternoon for me. I had two friends over for some more time of food consumption and chatting and we ended up watching a chick flick. It was awesome.

Because I had made all the goodies on Friday, I set the cookies, windows, and bread out, along with a fresh batch of pumpkin spice lattes. We ended up with chips and dip, more holiday cookies, homemade appetizer meatballs, and a fruit plate with homemade fruit dip. Wow. It was incredible.

The spread.

In the midst of all of this, I've been de-junking. I accumulate a lot of junk; I can't lie. But then I go through times like this week, when I can't stand it and must throw things out (or give to Good Will or to friends and family or something). I found tons of random things, some of them gross (a previously used soap tray from college), some of them ridiculous (an IU poncho), and some of them hilarious (an old discman with three sets of earphones). I had to rearrange a closet because of something I purchased recently and needed space to store, so my closet is now in order. I bought a few smallish bins in which to store seasonal shoes, and moved a small dresser around to make the space. That closet is now Quincy's favorite place to hide.

In spite of the copious amounts of delectable foods we've consumed, we also have had to eat normal meals, so I threw together a fantastic recipe of crock pot chicken stoganoff pot pie. It IS as good as it sounds. I think I'll be making my cousin Alaina's bean soup at some point this week or next.

Because of all of the cooking, I find I have piles of dishes to do every day, which is my new least favorite chore. But, I guess when it means there are freshly baked goods around, I'll put up with it. Yesterday I made pumpkin spice muffins--one of my favorite muffin recipes from growing up. I think they are divine, and I even halved the oil and added as much apple sauce, so they are healthier!

Today I'm hoping to use up the last of the pumpkin (I bought HUGE cans of it around Thanksgiving and never used them) to make pumpkin pancakes (again, from Alaina), which I will freeze and use for lunches in January. Awesome idea, if I do say so myself.

Oh, and today I made curtains. Nothing fancy, in fact, they might be more embarrassing than anything, but I really wanted a half-curtain in the kitchen. All we had were very ugly valances from the previous owners. I bought some material on clearance last winter, but it ended up being not very much of it, so I put the project aside. Today, I decided to try it anyway. It worked. For the most part. Emily had the brilliant idea of making an edge around the panels to help use up more space, and I may yet do that. I just couldn't bring myself to try the calculations and stuff. I'm really bad at that.

I'll end the week on a high note tomorrow. We'll be having our own little Christmas celebration tomorrow or Friday morning, but then tomorrow afternoon I have a massage scheduled. I can't wait. I have the best massage therapist.

I hope all of you (whoever you are) have a wonderful Christmas. I hope it reminds you that, even when we're busy, we have a great reason for living: faith, hope, and love. There is nothing without these three!

Whirlwind Party

I have survived five whole days of partying. I feel that is quite a feat. The food was fantastic, the new meal sharing quite a success, and the laughter endless.

I wanted to share some pictures of the girls (3 nieces) and others (but only the more flattering ones, I promise).

The last three days have been somewhat less packed, as one little chickie got sickie. Really, she threw up at least twice each day for the last 3 days. In between those spells, she seemed ok, although I think she may have napped quite a bit, too.

I also accomplished something I promised to my mom--I cleaned out the closet and attic in my old bedroom. 8 boxes for Goodwill, 2 full bags of trash, and 3 full boxes and 6 empty shoe boxes for recycling. Both areas are very organized now, and Maddie had a blast sifting through my treasures and questioning why I kept some things (like dry, old leaves, ugly cards and stickers, and my old finger cast from when I broke my ring finger in football in college). I was in a good place to sift through trash and actually clean out. Spring cleaning mode in December. Awesome. It felt amazing.

Anyway the pictures will follow in other posts.
Enjoy looking!
I hope your Christmases were as fantabulous as ours!

Christmas Photos

Some new TU gear.

A lovely, soft green sweater.

A Harley colored Henley!

A credit card case with Celtic designs.
Beautiful!

Hot pants! A fine pair of perfect black dress slacks.

Mas photos

Maddie with Pinky the Pig.

Katie watching the snow fall.

Katie practiced holding Jane.
She did a fantastic job.

Such a beautiful face.

She's getting so grown up!
Two teeth gone and two more on the way.

The last few

The crew on Christmas Day.

The 26th after a very snowy 2 mile walk.

Purple Sistas...

Leslie with Katie's cow...I can't remember the name.

A very tired Papa.
I think Jane forgot to sleep
the night before Christmas
because she was SO excited!

Queen of the Castle.

After our very own Christmas on the 24th.
Super fun day! Super fun weekend!

Merry Christmas to us...

The holidays are here and we're off. Well, we will be shortly. And, as in true holiday spirit, something had to go wrong before leaving for several days. It's always that way.

Monday our water heater busted. I felt an electrical surge through the floor, the lights got super bright and huge POP! sounded. My toes tingled for over thirty minutes after that weird experience. But, I couldn't see anything not working, so I went on my way. About 5pm, when I was cooking, I realized the hot water was really tepid. That's when I called in my favor.

Our water heater went out already once this year -- a coil died. Turned out, it happened again. So, we were able to get a new water heater. Our maintenance guy decided we needed it (thank goodness). The one we had was probably 25-30 years old. I swear. It looked ancient.

So, now the water is hot, but the water pressure is all jacked up (as in not pressured) because of the sediment from our lovely town's water that has clogged our pipes. When will it ever end?

At least we can shower now. And wash dishes. I actually had to shower at the gym, which was awkward, on Tuesday evening. A friend stopped by that afternoon, as well, and was welcomed by 3 days of dirty dishes (awaiting hot water to wash), a chaotic living room (because the back room where the water heater was had to be emptied), and my scrapbook stuff everywhere. It was embarrassing. Luckily, I wasn't trying to impress her. She understood.

I'm ready to leave this little abode, to be honest. Ready for the good food, the games, the playing with kids, the relaxing in a house with more than 3 rooms. *sigh. Christmas.

Christmas Bash

First, we hit up the Wilson Bash on Christmas Eve, amidst flooding water that turned to ice before we left the party. Christmas Day held more fun with the Wilsons, and then two pretty relaxing days by ourselves. Sunday brought the Gottschalk Family Christmas (much like the Griswold Family Christmas, I think). And when the Gottschalks plan a party, you know it's gonna be a real doosey. Evan brought over a duffel full of board and card games and some new ones for his Wii. Rock Band was a hit with the guys of the house and here are a few pics to prove it.

The following configuration is what Em & I deemed the greatest Rock Band: Kyle on vocals, Ev on guitar, and Franz on the drums. However, everybody tried out each instrument and had a fabulous time. Maddie could not stop staring at everyone while they performed. Eventually, she began singing along with the likes of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer". It was awesome.



I do have (ahem) some video of great performances, should anyone be interested in short clips of the greatest band.
:o)

True to form, the nieces were also extremely entertaining. Precious and Precocious, both.

Maddie created innumerable works of art, some of which she cut out with precision using big people scissors. It was astounding and incredible. She's very much into creating cartoonish animals with large faces/noses, like the Littlest Pet Shop crew.

She also drew a detailed picture of disco dance party of my friends and I, only I wasn't dancing "because she didn't much feel like it" (according to the artist). This treasure is going up in my office as soon as I get back! The disco theme came from the ElfYourself videos floating around the Internet.

Little Katie is always entertaining with her antics. Very upset by a blister on her heal, it didn't really stop her from body slamming Evan or climbing around on furniture, telling the story of her new book Pinkalicious! or other crazy goings on. She's very cuddly at times, and still manages to be the most ornery little tyke I know.

It was a Polly Pocket Christmas for the girls, each receiving three different sets, and they had a BLAST setting it all up last night.

I was sad to leave last night, not really knowing when I'll see the Littles and Emily & Franz again. I usually take a trip out in the spring or summer, but am not sure it's possible this year. However, this Christmas was so special with both families able to celebrate with everyone. I feel like that situation may become increasingly rare as the years go by, so I'm thankful for what we got this First Christmas as marrieds. It was so much fun and yet relaxing at the same time.

Our whole family

We staged this one and, surprisingly, it turned out well.

Officially, The Gottschalks.

And, of course, the Grandparents and Grandchildren.

Finally, selections from my Christmas break

Leslie and I fighting over the wishbone in the 22 pound turkey Tracy prepared for us in North Carolina.

We also climbed a mountain - Crowder's Mountain - with 254 steps at the top.

Tracy got five of us free tickets to an NBA game of the Charlotte Bobcats.
Great seats!

For the second time, I traveled through the Lazy 5 Ranch, a drive-through wild-life park with all kinds of llamas, emus, ostriches, pot-bellied pigs, antelope, a rhino, giraffes, long-horned cattle--all sorts of cool beasts. This picture was taken out the back of Mindy's van.

And this is our family -- the Edwards -- our lovely hosts for a week.
We enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Despite all of the fun we were having, Leslie was sick for two long weeks. So sick, in fact, that she tried very hard to go to a doctor, not something she's prone to do. Ever.

When I tried, on New Year's Eve to get a picture with her...this was all she could give me.
And, truth be told, I felt very sick the entire evening myself.

The next day, this is what I looked like: stayed in my pajamas all day, didn't redo my hair from the previous day or anything.
Because I posted this picture, you cannot get mad at me for posting the above delightful photo of you :o)

Holiday travel update

I know it's been over a week since I last posted. Too true. My only excuse is that I was road-tripping to North Carolina again, this time with Leslie.

We stayed with the Edwards' near Charlotte and thoroughly enjoyed the southern cookin', warm weather, and general hilarity of being with that family.

The trip takes 10 hours each way. It's much easier with a driving partner, and yet...by the end of yesterday's driving, Leslie and I were ready to be done with each other. We still have two days where we are each other's only conversation partner, and we're making it. Today passed by quickly with sleeping in, vacuum sealing my windows with two-sided tape, plastic, and a hair dryer, taking a 5-mile walk, and doing four loads of laundry. She's going out tonight to a friend's and I'm staying in to soak up the "me" time and get some music swapping done from her laptop to my computer. I love sharing music.

I'm tired, though, and ready to see other people. I have a date planned with Leslie D., one with Amanda, and hopefully I'll see a few other old school people while in Roch. We're excited for Evan's birthday gaming fun on New Year's Eve, too.

Feeling completely domesticated...

I baked cookies last night, my favorite kind: molasses crinkles, with the intention of giving them to my neighbors who are my friends, that is my friendly neighbors.

The list is...well...short. Mary Ellen, my 70-something duplex-sharer who is so sweet, whose children refurbished the outside of my home when they did her's, and who has a tiny mini-yorkie named Ginger who is so adorable I almost can't stand it. Dereck, my across the street, caddy-corner neighbor who has been a friend since we lived in the same dorm my sophomore year of college, that is to say, five years ago. Liz & Chalupa, my dear friends who keep me sane and who have fed me and entertained me more than anyone else here in Upland. I've known Liz since Freshman year and Chalupa since she married him last year. I love them both.

As Dereck is rarely home due to his somewhat schizophrenic job, I couldn't deliver the cookies to him last night. But I did visit Mary Ellen and Ginger, where we exchanged phone numbers and had a pleasant chat about Christmas/winter plans. I really want to be this woman's friend. I think we should play dominoes or scrabble this winter. How fun would that be?

When I got to Liz & Chalupa's, I was greeted by four people--Sara & Landon were there--which was very exciting. I'm not sure I've seen much of them since they got married in July. Sara made me a besprinkled and frosted snowman cookie before I left.

At work yesterday, I discovered a co-worker loves molasses cookies and he told me if I brought him even a half of a cookie it would make his month. I brought him six. He's happy.

Being neighborly is fun. You learn interesting things about people and are given cookies in exchange for your cookies. I remember when I used to think fostering relationships was a waste of my time. It wasn't even that long ago. I'm glad I got over that. Loving people, in whatever way you can, makes a difference for them, but also in you. Loving people has changed me, even if it's as simple as walking next door.

It's Christmas. Do something kind and generous for someone else. See if it brightens their face and your mood.