Compromised Heating System

As if the world needs additional proof that cats are all about themselves and getting their wants met before anybody else... here's the trio placing themselves strategically in front of hot air registers simultaneously around the house when the furnace comes on, baking their furry little biscuits to the utmost maximum and blocking the flow of warm air into the rest of the house. As I said, it's all about the cat. Humans? Eh.

Meowy Christmouse! Happy Tissue Paper!

Oh, the fun one can have with tissue paper! I gave this to my kittos for their present and they were all most happy. As you can tell...

One of their best Christmas mornings ever!

Off Road and Off Leash for Xmas Day

I spent the day with my parents. I got perfectly cooked/crisp and buttery Pierogis for lunch - heaven! A wonderful walk in the woods. Talking, laughing, brother called, dinner, Farkle (which Dad tolerated better than Scrabble coz it was faster although he didn't much care for the noise factor the shaking of the dice created and Riley was one confused pup as he wanted his dinner and thought we were shaking treats!), and pumpkin cheesecake (which is hugely more delicious than pumpkin pie!).

A suitably snowy Riley.

A super fast dog is he bounding out of the woods.

Getting a treat coz he came back on his own.

And we walk while Riley (aka Tigger) bombs ahead.

Tree Finally Finished

Today I finally took off the dud lights and put the new LED strands on. Typically I decorate in a massive "red and gold" theme but as I only had dregs for lights to choose from, I picked the best of the lot which was multi-colored minis. Which are pretty, don't get me wrong, we always had multis growing up. It's just that my tree is usually redNgold everything. But tis the season this year for all things different. Out with the rigidity and inflexibility and in with the totally flying by the seat of my pants. Lighting and decorating my tree on Xmas Eve is a big first, and very seat of my pants. The only reason it's decorated is because it has to stay up until New Year's for luck and I couldn't have a nude tree going into the new year. (See, not entirely gone, the rigidity and inflexibility rear their heads for that tradition!) Anyhoo, I couldn't take a non-blurry photo of the tree, so here's the best of a smeary lot and then an experimental one which looks very cool!

It's like candy cane lightning!

I have to get ready, going to Mr. L's family for Xmas Eve. Another first!

Winter Wonderland

So this is what I woke up to this morning!

Just finished shoveling and showering, off to work I go! HiHo HiHo. HOHOHO!!!!

Crafty Christmas

I've already posted about the Party Pretzels.

Here's my Secret Santa gift to give at tomorrow's Xmas potluck. Who doesn't like a bit of sparkle for the holidays. I made the wreaths out of wire hangers (which I will be actively soliciting for thruout 2011, wanna make some more) and garland.

I made these for Mr. L's boys - all three of them love Zombie movies and Mr. L's Z-shirt that I made for him went over bigtime with the boys this summer... so now they can be the the Zombie Twinkies!

It's Not Really Feeling Like Xmas

I'm having a hard time catching the holiday spirit this year. All of my friends are having a really difficult time this year emotionally, financially, and family-wise.

I got a whiff of it when J2 and I managed to connect last week, lots of laughs and looking for that perfect gift for special people and finding unexpected perfect gifts. And another whiff when I got my tiny wild tree with tiny needles that is absolutely the cutest tree I've had since I moved into my house. And a small charge when I hung packages of party pretzels on my two neighbors' doors this morning before work as well as dropping off a beautiful Xmas card/pretzels off at Mr. L's parents who'd sent me a card earlier in the month.

Saturday, I got my Xmas tree after walking the dog. I didn't think it would fit in my stand but it did.

Sunday, was a pajama day all the way. Developed a minor breakout which is oh-so attractive.

Monday, I procrastinated and watched taped TV shows and tried not to think about the home things I needed to do.

Tuesday, I got halfway up my Xmas tree when I ran out of lights. I tried three pre-LED era light strands and all three strands only lit up half way. I spent two hours trying to find the damn light that was preventing the last part of each strand lighting up before I got so frustrated I rolled them up in a big ball and put them in the dump pile in the basement. Let me amend that, THREW them in the dump pile.

Wednesday, the head cold I'd been sort of flirting with the beginning of the week, stopped flirting and slammed me. Snot and headache and post-nasal drip and tired and cranky and behind at work and no attention span and irritated beyond measure that all the stores do not have any Xmas stuff other than dregs coz I tried to find the same lights to finish my tree but no such luck. Had to buy 4 new sets. A store DooBee gently suggested I start my shopping for Xmas decorations in November. NOVEMBER! Humbug! At least the tentatively predicted messy weather didn't arrive.

Today, still battling the head cold but I think I'm making some progress. Not to mention I'm feeling downright fugly right now - mood-wise and physically! Still behind at work. Still have to remove the lights from my tree and put the new sets on it.

Off to bed.

Party Pretzels 2010

I've been invited to this year's Yankee Swap Xmas Party at L's friend's house. L relayed a "strong" request from the party-goers that I bring my Party Pretzels again. I can't resist such enthusiasm! This year's pretzels are as follows:

White chocolate covered pretzels dipped in mini choc chips and festive holiday sprinkles.

White chocolate covered pretzels dipped in mini choc chips and Andes Peppermint Candy bits.

And for the grand finale for which I cannot take any credit for, the chocolate covered pretzels dipped in mini choc chips and crumbled bacon.

Click on the pic for an upclose experience that you can almost smell right thru the photo! Idea courtesy of the Food Paradise show on the Travel Channel, featuring Bacon Paradise, a show all about restaurants that just have bacon items on the menu. One of the places was a candy store and they featured choc-covered bacon strips which is their best seller. All the eaters of this treat said it was the perfect mix of sweet and salty. I decided to take it a step further and put the bacon on an already sweet-salty mix of choc-covered pretzel. I tried it and it was good. L told me to not tell them what they are covered in, just surprise the party-goers and see what they think after they've tried it. I'll keep you posted!