Dainty Kitty

Christmas Meltdown

<rant>

I had a little Christmas meltdown last night.  There's just too much to do - especially since we're going to Norfolk, Virginia to visit my brother for the holidays this year.  When my dad called last night to let me know that dinner with his mom and her husband is Friday at six - just an hour after the children's holiday party starts at my office - I just lost it.  I cried.  And I was in such a great mood before that phone call.  I'd gotten my hair done and I was well on my way to getting a little housework done.

Between finding time for two Christmases, making stuff and shoping for Christmas, two office Christmas parties and deadlines here at the office...it's too much in two weeks.  Why in the world my company decided to have an incredibly important deadline on the last business day before a holiday is beyond me.  And my office also decided to have out grown up party the night before said deadline, the Thursday before the holiday.  I think office Christmas parties should to take place in late November - right after the Thanksgiving holiday - or early December.  I heard on the news today that one company decided to skip the annual party and gave everyone the day off instead.  Brilliant!  Sure, it's fun to get drunk with your coworkers but, when time is tight, I'd much rather have the day off to get things done and polish off the evening with my own adult beverage, thank you very much. 

I did manage to get a lot done after said meltdown. 

Last night was actually spent sewing which is something I haven't done in a long time.  I cut out the pieces for the Zakka Owl Style Pennant (which I'd bought material for yesterday, thank goodness, because now it has to be finished by tomorrow night), sewed up the little owls and stitched letters on their bellies (and managed to get fusible webbing all over my iron because the directions were terribly unclear and I've never used it before).  I should be able to finish it up any machine sewing tonight after dinner (if I'm not drunk, which sounds so good right now) so that I can do the buttons and beaks while watching NBC Christmas goodness tomorrow night. 

Have I mentioned that I've had a tick in my left eyelid for about two weeks?  Well, I have.  I feel like it's never going to go away.  Someone said it was due to lack of calcium.  I thought ticks like that were due to stress.  That makes more sense anyway. 

</end rant>

Cookies for Santa

Last night I made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Orangette's recipe.  Her blog was the first food blog I read regularly.  It's wonderful and even her words make you come away smacking your lips.

Unfortunately, my brain was on backwards last night and I made a huge mistake.  Two mistakes, actually.  I didn't check my oatmeal and when I pulled it out of the cabinet I found I had about a fourth a cup of oats left.  Off to the store (for the second time in an hour).  When I got back I had oatmeal on my mind and tossed the required amount along with the chocolate chips in with the egg and sugar mix...completely ignoring the bowl of dry ingredients sitting there on the counter.  So I didn't quite mix it together the way I was supposed to and I think that may  have caused them to be so dense.  Next time I'll actually pay attention to what I'm doing.  And I might also make them a bit smaller - a fourth cup of cookie is a lotta cookie.  I ate one last night after dinner and I couldn't even think about eating a second one.  Granted, I was also also sipping on a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows....

I'll try to take a better photo in the morning - I'm not fond of the fact that it's dark by the time I get home but I didn't want to write yet another photo-less post.

Now I'm going to settle into a night of knitting with my recent Netflix deliveries: Mrs. Brown (thanks Kim!) and An Awfully Big Adventure....

edit: I completely forgot that these cookies help out with my 101 in 1001 list!

44. Try four new cookie recipes (1/4)

Christmas Tree Tradition

I found these guys lounging outside my apartment one night after work last year.  It's not a great photo but I had to take it because some creative kid did the best he or she would with limited resources (i.e. not a lot of snowfall). 

Besides turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving means that's it acceptable to start decorating for Christmas.  Although, hooray for my neighbors who already have a pink tree up and decorated in their window. 

I haven't had a live tree in five or six years.  It used to be a staple - my family always had a live tree.  When I moved out, I went to the tree farm with my parents and picked out my own.  Eventually my parents bought a fake tree but then there were boyfriends (one of which is married now and made it his own tradition) to help me pick out trees. 

One year I was at a Lowes after Christmas and spotted a skinny fake tree that was the epitome of what I looked for in a live tree every year.  And I bought it.  I haven't had a live tree since and really don't feel all that guilty about it.  I don't have to water it or worry about the mess.  It's perfect - no holes or a branches that stick out too far - and, best of all, I never have to water it or worry about the needles it leaves behind.    Plus, my cats are much less interested in climbing a fake tree which is a very good thing. 

But I'm feeling a pull I haven't felt in a long time.  A pull to bundle up and spend a hour hunting for the right tree, to drive home with that smell filling my car and then filling my apartment.   I think I want a live tree this year.  I think it started back at Fulton Farms in October when I heard a fellow pumpkin picker mention coming back to put a tag on their tree for Christmas.  I'd never heard of "tagging" a tree ahead of time and it's probably a lot more pleasant to look for a tree on a mildly chilly day than a downright cold one but...I think part of the charm would be lost. 

I'm not exactly committed to the idea yet.  I could certainly see myself shrugging off the pull and putting up the fake - I have pine scented candles, after all - but I don't know.  We'll see.