"Shelves in the closet. Happy thought indeed."

I've been spending my time basking in the glow of this beautiful Christmas gift:


My dear husband has been most unselfish, letting me watch it every night for the last 3 nights. Tonight I think I will begin again. It's so lovely to snuggle up in my jammies, with a big bowl of the treat du jour, while my husband builds things with Lego in the living room. It's a very happy arrangement. Check out the CN Tower, which was built during the second DVD last night:



Otherwise, life is back to almost-normal. That is, I'm back to work, and feel as if I am Marley's ghost, and have just picked up my chains again. Very depressing. But I am determined to turn over a new leaf, as the saying goes, and have a great attitude, regardless of what's happening at work. I just keep repeating my mantra: "I have a good job. I like my job. Lots of people would be happy to have this job."

My eldest daughter (whose pen name in Bloggerland is "Georgia") has her first real client for her home-based pet-care business. Only $2 per day for small animals, $3 for large animals. What a deal!

Happiness and Cheer!

We had the most truly wonderful Christmas in recent memory. We were so grossly indulgent that I didn't take any pictures at all, except this one, taken in the brutal aftermath of gift opening:


I received so many wonderful things that it would bore you to list them all, but I'll show you the pics of my new Bible. Very exciting! A new Bible has been on my most-wanted list for several years, and I was so pleased to get a new one this year.

I got my old Bible in 1988, the year I was baptized. It's actually a really good Bible, a leather-bound "Open Bible" with a great concordance and a Cyclopedic Index (very handy). Unfortunately I was so excited about my beautiful Bible that I underlined about 50% of the Psalms, and most of the Proverbs, with a great big gobby blotchy pen, and without a ruler. I also wrote gigantic, sprawling comments all up the margins, like "YOU ARE KNOWN BY YOUR FREINDS" (sic) and "THIS IS A PICTURE OF CHRIST AND HIS BRIDE (THE CHURCH) (US)" and so on. Sadly, I also underlined "Praise the Lord" every single time it occurs in the Psalms. (Think about that for a moment - that phrase is probably used a hundred times, and each one is underlined in huge, wobbly, gobby ink.)

And if that's not bad enough, one year, while seized with the urge to eradicate all traces of former ridiculousness, I got out the Wite-Out, and tried to cover up the worst of the markings. Thus, half the book of Proverbs has no tails to the letters g, j, y, p and so on, nor the tops of j, l, b, d, etc.


Now, I should comment here that my mother, who is infinitely wise, said once that at times, life is so terrible that all you can do is read the bits where it says, "Praise the Lord," and just repeat that over and over. So she said I shouldn't feel too badly about my defaced Bible, but should remember that it was the Spirit who was speaking to me while I was underlining those bits.

So although my lovely brown Open Bible has been very precious to me, over the last few years I've started to think I should really upgrade. Not only is it difficult to read, but it's pretty embarrassing when someone borrows my Bible and reads, in Revelation 6, "THIS IS THE BEGGINNING OF THE SEVENTYETH WEEK."

The trouble is, a person's Bible is really a map of where they've been. (**Surely that sentence deserves the "Cheesiest Blogging Phrase" award. Sorry.**) But really, it's so wonderful to come across a little note you made a couple years ago, and remember an idea you had, which you'd since forgotten. Nowadays, I use a very discreet system of tiny dots and arrows and little circles. It's a bit cryptic to the untrained eye, but I know what they mean. I also tend to switch pen colours every six months or so, so that I can see when it was that a certain passage meant something to me. So I love coming across a bit in the Bible that has little markings in several different colours -- clearly, that passage has had different meanings at different times.

If you know what I mean.

So anyway, now I'm facing the mammoth task of transferring markings to my new Bible. As well, it's really difficult to switch your everyday Bible, since I know where certain passages are on my old Bible. For example, I might not remember in what chapter Paul says "death reigned from Adam to Moses," but I do remember that it's in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. But now, I haven't got a clue where things are in this new Bible. I'll be a bit lost for a while, but I guess that's excellent motivation to do lots of extra reading.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Peace and goodwill towards men!

Christmas at the Blethering Place

... everyone laughed again; and then I went to bed. Looking through my bedroom window, out onto the moonlight and the unending smoke-coloured snow, I could see the lights in the windows of all the other houses on our hill and hear the music rising from them up the long, steadily falling night. I turned the gas down, I got into bed. I said some words to the close and holy darkness, and then I slept.

(Dylan Thomas, from "A Child's Christmas in Wales")

Holiday Trials II

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” (A. A. Milne)

Well, I've got the disorderly thing down pat... may the exciting discoveries begin!

It's Stollen My Heart!

What a tacky title! But I couldn't resist.

Spent yesterday making Stollen. For those of you without any German leanings, it's a fruit bread, often with a marzipan centre. Word is, it's supposed to resemble the baby Jesus, wrapped in fruit-studded bread swaddling clothes. That creeps me out, so I prefer not to go there.

While making my beautiful Stollen, I realized that many people probably don't make it themselves. This made me feel sad and wistful, and I determined to do what I could to prevent this from occuring. So if you already know how to make Stollen, you can just stop reading here. But if you don't, stay tuned -- here's:

Gwen's Ultimate Illustrated Guide To Making Homemade Stollen

First, here's the recipe as it's written in my cookbook:

1 cup warm water
2 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp yeast
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
5 1/2 - 6 1/2 cups white flour
3/4 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup candied fruit
1/3 cup raisins

Proof yeast. Meanwhile, combine milk and butter over low heat until warm and butter is melted. Stir in sugar and salt. Add liquids to proofed yeast; add eggs and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in the additional flour to make a soft dough. Turn onto lightfly floured boardl knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 - 10 minutes. Knead in almonds, fruit and raisins. Place in greased bowl; cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
Punch down dough, turn out onto floured board. Divide into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into a 12" by 7" oval. Fold in half lengthwise. Place on greased baking sheets, cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake @ 350 for 20 - 25 minutes. Cool on racks; frost while warm.

STEP 1: Right. So first let's proof the yeast. The whole point of this step is making sure the yeast is still active, and giving it a little jump start. I use Fleischmann's Traditional Yeast, mainly because it's what I've always used and it works well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? You want the water to be nice and warm, but not too hot or it will kill the yeast. As well, you can stick in those 2 teaspoons of sugar to feed the yeast and keep it happy. Happy yeast is happy bread. So pour the water in your mixing bowl, stir in the sugar and yeast and leave it for about 10 minutes. When you see the yeast start puffing up and looking spongy, you know it's alive! If it sits there and doesn't do a thing, either your yeast is no good, or you have killed it with too-hot water.

STEP 2: Okay, so while you're letting the yeast proof, now's a good time to get on the milk and butter mixture. I use water with powdered milk. Why? Because I'm a cheapskate. I also use margarine in most recipes, for the same reason. But there's no excuse to actually spread margarine over the finished product; that must be butter. Anyway, stick the margarine in the butter and heat the whole shebang, either in the microwave or on the stovetop. It should be just warm, not scalding hot.

STEP 3: If your yeast is nice and bubbly, you can go ahead with step 3. Now, if you're doing this by hand, you'll want to be using a wooden spoon in a really big bread bowl. I just chuck everything into the Bosch bowl, personally. Mix in the rest of the sugar and the salt. Make sure your milk/butter mixture isn't too hot; you could kill the yeast if it is. It should be nice and warm, but not hot enough to be steaming. Mix in the eggs and the first 2 cups of flour. You want it to be a nice, smooth texture, so mix that puppy up well. When it's good and smooth, you can start adding the rest of the flour.

When you're adding flour to bread dough, don't get too excited about exact measurements. There are a lot of factors involved in making dough, from the elevation to the humidity to the room temperature. It does take a bit of practice to get it right, but just remember you can always add more flour if you need it. The dough will soften the more you knead it, so if it feels a bit too stiff at the beginning, no sweat!

It's time to knead your lovely dough! Remember to take off your rings first. Last summer I forgot to remove my wedding rings while making Pulla, and realized later that one of the diamonds had come out in the dough. So be warned!

Now, a word about hand kneading vs. machine kneading: For a while there, I was a purist who thought that bread should be kneaded by hand. That's all well and good, I suppose, but then along came a couple children, and it didn't seem so important any more. My parents gave us a wedding gift of a deadly Bosch universal mixer, which can practically mix, bake, slice and serve the bread itself, all while singing Broadway tunes and tap dancing. So why not use it?

However, if you haven't got a super-strong mixer, you're going to need to do it by hand. It's not difficult at all -- in fact, it's absurdly simple. Just sprinkle some flour onto a big work surface (your table, countertop, etc). Turn out the dough and start to knead it with your (flour covered) hands. You'll want to keep it all together in a ball - I mean, don't start pulling it into bits or anything. Keep it together, girl! Yeast dough is very resiliant, unlike pastry, so you can proceed with confidence, with no fear of over manipulating the dough. Just go for it! Make an oval, fold one side up towards you, and then squish it all down with the heel of your hand. Here's my kneading picture, although this one was taken after I'd added the fruit.

So. Once the dough is well kneaded (give it about 10 minutes of good strong kneading) it should be elastic-like, and shouldn't stick much at all to your hands. Once you're at this point, you can add the fruits and nuts.

I saw online that some people soak the fruit and raisins in rum before kneading it in. Wish I'd thought of that! I tend to dice up some of those violently dyed red and green candied cherries, as I'm not fond of the pre-chopped "mixed fruit" you can get this time of year. I also chop up whole, unblanched almonds as opposed to using blanched slivered ones. It's all about personal preference.

Good. Knead in those fruits and nuts until they're well incorporated into the dough.

Step 4: Rising

This is the easy bit. The recipe books tell us that we should take the dough and shape it into a nice smooth ball. Place it in a big greased bowl (the one you made the dough in, probably), grease the top with a bit of butter, and cover it loosely with a clean tea towel. Personally, I can't be bothered with all that greasing, so I just punch it down into the Bosch mixing bowl and drape a tea towel over the whole thing. Set the bowl in a warmish, draught-free place, and leave it until it's doubled, probably about 1 1/2 hours.

Step 5: Shaping

So, now your dough is all risen and looking divine.

Unfortunately, you're going to punch the living daylights out of it, so that you can knead it a bit more and shape it into loaves. I have this thing for punching dough down; I love the flour that coats the back of my hands, and the sound of the air whooshing out of the dough. Very gratifying, indeed. Take a sharp knife and cut the dough into three equal parts. Form the 3 lumps into smooth balls, and let them rest about 5 minutes. Then, working on your floured work surface again, pat out one of the pieces into a flattish oval. The recipe says it should be a 12" by 7" oval, but I don't think I've ever really gotten them that long. Mine are about 8" by 6" or so. Fold it over lengthwise, and turn the ends slightly to form a crescent. Repeat with the other two pieces.

Step 6: the Second Rising and Baking

Lay the formed Stollen on a baking sheet. I like to use parchment paper, but that's your call. Cover them again with the tea towel, and let them rise some more. You're looking at about 45 minutes for the second rise, so you could turn on your oven to 350 after about half an hour to let it preheat. Once the Stollen have risen nicely (about doubled in size), it's time to bake them! Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, until they're golden brown on the top. If you're not sure if they're baked through, turn the loaf over and knock on the bottom with your knuckles. If it sounds hollow, it's done.

Take the Stollen off the baking sheet, and let them cool on a wire rack. It's not in the recipe, but I do like to baste mine a bit with some butter, to soften the crust.

Step 7: Frosting and Serving

Right on! You're almost done! If you like, you can make up a little frosting to drizzle over the Stollen while they're still warm. Mix a little butter, a good amount of icing sugar, and a few dribbles of milk. Mix into a nice smooth, fairly thin, frosting. Drizzle over the Stollen, ensuring some trickles down the sides for maximum aesthetic effect. Slice while warm, and gobble down as much as possible before anyone else realizes it's ready to eat.

It's official... you have officially attained Yeast Bread Baking Goddess (or God) Status! Congratulations.

Comfort and Joy

We got this excellent package in the mail yesterday. Very exciting. Only four more days until a very merry ho ho ho!

Halcyon Day

Wow, yesterday I had an almost impossibly great day. To begin with, it was our ten year anniversary! I woke up with an enormous amount of energy (rare), and leapt into action, cleaning our bedroom (disaster zone) and moving around our furniture, as well as doing 7 loads of laundry.

Then at lunchtime, my husband came home and gave me a lovely bouquet, shown here:

After my husband went back to work, I was upstairs vacuuming when the doorbell rang. I opened it to see two delivery guys standing there with a dolly. They said, "We've got the piece here. Can we bring it in for you?"

I said, "Uh.... a piece? A piece of what?"

They said, "We've got a china cabinet here for you, ma'am. Would you like us to bring it in?"

So they set up a ramp, and within ten minutes, they were gone and this beauty was in my dining room:

Wow! I love it. (understatement)

THEN... Michelle and Roy took the kids for a sleepover, and the two of us went out for East Indian, where I had the most OUTRAGEOUS Rogan Josh you could dream of. I ordered it extra hot, and boy, was it fab. We also experienced the best Pakora outside India. Right on! Here's some Rogan Josh to feast your eyes upon:

After dinner, we did a bit of Christmas shopping, then went to a movie. We hadn't planned it, but "Deja Vu" was playing and it looked okay. Okay? I loved it!

And to finish off the great day, we went home for some lovely champagne and chocolates. Ding dong! Awesome day.

And THEN, as if that wasn't enough, this morning I got an email from Cursed Manulife, saying that they have finally accepted my disability claim. (For when I was off work after the kidney donation.) They're going to pay up, not just for a couple weeks, but for the entire time I was off this summer. Wow! Amazing.

Holiday trials

Can't stop the pain in your GI tract?

Stop cooking with cheese!

New Template IV

I know... this is fast turning into an obsession. But I just really wanted a Christmas template, and it didn't take that long at all. I'm starting to like this whole HTML thing!

Nine days to go!

I'm having such a great vacation you'd hardly believe it. We've been succumbing to clever marketing ploys, pouring our hard-earned money into big corporations (see above), working ourselves into a frenzy over Christmas preparations, and generally having a blast. We hosted a party last night, and I had so much fun that, at 2:30 a.m. when the last guest straggled out the door, I looked at my husband and said, "Let's invite a bunch of people over tomorrow night!"

The only coal in my stocking, so to speak, are the numerous White Elephant Gift Exchanges in which we've had to participate. What started out as a clever re-gifting idea has turned into a holiday monster. In case you're not familiar with the WEGE, I'll fill you in:

Each invited guest needs to bring a white elephant from home -- ie/ something that is too good to throw away, but that the person no longer wants. There are a variety of ways to play the game, but all involve "stealing" gifts from other guests and pawning your own junk off on someone else.

As I said, it was a clever idea at first. In past years, I've been tickled to get rid of those old Partylite candle holders (apple, nectarine, cantaloupe and pineapple shapes) and pleased to receive a new cheese plate. And it's really quite a lot of fun, maybe once per year. But this year, we've had WAY too many WEGEs this year. And, folks, things have gotten out of hand. Have a look at what I've received this year:

Clearly things have gotten out of hand. We can perpetuate the agony no longer; therefore, I say, BAN THE WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGES! We must think of the world we are bequeathing to our children.

Had quite a lovely little party last night, though. I couldn't resist a bit of culinary showing off, and presented my guests with this whimsical gentleman:

Unfortunately, he got sampled before I had a chance to get a photo. He still looks quite happy, though.

And here is some outrageously good Pulla, resting warmly on the counter before being sliced. Though I am not one to post recipes on blogs (as that's what cooking sites are for), I am tempted to post this one in the near future.

Hail to the brave Finnish women who pioneered the art of Pulla baking. Now, if only I could figure out how to braid with four strands....

Sick and Tired

...of homeschoolblogger!  Half the time I can't view my blog at all, half the time I can't access my User Control Panel, and the other quarter of the time, I can't post text / pics / links.  (Questioning my math?  Don't worry... I'm teaching my children all I know.)  In fact, this is the third attempt I've made to post a "Good bye" post.  Chuh!
 
So I'm jumping ship.  Say adieu to my lovely Christmas template, and say hello to my new boring one over at blogger.  I'll start a new template as soon as I've got a mo!  Here is my new blog.  See you there!

Holy Charles Dickens, Batman!

Am in the process of reading Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" to my children, ages 6 and 8. Now, I'd not wanted to wait until they were older to share this excellent book, and thought that as a read-aloud, it would cut the mustard. I scoffingly eschewed a "children's edition" I saw in our library, and thought stridently, "Things have come to a pretty pass when they're publishing fake Dickens! What will they think of next?!"

Well.

Have you read "A Christmas Carol" lately? Further, have you read it with elementary school children in mind? It's impossible. I find myself wanting to say (but not, thank God, actually saying), "Marley was dead, to begin with. Scrooge knew for sure he was dead. When Scrooge went home for dinner, it was very cold outside. Then he saw Marley's face on his door, and felt a bit scared." Honestly. But in the interest of A Good Education (see last post), I am pressing on, ignoring the blank, glassy stares of my children. I must say, though, that I relished, as ever, reading out, "Oh! but he was a tightfisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" I love it.

(original post here)

The Runt of the Litter

Right-O, it is clear that I came from the shallow end of the gene pool in my family. Here, reluctantly, are my scores:

Actually, upon reflection, I realize that I am proud of being only lightly nerdy. Nerdy enough to recognize Isaac Newton, cool enough not to know the periodic table. Yup, it's all good.

Scary Thoughts

Goodness gracious, I seem to have lost any vestige of control I had over my children's education. I realized today, in a blinding flash of light, that it's Christmas, and my grade 3 child STILL has only learned the multiplication tables up to 5, with smatterings in the 7s and 11s. (And, of course, the 10s.) Since September, once in a while I experience, out of the blue, a crippling realization that I, and I alone, am in charge of my children's education. This means if they don't make it into the university of their choice, I am the one who can be blamed. And if they turn into freakishly unsocial weirdos, that can be laid at my door. It's scary, I tell you. I can just hear the admissions counselor at McGill, in 2016:

"Dear Ms. Educated-At-Home:

We regret to inform you, while laughing behind our hands, that you have not been accepted, and never will be accepted, into our university. We suspect your mother has something to do with the amusement we felt while reading your application, and advise her not to attempt homeschooling again. We further advise your ridiculous mother to learn her own eight times tables, and quit pretending that she understands anything to do with mathematics. We don't really regret our decision, and wish you well in life, although we understand that you will be permanently crippled by your lack of a decent education.

Yours, in utmost sincerity,

Messrs. McGill

(original post here)

A whole new world

Now that homeschoolblogger.com has been "improved," it is full of bugs and problems! Most disturbingly, I'm finding it very difficult to add new posts, which tends to put a stick in the spokes of a blog. So I'm glad you found me here!

Spent a lovely day baking, baking, baking. Since it was decided that my sister's family wouldn't be coming for Christmas, I'd lost my joy (as Shan would say). I've let my house get disgustingly grungy, and had all but abandoned anticipatory baking. But today, on the first day of my HOLIDAYS, I suddenly felt full of zest and energy, and made not only a lovely batch of pulla (Finnish cardamom bread), but also Glazed Nut Diamonds, Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls and Vanillekipferln (Austrian Almond Crescent Cookies). AND, I'm excited that tomorrow we're having Moe come to clean our house. Ahhh! It will be so lovely to come home to a sparkling clean house after a day of Christmas shopping. (Only two gifts left to buy!)
We put up our Christmas tree a couple days ago (fake, due to too much snow/no time to go out for a real one), and it is twinkling peacefully in the living room. This year, tired of too much glitz, I omitted all sparkly garland and icicles in favour of a lot of decorations from Ten Thousand Villages. It's quite a change, but I'm happy with the results: a much less North American-type tree. This is a poor picture, but you can still see what I mean:
I tried to make the switch to white lights this year, but was vetoed by the children. I didn't put up much of a fight, as I realize that coloured lights are much more magical and exciting for children.
Now that homeschoolblogger.com has been "improved," I find it full of problems. It's proving really difficult to add pics and links. I'm thinking of switching over to blogger, but I'll let you know....

(original post here)

C.O.: the Real Story

Back in the 80's I came up with a terrific idea for a comic strip. I knew at once, in a flash of inspiration, that the main character should be called "Clumsy Ox." My brother, hoping to get in on the fun (he always kind of followed me around), approached me with the idea to name a secondary character "Tripping Teresa." I was the type of sister who was gentle and loving towards my siblings, so I kindly used his idea in my comic strip, of course remembering to give credit for his idea.

But listen to how my kindness was repaid:

In a shocking twist, my brother began to spread the dirty lie that he made up Clumsy Ox, and that I was responsible for Tripping Teresa. And, as fate would have it, he went out with enticing words of man's wisdom, creeping about privily to deceive, whereas I spoke simply, as one accustomed only to the truth. And, though it grieves me to write it, I think he began to believe his own lies.

Over the years, he has gone to great lengths to stun me with this deliberate breach of truth. But, friends, nothing could have prepared me for his recent act of faithlessness. He has created AN ENTIRE BLOG celebrating this falsehood, and he has actually made a link to my blog, calling it "Tripping Teresa."

In short, I have been trounced. Well and truly trounced.

Now, I want to warn you that you may be shocked by his perfidy. But those with strong stomachs can go here. Please pray for him, that God would soften his heart and take the scales from his eyes, that he would be able to speak the truth without shame. Perhaps, one day, he who has persecuted me in times past would now preach the faith which once he destroyed.

(original post and comments here)

In Other News

Ewww... I'm sick, sick, sick as a dog. The thing about being sick is that it's all you can think about. The phone has rung about 400 times today, and I made sure each time that I answered it with a particularly small and stuffy voice, to ensure that the callers felt sorry for me. And they did, for the most part, with the exception of a rude and pushy telemarketer from Mastercard.
Contact C...... 7.49
Neo Citran..... 8.49
Kleenex with Aloe..... 1.59
Being healthy..... priceless.

Anyway, I've read a lot of books and have listened to a couple of sermons I missed at a conference this weekend. One of the speakers is from South Africa, and after listening to him, I found that I was reading my book (silently) with a S African accent. Odd.

I've reread these books in the last couple days:



Now, I know that I am asking for some mocking remarks with these words, but I have to say that I love these books. It's worth noting that if I were the chick in As Sure as the Dawn, I would so totally be all over that Theophilus dude. Ding dong! I'd ditch Atretes so fast it would make your head spin, and take off with Theophilus into the Roman sunset. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

(original post and comments here)

Odds 'N Ends

On Monday night, I walked in the door after work and saw this:





And a close-up of the note, written creepily on torn cardboard:





It's so fun having kids!



Then this morning, my daughter was telling me about a friend of hers who, when a baby, had a knot in her tongue. It took me a few minutes to realize that her friend had been tongue-tied. Too funny.

(original post here)

Sad Day

I had a rotten day. I slept in late, and didn't get up for church until 9:30. You know those days when you get up, exhausted before your feet hit the floor, and just want to start crying and go back to bed? Yeah, that was my day. I'm not really sure why my day was so awful, but it was.

This weekend was very busy, to begin with, between double shifts at work and a conference going on at church. I spent Saturday in the church kitchen, slicing about a million buns, making tiny rolls out of a MOUNTAIN of lunch meat, and scooping out eight hundred litres of soup. I felt like I was turning into this:



"No soup for you!"

Then today, after scrambling around trying to get myself and my kids ready for church [late], I wished I could have just stayed home. Although everyone else was having a blast, I felt grouchy and sad and unloved, and couldn't wait to skive off when it was over. Then on the way home, I had to slog through the grey slush in the Save On Foods parking lot to run in and grab milk and bread, and then realized when I was driving away that I forgot to buy dishwasher soap.

When I got home, with a bare hour and a half until going back to work, I sort of banged things around and sniffled for a while, unloading the groceries. But then I got this in the mail, and bawled over it for 45 minutes:



How nice. It made me feel loved and appreciated, and although I am not a pin-wearing kind of girl, I actually put the pin on my work coat. Because really, how many people out there have "Living Donor" pins? I felt very warm and lovingful towards the BC Transplant Society and St. Paul's Hospital. Isn't it funny how encouragement comes from the strangest places, just when you need it? Every now and then at work, I'd think, "we thank you for the gift of life," and start tearing up.

So it turned into a good day after all!

(original post here)

Mrs Half Soled Boots

I just read this in my sister's blog, and laughed so hard I squirted tea right up my nose. (Was painful indeed.)

It's always nice to have a man around the house, especially to keep you company for a nice homemade eggnog latte. Sadly, this particular one is "not a whole man", as he kept saying to me in a sad tone, but I trust that he is happier now that he has been reunited with his missing leg.




(original post here)