Give yourself a smooch from me.

A lil wtf tuesday

Mrtl's thematic suggestions are so great, but I rarely get around to accomplishing them. But not this week! This week I am on le ball.

First off for wtf tuesday is a little item I saw whilst working at the mall a few weeks ago. I enjoyed a little pee-break and then took my sweet time getting back to my booth, because I was working with someone else for a change. I checked out a few shop windows, and stopped at this store, with some pretty things in the window. It was called "Vintage Memories". You know the drill, fancy beaded lampshades and tatted lace linens and lots of dollies with glass heads and baptismal gowns on. All a bit over the top but still fun to look at.

Then I saw the most horrifying thing ever. A monkey doll, fully dressed in ornate Victorian clothing.



I know! WTF, right?!! I stared at the thing and I swear it was trying to send me some secret messages of terror and madness. The poor dolly beside it looked like it had succumbed to the monkey's evil aura. And there was a giraffe, on the floor beside it, that was also fully done up in Victorian garb. Wee-erd. I made the girl I was working with take the above picture with her camera phone, lest I went back the next day and it was gone, having been a strange hallucination brought on by mall air and a not-so-fresh Subway turkey sub.

I will try to get a better picture of it and maybe it's giraffe partner this weekend. Because I don't care if it is the day before the day before Christmas on friday. NOBODY in their RIGHT MIND would buy that thing, especially not as a gift.

So. In other news I threw my back out almost two weeks ago and I am still hobbling around. What a drag. Advil barely takes the edge off. I am going a bit insane because there are pots of things to do around here what with Christmas being FIVE DAYS AWAY and all, and I am good for about a half hour then de pain kicks in. Wah.

Alright, well, I must go. On my hands and knees I shall drag out all the bags of presents in my closet and see what still needs to be bought. Wrapping! ARgh I forgot about wrapping!

Oh well, it could be worse. I could live in the window with that monkey.

a.

BLOGGERS Cookie Exchange

Or something like that. Susie's great idea!

I love poring over my Christmas cookbooks. I read and reread recipes for appetizers, side dishes, crafty things, gifty things, and cookies cookies cookies. Most of my time is spent on the reading and fantasizing about making things. It's fun.

For reals though, I make two or three kinds of cookies to freeze and bring out. And one or two nice breads to slice then freeze.

These have become a must. Love them, from one of those spiral church cookbooks where everyone puts their favourite recipe. You just know you will find a 'tuna salad casserole delight' in there. As well as '7 layer overnight salad' and 'Ambrosia'.


Ginger Sparklers

3/4 c. butter or marg.
1 c. br. sugar
1/4 c. light molasses (not blackstrap)
1 egg
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. gr. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
Cream together marg. (butter), brown sugar and molasses. Beat in egg until light and fluffy. Measure dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir into creamed mixture until well mixed. Shape into 1 inch balls. Dip in sugar, place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven 375 deg 8-10 min. Make 3 doz. cookies
NOTES : This makes soft yummy cookies, that are mildly spiced! I go heavier on the spices, even throw in allspice, cinnamon, whatever I have. So, so good with tea. Or right out of the freezer. Or anytime, anyplace, anywheres.

My sister Jen makes the most best Belgium cookies you ever did see. She has been the Queen of Belgiums since we were kids. I remember her at thirteen rolling out the dough on our kitchen island, allowing me to perform low pressure tasks like getting the jam out of the fridge and wiping her brow. Heh.

My mom makes pretty much everything great. Lately she has been into mereingue type things. Since the poor lady can't have anything with flour! Wouldn't you just DIE.

My sister Siobbhan is a good baker too. She has made a million pies with real pastry crust. Like, not from the freezer section that you let sit on the counter to thaw for ten minutes. Like, she has a pastry cutter and everything. It's scary. Here is a wish for her to bring a pie to my parents on Christmas Eve.

(wish)

My parents have done a do on Christmas Eve for about 20 years. It has gotten smaller since they moved out of the city, used to be 60 people, family and friends dropping by, staying late. The food didn't even get out till 10:30 sometimes. But it has changed. It is more of a family thing, now that everyone has kids (my mom and dad are soon to be grandparents of EIGHT precious precious little gelflings) It is an earlier night but just as special. We sing and eat and yack and their house always looks like a million christmas bucks. I am hoping to get Sam to play violin this year. If we play our cards right, we could enjoy some nice entertainment into our older age, with the eight offspring all performing different events for us. Hey, my sibs and I used to do an entire rendition of The Sound of Music in the front hall when we were kids, complete with Jen dragging Siobbhan upstairs while she pretended to be sleeping. We also did some pretty heavliy choreographed numbers to The Village People and The Beatles Red Album. Oh and Clap For The Wolfman.

I am not sure what we are doing Christmas day this year. The morning is always just my little family at home (with my MIL who lives downstairs), I don't get out of my housecoat (sorry, ROBE) until noon. SO fun to watch the kids unwrap everything, bring it over to me, "MOMMY!" whilst I sip my tea with Baileys. Lucy is going to be a riot this year, she kind of 'gets it' and I can't wait to see her running around with her loot. And then Jay makes a mother of a breakfast for us all. And then the house is that mostly contented new toy late night before quiet for a couple hours. With the Christmas music in the background.

Alright, well, time to go make supper and maybe see what's what.

Happy Cookie Exchange!

A.

Thank you! Nice people you are.

I will post, even though I don't want to, because I liked so much opening my blog and seeing 37 comments! A personal record! So cool it is like an early Christmas prezzie.

Thanks to everyone of you darling people for saying such nice things about my comedy. I tell ya, comedy connects people like nobodys business. On Sunday at church I had ladies catch my eye and smile at me like we shared a secret. It was a nice feeling.

As for copyrighting, (which a few of you concerned sweethearts actually emailed me about!), I don't know much about it. I wouldnt even know how to go about it, except to date the video and mail it to myself and never open it. And that is only going on something that Miss Finlay my grade five teacher told us one day back in oh 1980. Things may have changed since then. Gawd, I'm a dork.

I am kind a tired tonight, Jay has night school. But it is his last class/exam night! Which means no more night school nights for at least three weeks! Yee haw! Actually, he has been picking up the slack around here, because I have had 'night things' going on, work and stuff. My candle booth is getting busier exponentially. People are starting to buy buy buy. It's looly.

Frig. Monty needs me up in his room AGAIN. Pee/Water/Nother Story (nope)/Tell You Something Mommy/Bug In My Bed/Shadow On The Wall/Hug Required. What a kid.

A.

Cah-medy Thursday

Here is a linka to our family website that my hubby does. He worked for hours to get my comedy video on there. Good guy.

Link!

Just scroll down for the laughs (hope hope). He also has a song on there he wrote if you wanna have a listen.

Toodles!

A.

Way Back Wednesday

I think this was started by Mama Duck. I found these old student bus passes from my first and second year of University so I scanned em and here they are.
Sixteen and Fifteen years ago I looked like this:



I am not sure why I look so sad in the first picture. Maybe my barrette was too tight. The fashion of the day was a huge gray T shirt with cutoff at the knee white jeans. And yes ma'am I tucked that massive T shirt in just so. VERY flattering!

The second picture is a little better, except one of my eyes seems to be wanting to laze off. That was a perm grown out from ten months before, if you can believe it. That perm, it could have taken over the world, survived a bombing, scrubbed a thousand pots clean. That day I was wearing a sleeveless sweater with a denim mini skirt. Not so mini compared to the cooter skirts they wear these days.

I look quite hopeful and studious in the second picture. Ha. Couldn't have known then that I would totally fail every single class I took that year, by just not showing up, ever. What a dork. What a waste of two thousand five hundred dollars of my parents money. I had to jump through many, many university hoops to get back in.

Alright, better go.

A.

Went Pretty Good!

Really. I was a bit of a wreck beforehand because I was pacing around, worrying that I would forget my stuff. Half of it I had only made up a few days before. But somehow it was fine, they laughed alot and I had a pretty good time of it.

I will get Jay to put a link to the video (thanks Trace!) tonight and you can decide for yourselves if I brought the funny or naught.

A.

Whew!

Now That wuzza bizzy weekend.

Friday night I took my MIL and SIL to see the Geritol Follies. Do you know them? They are a group of over 60 people who sing and dance and they are kinda great. One lady was 88 in the choir. One dancer (who had some nice legs on her) was 74. I am totally joining when I am 60. Only 24 and a half years to go!

The crowd was kind of Senioray.
From my seat it looked like this:



LOTS of white hair and no hair and Christmas brooches and good wool coats.
It took us FOREVER to get out of there, the wool coats and overshoes and walkers kind of bottlenecked and then you pretty much might as well have pitched a tent and sang some songs around a flashlight.

I kinda like old people though. I like how they undertake the business of walking. I like how they look around for old friends. I like how they smile at younger people. And I like how they are all put together from the talcum powder to the pouffy hair.

So it was fun. A good show.

Sat I worked at my booth alone and man alive I almost died because i had to pee from about eleven on and noone was coming till 230. I could hardly deal with the customers. I kept looking in the crowds of people walking by, desperate to see a familiar face. I thought that even if I saw someone from high school I would ask them just to wait at the booth for a minute while I took off. Then I thought, what about a friendly looking mom with a kid? You can trust moms. Except what if something happened with the kid, the mom would ditch my booth if that occurred. Well, nobody familiar came and I just had to deal. But my replacement people came a half hour early so I didn't die altogether.

Then we had music team rehearsal for church on Sunday and then a Christmas party thing. Then home to sleep, then back to church early and then I had to do sunday school with Sandy for the second service. Which is just fine because we get to hang out and the kids are walking talking riots. Then I stayed at church to decorate the gym because TONIGHT we are having a Ladies Christmas Event, pretty much run by me and my friend Joanne. Please if you have a minute send us a good vibe that we pull it off because we have basically whipped this thing togetha with a lick an a promise! Yee-ikes! I am doing stand up comedy! It has been a while and I am a bit rusty! So the exclamation marks come out! I will have it video taped and try to put a clip on here! If it turns out okay! If it does not turn out okay you will never, ever see it!

Deep breath in, Deep breath out.

Where oh where is the Diet Coke. I am watching my friends little guy this morning and he is almost two and he and Lucy are in cahoots big time and I don't even know what they shoved in the VCR but it was definitely not a VCR tape.

Toodles. Happy Monday! Blech!
A.

Quiet Morning, But Not For Long

They actually slept in today.

Jay leaves for work just after seven. And as a rule, all the kids are usually up by six forty five. It's just how it is around here. But today, they slept in! They just woke up, and it is 7:35. Which means I got to get up with Jay and we got to talk and hang out while we made his lunch and stuff. So nice, to make tea with someone, like a little dance choreographed by time and togetherness. It was like a date!

And then I got to sit on the kitchen floor and drink my tea and read the paper ALONE. I do this every morning, but usually I have to get up sixteen times and someone is almost always hanging on my back, looking over my shoulder to see if there are any pictures of toys or kid movies.

The reverie has broken. Sam is on le toilette and Monty is yelling because he has to go pee. And Luca is calling from her crib, "Knock Knock! who da?"

We put up the Christmas tree last night. I could just sit and stare at it for hours. Some of my lights have died, though. Gotta get some new ones. I am all about the twinkling lights. I am hoping that the ornaments stay on the tree this year. Last year Lucy kept taking them off and hiding them in little piles all over the house.

Alright, well, duty calls. Nice talking to ya and all that.

A.