Weekly Menu Dec 17

Source: alittlebitofsillinessreally

This week we have:

Christmas Treats!

Gingerbread Muffins

Eggnog Pecan Cookies

Christmas Chutney

1-Hour Cinnamon Rolls

For today, Dec 17 ...

Outside my window... *Pout* It's all warm and sunshiney. It's supposed to get up into the 60's this week!! All of our snow is disappearing! No White Christmas for me this year. At least I got two good weeks of winter. And will probably get more in the next few months. Sigh. Better than nothing!

I am thankful... for my super-handy Geologist!! We had quite the adventure while moving in. Turns out our giant brown "teddy bear" couch didn't fit downstairs. We took a quick scan of our budget, resigned ourselves to buying a new one, and took an hour out of moving in to head to the furniture store. Couldn't find a single thing we liked. So we came home, even more depressed... and decided what the heck!! Let's try to get it in there ourselves!! 

Not happening. Soooo, what to do?? Cut the dang thing!! We opened up a back corner, cut a few supporting planks, and it buckled just enough to get it in! 

Did we scrape the wall? Yep. Was it worth not buying a new couch? Absolutely. 

Then my handy handsome hubby bolted everything back together, stapled the fabric back on... 

Good as new! He rocks. :)

I am going... Ahhh, not much of anywhere this week, which is quite a relief! The past three weeks have been PACKED!! We're going to the zoo in Colorado Springs to see their zoo lights display, don't tell the boys! It's a surprise. I am of the belief that almost anything is more fun if it's a surprise. Joe agrees with me.

Source: snowflake-fireside

In the kitchen... Lots and lots of Christmas treats! Some that I've posted, like Homemade Caramels, some that are too simple to post (chocolate-covered oreos, a childhood classic) and a few with new recipes to share! Gotta introduce ourselves to the neighbors, right?? I had a whole menu ready to go for this week, but it wasn't special enough. Not enough Christmassy snacks.

I am looking forward to...Um, CHRISTMAS?!?! Aren't you?? One week from today it is Christmas Eve!!

Around the house... Still unpacking!! As soon as everything is tidied away into it's place, I will share pictures. It will probably take a whole post! Even though our basement is beautifully finished, I live in the upstairs. It's so bright and sunny! Someday, after the holidays, we'll buy me a stereo for the kitchen so I can play music up here, and then the computer will go in the study/music room/library downstairs. I will be sad when that happens, but this desk and all that dwells on (and under) it are just not pretty enough for my upstairs. 

Source: blissfulinallthings

One of my favorite things... Paper snowflakes. It isn't Christmas around here until I've got snowflakes in my windows! I could spend hours cutting them out, and usually do, till my fingers are sore from those tiny scissors... I used to be awfully picky about them, and wouldn't hang any that were less than glorious, but I've grown up just a bit, and now I'll hang the boys's snowflakes too. Joe actually has quite a knack for them, for a 6-year-old!

A peek into my day... Back and forth to school, dropping off two kids and picking up one, then off to the park for playgroup and some much needed Beastie exercise. Now we're back home, Joe is settled in with Woody the Woodpecker, chutney is simmering (smells AMAZING) and I am blogging with the windows open and a Diet Coke with lime. Had a lovely chat with a dear friend this morning, and later I'll have to run a few errands. After the chaos of Thanksgiving week, and the moving/concert weeks, life is finally starting to feel normal again!

source: Pinterest

Guilty Pleasures... Hostess snack cakes. Oh, they are so gross, and I can't help myself! They are absolutely a guilty pleasure. My brain knows that there probably isn't a single real, natural ingredient in them, but they're still sooo addictive! Twinkies, Oatmeal Cream Pies and Swiss Rolls are my favorites, but I've been known to enjoy a Zebra Cake from time to time... Oh, the guilt!!

I am learning... I am not a fancy-shmancy girl. The Geologist and I went to his company Christmas party this weekend. It was held at a hotel, and because of that we got a room there for half-price! Fun, huh? I dolled up, to the nines (I thought) complete with red heels and *gasp* make-up... We showed up, and it turns out when they said "at the hotel", they meant "two floors, 4 buffets, 2 ballrooms and 3 event rooms". And "Business Casual" apparently meant cocktail and evening dresses! Of which, surprise, I own none! I felt like a dressed-up elementary school teacher. It was crazy!! Fun, but crazy! Next year I'm going to have to buy a fancy dress. So we wandered, mingled, chatted, for about an hour, then high-tailed it back to our room and decided to watch a movie. But if you give an April a decadent hotel-room-movie, she's going to want some snacks to go with it. So we snuck downstairs, past and through the party in our casual clothes, dashed across the street to a 7-11 for spicy cheetos and Twizzlers, then back in and up to our room. It was hilarious! So it turns out I don't need glamorous parties with seafood bars, I just need a good movie and some snacks.

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