2012 December » Northwoods Woman

I’ve Figured Out My New Year’s Resolution

Dec 172012

For the last few years I haven’t made any Christmas goodies to spread around to my family and friends.

Perhaps it’s because I’m always baking bread or sweets for our home use all the time that I just can’t get into the mood.

Or perhaps I’m just too lazy.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to get back that seasonal passion of spending 20 hours of doing nothing but bake up some wonderful holiday morsels and then collapse in a baking coma for 3 days.

Did that come out a little harsh?

Sorry.

Actually, we have some wonderful friends that stop by each year with calorie-laden trays of cookies, breads and cheese, enough to pack on the Christmas pounds for a couple of weeks.

I love those people.

And some day I hope to be able to return that favor. Maybe that will be my New Year’s Resolution: Bake Christmas delights for those that have been so kind to us over all these years.

And I wont have to worry about ~~breaking it~~ fulfilling it for 11 months!

* Peanut Butter Blossoms from Betty Crocker.com

Much Better Than The Elf

Dec 132012

I’ve been hearing a lot about this Elf on the Shelf thing.

Now you have to remember that my daughters are grown, and I’m thinking that the grandkids might just be too old for something like this, but since I like to be “in the know” on ~~crap~~ stuff like this, I thought I’d do a little investigating.

So let me get this straight: it’s a little creepy doll that is used by parents at Christmas time to put the fear of god in them to be good or else Santa won’t bring them anything?

Seriously?!? Parents have resorted to using dolls to do that sort of thing now?

Wow, I guess I must be out of touch. Back in the day, all it took was a good threat. And boy, did it work! And. It. Didn’t. Cost. A Dime.

Here’s my suggestion to all those parent’s that choose to resort to this sort of blackmail: If you’re gonna shell out your hard earned dough on a doll to instill fear in your kid to be good, spend your money wisely and have something that will work all year long.

Furbie is all you need. Sure, it costs $50, but that’s only a few more dollars than you shelled out for fairyboy on the shelf. AND, this thing can ~~terrorize~~ be used all year long!

The best part is you really don’t have to do any training to get it to spontaneously “wake up” in the middle of the night and scare the crap out of your kid*. You can tell them that they must have been bad and if they’re good, it won’t happen again. Hey, it’s no bigger lie than what’s happening with that little doll.

And if you feel that you still have to move him around or hide him like the elf, go ahead and knock yourself out. Just make sure you check your trash often, because you just might discover it “hiding” there often.

*I had one of these things 15 years ago and it did wake my daughter up in the middle of the night. Scared the crap out of her (and it still gives her the heebie jeebies to this day). Suffice it to say, she won’t let me get one for the grandkids. Bummer.

It May Not Be Pretty, But It Does The Job

Dec 112012

No update this week on the studio building because nothing got done to it.

Due to circumstances beyond Rick’s control, he needed to stick close to the computer this weekend. So instead of freezing his buns off outside, he tinkered with other things in the warm confines of the house.

One of those things being the bread slicer we bought this summer.

He was finally able to get it lugged in the house (the damn thing weighs 10 tons) and finished putting the pieces back together from when he tore it apart for cleaning last weekend.

Please notice that there is a loaf of bread at the ready for the christening of this machine.

I am proud to report that the bread was sliced to perfection and therefore the machine has proven that it is up to the task that we bought it for and can take it’s rightful place in our kitchen.

Thank gawd too, because Rick sure didn’t want to move it again.

There Will Be No Air Mail to Abu Dhabi

Dec 102012

Has anyone else noticed that it is only 16 more days until Christmas? Which means there are only 12 more days to get those presents wrapped and shipped out if you are going to do so.

Which is exactly what I did today (except the whole shipping part, which will happen tomorrow).

I have to be in the right mood to wrap presents, because when I’m going to do it, I want the whole shebang done in one fell swoop so I don’t have to clean off the table, grab all the wrapping crap and and make a huge mess more than once.

There is one advantage to me getting it done early this year, because as I was sorting everything out, I realized that I was missing a couple presents. So OK, I’ve got to make a slight mess once those arrive.

*Insert appropriate word of frustration here*

It didn’t take long for my wrapping inspector to show up to make sure that I was doing a good job. After all, these presents were being shipped to family members, so neatness counted.

And when you are in the middle of a marathon wrapping session, there is no time to break away and have a decent meal, so it’s important to have well-balanced, nutritious snacks available.

Or in this case Cheetos.

Thor also doubles as a nutritionist. He’s a cat of many talents.

Of course, where would I be without a box inspector. I was sweating it there for a while, but eventually I got final approval to carry on.

Cats are tough man!

And no, Thor was not shipping her to Abu Dhabi.

Purrsonality

Dec 062012

Since this week has somehow developed an “animal” theme, I thought that I would throw in one more just for good measure.

And I just happen to have some great pictures that I took over the Thanksgiving holiday that will fit the bill quite nicely.

Who better to start off the party than with Thor.

This cat just begs to be in front of the camera. Until of course, he wants to eat. Or hide under the bed.

Now here I’d like you to meet Skeeters. This little cutie is one of Nichole’s barn cats that came to live at her homestead this past summer.

I’ve always said that I love Thor’s eyes, but this little sweetie is giving him a run for his money.

Barn cat #2 is Dynamite. He may look like he’s a little pissed off, but it was the only way I could get a picture of his gorgeous face.

He was a little camera shy, but such a little lover kitty.

I think I could stare at this face all day long. This is the little cutie Nova that I introduced you to back in May.

She has grown up so much and surprised me with how friendly she has become. She definitely has developed a purrsonality!

Thank you for indulging in my little version of Wild Kingdom this week. It wasn’t planned, but sometimes you just gotta work with what ya got!

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