Tuesday Thoughts

-I woke up to the sound of pouring rain this morning, and of course it was dark. A perfect recipe for wanting to absolutely bolt out of bed with excitement to start the day! I can’t tell you how much I wanted to stay home, pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep. Let the kids wake up naturally (knowing full well it would be three minutes later, but no matter). Then I would spend the day baking some of the estimated seven million baked goods that I need to make in the next week—we are scaling back and doing cookies as gifts to teachers, therapists, co-workers and colleagues this year. In case you are curious I am making:

-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies
-Mexican Wedding Cookies
-Lard Bars (Graham cracker crust, condensed milk, coconut, chocolate chips, walnuts they don’t call them Lard Bars for nothing).
-Lemon Squares

-I’m having holiday card anxiety. Last year at this time I’m pretty sure the cards were not only ordered but also addressed, mailed and received (complete, even, with holiday themed stamps, that’s how much time I had on my hands last year). And of course, the cards were perfect (if I do say so). This year, well, No. A total of four adorable holiday outfits sit in Ellie’s closet. Leo has a new suit and tie as well as three irresistible holiday sweaters. And every attempt at a holiday card has failed miserably. Maybe this year we’ll go for a New Year’s card? Valentine’s Day? It was so much easier to photograph them when one of them was immobile. It never fails now when one is hamming it up for the camera the other is screaming, most likely crying, and definitely running in the opposite direction. Leo has also taken to actually yelling at me when I try to photograph him. Not sure what's going on there. I am about ready to pack it in and use pictures taken earlier this year, perhaps ones even, gasp, that have been previously published on this very blog. Would it kill anyone? Not to mention, would anyone even notice? That’s what I thought.

-I am feeling very smug because I have discovered I can sneak tofu into my children’s scrambled eggs. I know I'm not the first to do this and I know this is riveting (ha) but this kind of information excites me. I am now wondering what else I can sneak. If only spinach wasn’t so green and obvious.

-I’ve decided I would like to move us all to Pocket Hollow. I don’t know where this is located but I like the sound of it. It’s where Toot & Puddle live. We’ve yet to watch this new show but the ads on Noggin are absolutely irresistible and every time I hear them say the words “Pocket Hollow” I think yes, that’s where I need to live. That’s where I will be happy and carefree.

-In spite of the fact that I have no baking done and no gifts purchased, I am in holiday countdown mode. That is because I have almost two weeks off work coming up wherein we can sleep in (well, not set an alarm clock) stay in our pajamas all day if we want to, I don’t have to pack breakfasts, lunches, or snacks, pick out clothes for anyone (including myself) in a hurried fashion. My family is visiting from Oregon for six days. It’s a wonderful life.