MIA

I know, I know. I’ve been missing again. Sorry!

I’m not sure if it’s burnout from NaBloPoMo or the time of the year. But I remember being this way last December.

This year is different though. I’m more bah humbug about everything.

I got about 10 ornaments put up on the Christmas Tree before I decided I was done and over it already. And if WhatsHisFace hadn’t put up the wreath, stockings, tree, and lights then I’m betting it would all be still sitting in boxes down in the basement.

So far, I’ve only bought what I had to get shipped back to Ohio for Secret Santa and Parent Presents.

I have made a couple of dozen cookies in general, but haven’t managed to put them in containers to give away. I even threw away half of the first batch because they sat for so long on the counter.

If we didn’t have folks expecting a Christmas Day dinner, I think I’d have opted for a day of PJs, cheese dip, and either movies or playing computer games.

Just call me Scrooge.

Ah…. December

I’m down to 638 unread posts in my feed reader. *sigh*

Wanders off grumbling about NaBloPoMo…..

NaBloPoMo: Last Day!

My office smells all flowery. WhatsHisFace tried to send these last week, but with the snow and the holiday, they didn’t get here until a few days ago.

My method of arranging flowers is to plop them into a vase and maybe move a more opened flower over to the edge. I remember taking a flower arranging class in Japan when I went with the college group, but honestly, those women spent hours and used a ton of squishy foam and wire. Who has time for that?

In other news, it looks like our local nuclear friend crew is going ahead with the Secret Santa thing for Christmas. I don’t really grasp the concept. Why the secret part? It obviously adds an element of fun for folks, but I feel like the Grinch. Me no get it. (Hi English teacher dating one of my friends! I put that in just for you! I obviously need a nickname or online handle for you. Hmmm…..)

Anyways (heh, another one, but this time you’re way too far away to hit me)… I’m glad that November is finally over. I was just not really feeling NaBloPoMo this year. Having a theme for the month was a good idea, but my execution of it was a bit lacking. I also had wanted to roll out a new blog template/design for NaBloPoMo. I have a template I like over on my test blog, but there are a few issues with it that I can’t seem to find the inclination and time to get fixed.

Two, Two Days Left!

Cute, no? This is Doktor Uh-Oh’s newest family member. They sent the picture after Halloween.

(Yes, and I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel. No access all day will do that to ya.)

Day Twenty Eight: Twenty Eight Bottles of Rum On the Wall….

*Nom Nom Nom*

Some days, she thinks the Glucosamine bites are treats and picks them off her food as soon as I put them in the bowl.

Other days, she thinks they’re icky bits that she needs to eat around.

(Oh, and don’t be too grossed out at the state of the doggie mat. It’s been laundered since I took the picture, honest!)

Day Twenty Seven aka Only Four More Days!

And here we have a picture of WhatsHisFace’s glamorous daily digs.

I remember those days. *shudder*

His cube is much more orderly and neat than mine ever was though.

There’s one thing that needs a closeup:

I wondered where all those puppy pictures went!

Day Twenty Six: Lalalalaaaaaaa

I’m running out of pictures

WhatsHisFace took this one with his cell phone somewhere. There’s two rainbows in the picture if you look closely.

Day Twenty Five: Tis the Season

I’ve started the grand cookie adventure again. I’m looking for a few good cookie recipes so I can make up some cookie gift bags for Christmas.

I stumbled into this recipe last week from some comments on another blog (no idea which one, but the author was looking for a way to get moist cookies). I bookmarked it because it looked interesting, and I’ve given it a few tries this past week.

Basically, the recipe is the same as the Tollhouse recipe except that you add a small box of Instant Pudding after you cream the butter and sugar together. The first time, I tried the recipe as written on the main page with Vanilla Pudding and dark chocolate chips. They look really good, don’t they? My first bite, I almost spit the cookie out. WhatsHisFace couldn’t get enough of them though. I checked the comments on the recipe, and several folks suggested adding salt and more vanilla (and sometimes a little baking powder). I tried salting the last three sheets of cookies, and it seemed to help a little bit.

So I decided to try it again. I used a Chocolate Fudge pudding mix, peanut butter chips, and I added the salt, baking powder, and a Tablespoon of vanilla. This time, the pudding mixed up with the butter and sugars into something not unlike cement. I kept going though (because I’m stubborn like that).

It turns out that the Vanilla pudding was the 3.4oz size recommended in the recipe. The Chocolate Fudge pudding (same brand) was 3.9oz. The mixing directions for the pudding called for the same amount of milk, but the puddings obviously mixed up differently in the cookies.

I didn’t think I could add liquid at this point, and I decided to try baking one batch to see how dry they came out. They totally fooled me. The cookies came out moist, fudgy, and with just the right amount of peanut butter. I could have eaten about a dozen of them. So I went ahead and baked the entire batch. The only problem was that they dried out as they cooled. By the time I got them onto the plate and tried one, they’d turned into something about one step up from a hockey puck. (Okay, not quite that bad, but nothing like the fantastic cookie straight out of the oven.)

So I’ve got some more experimenting to do with this recipe before I’ll add it into the rotation or decide to scrap it. My first instinct is to try the Chocolate Fudge again, only holding some of the dry pudding mix out. Or maybe adding some peanut butter like one of the commenters suggested.

Day Twenty Four: When In Doubt….

When in doubt, go with the (barking) dog pictures. I mean, who doesn’t love a dog?

This is the best shot I got of her on Thanksgiving. She’s had the flash in her eyes one too many times. So if you get out anything remotely resembling a camera, she starts averting her face.

Day Twenty Three: Big White Dog

She’s trying to look inside to make sure we’re not doing anything fun without her.