So life here for the last week or so has been all about books. I managed to get my hands on a copy of A Touch of Dead, which is a collection of Sookie Stackhouse short stories that go along with the regular Sookie Stackhouse books. I promptly sat down to read the ones that fell chronologically before the point I was at. Then because I only have the book for seven days and because I wanted to read the series in order I got to reading. At 9pm tonight I finished the last book, and now I must wait until May it appears to get more. I just love these books, they are such fun and I’m always getting a laugh from them that I just have to share.

Sookie isn’t the only reading that’s been done here either. I finished the Christmas Challenge with only a few hours to spare and my thought is I won’t be doing that again. I love the Christmas holiday, and all the joy and happiness that comes with it, but for the most part the Christmas challenged seemed more like work that fun.

• The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere – 12/7/2009
• The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans – 12/2/2009
• A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber – 12/15/2009
• Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb – 12/3/2009
• Christmas Jars by Jason Wright – 12/31/2009
• The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson – 12/26/2009
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – 12/24/2009
• The Chimes by Charles Dickens – 12/18/2009
• The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens – 12/21/2009

I also finished Kiss the Girls and 2nd Chance as part of the James Patterson and Women’s Murder Club challenges. Both were everything I’ve come to expect of Patterson and I’m looking forward to my next books off of each list.

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Are we calling it twenty ten or two thousand ten, anyone know??? I’ve often thought it odd that starting in 2000 we stopped the nineteen ninety-nine numbering scheme and went with two thousand scheme. Then beginning this fall I heard people refer to the new year as twenty ten, it made sense to me, sort of, but last night as we flipped through the channels watching different New Year’s shows and saw the New Year celebrated across the U.S. I became confused. Some call it twenty ten, some call it two thousand ten, and some called it both? What will you be calling it?

On the resolution front, I’ve opted for going resolution free this year since I’m still very conflicted over the virtual pet dilema. Perhaps there were things I could have resolved to do, but I just couldn’t get myself worked up to do it.

We didn’t get all the holiday baking done before Christmas and decided to hold off on what we hadn’t done until New Year’s. It’s just the three of us and we were getting over run with goodies. So yesterday after a quick run to the store we made a batch and a half of traditional party mix, a batch of puppy chow party mix, and a triple batch of Beulah’s Delights. Later I whipped up some of those quicky pigs in a blanket using refrigerated crescent rolls and breakfast sausages. I know we’re real party animals.

I still hold we could make money off our holiday recipes, perhaps even enough to need business insurance, if only I knew how one goes about that stuff. Or evenly more importantly if I didn’t think it would drive me crazy after a while.

Oh well, enough rambling for one day. I hope you all had a fun and safe time last night, and have the opportunity to catch up on all your rest this weekend. Back to the post holiday grind on Monday!

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Hosted by The True Book Addict

Well it’s been a while since I updated my Christmas Reading challenge so in honor of Christmas Eve I will let you know where I stand.

First I finished The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere, and it was fun. You could see where it was going but it had a few cute twists and turns that kept it moving. It was the best one I had read so far.

Next up was A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber and despite the obvious story line it was fun, light and quick moving. My guess is that if you read all the Cedar Cove stories you will probably get more than I did out of it but it was fun.

Next I added two Dickens stories to the list because I couldn’t get my hands on other titles I wanted and my librarian recommended them. Both The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth were good quick reads, and there is just something about that time, a time when Christmas was almost lost, that really speaks to me. If you haven’t read these, I would recommend them.

Tonight we will read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens because that is what we do on Christmas Eve and then perhaps I will read The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

• The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere – 12/7/2009
• The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans – 12/2/2009
• A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber – 12/15/2009
• Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb – 12/3/2009
• Christmas Jars by Jason Wright
• The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• The Chimes by Charles Dickens – 12/18/2009
• The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens – 12/21/2009

Christmas Reading Challenge

Books: 9 / 9 (100%)

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So today marked the end of my Christmas shopping and the start of some Christmas cookies. Usually we would bake farther in advance; but since they are only for us we have left them until the last minute.

Our gingerbread, straight from the refrigerated section, had to be shaped like penguins! So I made a penguin outline in Paint Shop, printed two of them on cardboard and cut them out. Miss Muffin had a grand time being allowed to use a sharp knife and did a great job following the safety rules.

The baked cookies only vaguely resemble penguins, but I’m sure large amounts of black and white frosting will fix that.

The second kind we made this afternoon are No-Bake Chocolate Balls, I have no idea where the recipe came from, only that we’ve been making them since I was a kid. All you do is crush up enough Nilla wafers to make 2 1/2 cups, add 1 cup shredded coconut, 1 cup confectioner’s (powdered) sugar, 3/4 cup of Hershey’s Chocolate syrup (preferably from the little can), and 1/2 a teaspoon of real vanilla extract.

You mix all of it together into one big gluey mess and then roll it into 1/2 to 3/4 inch balls. Roll the balls in some more confectioner’s sugar (or toss them in a bag with the sugar) and you’re done.

You can substitute generics for the ingredients in these but you will miss out on the extreme vanilla rush that happens when you mix the name brands together. It kills me to pay the extra, especially when I’ve been searching for cheap health insurance; but a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do. Let these sit for at least a day before you scarf them all down, they are best when the flavors have had a chance to blend.

Tomorrow it’s peppermint sugar cookies and Beulah’s Delights (aka snowballs), and perhaps some party mix. Oh and there’s all the wrapping!

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So we did the week after Thanksgiving in a very unschoolly manner talking about things and researching things as they came up during our holiday decorating. It gave me a chance to relax a little not having to come up with curriculum in advance, but I know I’m not disciplined enough to do that all the time.

Now we are finishing up our second week of our regular schooling only to go back to a looser style through the Christmas and New Year holidays. I’ve amassed a huge amount of Christmas and winter themed puzzles, games and coloring sheets, as well as a Polar Express unit done with both the book and movie and a lot of fun activities for Christmas Eve.

Maybe I’ll even get photos one of these days of some projects, or just an ordinary day (jammies and all).

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