I'm leaning into the dark these days. Hannah and I have been LOVING our morning walks in the pitch black. It's just me and her and I like to just let her sniff and enjoy the world. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's nervous as all heck and jumps if so much as a leaf falls near her, but at least I'm having a good time.
*****************
On our walk on Sunday night, I even took the holiday cards to the blue mailbox and dropped them all in (except for my five Canadian cards - I have yours sitting next to my goal journal all stamped and ready to go out as soon as the strike is over, Canadian friends) and whispered happy travels for them. I ordered my cards through Minted again, despite the fact that I literally have never been 100% satisfied with my orders from them.
One year, we did not get any envelopes. One year, we actually got two orders sent our way. One year some of our envelopes were duplicated, so I had to go through and make sure people only got one card from us. This year? This year some of the addresses were addressed incorrectly. The number 3 became the number 8. Apartment numbers were added where apartment numbers did not need to be added. The abbreviation MN became MI. Now these are all things that could be blamed on me, but MY SPREADSHEET HAD THEM CORRECT. So I stuffed all the envelopes, but then had to go through each address VERY CAREFULLY to make sure things were correct. (If there is a handwritten correction to your address, I did that!)
And let me tell you, I am not a detail lady. I am a lady who doesn't notice things like MN is MI. This took me a long, frustrating time. I don't know if I'm going to stick with Minted again. (Also, our card is HUGE. Like 5x7? This is on me, though. I just didn't look at the dimensions because I thought it was normal card size. I was wrong. I'm SORRY, friends. I'm bad at holiday card sending, I guess.)
*****************
But, in more cheerful holiday news, my Secret SANta gift arrived from Jenny! If you don't think that dog ornament went right on my tree, you don't know me very well!
Also, we went on our annual trip to see the lights at the Rotary Gardens.
 |
| I did not ask my friends if I could post their photos, so I am protecting their privacy. Not my husband's though. If you see him around, maybe don't mention you saw his photo on my blog? |
*****************
Last week, the dean of our college did a "Cookies & Cocoa" event. His partner made like a million cookies and all the leftovers made it to the kitchen on our floor and every time I go by the kitchen, I eat more cookies. The eggnog shortbread cookies are AMAZING, but I have to admit that I have not been making good choices re: sugar this December. January is going to HIT HARD.
*****************
Speaking of cookies, do you know what my husband sent me a photo of today?
.heif)
A new KitchenAid!!! My beloved KitchenAid finally gave up its battle. We looked into fixing it (of course we did) and it was $200 to fix it and about $300 to get a new on, so Dr. BB took the plunge and bought me a new one! Who's going to make chocolate chip cookies tomorrow? This girl. (Yes, I'm going to make cookies despite the fact that I've eaten my weight in eggnog shortbread cookies this week. Don't judge my December baking decisions.)
(As part of the November/December hemorrhage of money, why not buy a new kitchen appliance? Fortunately, this came out of my husband's budget. He also paid for an oil change and the cat's trip to the emergency vet last week. Yes, all three things should have been mine to pay for, but that's how the cookie crumbles when you have a six-week winter break and your wife has to actually go into the office.)
*****************
Have you sent out your holiday cards yet (sorry, Canadian friends - your turn will come soon!)? What's the last kitchen gadget you bought?
I had my KA stand mixer fixed at a small repair store a few years ago, but if it breaks again, we will likely replace it. We have a super fancy model, so repair was worth it. It is FOR SURE my most used kitchen item. Happy baking!
ReplyDeleteWe had the bright red Professional 5 quart mixer and I loved it so much and used it so much. *sigh* Oh, well. Onwards to the new one - my husband said he's going to set it up for me today! Yay!
DeleteI like the idea of a most-used kitchen appliance. Ours is probably microwave, toaster, instapot.
DeleteYou busted me - I have not sent out holiday cards yet. I will take care of business in the next few days.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of letting loose and eating whatever in December. There's just so much good stuff out there to enjoy. I mean how often do you get eggnog shortbread? I would have sampled heavily. On the flip side, how often do you get to make cookies? It's fun.
Enjoy the new Kitchen Aid! Yay for spending money on something fun for a change.
I don't know how often other people get eggnog shortbread cookies but I have now gotten them for the last two Decembers and I don't want to live without them in my life. But they are definitely only a December treat.
DeleteThe strike is actually being...I don't know the right word. Paused? Suspended? It's almost kind of over? But neither side has settled so workers are going back to work. Literally no one wins, and everyone has lost this month. It sounds super spoiled "oh poor Nicole, no mail" but there are thousands of people waiting for government documents like PASSPORTS to arrive, imagine how shitty that is, plus our northern and remote communities have been completely cut off since Canada Post is the only organization that delivers up there, and also small businesses! They have been completely screwed. So this month-long strike resulted in neither side being happy, workers unhappily going back to work after a month of strike pay before the holidays, and of course there is such a backlog who KNOWS when anything will get through. However. The mail is supposedly starting back again on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteI support your December cookie habit! When can we eat unlimited cookies if not in December?
Oh and it SNOWED here! Very exciting for someone big and fuzzy.
Oh! The strike is sorta over?! I'm less concerned about passports (sorry, I don't think international travel is necessary in 2024! it's NICE, for sure, but not NECESSARY with Facetime and the internet) and more concerned about rural areas not getting things like food and medicine. Sheesh. Mail is such an important government service - there's actually a law in the US that the USPS cannot strike, even though they're unionized, which gives the union a lot less power than it should have, but prevents these sorts of things. ANYWAY. I will take my five Canadian cards to the post office later this week and see if they'll accept them.
DeleteSNOW!! We haven't had any that has stuck yet and I'm not mad about it. Stay away snow!
My cards will go out Wednesday (manifesting!!). And the last kitchen thing wasn't quite a gadget, but two tall OXO cereal dispensers. I don't eat cereal, but I love how it tidied up that pantry shelf.
ReplyDelete"that's how the cookie crumbles" Pun very much intended, I assume?
The pun was intended and I'm happy you picked it up!
DeleteFirst of all- glad the present arrived! And- December is the month for cookies. If you didn't eat them, you'd regret it. When you make chocolate chip cookies are they going to be gluten free?
ReplyDeleteWhat a HUGE pain about those cards! I would definitely choose a different company next year- they sound terrible. But I'm looking forward to your (big) card to put on my display. Like Maya, I'm manifesting that my cards are going out on Wednesday.
The thing is that the Minted cards are such good quality. *sigh* I guess it's not great when nothing can be addressed correctly. I wish I could figure out how to print address labels on our printer. Every time we've tried, I've ended up just going it by hand and that's A LOT when you send as many cards as I send.
DeleteEverything I make is gluten-free. We do not have all-purpose flour in our house because of cross-contamination issues. It's not even a possibility to make "regular" cookies!
I'm still waiting for our Christmas cards to get here because I ordered them so very late. fingers crossed that they will be here tomorrow so I can madly address them all on Thursday before we leave on our trip.
ReplyDeleteWe got a stand mixer last year - for years I thought, "We don't need that!" and we don't really use it that much, but when we do use it, it is so much faster. My Husband used to make chocolate chip cookies by hand mixing everything. That just seems exhausting now.
I probably use our stand mixer at least once a week and sometimes more than that. I honestly don't know what I'd do without it!! It does make everything get made so much more quickly!
DeleteWow, that box is HUGE! My mom's kitchen aid mixer bit the dust recently, too! She went with a different brand this time around - Bauch or something like that? She makes so many cookies/year so her mixers really take a beating (see what I did there? Ha.).
ReplyDeleteI think you need to give up on mint. That is TERRIBLE that they've made so many mistakes year after year. I use Shutterfly and have never had an issue with them! I think 5x7 is a pretty common size these days so don't feel bad. That might be the size of ours? I'm not sure. I send our cards out obnoxiously early so you've already received mine. I like getting it done early on!
This is a time of year when it's actually best for me to gluten free because I am not a moderator. I am an abstainer. So it is helpful that I cannot eat most of the treats that I encounter at parties and in the office!
The posties are back on the job as of today.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am definitely not a detail guy.
Yay for the new stand mixer! I love mine and would be heartbroken if it died.
ReplyDeleteEggnog shortbread cookies - off to Google that recipe. Eat all the cookies - in December they don't count. Anything delicious in December doesn't count and needs to be consumed.
It's sad that Minted can't get it right! How incredibly frustrating! I don't have a Kitchen Aid mixer, but maybe I'll be doing more baking, and it sure would be nice!
ReplyDelete