What a busy time of year……

Yes, we are all busy with life and the Christmas/holiday season…..I’ve been busy making our traditional gingerbread cookies that we send out in the packages to TF’s family. I have already made four batches and my husband wants me to make two more batches. As well as cookies, I have made peanut clusters, pretzels dipped in white almond bark, and Bonnie’s favorite – fudge. I will probably make some chocolate chip cookies before the season is over. Besides mailing out cookies to TF’s family, we make up about twenty plates of goodies to hand out to neighbors, friends and business acquaintances. When I was younger, I used to make home made wheat bread too. We would give that and a can of beef stew to very special friends.

On top of that, I had put together an order of herbs and spices that took some time to work up. We usually do this right before Thanksgiving but this year we didn’t have enough ordered to get our discount, which covers the shipping. Penny and I decided to beat the bushes and rummage up a few more orders so that we could hit our goal of $ 500.00. When the second date came and the flurry of orders came in we had just under $700.00, who would have guessed? The order came in a week ago and it took me a whole morning to sort and package everything. I had packages lining two walls in the dining room. Most of them are gone but I should be able to deliver the last of them tonight at our church Christmas party.

Woah!!! The party starts in about an hour and a half from now. I signed up to bring a cranberry/pineapple jello salad for the dinner and I made that this morning. I will also take some non perishable food items and candy jars for our yearly food drive. We will have a nice Christmas dinner, a special program and a visit from Santa. I invited my daughter to come and bring the kids so that they can see Santa and sit on his lap….Last year they loved seeing Santa.

Next week I plan to finish my shopping, wrap gifts and make two pair of pajamas for my granddaughter for Christmas. I am sure there will be plenty of other things to do in between, but that is the goal.

On a different note: Bonnie came back from Florida disappointed that the space shuttle did NOT lift off. She realllllly wanted to see it happen, but the fuel sensors on the external fuel tanks had a different idea. She came home just in time to take her finals and then sleep for a full day. Tomorrow she will head out to do some “independent” contractor work for the company she worked for before she started back to school. She will be working for four weeks and get home just in time to start her next semester of school. The money she makes will pay for that semesters tuition and books. On a sad note, she will be spending Christmas on the road……..Oh Well!!! Actually, we are grateful that she was able to get the work.

Have a great week everyone……..