Blessed Christmastide to all my fiends this day, and for those observing the liturgical calendar, every day until the 6th of January.
I hope you derived great joy from giving and receiving gifts this year at Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. A special treat for me this year was watching my grandsons disappear into their own quiet little world on the living room floor, playing with blocks, binoculars, a car and a school bus while the adults talked and laughed and gave and received around them. Yes, Christmas is a time for craziness with shopping and baking and getting everything done, but it’s also a special occasion for remembering and reinforcing the importance of love in a family. We pulled that off in grand style last night. Many thoughtful and fun gifts were shared, and much fun was had.
The only thing missing this morning is our annual Christmas Day trip to Detroit, courtesy of the $700 we forked out for a car repair last week. Delightful. Oh well, no worries. Instead, I am going to play with the new toys the Thriller gave me:
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Italian chicken tonight, with pasta and garlic bread.
What did St. Nick bring you? Anything fun? I hope so. Happy Christmas to all!
Happy Chrimbus Fink! Glad to hear you had a good family Christmas gathering. We need to get Alphonsus back from Seattle so you and he can do some cooking with that stuff.
Thanks and same to you, TH. And we definitely need to get Brotherman back here for a cook-in. Remember our medieval feast one year in celebration of your hatching day? That was the best roast beast ever — back when you were eating roast beasts. We can do something similar (albeit beast-less) next time, too. Looking forward to it!
I continue to be jealous of all of the beautiful Christmas Toys you get for your kitchen. Hope you have a merry Christmas.
I **LOVE** the new cookware!! You never mentioned what Thriller got, though
I hope it wasn’t a lump of coal! LOL 
I got a new Dremel because my old one sort of bit the dust (http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/ToolDetail.aspx?pid=8200). The “obsessed-with-my-new-iPad” BluVox got one of these from moi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTP3dZEaFhM It works on both iPhone & iPad.
We decided that, instead of getting each other something more substantial, that we really needed to replace our washer dryer (our version of $700 car repair). Unfortunately, when we decided to re-arrange some laundry room cabinetry, we discovered that a) the jackwagon former owners tiled **around** the existing cabinets (vs. removing them & tiling the entire floor), leaving huge gaping voids in the tile…and b) the existing cabinets covered up plumbing for what used to be a utility room sink.
So after re-tiling about 1/3 of the laundry room and replacing the tall free-standing cabinets with hanging wall cabinets, we decided to put in a utility sink & a nice countertop for folding clothes, etc. Behold the finished product: http://gallery.me.com/billshafer#100022
WOW! That is fantastic, babe! All great gifts to each other and for each other. What’s this thing?
Looks like something that allows you to take the doors off to clean them. Zat what it is? If so, I want me some.
The Thriller got a new laptop from the Fink. He’s happy.
Now we’re both going to lose the extra holiday weight…how is it that he quit smoking a year ago and I gained 25 lbs.???
Actually, the part that holds the door & hinge together DOES “unsnap” and let you take the doors off in a SNAP! BUT…the little gray plunger-thingy that piggy-backs off the hinge is a “soft closer” – so instead of your cupboard doors slamming shut with a WHAM, they just quietly come to a close in the last inch or so.
YOU GO, Thriller!!
By the way, the little guys are too adorable!
That is great, Skylar — that little box will be your life! And thank you for the kind comments — those boys bring me such great happiness.
A belated Merry Christmas to you and the family! Sounds like you had a nice time.
Hey Mrs. Postbode! Did you have a good Christmas? Was de Kerstman good to you?
Yes it was “rustig, or restful. Christmas is more of a restful time, gift-giving is done mostly with Sinterklaas in early December (which we don’t celebrate). Mom sends us a small box if gifts, though, so we have a little something to open on Christmas Day. It’s actually a relief to not worry about gifts and all that — all the more time to focus on what’s to eat!