Merry Christmas

I received some thoughtful gifts this Christmas. The ones in the first four pictures came from my dear friend Liz, who lives across the ocean from me in England. She's the writer of Liz's Deaf Blog as well as a photography blog and a blog narrated by her cat, Miley. I met Liz in person when I went to England in 2010. We keep in regular contact through email.

I had been thinking to myself that I ought to buy a pretty pen for my purse so you can imagine my delight when I opened the box (on the right in picture #2) and found a pen with my name on it. Isn't the bookmark next to the pen lovely? The photo doesn't do it justice. It has a 3D effect and contains lovely facts related to my name on the reverse side. I always associate the color purple and butterflies with Liz.

Photo #3 shows two books she gave me on castles in England, a postcard of a Robin Hood statue, and a Union Jack tea towel. Just the thing to tide me over until season 4 of Downton Abbey begins.

The plaque I am holding in photo #4 says Life's truest happiness is found in the friendships we make along the way. Liz is certainly a true friend of mine who has added to my happiness this year and ever since we got to know each other. Thank you, Liz. I'm fortunate to have you as my close friend.

More thoughtful gifts I received include those from my Aunt Louise. She reads my blog regularly and is a great source of support for all that I do. She took seriously my posts on my desire to do more public speaking and sent me two recommended books on the subject. I can't imagine a nicer gift than having someone take your dreams seriously and help you to achieve them. Thank you so much, my dear Aunt Louise.

This year I am especially thankful to share the holiday with my family. Although they are camera shy and seldom featured on my blog, I wanted to include photos of them in this holiday post.

The first photo is of my husband Rob. He's my rock. The second is of my son Charlie. He's holding an Army cap ornament. He has enlisted and will be serving our country after he graduates from high school. I don't know if he will be spending the next Christmas with us or where he will be posted, so this ornament is poignant.

The third picture is of my Dad. It's hard to see but he's holding a pocket New Testament. It's our family tradition that my Dad reads the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew before we open our gifts. As soon as he got into my house, I asked him, "Dad, did you bring your Bible to read the story?" With a big smile on his face, he said, "Of course I did."

The next photo is of my Mom holding Melody. My mom was really happy to meet her today. Although we had a present for Blondie to unwrap, we all knew that the real present for her and all of us was Melody, the new puppy who has claimed our hearts. She's a little sweetie, just adorable and Blondie's shadow. Happy Holidays from my home to yours.

Holiday Surprise

A kindergarten girl with Deaf parents chose to sign the songs for them rather than using the generic hand motions with the rest of the class at her school's holiday concert. Now that's what I call inclusive communication! I bet her surprised parents were so proud. Whether you know sign language or not, this short video is guaranteed to lift your spirits this season. I could watch it over and over to see how this little girl stole the show. Enjoy and happy holidays!

Rusty's Christmas present

Viewing tip for HD videos: To avoid experiencing lag time, click play, then pause to allow the video to download completely. Once the grey bar has reached the end, the download is complete. Now click play again and the video should run without interruptions.

Santa must not have heard what happened to Rusty's old dog bed.

I'm sure it's hard to believe, but he chewed it up. Ha, ha.

Christmas Reading

Public Library Christmas Tree 

To keep my spirits bright, I've been reading library books with a winter or Christmas theme. Here's what I've read so far: Aunt Dimity Snowbound by Nancy Atherton, Wreck the Halls by Sarah Graves, and Christmas Wishes by Debbie Macomber. I'm in the middle of A Crossworder's Gift by Nero Blanc. I still have yet to read Decked With Folly by Kate Kingsbury and Murder for Christ's Mass by Maureen Ash. All of these authors are new to me.

I was lucky to find so many seasonally appropriate books at my local library. It's a nice way to finish out my year of reading. Have you enjoyed following my reading list? Should I do it again for 2012?

Closeup of Ornament on Library ChristmasTree

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A Christmas Treat for Dog Lovers

Nothing says holiday like a good old fashioned reindog parade. A what? You ask. A reindog parade, you know, that holiday tradition where you dress up your dog and parade him in front of the townspeople. Okay, I'll admit it. This was new to me too this year. But it was a lot of fun,especially when the dogs shook off their costumes. I made a video of the event to share with you. Enjoy!

Tis the Season to Be Jolly

Today I attended my fourth holiday party within the last week. Whew, I don't want to get anywhere near a scale! The first one held last Wednesday was a university staff party. I walked away from the annual raffle with two Christmas CDs. Not bad. I wasn't named Employee of the Year, but a good friend of mine was, so I am very happy about that. She's such a hard worker that she didn't even take time away from her job to attend the party and have the chance to walk onstage to receive her award. Now that's dedication!

The next party I attended was the Chicago ALDA holiday social. This was my first time to attend. I think this event is almost a rite of passage. You aren't really a member of Chicago ALDA until you've been there. Kind of like you haven't attended the ALDA national convention until you've been to the karaoke party. Members of ALDA (Association for Late Deafened Adults) will know what I mean. I've heard stories but haven't been there myself. Yet.

Anyways, the Chicago ALDA social was held on Saturday night in this beautiful Victorian home in historic Oak Park. Doesn't it just look festive and inviting?

I came with my friend Ann, another newcomer to the group. Here the two of us are posed on either side of our hostess, Mary. She told me she has been a member of ALDA for more than twenty years. Ann and I enjoyed getting to meet more of the ALDA membership. Everyone was friendly and welcoming to us. And I have to mention the food at the party was outstanding.

Ann, Mary, and me

On Sunday my family attended a banquet for our afternoon bowling league. In the photo below, Charlie and I are holding the Strawberry Pretzel Salad we brought. This dessert features a pretzel/butter crust, a layer of cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip, and a layer of strawberry jello and strawberries. We topped ours with another layer of cool whip. If you'd like the recipe, just drop me an email.

Charlie and me at the lanes. We bowl
with a father/daughter team from our church.

Below is a shot of the food table at the banquet. Yummy. We ate while we bowled which made for a mellow afternoon of competition. There wasn't much of anything left at the end of three bowling games. Do you think we burned enough calories bowling to compensate?

Potluck Bowling Banquet

Today's party was the library staff holiday luncheon. The library was closed for two hours so no one had to be on public service duty during the party. I enjoyed spending time with coworkers I seldom see due to working in different departments and on different shifts. Best of all, after my table was finished eating, we reconvened to an adjacent area with comfy chairs where one staffer serenaded us on his guitar. He played his own songs which are in a folk music type of style. I couldn't catch most of the words he sang, but I heard the guitar chords clearly. It was so relaxing.

Last year at this time, I took time off for a baking frenzy. This year I've been working and have only made one batch of gingerbread men so far. To be completely honest, my son came up with the idea and made the dough himself. I only assisted with the decorating. In comparison to last December, I was feeling pretty good about my calorie intake. Until I wrote this post, that is. Realizing just how much food I've eaten at these four parties makes me see that I'm not really ahead of last year after all. Oh well, tis the season to be jolly....and well fed.

Unabated Baking

Gingerbread Men

I've continued baking. I was halfway through making these gingerbread cookies when I noticed I didn't have enough ginger. Oops. I made a quick run to a local shop for this vital ingredient. The cost was an outrageous $5 for a small jar of the spice. But what could I do?

That wasn't my only baking mistake. As I mentioned in a recent post, I had planned to try out my mother's and grandmother's cinnamon roll recipe this week. Fortunately, the recipe needs to be baked in two separate batches. Here's why.... My husband and I were sampling the first batch fresh out of the oven and realizing they didn't taste quite the way mom's do. While eating my fourth bun, I wondered aloud if she uses more brown sugar. Then it hit me, I had forgotten to add the cinnamon. When my husband heard that, he pointed out to my embarassment that cinnamon would have to be a main ingredient considering the name and all. Needless to say, I made sure to add cinnamon to the second batch and they tasted closer to mom's. But hers are still the best!

Sugar Cookies

Last night my son and I made up some dough to use in our cookie press. It's practically an antique handed down to me from my late mother-in-law. To our disappointment the cookie press no longer works. So we rolled out the dough and cut out these sugar cookies instead. I'm planning to give these bell shaped cookies to a friend of mine who collects bells. I think she'll enjoy them. I had fun decorating them for her.

Sugar Cookies

These Christmas tree shaped cookies are decorated with cinnamon candies. Some of them melted during the baking process. My son and I decided those were the ones we'd eat. Mmmm.

Tonight we plan to make chocolate covered pretzels. Yum!

Window Wednesday

Photo of my window's reflection of our Christmas tree.
[Taken from inside the house]

Been Busy Baking

What's making Rusty's mouth water?
The wonderful smells in the kitchen.
I took a week off of work and I've been
busy baking. Here's what I've made so far...

White Chip Chocolate Cookies
[recipe from Hersheys]

We call this the reverse chocolate chip at our
house. It's very rich, almost like a brownie.

Pumpkin Cookies

[recipe from The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook]

I had some leftover canned pumpkin from baking pumpkin
bread and I decided to try my hand at these cookies.

They are delicious and aromatic.

Snickerdoodles

[recipe from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens
cookbook] These classic cookies are easy to make
and there are no unusual ingredients to buy.

Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at a cinnamon bun recipe that's been handed down from my grandmother to my mother and now to me. I was surprised when I asked my mom for the recipe that she had the ingredients and directions completely in her head. She doesn't have them written down anywhere! It's a two day project which explains why I've never gotten around to making them myself. Not to mention that my mother spoils us by bringing them when she visits and regularly serving them at her house.

Then it's on to making more traditional Christmas cookies: gingerbread men, cookie press cookies, and sugar cookie cutouts. We also like to make chocolate covered pretzels for Christmas too. Fortunately, this year my teenage son has shown a great interest in helping me bake and has been willing to help clean up afterwards. Of course he (like me) enjoys sampling the goodies. Cookies taste best hot out of the oven.

Photo Fun for Friday: First Snow of the Season

Left out in the cold.

Not an inviting seat tonight.

Outdoor Christmas light closeup.

Don't the Christmas tree lights look nice
with the snow on the branches?

One of our bushes alight in the night.

Our Christmas tree Advent Calendar
is getting more decorated by the day.

Last weekend my husband got our outdoor wreaths and lights up. Tomorrow we will put up our Christmas tree and decorate it as a family. The school Christmas concert is this weekend. I've got most of my Christmas shopping and writing of Christmas cards completed. Next up - baking Christmas cookies.

Naughty is the New Nice

Tis better to give than to receive. How true especially if you've been a tad bit naughty with your gift giving. Smirk.

Last year I found an irresistible gift for my parents who are just a little leery of receiving affection from my big friendly golden retriever. I got them t shirts that said "Ask me about my grand-dog" with a nice large paw print on the front. Tee hee.

By the way that wasn't their only gift from me. In case you were wondering.

The shirt can be ordered from this Animal Rescue website.

This year when asked what she would like for Christmas, my mother said she wanted a dish towel. C'mon, a dish towel. I could do better than that. I knew she would really enjoy getting a pair of sapphire earrings to match her favorite ring. The problem is she's one of the last holdouts on pierced ears and she only wears clip on earrings. I scoured the Internet for sapphire clip on earrings but came up empty. Hmmm. What to do. Eureka! I would get her a matching necklace instead.

I found a lovely sapphire and diamond necklace at Kohl's. On sale too. Perfect. Next I found a dish towel in her favorite color yellow. I wrapped the jewelry box up and placed it inside the dish towel and then wrapped that up. You want a dish towel you're going to get a dish towel I thought evilly.

I couldn't wait for her to open her gift Christmas morning. I was all ready with my camera and snapped this photo to share with you.


See, naughty really is the new nice.

Recipe for Holiday Cheer

Here's an excellent dish to bring to a holiday family gathering or a company Christmas party. Make sure any Scrooges get an extra large helping.

Recipe for Holiday Cheer
slightly adapted from Taylorstales Genealogy

2 cups Genuine Interest
4 spoons of Understanding
1 cup of Recognition
1 cup of Appreciation
2 spoons of Tenderness
1 cup of simple Courtesies
3 glasses of Kindness
4 spoons of Faith
1 cup of Friendship
1 jug of Laughter
1 jug of Smiles
2 mugs of Consideration for Others

Take Genuine Interest and make an effort to Understand. Mix thoroughly with Recognition and Appreciation. Blend with Simple Courtesies, Kindness and Tenderness. Add Faith, Friendship and an abundance of Laughter. Top freely with Smiles and Consideration for Others.

Be sure to enjoy the wonderful smell while this dish bakes in your heart. Just before serving, garnish with Love.