Hey all, hope your week went well. Mine was busy, hectic, overloaded, I think you get the idea. I am sitting here on this Saturday morning, wrapped in a blanket, having just read all the blogs I missed over this last week or so and getting caught up. The general consensus is that we are all way too busy at the moment. Between school, work, friends, holiday preparations and such, seems we are all a bit overwhelmed this time of year. I myself, could easily use a 30 hour day. :P

So, what has been happening in my neck of the woods? A lot. The funeral was on Tuesday, a sad affair. Seeing all the people that Erica had touched in her short 32 years of life was a bit awe inspiring though. He smile, kindness, and energy seems to have left a mark on everyone she ever knew and she will be greatly missed by many. The husband has been charged and is awaiting trial, and I for one, hope he never sees the light of day again.

As for seeing the light of day, OJ Simpson will not be seeing the light of day, even with time off for good behavior, for about 9 years. My heart bleeds for him....not. In my opinion, his trial 13 years ago was a farce, a miscarriage of justice, viewed by millions. He is finally on his way to jail, on totally unrelated charges, but on his way to jail nonetheless. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he didn't write another book while he is in there...and let's hope that no publisher will touch it, or that if they publish it, no sane person will waste their money on it.:evil:

Thursday night was the Christmas concert at school. Both my youngest son and my daughter played in it. The music was wonderful, all the Christmas carols, but with a jazz twist thrown in. The last song of the evening won them a standing ovation, performed by the high school band. It was a powerful and stirring rendition of, "We Three Kings." The whole night was a great success.:D

As I mentioned above, I am sitting at my desk, wrapped in a blanket, and as I write this I am wondering what has happened to our weather. It is damn cold! We should not be having cold like this until at least mid January, but here it is. I was out at 5am this morning, driving my youngest to meet the bus to a band competition and it frigid! The actual temp at 5am was 10F (-15C) but the wind chill was down to (-20C)! That is enough to literally bring tears to your eyes as you scrap the snow and ice off your car. I expect that kind of thing in January, but not now. Now we should be hitting above freezing everyday for at least part of the afternoon...but we are not. Nothing is melting, more snow is due to fall today, and there is no warm up in sight. I don't mind the snow, it is beautiful and fun, but it needs to be warm enough to go out and play in it.

I have a solution for today and tomorrow...baking and making candy. That will warm the house up nicely, add the terrific scents of the season to the air, and keep us busy all day. I have butter sitting on the counter, softening up. I have twenty pounds of sugar and twenty five pounds of flour, just waiting to be put to use. I have my cookie press ready to go, the cookie cutters washed and waiting, the cookbooks standing by. Now all I need is the motivation to start...but as you can see, I am blogging instead.

Oh, almost forgot...just one more little thing. I am a klutz. I am not all that coordinated to begin with, but add to that a bit of snow, hiding a patch of ice under it, and you have me, sliding, one foot going north, while the other heads south, and me landing on my hands and knees in front of the school yesterday. Can someone explain to me why in our klutziest moments we are never alone. Bad enough to fall down like a dork, but to do it in front of the entire student body at the school is just humiliating. My son, trying to make me feel better, told me that he falls down all the time. I tried to explain the difference between falling at 14 and falling at 48, but I am not sure he gets it. :lol:

Alrighty, the countdown till Christmas is underway, I am not done shopping, I am only starting my baking, so it is time to go. Time to get in there and rattle those pots and pans, give those mixing bowls a workout, make that cookie press sing...and by this afternoon, it will be time to eat any broken cookies, bag up some rock candy, and have some fun with the kids. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Hope you are all well, happy, and making time to have some fun.

later....