12 Days Until My Christmas!!!

The countdown is on! There are 12 days until Neal comes home! It will be Christmas to me!
This weekend has been busy. I had my annual cookie exchange party with my school friends. It was a lot of fun and went smoothly. The wassail turned out well and I made 9 dozen cookies! I know I am a little OCD, but I wanted three different cookies to go on my Pampered Chef Three Tiered Stand. I made Cherry Pistachio Sugar Cookies dipped in white chocolate, and Andes Mint Cookies, and a disaster cookie. The night before the party I made the third cookie and tried to make a recipe from my BHG magazine. They were supposed to be a biscotti type cookie, but they clung to the counter and I had to scoop them back up into the bowl. Then Caleb helped me make the candy topping, but he pulverized the red hots to a fine powder instead of chunks in the blender. He likes the puff of air that the blender emits when he takes the lid off.
The party was fun, we played a fun Charades game and drank eggnog to our hearts content. I was thrilled to use my grandma's punch bowl and glass cups. I felt like I was a hostess to the queen. I look forward to that party each year. Good friends, good sugar high, and plenty of leftovers. Ahhh, bliss! I sent the leftovers with Caleb to preschool so he could "share." He felt special too.
Saturday I went shopping with my friend Emily in Sugarhouse (what irony!) for my Christmas presents to myself. Since Neal is gone I get to pick out my own presents, and we went clothes shopping! The Loft is my new favorite store, and we had fun! P.S. The Loft loves teachers!
I also stopped at B&N for Caleb's books. They love teachers too, well at least they did on Saturday when they had a sale for us. I started a new tradition when Caleb was born and I buy him the Caldecott and Newberry every year. Then when he leaves my house he will have a collection of classics.
Sunday we spent catching up on our sleep while we slept on the floor in the family room. My cuddle buddies Dezi and Caleb kept me warm. Good weekend!