<p>Just spent the day baking my Christmas bricks, ie, cookies. I just have to let you all in on a remarkable new cookie recipe that I stumbled upon. Enjoy…</p>
<p>1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup chopped walnut
1 cup dried fruit
1 bottle Crown Royal whiskey or rum</p>
<p>Sample the liquor to check for flavour.
Take a large bowl, check the liquor again, just to be sure that it is of the highest quality, then pour one level cup full and drink.
Turn on the electric mixer…beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.
Add 1 tsp sugar…Beat again.
At this point, it’s best to make sure the liquor is still okay, so try another cup, just in case.
Turn of the mixer thingy.
Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.
Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.
Mix on the turner.
If the dried druit gets stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a dewscriver.
Sample the liquor to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift two cups of salt, or something…who giveshz a sheet.</p>
<p>Check the liquor.
Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
Add one table.
Add a spoon of ar, or somefink…whatever you can find.
Greash the oven.
Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
Don’t forget to beat off the turner.
Finally, throw the bowl through the window.
Finish the bottle of liquor.
Make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.</p>
<p>Cherry Mistmas</p>
<p>P.S. Let me just say that this recipe is genius. Just genius The only way to get through the holiday season sane.</p>
<p>We just submitted D’s first app for middle school, 4 more to go. They are as bad as the college apps. I mean really, why would they ask a 10yo about communtiy service? A few tears from D but we got it done. She has her own macbook (required for school) and there is stuff filed everywhere on it. Took H a few minutes to find what she had written, we definitely need to help her organize all her stuff on it. I guess that will be our xmas vacation project. </p>
<p>Got 3 exercise videos in the mail yesterday. Diet starts Monday and 10yo D has a fitness plan all laid out for me.</p>
<p>Not about what you think - but about what she wants me to do now that answers will be starting to arrive.</p>
<p>She asked me please not to look at anything if I possibly can. I said what about how sometimes it’s written on the outside of the envelope. I said what about the logins and e-mail she does want me to check so I can fix scores, where stuff might just pop in. We agreed that mistakes might happen but that she will have faith that I will try not to find out anything before she does.</p>
<p>I said I won’t log into websites that say everything is complete. And I won’t open e-mails that look like answers. She asked me to avoid looking at the outside of suspicious envelopes - like if there’s a really big one at the bottom of the mail, just leave it in the mailbox and tell her to get it. She doesn’t want me to text her, just to let her find out in her own time. If something has seemed to come in, I can alert her once she is home.</p>
<p>It’s kind of a game, and maybe a little silly. We’ll see how much I can leave to her. I imagine with 13 schools I’m going to find out at least one before she does - a small envelope, an e-mail that I don’t realize, a phone call to our house during the school day (I’m not going to NOT answer!). </p>
<p>This will be interesting … and honestly kind of painful! Well, at least I have all of your other shoemaker’s elves puttering alongside me. Unfortunately I’m home way too much, and have way too much computer access. But maybe I can do it.</p>
<p>EmmyBet – What are you doing with my kid? She’s exactly the same way. She’s told me not to tell her anything and not to open anything…she’s having exams that same week and just can’t handle either the high or the low just then. Besides, she’ll be home on the 17th (she’s at boarding school) and mom will just have to wait. </p>
<p>EmmyBet - My daughter is the same! She’s expecting an ED result starting around the 13th… and I am forbidden from going near the mailbox for a week starting on the 11th.</p>
<p>MOSB - I am so impressed with your reaction to a terrifying situation. Thank you for sharing it with us.</p>
<p>Recipe is great, thanks fog. My son had another interview today, lasted over an hour which I take as a good sign, but who really knows. In any case doubt these make any difference. Looooooong wait until mid march or so…</p>
<p>Emmy-Goodluck with that. Email will be easy to avoid, but not picking up the mail? We get such a mix of mail each day, big and small envelopes, not all from colleges that it would be easy to inadvertently pick the bundle up not knowing what it in there. And all S’s acceptances had big “congratulations” on the outside. I suppose you could not pick the mail up at all for a couple of weeks. I can understand your D wanting to be the first the know though. After the getting accepted at Pitt I was anxiously awaiting something that would tell S about any merit award. Two weeks later he gets a big envelope from Pitt admissions and financial aid. I was dying to open it up before S got home, but I waited not very patiently. Ends up, it was a notification from the dept he will be in with info about his major. ;-( BTW, none of S’s schools so far have done any admissions notification online, it was all done by snail mail. Each school is different I suppose. </p>
<p>Fingers crossed that however your D gets notified that it starts off with “Congratulations!” of “Welcome to the class of 2015”</p>
<p>I agree with mamom, I can avoid the e-mails, but not touching the mail in Christmas season wouldn’t work for me. Actually, it would work if someone (anyone) had an interest in actually getting it out of the box. I’m living with three non-curious guys! The only one besides me that has any interest in things at the bottom of the driveway is the dog who loves to get the newspaper!</p>
<p>I hate those thin envelopes from unaccepted-yet colleges only to find out they are fin-aid information or just another “update”.</p>
<p>oh yeah. we had one of those moments a few weeks ago. Received a thin envelope from one of S’s safeties. S and I just looked at each other like “your kidding right?”. Ended up having nothing to do with admissions. </p>
<p>I didn’t even think of xmas irt mail, but yeah, I have a lot of stuff ordered online that I want put away before the kids see who it is from. Most of it is packages, but games, CD’s and some smaller stuff also comes in the mailbox.</p>
<p>Morning All
Someone sent me that recipe–I thought it funny and given the seriousness of this “season” in our lives - thought a chuckle/smile would help.</p>
<p>Nine days…tick tock. Hope everyone is sleeping ok and that any “just in case” apps are close to being done. Good luck to everyone whose student took the tests on Sat. </p>
<p>Saturday here–the streets were quiet, the hwys, etc …so I guess either alot were taking the tests or all at the mall! Even McDs mid day was empty!</p>
<p>Sleeping well? Well, I would say sleeping too much, as if a hibernation phase has set in. </p>
<p>DS2 has some senioritis setting in; I would never characterize this one as lacking motivation, but this weekend, damn. He told himself he would complete at least two more of the reach applications; neither was finished. It was instead a meander from room to room, task to task, with limited enthusiasm for any one, and limited diligence to complete anything…</p>
<p>DS2 has 4 applications left on his list. I would like to see him complete them, for the ‘what if’ factor, though his chances of acceptance are very, very small at each, save one where a parent is a legacy… Here’s to hoping the EA school accepts him; there is only one school that he’d even consider above it, and that application is already done…</p>
<p>Yes, as I said, this will be something of a goofy game, but I told her I’d try. We mostly just decided on “big mail,” big ones at the bottom of the stack that I could leave in the mailbox with out looking at them. But she understands about the writing on the outside. She’s just hoping to haver her “own” moment, as many of these kids (I guess mostly girls!) do. </p>
<p>What’s goofy these days is you don’t know what modality they’ll use - a cell phone call? Really could be anything. I guess it just adds to the excitement.</p>
<p>Oh, mosb - FRIDAY night. We got several inches here, too. I’m just so glad you’re safe, and we all learned from your experience. I guess it’s only the passengers who have the luxury of thinking over their whole life, eh?</p>
<p>D is happy - lots of performing this week, a big time at our HS right now for choir, especially her sub-group. All very exciting. Japanese D is also participating, but she’s more wondering than excited. I know she’ll have a great time.</p>
<p>anothermom - we’re in the same boat! Just the 4 mostly-reaches left, 2 for 1/1 and 2 for 1/15. I’m betting she’s going to do them over break, which maybe isn’t such a bad idea after all, but we’ll see. I’m not nagging - I’ve sent scores, GC is ready to go. And she, too, has fine choices if they never get done. I bet your S will do it, though, just as I’m sure my D will pull it off. We can compare notes later!</p>
<p>Had my little teary moment this weekend as my ds led the band in the last, final (and we mean it this time) performance at Giant’s stadium for the state championships. Finally dawned on me, that’s my boy and this is the last time he’s going to be wearing that uniform, saluting the crowd, this is IT. I know there was some football going on, sure, but halftime, it was all about me watching my boy. The other 200 band members (including my dd) just faded away into the background, and I cried. He had a great time loosening up conducting (nee “dancing”) the stand tunes afterward (without fear of reprisal from the uber strict band director). This was his thing. Ugh, I guess this is going to happen alot this year with last “this” and final “thats.”</p>
<p>I totally hear ya. A couple of weeks ago, D had her last field performance as a drill team officer at playoffs at Cowboy’s Stadium. She’s the center girl on the officer’s strut, and it was worth the loss to get the pictures of her standing alone on the very point of the star centerfield. Tickets to the playoffs cost $10 each. I looked online and tickets for those same seats at the Superbowl are currently going for $6000 each. I can tell you that I enjoyed that halftime performance MUCH MORE than I would enjoy seeing the Black Eyed Peas half time at the Super Bowl.</p>
<p>Amanda, I can relate. DS last holiday concert at a wonderful music hall is next week. He has five solo’s. They always produce a CD but this year one of the parents has hired a professional videographer so we will have lasting memories. I am sure I will embarrass DS by playing it for everyone.</p>
<p>And what is the deal with these uber strict band director? Do they all sign a pact? ;)</p>
<p>amandak: I hear ya! Our high school football team played in the championship game this weekend and while, yes, there was a football game going on, I was there to see the band. S2’s last on-field performance, last marching band trumpet solo, last pregame show… I felt sad when he played his last fall sport game, but it was in a playoff game that I thought they might win, so I didn’t really see the end coming. With the band, I knew that it was the last. It’s a tough year for the parents…</p>
<p>Love reading all the “last band performance” posts. Many of our son’s friends are in band, so we sit with them at games. For the last home game, the band members decorate themselves with glow sticks and necklace, battery-operated Christmas lights and flashlights. They turn out the lights in the stadium and do their show. It’s pretty cool.</p>
<p>I’m eager for a “last” to be over this week. Our son is the chairman of the school’s speech and debate invitational tournament–for the second year in a row. Last year, he did all the work of scheduling judges, timers, student guides (so visitors don’t get lost in the maze of our ancient, adde-on-to builidng) and hospitality. And the tournament was snowed out! So, now he’s chairman again and the weather forecast is good for Friday and Saturday. But it’s a stressful task when less responsible students sleep in the hallways rather than help out and adult judges forget to show up, etc.</p>
<p>My job: running the hospitality room. So my biggest concern is keeping all the bus drivers and other coaches fed and happy!</p>