While I'm feeling mostly on the ball at this stage of the game, there is one glaring area that I need to get moving on, and that is wrapping gifts!! It is my favourite holiday task, so I usually leave it til one of the last things I do, but I feel like I'm leaving it too close to the wire this time. I keep reminding myself that I've got time, there's no need to panic yet, but... I'm a worrier by nature, so what else could I expect.
I've been loving this December so much. My crazy November Christmas prep has really allowed me to sit back and enjoy for the most part. Last weekend especially was just... Christmas perfection, in my books. First of all, I GOT TO GO CHRISTMAS CAROLING!! Finally!!!! I've wanted to do this for years, and I got close last year but it ended up being cancelled due to a pre-Christmas rain storm. This year, the weather was perfect. A mild evening, a great group of singers, and some very dedicated community members who organized the whole thing. I still grin from ear to ear thinking of how we must have looked rolling around town, singing our little hearts out. It was pure Christmas magic.
On Saturday, my friend Lindsay and I had the date circled on the calendar for our first ever Christmas Movie Marathon. As you all know, I've been dragging her through Scary Movie Marathons for years, and this year she asked, "Um, why don't we do this for Christmas movies? You know, like, movies we can actually enjoy??" And so, by some miracle, we both had a free December Saturday to do just that. She arrived early afternoon, we settled in by the glow of the tree while it poured rain outside, and we watched The Man Who Invented Christmas, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, The Santa Clause, and Christmas Vacation. We also enjoyed snacks, Linds made her world-famous carbonara for dinner, and I introduced her to her first taste of rum & egg nog. (She was a trooper and made it through over half of a very large glass before she had to give up. lol)
By the time she left, the rain had changed to snow.. .and then I got another Christmas miracle, which was waking up Sunday morning to a beautiful blanket of white!! (I was lucky - despite the power flicking off and on throughout the evening as the winds and snow picked up, I didn't lose my power completely. Not everyone in our area was so lucky.)
Sunday was a big and bustling morning at church, as it was not only our White Gift service but also the Sunday School Pageant. It was so good! The kids did a terrific job and everyone loved it. Then after church, we went to my sister's to celebrate my niece Danica's 11th birthday. We had brunch, cake, and the birthday girl opened her gifts. It was a wonderful day spent with family.
Truthfully, the only bad part of the past few days has been my battle with brittle. LOL! Several years ago, I tried making peanut brittle for the first time and it turned out wonderfully using the stovetop method. Some friends shared that it was much easier to use the microwave method, and the following year I tried that with great results. Last year, though, I did something wrong and ended up with chewy, hard-on-the-teeth, undercooked brittle. I wanted to make sure that didn't happen this year, but then I ended up with a pan of very burnt brittle on Saturday morning. I was disappointed - what a waste of ingredients and time!! Yesterday I saw a recipe for Buttered Rum Brittle, and I thought I'd try to redeem myself. It was a stovetop recipe that didn't give temperatures so my candy thermometer was useless, but I followed the boiling times to a T... and... guess what... undercooked and chewy brittle. *SIGH* I think it's time to give up, before I spend a fortune on sugar and corn syrup and nuts!!!
I did get a go of peanut blossoms made last night, and with that, I think my Christmas baking is complete. I'll spend evenings for the rest of this week getting a start on the wrapping, and also working towards finishing one last gift that I'm crocheting. Friday evening is the production of the Pontiac Community Players' radio play Little Women at our church, and then Saturday I have no plans so it will be my opportunity to finish up the wrapping, watch the last of the movies (I don't have many left!), and maybe do some cookie deliveries.
It's all coming together... A week to go... Are you feeling it yet, friends???? ;)
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