Smells Like Holiday Spirit

I've been staying true to my month-long holiday commitment. It's been a blast so far. The smallest things have been the most impactful. Aren't they always? Marigoldie and I were discussing the beauty of sitting quietly in the glow of holiday lights as a nightly ritual. It's one of my favorite things of Christmas; lighting a fire, plugging in the tree -- no other lights are on -- and trying not to blink. It's so (nearly) unbearably comforting; it's worth trying to extend the moment until it reaches timelessness.

Hey, here's my go-to cookie of the season:
It's a Raspberry Rugalah with Ground Pecans. I found a basic recipe in . . .like a Family Circle or some sort of homemaker's magazine. I futzed and veganized and tweaked and ended up with these.
One of my co-workers, Big M, works on-sight at our largest customer in Arizona. He informed me that I had to send him something for their big Corporate Cookie Off. He said, "I've been going on and on about how you can bake your ass off so send something good." Hey, no pressure there. I made the above beauties and fed ex'ed them out with the note, "Don't tell anyone they're vegan until they've eaten about seventy-five of them." Another office-mate said, disgusted, "You made Arugula Cookies?" I said, "Yes, it's the ultimate in vegan baking; wrapping a cookie in greens." After the Cookie Off, Big M emailed me. He said my cookies were tops. "Top two, if not the best." I said, "Really?" He said, "There's only so many chocolate-chip cookie bars a person can take."

So that was cool.

Check us out ice skating! Santa Monica plopped in an outdoor rink downtown. We Southern Californians were confused and bewildered, but the rink was precious! Like a small-town movie scene.
As you can imagine, I am not the best of ice skaters. I've maybe gone five times in my life, but that doesn't mean I'll let the children drag me down to the ground with them. Shoot, this backside saw no ice, thank you, even with Mina hanging and pulling and falling herself many times. She's fearless though.
There went Maya, on the ground to the right, as her mother laughs . . .
Mr. Husband, on the other hand, is hotness on ice. He's all smooth and suave and crossy-leg cross-over skating, skating backwards looking all great doing so. East-coast upbringing and ice hockey wars as a youngster will do this I suppose.

Maya leaves tomorrow to spend Christmas with BD and Sanne and Baby R. I won't think about that now. Mina is not happy at all about it. But we're opening up most of the family gifts tonight. I heard an elf was going to drop off a couple of Santa's gifts too. Mina might still believe in Santa though we have our suspicions. I think she's keeping her mouth shut clinging to the sentiment that you must believe to receive. Anyway, celebrating all month has made it easier to let Maya go for the actual day of Christmas. I figure we've already had twenty-one days of the holiday so being without her for the one, real day might be ok.

Welcome Winter!