Cookies = Fail

My friend NB and her husband JB have been looking for a house for several months and finally found one! She was supposed to close on it at the beginning of November. Well, the bank didn't have all the paperwork together so she wasn't able to close on the house until this month. We always have work parties at her place, but a week before our party we had to find another place because we didn't think she'd be able to close on the house in time. We were right. She finally closed on it the day after the party. Go figure.

The Monday before the party, we started looking for other places to have our party. Everyone else lives in apartments too small for 15+ people, so I looked into renting the party room in my apartment complex. The problem with that was we'd have to be out of the room and have it cleaned up by 10. Plus, I worked all day that Sunday and wouldn't have time to prepare anything before people showed up. We decided on a nice restaurant downtown. The day before, JO decides to actually call said restaurant to find out if we could reserve the back room for it. No, they close at 2PM on Sundays. Great!

I don't know who decided it, but we ended up going to Perkins. Of all the places in town, someone chose Perkins.

Last year we did a gift exchange, but this year we decided to all make cookies and have a cookie exchange. I called my step-mom to have her send me the recipe for Candy Lasses because it was something new I'm sure none of my co-workers have had. I decided to make them on Wednesday in case I messed them up, then I would still have time to remake them or make something else. I'm glad I did that because I messed them up! Haha

First of all, the recipe calls for crushed peppermint candy. I didn't really have anything to crush them with and I couldn't remember how my step-mom did it. I didn't want to call her and sound like an idiot, so my husband just put them in a bag and beat them with a hammer. It worked, and that's all that matters. Don't judge.

The recipe also calls for molasses and that stuff smells so nasty! I really hope I don't need to use it for anything for a very long time. Anyway, I pulled the cookies out of the oven and they looked perfect! I didn't burn them! I was so happy!

Candy Lasses failed because they were rock hard after cooling. Only after I mess them up does my step-mom tell me to take them out before they look done. She apparently burned them the first few times she made them, too. They didn't look burned, but I guess looks can be deceiving.

All that work for nothing. I ended up just throwing them out. The night before the party I decided to make Oatmeal Scotchies. I trust them, they don't deceive me. They actually did turn out perfect and they were very tasty. I was sad to give 95% of them away, but everyone liked them. (: Steve ate the other 4.9%

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

The kindness of strangers

My husband is a huge gamer. Huge! That's pretty much all he does when I don't drag him out of the house. For Christmas, I was either going to get him a new cell phone or a new PC monitor. He really needed both, but together was out of our price range we set for each other.

However, someone made the decision for me. A stranger. My husband has been playing games online with him for a couple years, but he has never actually met the guy. There's a side forum for one of the games he plays, and he was complaining about needing a new monitor (his was from the 90's).

While I think my husband is an idiot for giving out personal information (our address), something good came from it. One of the guys just up and sent him a flat screen monitor. Steve thanked him profusely and asked him how he could repay him. The guy's answer was to simply do something nice for someone else someday.

Another thing occurred while I was at work today. I had a couple girls (about 11) who didn't know how much money they had, but really wanted to get a calendar for someone. After I told them how much it would be with tax, they went over to a bench and counted out that exact amount and got in line. The lady in front of them was watching and listening to them, bought her calendars and added on two of our chocolate truffles. I thought they were for her and her son, but after she paid she handed each of the girls one. The girls were so excited and thanked her. I thought it was really sweet of her. She said her nieces live in Texas and she never gets to see them, so she bought candy for these random girls.

The kindness of strangers... It's really fantastic!

You're welcome, CEO of Kleenex

I have a theory. The Kleenex, Puffs, and other tissue brands all got together and created the cold, flu virus, and other such illnesses where tissues are required. This year alone, I'm sure I paid the Kleenex CEO's Christmas bonus.

I'm sick again.

I have gone through so many tissues (with lotion) and my nose is feeling pretty raw. It sucks. I'm pretty sure I'm sick because I work in retail and touch money all day. Sick people buy things, too. Sick people really should not touch money while they are contagious. I wash my hands as often as I can, and I try not to touch anywhere on my face, and if I do, I try to use the back of my hand. I still manage to get sick though.

I just felt like complaining. Thanks for listening. (: Hopefully, I'll be better before Christmas. I think the worst is over, I just have a cough and runny nose.

Santa lost weight!

I have been so tired and uninspired. I love making AMVs (Anime Music Videos) but I just can't seem to find a song that inspires me. I've found a lot of really great songs that I love recently, but none that match any of the Anime that I own.

Life hasn't been too terribly exciting. I started and ended a job rather quickly. I'll post about that later this week. I'll also tell you why I fail at complicated cookies.

I did discover that Santa is on a diet!!! He must have finally realized cookies aren't good for you. Especially in the quantity he's been eating them in. No, actually I'm guessing the mall just couldn't find any one fat enough that wanted to do it this year. *shrug* He is super skinny though. It's kinda funny watching him walk around on his breaks because the suit is so big on him! He comes into my bookstore a lot. Too bad I didn't get a picture for you. Sorry. :/

But if you're interested... here is one of my AMVs. It's just a 30 second clip from a collaboration I did with some people.

Halloween and Mini Mouse

It's October, so I thought I would make a little Halloween post. I love all the costumes, but I really hate the candy part. It's not so great for weight loss. Mostly, though I hate giving out the candy. Some children are just so rude and greedy, especially the older ones who don't have supervision. One year, I saw a 14 year old boy knock over a 3 year old girl just to get to the door. He didn't even say sorry. I just think parents need to teach their children to be a little more polite, even if they are high on sugar.

Our plan this year is not to pass out candy. We're going to a haunted house with my co-workers and then possibly to Deadwood. Deadwood has some big celebration called "Deadweird." It should be fun.

I do have to mention, the last haunted house we went to, there was a little kid in front of us. He must have been about 5 or 6, he was scared and his reaction was to yell at anyone who jumped out at him. "I'm gonna give you a lobotomy!" It was cute. I don't even think he knew what it meant, but it kinda fit. I mean, any other time... if you came across someone standing in a dark corner waiting to scare people you'd think they have some kind of mental disorder.

Here are a few pictures of my husband who loves Halloween.

He loves Scorpions because he and his dad are both Scorpios.

This is from last Halloween. He tried to look fake and in the dark it worked on some people. He scared poor little children. Yes, that's a real pumpkin on his head.

He was pretending to be Jack Sparrow. Jack Sparrow =

Haha and this one is my favorite! We found some really cool masquerade masks and then there was this Mini Mouse mask and he just had to try it on! Of course, I took a picture to share with you!