I have no excuses. And you don't want to hear that same old story that I've been busy.
But I've been busy.
It's January at long last. Christmas is OVER! I did bake Chocolate Malt Sandwiches on Dec. 23. All my big goals of making five or six kinds of Christmas cookies? HA! Seems reasonable...in JULY. I pulled off the one batch at the last second--partly for Santa and partly for neighbor Rob who earned a plate of his favorites by complimenting my boots.
That's booTs for those of you who read too quickly.
Christmas was the usual blur of hither and thither. By the time we hit Aunt Cheryl's place Christmas afternoon, I announced our arrival with a demand for my Christmas martini: "Make it pink and keep 'em coming."
Merry Christmas! Pass the vodka.
Actually, it was a lovely holiday. The boys had fun. The company was always excellent. And it didn't snow. A success in my book.
Dec. 26 was a blur of packing, cleaning and de-decking of halls. Then we headed for the desert.
Ah, the desert in winter: Our furnace broke, our landlines failed and the pool light blew the bathroom circuits. But it was a good time. We made some new friends, shopped, repaired things and worked in the yard. Digging in the dirt in January was a little odd, but I got used to it.
We also did the Disneyland thing. More on that later.
And now we're home. James is still in the desert minding his mother, fixing things and golfing with tiny Korean women who, it seems, have excellent short games.
The boys and I have been home for a week. They're fighting, I'm yelling and the house is a disaster. Oh, and we're babysitting Wilma's cockatiel, Turkey Dinner, who, it turns out, screeches uncontrollably at about 11:30 p.m. if you don't cover his cage at bedtime. And many times each day, I think about this blog.
I also thought of my blog on Dec. 29, which was the blog's first anniversary. I was not blogging on that day. I am lame.
And I thought of it on Jan. 1, which would have been the first official day of my 2010 blog. I was not blogging. I am lame.
But I was in Disneyland on Jan. 1! I rang in the new year in bed at the Grand Californian Hotel, waking up in the dark thinking, "God, what was that noise?! Oh. Yeah. New Years. Fireworks. God. Be quiet."
It had been a long day.
But the end of 2009 and the start of 2010 did offer some valuable lessons:
1. When staying at the Magic Kingdom, do not leave the Kingdom. For any reason. Case in point, our trip to the Buena Park Claim Jumper on Dec. 31. We chose not to eat in the Kingdom. We were punished when Ian, after choking on a too-large piece of tri-tip steak, proceeded to vomit on his plate. Repeatedly. In a crowded restaurant. Until his stomach was empty. Claim Jumper was fabulous about it and Ian got a free ice cream sundae and onion rings to go. We learned our lesson and ate every meal in the Kingdom after that.
2. Real Mexican restaurants don't serve chimichangas.
3. When replacing underwater pool lights, it's good to drain the pool first.
4. Charge the portable DVD player before leaving for the airport. Especially when traveling with children.
5. Always cut a child's steak into very small pieces.
And yes. I did say in my last blog that 2010 would be the year of cakes. I fully intend to bake some fabulous cakes this year. I even went out and bought a big glass domed cake plate at Williams-Sonoma last week. I'm preparing, you see. And I bought a springform cake pan. And a fancy Williams-Sonoma rectangular cake pan...and a crepe kit....
But I digress. More on my kitchen-shopping orgy next time.
I'll try to get to the first cake this weekend. And I will keep plugging through the cookies. I haven't counted how many of the 42 I managed to make last year. I figure the a
ctual count would just be depressingly low.For now, I leave you with an image of Ian on his first trip to Disneyland. If I've been busy and haven't baked or blogged for awhile, you can see there was a very good reason for it.
Happy New Year!
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