I gave Josie a bath last night (much to her dismay) then set the bottle of cat shampoo on the cabinet here in my office where we put things that need to be brought downstairs and put away. Mr Moo just tried to pick the bottle up to take it downstairs. Apparently, he's all thumbs today. The bottle slipped right out of his hand and onto the floor. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. He'd just pick the bottle up and be on his merry way. Not so today. We've had this particular bottle of shampoo for quite a while now and it's gotten old and brittle. When it hit the floor, it shattered and kitty shampoo went all over the floor. What a mess! Thank goodness we have laminate flooring and not carpet in this room. It took a while and several rags to do it, but it's all cleaned up now. The room smells nice now at least.

Anyone have any big plans for New Year's Eve? I believe Mr Moo and I are going to pick up some Chinese food from Panda Express and spend a nice quiet (and safe from drunk drivers) evening at home with the kitties. How about you?

For anyone who has been following the saga, Mr Moo's business trip to Israel is back on. As of right now, he will be departing Portland on January 8 and returning January 14. Things are very tentative still, so I'm sure the plans will change at least a dozen more times before he actually goes. He's got a valid passport now at least.

I had another Christmas cookie baking day last weekend.

I made Anisette Cookies, which get frosted and topped with nonpareils.

I also made Frosty Snow Balls (she said "balls", huh huh huh), a wonderful cookie filled with chopped pecans.

Once they're cool, you roll them in powdered sugar.

I add colored sugar crystals to the powdered sugar, which gives the cookies a little bit of color, but it's not very visible in the photo.

Okay, fishies. Here's the best part. We've got more cookies than we could (should) ever eat. So, the first three people to send an email to cookies@moosworld.com with your full name and address will get a container of cookies! This is a limited time offer. Don't delay!

Our tree in the front room is the one we load up with ornaments.

I love going through them all as we're hanging them on the tree and remembering (or at least trying to) where each one came from and/or who gave it to us. There are a lot of memories on that tree.

It never looks finished to me until we get the red bows on it though. I took before and after shots this year so you can see the contrast.

Those silly little bows make a big difference, don't they?

Happy Holidays from our house to yours.

That's the real tree, which is in our family room. Since we don't normally have a second tree like this and probably won't have another one for a long time, I didn't go crazy or spend a fortune on decorations for it.

Compared to the other tree, it's quite sparse, but I think it turned out alright.

We had a wonderful Christmas yesterday. It was Mr Moo's and my first Christmas at home together and I treasured every minute of it. I missed my family terribly, as we normally spend Christmas with them, but I tried not to let that get me down. I talked with just about everyone on the telephone at one point or another except for my sister, who, apparently, couldn't find five minutes to call me even though she wasn't cooking or having anyone over to her house. To say that I'm hurt would be an understatement.

Anyhoo, Mr Moo and I had a quiet morning together with the kitties, which was wonderful. We got the cats a few toys and some treats, which they loved. They spent the rest of the morning playing with their new toys in one of the empty cardboard boxes. I don't think they could have had a better Christmas than that. Mr Moo and I then opened our gifts to each other. There were a lot of basic gifts: socks, undershirts, etc. My big ticket items included a new vacuum cleaner (one for each floor of the house now - woot!) and a wireless webcam. Mr Moo got a giant 250+ piece drill bit set and a new electric razor. There was also a slew of other gifts, but I don't feel like listing them all out here.

We got a bit behind schedule after that. We barely got the turkey into the oven on time, spent too much time wrapping our gifts for everyone else and ended up rushing around a bit getting food stuff ready in the afternoon. It was our own fault for dragging our feet so much earlier (WHY didn't we wrap gifts five days ago?!?), but everything came together just fine in the end.

Dinner was a success. We all ate way too much, as per usual. We opened gifts right after dinner to give ourselves some time to digest before I got the desserts out - two cream pies (chocolate and banana), white chocolate Chex mix and a large cookie tray. I think if any of us ate any more after that, we literally would have exploded. Since people had to get up for work this morning, things broke up quickly after that and Mr Moo and I spent the rest of the evening washing dishes and cleaning up.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend my first Christmas at home.

Today (technically, yesterday since it's after midnight) has been a crazy day of cooking, cleaning and wrapping. We will be having everyone here tomorrow for dinner. Fortunately, we'll be eating much later than we do on Thanksgiving, which means Mr Moo and I can sleep in a bit. We don't have to get up before the butt crack of dawn to put the turkey in the oven or anything. Our plan is to get up whenever we feel like it, make a nice brekkie and open our gifts from each other. The turkey doesn't have to be in the oven until 1130 and we don't have to kick the rest of the food prep into high gear until almost 1400. That should give us plenty of time to finish wrapping a few more gifts for the rest of the family and maybe even leave us some time to sit around for a bit. However, none of that is going to happen if I don't get my sorry self to bed soon. Goodnight, fishies. Merry Christmas!

After I bought them last week, I put Mr Moo's Christmas cards in a secret hiding spot so he wouldn't find them. Guess who couldn't remember where she hid them when she went to get them out tonight. GAH! I finally found them after about 30 minutes of searching. I hide things too well.

With less than 48 hours to go until we have a houseful of people over for Christmas dinner, I just discovered that I accidentally bought an oval tablecloth for the large dining room table instead of a rectangular one. Crap! I am fully aware that, in the grand scheme of things, this is a very minor problem. However, it just aggravates me to no end that I didn't make sure I was buying the correct one. Mr Moo said he'd go over to the store tomorrow to see if he can get the right one for me. I'm not holding my breath on this one though.

EDIT: I called the store first thing when I got up this morning and they have the one I need!!! It's a Christmas miracle! I am absolutely delighted. Time to take a shower, get my butt over there and pick it up.

We're off to my in-laws' for Christmas Eve eve dinner. Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend!

As promised, pics of the cookie press cookies!

It took me a while to get the hang of the press. There were a lot of cookies that got wiped off the cookie sheet and put back in the dough pile. After a lot of fussing, I would eventually get a whole sheet of cookies pressed out that weren't too bad.

Ten minutes in the oven and le voila!

Lovely golden brown cookies (some a bit more lovely than others).

We got a bunch of presents wrapped, boxed and shipped the other day to some friends and family. Here's a small sampling and the pile of packages waiting to be mailed:



There's still a small mountain of them to wrap for local peeps, which I think we'll do on Sunday. We also have a few more that need to be shipped. Those, obviously, won't get to where they're going in time for Christmas, but they will get there eventually.

We baked earlier. Cookie press worked relatively well. I'll post pics tomorrow. Goodnight, fishies!

Another early Christmas present to myself:

I've been wanting one of these pretty much since the day I got my mixer (I got mine ages ago before they began coming standard with the shield). However, it was really low on the priority list and I just never got around to ordering one until recently. I thought about having Mr Moo wrap it up and put it under the tree, but I need to use it before we open gifts on Christmas Day. I'm hoping this finally means the end of whipped cream splatters on the side of my refrigerator when I make pies.

One of our neighbors, to whom we gave a box of cookies, left these on our porch the other day:

To say they're "good" would be the understatement of the year. They're like crack in little brown paper cups. Thank goodness there's only 5oz of them.

It's 11:40AM. My husband just left the house with my 3-ring Christmas list binder in one hand, and wallet and bottle of water in the other to "run a couple errands". I asked which general areas of town would he would be going to because I need him to pick up a couple things for me. His reply, "I plead the fifth, Senator." Moo's getting presents! Moo's getting presents! ((insert silly dance here)) I have to admit that I'm slightly concerned he's leaving so late. Mr Moo hates shopping and the crowds are going to get exponentially worse as the day wears on. I thought he'd be up and at 'em by 0700 so he could be done and back by noon. I'm not sure why he dilly-dallied so long this morning. I'm sure he'll be back before too long complete with foul mood and choice words for all the people that made him crazy while he was out. Our parting conversation:

Moo: Drive safe and try not to kill anyone.
Mr Moo: I make no promises.

I bought myself an early Christmas present this year - a cookie press.

I ordered it about a week or so ago and it arrived in the mail yesterday. Guess what I'll be doing later this afternoon.

Will someone, please, explain to my brain that it needs to shut down for a while so I can get some sleep? Four days before a major holiday. What an utterly fantastic time for my insomnia to be flaring up.

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 081

Click here for the entry form.

Hello again, Insomnia, my old friend. Welcome back. ((groan))

It's official. We have one Christmas present wrapped.

One down. What seems like half a million more to go.

Mr Moo and I did the bulk of our grocery shopping for Christmas Day dinner last night. While we were out, we saw the coolest thing ever - frozen fog! I only saw it while in the grocery store parking lot because of all of the lights. It's been very foggy all around Portland for the past couple days and the temperature out towards the store managed to get just cold enough for the bit of moisture in the air to freeze. The air was just filled with the tinest little ice crystals. At first, I thought it was freezing rain, but, as Mr Moo pointed out, the crystals were much too small for that. It looked like someone was dumping glitter out of a helicopter flying overhead. The entire sky was sparkling. It was so beautiful. Yet my glasses weren't getting all messy and we weren't getting wet like we would have had it been frozen rain. I could have stood out there for hours watching it, but the Christmas turkey waits for no person, especially not some woman standing out in the parking lot going, "Ooooo! Ahhhh!"

SARUMAN: Concealed within her fortress, the lord of Kitties sees all. Her gaze pierces cloud, shadow, earth, and flesh. You know of what I speak, Gandalf... a great Eye, lidless, wreathed in flame.

GANDALF: (softly) The eye of Josie.

SARUMAN: She is gathering all evil to her. Very soon she will have summoned an army great enough to launch an assault upon the cans of tuna in the Middle pantry.

GANDALF: You know this? How?

SARUMAN: I have seen it.

Captured on the MooCam yesterday:

I love you, Mr Moo.

Bullet list update.

• I'm still suffering a bit with my cold, but it's a hella lot better than it was a couple days ago. My neck is all better at least.

• My friend, Kelly, called on Friday night and asked if she could stay over. She lost power on Thursday afternoon. Her adjustable bed was in the up position when the power went out so she couldn't sleep on it. Oops! She spent one night on her couch, which wasn't bad, but she decided having a hot shower and being able to turn on some lights would be decidedly better. Her power didn't come back on until this morning, so she ended up staying over for two nights.

• The game plan for Christmas looks like dinner at my in-laws' house on Saturday night and dinner here on Christmas Day. My MIL decided to have dinner on Saturday night instead of Christmas Eve to give Mr Moo and I more time to prep for our dinner and to give everyone an extra day to digest before we make pigs of ourselves again on Christmas Day. Good plan.

• It wouldn't be my journal without a photo in my post. Here's (a blurry) one of Josie eating her new favorite food - corn!

Silly cat.

I delivered a bunch of the cookies we made last weekend to some of our neighbors this morning.

I love the containers. I found them at Walgreens. They're made of plastic and shaped like Chinese food take-out boxes. They're the perfect size for cookies. I talked to a few neighbors and had to leave the cookies on the front step of a couple places. I also stuffed a container into our mailbox for the mail carrier.

It dawned on me as I was returning home that I probably should have noted on the box that some of the cookies contain nuts, in case anyone has allergies. I'm hoping, however, if someone is allergic, they would know enough to either not eat them or at least cut them in half to check first. That's the Christmas spirit alright - "Have some cookies and, please, don't sue me."

Another day, another inch closer to being over this cold thing. My throat is feeling a lot better today, as is the pinched nerve/whatever thing in my neck. My cold, however, has moved south into my chest and my cough has become... let's just say "productive" and leave it at that. If I can manage to not drown in my own fluids today, I think I will be well on my way recovery by tomorrow. In the meantime, if anyone needs me, look for the economy size box of Kleenex and the brain rot remote sticking out from underneath the pile of blankets on the couch. I should be in there somewhere.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you... our leaky ceiling!

It's not the greatest photograph, but, if you look closely, you can see the large crack in the plaster where the water was dripping. The whole area around the crack is wet, too. You could easily push your finger right through the plaster. And the best part of all - there's another giant wet spot on the other side of the room. Yup, it's leaking in two different places. What a mess.

It has been absolutely monsooning here today. Not only is it pouring, it's blowing a gale, too. And, lucky us, we discovered that the rain water is leaking into our house somewhere, traveling through the framing and dripping down in the front room.

Let's just say we're not exactly thrilled about this new development.

Yup, still sick. Blah. It's mostly just a really bad sore throat at this point with a little bit of sinus frivolity thrown in for good measure. Fortunately, since I work at home and alone, I don't have to do any talking. Just going to keep up with the juice, ibuprofen and throat lozenges. I also have a really bad searing pain in my neck. And, before anyone starts with the "OMG j00 gots teh meningitis!!1!11!", it is not meningitis. I hurt my neck over the weekend (then slept on it wrong - oh, yay) and it's still irritating the crap out of me. Yeah, I'm a walking train wreck this week. What of it?

I think I'm getting sick. :-( Mr Moo said he was feeling crummy the other day, but that was the extent of it for him. He never actually gets full-on sick. He just brings the germs home to share with me. Joy. I hardly got any sleep last night because I was coughing something awful. My throat is on fire this morning. I'm running a low-grade fever. And I ache like nobody's business. Thanks, Mr Moo, for the early Christmas present. ((groan))

I'm sure there are a few of you out there who will truly understand and appreciate this cartoon.

I know I was greatly amused by it.

I started the day with 263 emails in my Moo's World inbox. I am now down to 20. Phew! My apologies to those of you who ended up with a million replies from me in your own inbox. I've really got to get better about replying to emails in a more timely fashion.

My father-in-law just called about Christmas pressies. If you happen to read this, Mr Moo, we be schemin' 'bout j00!!!

From Thanksgiving (yes, I know I should have posted these three weeks ago)...

Fruit or cheese, anyone?

Clockwise from top: strawberries, cantaloupe, more strawberries, Swiss, cheddar, havarti with dill, smoked gouda, and grapes in the middle.

Maybe a different appetizer?

Clockwise from left: cracker and salami tray with port wine cheese ball, mixed nuts, tower of olives and pickles, small bowl of mini hot dogs that Mr Moo demanded be put out (don't ask - I don't get it either), crudite tray, cheese and fruit tray, and cutting board with brie and smoked salmon.

Or perhaps you'd like to get right to dinner.

Counter-clockwise from the bottom: turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing (my great-grandmother's recipe), Stove Top stuffing (from a box - blech!), roasted potatoes, herb & butter rice (missing - it was being re-heated in the microwave), corn, peas & onions, fried onions, crab salad (courtesy of my MIL), and cranberry sauce.

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 080

Click here for the entry form.

Learn from my mistakes. Never ask Mr Moo to smile for the camera before the sun has come up on Thanksgiving morning.

It's not safe for the camera or your eyes!

From Thanksgiving... Cooking with Moo!

Pie Crust

Mix together flour, sugar and salt. Add Crisco.

Cut Crisco into dry ingredients with a fork until crumbly.

In a small bowl, beat together water, egg and vinegar. Mix into dry ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are moistened.

Divide into four portions. Wrap with wax paper and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.

Roll on floured surface to approximately 1/8" thickness. Place in 9" pie pan. Press with fingers to remove air pockets. Flute edges. Poke crust all over with a fork.

Bake at 450 degrees for approximately 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

If you are filling your pie crust with pudding, make sure to use cook and serve pudding, not instant pudding (it doesn't set hard enough), and follow the instructions on the box for pie filling. If you are making a banana cream pie, place sliced bananas in the bottom of the crust before adding the pudding. After filling your crust with pudding, place a piece of wax paper on top to prevent a skin from forming.

For best results, chill in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Whipped Cream

Make cream just before serving pies. Whip ingredients together with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Do not over-whip! Makes enough for one pie.

My in-laws came over today and we baked until we couldn't see straight anymore. Well, technically, my MIL and I baked like crazy people. The men folk did a lot of couch sitting and TV watching. They did help when asked, however, so I am not complaining one bit. Here is what we made:

Clockwise from top center: Smucker's Thumbprint Cookies (there's a ton more under the wax paper), White Chocolate Chex Mix, Pinwheel Twirls, Anisette Cookies, Chocolate Walnut Sensations (a pan cookie thing with chocolate on top), and regular ol' chocolate chip cookies. After my inlaws left, Mr Moo and I made one more batch of cookies.

They're Frosty Snow Balls with chopped pecans. Yummay!

I got a recipe from a friend of mine to make some wonderful pressed cookies, too, but the cookie press I ordered online earlier this week didn't show up in time. It should be here any day now though. I'll probably have another baking day right before Christmas and I'll make them then.

Coming soon, for those of you who enjoyed the Cows in Shining Armor calendar (click to see full size):

Check back in January for the first installment.

I woke up with another screaming mimi of a headache today. I didn't even hesitate to take my migraine meds this time. After medicating, hydrating and having something to eat, I'm feeling a bit better. Not great, but better. I think the rest of the day will be spent doing quiet things at home today. I had enough of the crazy while on my shopping trip yesterday. No need for another dose of that for a while.

Aight. Who ordered me the 2007 Chick-fil-A cow calendar? It arrived in the mail today and I haven't a clue who it's from. 'Fess up!

I'm heading out today in an attempt to get a good chunk of the remainder of our Christmas shopping done. We're quickly approaching shipping deadlines to ensure everything arrives where it's going before Christmas, so it's important that I get all of this shopping done soon. Since we'll be home for Christmas this year and won't be traveling to Massachusetts to see my family, we'll be shipping a lot of stuff. Can't wait to see how much that's going to cost us. Not.

Well, I still feel like someone has been stomping on my head with a pair of Doc Martens, but at least the nausea has gone away. Have to be grateful for the little things.

There is nothing quite like waking up 5 hours too early and with a screaming headache, is there? ((groan)) It's going to be a long day today.

EDIT: I feel like absolute crap. I'm going back to bed before I throw up.

The Christmas cards are starting to arrive. This one is from friends in Massachusetts.

It makes me homesick for a white Christmas in New England. Sigh.

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 079

Click here for the entry form.

Mr Moo and I went to a local Christmas tree farm over the weekend to get a tree.

We've never had a real tree before. Since we go away for the holidays every year, having a large dried out dead tree in our house is way too much of a fire hazard. This year, however, we're going to be home, so I jumped at the chance to have a real tree. I still plan to put up our fake one, too. Two trees this year, baby!

There were so many trees to choose from.

I had a difficult time choosing. We walked around the field for over an hour and looked at just about every single tree. When Mr Moo started threatening to leave me there for the night if I didn't make a decision soon, it was high time to pick one. I finally chose this noble fir:

It's a little lopsided and has a few other issues, but it is the perfect height and they're nothing that can't be disguised with a few strategically placed ornaments. Mr Moo was the lucky one who got to lie in the mud and actually cut the tree down while I held it upright. We took it back to the barn to be shaken (they have a great little vibrating stand to get the loose needles and any stowaways out) and paid for. After one quick truck ride home and a bit of work to get it in the tree stand, we had a Christmas tree!

The lonely ornament is one we bought at the tree farm. I have yet to get out our enormous stash of ornaments, so the tree is still naked. I'm hoping to remedy that by this weekend.

We received an email this morning from our financial advisor at the bank. She was writing to inform us that our mutual fund, as of yesterday, has officially made enough money to cover the initial sales charge. Any money made from here on out is profit. Woot! It only took 43 days. When I spoke with her on the phone this afternoon, she said that was a very quick recovery. Hopefully, we'll continue to see speedy gains. Go, money! Go!

Why do I always get the feeling I'm being watched while I work?

Oh, right. I am being watched.

"NAME THAT MOVIE" CONTEST - 078



Click here for the entry form.

Round 078 is still open!

We're going to get our Christmas tree today! Our first ever real one. Wheee!

Mr Moo and I learned something cool today. If you bring in the sales flyer for any other store, Best Buy will match prices, assuming they carry the identical item. What this means for us is no more running from one store to another to buy DVDs when they go on sale. We can bring all of the sales flyers to Best Buy and get them all in one stop. Way cool. A cashier mentioned something to us about it the last time we were there. We stopped in today to pick up a couple things for Christmas presents. Target has the movie Robots on sale for $10 this week. Best Buy wants $19.99. I brought the sales ad, along with the DVD, up to the customer service desk. They said, "No problem!" and sold it to me for $10. Score! In the future, look for me at Best Buy. I'll be the lady with the arm full of sales flyers.

From earlier in the week.

Thanksgiving decorations waiting in the sunshine to be put away for another year. How sad.

The last and final entry for this year's Cows in Shining Armor calendar (click to see full size):

Angus Khan
Few cows were more feared than the great Angus Khan, overlord of the nomadic Moongols. At its height, his empire stretched from the steppes of Outer Moongolia, past the Great Wire of China, and as far west as the Cowspian Sea. In his relentless quest to end the burger eating forever, no one was spared - men, women, and children were equally encouraged to eat more chicken. Entire villages were often put to the drive-thru.

Note to self: Choking to death on a piece of corn is not on the approved list of things to do today.

Can anybody tell me why a snowstorm in Chicago is suddenly huge national news? It's December. It snows there all the time during the winter. Their annual snowfall is measured in feet, not inches. People in Chicago are no strangers to snow. Why is this suddenly such a huge story?

Found this photo this morning in a thank you card that was hiding out on my desk.

Mr Moo, myself and my cousins' five kids celebrating Christmas in September. Every year at Christmas, we do some sort of activity with them in lieu of presents. Since we aren't going to MA for Christmas this year, we took them out while we were there for my sister's wedding in September. Paint your own pottery was this year's activity.