Dishes and Laundry

What is it with dishes and laundry? 

Just when you think you have it all cleaned and put away and done, more suddenly appears. 

I'm quite sure that I washed 3 loads of dishes yesterday and the sink is full of more waiting for me today. I'm starting to think that there are little elves that come in during the night and dirty the dishes.

Someday I will have a dishwasher. At least then I don't have to look at the sink full of dishes.

What a weekend.

How is it the middle of January already? People always say that time moves faster the older you get, but I never really believed them until recently. 

Due to the snowy, gross conditions, I spend most of last week cooped up in the house. I didn't mind at first, but by Friday I needed to get out. We had gone from groceries Thursday night, but that is a bit of a boring outing.

With the weather improved by Friday, I was going to meet my mom at her place and go do a little shopping. I got all ready to go, and my car wouldn't start. It tried; she gave it a really good effort, but it just wasn't going to happen. 

Luckily mom was able to pick me up and we still got out. 

Andrew came home from work early and concluded that it was just a dead battery. He jumped it and had it going again in no time.

After working the early shift all weekend and a birthday party Saturday afternoon for one of our nieces, I am in need of a few days off. On second thought, I think I need a vacation in a warmer climate. I'm ready for the snow to be done!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes for Andrew. It was a great day. He had taken the day off of work, so we got to sleep in. He wanted to go see the new Star Wars movie, so after lunch we got cleaned up and went to use some Christmas gift cards at the theater. We both enjoyed the movie.

For dinner he wanted some good barbecue. There is a new place about 5 minutes away from us, that we have been wanting to try. Unfortunately, they have shorter winter hours and are only open for lunch. But, we found a different place that has amazing barbecue that we will be visiting again!

By the time we got home we were both ready for him to open his present and cut into some cake.

Here he is sporting his new winter hat. He was very happy. 

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Two years ago I barely knew you. I had no idea what God had planned for us. I couldn't have picked a better man to spend my life with. You make me laugh, you love Oliver (although you don't always like to admit it!), you put up with my love of history and all things antique and my constant need for new books. I know that you will always lead our family down the path that God directs us to. Life is a wonderful adventure with you by my side. I can't wait to see what God has planned for the next year.

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband. I love you!

Shortbread Bites

I love Christmas, but boy am I tired. In order to fit everyone in and see all the family, we celebrated for 4 days straight. Throw in me being up at 2:30am for work 2 of those days, and I am ready for a break! 

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Even though we were busy, I enjoyed seeing everyone and had a fantastic Christmas.

Being diabetic, we try not to have too much of the Christmas goodies around the house, but I did make one thing. I found this recipe on Pintrest and they are so addictive! 

Warning: if you make these, I highly suggest you plan on bringing them to a party or give them away as gifts. Otherwise they will haunt you and you will end up eating way more of them than you planned!

Funfetti Shortbread Bites

1 c. salted butter, cold and cubed

2/3 c. sugar

1/2 t. almond extract

2 1/4 c. flour

2 1/2 T. nonpareils sprinkles

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray and line with parchment, leaving about 1 inch overhang on all sides. Cream together butter and sugar. Add extract. Slowly add flour and mix until combined. Mix and fold in sprinkles. Press dough into pan and chill in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lift dough from pan and cut into 1/2 inch squares. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet, placing them 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

As we don't have a stand mixer, I used our little handheld mixer for this. It gets the job done, but if you have a stand mixer, I highly recommend using it unless you are looking for an arm workout!

Sometimes you just need coffee...

...in your favorite mug at 1:00 in the afternoon.

When you have to be up for work at 2:30am, you need a little bit of liquid energy by the time noon rolls around. 

Oliver and his blinds

What is it with cats? They are always doing something unusual. 

Every morning, before I have even gotten my first cup of coffee, I open the blinds in the living room so that Oliver can sit on his cat tree and keep an eye on the neighborhood. 

He has recently decided, however, that this is not good enough and places himself on the desk in the bedroom hoping that we will take pity on him and open those blinds too.

Poor, sad little cat. I have, on occasion, opened those blinds for him. He does the typical cat thing and looks out the window for all of 2 seconds before jumping down and heading for his normal perch in the living room. 

Cats. Can't live with them, can't live without them.