December 2008 Round Up

Blinkie by: Jo's Blinkie Obsession (no longer active)

Monthly Round Up idea borrowed from Katie the Scrapbook Lady.

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Lots of recipes, does that count? I read a little more of The Eight, but I'm having trouble getting into it and/or sticking with it. Might switch books.

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
All sorts of shows and movies. Some I hadn't seen in ages, but only one was completely new: Mad Money (it was fine; not really good or bad). I did introduce my parents to WALL-E and Kung Fu Panda, though.

What special days did I celebrate and how?
Christmas with lots of family and presents. My parents' 35th wedding anniversary, for which I cooked them a nice dinner and Jacob and I purchases a commemorative brick for Georgia Southern.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Give: I sent off a surprise gift to a friend, and it was very well received! She said it made her day, which is so nice to hear. I love being able to surprise people like that. Also mailed a good number of Christmas gifts.

Receive: I won't run down all of Christmas stuff. But I did receive another gift from Heather at the beginning of the month. I won a drawing on her blog, so she sent me some beaded stitch markers (for cross stitch, not knitting) that she made. She and I bought some beaded fob charts ages ago, two each, and agreed to trade once we had each comleted our two. She has both of mine. I got one of hers a while back, and she sent me the other one in the box (she having just recently finished it, see pansy near bottom). And last but not least, I asked her for a graphic novel/manga recommendation, and she not only picked a good one, but she bought me a copy. And it is an honest to goodness manga, too! You read it right-to-left, "back-to-front" (from a USA perspective). They left everything exactly the same, just translated it to English. (If I'd worked at it, I might could have squeezed it in for my previous 101 Things list, but I wanted to enjoy it.) And to go along with my spiffy manga, she made me a bookmark. Does she rock or what?

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
None really, thank goodness! I was afraid I was getting sick the week before Christmas, but it really turned out to be just weather changes making my nose run. Mom and Jacob did get sick while they were here for Christmas, though.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
Cooked over Christmas, which was mostly fun, except for the setting off the fire siren thing. DH's work Christmas party was good, too, as was the Hammontree (for lack of a better identifier) get together in Covington.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
* Restaurants: Pizza Plus in Covington, The Oceanaire in Midtown
* Recipes and/or Foods: Non-homogenized milk (yes, I'm a true city girl, I'd never had it before), lobster, Crab, Asian Shrimp Rolls (that we won't be making again), Baked Pot Stickers, Pizza Swirls, Bacon Cheese Ball, Mini Quiches, Marinated Salmon, Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Sweet Potatoes, Baked Potato Soup (made from homemade baked potatoes, also new), Chicken and Dumplings, Pie Crust Cookies, Christine's Special Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Toffee Cookies, Red Velvet Cupcakes, and Homemade Hot Chocolate

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
Luke's advent wreath to count down the days. And a brand new television that we are totally loving!!

What were this month's disappointments?
A couple of the recipes were a little disappointing. And my project that was going well and then started to crash has now officially crashed and burned as of 1 PM on New Year's Eve (joy).

What were my accomplishments this month?
Getting it all done for Christmas! That was quite an accomplishment. Getting the fire siren disarmed with the help of the security company. And writing a poem about it in less than 6 hours.

What were Luke's accomplishments this month?
Surviving Christmas without too much whining. Now we just have to re-adjust to having three less playmates, which is a little painful.

Anything else noteworthy to record?
We shocked Mom with her KitchenAid Artisan mixer. She's a hard one to surprise, so that was great!

Currently feeling: bring on the new year