Surprise Christmas

Christmas went by quickly this year, as it does every year. I know I’ve been slacking in the blogging department, but my excuses are many with the holidays and the time spent with family. I’m not sorry though, as I’ve been blessed to have been able to share this time with our loved ones. I’ve been feeling very grateful. I don’t feel like I was able to give a whole lot this year, and yet, I was given many things that I both wanted and was in need of. It was just a few days before Christmas, when I had a rather random phone conversation with my mom. I was talking about a few of the candies I was going to attempt to make, and my confusion about a double-boiler. I didn’t know what that was, or how it worked, so my mom explained it to me. I wanted to make peanut-butter cups and toffee bark, but I didn’t have a double-boiler to melt the chocolate. She then gave me the suggestion to just melt the chocolate in a glass bowl with a pan of boiling water on the stove. I told her I didn’t have any glass bowls either, just plastic ones. I guess she made a mental note of that, because I was pleasantly surprised to get a double-boiler, as well as a few glass bowls in various sizes. Lee and I have been talking about ways we could save more money on bread, flour, and other grains for food. My in-laws have a wheat grinder that we just love, and we’re always going over to their house to get more wheat flour. We were surprised to receive one of our own this year for Christmas, along with a big bag of popcorn to make corn flour. I’m excited to begin baking our own bread and making our own flour, which will be much healthier. Also, we received some cash and a couple gift cards from my parents and our grandparents to go and buy whatever we might need or want. I was able to find a pair of curtain rods and some lovely curtains at a good price. I’m in the process of getting my office in order, and it will soon be complete with everything I need to make it a nice quiet place to spend my time designing pieces of artwork for my business. I do hope everybody has been enjoying the holidays, and I wish you all a very happy New Year in 2009!