Day Two Hundred Sixty-Four

I took the girls to Phipps this evening. This is hardly remarkable as that's where we've gone on the days when we've needed some sort of normalcy in the midst of ... THIS.

THIS continues to be so dumb.

Phipps continues to handle COVID in a way that is smart, though. Like, we were the only ones there this evening during our time slot. If we could keep scheduled tickets even after the threat of COVID lifts, that would be swell. They really do make life better.

The fact that we had the place to ourselves meant the girls got to hang out in a few rooms that we normally pass by. Even with scheduled tickets and all of that, there is ALWAYS a traffic jam of people up until the cactus room. I don't know what it is, but I can best describe it as that thing Pittsburghers do when they come to a tunnel.

They stop.

Everybody stops when they get to the first few rooms. They stop and gawk and act all sorts of ridiculous and it's super annoying. Grandma Alexis in particular finds it to be the most frustrating thing on Earth. She reached her low point the day we got caught behind a group that was turning every second of their lives into a TikTok video. But today! Today there wasn't anyone there, so Grandma decided to tell me all about her life plans.

Let the record show, Alexis is Monica from Friends. From the uptight must-have-it-this-way nonsense to the wild hair, she is Monica. We'll check in about 20 years from now and find that she's living her life according to an Excel spreadsheet. Seriously, the kid plans EVERYTHING. She always has and she always will and it's pretty hilarious that she got stuck with me as her mother because I'm over here winging it 99.9% of the time. I win at spontaneous. She wins at planned.

So of course she has planned her wedding. OF COURSE. It's going to take place in a room at Phipps and she can list the guests and tell you what her dress is going to look like and maybe she better screen every person she dates forever to make sure they're okay with her plan before they go on a second date. No point in wasting anyone's time, you know?

So Alexis was outlining this plan and Mila was all, "Where do I fit in with this whole thing?" Because Mila. That kid also wins at spontaneous, but she also wins at being the center of the universe. She accepts nothing less.

There was discussion about bridesmaids and maids of honor and basically Alexis ran through the skill sets of every person she knows to determine who should have which role. There was a whole rant about how Mila can't be the maid of honor because she's unpredictable and won't take care of the details, but then we got to the party planning. Alexis has to have a bachelorette party, of course.

"Nobody is ever going to be better at planning parties than Mila. NOBODY."

True story, that.

Day Two Hundred Sixty-Three

I hereby solemnly swear that I will stop begging you to help with Christmas Crazy after this post. For real. This is my last pleeeeeeeeeease. The next time you'll hear about it will be the end-of-project photo that we all look at in amazement because HOW DOES THIS THING WORK?

I still can't answer that question. I just know that it does.

(An aside - this year's photo will not be the WHOLE project. I have a pickup of toys that I will be doing from that place I used to work at a week after the main delivery is going to be made. The photo will be the internet's entire contribution, though.)

The total as of this very moment is at $7750, which is nothing short of fantastic and amazing and ... thank you so much. Of that $7750, there is $1310 in cash money that I need to go spend on magical toys and gifts cards.

Which is why I need a different kind of help. If you have a minute, drop a comment or tweet or Facebook comment and let me know what Must Have toys and such I should go find. I mean, if I'm going to leave my house to shop, which is what is going to have to happen, it is going to be the most epic of shopping trips. Give me some objectives. Bonus points for ideas for boys and gender neutral toys because obviously I have this whole girl thing sort of understood.

Or at least as much as anyone can understand teenage girls. (Why are they so ... teenagey? I wonder that a lot. You would think that evolution would have led to less teenagish teenagers by now. ANYWAY.)

While I'm busy with this whole begging for your help thing, can we wrap up the Amazon Wish List? It's down to just a few hundred dollars worth of items and it would be swell if it were completely cleared. Confession: I keep upping the number of Amazon Fires. I'm going to keep doing it, too, because they are an incredibly perfect gift and the price dropped back down under $40. We should send them all to Center for Victims.

The PayPal link is also active, just in case you want to make that $1310 shopping spree even more challenging. Technically we're working on the gift cards that make it possible for the shelter to fill in any gaps, but still. Make my life harder! Please!

I have to cut everything off on Saturday, so move quick if you want the karma and warm fuzzies that goes with making the world a better place one holiday gift at a time.

And thanks again for making this corner of the internet so full of magic and good.

(That's 2018's magical end photo. Have I mentioned how much I love making that mountain each year? BECAUSE I DO. Make it harder. Send more stuff. LET'S DO THIS!)

Day Two Hundred Sixty-Two

While I'm not sure that Facebook has many redeeming qualities, it does occasionally lead to a connection with a relative you haven't seen in decades. That can lead to getting a family recipe book that includes recipes from your grandmother, and that's pretty cool. My grandmother passed away when I was maybe 7, so I don't remember these cookies, but I'll take everyone's word on the topic.

When decorating cookies made using a recipe that has been passed on through the generations, it's best to let the Tiny Human be in charge. You get bonus points that way. I decided this particular recipe was a good match for Tiny Human decorations because they're super easy. Carefully executed cut-out sugar cookies are fun, but the urge to keep them "perfect" is high with me. I'm not sure that I could let Mila dump half a container of sprinkles on them. I'd probably start twitching.

We'll know for sure in a week or two, though. I have no doubt that the resident Tiny Human will want to help when we make the cut-out sugar cookies. She's addicted to sprinkles, in case you didn't notice.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 - 4 teaspoons milk

Sprinkles

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to make the cream cheese and butter all sorts of creamy together. Add the sugar and mix well then add the eggs and vanilla. Mix, mix, mix.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until combined.

5. Toss the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 20 minutes so that it won't be so sticky.

6. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball then flatten it on the cookie sheet. Keep doing that until you run out of space. These cookies will approximately double in width, so keep them about 2 inches apart.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Their done when the bottoms are lightly browned. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 2-4 minutes then move to a cooling rack.

8. Make the frosting. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and vanilla together then gradually add the powdered sugar. Add the milk one teaspon at a time until the frosting is smooth.

9. Spread frosting over cooled cookies and then decorate with sprinkles as you see fit. In Mila's case, she'll be adding sprinkles for the next eight years. So.

At least she's happy!