End of the Year

I fell off the grid again. I seem to be doing it a lot lately. What can I say? Life doesn't always make blogging easy... well, really the tough part is actually sitting down to write.

Regardless, I'm here now, offering a bit of an end of the year wrap up... let's face it, it's the holiday season, and that means my resurfacing will likely occur after the new year.

So what have I been up to? Do you care what I've been up to? Honestly, I wonder how many people actually mentally answer that question, let alone read my blog (Hi, Rachel!). But I digress.

1.

Why, yes. I got a tattoo. For those of you who cannot decipher the above script, it reads: Darling. It's nothing bold or showy or even visible to the public on an everyday basis. But it's mine-- it's a reminder of who I am, who my Grandma was, and who I should continue to be.

I always wanted a tattoo, but I never had a reason to get one... the permanence scared me. I never thought I'd have a reason to get one, but then life happens. I didn't realize how much my Grandma meant to me until it was too late. I loved her... I thought she was a bad ass. I just never grasped the extent of her bad ass-edness (God, I wish I had come up with a better word) until she was no longer my Grandma--she was a lifeless vessel in a hospital bed. I suppose I should take comfort in the fact that I was able to recognize how amazing she was, even if it was too late.

Now here I sit, tattooed with my Grandma's signature. It's as if she marked me... a Darling-- forever an independent, strong, and hardworking soul. Some people say you regret tattoos after you age, wrinkles everywhere. Maybe... but not this tattoo. How can you regret being a Darling? You can't. How can you regret something so cathartic? You can't. How can you regret a daily reminder of your strength? You can't.

So here's to you Grandma Darling!

2. I have actually baked in the last month or so. I never blogged about it. I meant to... I even took pictures!

Jeff actually helped too! Sifting is time consuming. So if there's a free set of hands, you grab them. Someone pours while someone sifts. And speaking of time consuming...

Thank God for my KitchenAid Mixer. Beating egg whites for twenty minutes with a hand mixer... BLAH! Honestly, making an Angel Food cake (that's what I made... I think I forgot to mention that earlier) from scratch should require a KitchenAid Mixer. Grandma used to make hers with a handmixer, but then she got one of these for her birthday... converted! Speaking of her birthday, this is actually documentation of me making a birthday cake for her. Weird? Maybe. Do I care? No.

Especially because I got to eat Angel Food cake and ice cream. Honoring your totally awesome Grandma, honing your baking skills, and eating a tasty dessert is quite amazing. P.S. If you want the recipe, let me know. Sometime I'll get it posted to my other blog.

3. Jeff and I put out Christmas decorations.

This is not everything we have... there are red and green glittery tea lights, a Christmas village, a make shift tree of Christmas cards, and a bunch of other stuff. Seriously, it looks like Christmas threw up in our living room. It's kind of weird too-- I'm a "Happy Holidays" kind of girl, but you'd never guess from the looks of this place! And yes, Maggie gets her own stocking!

We also have a tree. It's fake, but it's still exciting to have a "real" fully grown Christmas tree!

4. Grading papers and napping... speaking of napping...