Writing Circle for December
We had our Writing Circle meeting for December tonight and it was a blast! Jodi couldn't make it (she was singing) -- but she did drop by to bring her story and gift for the exchange. Peter didn't come, either -- but as he never made a meeting during 2009, that was really no surprise.
Everyone else was here with stories and gifts to share. Very fun!
Marilyn mistressmarilyn was AMAZING both yesterday and today! We mixed up four different types of cookies in all. GingerSnaps (Mom's spelling), Almond Slices (also called Icebox Cookies), Chocolate cookies and Peanut Butter cookies. (I have all of these in Mom's old cookbook, written out by hand. I should scan them to keep, as they haven't done well over the years.) I mixed up the Chocolate and Almond Slices, but Marilyn BAKED all of them -- not just the cookies she mixed. We had a few mishaps (burnt cookies), due to the new cookie sheets and not knowing how hot our oven was for baking (we do very little baking ever), but all in all things turned out well!
It's interesting that Mom rarely ever included instructions for how hot the oven should be, or how long the cookies should be baked. But we ended up with yummy and traditional cookies, so I'm very proud of our success -- and especially proud of Marilyn! (She was baking today while I cleaned house and decorated.)
We also got our tree decorated last night, while watching "The House Without a Christmas Tree," which I've mentioned before. (We watch this movie EVERY YEAR while we decorate our tree -- but this year we found it for sale on DVD, so that was cool!)
I also put up our outdoor tree (white with lights) today -- but part of it isn't lighting up! So I'll need to check it tomorrow (there was no time today).
We both also wrote our stories TODAY for this month. (Yes, I know -- we often seem to write our stories on the actual day we meet. Oh well -- at least we're able to do that!) My story was titled, "Winter Tree," and ended up being almost 3,000 words. (Our topic for December was 'winter.')
Obviously both Marilyn and I had a busy, busy day! Cleaning, decorating, baking, cooking (and organizing the food), showering and doing our hair and writing. Then at 5:30 we had our members here and we entertained -- and Marilyn also ran the group (as she always does). We're both dead tired now, and no wonder!
Everyone enjoyed dinner, which included spaghetti, party bread and crackers, a vegetable platter, a dish of olives, a salad, a meat and cheese tray and our homemade cookies. We also had sister Sue's suzy_qp lovely tray of shrimp and two salads Dick brought (from New Seasons). Angel brought his special Coquito, which is a Puerto Rican Coconut Milk-Rum Christmas Drink (he makes it from his own recipe). He served it to us Friday night at his house and Marilyn just LOVED it, so she made him promise to bring some for tonight. He did even better than that -- he brought a bottle for our party and another just for her! (Isn't that sweet?) The stuff is HEAVENLY, and we all enjoyed it a TON! (And the guys were drinking several of their favorite beer, whatever it is...) Needless to say, there was plenty to eat and drink! (smile) Oh! And I almost forgot to mention that we had eggnog, too! (I have my own 'recipe' for taking store nog and making it special...)
We sent a plate of cookies home with Sue -- and the guys got cookies 'for the road.' So all the work baking was well spent, I think!
Marilyn's story was really great. I was happy with my own effort and impressed with what Dick, Sue and Angel had written -- so the work was good! It was also fun doing our monthly exercise, which everybody seems to like.
The gift exchange was fun, too. The gifts were supposed to be writing-oriented, so four of them were books on writing (no surprise). One was a blank journal and another was a bottle of whisky that Dick opened and shared. (He left the half bottle behind, so I gave him one of the books on writing that I'd bought myself when we were shopping.) And Marilyn and I gave everyone musical Christmas cards with gift cards for Barnes & Noble.
One of the fun things I did in the decorating category was to cut some branches from our Blue Spruce and place these in the front flower box (on the porch). Then I added silk Poinsettias. Very pretty!
Well, it's almost midnight, so I need a nap big time. I need to put away the last of the food first. Another successful Writing Circle meeting is over -- the last one this year. In January we'll celebrate our anniversary of the current incarnation of the group. Isn't that cool???