A Don't List for 2010

From the Cozi Family Website:

A Don't List for 2010
by Martha Brockenbrough

Martha shares 15 things to NOT do in 2010

1. Don’t forget to take time off.
2. Don’t forget to try new things—new restaurants, new stores, new recipes.
3. Don’t clean where no one looks.
4. Don’t compare your house or your kids or your life with anyone else’s.
5. Don’t hang on to things you don’t need, things that don’t work, or things that aren’t useful or beautiful.
6. Don’t volunteer for anything with subcommittees.
7. Don’t try to repair a bedroom ceiling with super glue.
8. Don’t over-bake the chocolate chip cookies.
9. Don’t stay up late just because you’re a grownup. Falling asleep at 8 p.m. can be awesome.
10. Don’t read magazines just because you subscribed. Magazines aren’t homework.
11. Don’t turn on the TV just to see what’s on. Read a book, have a conversation, or get some sleep instead.
12. Don’t hang on to old jeans that are too tight, underwear with holes, or bras that pinch.
13. Don’t offer to do something you don’t really want to do.
14. Don’t answer the phone if you don’t want to talk to anyone.
15. Don’t forget to nap if you need to.

Get your family organized and on the same page with Cozi, the free online family organizer.
-Martha Brockenbrough

It's a Cookie Swap!

Yay! The holidays are here and I am working on our 2nd annual cookie swap. We are at a high this year with 13 people participating. We will have a potluck dinner and swap out cookies. We don't really have a lot of rules--just a "step it up" rule. That means, you can make chocolate chip cookies, but if you do--step it up. Make them really special.

Robin over at RobinsWeb has some handy tips to host your own cookie swap:

Important Cookie Exchange Planning Tips!

1) Send the invitations out a month before the party. Everyone's calendar fills up fast in December! I hold my Maryland party on Sunday afternoon. All the dads can watch the kids from the sofa in front of the football game. (Except my husband, he has to the leave the house and entertain the kids, he traditionally takes them to the movies.) The California ladies prefer a week-end evening. For your first exchange, take a poll and see what your attendees prefer.

2) Tell everyone to bake their cookies at least three days in advance. The biggest reason for no-shows is that they didn't have time to bake their cookies. This is the busiest time of year. Don't be upset if people that rsvp and say they are coming don't show up. I always invite way more than I expect to show. The average number that usually shows up for me is anywhere between 13-20. One year I had 23 confirmed and only 12 showed up. Usually two or three days before the exchange I say to myself "If this wasn't my party, I probably wouldn't go, I'm too busy!"

Another reason to bake the cookies early is so that they can "dry out" a bit. A freshly baked cookie is not a good cookie to transport. When we're swapping, we're piling different types of cookies on top of each other and the fresh ones crumble terribly, especially if it's a fragile cookie to begin with. After the cookies have been baked, they should sit out all night on a rack to cool and loose their moisture, with a piece of wax paper over them. Then you can put them into a cookie tin, with wax paper under and over them and between the layers.

I'm keeping my list here, so it's easy for everyone to find. You can ignore this part if you aren't part of my swap. :)

Cookies

1. Whitney — Pomegranate Linzer Cookies
   
2. Vicki — Frosted Sugar Cookies
3. Eva —Chocolate Mint Cookies
   
4. Lisa — Chocolate Pinwheels
   
5. Julie —Russian Tea Cakes Julie's had to drop out, but I am taking her cookies anyway--feel free to participate!
   
6. Victoria —Pepparkakor Cookies
   
7. Jocelyn — Rocky Road Candy
8. April —
9. Holly —
10. Kara —
11. Cindy —
12. Stacey — Italian Fried Cookies
    
13. Mary Beth —Poppy Seed Cookies
    

Dinner

1. Whitney — Salad
   
2. Vicki — Penne Rustica
   
3. Lisa — Salad
   
4. Julie — Garlic Bread
   
5. Victoria — Sparkling Grape Juice/Punch
   
6. Jocelyn — Cheese & Crackers or Chips & Dip
   
7. Carol — Cheese & Crackers or Chips & Dips
   
8. April — Bottle of 7-UP or Sprite
   
9. Holly — Orange Juice
   
10. Kara — Sparkling Grape Juice/Punch
    
11. Cindy — Veggie Side Dish
    
12. Mary Beth — Garlic Bread
    

Angela Lansbury

There's an Angela Lansbury movie marathon in TCM today. I've watched two (so far), and I'm left wondering if Angela always plays second string. She's so beautiful, but she never gets the guy.


The first movie was The Harvey Girls. A classic Judy Garland movie. Of course, she's the star, so she gets the guy. But Angela's got the moves, the voice, and the body. Well, I guess Judy's got the voice too--and she is a petite little thing. But Angela's got verve.

The next movie was The Hoodlum Saint. Esther Williams, William Powell, and Angela Lansbury. Angela's character Dusty will do anything to get her man, but he still ends up with the other girl. Dusty even saves him from going to jail, but darn it--he just prefers the other girl. What's the matter with these men?

The Women's Crusade

The Women's Crusade

“Women hold up half the sky,” in the words of a Chinese saying, yet that’s mostly an aspiration: in a large slice of the world, girls are uneducated and women marginalized, and it’s not an accident that those same countries are disproportionately mired in poverty and riven by fundamentalism and chaos. There’s a growing recognition among everyone from the World Bank to the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to aid organizations like CARE that focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism. That’s why foreign aid is increasingly directed to women. The world is awakening to a powerful truth: Women and girls aren’t the problem; they’re the solution.