Getting the Christmas Spirit

I accompanied Jeannie & family to the Sacramento Fine Arts Center today where about 50 members of Autumn's choral group from school gave a concert.  The kids ranged from grades 3 through 6, and were incredibly good.  They had a good variety of Christmas songs plus even a Hanukah song.  Autumn has to be at school for choir practice by 7:15 am (I think it's 2 or 3 days a week they practice).  I am surprised so many kids are enthusiastic enough to get up so early on these cold mornings.

We then went to her soccer game - on an indoor court.  I think there might be another game or two in the rest of the indoor season.  I admire Jeannie & Donald and all the other parents who expend so much effort to get their kids to practices, games, etc. 

The jury is still out on my Mr. Coffee.  It's ok, but I can't believe how the mfr didn't allow much room to pour the water into the well.  I spill a bit every time.  You would think that manufacturers would test their products with real users before releasing a new version.  I'm amazed at some of the nearly useless functions on many products that were obviously not put to a practical test.

I think maybe the worst part about this coffee maker is that there are several "buttons" on the front that you press for various functions, to set the time, etc.  I can see the buttons but can't read the tiny little print that indicates what they are for, so every morning I have to get my flashlight (even though I have the overhead light plus the light on the stove vent turned on) to read which button starts the brew cycle.  I think every single appliance in this world ought to have an on/off button that is separate from all the others and is clearly marked.  I know younger people and older folks who still have good vision don't have a problem with distinguishing the buttons on an appliance, but your time may be ahead of you.

When I began writing this post I had no intention to complain so much.  But this is what I deal with every day.

Last night I didn't feel like cooking.  I try to eat my main meal of the day at noon because I often don't have much of an appetite by evening.   A while back I ordered a container of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough from Autie, a fund raiser for girl scouts I think.  I took delivery of it when I returned from New York and stuck it in my freezer.  Then I determined to cut down on carbs and sugar, so it's been sitting there.  Last night I got it out and baked a dozen cookies.  Fortunately you can re-freeze the dough so I have the unused portion back in my freezer.  I ended up eating the dozen cookies for my evening meal, and even sampled some of the raw cookie dough.  I'm sort of reminded of my binge of caramel popcorn, but I thought I was dying when I ate all that - I have no excuse for the cookies!   I felt a lot better this morning than I did the morning I found myself alive after eating all that caramel popcorn!