Me On A Monday - December 30th

Welcome to 2019's last Me On Monday post - wow December 30th.  Am I the only one thinking that 2019 went by in a flash & somewhat of a blur?  For me with "the great sickness" it certainly felt like a whirlwind romance with the Christmas season.

With all the resting that was required with "the great sickness", I used that time to come up with the final decision on my 2020 One Little Word along with my monthly Angel Thoughts.   

What about you - have you picked a guiding word for 2020?

My word for this year has been chosen as Nourish.  The picture below is what I see as nourishing mind, body & spirit, from which I hope nourishing these aspects is growth.

Source: Internet

Before I pick my Angel Thoughts, I get my OLW in place then I can keep that in the fore thought as a guide to what my Angel thinks I need to work on monthly.  There's no science behind any of this, but in the past it seems to have worked for me.  

Along with my monthly Angel thoughts, I've picked a monthly nourishing activity for myself (& us), of which I'll be posting about in the New Year.  

New Year, New Decade, New Word ... & it's all about to kick off.  I want to wish you all the most wonderful year ahead & thank you for reading my blog posts.  I look forward to our chats in 2020 - the year of perfect vision.  

Me On A Monday - December 23rd

Good Morning.  I hope everyone is well & feeling the anticipated joy of Christmas.

I have been laid lower than I had expected with this nasty super cold virus.  Because it's a viral infection, no anti medications can be prescribed.   So I have suffered through the last 9 days of cold but thankfully hopefully I'm in the last stage of it.   Rumour has it that the cough can go on for weeks!

The over the counter medication that I have succumbed to taking is the great Canadian cure; Buckleys - it tastes awful but it works (that's the company's slogan).  It is quite the seasonal cocktail because it contains Canadian Balsam & Pine Needle Oil as two of it's ingredients.  Cheers

Being sick has messed up all my well thought out & organized plans for getting Christmas "done" & ready.  Now I'm in the position of scrambling to get in the food supplies, all the other stuff can wait.  Of course with or without my plans, Christmas will arrive & depart on the 25th.  

Some of the things I've gained through this cold were discovering the joys of intermittent napping, especially those on the sofa in front of the fireplace.  Two lovely fur girls keep me company. They never once complained about my coughing - I'll say no more about that.

So while I'm behind in plans & things, I am right on target for the joy of Christmas.  

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas & for our household, let's hope  in includes a "Silent Night", which will mean no coughing & the Buckleys is working ...

Me On A Monday - December 16th

I got my thank you letter written to Santa this week, such a happy mail box.

Currently reading,  Atomic Habits.  I saw the author, James Clear,  interviewed & I found him very well spoken & his ideas about developing/enhancing habits mind blowing.  I'll finish the book & let you know if my better, the person I want to be, habits have been developed.

Currently received a new crocheted tree ornament by my gifted crocheting friend; it's a pink sweater with my initial sewn on.  We have a mutual enjoyment of the ugly Christmas sweaters. We both have the same ugly Christmas sweater socks, cookie cutters & tree ornaments.  

Currently I went too far in my shopping at the Bulk Barn* to purchase supplies for Christmas baking.  Now I'm committed to baking more than I need, more than I should.   * Bulk Barn is a chain of stores that sell everything in bulk; candies, baking supplies; cake decorating, teas, coffee, hot chocolates, animal feed products (birds & dogs).  It is far too much fun to wander the aisles. It encourages me to bake & then I get carried away with great plans of baking.  Note to self, stay out of Bulk Barn if the habit of eating healthy is a goal.

I needed more decorations for my horse theme tree, so I made them myself.  I have plans to make 3 more.

Currently battling on with a cold - I hope I caught in time.  I just wish cookies were a cure.

"We are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.” 

A Break From Tradition

I recently discovered a new recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies, Mr Man's favourite type of cookie.  I broke from my traditional recipe & tried this new one.  Mr Man has declared this to be the best, ever! peanut butter cookie.  I believe in sharing success & I believe in giving credit where due, trouble is with this recipe, I cannot remember for sure but I believe I found this recipe at Lord Bryon's Kitchen web site via Pinterest.  I share the recipe as I found it ...

Best Ever Peanut Butter Cookies

1 ¼ cups of all purpose flour

½ teaspoon Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup softened butter or margarine

4 oz cream cheese, softened

½ granulated white sugar

½ brown sugar, lightly packed

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup peanut butter (either smooth or crunchy, your choice)

½ cup finely chopped peanuts

Mix butter (margarine), cream cheese & sugars together, add the egg & vanilla, mix, then add the peanut butter.  Mix until well blended & smooth.  Add flour, BP, BS, salt, chopped peanuts,  mix until blended.

Make rounded teaspoon scoops on a prepared baking sheet, flatten each cookie with the cross hatch form pattern (traditional pattern).  OPTION, when using the fork flatten you can dip into granulated white sugar for added sparkle).  Bake 15 minutes at 350 (watch closely as each oven is different).  Makes about 36-40 cookies.

·   NOTE:  I used light cream cheese,  old fashion brown sugar & Mr Man has suggested honey roasted chopped peanuts next time I make the recipe.