the wait is almost over...

The last day of school is here--finally!  The kids are nuts, the staff even more so!  You can absolutely feel the excitement in the air, and Santa even made a visit to our assembly this morning.

The excitement at home is nearing fever pitch.  The family is heading for our very first vacation to the south for Christmas!  We are getting up at 4 in the morning to hit the road for Baltimore, where we board the ship Christmas at about lunch time.  The dog is going to Grandma and Grandpa's house (*sniff* I miss her already) and "The Boyfriend" of Jess is going to look after the house and the kitties and caged critters.  It's so exciting, yet kind of scary!  We've never done this before and as always if I can't plan it, it makes me nervous.  But I'm sure it will be a fabulous vacay!  Florida and Bahamas here we come!

I do miss the trappings of traditional Christmas though, and I'm already looking forward to next year.  I may be a Christmas-aholic.

Wishing everyone a fantastic Christmas, filled with blessings and love.   

Flower Patch Farm Girl's bark

I swiped this pic from her blog:


Doesn't it look yummy?  I made some last night, and likely the only thing that kept me from eating half the pan was that it was too hot and not hard enough to break up before I crawled into bed.  That and Rick was watching me.  The man often acts as my conscience when it comes to sweets.

Anyhow...it's a good thing, because I actually made it to give some away.  Some to my Secret Santa recipient at school.  Some to Shimmy's teacher.  Some to my friend Cathy.  I think I will need to make more.  Because there's no way possible for me to package it all up and not eat it.  Rick is working tonight, so no conscience ;)

And I might just make a batch to pop into the mail when I get to the US so my friend Julie can enjoy it too.  I figure it's easier to mail it in the US so it doesn't need to go through customs.  I don't trust those customs guys to not eat it and send the empty package.  Of course, that's if I can keep myself from eating it first.  And if I can find a post office on the way to the hotel.

Thanks to Flower Patch Farm Girl for the picture and the recipe.  I hope you don't mind that I borrowed, so I could spread the bark love.  Check out her blog for the original post, and a wonderful blog to read.  I like her.

Fitness updates will follow in January.  I'm on a hiatus.  I will be doing some running and stuff, but not likely blogging.  I'll be on a ship, eating my self silly.

Enjoy the bark.