Phutu...ok now it's winter...

12/28/2004 I had the five days off leading up to and including Christmas this year. That little vacation seems to be the only time that I get more than two days off in a row outside of my summer vacation. Dory and I did some last minute shopping and preparation for Christmas...Channakah was already over. We spent the better part of two consecutive evenings making gingerbread cookies. Making the dough wasn't too hard, but rolling it out and cutting it into shapes, making the frosting and then actually decorating the cookies took quite a while. I conscripted my brother and his girlfriend Michelle to help. Poker followed after we were done. I spent a lot longer decorating the cookies than anyone else which meant that some of them were much more interesting looking...Brian made a Santa shape into something that looked like a maniacal sheep...and I think there was a blue Christmas tree.

I spent Christmas eve making a Buche de Noel or Yule Log. It is apparently a classic French dessert that is enjoyed on Christmas which is made to look like a piece of firewood. Those French definitely take their time making deserts. It was a five page recipe that took me the better part of the day. I started by making mushrooms for the garnish out of meringue and chocolate. Then I made a chocolate mousse to go in the center of the rolled up cake. Then I made the frosting to coat the outside. Finally, I made the cake and the chocolate flakes to garnish. Assembly didn't go quite as well as planned, but with a slathering of frosting over the top no one could tell. I think that I baked the cake too long which made it crack when I rolled it up.

I also spent the majority of Christmas day cooking. Dory and my mom had to do all the cooking at Thanksgiving since I had to work so I decided to do the cooking this time around. Dory helped me make stuffed turkey breast, mashed sweet potatoes, lemon-thyme gratin, garlic rosemary knots and turnip soup. But she made the hit of the evening by herself which was rainbow colored jello. I find it amazing that my family can pass right over all of the other food and talk about nothing but the rainbow jellow for ten minutes straight. The whole menu really was a lot of work, but in the end it was really good.

I've been helping my neighbor Shane with a house that he bought in the area. He already owns his own house but decided to buy a junkheap to fix up and rent out. I have been doing a little electrical work since I have a bit of knowledge of it from doing my own house. I have found that I enjoy crawling around in attics and basements pulling wires...it's kinda like being a kid again.

I've also been trying to sell my car in anticipation of buying a larger one for the baby's arrival. I took a photo of it as I was leaving work one day and posted it to Craigslist. I got a couple e-mails, but nothing serious. So I'm thinking that this might take a while. One guy offered me 8k, I told him I wouldn't sell it for less than 10k and he offered me 8k again...go figure.

11/29/2004
11/3/2004
10/2/2004
9/10/2004
8/23/2004
8/8/2004
7/21/2004
7/2/2004
6/8/2004
5/4/2004
4/20/2004
3/28/2004
3/10/2004
2/10/2004
1/15/2004

I've removed the 2003 entries from this page but you can click on some of the earlier 2004 entries to reach them.

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