The Simple Woman's Day book

FOR TODAY, December 14th, 2010...

Outside My Window...
It is dark and very, very cold. I read on the computer this morning that Bookies are slashing the odds for a White Christmas over here. If we do get one it will be the first one in the ten years I have lived here. That's quite exciting actually!

I am thinking...
I am in an extreme amount of pain this morning. Yesterday as I was sitting down to the table for our supper I twisted my bad knee. I have never known such an amount of pain. It was so much that I couldn't help crying out. I have barely been able to walk since and it is agony even sitting here. I don't know how I am going to cope. I have people invited for Christmas Lunch and Boxing Day Dinner. I am in charge of the Nativity this Sunday. We haven't even had a practice yet as I was unwell on Sunday this week and couldn't go. I had e-mailed the script to the Primary President but I heard last night that she ended up going home as well, so the poor second counselor was left all on her own and even the Music Leader wasn't there so the children haven't even learned their song! I just have to get better! Please say a little prayer for me!

I am thankful for...
I'm glad it's not both knees! That would be horrible!

From the kitchen...
We were having company last evening for Family Home Evening. I just did cheese and crackers and I bought a HUGE box of mixed Ferraro Rocher to share. Dang if they didn't share as much of those chocolates as I would have liked them to! Anyone want one? You'd be helping me out by taking a few off my hands! awww . . . that's too bad. I guess I'll have to eat them all by myself! Ok, Ok . . . I'll share some with Todd. ☺

I am wearing...
Pink and Black Jim Jams, my blue robe and slippers. Warmth people, comfort and warmth.

I am creating...
I have been making some little felt ornaments just for the fun of it. It started at a Relief Society activity. One of the projects was the cutest little felt ornaments and I got the patterns and have been doing a few here and there since. My tree while my children were growing up was covered with homemade ornaments from top to bottom. There were lovely little black and white panda's that I had knitted. Homemade red and white peppermint suckers that I had made with plastic canvas. Little drums, cross stitched on the tops. Little flower bears, Felt mice, etc. All homemade treasures. I wonder what happened to them. I hope that my ex didn't throw them away and that one of my children at least got them.

I am going...
I've got a Primary Presidency Meeting on Wednesday evening, then the Nativity on Sunday. I have a Doctors appointment tomorrow morning re my knee and after that we'll have to see. I had wanted to take a bus into town to go to M&S to pick up some things, but I doubt I'll make it now.

I am reading...



Spoken From The Heart by Laura Bush

In this brave, beautiful, and deeply personal memoir, Laura Bush, one of the world's most beloved and private first ladies, tells her own extraordinary story. Still enjoying this read. It's a very big book and very engaging. I have discovered that I really LIKE Laura Bush!

Born in the boom-and-bust oil town of Midland, Texas, Laura Welch grew up as an only child in a family that lost three babies to miscarriage or infant death. She vividly evokes Midland's brash, rugged culture, her close relationship with her father, and the bonds of early friendships that sustain her to this day. For the first time, in heart-wrenching detail, she writes about the devastating high school car accident that left her friend Mike Douglas dead and about her decades of unspoken grief. When she left West Texas in 1964,she never dreamed she would end up in the White House.

With deft humor and a sharp eye, Laura Bush lifts the curtain on what really happens inside the White House, from presidential finances to the 175-year-old tradition of separate bedrooms for presidents and their wives to the antics of some White House guests and even a few members of Congress. She writes with honesty and eloquence about her family, her public triumphs, and her personal tribulations. Laura Bush's compassion, her sense of humor, her grace, and her uncommon willingness to bare her heart make this story revelatory, beautifully rendered, and unlike any other first lady's memoir ever written. A very interesting read!


I am hoping...
I got all my cards written, so now I have to get them into the post TODAY! I hope that they arrive at their destinations before Christmas! Despite the best laid plans to have them all done early . . . I was sitting there a few days ago making more to send out!

I am hearing...
Early morning sounds . . . clocks ticking, early morning cars, the honk of a taxi picking up one of the neighbours, and Mitzie snozzling next to me. Oh how I love that sound. So sweet. The floors creaking as the house warms up . . . and the whoosh of the gas in the boiler as it works away . . . I love the sounds a house makes early in the mornings . . . like it is waking up along with me to greet the day. Just like it was alive and I guess in a way it is . . . and we . . . we are the heart of this home!

Around the house...
My ironing basket has a few things in it. I think I won't be standing up doing ironing for a while! I doubt that I'll be doing too much of anything, unless I can get Todd to help me a lot! Poor guy, whatever has he let himself in for!!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
A little of this and a little of that. Mostly hoping that my knee will get a lot better, coz if it doesn't, I'm in big trouble!


Here is picture thought I am sharing...



All my life I have dreamt of having a mantle in the living room that I could decorate for Christmas . . . a place to hang the stockings etc. As a child I used to worry because we didn't have a chimney on our home and I always fretted each year about how Santa was going to get in. Somehow he always managed though! Whew! Now I have a proper mantle, and I've had great fun making it all Christmassy looking. We are not having a proper tree this year because of Mitzie. I didn't want to spend the whole holiday having to yell "NO" every two minutes, so we just have a small table top tree. Next year she will be a lot less likely to want to tear a tree apart! (Here's hoping!!)

And just as a closing thought for today . . .

If we pay close attention, we will come to realize that no day is the same as another. Every morning brings with it a hidden blessing
~Paulo Coelho

A thought to inspire for today.

And there you have it . . . my day book for this week. Don't forget to hop on over to the Simple Woman to check out the other day book entries! (Or better yet, do a simple day book entry yourself! It's not that hard and I am betting you would enjoy it!)

I haven't done a lot of cooking and am not sure how much I'll be able to do. I thought this morning though I would point you in the direction of a few different ideas that I found on the net. These are all cute and simple to do. Enjoy!!




Candied Cherry Opera Fudge

This looks quite delicious and not too hard to make. I may give this one a try.



Mint Chocolate Slab

All your favourite mint chocolates in one place! Also a great way to use up those leftover chocolates in the box!



Chocolate Mice Cupcakes

OH, but these look so easy and so cute! I might even be able to whip up a few of these for the kiddies on Sunday with my gamey knee!



In The English Kitchen today, Christmas Pudding Trifles. Delish!