Cold, cookies, and Christmas oranges

It is SO cold outside. Sure, it gets this cold every year, but I don't know if this time we were prepared for it. It was so nice in Nov. and part of Dec., and then WHAM super cold. It has been in the mid minus 20's now for weeks, and with the wind it is like -40! I often think to myself about the first people who came here - What were they thinking! One winter without forced air heat, and I would have said, "screw this!" and left. I guess it was really bad where they were from.

This weather makes people do funny things. My husband, for example, is even more of a hermit than he normally is. He wants nothing more than to sit downstairs cuddled up in blankets and watch TV. As for me, it makes me want to use the oven. It goes like this, the oven is warm, standing by the oven is warm, maybe I will bake something. And so, starts the Christmas baking. Yesturday, I made homemade cottage cheese dill bread that I will use for an appetizer with spinach dip on the 24th, along with butter pecan cookies that have no flour in them at all. Today, I plan to bake thumbprint cookies, and I might go to the grocery store to get the things I need for wednesday. I will brave the cold, but only if that means I can use the oven again!

The other thing about cold is people want warm drinks. I keep thinking that I really must learn how to make hot buttered rum or a hot toddy (what is that exactly?), but so far I will just stick to coffee and tea. This morning for breakfast I had one of my cookies and a christmas orange to go along with my coffee. Don't you just love those little oranges? I don't much care for the white stuff, so I pick it off. Just that act of getting all the white stuff off and eating each piece is so calming.

As I probably won't blog again before Christmas (it is right around the corner!), I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Have a safe and happy holiday!

New Deal

So, as we have settled in to life as two anesthesiologists, it begs the question: What is the next step? Kids? A new house? Both? Which one do I convince Jurgen is the way to go? And how? Initially, I thought we should have kids. It is the next logical step in our lives together, but then I looked around at our house. A two bedroom condo with no back yard in which we use the second bedroom as an office. Yes, a new house is needed before we take on the next challenge. However, we are in an economica downturn, a recession, and convincing my hubby that we can afford anew house is very difficult! It began to really stress him out. So much so, that he decided on a deal. He has pledged that he will work out 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week, every week. The moment he falters we can buy a house.
I win either way!! Either I get a smoking hot husband out of the deal, or I get a house. Either way, he stops being stressed out and gets healthy, at least for a little while.
For those of you who don't know, my husband is a couch potatoe. The most exercise he gets in a day is exercising his thumb muscles playing Xbox. So, this is a big deal. He must have been really stressed out about the prospect of having to buy a house. I commend him for it. We shall see if he is able to do it. But, like I said, either way, I win.