Monkey Bread, With Whole Wheat Flour & Love

It drives me insane when a writer uses an exclamation point in place of a question mark. Everyone should know a sentence no longer makes any sense if it's supposed to have question mark but it instead is finished off with an exclamation point.

It is unnecessary to yell. You're asking a question.

It gets under my skin. I am the wife who went to college for words, the husband told everyone on Facebook after he beat me at Words With Friends for the third time. So, there you have it: The misuse of the exclamation point drives me batty.

It is true I sometimes write in incomplete sentences, though I scold everyone at work for doing it. And I sometimes struggle with when to use a semicolon. (My solution? Avoid the semicolon. Write around it. Do whatever you have to do to get out of using one.)

It also makes me a bit crazy when I've had a regular ol' breakfast, a salad for lunch and (hot!) leftovers for dinner, and I'm left with not a whole lot to blog about. I guess that leaves me no choice but to rewind to Christmas Eve when the husband talked me into making him monkey bread for breakfast.

A Hot Meal Courtesy of the Husband

I knew what the husband got me for Christmas. We share a bank account. It can be hard to keep large secrets from one another. So come Christmas Eve I couldn't take it a second longer. About an afternoon of the puppy dog look later, the husband gave in and let me have my new camera. I gave him an iTouch.

The husband and I haven't talked since. Well, not much. Words With Friends doesn't count as talking. 

But I did ask him to make dinner tonight. So after I made him cannoli ...

Freestyle Friday: Cookie Jar Mixes

*Sometimes there's a little more to my life than food. Friday's the day I'll share, I mean, most Fridays I hope to share those bits with you. We'll cover crafts, music, travel, who knows.

The Christmas countdown is officially on. Only two sleeps until Santa Paws arrives, and I am happy to say we're ready. I know the husband has my presents wrapped and hidden away in the guest closet. (Every night I want a sweatshirt I have to ask him to pick one out for me, since I'm not allowed in there!) And I have the husband's gifts tagged (To: the man of my dreams From: his beautiful wife) and ready to stick under the tree. I'm also happy to report we wrapped and shipped all of the gifts we needed to send to family miles and miles away - some have even received their packages already. (Sorry to those of you who won't be seeing your gifts until after the big day. We tried.)

For those of you who have had your shopping done since Black Friday, I know my accomplishments sound like small potatoes. But I'm feeling quite efficient right about now. So efficient, in fact, that the husband keeps asking what we're going to do tomorrow on our day off. 

We don't have any shopping left to do - thank God. I think tomorrow afternoon sounds like prime time for a good Christmas flick. 

How about you? Are your stockings hung by the chimney with care, or are you still baking Santa's cookies and worrying you've forgotten to get a gift for someone on your list?

If you find yourself in the latter boat, here's a quick and easy way to redeem some of your sanity: cookie mix jars. You most likely have all of the ingredients in your pantry, they take minutes to put together and recipients will love 'em. Seriously, who doesn't love cookies? People you shouldn't be friends with, that's who.

Chocolate chip cookies make just about everyone's holiday happy:

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar From Christmas-Cookies.com

I know chocolate and peanut butter always make me happy:

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies in a Jar From Cravings of a Lunatic

Cinnamon and sugar is a nice alternative for those (crazy people) not in love with chocolate:

Snickerdoodle Mix in a Jar From AllRecipes.com

And for those who want to pretend cookies are healthy, throw in some oatmeal:

Cowboy Cookie Mix in a Jar From the Comfort of Cooking

Christmas Corn Puddin'

The Muppets have been singing "Ma Na Ma Na" in my head since last night. Yes, the song is getting a bit old now, 24 hours later, but I can't complain. I have the best boss in the whole world. She took my co-workers and I to the movies yesterday as a little Christmas bonus and, grownups that we are, we chose to see the new Muppet movie.

No, my job has nothing to do with the cinema or puppets. My boss is just that cool.

Popcorn and soda for everyone!