This Stop Willoughby

I started this blog one year ago today.  I had plans to celebrate my one year anniversary with a fun post or a give away, but here's the problem.....I'm sick.  I've got a nasty case of the flu and I'm absolutely exhausted.   I'll have to postpone celebrating for a while. Thank you so much to all of you who sent emails expressing concern about my absence.  I've been MIA for a while, but that was due to all of the decorating, shopping, wrapping, cooking and baking that I did for Christmas. I didn't get sick until the day after Christmas. I'm looking forward to catching up with all of you when I'm feeling better! Willoughby

I have a simple question to ask you.  What is a Christmas cookie?  I've celebrated Christmas every year of my life, but today was the first time I ever thought about the what the term actually means (my son says I have too much time on my hands).   When I looked it up online, the definition read "A sugar cookie, usually cut in festive shapes, that is made and eaten at Christmas."  Really?  Could I have been doing it wrong all these years? Does Christmas mean December 25th, or does it include the entire holiday season?  Would it still be a Christmas cookie if you ate it on Thanksgiving?  Or New Years Eve?  What about other types of cookies?  If I make Chocolate Truffle cookies, for example, can they technically be called Christmas cookies?   And should I wait until Christmas to serve them?    Who are Christmas cookies for?  I know a lot of people, myself included,  make up platter...

I've been given some awards by my fabulous blog friends.  I apologize for not taking the time to post them and pass them on sooner.   I adore my blog buddies and appreciate each and every award.  If you haven't visited these blogs, please do so.  Right now.  I'm not kidding! From Holly at 504 Main From  Holly at 504 Main , Bashful Toast ,  and 5th Sister From Holly at 504 Main From Holly at 504 Main and  Bashful Toast From Bashful Toast and 5th Sister From Bashful Toast From Katie's Korner ,  One Step At A Time  and Tattoos and Teething Rings From One Step At A Time , 5th Sister , and Who Has The Thyme? From Rook No. 17 From Tattoos and Teething Rings From  Tattoos and Teething Rings From 5th Sister From Who Has The Thyme? Several of these awards have rules that state you must list a number of interesting or unknown facts about yourself.  Instead of...

Last week, I told you that Mr. Willoughby and I like to try new recipes together.  This morning, we decided to try making homemade donuts.  We prefer cake donuts to raised donuts, so we used this recipe .  They were easy and delicious and it didn't take much longer than a trip to the donut shop.  We got 13 donuts, or a baker's dozen,  plus a bunch of little donut holes out of one batch.  We did alter the recipe a bit by leaving out the cinnamon and nutmeg because we wanted to add a variety of toppings to the end product.  As you can see, we coated some with cinnamon sugar, some with a chocolate glaze and left a few plain.   We used our deep fryer, but I'm sure you could improvise with a deep pan, a few inches of oil and a candy thermometer. Our son liked them so much he thought we should go into business selling them.  Willoughby's Donut Shop?  I like the sound of that! Willoughby

I haven't been around as much as I'd like lately because I've been really busy.  I got it in my head that I wanted to go through every closet, drawer and cabinet in the house and get rid of all of the unused or underused items taking up space.   It's been quite an undertaking, but I feel really good about it. I went into this project telling myself to make decisions logically, not emotionally, but I still found it hard to part with some things.  I'm not really a pack rat by nature, but I am sentimental.  In the end, logic won out.  I reminded myself that stuff is just stuff.  Keeping items that remind me of when my kids were babies won't bring those days back.  On the flip side, parting with them won't erase cherished memories. I still have a few cabinets to go through, and I didn't even start on the basement, but we donated more than 18 bags of toys, clothes and household items to charity.  If that's not wor...

Everyone is good at something, right?  I think so, anyway.  It's what makes you interesting.  Me, I'm a pretty good cook.  I'm also good at trivia.  Neither of those are very unique, though.  If you asked me to name my most interesting or unusual talent, I guess I would have to say my ability to use power tools (because I'm a woman, people always seem surprised).  When we installed the trim molding on our front porch, we set the chop saw up in the yard and took turns cutting the pieces.  No one seemed surprised to see Mr. Willoughby using it, but I got a few strange looks when I did.  When I tell people that I cut all of the trim for the back porch with a chop saw and installed it with a nail gun while Mr. Willoughby was at work, they always seem to think it's unusual. I'd like to have one of those talents that entertain people at parties.  I'm always envious of people who can juggle or do card tricks. ...