COFFEE HIGH!!!!!!

Look at what the the post brought me . . . I am in COFFEE HEAVEN!!! When I came back from lunch on Monday there was a package on my desk at work from Canada . . . well I knew immediately what that meant . . . ANITA LEE SENT ME GOODIES FROM RICHMOND, BC!!! . . . and what goodies they are . . . Anita and I had a slow start (we were unable to connect with each other at the beginning the the Coffee Swap due to wrong email addresses and Anita doesn't maintain a blog) . . . anyhoo . .

Anita wrote in her letter to me (the back side of the letter is shown here . . . Anita cut out ladybugs and put them all over the letter . . . too cute!!!!) that she went to three different coffee shops in the Vancouver area where they roast coffee and sent me organic French Roast beans from Salt Spring Coffee, organic Arabica beans from Viva Java (a local Richmond coffee shop where the beans were roasted the morning that she sent my package-talk about fresh!) and a Christmas blend from JJ Bean House of Coffee . . . and the bonus to all these coffees is that if I fall in love with any of them I will be able to get more by e-mailing my request to the shops. . . isn't that great!!!!! Anita also visited "THE" Canadian coffee & donut shop, Tim Horton's, and sent me a mug with a little package of their blend of coffee.Now as you can tell from the picture the goodies did not end there . . . Anita also whipped up a batch of homemade (that's right . . . made fresh the morning of the mailing) Peppermint Bark . . . of course my co-workers and I had to try some of that right away . . . WOW its great especially with a cup of coffee . . . who knew that you could make something that tastes so good from Special K cereal . . . and the final goodies in the package were 3 skiens of 100% wool Jojoland yarn if a soft varigated green color . . . I can't wait to start knitting that yarn up!!!!

So a BIG THANK YOU Anita . . . you did good!!!!! . . . I am now going to enjoy a cup of Viva Java coffee while I look through some knitting books for the perfect pattern for the yarn!!!

Oh . . . for those of you who want to try a semi healthy goodie . . . here is the recipe for Anita's Peppermint Bark as she wrote them to me . . . "it's really easy - some melted chocolate, some Special K cereal and some crushed up candy cane. Toss the candy cane in while the chocolate is melting, then stir in the cereal. Pour it all out onto a foil lined cookie sheet, pop it into the fridge for about 15 minutes, take it out, break it into pieces and enjoy!" THIS STUFF IS REALLY GOOD and I am going to try making it this weekend!!!!

SOME HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

Here are a few holiday eating tips that I am thinking of incorporating into my holidays this year . . .

1. AVOID CARROT STICKS. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. DRINK AS MUCH EGGNOG AS YOU CAN. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of the year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Better still have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. IF SOMETHING COMES WITH GRAVY, USE IT. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. AS FOR MASHED POTATOES, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. DO NOT HAVE A SNACK BEFORE GOING TO A PARTY in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. HELLO!!!


6. IF YOU COME ACROSS SOMETHING REALLY GOOD AT A BUFFET TABLE, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

7. SAME FOR PIES. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two applies and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one essert? Labor Day?

8. DID SOMEONE MENTION FRUITCAKE? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid store-bought fruitcake at all cost. I mean, have SOME standards.

I have every intention of leaving this world with chocolate in one hand, a martini in the other and screaming "WOO HOO WHAT A RIDE!"

Oh, and speaking of MARTINIS, there is a new short term knitting swap (ends January 31st) starting up called the "DIRTY KNITTER" (dirty is what they call martini's I've been told) . . . if you are interested in joining check out this site: http://knitqmb.blogspirit.com . . . you must join before Friday, December 15th (she did say that when she matches people up they will be given the "dirty knitter" blog site address) . . . email her (princessk1p2@sbcglobal.net) the following info:
your name; your mailing address; your blog address and blog name; your preferred email contact; do you have allergies; are you 21 . . . apparently you do not have to drink but you do have to knit . . .

So that's all for now . . . till later ladybug kisses . . .

Finding Inner Peace and Calmness

Things have been pretty hectic around here . . . okay down right crazy . . . and I have been dealing with a lot of stress lately . . . I was recently (just a few hours ago) emailed this message and I want to share it with everyone who is crazy enough to read my blogs . . . so here it is . . .

"I am passing this on to you because it definitely works. We could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too, can find inner peace. Dr. Phil proclaimed, 'The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started and never finished.' So, I looked around my house to see all the things I'd started and hadn't finished. And before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a bottle of Kahlua, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how freaking good I feel!"

This made me laugh . . . even though that person did not mention one unfinished knitting project . . . my husband was under the short lived illision that knitting relieves stress but he has since learn that in my case knitting makes me swear like a sailor and throw things (yarn-needles)!!!!

I hope this little message has helped relieved some of the stress anyone may be going through right now . . .

BTW . . . with rehersals, parties, families, work, board meetings, church meetings . . . I have not been knitting for the past week . . . hey maybe this is why I am stressed . . . maybe I can get some swearing (I mean knitting) time in this weekend . . . here's hope'n!!!!!!