My beautiful 2 week hiatus has officially ended today. While I did enjoy the time away from work and the stresses of real life, I must agree with the old adage “Time flies when you’re having fun.” I should also add that time flies more and more rapidly with each year that passes. I always thought it was strange when adults would comment that time seemed to go by faster as they got older. It was a mystery to my 11 year old mind. However, I’ve recently realized that my 11 years was but several chapters in their 40 something lives, yet it was a literal eternity to me. When I look at my lovely 9 year old niece Kate, I can recall what life was like 9 years ago when she was born…I was driving accompanied by a parent, my hair was short, I was gearing up to start college, and I was infatuated with a young teenage punk named Andy Gould. To me, it was long ago, yet not so far away. To Kate it’s inconceiveable. I can only imagine how quickly time will pass when I’m 50, 60 or 70.
I had been promising myself I would do things during my winter break that were usually not possible or convenient. One such thing was baking. I love to bake! I have often said that I would bake all day long if I didn’t have to work…apparently I was right. After a weekend of parties just after my hiatus began, I started gearing up for the Christmas Eve celebration with my in-laws. It was my assignment to bring the dessert and the rolls. Some people might have jetted out to the store to buy a few cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and a tube of chocolate chip cookie dough and called it a day, but not me…not the wanna-be-Martha-Stewart-daughter-of -Laurie “Making Something From A Box Would Be Sacrilegious” Kroll. I had to make it all from scratch. Not because I thought it was expected, but rather because that’s what I love to do. For me it is theraputic and fulfilling. So, I began. I made a wonderful spread consisting of: chocolate crinkle cookies, frosted butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, a chocolate mint chip ice cream cake roll, peanut butter buckeyes, and my mom’s famous yeast rolls. The party day arrived just as I finished those treats. The following day I made my grandma’s cheesy beer dip with pumpernickle bread. I took a break for a couple of days and feasted on all the Christmas fare. Then, I began gearing up for our annual Pre-New Years Eve bash and it all began again with more chocolate chip cookies, more buckeyes, more frosted butter cookies, seven layer taco dip, and fortutately several other items that were purchased from the store. All in all, I definitely satisfied my urge to bake!
Here I am now…sitting at my desk listening to my new Celine Dion CD and wishing I was at home doing some of the other things I just didn’t get the chance to do. I really wanted to have a couple of days to do practically nothing. I wanted to get up in time to watch Ellen followed by The View. I wanted to take long showers and spend ridiculous amounts of time primping and grooming. I wanted to be totally bored one day and then reorganize several closets the next. I wanted to spend a couple of days shopping at all the places that aren’t along my normal route. I wanted to visit thrift stores and craft stores. I wanted to work on my scrapbook. Alas, the time off ended as it always so abruptly does. I will save these wants for my next recess which I hope is not too far away.
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