It's a Love-Hate Relationship

I have this love-hate relationship with the month of December. I love December because it's such a festive month, the weather turns cooler (usually), and it's Christmas. I hate December because I work retail, and we've been "doing" Christmas since the end of October. I'm so ready for it to be all over with! Because we're so busy at work, I come home at the end of the day too wiped out to do much of anything except veg on the couch. Many days, I don't even have enough "oomph" to pick up my needle. I really relish the days between Christmas and New Year's when the pace of life slows down and life returns to normal. Most years my Christmas spirit is zip, and this year is no exception.

December is also somewhat of a sad month for me. Twelve years ago yesterday (12/13/96), my mom passed away after a 4-month battle with lung cancer. Christmas was her absolute favorite time of the year. She saved up all of her vacation time at work and took it from the Monday before Thanksgiving until the Monday after New Year's Day. Her birthday was Dec. 30th, so we celebrated Christmas from Christmas day until Mom's birthday. For her birthday dinner, all the family would come over (even though we'd all been together 5 days before) and we'd have homemade chili and cheese enchiladas. Talk about yummy!! Our house never smelled as good as it did during the month of December. Mom's cookies and pies were to-die-for delish! I can't make a decent pie crust to save my soul, but I sure can bake like her! I haven't given up on the pie crust, either.

Yesterday, I took these Oreo Truffles to work for us to enjoy throughout the day. They were a pain to make, much more work required than making a plain ol' cookie, but they tasted wonderful. I haven't heard any reviews on them as I got off very early yesterday.



Today, I'm beginning my holiday baking. Up first is a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. These are my all-time favorites. I'm planning on mailing them to some of my family, but that depends on how many are left when mailing time comes around!