Hump Day Blurb - Whittling Down Lists, Tragedy, Christmas BreakfastConfection

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Happy Hump Day...

It's less than a week until the regularly scheduled Christmas celebration! Because of a generous gift certificate to Barnes and Noble from a VP at work, combined with an e-mailed 20% off one item coupon from Barnes & Noble, I crossed an item from each Ben's and Isaac's lists. Two down! One great thing about being on a limited budget AND not wanting to equate the genuine sentiment of the season with gobs and gobs of presents is - I won't have to spend an inordinate amount of time amongst the shopping masses! Woo-hoo!  I should be able to accomplish all shopping in the next few days easily because of the shopping center close to work.

CharlotteBacon, 6; Daniel Barden, 7; Rachel Davino, 29; Olivia Engel, 6; Josephine Gay,7; Ana Marquez-Greene, 6; Dylan Hockley, 6; Dawn Hochsprung, 47; Madeleine Hsu,6; Catherine Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 7; Jesse Lewis, 6; James Mattioli, 6; GraceMcDonnell, 7; Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Emilie Parker, 6; Jack Pinto, 6; NoahPozner, 6; Caroline Previdi, 6; Jessica Rekos, 6; Avielle Richman, 6; LaurenRousseau, 30; Mary Sherlach, 56; Victoria Soto,27; Benjamin Wheeler, 6; AllisonWyatt, 6

I would be remiss if I ignored the tragedy. Today I finally processed the event and shed my first tears.

I was applying my daily war paint (make-up) and listening to the morning show on the local sports channel, while Shiloh bounced between bedrooms babbling. Just before returning from a commercial break, they played a montage of Newtown residents reminiscing about their friends and first responders relaying their experience. Then our President recited every victim's name. After the last name, my defenses crumbled and the icky, inexplicable horror overwhelmed my psyche then tears streamed down my cheeks. I sucked in a shaky breath, dabbed at the wetness and resumed the war paint application. For the rest of the morning nothing Shiloh and Isaac did irritated me. Go figure.

As I continued on to work after dropping Shiloh off, one caller, who adorned himself with school-administrator credentials, irritated me so much I yelled at the radio. Even though it's sports radio, this horror transcends genre and needs to be discussed. I get that. However, not everyone with something to say, has things worth saying. This was such an individual. To sum up his genius assessment: "We are always on the look out for kids who cause trouble. We need to look out for the kids who don't get into trouble, wear black nail polish and have bones in their noses."

Really? Black nail polish and nose bones? Those are the crazy psychopath, I'm-going-to-gun-down-an elementary-school-markers? From what I've heard on the news, this psycho was a quiet preppy-looking nerd. Way to call it.

This gruesome tragedy defies explanation - no matter how much one is needed. From making guns as hard to get as Sudafed, to training educators how to recognize dangerous anti-social behaviors before they become lethal, to adequate, accessible mental health care, to each of us being able to find the happy medium between being a nosy neighbor and a concerned citizen - there are so many variables here, there's no ONE thing that could have been done to prevent it. Much needs to be done; I hope we're up to the challenge. That's my two cents.

Peace on Earth Hands

Ah-hem.

I still have something yummy to share....

TODAY'S CONFECTION

Only since I had Isaac has a Christmas morning confection been on my menu. Whilst growing up, an adult would put coffee on as us kids dove into the stockings and presents like ravenous monsters - devouring the whole kit-n-caboodle in less than an hour. Then we'd sit amidst the wrapping paper and boxes with our gifties, coming off the Christmas high and HUNGRY. Daddy would do his grumpy-man clean-up, stuffing wrapping paper into plastic bags. When the floor could be seen, he'd cook a big breakfast. 

Now that I'm older and a teensy bit wiser, I've learned the delight in delayed gratification. Ben's family did presents in two stages, and we've followed this tradition, and enter today's confection. First we have this sweet breakfast snack -Hershey's Cinnamon Chip Applesauce Cake. One slice of this moist, but-not-too-decadent delectable will provide enough energy to dump out, open and unwrap the stocking (something else we didn't do - wrap stocking presents). I don't make the glaze - it never comes out right for me, and the cake is perfect without it. If you want to go to the dessert route with this, I'd recommend using my perfect frosting. 

After the stockings come a proper breakfast that takes about an hour to prepare. Good thing hubby was a short-order cook in his teenaged years - and still rocks the griddle! After some eggs, home fries and bacon it's time to attack the tree presents.

Ahhhh, traditions!