T'was the week after Christmas

and all through the house, Rachel was enjoying the holiday "stuff" without the hassle of deadlines, and working two jobs.

I've been off pretty much solid since Christmas Eve. I worked two hours on the 26th (I realized it took me longer to get back and forth to work than I was actually in the office, plus I scared the bejeezus out of SO by crawling back into the bed where he was napping, LOL), but other than that, I was off.

I had a nice holiday. I GOT MY SEWING MACHINE. Mom and Daddy bought it for me. SO was really pleased for me. The first thing he said was, "We need to get you a table for that!" I told him I can use the coffee table in the sewing room. Now I really have a SEWING ROOM. SO's mom and dad got me a gift card that burned a hole in my pocket so we went to Jo-ann's on Friday after I got home, and I bought 5 yards or so of fabric. For tuck pillows,and cubes! SO got me a necklace and a purse, along with a Tony Romo jersey. I had bought him the Demarcus Ware jersey, and funnily, we opened them at the same time (and those suckas still got their butts handed to them by Philly? Not to mention, the Baltimore station didn't even show the game, they had some funky sports talk show on. What is this about?). At least we looked like a couple, sitting there in our new jerseys, watching the Ravens. And he bought me a stereo for my sewing room. I will never leave that room, LOL. I also got a pair of slippers--we've christened them the elf shoes, and a fancy schmancy ort jar from my aunt.

We had some mixed success with our cooking endeavors. We decided we wanted a roast beef for Christmas Eve dinner. I went and picked out the roast. I had visions of a Nigella Lawson roast, pink and beautiful, yummy, very Christmassy. Let me say, if you want a cruddy piece of meat, send me to the store with instructions to pick it out. It looked gorgeous, but it was tough. Very tough, and chewy. I had gum that wasn't as chewy as that roast. I was bummed. I know, people were hungry, and that is nothing to really fuss about, but I want to be perfect, and that, my dears, was not perfect. The rolls went over much better. Blue cheese and butter are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. I was going to do Yorkshire puddings for dessert, too, but I just got too tired. Wrapping presents, and fighting roasts, and being Christmassy takes a lot out of a girl, so I curled up with some rolls. I also made a really easy fudge recipe, which I will share:



1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 C milk chocolate or semi sweet chips
dash of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla


Melt in a saucepan the condensed milk, the salt, and the chocolate chips. Stir so that the chocolate doesn't burn. When melted together, take off the heat and add the vanilla. Stir. You can also add other things like nuts. Spread into a lined square pan. Let cool for 2 hours and cut.

SO loved this. He doesn't like fudge. Whoo hoo.