Happy New Year!........Was It a Happy Last Year?

Its the very last day of 2010......... oh where has the year gone? 2011 is no longer right around the corner, its right next door!
So how was 2010? Was it as good as you hoped? As bad as you expected? (hopefully not). What single event stood out as a highlight of your year? Maybe January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August and September, October and November, and most recently December all had their own stand-out experience. Well, what ever happened in the year that was monumental or monotonous that you'd like to share, The Missy Times wants to know about it! Whether you want to share a highlight from every month, a few random events, or just one, you can by participating in The Missy Times  "Happy Last Year! 2010 Highlights" special reader survey. All the compiled responses will be be posted in the next issue of The Missy Times  which will be coming out very soon, so make sure to send in yours  to:
 maksmk25@verizon.net
or else just comment on this post

as soon as possible

Happy New Year!!!!

Candy Cane Christmas Cookies

Christmas cookies, mmmmm...... warm and yummy and sweet. Cookies at anytime of the year are absolutely scrumptious, but there's something about cookies at Christmastime that's extra special.
Well, we hadn't made any kind of Christmas cookies lately, and I'd been waiting to make them, so while my mom and sister were at the store I made a batch of candy cane cookies all by myself for the first time.
Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I know us kids aren't supposed do this kind of stuff without adult supervision, but don't worry, Dad was home and I didn't use the oven till mom (the real cookie expert) got back.
It was a lot of fun to make the red and white dough and then twist them together to make the candy canes. I even got to add little bits of real candy canes and peppermint flavoring. Everything went smoothly, except for a little incident with the mixer which envolved pieces of dough flying everywhere when I thought it was turned off, (shudder) that was close! 
They turned out to be very tasty. Mom and Gina said I was a great baker (thanks guys!)
and that may be a bit of an overstatement, but I'm really proud of my candy canes that doubled both as treats and as a mark of  my first solo baking project.

Ever tried these cookies? They're easy to make! This isn't the exact recipie I used, mine was from Mom's old cookbook, but its pretty close.
 http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/candy-cane-cookies/93832e29-3b4f-4977-ae5a-9820053b254c

Merry Christmas Cookies!

'Twas The Week Before Christmas.... In The Words of Christmas Carols

"From now on we all will be together,
if the Fates allow"   

"Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more."

"In the air there's a feeling of Christmas"

"Can you hear what I hear?"
"Silver bells, silver bells"

"Please have snow, and mistletoe, and presents by the tree"

"Let every heart, prepare Him room"

"From now on our troubles will be miles away"
  so
"Joy to the world!"

Christmas is coming.


-"Have yourself a merry little Christmas"
-"Silver Bells"
-"I'll be home for Christmas"
-"Joy to the world"




And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Yesterday, on a rainy winter afternoon, just as we were on the brink of another Steelers win, my mom and I went to the church parking lot to pick out and purchase this year's Christmas tree.
We had three varieties to choose from:

Douglas Fir
Frasier Fir
Chaanan Fir

At first, my mom wanted to get one of the douglas firs which were nice trees, but as soon as I saw that the volunteer who was showing us the tree was almost as tall as it, I immeadiately told my mom that this was not the tree for us. For, the image of a tree from Christmas past had popped into my head. It had been a nice little tree, round and full, but the problem was, it was short. Even standing on a box it's top still was two feet short from the ceiling. We did get a kick out of it, but that wasn't the tree we said, "This is the best tree we've ever had!" about.That statement may be true for last year's tree, though.  Look how beautiful it was! (see top picture)

I wanted to lean towards picking a tree like last year's rather than a short tree like the one from two years ago, so, we moved on.

The Frasiers looked dried out, so our last choice were the Chaanans. And, we ended up taking home a wonderful looking tree with a very nice Christmas shape standing nearly 7 1/2 feet tall . Considering our ceilings are only 8 feet, I'd say its the perfect height. We won't put it up for a few days. Right now, its sitting on the porch outside in the world covered with freshly fallen snow.

What's your opinion on Christmas trees? What does yours look like?

Christmas is still 12 twelve days away! Can we really wait?

In the words of Father Mike in his sermon yesterday, "Be patient, be patient, be patient"

The Bridge

Recently, I wrote two pieces for this local literary publication which just came out yesterday. The first article, as you will see, is on the front page. My second piece, "Late On A Chilly Fall Day" is found under the "stories" section.
Both were featured in previous issues of the MT.
http://thebridge15009.wordpress.com/

Sorry If I'm Flooding Your Mailbox....... But Another Missy Times Is Coming Soon!

Since the most recent edition of The Missy Times was special for Thanksgiving, a regular December issue will be coming out soon.

Would you be interested in being a guest writer?

I'm always excited to hear what people think of The Missy Times, so how about writing a letter to the Editor?

Do you have any story ideas for the issue? I'd love to hear them!

Please write to mom.and.rose@gmail.com

Speaking Of Advent & Christmas.....

Here is an article my mom showed me. I think it goes perfectly with yesterday's post.

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Dont-Let-Christmas-Steal-Your-Advent.html