Cocaine Princess here.
On Friday a wicked blizzard came roaring in and we felt its' wrath. It was nasty and was suppose to have lasted for two days.
Yes we received a pounding. Yes we received a beating left, right and center. Yes there was zero visibility for hours but there was light at the end of the tunnel. By late Friday evening time the snow began to taper off and that was the end of the storm. If you could have only heard what some of the forecasters were saying you would think we weren't going to make it out alive. The weather remains cold, so cold there's a cruel bite to it.
Our Christmas display decoration in the front yard are totally swallowed in by the snow and can't be seen. I don't think we'll be seeing any of them again until the snow begins to thaw.
On Saturday the roads were clear as was the sky. Early morning all you could hear was the sound of snow blowers in unison. I had been told the driveway was completely clear and was on my way out when Mr. Plow Man drove down the street leaving a pile of snow in front of every one's driveway and delaying my evening plans. I ask, why does Mr. Plow Man do this at the most inconvenient time?
Sunday December 21
Sunday afternoon we had something called a 'Cookie Exchange Party.' A party I had never attended. Forget that! I had never heard of one and if it wasn't for the fact it was held at our house I would have never known such a thing existed. Moms from the neighborhood with their children came over with their cookies and recipes. I asked my sister a couple of questions and no, this wasn't one of those 'pestering my sister with questions on purpose moments.' This was for real. I had serious questions beginning with, 'what exactly occurs at a cookie exchange party?' I was in the family room watching The Lost Boys: The Tribe. (I've watched some pretty bad films but this was the most dreadful sequel to a movie I have ever watched) 'The title isn't self explanatory?' she asked back. 'Is it just cookies?' 'Yes darling otherwise it would be called 'Cookies and Something Else Exchange Party,' she replied. 'No that's not what I meant. I mean are there only cookie exchange parties or are there recipe parties for other type of foods? Like is there a chicken exchange party where people exchange chicken dish recipes.' 'Probably.' I went back to watching the disastrous movie for about five minutes until I thought of some more questions. 'I still don't understand the 'party' aspect of it. They're exchanging recipes. They can't do it over the phone or do an online search of different recipes and send it in one mass email?' I questioned. 'They could.' 'So then why throw a party?' 'Why do some of your friends throw parties?' 'All sorts of reasons. Birthdays for one,' I answered. 'Don't some of them throw parties for no reason at all? I recall asking you once and you said, 'no reason, just because.' 'That particular party was a get together. It had been months since any of us had seen each other,' I explained. 'This is the same thing. It's a chance for them to get together, talk and catch up on things before the holidays.' 'All while exchanging recipes and sampling cookies,' I said. 'You say that like there's something sinister about the whole thing.' 'Who came up with the idea?' 'One of the moms read it in a parenting magazine.' 'How long has this exchanging of recipes been going on?' '3 or four years,' she responded. '3 or 4 years?' I repeated. I was shocked to learn this odd custom of exchanging cookies was a yearly event. 'So there was one last year?' 'That would be correct darling.' 'Where was I?' 'Last year it was held in November. You were in the islands.' I thought back to last year and said, 'oh yeah I was. Why is it in December this year?' 'Everyone agreed on holding it on the winter solstice and then the invitations were sent,' she replied. 'Invitations? I had no idea so much planning was involved. How long ago was it planned?' 'Mid October,' she answered. 'Whose idea was it to hold it here at the house?' 'One of them called and asked. I said yes.' 'Is that why you told me to eat a cookie the other night?' I suspiciously asked. 'Yes darling. I was trying to find a way to break the news to you gently. You're going to have an enjoyable time, you'll see.' 'Like at U. Station,' I said quietly to myself. 'I heard that,' A said back.
There was an hour remaining until the exchanging of cookies was about to begin so I did a little redecorating before I got ready. And by redecorating, I put the remote out of sight since the two Hannah Montana fanatic girls were on the invite list.
The Cookie Buffet
And so the ringing of the door bell began. It was almost like Halloween but instead of giving out sweet treats the sweet treats were given to us. Moms came with their kids and all the kids looked like mini mummies with layers and layers of scarves around their faces. Once unwrapped they all shined in their Christmas clothes. Many familiar faces. Each brought a container filled with cookies and Christmas gifts for 'A.'
Everybody's cookies were placed on the kitchen table and along the counter tops. It was more or less like a cookie buffet with all the moms and their cookie monsters in line tasting cookies and oohing and ahhing the moment the delights touched their mouths. Just looking at them I could feel my arteries clogging up. I tasted a few. They were scrumptious, yummy, creative and some were too pretty too eat. My personal picks, the coconut lime cookies sprinkled with edible glitter and the chocolate pecan cheesecake cookies in the shape of ornaments. I tried getting a picture of those along with some others but they were all devoured in minutes.
The Return Of Froggie
Another familiar guest was invited, Froggie.
'Froggie my man I haven't seen you since Halloween,' I stated. 'I was eating an Aero and you said I was a cute frog but I was an evil frog,' he said. 'You have a great memory. Did you write your letter to Santa?' 'I faxed him my list a month ago.' 'He's got a fax number? How modern.' 'And I faxed him another letter.' 'More gifts?' No I had a question. I wanted to know what Rudolph and the other reindeer do in the off season?' 'Did he reply back.' 'No but the missus did. She wrote they have a summer home where the reindeer and all the elves stay. But the place is a secret,' he whispered. '
Guess What? You Know What?
Even though napkins and festive shaped plates were provided sticky little hand prints managed to still make their way around the house courtesy of the strawberry jelly-jam filled cookie sandwiches, including on both my arms. The little ones kept grabbing on to me saying, 'guess what, guess what?! or 'you know what?!' Some of the things I was told,
1. 'Guess what? I'm leaving Santa a ham sandwich and soy milk under the tree,' one little girl told me. 'He likes that instead of regular milk and cookies?' I asked. 'Uh-huh. Last time I did and he left me the toys I wanted.'
2. 'You know what? I lost a tooth. See?' A little boy opened his mouth and his front tooth was gone. 'Did you leave it for the tooth fairy and get money?' 'Yup,' he replied.
3. 'Guess what? I saw The Tale of Despereaux Mouse,' said another little girl. 'You did? And did you like it?' I questioned. I was expecting a yes or no answer. Instead what did I receive? A full synopsis of the film from beginning to end and in between the little one acted some scenes out.
4. 'You know what? I'm going to Mount Tremble for Christmas,' a little boy all excitedly told me. 'Mount Tremble?...Mount Tremble?...Mount Tremble?....Where is that?' I curiously asked. 'K-bec,' (Quebec) he answered. 'Oh you mean Mont-Tremblant.' 'Yeah that's what I said, Mount Tremble. Grandma has a condo and we're staying with her,' he explained. 'So you'll be skiing during the holidays. How fun is that going to be?' 'I don't like skiing. I like sledding more,' he replied.
And even froggie joined in.
5. 'Guess what I have a new joke. What did the dentist enjoy best about his road trip?' I thought about this one and gave a bunch of answers. They were all incorrect. 'Tell me,' I requested. 'The bridge work,' he replied. 'That's funny,' I said smiling. Your nonna tell you that joke?' He nodded his head. 'She has a book full of them. You get it?' 'I do. Do you?' I asked back. 'No but nonna said it was funny.'
As everyone continued consuming the sugary and buttery samples my sister was opening the gifts that were presented to her. One of the gifts came accompanied with a decorative tin and inside was red and green colored popcorn. It was half empty or half full depending on how you look at it. The little girl who brought this explained to A, 'I tasted some of them because I wanted to make sure they tasted good for you. They did.'
The Cookie Exchange Party came with entertainment. A few brought along holiday DVDs to watch while the moms were busy chatting it up and exchanging recipies. All the children had the animated specials practically memorized. They would say, ' watch what happens next,' or they would follow along word for word except for one, Froggie's holiday choice. Keep reading for his holiday DVD selection.
Here's what we watched.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Simpsons Christmas:
Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire
Shrek The Halls
Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer
Froggie's choice:Rich Little's Christmas Carol
I had never seen this special before. It's quite funny. Because of some of the jokes and Rich Little impersonating different and famous people I had to question Froggie's mama if her son understood any of it. She answered, 'not really. His nonna is a Rich Little fan and during this time of year they watch it together which is at least a 100 times.'
My loyal readers, love, peace and happiness.
May the magic of the season touch you in a kind and positive way.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
XOXOXOXO
Cocaine Princess
XOXOXOXO
