Ah. Well, let’s just see how my Christmas Challenge is going. I got the idea from Kae to plan a specific holiday activity for each of the remaining twelve days of Christmas. Let’s just say things didn’t quite go as planned.
When I left off it was Friday, and I called that a “Christmas Work Day.” It wasn’t exactly a fun activity, but there were several things I wanted to get done before my son came home; most importantly, finishing the outdoor lights. I had the lights up around the top of the house and in the palm trees, but hadn’t done the bushes yet.
The PROBLEM was, Friday was extremely rainy and windy. So windy, in fact, that my lights in the palm trees blew down and were lying on the grass. Not only did I not finish the lights, but the decoration I already had up were UN-DECORATING THEMSELVES. Arg.
Saturday. The planned activity today was a family dinner at the table with decorations and twinkle lights. Strike two! My husband got a last-minute gig (this is the life of a musician) so he wasn’t home for dinner. Not only that, but the original plan was for him to pick up my son from the airport while I made dinner. Now I had to pick up my son- which I was happy to do- but timing-wise it just wasn’t conducive to a family dinner (even if we wanted to do it without my husband.) The kids and I ended up eating re-heated curry in the living room that night.
Sunday- make cookies. Okay, nothing could go wrong THIS time, right??? I specifically wanted to make these Festive and Easy Rum Balls to include in the gift for my daughter’s flute teacher. No judgments here, but let’s just say I really felt like she and her husband would enjoy a boozy cookie.
I made them! The problem was, I got a text from the flute teacher saying she was sick and couldn’t make the lesson on Monday. Oh, great! This means we won’t see her till January. The kids were intrigued and excited to try the rum balls, so I let them… and they hated them. My daughter said they taste like nail polish remover, and my son said they taste like a delicious cookie that someone ruined by pouring alcohol all over.
Now I will say… the recipe says the alcohol mellows after 24 hours, and the kids tried them the day I made them. But for now I have a batch of rum balls in the freezer and I’m not sure what I’ll do with them. LUCKILY I also made peanut butter balls!
I used this recipe and everyone likes those, phew.
By Sunday the wind had died down and I was able to get the lights back up into the palm trees- but no lights in the bushes still. At this point I’m wondering if that’s going to happen this year.
Monday’s activity was starting the Christmas puzzle- and I did it!
The problem is, I was the only one who worked on it. I’m hoping if I leave it out others will join in, but so far the only thing that’s happened is my husband complained that it hurts his back to have the puzzle on the coffee table like that. We’ll see how this goes…
And here we are on Tuesday. The activity for today is more cookie baking (didn’t I just do that??) Well, it would be a great day to make my annual Christmas biscotti. My daughter has a guitar lesson tomorrow, and I can add biscotti to her teacher’s present (along with the rum balls he’ll obviously be getting.) Biscotti is kind of a pain to make, but it’s worth it. These have orange zest and chocolate chips… yum.
Also on tap for today is making the Christmas playlist for my long run tomorrow! I’m getting exited about that.
I’m hoping these Christmas Challenges become more successful as the days go on- I would hate to look back on this as the “12 Days of Christmas Debacles.” Next check-in coming soon!
How is your week going?
Header photo by Felicia Buitenwerf on Unsplash
38 Responses
Ha, nice job on persevering, Jenny!
I don’t know about your kids, but I could not walk past an unfinished puzzle on a coffee table! So tempting!!
Nail polish remover! Haha! I’m sure the biscotti will be more popular!
Oh, my kids have no problem walking right past an unfinished puzzle! And yes- the biscotti are much more popular.
It’s hard to plan festive things this time of year because it’s SO busy so other obligations inevitably come up, but I think you did the best you could do under the circumstances!
So sorry about your lights! We are supposed to be getting a lot of rain here this weekend and my mom had planned for us to go for a Christmas lights walk in a neighborhood near theirs but that may not happen. At least we don’t have to deal with snowstorms on Christmas!
The biscotti you’re making sounds delicious!
The biscotti are really amazing- the recipe is from Isa’s Veganomicon cookbook.
I don’t know… snow might be preferable to rain on Christmas!
Well the 12 days of Christmas debacles makes for a good story!
We have the opposite problem regarding puzzles in this house. I will start a puzzle, then go do something else, and then I’ll come back and find my husband has been working on it nonstop and it’s almost done. HE FINISHED MY GNOME PUZZLE JENNY. He’s a bit of a puzzle hog but I don’t mind particularly when the puzzle is really hard, and I just want to do the easy parts!
Meh, I’m with your kids, I don’t love rum balls either. I don’t really like rum to be honest, and I prefer my booze in a glass! Maybe you’ll have a neighbour who would enjoy them?
Oh really? Send your husband down here- I need some help!
I’m sure I can find someone who will eat the rum balls… if nothing else my husband will finish them : )
I’d probably eat those rum balls. lol
So far, this week’s lousy.
Rained yesterday. Hubby still sick. Cat still missing.
And have to work out of the house for the next 3 days… can’t wait for the weekend!!
Darlene, you really are not having a good phase here. I hope you at least have a three day weekend coming up? And I sure hope your husband is okay.
Ha ha ha! And now you understand why I did not list out what my festive activities would be for all twelve days. I knew things would go off the rails. Yesterday I counted “petting the dog and cat near the Christmas tree for five minutes” as my festive activity. I mean, I DID appreciate the beauty of the tree!
I don’t know if I’ve ever had rum balls? They sound good, I think. Hm. Maybe you should send some to me to try. 😉
There’s an idea! Rum balls for everyone will be arriving through the mail.
Oh man – kids and their honesty about the rum balls! Sheesh! I guess you can always count on them to tell you exactly what they think!
If I was in your house, I would for sure be working on that puzzle with you. I love working on puzzles but it’s something I don’t do often since I have a toddler around who is like a cat. He would love to take pieces and hide them or chew on them. Wait, maybe he’s a dog w/ the mischievous personality of a cat? By the way, they really enjoyed your holiday card. It prompted a discussion about what we would name our cat. Taco said “Nature Cat” – which is a PBS show… I think Paul said poopy. Because he’s 5 and obsessed with saying poop I guess. Anyways, your card gave us a solid 5 minutes of entertainment while Phil made m&c for the boys – so thank you for that!
My week has been fine I guess? I am feeling much much better. The paxlovid was a Godsend. I just hope and pray the kids don’t get it. We are going to test them on Saturday to see if we can follow through with our Christmas plans.
Oh, I’m VERY glad you guys liked the card!!!!! Yes, 5 minutes of interest from two small kids is golden.
There are a lot of difficult things about my daughter, but one positive (if you want to look at it like that) is that she’ll always be honest. At least if she says she likes something I know it’s REALLY good.
Oh no! Not the trees un-decorating themselves! That would be so frustrating. But the 12 Days of Christmas Debacles is definitely good for some laughs, even though I’m sure it’s frustrating at the time.
My husband is the puzzler in this house and he gets a wee bit cranky if other people work on his puzzles. Puzzles are NOT my jam, but I do occasionally like to swoop in and find a single piece and put it in place. That’s enough puzzling for me!
Oh that’s funny- and here I am wanting to do the puzzle as a family activity. I would be thrilled if someone would swoop in and help.
On the plus side, your Grievance List for Festivus just got longer!
PIggybacking off what Lisa said, I have visions of a Cool Bloggers Christmas party at your house. We’d do the puzzle (folks who aren’t into puzzles can just hang out and talk with us), drink wine, and eat rum balls. I feel like your daughter’s description of the taste is probably accurate BUT it’s the principal of the thing. I haven’t ruled out making these myself.
I hope you make them- you can tell me what YOUR family thinks of them.
Okay, Cool Bloggers party at my place! It will be a night of debauchery and puzzle doing.
Well, I sure give you an A for effort! LOL on the rum balls tasting like nail polish remover 🙂 they do look good! I am sure you will nail these last few days
Thank you Deborah! I’ll take an A for effort any day.
This made me smile, because I can relate to all things going haywire all at once (or at least in a short timespan). Your sense of humor and attitude, though, will guide you in these next few remaining days before Christmas 😉 Have you tried the rum balls since the first taste test?
You know it’s funny- I made the biscotti today and we forgot about the rum balls. But they’re waiting for us when we’re ready! I’ll report back on the mellowed (hopefully) rum flavor.)
Oh life. It’s never easy or quiet.
Isn’t nail polish the vibe you were going for – hahaha. Also – ARGH. However, I suspect they will definitely mellow out over time and start to taste delicious.
Peanut butter balls are always a hit.
This week I’m just trying to keep my head about water. I just feel very “slumpy” and last night we had a CRAZY windstorm that knocked over trees and fences; thankfully we only lost roofing shingles, but I couldn’t sleep and when I finally did sleep I had nightmares for the THIRD NIGHT IN A ROW. What’s up mind? So I feel extra discombobulated this week. BUT it’s almost Christmas so onward and upward <3
Oh, Elisabeth, that sounds rough. It seems like these things shouldn’t happen the week before Christmas- everything should be merry (ha.) Well, good thing you got everything done early! I hope you finally sleep well tonight- that makes such a big difference.
Oh, I love rum balls, but I’m the only one, so I just don’t make them anymore. Sigh. That being said, I also made cookies on Sunday.
Well, after all that, A has Covid, so things are just chaos as usual. We are hoping he will be well for his jazz concert on Friday, but I’ve kind of written off school for the week. Their last day is Thursday, so at this point, I don’t see it happening.
Gosh, i wish I had rum balls LOL!
Oh nooooooo! Yes, you need rum balls (the recipe is easy! Just sayin…) I hope A is better in time for his concert. And is he missing midterms this week? What a drag. Well… sending healing vibes your way!
Rum balls sound awesome– I might make them for my little brother and his partner– thanks for the inspo. I can;t wait to have a house where we can do puzzles– the future is bright LOL.
Ha ha… well the puzzle seems to have stalled out. But make the rum balls! They’re festive.
No matter how much we plan, things never seem to go correctly do they, lol. I’ve experienced that a lot this holiday season too. I love that you just rolled with it! I’ve never had rum balls but now I want to make some.
Ha, well if you like rum, you’ll like them!
Good lord, could the universe be any more of a dick? Bushes undecorating themselves! What the heck! My oven stopped working on December 18th and I almost lost it and then I decided not to lose it because it would help nothing, and then everything turned out okay and I only lost one evening of baking. I just realized I haven’t really penciled in any time to wrap gifts and I’m going to have to do that, but oh well, it will happen. Definitely. Maybe.
OMG that would be TERRIBLE! Did it start working again? I’m glad you only lost one evening of baking!
I feel like the bumps make the best stories, but definitely aren’t the most fun in the moment. (We love a “remember that year when **insert disaster** moment in my house, but probably because we’ve had so many of them, haha!) I hope this week has gone smoother and the decorations stayed where they are supposed to!
Oh yes, our biggest bump so far is when we got Covid on Christmas Eve (this was in 2021.) We laugh about it now… not at the time though.
I am LOLing at the kids not liking the rum balls! And curious to hear if they are any better when you take them out of the freezer!
Hope you had a great long run!
My week feels way too full! I am hoping for quiet next week!
This week is WAY full! Next week will be quieter, that’s for sure.
OMG, I was cracking up! Unfortunately, sometimes things do not go the way we plan them. Life happens. I have never tried rum balls. I am not much of a baker but I do remember as a kid I would make cakes and cookies. I hope the rest of the Christmas Challenges go well.
It’s been a comedy of errors for you, Jenny! I would love to work on that puzzle with you. I haven’t worked on a puzzle since I got cats – I just don’t know what they’ll do to it. I’m sure I’d find puzzle pieces all around my apartment, sigh. I need one of those fancy puzzle boards, I think.
I’ve never had rum balls! I like rum but it needs to be very diluted. I’m not much for alcohol so I think I might have the same reaction as your kids, lol.
Good grief, Jenny. I mean, really. Why does the universe strike back against the most Christmas-loving person out there (along with Nicole)?? So impressed with your perseverance!!!
I am sorry about some of the hiccups…. and since I am catching up (very) late, I hope the holidays themselves went off without a hitch.
I am also intrigued by your biscotti recipe, if you’re willing to share.