2012 Wrap Up

It was cold...and not vacationey....but I went to Paris and Versailles for a work meeting.

This is the palace of Versailles....so it wasn't ALL work related....it was very.....golden.

We got lost. Three times. It was pretty much the worst group of three women that could possibly be put together to navigate anything. Including a building....which we couldn't find.
WE COULDN'T FIND THE ENTRANCE TO THE GIANT PALACE BEHIND US.

This is Christmas cat...she sounds like a sleigh. And before you go all animal rights....this was sold BY A REPUTABLE PET STORE and she was basically an asshole about Christmas and tried to destroy it.

See?

Seeing as my recipe book my mother gave me as a child was destroyed by soulless fuckwits...ahem.....my mom re-sent me the old family recipes for German Christmas cookies. 

We tried something new this year....Christmas dinner out! We were having the big family dinner on Boxing Day so we took ourselves down to the Popinjay close to our house (see useless historical factoids below) after our gift extravaganza and had a nice dinner that I DID NOT HAVE TO COOK. Amazing.
*Useless Factoids*

The building, which is now the Popinjay Hotel and Spa, was built in 1882 in beautiful Tudorbethan (mock-Tudor) fashion. During its time, it has been a coaching inn serving the Glasgow – Lanark – Edinburgh coaching links, the routes of which can now be seen as the A72 and A71 roads.

Lanark itself was home to one of Scotland’s favourite sons, William Wallace, and a few years before Wallace Lanark was the location of the first meeting of the Scottish Parliament in 978AD.   

It was a beautiful night.

We went Ice Skating below Edinburgh Castle with the kids....Monkey did very well for his first time. I don't think he will be skating again any time soon....but he stayed upright. I was proud!

The German Market in Edinburgh was amazing...we bought a Stollen for Christmas morning (which went well with the Champagne and Orange Juice) and some cookies. 

Monkey bought me a pasta maker for Christmas...I've been whining about one for a year or so. He did good.

I also got a digital kitchen scale - I happen to LOVE kitchen gifts....love love love - because all the recipes in the UK are in weight. Not cups and spoons.
It's highly annoying. But now I have a Star Trek gadget to cut down my Google conversion time when baking and cooking.
Excellent.

This is creepy Scottish Santa.
He seemed like a good idea at the time. Mainly because he was 79% off.
He sits on a shelf above the sofa and waits for you to look away before coming to life.

Boxing Day was cooking day.
Check the creepy-ass legs on that Turkey. Yes, that's the weird skin on the legs STILL ON THE LEGS.
And there were feathers. I had to pluck some.
It was hideous....but tasty.
I love Turkey so hard.

 I also imported some Pumpkin Pie filling and make pumpkin pies for Christmas - oh how I've missed them! They were a hit! Mum, Monkey and 1/3 of the kids all ate it. I did have my doubts.

The tree came down on the 27th because I COULD NOT TAKE ANOTHER CAT IN THE TREE AGAIN MOMENT and order has been restored to our home.

Bring on 2013...I expect good things this year.

GOALS:

• Hit an Auction 
• Travel More
• Get to Marathon Level
• Buy a Wedding Dress