Christmas is almost here!

I find it much harder to get into the Christmas frame of mind without snow. So far this year we haven't had any significant snow at all, and only had two instances of snow sticking. But tomorrow there is a forecast for some. All I really want is about three inches on the ground so you can't see the grass. Grass, which I might add, is still mostly green here because the weather has been so "great". Ug. I am never resigned to cold unless there is snow!

All I have left between me and home (and thusly Christmas) is one final paper, hopefully just five pages long. We'll see how it goes.

Merry Christmas!

Mason jars mason jars

I like few things more than using items in ways that they were not meant for. My newest discovery (thanks internet!) is that you can use a mason jar as a blender attachment.

Delicious multi-tasking

It turns out that the part of the blender with the blade screws onto a mason jar perfectly. So far I've blended up coffee beans to make coffee chocolate (melt chocolate in double boiler, coarsely blend espresso beans, mix, let sit for a few minutes, spoon onto wax paper, freeze, consume), and this smoothie (yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, milk). But really, I mean come on. The possibilities are endless. Whipped cream? Butter? Ice cream shakes? Anything else you can blend, but in smaller quantities?

But also, I just love mason jars. I drink tea and coffee out of them whenever I drink tea or coffee, because they have lids that screw on and absolutely prevent spilling. I store all manner of things in them, and greatly intend on having a large collection of large mason jars for baking item storage. Mom just gave me one with a handle (see picture) which is nice, though I do need to make a cozy for it.

Audiobook mania

I love audiobooks. Forrest and I went through a lengthy period where we would both listen to an audiobook as we went to sleep, which was always fun because you might fall asleep at one part and wake up at an entirely different one. My favorites (almost to the exclusion of all else) were a recording of Little Women read by Kate Reading, the whole of the Harry Potter series (obviously the American version, which, like the cover art, is obviously superior), and the dramatic reading of The Chronicles of Narnia. Little Women with Kate Reading is by far my favorite. I got it as a birthday present a few years ago and it is an obvious must for all long car rides. Kate isn't, I guess, the best I've heard, but I have grown quite attached to her, and thusly will not listen to another version of Little Women. If only she had done Little Men, too....

Quite recently I rediscovered Librivox.org and oh my. So many audiobooks, you can't even imagine! And all for free! Of course, I have discovered the depths of my audiobook snobbery. For instance, I really will not consider any book not read in an English accent. Unfortunately, they are very hard to find, but I have found one woman who has read so many of my favorite books and so I have bookmarked a lot of her catalog. I am about two chapters away from finishing her version of Pride and Prejudice, and intend to start next on Anne's House of Dreams, or perhaps (finally and at last!) and decent version of The Secret Garden, which, I assure you with all the snobbishness of my snobbery, is very difficult to find indeed (do not even get me started on the Focus on the Family version). But beyond that, I have found a version of Little Men in an English accent (Kate Reading does not, in fact, have an accent, and Little Men is an American book bred and born, so I am not sure why I insist on it here. No matter). I cannot seem to find an English-accented version of any Anne book except for House of Dreams, but my day may yet come!

Audio books are so wonderful, though, as you can do all manner of things while listening to them. Just yesterday I made a whole batch of coffee chocolate and two batches of cookies while listening to Pride and Prejudice. Another advantage (or perhaps, disadvantage) is I start speaking like the books. If I am listening to Jane Austen, for instance, my text messages get quite long and use many more words in a quite un-American style. But that's okay. I'm not really upset at all.

Moral of post: Listen to more audiobooks, and do so at Librivox for free.