I need to count how many total packages I have already mailed; I think it’s more than twenty. Even when I have more than half the addresses in the USPS address book, it still takes time to weigh the parcel, click “does not contain,” enter the dimensions, print the label, cut it out, and attach it. To be honest, when I did it at the kiosk during the after-hours in Palatine, it seemed faster! Or maybe I am getting older and becoming slower 😂.
The last batch was shipped yesterday:
And if you look closer, you will see one more small cookie tin in the background: I received a parcel from Kentucky!
One more angel – or is it a firebird? – on my tree!One more card over my fireplace!… and the cookies will mostly go to my girls 🙂
Shipping update:
Most of my US parcels have reached their destination
The total mailed is twenty-seven.
Also, there are(will be) five that I am passing, not mailing, because I will see people in person.
And so far, six more I gifted, plus I brought cookies to work twice.
I am brewing this coffee almost every time I brew coffee at home, and I will soon run out of it. However, the person who came up with this recipe deserves a medal of honor!Working moments
It’s that time of the year again! It’s Christmas Cookie time! Same as last year, and as many years before, and hopefully many years to come: if you want my cookies this season, leave a comment or DM me! First fifteen from across the world/across all my social media, first twenty from the US, unlimited if you are in Chicagoland and can pick it up at my house (while supplies last :)). Unlimited Christmas Cards.
Come and bake/decorate with me Dec 6-7 or Dec 13-14.
As I already mentioned multiple times, this holiday season was challenging, and I knew what was coming in advance. First, when it was just the conference, I planned to bake cookies on the first December weekend, and I asked Lena to mark her calendar. But then Anna’s surgery was scheduled for November 28, and that weekend was not an option anymore.
Christmas cookies are very important to me. It’s not like “just because I promised” or because somebody forced me; it’s just that I really enjoy both baking and gifting; that’s why I wanted to find a way to make the cookies happen. I decided to take December 8 off, and Lena agreed to do the same.
I purchased all ingredients well in advance. I worked on my Christmas messages to friends. One of my European friends agreed to mail my cards to my friends in Russia from her country, so I prepared ten cards, printed the addresses, and attached them to the envelopes.
This season, more than ever, all I want is some additional time in my life, and nobody can give me it! There was a marathon of writing cards, packing and shipping, and finding the last missing gifts, and I didn’t go to bed earlier than midnight (and one day, it was 1 AM again!). So many things went wrong this season, that I can only hope it will never happen again.
To answer the question I was already asked: Hettie, why won’t you skip this season or just downsize – I can’t describe the joy of seeing parcels mounting on my dining room table, going into big bags, and then to the Post Office counter! It feels so good that I was not even tired the other night when I stayed awake until 1 AM. I just feel an adrenaline rush, and I am so glad I did it!
Time will tell whether it was a good idea to try to accomplish the impossible. For the whole week, I would go to bed about midnight (except for Saturday, when it ended up being 1 AM Sunday)and wake up at my usual time, which is between 4-30 and 4-45 AM.
At work, having been in the office for only four days between two weeks of time off, I had endless meetings and then worked after hours trying to do some actual work. I was planning my presents, ordering things, writing the cards, etc. In addition, I had many problems with my conference website, sending tons of emails trying to correct them and meeting with the Talk Selection Committee. I had to prepare a million things for the upcoming PG Conf EU week and manage several 2024 conference submissions.
I took Friday off, and I decided not to go to the Corporate Christmas Party because otherwise, there was no way for me to bake my Christmas cookies. I want to be very clear here: this was not a sacrifice on my side; these are my priorities, and I would be way unhappier if I didn’t do cookies this year.
Lena also took Friday off and left work earlier on Thursday to drive to Chicago so that we could start baking early Friday morning.
I do not recall whether I mentioned it, but this year, due to all of the time constraints, I decided to utilize the Tree Santa company for my Christmas tree delivery because I knew I wouldn’t have time to go and choose it. Since Friday was literally the only day I was at home, I also scheduled the tree delivery for Friday.
It turned out the tree was too thick to fit into my tree stand, so they had to give me one of theirs, and it was not as nice as mine. As for the tree itself, it was fine, but the shape was not as I liked it (too thick in the middle), and the top was “tripled,” and Lena and I spent a lot of time trying to put the star on it.
At 5 PM, we called it a day and went to the Christkindle Market and then to Millennium Park to see the Chicago Christmas Tree and listen to the carolers.
Hettie's Reflections 