Craft Rage

The Hotness has become The Hot Male Version Of Typhoid Mary, and has succeeded in infecting me with a vicious sinus cold.

It occurs to me that describing my symptoms might be oversharing just a little, so I'll spare you that, at least, but honestly, how can one human body manufacture this much slime?

At any rate, I'm back to work (and have I mentioned that I love my job? I have? Well, good!). I'm working like a crazy person, and I also still haven't unpacked all of our combined Christmas presents, so all the other wonderful stuff I planned to blog about is still in suitcases.

I will say, though, that The Hotness did an exceptionally good job with his Christmas shopping this year; he always does pretty well, but this year he actually got creative with my list and bought according to themes, instead of just what was on my list.

Normally, he Christmas shops for me by hounding me for a Christmas list for two months, and when I finally give it to him, he gives it back to me and tells me to write down where to find everything on the list, and how much it all is. When I've done the research, I give him the list back and he goes shopping. The accountant in me LOVES this, because I know he's paying the best possible prices, but I have to admit, it's not terribly romantic.

This year, I gave him just the list of items and told him to be creative, and darned if he didn't do that! I asked for a new set of pots and pans, and he came across with the stainless steel Rachel Ray set, AND a couple of matching non-stick pans and a dutch oven type thingie, and some matching utensils, AND the Big Orange Cookbook.
I'm a HUGE fan of Rachel Ray as a chef; I love watching 30 Minute Meals, and I've actually tried many of her 30 minute recipes, though honestly, it only takes 30 minutes if you know exactly what you're doing, and if your kitchen is clean to start off with. :)

On the other hand, I'd rather poke at my eyeballs with a sharp stick than watch her talk show. Seriously. I'm not sure why.

For those of you out there who might be laughing about the possible lack of romance in asking for pots and pans for Christmas, you have to understand how much I love to cook, and how difficult it is to cook a decent meal with what I had before.

My entire kitchen set consisted of one HUGE stock pot, sized to fit both a turkey carcass AND two small children, the Ikea KAVALKAD set of three pots, priced at $9.99, the largest of which was the perfect size for a cereal bowl on a hungry morning, and a pink non-stick frying pan I bought at Wal-Mart two years ago.

Now that I have pots big enough to make soup, I've been doing so with a vengance; baked potato soup, chicken lemon rice soup, and a few of my other favorites. I'd post some pictures but my kitchen is actually too messy to photograph right now, but as soon as I get that sorted out, I'll do that. And I can do that because in addition to my other as-yet-unmentioned gifts, The Hotness also bought me a new camera.

And not JUST a new camera, but a Canon EOS 450D / Digital Rebel XSi!!!!! Eeeeee!
I cannot even express my joy; I've always been interested in photography, and while I've loved my point-and shoot cameras, I've always secretly yearned for a really good camera with a couple of lens options. This baby will do everything I could possibly want, once I finally learn to use it.

Now if only my house was clean enough to take pictures in! Maybe if I ask Mrs. G, she'll let me borrow one of her husbands to come over and whip my home into shape!!