Yesterday I bought my first Christmas gift of the season. It made me want to buy more. I have already begun trying to prep for the holidays by making the Christmas list and organizing exactly what I plan to make and for whom.

A part of holiday giving is baking but is hard with a very temperamental oven to cook anything. So I’ve been on the lookout for simple holiday treats with either a short cook time or don’t require an oven.

One idea I found was cookie cutter white fudge. Basically you take a cookie cutter and place it on wax paper. Melt white chocolate and a few other ingredients and then pour into cookie cutter. Let it set and then decorate the top. Wrap up in cellophane for a sweet holiday treat perfect for giving. I may try to make a round to practice before giving them. I always like to cook/bake something at least once before I give it to someone.

There are some shirts that I could wear everyday. I have a long sleeve hoodie shirt that I practically live in during the winter. The problem is that after 10 years, it’s beginning to show its age. The cuffs are falling off and there are more holes in the shirt than there are in swiss cheese. But try as I might, I just can’t part with it. This year, I plan to find a replacement t-shirt hoodie and finally retire this shirt that has meant so much to me most of my adult life. It won’t be easy but I think it’s time.

One way to recycle old t-shirts is to use them as dusting rags. Just cut up the shirt into pieces to use for dusting or other household cleaning.

You could also make rugs or other items from your old t-shirts. I have been wanting to make a rug but need to look up some instructions on just exactly what to do. You can crochet with t-shirt strips to make bags, bowls, and other household items. I have yet to try this but am definitely interested in doing it since baskets are such a versatile storage item.

WTF? How to Survive 101 of Life’s Worst F*#!-ing Situations is a humorous look at how to handle 101 different scenarios. Have you been dieting for month’s and still not losing weight or you’re at the grocery store and forget your wallet. What do you do? In this book, you will find at least 3 ways to approach the situation. Some might be outlandish and hilarious but at least one will be a somewhat rational approach. For example, if your roommate skips out the day before rent is due, you probably wouldn’t sell your children but might consider the option of selling some of your stuff.

Some of the language in the book is at least PG-13, so this book – as if you didn’t notice from the title- is best suited for adults or older, near adult-age teens. The topics covered in the book include sex, drinking, job/career, and many others.

WTF? can be found in the humor section of your local bookstore.

There is one trait that my little girl definitely inherited from me. She is a picky eater. She has her favorite foods and will hardly ever try anything new. So it leaves mealtime very limited and I always feel she isn’t getting enough nutrition.

When I saw the cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to get your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld I thumbed through it to see what it was all about. I knew that I didn’t need any more recipes of foods that Rae didn’t eat even if they were kid friendly.

Lo and behold, these recipes are foods that she eats like spaghetti, brownies, and mashed potatoes just to name a few(and I’m running out of foods she actually eats). The recipes call for adding puree vegetables into these kid’s favorite recipes. For example, the mashed potato recipe has tucked away inside it a half cup of cauliflower puree. In the foreword, Seinfeld talks about pureeing some squash for her youngest when she was struck with the idea of adding a little bit of the puree to the macaroni and cheese she was making for her two other children – one who was a very picky eater. The kids didn’t notice the extra ingredient and for once Seinfeld didn’t have to nag her children to eat their vegetables.

I know that we have added Rae’s medicine into her juice to get her to take it. I had never thought about blending vegetables into her favorite dishes. I can’t wait to give these a try.

It’s the pitter patter of little feet that is not music to my ears. When it comes from inside the walls, I know the culprit is a mouse who will cause me unrest and grief until he is caught. So after hearing the mouse, I set a few mouse traps with peanut butter and peanuts. This has always worked before to catch mice so I’m confident in my choice of bait.

A few days past and still no mouse in any trap. I know he is still around since I can hear him in the walls. While thumbing through the latest Woman’s Day magazine, I noticed an article on getting rid of mice that suggests using dental floss on the mousetrap. The reasoning is that the mouse will try to use it for nesting material. It made sense, I guess but was still skeptical. But I decided to give it a try if for no other reason I could blog about how crazy it is to think you could catch a mouse with dental floss.

A day passes and I check the dental floss mouse trap that is located under the kitchen sink – a hot bed for mice. Lo and behold, there lies a sprung trap with a dead mouse. I couldn’t believe it. It worked. So we reset the trap and the next day we caught yet another mouse. Unbelievable. Now I’m a firm believer in the power of dental floss to catch mice.

My little girl goes through stages of loving and loathing bath time. So I’m always on the lookout for new bath toys/products to make bath time more appealing.

A few weeks ago I discovered Dino Eggs – fizzy bath balls with a small dinosaur toy inside that hatches when placed in the bath water. I thought one of these Dino Eggs might be enticing enough for my little girl to really want to take a bath. It worked like a charm.

The bath ball not only provided a small new toy for bath time, it provided entertainment as we both watch as the fizz continued until the dinosaur was hatched. There are several different colors of Dino Eggs – each with a different dinosaur that is displayed on the front of the packaging. The toys are 2D and maybe an inch in length. It was a little disappointing it wasn’t more to the toy but nevertheless, Rae enjoyed playing with it. Since then, we have bought three more Dino Eggs and bath time ones again is not so much of a chore but rather fun.