Christmas... in our town

Woo woo... our annual Christmas celebration was today, and what a crowd. I was in my element at the shop with crowds of shoppers all day long... Had made a big pan of Ooey Gooey Butter Brickle Bars... and had pots of hot coffee as treats for my shoppers, and we all had a blast... Due to my eye surgery, I'd neglected to decorate for Christmas (and due to the fact that I'd procrastinated, as well...) but the ambiance of the shoppers and the ice cold temperature in the shop... (it took all morning to warm up those bricks) created a Christmassy glow anyway.

My change-counting ability (not to mention the tiny tax table) really threw me for a loop with one eye for distance and one for zero! haha.. I had severe trouble with one little woman who laid out something extra and wanted big coins and bills or something... (you know how the teenagers look at you when you lay out 29 cents for a 1.29 soda, and you want four ones? That was me.... minus the cute youth baggage!). Anyway, we muddled through and then later I discovered my son had overheard her at the big turkey dinner in the Catholic Church basement: "That woman in the candle shop couldn't even count change!" Well, never let it be said that my son isn't the defender of his MAMA.... He promptly went over to her and said, "Excuse me. That's my mother, and she just had eye surgery on Wednesday!" haha... What a sweetheart. I think I'd have let it pass, but nope... not my baby!

My dear friend who owns My cup of Tea raced away a little before five to sing with the Baptist Church choir at Vespers.. She arrived to find them already filling the church with song... After a few little waves, she decided they wanted her to come on up... You have to know her to appreciate the amount of layers that woman can wear in the winter... Boots, hats, mufflers, fluffy coat, so many sweatshirts she looks like Ralphie's little brother Randy on THE CRISTMAS STORY>.... so she bustled up to the alcove, flew to a spot on the right row... huffed and puffed a bit to catch her breath... and Voila... the choir had finished their performance... What a hoot it was for her to tell me this, along with the added information that the whole thing was filmed by our local tv cablenet for their Christmas lineup... She said she got a lot of teasing about how great her "note" was...

I came home with a turkey dinner to share with Mom (delicious! They served 267 homemade turkey dinners...)... and then it took the whole night layered in afghans, sipping hot tea, and finally a wool coverlet to get me warm again... Nanook indeed! Have a great Sunday..

Ooey Gooey Bars...

This is the traditional Paula Deen bar plus the brickle addition.

Bottom layer: 1 yellow cake mix, two eggs, one stick butter melted. Spread in 9 x 13 pan.

Middle layer: 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1 package Heath Bits o' Brickle chips.

Top Layer: 1 pkg. 8 oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese, 1 stick oleo, 2 c. powdered sugar, 1 egg, 1 t. vanilla... (I melt the cheese and butter for 1 min. in microwave.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until brown. Serve cooled with NAPKINS...