I Like Thursday #187

 I have been MIA the past few weeks when it comes to I Like Thursday.  I have been working a lot, and sometimes holidays are tough.  I survived, though and am looking forward to 2022.  Thank you LeeAnna for encouraging us, even through the hard times, to find things to share that we like/love to share.  

I enjoyed the Virtual Cookie exchange and had to try a couple of new recipes.  Believe me I gained the 5 lbs to show it too!  

I made the Lemon Snowball cookies which was shared by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt.  I bought a really good lemon flavoring from a new local cake and cookie shop, and I will say it made a world of difference adding to the lemon taste.  

I also made the oreo truffles which were shared by Joan of Moosestash Quilting.  They were so fun, and simple to make especially if you have a Cuisinart.  My daughter said that the kids didn't even give her a chance to sample them once they brought them home.

With the previous year's problems with shipping, this year I decided to just do gift cards for my family in Oregon.  I bought a whole lot of gift card holders too.  With every 3 cards I purchased I could get a free plushie.   I ended up with 4 plushies, which I thought I would donate to Toys for Tots.  Except every time I turned around Bobbin was digging through the bag and stealing a toy.  

My daughter finally just handed her a toy, the day she came to pick up the bag to take to donate.  I tried to explain to Bobbin that it means that some poor child will not get a toy for Christmas.  Obviously Bobbin didn't really care.  

I had to buy Bobbin a new pet fountain. Not too shabby the previous one lasted over 3 years.  

I received some really neat gifts.  

Some decorations and fabric from Barbara of Wont to be Quilter.

Dawn of Relaxing Robin sent me 12 days of Christmas.

A cute Christmasy Mug Rug

A cute pinnie with a milk can

My kids have decided that I should be traveling more too.  I received some neat gifts related to travel.

A survival knife, cordless charger, and a solar power bank.  I also received a National Park pass.  

And a really neat Red Truck.

My brother's family sent us all personalized water bottles.  

I tried to avoid too many purchases but I was looking for one of those neat boxes they sell during the holidays to put the huge pile of cookie cutters we have amassed in, since they kind of outgrew the box that we had previously.  While out and about I found this really cool red glass Christmas tree.

I also found the box!

I haven't been doing much sewing with my crazy schedule, but I started to put together the Joy in the Journey quilt.  I managed to get 1 1/2 rows done today, even though I had a ton of cleaning to do....putting Christmas decorations away, laundry and other fun tasks.  

I have done a lot of reading.  A few of the books I have read.

Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton.  Lori thought that Aunt Dimity was a fictional character of her mother's made up stories.  Then Lori receives a letter and comes to realize that Aunt Dimity was actually a friend of her mother's, and is given the task of writing a preface to a book full of her stories. Lori is given all the correspondence between her mother and Dimity, begins to explore why Dimity never married, after finding a mysterious photograph in the letters.  

The next book was Bear Witness by J. and D. Bruges.  It is the 2nd book in the Naomi Manymules Mysteries.  

 A Hollywood production is coming to small Sage Landing with a load of high maintenance stars.  Add an old boyfriend of Naomi's and a missing star, who had a bar fight with the high school principle that turns up dead and there are lots of suspects.  

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to check out the other I Like Thursday posts.