Butterbutterbutterbutterbutter

Is there anything that says "Christmas Baking" like butter? At Christmas you have to be a purist on this. Nothing says lovin' like something baked with butter! It smells wonderful while it's baking and with the very first taste it says you cared enough to use the best.
I made a small batch of cookies Sunday. It was my one nod to an old tradition of baking lots and lots of kinds of Christmas cookies, but as the years have passed I whittled down the dozens to three kinds and now that everyone is gone but Patient Husband and me, we certainly don't need anything like dozens of cookies around the house. So this year I made one kind. A simple sugar cookie that everyone will eat so there won't be many left when they all go home Sunday afternoon. They are in the freezer, staying fresh, waiting for the frosting and sprinkles. I can hear them giggling when I open the freezer.
The telephone rang this morning at 5:45 a.m. and I jumped out of bed pumping the air in a "YES!!" cheer because the only phone call I get at that time of the morning is the robot call saying we have a snow day! We didn't get much snow here but we had rain that turned to snow and bitter cold with blizzard winds that froze every surface solid. We didn't have to dig out from several inches of snow but we surely had to watch our step on the ice. Driving would have been tragic for the kids on school busses and people like me who have to drive for an hour on a good day. I had SO much to do to get ready for next weekend when the kids come for our Christmas a whole week earlier than actual Christmas. While we will finish sooner than everyone else, we also have to be ready before everyone else! Over the weekend I wrapped, cleaned corners, dug out pots and pans, made lists and today did more of the same. In the afternoon we ventured to the grocery to buy supplies. Tomorrow we go back to work but with the feeling of much accomplished.
This day was a gift. I hope yours had gift moments, too.

Saturday our good friend Bob treated Patient Husband and I to the experience of WICKED! Oh, my goodness, it was the most amazing performance I've seen in years. If you ever, ever get the chance to see this play, run don't walk to the ticket office.