Uncle Bob

Good Morning! It's the day after Cookie-fest III and I am breaking my code by wearing loose sweat pants. Today is definitely a gym day or I will be wearing sweat pants forever and ever.....Cookie-fest was a success as we have hundreds and hundreds of cookies lined up on the table. I made some new recipes which is a daring move with family coming in to the house.

Since we are part Slovak, I made a pierogi-bake which was amazing, if I may say so myself. It had a number of 'no-no's' in it but I altered the recipe with fat-free cream cheese, fresh tomatoes and fat free chicken broth. I also made Paula Deen's Uncle Bob's Apple Cake which was supposed to be a hit. Instead it was a big bomb as I could not pry it out of the bundt pan. It began to tear apart and was lopsided. Oh, well, besides looking like someone had dropped it, the cake was dry too. I am not sure what I did wrong, but might attempt it again some day. Fortunately, the cookies were the stars of the day. Everyone left with a tray full of cookies and a slice of Uncle Bob's cake....which I am sure hit the dumpster at some point.

I did hear from Buddy a few times and I had to rush him through the daily problems. There was one call about a pitcher on the team calling him out at a party and telling a girl that he was hanging out with to stay away from him because he is a psycho....she did move away after she received the warning. Then they were eating pizza out and some drunk guy put his hand on his slice causing a bit of a brawl. Of course, there was the "my laptop charger is not working" phone call in which I referred him to the computer store in the center of campus. Some of his 'problems' are funny...others are pathetic. I never know what is coming my way which makes it a lot of fun. The calls were quick, since I had other things on my mind and people in my home. One of these days, he will call and tell me how he handled the pizza finger incident or the broken charger problem. Either way, I enjoy getting calls that begin with: "Problems...I have problems...." Then someone ate his cookies, took his soap, clogged his toilet, turned his internet off, or stole the snuggie that his sister gave him last Christmas.....Yes, a new snuggie is on this year's list.

I have the pleasure of picking him up at school on Friday and bringing him home for a few weeks. Immediately, the food bill will double and cookies will disappear. There will be bottles of water left on the counter and on the floor as well as doors left unlocked and dishes in the sink. I am looking forward to it. However, this time, I am developing a PowerPoint presentation to reorient him to family rules of etiquette and policies of the home. A written and oral test will be given on Saturday. I think that my biggest peeve is texting at the dinner table. He thinks that I don't see it, but he is not sitting next to Helen Keller. I can see what is going on despite his greatest attempts to hide the quick look at his left pant pocket.

And so it goes. Now it is time for me to try to catch up on work. There is also Christmas shopping to do, since I have absolutely nothing done. Fortunately, my kids do not need the next super fantastic electronic game or Fisher price toy. They like anything fashionable or money...They also love traditional Christmas, so I am not going to disappoint them. With that said, have a wonderful day.....