I couldn't sell the cookies either*

I know, I know. I promised some tales of Christmas goodies. But then I got caught up in this little thing called sewing. About two weeks ago, I had a crazy idea to make some Christmas presents. Then I decided to return my sewing machine because I wasn't pleased with it. And when I failed to buy a new one on Saturday as planned, I was left sewing machineless for the entire weekend since EVERYTHING IS CLOSED on Sunday.

Alisha, you're probably thinking, since you didn't have your sewing machine, why didn't you spend the time making those Christmas goodies? Well, it's because I also forgot to buy the powdered sugar and graham cracker-like cookies when I went to the store on Saturday. And the grocery store was closed on Sunday. Weren't you listening when I mentioned that before? I was practically yelling.

Okay, to be perfectly honest there is one grocery store open on Sundays. And it's not terribly far away. If you consider a 10 minutes walk and 20 minutes on public transportation each way "not terribly far away." Which, by the way, I don't anymore. Consider it far away, that is. But an hour to get powdered sugar and graham cracker-like cookies is a bit much. Especially when I have other things, like church, going on the same day. That leaves hardly anytime for candy-making.

But I will go ahead and tell you about a failed cookie making experiment. A while back, someone mentioned Girl Scout cookies on their blog. And that reminded me of a recipe on Top Secret Recipes. (I would link directly to the recipe, but I'm not sure whether that would violate the User Agreement I accepted which includes not distributing the recipe. It's a free recipe -- most on the site are not -- so just search for "thin mints" and you'll find it.) Peppermint is Christmas-y, so I thought I would give the recipe a try and possibly throw them into the Christmas goody mix.

Well, they didn't really work out. I don't blame the recipe. I probably should have added just a touch more water. The dough was very dry and impossible to roll out. So I decided to roll it into a log and slice the cookies rather than rolling out the dough and using a cookie cutter. The cookie dough log was less than appealing.


But I continued. I think the big problem was that I didn't slice the cookies thin enough. After I baked them, they weren't crispy like the middle of a Girl's Scout Thin Mint. They were tasty, just not what I was going for. So in the end I decided to not dip them in chocolate and Brian and I just ate them plain.

I think I may still make some thin-mint type "cookies" for Christmas, but I'm going to stick with the Ritz dipped in chocolate method. I know, it doesn't sound good -- but they really do taste similar to Thin Mints.

* By the way, I never made it past the Brownies, so I didn't have the chance to try to sell the cookies. I'm sure I would have been a success because, really, who can resist the Girl Scout cookies?

Light reading and other ways to learn German

I thought that learning German would be difficult. And it is. But not in the way I expected. You really need to surround yourself with the language in order to learn it. You'd think that wouldn't be a problem -- living in Austria and all -- but it would be quite easy to go through the entire day without listening to a bit of German outside of class.

Don't get me wrong. I hear a lot of German. The announcement on the u-bahn with all the connections at the upcoming stop. The warning that the doors are about to close. Kids playing at the playground we walk past every day. People everywhere on cell phones. But all of that is just white noise. It plays in the background and is easy to ignore.

So Brian and I are trying to be more intentional about listening to the German language. Brian found a nice radio station that has a lot of talk. We generally turn it on while we're working on our German homework or surfing the internet. And I got a library card and have started checking out children's books. I try to read aloud when Brian is out of the house.

And I've just discovered another fun way to listen to German -- watch Scrubs in German. The Haskews recently bought one of the seasons that Brian and I own in English. So I'm quite familiar with all of the episodes. The Haskews loaned me their DVDs and I've really enjoyed watching the show in German.

And it seems to be helping. Brian says that listening to the radio has helped him understand more in class. And I've felt a little more confident speaking to the cashier at the supermarket.

Plus, it's kind of fun learning some of my favorite lines from Scrubs in German.

The obligatory post

When I told Brian the news, he said, "I hope there will be a post about this." And I told him there would be one. So here it is.

I've been sewing a lot this week. I plan on showing you some of the stuff (oh, it's cute!), but not until after Christmas. I'm not saying that anyone who reads this blog is getting anything handmade for Christmas. I'm not saying that at all. But this is all beside the point.

The point is I've been sewing. And perhaps I've tried sewing a bit more than my machine could handle. At one point, I tried sewing through a stack of about 4 pieces of fabric and 4 pieces of interfacing. The needle got stuck in a weird bendy position and it took a little work to get it out. But I checked the needle and it didn't appear bent and everything seemed to still work fine. So I pressed on.

Well, over the next day or two I noticed the fabric wasn't feeding properly. And it was pulling a bit to the right. And sometimes there was a popping noise. And, well, I didn't want to admit it, but I started thinking maybe I shouldn't have bought a sewing machine at a grocery store.

Last night I told Brian that I was having some trouble with the machine. He didn't say anything. I asked if he wanted to say something about it. He declined.

Today I packed up the sewing machine and returned it to the store. I was a bit nervous because I was afraid I would have to explain the problem in German. But the whole experience was very anti-climatic. After waiting in line for a few minutes, I had my cash and walked out of the store.

I'm hoping to buy a new machine tomorrow. I have projects to finish.

I couldn't resist

You've probably already seen the "Elf Yourself" videos floating around, but I thought this one was more fitting for Brian.

You'd better watch out

Remember how your parents used to scare you into good behavior by threatening to have Santa add you to his "naughty" list. Well, they do the same thing here in Austria. Only it's not a naughty list the parents are threatening.

On December 6th, you're likely to find two characters making their way around town -- Nikolo and Krampus. Nikolo is St. Nicholas. He gives gifts of candy and fruit to all of the good children. But if you've been a bad kid, you might get a visit from Krampus. Here's how one of my friends described Krampus:

Krampus is like the devil. He has black fur, hooves and a long tail. He is very ugly. The bad kids will be beaten by Krampus, who has a switch.

So much for the lump of coal in your stocking. If you're bad around here, you're facing a beating with a switch! And these aren't just empty words. There are some pretty scary looking signs and costumes. I'm hoping to see a Krampus or two tomorrow or Thursday. (Traditionally, Krampus makes his rounds on the 5th and Nikolo makes his on the 6th, but I've heard that they travel together often these days.) Until then, I'll leave you with some frightening pictures from Flickr.


1. Nikolaus und der Krampus, 2. krampus, 3. Perchten Schwadorf 2, 4. Krampus 06' (25)

I had to repost this because the photos weren't showing up. Sorry for the double-post to those of you using a reader.

Wish list -- Christmas edition

Updated -- 1/9.
Thank you for all of the lovely Christmas gifts. I'm rarely very good at coming up with gift ideas for myself. I'm going to try to keep the original Wish List post up-to-date in the event that someone wants to buy me something. Not that I want someone to buy me something. And not that I need someone to buy me something. But I know that this is what people do.

This year, I started a new tradition of making holiday gifts instead of buying them. I'm plan to continue this tradition (that's why I'm calling it a tradition) and am really excited about the ideas I have for next Christmas. I'm telling you this just to say that I also appreciate handmade gifts.

This is a very awkward update. I'm not asking that you send me something, but if you are here looking for ideas, check out the original wish list. Or make something you think I will like. If you think I'll like it, chances are I will. :)

Updated -- 12/4.

I've been asked to update my wish list. Honestly, it wasn't my idea. When I told Brian that someone requested an update to the wish list, he asked, "Was it my mother or your mother?" It doesn't matter. A request was made, and shall be fulfilled.

So, here it is. Some of this was lifted from the original wish list, but some of it is new.

Books
Jesus and the Victory of God, by N. T. Wright

Genesis: Interpretation : A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, by Walter Brueggemann

24/7 Prayer Manual: A Guide To Creating and Sustaining Holy Space in the Real World, by Peter Greig and David Blackwell

Amy Butler's In Stitches, by Amy Butler

DVDs
Seinfeld DVD, Volume 1 (Seasons 1 & 2) and Volume 2 (Season 3), Volume 8 (Season 9)

Scrubs DVD, Season 1, 2, 3 and 6

Any of the Nooma videos (You can buy these at Christian bookstores or online at http://www.nooma.com/)

Food Items and other stuff
Reese's Candy: Miniature Peanut Butter Cups or Reese's Pieces

Peanut butter (I may use most of our existing stash for holiday candies)

Sugar-free Jello powder (Strawberry, Cherry, Lime, Orange)

Velveeta processed cheese stuff -- I can't believe I'm asking for this, but it's the only stuff that makes good cheese dip :)

Plastic ice cube trays -- We've only been able to find the silicone ones here and you can't really pop the cubes out. I think it's slowly driving Brian mad.

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That's all I can come up with at the moment. The last time I posted a wish list I was all worried about getting multiples of something (especially the DVDs). But I've decided not to worry about that. We can always re-gift any multiples we receive. :)

Show and tell

Brian is really a sweetheart. I don't say that enough. We're not one of those sappy couples oohing and ahhing over one another all the time. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just not us. But we do have our moments...

Over the next few weeks, everyone in our German class has to give a short presentation over their favorite object. A bit like show-and-tell. Brian was up first, but he refused to tell me what he was taking as his favorite object. He said he would probably take one of his books.

When it came time for his presentation, sure enough, Brian pulled a book from his bag. But it wasn't one of the books I was expecting. It was a small book of poetry. His poetry. You see, many years ago when Brian and I were dating, I asked if I could read some his poetry and I made the poems into a book. The book itself isn't all that impressive -- the pages are uneven and the words are crooked -- but it's a pretty special book.

His presentation was very sweet. One of the girls even cried. Then I gave my presentation, which was about one of our wedding photos.

Maybe we are one of those sappy couples after all.