An Update

The cookie exchange went wonderfully.  I am not a person who really enjoys going out without my family. Usually all 5 of us do things together or Dave and I, occasionally I run with friends (wish I did this more often) but "going out" like dinner doesn't usually fall under priorities to me. I do have some awesome friends that pull me out from under all of the things I have to do and just have a good time together. When Ryan was in preschool 2 years ago I met some great friends and to my shock we have all continued to make the effort to get together (usually once a month). We all have kids that are the same age and it is really nice for me that they are all mom's of kids Ryan's age. Ashley gets  SO much being the first born that it is really nice that Ryan has some friends that he has known since he was 3. This year when the kids went to kindergarten, we requested that our kids were in the same class (which they did) and now if I forget something (which is ALL THE TIME!) for class one of my girls just shoots me a text and all is well. So last month while at our brunch Kelly thought we should do a cookie exchange party for our monthly get together. We all had to make a dozen cookies for each person to take home and a dozen to share at the party. I guess we all failed math because for weeks we kept saying we needed 7 dozen cookies when we actually only needed 6 :)
I looked on Pintrest and I polled my Facebook friends and Twitter followers about which cookie that I should make. My husband outranked everyone and asked me to make Raisin Puffs, which are a family tradition passed down from my Grandma Williams.  She however makes them for her church and makes TONS so her actual recipe makes 10 dozen cookies. So, I took some time on Wednesday morning to make my cookies. I ate more than a few and felt a bit queasy but at least I got them all baked and boxed with ample time to spare.

I showed up at 6 o'clock with my 6 dozen cookies and I hadn't eaten much all day, knowing that cookies were on the menu for dinner. Let me also say that I am NOT a big drinker!! I don't have a any problem with people that do, I just don't like how it makes me feel. Kelly and I had talked the day before the exchange and she had gone to Total Wine and asked the worker what a "girly" drink she could make for the party. She decided on Limoncello and Champagne. Did I already say that I didn't eat much before I went to this party. First thing I get handed is this drink and since I don't want to be rude, I start sipping it and after about 5 sips I stared to get a bit dizzy. I thought if I ate a little bit that it might help, so I had a plate of pizza dip and bread (loved this!!) and we had vegan nachos, which were very good as well. Since I continued to sip the drink while I was eating, it didn't really help with my dizziness. So I tweeted about it and took some funny self pics (what am I 18??) Anyways, we then moved on to the cookie portion of the evening...I made the Raisin Puffs, Shannon made Thumbprints, Laureen made Peanut Butter Blossoms, Kerri made Chocolate Truffles, Kelly made Magic Cookie Bars ,and Lauren made Chocolate chocolate cookies. I only ate 3 cookies BUT I have 6 dozen here if anyone would like some. After I ate the cookies and we sat and talked for a while, I did start to feel better (guess the alcohol started wearing off) and I had so much fun just being me with people who know me and like me anyways with all of my flaws and crazy running :)

 Our cookie table

                                                                 Yummy Dips and Bread

                                                    Me and Kerri (a little too Limoncello)

                                             Laureen, Lauren, Kelly, Kerri, Shannon, & Me

Great times with great friends and I ran 8 Miles this morning to balance out my cookies eating :) Love the holidays!!

p.s. my floors still aren't finished :(