I love being surprised now and make no attempt to know stuff in advance. When we were kids my mother kept everything behind her bed. She never thought we would look. Yes, she was really that naive. Needless to say, we looked at everything.

The one thing they did that was neat was they put up the tree and decorated after we went to church Christmas Eve when we were very young. It was quite magical in the morning. I don't remember when they stopped doing that.

My parents kept the presents in the attic and I remember being tempted to look, but don't remember ever doing so. There is a story about the year that my oldest sister went downstairs and opened all the presents before anyone got up. It competes with the story about how my middle sister hunted all the Easter eggs one year before anyone woke up.

I, apparently, was a perfect child and never tried to cheat my sisters out of the presents/candy associated with any particular holiday like they did to me. ::uncrosses fingers, now that I'm done telling lies::

We were told that any Christmas presents found would be sent back, and we wouldn't get them Christmas morning. Proved pretty effective for a few years.

skip, skim, panic, flail

skids to a stop, distracted by pretty boots. Oooh, pink! I wonder if I could walk in those heels ...

remembers reason for flailing

Help! I need help re-formatting my resume. I just tried, and nearly gave myself a nervous breakdown. I need to send it off ASAP, and Word is thwarting me. Are any of you good at this sort of thing, and would be able to help me super-quick?

Are any of you good at this sort of thing, and would be able to help me super-quick?

I heard that Pleiades girl knows a thing or two about Word.

Jilli, toss it at me. I'll see what I can do.

Jilli, toss it at me. I'll see what I can do.

smooches vw like mad

Thank you!

No prob! I love doing that kind of stuff...as long as I don't have to write it :).

Ah-ha Nicole, that explains the text I got from her.

The job~ma y'all have been sending seems to be working. Nothing to report quite yet, but so far, so good.

The Saga of Holiday Canning continues!

I discovered this weekend that I left my giant stockpot behind when me moved last year. This makes sense, as a 16-quart stockpot is not of much use to 2 people. But, alas! I'd forgotten that I use the thing once a year for canning, and am now thinking I should replace it.

My question is, would the basket that comes in this water-bath canner hold half-pint jars, or would they fall through the bottom? I don't want to bother getting a canner as opposed to a cheap pot if I can't use the basket (especially since I already have a jar lifter, so I don't really need a basket at all), and the picture's not very helpful.