For all the sling lovin' ladies (and men): [link]

I adore that video, says someone who has a sling for her extra-clingy cat. I made it myself. Easy-peasy, btw, and if you like, Aims, I think I can find the plans/instructions for you. I also made a much smaller version for carrying my water bottle and discman while walking with the Nordic walking poles.

Happy first-night-of-Chanukah to all for whom it is meaningful. (I'll say Merry Christmas when appropriate, too.)

Hi, Shari H! As I mentioned in an earlier post today, one of the residents at one of the group homes I work at is Jewish. We have a plastic (sorry, but no open flames) Menorah that we put up for her. She asked me to read the blessings with her. I've never been present at the beginning of Hanukkah before, so it was the first time I've been a part of this. On top of lighting the Menorah with her, it was lovely to see your reflections on prayer.

Happy Hanukkah!

Also, Happy Holidays because there are way too many of all kinds in the next few weeks, and I don't always know what year it is, even before January 1st. (Seriously, I caught myself signing a check 2002 the other day.)

No idea of the quality, though. Any thoughts on cotton/poly sheets?

Those look like they are superior in quality to much of what I had growing up and in college. A high-ish thread count, say above 200, generally feels really nice. The fact that the cotton is the bigger portion over the poly will make it more breathe-able and soft. Another way to ensure a nice smooth feel is to choose solid, light colored sheets over patterns and prints of the same thread count (something about the way they weave the colors in). I would like these sheets, and use them happily. I say this as a crafter who can pretty accurately tell the fabric content of material by looking at it. But a true sheet connoisseur might not love them.

Kept in a dark pantry since the "best by" date.

Dark, yes. Cool? No. That pantry is quite warm in winter as it shares a wall with a main heat duct. That may have some effect on the use-ability of food items stored in there in the long term. Also, the color is a bit darker than I remember that variety should be.

Is egg nog strictly a Christmas drink, then?

My mother was given eggnog when she was a sickly child, experiencing major illness after major illness, to help build up her strength. She never served it at Christmas.

I think all I actually know about egg nog is that should contain a lot of rum and nutmeg. Why would you serve it before that?

See above. It's nog-less nog for kids and teetotalers.

Andi will be so thrilled.

Yeah. When you told me, I had a lot of ugly, ugly words going through my mind in the direction of your bosses. Their continued mental health and physical well-being pretty much depends on me not meeting them in a dark alley.

I was going to make scones tonight, but I don't feel like it now.

Can't promise you scones tomorrow, but I will make you a delicious pear dessert.

Hate group projects.

You have my sympathies, Aims.

P.S. Harvey has crawled up into my arms, whereupon I put him in the sling and continued to type.

P.P.S. Harvey is now gone, and attempting to pin Daniel down for a nap.

I don't approve of sheets under 400 thread count. And i avoid sateen. *shudder*. Overstock.com occasionally has fantastic deals on 500-800 thread count sheets for under $40 - which is astonishing as those sets usually go for more than twice that. Totally worth it, especially if you ever sleep , uh, natural.

eta: and cotton. 100% cotton. the more you wash them, the more they feel like buttery silk. *swoon*

Can you put bourbon in nog?

Mmmmm...

Spirits I have had in egg nog include: Rum, Brandy, Bourbon, and Southern Comfort. Sometimes a combination of two.

I, too, make the egg nog -- that's how the Greeks wound up drinking it for the first time.

The only boughten eggnog I like is Ronnybrook Farm's. [link] Somehow, they get the texture pretty much right. Time to go buy some now that December is back.

I don't know if anyone drinks egg nog over here. I think of it as an American thing. (I don't like cream, so it's a no-no for me.)

This is going to be one of those days. My shoulder HURTS after about four hours of driving yesterday (although it was worth it for a good interview). I need to buy an instant heat pack.

I think of it as an American thing.

It's a longstanding Jamaican tradition. It was called egg cup, and people would travel from house to house getting served egg cup at each one, and they'd pour out a libation for departed ancestors.

I don't know the origin of the tradition, but I think it predates getting them from America, for us.

Good gravy, what's possessing me to hang around in Yahoo!Answers Religion and Spirituality section [link] ? It's worse than reading comments on news stories.

Oh, WindSparrow, please don't do that. Really. They're...not large-minded. I used to post there a lot on a couple of Catholicism threads way, way long ago in the early 90s, until I discovered Salon and Table Talk (especially the Mothers Who Think threads...I still can't believe I never got majorly dinged at work for all the time I spent there). Eventually I had one of those days where you run out of internet, and I remembered the old threads I'd so enjoyed posting at and went back poking around. I mentioned Salon, and one guy's immediate response was that everyone there was a leftist atheist and a PRO-ABORT BITCH and if I liked posting there, it didn't say much about my faith. It went downhill (and even asscappier) from there (including other posters trying to smooth the waters by telling me that I needed to understand that he was just very passionate about abortion and he wouldn't be asscapping me if he didn't care so deeply, and telling him that he was being so angry they almost felt sorry for me--but not quite, because I shouldn't have been at Salon in the first place).

I never, ever went back, and I beg of you not to either. The only nice thing I can say about it is that it's better than the YouTube comments threads. But, then, so is raw sewage.

Oh, JZ. I have escaped. Thank you for your kind support. I usually concentrate on Cats. Those are relatively sane areas (aside from the inevitable running out of tactful ways to say, "Take your #!%@ cat to the $*#@ing veterinarian")

I am skipping ahead to ask a baking question. I am looking at a brownie recipe that says to store them at room temp for no more than one day. That seems strange to me for brownies. Can they really go bad that quickly? I'm looking to ship stuff to relatives out of state.

sj, I'm wondering if it's not so much that the brownies will go bad as it is that the texture of them will start to change after a day or so. With brownies, the big problem is that they'll get hard. So, if you package them as airtight as you can, you may be okay.