Work is trying to kill me today.

My maqin boss, who I have been asking for over a month about things for this party on Saturday, just called and asked for 1) poster sized prints of our vision statement and 2) individual small gifts of chocolate or somthing from the host town (not here) for the 80 guests (he had previously said NO to this idea when I asked a month ago) and 3) culd I print labels or something for the small gifts that say Happy Holidays from the company.

!!! I can do all this, but I will get nothing else done today because 1) I cannot print to the plotter which will make the poster sized things, so someone else has to take the word doc or pdf and put into a program that will enlarge it but not distort it and print to the plotter. 2) research for a local chocolate place in San ANtonio and order by phone 80 of the same small box for them to hold for me to get tomorrow afternoon. 3) print labels on the color printer which I have never done .

Baking question: I made some cookies the other night, and they're pretty tasty, but a bit drier and more crumbly than I'd like. What could I add next time to give them a little more structural integrity? Main ingredients, as best I can recall: flour, oats, cocoa, baking powder, butter, maple syrup, vanilla, salt.

Eesh, msbelle.

Perhaps reduce the either the cooking time or the amount of heat?

now reading that it is all little stuff, but I hate that I try to get ahead of this stuff and he saabotages my preparedness.

I am also just generally pissy today. Annoying co-worker is out and so I am free to vent about her and I am just so annoyed by so many different aspects of her position. They treat her like crap, but she creates that dynamic a lot, but she also takes advantage, no one tracks her time in the office and she works from home willy nilly when that is not allowed for anyone else and is not monitored at all.

Perhaps reduce the either the cooking time or the amount of heat?

Hmm, that wouldn't have occurred to me, but I could give it a shot. The batter itself is a bit crumbly, though, so I was thinking maybe something else wet would help. An egg? That would help bind the batter, right?

Yeah, many cookies have an egg - that sounds like a pretty dry batter.

That all sounds annoying, msbelle! (Having to do something NOW that was your rejected idea a while ago is a pet peeve of mine as well.)

Ugh, I am freaking out about my poor cat, and I'm trying not to think about it at work, but it's not really working. In addition to trying to figure out the Best Thing for Him, I have a lot of logistical problems this month!

The batter itself is a bit crumbly, though, so I was thinking maybe something else wet would help. An egg? That would help bind the batter, right?

I think refrigerating the dough before baking helps with that.

I did refrigerate the dough, actually -- I was thinking maybe that was the problem! Hmm.

Aw, poor Homer. There's never a good time for a pet to get sick, but right around the holidays is even harder. I'm sorry, Jesse.

Aw, Jesse, I'm sorry. Elderly pet care can be so fraught.