Off to a decent start

When Jeff asks how my day went, the happiest answer is usually "productive." I love that feeling of accomplishment.

Yesterday, I accomplished (i.e. bought):

• TV Land--Detroit for my Dad. Soupy Sales, Bozo the Clown, Bill Kennedy at the Movies, Sir Graves Ghastly--all classic tv figures from my youth. There are more, from his youth, that I don't recall right now, but he'll love it.
• Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Michigan for Jeff. He likes local travel & trivia, and you don't have to read it in the bathroom!
• Potholder loom, loops & book for Sarah. Remember making those? Sarah loves crafty stuff, and the book shows you how to do other stuff with your finished potholder, like turn two of them into a purse.
  
• 4 pounds of milk chocolate, 1 pound of white chocolate, and 50 cellophane bags in which to seal the goodies once they're done. Once I buy the Not-reo cookies, I'll be able to go to town on those.
  
• A shredder for my stepmom, from my dad. I've now done most of my dad's shopping this year, and am glad I could.
  
• An apple peeler/corer/slicer for Jeff's cousin Kristi. When she and her husband came over to look at the album I was making them for their wedding present, they really liked the apple pie I made. My P/C/S makes short work of apples, and she thought it was cool, so I got her one. I'm going to attach some apple crisp topping in a jar, and maybe even some apples.
  
• A freezable/microwaveable pillow for my stepmom. She's been really hot at night. I was going to get her a Chillow, but I've heard mixed reviews. I'm hoping the one I got stays cold. I have something similar that I love to microwave and put at the foot of the bed when it's cold, and it's wonderful!
  
• A book of Sudoku (sp?) puzzles for my stepdad.
• Playdoh tote for Lauren. She adores play doh, and most of our stash has gotten old and hard.
  
• Princess clock for Lauren. Sarah has a clock with her name on it, and Lauren really wants a clock of her own. I was going to get her the same thing, but I saw this, and it's Cinderella, and includes a picture frame. It's a little smaller than the one I was planning to get, but I think she'll like it. Also, it's small enough for her to take into bed with her, which she'll love. It's also small enough for her to easily lose, I just realized.
  
• The first double batch of Pecan Tartlets. (This recipe is a little different from mine in that it uses less chopped pecans and puts a pecan half on top. I use about 3/4 cup broken pieces. The girls did that part of it this year.) I got an even 5 dozen, but there are always a few that fall apart when I take them out of the pan. I'll make at least one more batch. These are the cookies that people look forward to the most. When Lauren was about 9 months old, I just didn't have the energy to do much Christmas baking. I mentioned this to Jeff's family when we went over there, and when his Aunt saw the Tartlets, she said she was so glad to see those, because they were her favorites.

Jeff is home again today (he had yesterday off) because the weather is terrible, he feels terrible, and they're not doing that much at work. I'm planning to go to the post office to mail the great-grandparents' photo albums, and then go to the store for a few things, including lemons. Once I get those, I can get lemon poppy seed bread out of the way. And someone please talk me out of making baklava--I don't think it would travel well/be good in goodie bags, but I have a very strong urge to give it another try this year!