second Advent

Two more weekends before Christmas.

My granddaughter brought home an advent wreath a couple of weeks ago from church.  She made it in Sunday school, 4 little candles in white and one bigger red one in the middle for Christmas Day.

On Saturday I went to NYC again with my son-in-law, his mom and my grandson. 
It was snowing/raining both at the same time.  We had to pick something up in Harlem, and then wanted to go to see the Christmas tree and visit F O A Schwarz, the toy store.  Going down 2nd Ave. we ended up going to Queens on the 59th St. Bridge - the road just dropped you on the bridge, no warning, no way to turn around.  So we had to turn around in Queens and go back over.
Here is a picture of the bridge:

Doesn't that look cool?

and here a freezing little guy.  Although he never complained, and he was dressed warmly.

Harlem street in the rain/slush.

5th Ave.  No time to stop and concentrate on taking a photo.

And a little boy checking out a truck in the toy store.

The exit/entrance to FAO Schwarz --- and it was cold!

Thomas Visit

Here are the photos from yesterday.

The awesome locomotive - steam engine

as we first saw it, crossing the street.  With the building behind it wrapped like a Christmas gift.

Isn't it awesome?

and the two of us:

Hach, it's nice to have brothers.

and one more of the steam engine.

Lambertville, NJ

My little (6'5") brother came to visit me yesterday.  I picked him up at the PATH, and we went home.  Chatted for a while and then went out for sushi.  It was great!  Some shopping at the mall, where I ended up with an early Christmas gift, a short dress or long sweater to wear over tights.  I love it!  I wore it today.

First we went out to a diner for breakfast - very New Jersey - then walked my tour around the pond. 

Since he owns horses, he wanted to check out a horse-supply store in the States.  So we did.  And ended up driving to Lambertville, a village full of galeries and antique stores, where we walked around and dream shopped.  Then a drive across the Delaware to New Hope, PA, where we had lunch, and a little walk up the hill.  While walking, the rail road barriers went down across the street and an apparition from the past came by - a steam engine!  Black, blowing smoke, looking lovely.

We admired, went up, remembered my Dad being here, being fascinated  by the collection of engines at this old-fashioned rail road station.  From what I understand, volunteers take care of the engines. 

We also called his son back in Germany to wish him a happy 20th birthday.

After that it was unfortunately time to bring little brother to the airport - JFK - 86 miles away.  We had a lovely time driving and chatting.  It was great to see him!  Thank you for visiting, Thomas!

Ginger Snaps

Oh, and I forgot,
I made the dough for the ginger snaps last night.  It needs an overnight in the refrigerator, so probably tonight I'll bake it.
I got the recipe from Penzey's Spices, and it's wonderful, I have used it for years, and if you want to look for more recipes and awesome spices, go to http://www.penzeys.com
here is the Gingersnaps recipe:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
  
• 1/4 tsp. salt
  
• 3/4 Cup vegetable shortening
  
• 1 Cup sugar
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 1/4 Cup molasses - either regular or unsulphured
  
• 1 tsp. GINGER, powdered
  
• 1 tsp. CINNAMON, powdered
  
• 1/2 tsp. CLOVES, powdered
  
• 1/3 Cup granulated white sugar (to roll dough in)

Sift flour, baking soda and salt together, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening and sugar until well blended. Beat in egg,
molasses, GINGER, CINNAMON, and CLOVES. Add the flour mixture in two parts, blending well. Shape the dough into a ball, cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 11/2" balls for large cookies - smaller are fine too. Roll the balls thoroughly in sugar, place on ungreased cookie trays. The cookies spread out during baking, so don't crowd them. Bake 15 minutes. Cool for a minute, then remove from cookie sheets. Store in an airtight container for crispy cookies, or in a regular cookie jar for chewy cookies.
Yield: 40-60 cookies
Prep. time: 10 minutes plus chilling
Baking time: 30 minutes total (2 sheets at a time for 15 minutes each)

Babysitting

I babysat yesterday.  For the little guy whose Mom had to go to the dentist.
He demanded all the old toys, we even went into the garage to search for things.  He took what he liked, then we went back upstairs.  For entertainment he wanted 'Dora', and for supper he shared my turkey soup.  It was good to see him and his mother.

On a side note: does anyone use Google wave yet?  I just got it, and I'm deciding if it's interesting.  Anyone come to a conclusion yet?

I don't use Twitter, and no one I know is on Twitter (okay, I know one person, but I only occasionally  hear from him).  And everyone in my circle says that Twitter doesn't interest them.
Same with facebook.  I have an account, sometimes look, but not very often.

I wonder how many of these will still be around 20 years from now.