Jimmies and Sprinkles are two different things.

YEY COOKIES!!
Mom's 'cookie fest' was today, and I'm happy to have helped. It's nice having everybody spread out in the kitchen, and it's sooopa nice being able to work in a large kitchen with other people. Usually it's just Mom and I doing the baking thing on the holidays, and it's usually a pain in the ass. The two of us trying to roll out sugar cookie dough, cut the dough, decorate it, and watch what's going on in the oven gets a little nutty. In the past years, my brothers were around to at least help with decorating, but during the later years, it was up to us women-types to do it all.
This year my aunt, my brother and his wife, Amanda (my other brother's girlfriend),my Mom, and surprisingly my Dad were all scurrying about in the kitchen today. My Dad usually takes over baking the chocolate chip cookies, which is no problem for a single person. My aunt brought over butter horn dough she made, and my brother and I pitched in rolling them and shaping them. Those got done quick. The real fun are the sugar cookies.
The dough has to be kept cold, and mustn't be overworked. Oh yea, and the dough must be rolled as thin as possibly. I mixed the dough together and rolled it, while Amanda and myself cut it. Sharon (my brother's wife), my Mom, my aunt, and my brother helped decorate. All in all, it was a good day, considering we got done by 5ish. I think we may have started around 2 or 2:30, so we definetely made excellent time. I think I ate too much cookie dough, though.

My Xmas shopping is almost done, and I am ready for the holidays. I got a call from a friend from High School, and he wants to get tattooed by me. He and I were the voted 'most artistic' by our class, and we've kept in touch over the few years. It will be an honor to tattoo someone so talented as he is.

Let's see, what else...OH YEA! Here's a fun little summary of work the other day...
So Ryan, Brian, and myself were hanging out the other day in between appointments. Ryan was reorganizing his art portfolio when we heard him yell something about the blank spots in his book (Ryan keeps it out so potential clients can view some of his custom work and maybe spark some ideas of their own). So Ryan starts asking where 2 specific pieces of art went, and shows us the blank spots. Immediate we realize that his work got thiefed. Brian starts thinking back to the last person to go through the book, and he realizes that 2 couples came in and got tattooed. Out of that group, there was a squirrely character inquiring about the sale of the 2 pieces that went missing. Well, it doesn't take a genious to put two and two together. Brain starts sifting through the paperwork because fortunately (or rather unfortunately), the girlfriends of this group both got tattooed. We located the girlfriend of the suspect. Brian calls the girl, leaving a message to have her b/f call him back. Meanwhile, he files a police report. The suspect called back a day later, and Brian tells him the artwork he was inquiring about went missing. The guy mmediately replies with "I don't have it/I didn't take it." Brian replies with "OK, I have 24-hour surveillance in my shop, so you are telling me that if I submit this take to the third party agency that I'm not going to see your face/see you taking pictures out of the book?" The guy replies with "Uhhh, uhhhh, You'll have those pieces back tomorrow/I'm going to Fed-Ex them." Brain hangs up with him, calls the police back and tells them he has a positive reply from the guilty party, and hands all the information over to the police. The police must have called the guy back informing him of the consequences, because he called back all apologetic and stuttering. Ryan is just happy to be getting his work back, and Brian is happy to have busted someone. I know that I would be pretty mad about that situation. The guy's reply to stealing the pieces was "I love art." Brian's reply was " I love art, too, but I don't steal it." Oh man, goooooood times.

Yep, well that's all the excitement of the past couple days. Saturday, I have a ton of parties to go to, and I am looking forward to them. Xmas eve I'll be helping Mom do the wrapping, as well as any last minute Xmas day preparations. I'm looking forward to that as well. I know my Mom and Dad both miss having us kids around.

Anyway, here's a quote to think about for you open-minded thinking types. Make if it what you will; It's just ramblings.

Do not expect loyalty from the rat, nor compassion from the stone. Their oaths are meaningless in the heart of the faithful, and the wise can see they both share dishonor.

Until later...