Twas the night before . . . .

I know that you think that I have forgotten you - I am not a fickle friend, I promise. I have been sooooooooooo busy with baking, and baking and of course, I must work and occasionally cook for my husband, then bake, bake, bake. Tomorrow is the annual cookie swap. My favorite friends are going to be gathering and having a good time. It is not really about the cookies. It is about taking a break mid craze, enjoying what we have and being girls. Of course, it isn't about the cookies. But we all are like kids on Christmas Eve tonite. I had to run out to the dollar store for some more bags and ran into one of my bestest buds, who told me that she had seen another swapper at the Big W, who had seen - you get the picture.
Our families have been well compensated already for their tolerance, eating the burnt, broken and misshapen cookies. (don't tell Larry that I dropped that macaroon on the floor! I dusted it off before I gave it to him. It fell under the 3 second rule. Besides, I had just mopped.)

Actually, the menfolk really don't get it. Men think: They're cookies, for goodness sake! Buy them at the deli counter and eat them! Cheaper still, buy Oreos. They are round, have chocolate and cream and go with any beverage. They can not appreciate the angst we suffer surfing for the perfect simple cookie that will make the rest of the gals clamor for the recipe. And by the night before, we are all so blasted tired of baking, that we are wondering why in the world we are doing this. Come tomorrow when we are dressed appropriately (last year I wore reindeer antlers with bells on them, we will get all warm and gooey inside over sweet friendship, swap some good stories, eat our luncheon and carry home more cookies for the hubbies to eat.
You are looking at 28 dozen cookies. You cannot see all the baskets or tins because they are hiding behind all the ones in the front. Everyone present will get one dozen and we will share our buffet spread, play some games and exchange a gift or two. I highly recommend starting a cookie swap if you have never done one before. It's a lot of fun - now to decide if I should I wear my reindeer antlers again; that's the other thing guys don't understand. Women do not dress for men; they dress for each other. But that is another blog topic.