Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Final ski trip preparations

It’s sure hard to concentrate on work issues, between checking the latest snow reports, arranging for neighbors to pick up our mail, and notifying the newspaper to hold our deliveries for a week.

Making matters worse, yesterday was cookie baking day. When I got home from work the kitchen had dozens of still-warm (let’s see if I can get this right...) Oatmeal Wheat Germ Chocolate Chip Cookies (Yea!!) laid out in rows on paper towels, cooling.

Well, of course I just had to sample one. Mmmmmm.

I was pretty sure it was OK, but just to be doubly careful I sampled another.

Hmmm. Not convinced yet. There might be a hint of something wrong here. I’d better sample just one more to be positive.

Ahhhh. Yes!! I pronounced them “Perfect!”

At that point Carol, glaring and indignant, came into the kitchen and demanded, “You haven’t been eating those, have you?”

“Me? Oh, no! Of course not,” I mumbled, with cookie crumbs spilling out of my mouth.

Later, after dinner, I suddenly had the urge to sample them again. I mean, I had to be certain that they were OK for my family to eat in Colorado, right? Hey, if anybody was going to get sick from them, it ought to be me. So as a completely altruistic gesture, I ate three more before bed. (Carol was in the shower! I was careful not to drop any crumbs.)

My verdict? Well, as of now I think they’re safe. But over the next few days I MAY be compelled to continue sampling them. Better safe than sorry.

Tonight we’ll get together our checklists and begin staging the baggage in the den where we can’t miss it. We don’t dare wait until the eve of departure to do this, or we’ll invariably leave behind something vital. Even with all this early preparation we’ll forget something. But that’s what credit cards are for, I guess.

Oh! That reminds me; I need to call our credit card company and let them know our travel plans. Twice in recent years they’ve suspended our card when we’ve had large purchases in Colorado that don’t seem to match our “buying patterns.”

This is a good thing, and helps minimize losses if somebody were to have stolen our cards. But it’s a pain when you’re on the road and suddenly you can’t buy a tankful of gas because your credit card doesn’t work. But one toll-free call later, and all is well again.

We’ll be leaving on Saturday morning, so my blogging may be a bit irregular for the next week or so.

But Saturday’s still three days away. Plenty of time.

Darn it. I'm ready NOW!

Guess I'll go eat a cookie to console myself.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok...it's "Oatmeal-Peanut Butter-Wheat Germ-Chocolate Chip Cookies". You left out the peanut butter. We might as well list all the ingredients, as there are only probably one or two more.

Can't wait to see you and Mom next week! I checked the weather too, and it's supposed to snow thru Friday, then again on Sunday, then be mostly sunny the whole week we are there. I hope it's an accurate forecast!

Anonymous said...

You better watch it.. You may find yourself stuck in the kitchen friday night baking cookies..LOL! Sounds like your plans are coming along and that your trip is going to be good fun! I've never been to colorado.. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

You could sell those cookies.
I'd buy.

Anonymous said...

You left out Peanut Butter in the name? How could you John!!

I do hope the weather is going to be to your liking. I just wish that I could have cooler weather here. Each time we have a heatwave, real estate in Alaska, Iceland, Siberia, Arctic, Antarctic or Greenland sounds very inticing.

Our credit card companies here will phone or SMS us if "strange" purchases appear on our cards and it is usually the Fraud Dept staff who give us a call. I received a call when I made a purchase in London and they wanted to make sure it was me before authorising the payment and transfer of funds. I like that peace of mind.

Duke_of_Earle said...

Christina and Michelle,

Well, my only excuse is I was so excited about the taste of those cookies that I got confused. And to think, the Peanut Butter is one of the best ingredients! Or, no... it's the nutty flavor of the wheat germ... NO! It's the chocolate chips!

Damn, they're good! (And don't worry about quantity. Carol baked EXTRA this year!)

John

kenju said...

Carol need to cool her cookies somewhere she can put them under lock and key! I have to hide stuff from mr. kenju if I plan to have any to offer visitors....LOL

Duke_of_Earle said...

r.e.,

Yeah, but I've already published the RECIPE! DUH! What was I thinking?

John