Thankful...for an immune system and other random things

I spent my Thanksgiving weekend on the couch with various cold systems - you know, cough, runny nose, sneezing etc. It started the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving and I'm still suffering some ill effects but the worst of it was gone by Monday. I was very generous and shared the fun with Graham. His immune system must be better than mine as his has not lasted as long or been as severe.

We've decided to go a bit minimalistic with our Christmas decorations this year. Our normal christmas tree is 9 feet tall and takes quite a bit to get it up and decorated. We went to Garden Ridge after thanksgiving and bought a small pre-lit tabletop tree. My other Christmas purchase was a nativity scene. I have been looking for one for a while but always made the mistake of waiting until after Christmas to try to purchase one and the selection was very limited. I looked online and found gorgeous sets with matching prices. Who pays $2000 for a nativity scene? I hit up Walmart this afternoon and found one more within my budget and am very pleased. I'm hoping to get some pictures of our Christmas decorations this weekend to post on the blog.

To add to this random post I recently got a new crock pot. My previous crock-pot was a handmedown from my great-grandmother who had gotten it for Christmas many moons ago and had used it maybe once or twice. The pot still worked but it was small, did not have the removable crock and the knob to switch temperatures broke so you had to use pliers to flip temperatures. Graham investigated our options and we decided on a 30 dollar crock pot at Target. It doesn't have many of the fancy features but does have a warm option in addition to low and high. My main request was something larger (our new one is 6 qts) and a removable crock (which this one has). Additional features I like are a carrying case, clips to lock the lid to the pot when travling and a spoon holder in the lid. I've also enjoyed breaking in my new crock pot with new recipes. I made a mean minestrone a few weeks ago to share with J&J and the sunday before thanksgiving I made a very tasty chicken tortilla soup. Both recipes came from this cookbook.