If nothing else, Lucky Charms has taught us that cereal components of different consistency can be magically delicious.

On reflection, it's not so much the textures as the different soggying timeline. I love Product 19 but you have to eat that shit fast.

what about just "working so hard."

That is what I went with!

I wish I had left 10 minutes ago, given that I'll be working on my day "off" tomorrow. Now I have to wait 20 more minutes for the stupid bus.

GIFT WRAP. That's what I'm forgetting.

Ugh, somehow my sending an email to my dad (who asked what I wanted for Christmas), saying that I'd prefer a donation in my name instead of a gift, has now turned into my mom (who LOVES giving gifts) getting her feelings hurt and me having to backtrack and apologize and probably call her to smooth things over. I swear the gift part of the holidays is the most stressful thing to me as an adult.

And in other news, someone opened the door to the lactation room (a former supply closet, so I can understand why) just after I took off my pumping "bustier" and just before I put on anything else. So that was fun.

Cereal sounds complicated.

Staying the course? Seeing it through? Plugging away?

Hm.

ETA "working so hard" might just be the best, really.

The gift part of the holidays is totally stressful! I have mostly opted out of all that and it's a great relief.

Oy, Kate, that's a very sit-com-esque event.

I think that having a small infant should mean I don't have to deal with gift giving this year. I wish there was a nice way to only buy for the kids in my life and tell all the adults they're out of luck.

Oy, Kate, that's a very sit-com-esque event.

It was! My back was turned, so I didn't see who it was and I don't think they saw too much, but still. Awkward.

And now I write an email to our Operations folks asking for a lock on that door.

I think that having a small infant should mean I don't have to deal with gift giving this year.

Yeah, me too.

I've heard that people do that within families sometimes. I like to buy presents, but then I don't have in=law drama, workplace Yankee swap and all the rest of that slowing my roll.

Last year my FiL got me a spice sampler collection from Oaktown Spice (in Oakland, natch).

At the time, I thought: "Oh, a spice rack with a local angle."

But over the past year I really started using these complex spice blends and they really added a lot to my cooking. Like, I just used the Persian Lime Curry Rub: [link]

...on my portabello mushrooms today and it was insanely tasty.

Which is just a longwinded way to say, sometimes those pro forma gifts pan out.

Also: More spices in 2016! (I know Amych will back me on this.)

And: Mushroom Fest In the Fall. I'm totally converted to the Italian/French obsession with autumnal mushrooms.

Actual Kit I received last year: [link]

Their Poivre La Mode variation on lemon pepper was SO good. I just used that in all my soups and stir fries and sautees and omelets.