I have Double Dash and Mario Party 7, but I also have a few Harry Potter games and the Polar Express game. I need to check Amazon for other games that are available, because I wouldn't mind having a wider selection. That's right, the no weed option was tied to one of those. I selected the money option, because a few of my villagers voiced that that was an option they wanted chosen. I can never find all the weeds that pop up when I get on the game after a long stint of not playing it. There's always 1 weed that I can never find. The only time I dig out weeds, is when I want to plant a tree.

Sorry for my absence, I bought No Man's Sky two days ago and I've spent those two days exploring one planet.

Car boot full of gifts and groceries? Tricky one there!

We have 2 houses to go to before we get our home dinner. Hopefully yours will be fun! Have you planned any special dishes for Xmas?

I have sent a message, but no worries if not, collecting a couple of things myself. :)

Sucked in by gaming, it is easy to do!

A few of the local (well, nearest big town) dvd/cd shops have second hand games trade-in sections, so I sometimes have a look through those.
Mario Kart on any console seems to go down well.

I tried to do the 'collect all the weeds' thing once, and it took HOURS. Now I ignore the sleeping Leif and just make it look presentable enough. Then he usually is gone when I next switch on!

Aww, cuteness abounds:

We always have the usual ham, yams, green bean casserole, deviled eggs and crescent rolls. Plus anything else I feel motivated enough to make lol. Emily's dad and his wife are suppose to be coming up from Louisiana some time that week. I am hoping he is not thinking he is having Christmas dinner with us. I want a relaxing night! I don't want the stress of trying to make everything perfect.

It may be safest to say that you 'have already made your plans, sorry', if they try to invite themselves...!
I am not sure what the green bean casserole entails - here, a casserole is like a slow cooked stew, is it related?

I am hoping to make roasted rainbow carrots this year! Some of the shops are doing the orange, yellow and purple carrots so I though they might be good to try.

https://www.campbells.com/kitchen/recipes/classic-green-bean-casserole/ It is really easy to make! (I skip the soy sauce) I just hate saying anything to anyone :( I always feel bad. His mom lives an hour away, and I already told him that he will end up spending more time with her than with Emily. Emily is autistic and does not talk to strangers at all. He is basically a stranger to her. She spent a few days with him almost 2 years ago and before that she had not seen him since she was 3 (she is 16 now). The last time she saw him she would whisper everything to me and I had to say it for her. We have never met his wife so she is deff a stranger to both of us, but she seems nice.

Never heard of roasted rainbow carrots. Gonna have to check it out!

Cooking with soup! Well, what do you know. Crispy fried onions are a thing of beauty too. xD

There is no easy way with dealing with mixed family situations (step parent myself!), but you have to do your best to ensure there is minimal disruption to the folks involved.
Maybe a short meet up in a quiet but public place is more neutral than at home? Or would that be an added stress?

[edit] Aha! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/roasted-rainbow-carrots-recipe.html

It is really good :) Thanks for the recipe! I might try that :D

Yeah I am going to try and hope for the best! Christmas should always be a fun time!

Mentioned the beans to my other half who is very interested!

Definitely. The less stress the better. We should be thinking about tinsel and twinkling lights! One of the neighbours was putting up decorations earlier. I think I'll wait until December... xD

I just ran out to the store for yet another pair of headphones and passed at least 4 houses that are already decorated! I am going to wait until we come back from the trip. A lot of people here start early to avoid being out in the freezing cold!

You're making me drool. Canned anything is yucky though.

Lol sorry. I am stuffed from dinner right now, so everything sounds yucky at the moment! I was so hungry and overdid it :(

Well, it's 12.30 in the afternoon and I need the light on as it's so cloudy and raining outside. Come back dry autumn days!

As the weather here is typical UK - mainly grey and rainy! - there's plenty of time yet for people to decorate with no fear of freezing temperatures. Just getting soaked when being outside. But that happens a lot.

I am OK with canned sweetcorn. And in the UK canned baked beans are godly. Maybe... xD

Off to get cheese and onion bread from the local shop to have with soup and Halloumi cheese tomorrow... Mmmmm!

Ode to

A little thank you for your help Donating lovely prizes So here's hoping for lots of fun And the contest inspires us!

NOTE: Hope to start the contest over this weekend, will ping group when posted!

Our Michigan weather is all over the place right now. Yesterday I had the heat on in the car and today I had the air on lol.

"cheese and onion bread" sweet sweet onions. chives on potato skins. creamy pureed soup... I say raw onions are sweet but my family says it's too spicy to have raw. they're not even scallions.

Latest weather forecast is possibility of snow overnight. Eeek! Can't the clouds save that for Xmas day or something more seasonal?

Seems like globally the weather is having on identity crisis!

Still job hunting at the moment, very demoralising, but need to have more funds.

My other half's favourite thing to have on burgers or as a kind of 'dip' is finely diced raw red onion mixed with garlic paste/puree and a sprinkle of coriander/cilantro.
Just add chips!

That sounds good :)

Job hunting is always difficult hugs you end up feeling so rejected! You just feel like screaming "give me a chance!!!"

I want it to snow on Christmas Eve so we can have a winter wonderland for Christmas, but then it can just melt and go away the day after lol. I never get that though. I can't remember the last "White Christmas" we had here :(

hugs back Yeah, had a little moment of 'blergh' earlier, calmed down now though.
Bit stressful near the festive period, but must stay positive.
:)

Just looked up for the Uk and apparently our last white Xmas was 2010!
You're right, its nice whene there is enough snow to look good, but it melts away easily when people need to be out and about again.

Or we need free sledges for all!

Yeah it is always really pretty when it first snows, but after the plows come through and people shovel their sidewalks it starts to look dirty and ugly :(

I tried to look up the last time we had a white Christmas and I couldn't find anything lol.

As the UK is a nation of weather obsessed folks, I am not surprised we have that info!

Generally our snow isn't bad enough on the main roads and in bigger towns & cities to need plows. Though now I said that, I expect several feet of snow! xD

Stop poking at the fates :P Snow plows are great when they actually plow more than the main roads, and if they would plow on the weekend! A couple of times I have been snowed in for a whole weekend. Not fun at all!