It’s 3:40 pm EST with a side of Daylight Savings Time, as I tap out this post. It’s Sunny and 41 Fahren, and Mama Weather has beat her personal best of 37 Fahren for the day. I love when she does that. Go, Mama Weather!

Are your days, weeks, weekends beginning to feel like they’re operating over capacity? Mine are. It’s the joy and bane of December.

We did the whole family tree-trimming party this weekend. I made more man food for the menfolk. Spaghetti and meatballs. Heavy on the carbs. Heavy on the beef. Garlic bread. Heavy on the garlic. And then for those who weren’t too manly to eat a green, a humongous salad with greens, spinach, pecans, orange sections, some dried cranberry and shaved Parmesan. They ate like truckers lined up on diner stools. Smart truckers. Amen!

And since we hadn’t sinned enough for a decent confession, I served up Sandy Coughlin’s Dark Chocolate Flourless Cake. Get it here. Get it quick. I love everything about Sandy and her website — The Reluctant Entertainer, for I surely am one. While you are there, you should just add her to your RSS feed. You know you want to.

Gracie the G-Pup wasn’t left out of the festivities. She got a new bone to gnaw, which she did. Endlessly. Even into the wee hours, which deprived me of some much needed pre-Hello, Monday! sleep.

But her teeth sparkle. They twinkle like all those teeth on all those dental commercials on the boob toob. This has left me wondering why I’m spending $$$ going to the dentist each year, when a gnarly, frozen buffalo bone does such a stellar job on the G-Pup. Food for thought.

Today, as we head into the season — the season of joy and good eats and winter — I think it’s important to know the difference between Baklava and Balaclava.

Baklava — a classic Greek pastry made with nuts and sugar and spices and phyllo pastry. Gimme. Gimme.

Balaclava — warm, winter headgear that we find essential here in Northern Girl country.

I switch these words out all the time. Just sayin’.

It’s hard to be me.

Hello, Monday!

Rock your work week.