I have wanted a tall coffee mug for months. I don't know why I've wanted one so bad but I have. I was at Wal-mart this afternoon and walked by the Christmas things and there they were, tall Christmas mugs. I stood and looked at them. $2 and I'd finally have my tall mug. I stood and looked some more. Did I really want a mug with a snowman on it if I wanted to use my tall mug in the middle of the summer? Not really. But these were really tall mugs and I really liked the shape. So I stood and looked at them some more. Then I started to push my cart away, thinking I'd just wait until I saw some tall ones another time. As I did, I took one last glance over my shoulder..... Oh! I totally missed them but over to the side were a few that did not have snowmen on them! Red and green stripes and dots. Christmas, but yet not tied strictly to Christmas. So I got my tall mug.

This evening I was a little chilled and decided I'd fix myself a cup of instant coffee. Decaf. I'm working in the morning so trying not to stay up tooooo late. So I got my new mug and gave it a good washing out with soapy water, filled it with fresh water and popped it into the microwave. I'd checked to see how much it held compared to what I was used to using so I'd know how much coffee to use. A little more than one and a half of our normal mugs.

I sat down with my new tall mug full of decaf, took a few sips, sat it down and picked up my netbook. Half an hour later I glanced over and there sat my mug, still almost full....of cold coffee. I laughed. I hardly ever finish a cup of coffee before it gets cold and here I was with an even larger mug. I really like that tall mug though, so I guess I'll just have a little MORE cold coffee. :-)

Here's another recipe. This one by request. I remember when I was a kid and we made these cookies we had cookies all over the place. It calls for baking syrup. We used the white Karo syrup for that and our cookies were really light colored and mild flavored. When I got married my mother-in-law used the same recipe but used molasses for the syrup, so they were a dark molasses flavored cookie. Use the type syrup of your choice to get different cookies. If you've forgotten, a pint is two cups, a quart is four cups. We always used a drinking glass dipped into flour for a cookie cutter.

Baker's Cookies

3 1/2 pints sugar
1 1/2 pints shortening
5 small eggs (I use large eggs)
9 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 pint water
1/2 pint baking syrup
3 quarts flour

Mix all together at the same time. Roll out (not too thin) and cut. Transfer to a baking sheet

Topping

1 egg, beaten slightly
1/3 cup milk

Mix egg and milk together. Brush on tops of cookies before baking.

The recipe doesn't give a temperature or time for baking and I've never made note of what I used. I would bake them at 350° and watch them closely until you establish a time.

The first thought I had when I woke up this morning was, "Isn't there any way I can vote in this referendum?" Southern Wells Community Schools have an operating fund referendum on the ballot today. If it passes it will affect property taxes in the school district.

Referendums can only be voted on by the registered voters in the voting districts involved. With a referendum affecting property taxes that means if you're a registered voter in the districts you get to vote, regardless if you own property in the districts or not. If you own property in the districts but don't live there, you can't register to vote in the districts. I fall in that second category, I own property within the Southern Wells school district but don't live there, so I can't vote.

Is it fair that the non-property owner can vote on a property tax issue? Not in my opinion. I can't see a solution that would be considered fair by everyone though.

What if only registered voters within the districts who own property can vote...still not fair to those who own property in the districts but don't live in the districts.

So maybe owners of property in the districts can vote regardless of where they live...still has problems. Then you'll have the owner of large acreage that's unhappy because the owner of a singe acre has the same vote as they do. How about a vote per acre...then the small acreage owner will complain that the large acreage owner has too much say.

No matter how you do it, it's not fair to someone.

I guess I'll just have to trust that no matter who does the voting, they'll keep the good of the kids in the Southern Wells school district at heart.

EDIT: I should add that who can vote in this referendum is determined by state law. As a News-Banner tweet just noted, it is not the Southern Wells school board that determines who votes.