Warming up for the holidays?

I've been on a big hot cocoa kick of late. It has been because the hot cocoa helps make me feel better when I am ill with the warmth and I've been craving chocolate. It has been primarily the instant hot cocoa that you buy at the store. It's not half as good as what I'm going to be making for myself later today because I'm trying to make myself feel a little happier about the holidays.

Waking up at 3:45 in the morning and being awake until 7:30 just doesn't make for a good morning. Thankfully, Snuggle Bug took a nap and Cuddle Bear didn't wake up until 8:15. This meant that I got to get a nap while hubby took his shower this morning. There's been several mornings like this recently and it hasn't done much for my mood. Hubby's threatening to frog march me to bed earlier at night until this bout of illness is over, so this should give an indication of how cranky I've been.

I'm just not feeling that 'holiday cheer' right now. There's been enough stuff making my life crazy of late that it's got me feeling like the best present I could get is to sleep in late ... in some exotic location where there is nothing around to make me a crazy woman. Since hubby and I are not going to be taking a romantic trip to the Caribbean anytime soon, I'm just doing my best to thole and get thru.

I'm taking a page from FlyLady's book and doing a little self-pampering today. I haven't been doing enough of that and I think that's a big part of the problem. Making myself crazy over the holidays and the state of the house isn't good for me or anybody else around here. It's tough because I'm recognizing that as the housewife, I am kinda the anchor for the family. For some reason, I didn't fully comprehend just how much work that was going to be, especially with two small children. So, I'm going to try to get life a little more organized around here and make it work better.

Part of that is going to be making myself some hot chocolate:

2 C. Water
1/4 C. Sugar
4 Oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
1/4 C. Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Boil the water and sugar in a medium sauce pan until the sugar dissolves. Stirring constantly with a whisk, add the chocolate and cocoa. Heat the mixture until the first bubble pops on the surface. Remove from heat and whip in a blender for 1 minute. Serve immediately. (Makes 2 servings)
- Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme (via an article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle from 2002, I think.)