Dougie Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 Full-Time position with CATIE Center at St. Catherine University
• 2 tickets to Melbourne
• 2 adult children
• 3 grad school courses
• 7 bicycles
• 25 years of feeling like a newlywed
• One jar of vegemite

Directions

1. Start the year with first full-time job since Sylvie was born.
2. Immediately jump on a flight to Australia and New Zealand to avoid inauguration day in the U.S for working (Doug) vacation (Holly).
3. Remove cartilage from left knee.
4. Rely on biking for exercise and sanity.
5. In June, start grad school and meet great cohort of classmates.  #love4cohort
6. In July, mark out 25K of running routes to justify eating a lot of pie.
7. Use local, organic dust from biking gravel roads as thickening agent.
8. Mix ingredients together on Lake Superior ferry ride to and from Isle Royale.
9. Lightly dab with vegemite for flavor and season with gratitude for time with family and friends.

Holly’s Homemade Year

Ingredients

• Three B-Bs (S, F, D)
• Several pairs of running shoes
• City of Duluth
• A well-equipped kitchen
• One extensive classroom library
• An amazing array of co-workers
• Various i-Devices
• Wealth of family and friends near and far

Steps:

1. Sign up for your 2nd Grandma’s Marathon. Find more satisfaction in the training than on race day. Decide to put 26.2 behind you; at least you tried it and finished.
2. Reluctantly admit that your daughter will not spend the summer at home. She’s pretty much a grown-up, dang it.
3. Instead, do what you can to enjoy your son’s remaining days at home: Attend concerts, chaperone a youth group trip to Atlanta, get him a job working for your dad’s business, send Bitmojis, coerce him mow the lawn on occasion, and make lunchbox treats. Mom duty is one of the best gigs ever.
4. Celebrate a milestone anniversary with 25 pies and 25 K on Duluth trails. Feel blessed by this amazing life journey with Mr. B-B.
5. Throughout the year, binge on Netflix while you bake. It’s the new way to multi-task.
6. Add your 21st year of teaching in Duluth to the mix. Find yourself humbled and honored with a nomination as MN Teacher of the Year.
7. In December, start the usual panic about how to get it all accomplished. Thanks to laryngitis, you manage it. (A 2-day baking and Netflix bonanza!)
8. It’s your last year as a 40-something. (Holy S*#!) Try not to panic, you know the mantra: Just Keep Swimming. So, you will.
9. Wrap up your holiday greetings by wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Frost Flambe

Ingredients:

• 10 Concerts
• Weekly Student Council Meetings
• 100 Swim Practices
• 1 Summer Job
• 4 College Applications

Directions

1. Spend countless hours practicing horn in solitude and in rehearsal to best prepare for concerts and college auditions.
2. Plan help to run Duluth East High School Homecoming and other events with a group of 20 and have lots of fun in the process.
3. Spend the summer planting trees, spreading seed and learning while working for Grandpa’s business: Prairie Restorations.
4. Apply to Carleton College (to please your mother), St. Olaf College, Luther College, and University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.