Nothing is better than homemade gifts. We got a few this year and we will treasure them. I used to be better at making them. Gold spray-paint macaroni vases, cellophane book-marks, latch-hook potholders. Once I made a book of paper dolls for my cousin. Another time I knit a cape for a friend’s dog. For the past couple of decades I have relegated myself to chocolate chip cookies.

My favorite story of a homemade endeavor is a friend who– in tweenhood– sang the entire song book of the musical Annie five times over, creating a unique cassette tape for each member of her family. You can’t beat that. But I never really found my niche until I started hand-writing pot-boilers for my grandparents. So in a way my homemade gifts turned into a full-time job. And I can’t beat that.

I will start taking requests for the cookies in September. Seriously, they are pretty awesome. Get on my Nice list.