Archive for December, 2004
December 30, 2004 at 9:47 am · Filed under blather
For Pete, stain and varnish. For me, cleanup week at the Campus. And knitting. I’m learning a lot working on the skull bag. I found out that bobbins really do help sort out the huge tangle of yarn on the reverse side of an intarsia project. And I think I’m changing colors correctly. (We’ll find out when the piece is felted, I guess.)
The kids are getting a wee bit stir crazy at home. Today it’s raining, which is leaving a nice thin sheet of ice on all the sidewalks and streets. I hope we can spent our New Year’s Eve vegging out on the sofa (like the kids have been doing all week) and eating (like we all have been doing all month).
Moon wants to get Chinese food tomorrow and eat it out of the take-out cartons, like they do in the movies.
December 29, 2004 at 12:07 am · Filed under blather
So today was our holiday lunch at work, and the bosses took us to Bluephies, where I had an incredible sweet potato quesadilla. I know, it sounds kind of unappetizing, but it was delicious. Black beans, corn, sweet potatoes, gorgonzola cheese, all stuffed into a grilled tortilla. I really should have taken a picture.
While I was lunching and enjoying a very quiet day at the Campus, Pete was stuck at home with the neverending pile of wood trim to be stained. He finally finished this evening, after Moon and I returned from her bass lesson. Tomorrow, varnish. My work is more relaxing than his vacation, go figure.
My newest project, a mini skull-and-crossbones tote, is coming along nicely (thanks to Denise!) but doing the pattern is much more difficult than I anticipated. I’m kind of not liking intarsia. (That’s when you use more than one color and switch between them, leaving tons of strings hanging from the wrong side of your work, until you eventually weave them in, which is more tedious than varnishing wood.) So far I’m not too confident that I’m even doing it correctly. On a positive note, though, I love working with wool. It’s so… wooly.
December 27, 2004 at 10:56 pm · Filed under knit/crochet
I mean, with my brand-new Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles. Oh-my-freaking-God are they ever wonderful. I read about them on knitty.com, and I’ve been watching them on eBay ever since. Except my need for immediate gratification got the best of me, and I discovered that Lakeside Fibers had them in stock. Right there in the store! Three sets!
I probably could have saved $5 buying them on eBay, but then I wouldn’t be telling you how incredibly wonderful they are. Instead, I talked Pete into picking them up for me on his way back from taking Moon to get her hair streaked. What a guy! What needles! *swoon*
Now all I need is lots of incredible natural fiber yarn so I can make all the cool projects I’m coveting out of my new books.
December 27, 2004 at 10:58 am · Filed under family
All in all, it was a pretty awesome Christmas. With all the shopping miracles (and not just the ones I’ve already documented), how could it not be? We finished our baking on Christmas Eve, with a break for tofurky in the afternoon. We went to see the holiday lights before church.
On Christmas morning, we awoke and flung open the blinds to discover that it was snowing. Pristine, fluffy snow. Gorgeous. After presents and a mishap involving a large box of Nerds candies (which Peter had picked up by the wrong end, instantly distributing tiny sugar pebbles ALL OVER the living room and kitchen), we set off for the in-laws’. Despite a huge traffic jam on the Interstate, we made it there smiling.
Because everything seemed like a blessing. Everything. The Nerds? Foxxi’s Christmas miracle. (Manna from the sky.) The traffic jam? More time to knit and talk.
And of course we had fun with all the siblings and little ones and their commotion and noise.
My holiday pictures are here. If you look carefully you can see what Santa and various helpers brought for me. The only thing that isn’t in a photo, I think, is my Buddha charm. (Thanks, Moon!) And now, back to our regularly scheduled chaos. 
December 25, 2004 at 12:55 am · Filed under family
I came home from church at 11:45, and everyone was asleep. The house was dark except for the twinkle lights, which Pete had left on for me. I was charmed. He had also left me a note saying “hi Santa!” and to wake him if I needed any help filling the kids’ stockings.
The dog’s stocking had already been filled.
I finished up without waking him. Now for a cup of eggnog and the cookie on Santa’s plate. Everything is so quiet. It’s always amazing to me how the traffic and the crowds and the bustle suddenly disappear…I mean, just a few days ago I was dodging shopping carts and rushing to finish everything.
Time for sleep. Merry Christmas, and may it be a day of miracles.
December 23, 2004 at 4:14 pm · Filed under shopping
We still have hardly any snow here in Wisconsin.
Shopping miracle #2 happened this afternoon…imagine my joy! When I plunked down my purchase, the clerk asked, “Where did you get that?”
“Um, here in the store?” I offered. (I had called and put it on hold. It might have been the last one from the day’s shipment.)
“Wow, I didn’t even know we had any in stock. I’ve been trying to find it for the past three weeks. Whenever we get any in here, it’s my day off, and they’re gone by the time I’m back in.”
You know you’re on a roll when even the sales staff has trouble getting the thing you happened to locate at exactly the right time.
December 23, 2004 at 11:07 am · Filed under family
Gather ’round, while I regale you with the tale of my own Christmas miracle.
Except I can’t go into too many details, since certain offspring of mine are known to look in on this site. Suffice to say that now I know why I wait until the frickin’ last minute to do my shopping… the emotional high when you find a coveted item purely by accident, after making 25 phone calls all over southern Wisconsin and have resigned yourself to wrapping a picture of the elusive object, is addicting.
Oh yes. You see, I decided to pick up a gift certficate after lunch and discovered that one of the longed-for item had arrived in the morning’s shipment. The people right before me almost bought it, but decided on something else… so it was mine mine mine.
I had to hold back from leaping over the counter and hugging the shaggy-haired clerk as I triumphantly handed over my credit card. My exhuberance must have shown, though, because he kept saying, “I’m really happy for you, m’am.”
And the heavens parted, and there was much rejoicing.
December 21, 2004 at 4:01 pm · Filed under family
Okay, Christmas, I’m ready to take you on. In the last 48 hours, Pete and/or I:
- printed mailing labels
- affixed them to envelopes
- signed the cards (which he designed – he had them printed on Friday, but they sat all weekend while we painted)
- stuffed ‘em in the envelopes
- began writing our family newsletter, which I had to lay out using InDesign – no more PageMaker! – learning some new features in the process
- took a few of the photos for the newsletter (yay, digital cameras!)
- finally finished the newsletter, while trying to eat dinner
- took the original to Kinko’s and ended up using a self-service copier
- folded, stuffed, sealed
- went to the post office, bought stamps and found a place to stand and affix said stamps to envelopes
- mailed those suckers
No matter how much we talk about getting an early start, it’s so much more entertaining waiting until Christmas is less than a week away.
December 20, 2004 at 10:52 am · Filed under blather
With today’s celestial energy, you’re going to feel like you’re on vacation. This planetary configuration often gives people the feeling of having a “fresh” mind and calm disposition. Problems that once seemed so complicated now seem simple and surmountable. You could also have some fun writing today, and you may be surprised by the results.
Coincidentally, I’m almost done with our annual Christmas newsletter, and we ought to be able to mail cards tomorrow. Plus, the shopping is nearly finished.
As for the basement: painted. Next project: staining the trim.
December 18, 2004 at 11:43 pm · Filed under family
Most of my day was spent in the basement. Pete and I had bought five gallons of textured primer, and we used almost all of it. Painting is much harder than it looks. At first, we thought we’d prime in the morning and then slap a coat of paint over the primer in the afternoon. Ha, ha! We’ll be high-fiving if we finish the painting tomorrow.
I’m also attempting to get Christmas cards done, not to mention shopping. On Friday I actually placed some wrapped gifts under the Tree of Enlightenment. I high fived myself, because no one else was home.
December 13, 2004 at 7:38 pm · Filed under animals
This made me think about the time the gerbils had fleas, and I had to give them a flea bath.
Yep. I washed gerbils.
December 13, 2004 at 7:03 pm · Filed under blather
The stuffy nose. The sore throat. The inability to sleep. The chills. It all came back again yesterday. Somehow I still dragged myself to Lessons & Music, but I was really just taking up space. I couldn’t sing anything above a middle G.
Last night I curled up on the sofa, and watched old Mystery Science Theater 3000 tapes with the kids. I shivered under several blankets and a fleecy cap, but at least the tapes were distracting. More than 10 years ago, Comedy Central had a “turkey day” (ha ha) where they showed 30 straight hours of MST3000. Back then we had free cable (because SpiritMan worked for a cable company) so we recorded several tapes’ worth of the festivities.
The kids have now discovered the joy and hilarity of Cambot! Gypsy! Tom Servo! Crooooooowwww!
Today I stayed home from work and slept. Later I started another scarf. This one’s for Peter.
December 10, 2004 at 8:18 pm · Filed under blather
Today’s horoscope:
The weekend may nearly be here, but this is a back-to-work day for you in ways that go beyond your job. You have let so much pile up in your life that you might be feeling overwhelmed. Now, a positive attitude can wash through your mind and give you the juice to start at the top of your list and check things off one at a time.
Today was an at-home day, and yeah, there are quite a few things on my to-do list. I’ll tell you what I didn’t do: I didn’t shop. I didn’t exercise. But I did go through the junk cabinet, and I tackled the overflowing bill basket.
I also knit. I watched Buffy. And I made more M&M bars. (Monday’s batch didn’t last too long.)
In other news, I seem to be developing a sore throat, which will require lots of Reiki and visualization if I’m going to be able to sing on Sunday for Advent Lessons & Carols. And it’s finally snowing. (Rain came first today, but hey, snow is snow!)
December 7, 2004 at 10:53 pm · Filed under spiritual
Dana, our Norfolk Pine, came to our family last year after we lost our desire for the traditional experience. We enjoyed various evergreens for many happy seasons, until the fateful day when I suggested going to a local tree farm to harvest our own.
We trudged uphill in the snow and agonized over The Perfect Tree before chopping it down and dragging it for what seemed like miles back to the pay station. As we paid, the farm owner made a comment that changed everything. “That’s a nice one. It must be 11 years old.” The same age Moon was that year.
I looked at Pete and knew he was making the same connection. We had swung the axe. We had sap on our hands. Thus Dana served as our pseudo Christmas tree last year, except she didn’t take kindly to the ornaments. She has a tendency to lean (to the left! like everyone else in this family!). We almost skipped the whole tree thing this year.
But who says she needs to be a Christmas tree? Tomorrow is Bodhi Day, which marks the enlightenment of the Buddha. Dana seems to be okay with colored lights, which of course symbolize the many paths to enlightenment. At her base is a tiny sitting Buddha.
We will observe the actual day with meditation. Moon suggested tarot readings and runes, but I told her we should probably save those things for the solstice.
December 6, 2004 at 9:06 am · Filed under family
Yesterday morning, we decided we really NEEDED to see our new baby nephew before Christmas. And when Menard’s called to reschedule the dropoff of our building materials, we took that as an omen that we ought to go. So we drove almost three hours each way and we rewarded with the angelic countenance of Nephew #2b. He slept nearly the whole time we were there, which made for primo cuddling.
Nephew #2a is an awesome big brother. Helpful, affectionate and protective. Niece #2 apparently asked her parents, “Can we keep him?” after they brought him home. Which is pretty sweet.
December 4, 2004 at 9:49 am · Filed under blather
Foxxi was unstoppable yesterday when our builder friend came over. Every time he approached the door, she had to scramble after him, barking at the top of her lungs. Since he was making repeated trips in with supplies and stuff, this became old rather quickly. I explained that Foxxi wasn’t trying to chase him out, she was trying to keep him inside. She’s a herding dog, and that’s her instinct. Once someone has joined the herd, THEY WILL STAY WITH THE HERD, dammit.
I ended up banishing her to the bedroom because I needed to leave, and I didn’t want her making builder guy all nervous when he was nailing and sawing stuff.
Did I write about the shoes? Peter has been wearing an insanely embarrassing pair of shoes lately. They are so worn that the entire front is open and his toes are exposed, as if he’s a Lil’ Abner wannabe. (No, he doesn’t know who Lil’ Abner is. Is that strip still around?) The thing is, Peter is very very selective about his clothing and footwear and will not accept just any new pair of shoes. They must zip, and he prefers them to feel broken in right from the start. I bought a pair from Shopko which was rejected for size (not wide enough) and two pairs (pair?) in different sizes from Famous Footwear. The heel tab on those was too stiff, and they were too difficult to get on.
So I returned all those shoes yesterday and picked up yet another pair. (“Bring him along,” you suggest? That’s an amusing suggestion.) These may be acceptable, but they are a bit difficult to zip. If they don’t work, we will be getting shoes that tie. I don’t care.
December 2, 2004 at 11:27 pm · Filed under blather
Our monster Mac is now put away in preparation for our basement project — so thank God for the laptop. We’d be going through some serious withdrawal here without it. Not to mention the fact that I can’t balance the checkbook without computer assistance anymore.
The thing that amazes me is this: We’re pretty much minimalists, but we still have so much extraneous stuff. In order to clear the area that’s being finished, we had to fill every nook and cranny with music gear, videotapes, paper, books, etc. etc. etc.
I have to keep telling myself that it’s just temporary. Today I was on Metafilter and ended up looking at several terrifying sites that embody some of my greatest fears. I really wish we had a dumpster so we could just chuck some of our junk.
