the first day

what a wonderful Holiday with my family.

of course my holiday is not over yet but all the busy-ness of the season is over.

 the house is again quiet of activity, all the extra beds are remade the piles of laundry is done and the left-overs are being eaten.

i think a good time was had by all and there are some great memories to cherish.

i have what you would call a vintage sewing machine. my MIL bought it for me at a garage sale early in my marriage. it's teal blue and weighs about as much as i do. vintage can be cool...but not when you want to depend on something, really want to use it, produce quality items. this is how my sewing machine worked for the passed 15 years...when inspiration strikes you have to head off to the repair shop with it instead of the cutting table. so, i never used it anymore.

my kids surprised me with a  portable Singer for Christmas!!!!  what a great gift. over the past two years i've been "eyeing" fabrics, thinking "if only", wishing i could "line knitted bags".....

i'm already rethinking my little office space to incorrporate that new machine. i think i need a trip to IKEA, a new work table, move the stuff on that shelf to make room for the piles of fabric that i know will come......

trade in my knitting? probably not. but 8 years ago i was sure i couldn't knit and seven years ago i would beg, borrow and steal for yarn and needles.

who knows what they have gotten me into! (oh..and very tall people need very long scarves. the jet-black yarn did become a well received cabled scarf by Christmas Eve!)

a full on run from the car to meet me at the back door

with the biggest hug ever.....yelling "Grandma!!!" all the way!!!!!!

and a card slipped across the table at dinner

announcing a new little one

this summer!!!!

presents?

they're still under the tree......

if rain were snow how many inches would it be?  i envy Colorado, just for today.

it poured rain all night and this morning. my back yard is fulling...and not with the white, fluffy stuff that i usually order this time of year.

"it just wouldn't be Christmas without presents", said Jo.  well, it just doesn't seem right with all this fog and wetness and lack of sun, sparkle and snow.

most everything is in place,  i'm leaving work today for two weeks  and just have a stop or two to make. i'm not allowing myself to pull into the garage until everything on my little list is crossed off.

then....putting up my feet.

the 1st out-of-town license plate arrives in the driveway tonight.

i'm on Holiday!!!!!

doing double duty around here tonight.

baking another batch of cookies while making a paper-chain and carrying the jet-black knitting around with me.

i used to love to make paper-chains when i was little. you know those pre-cut, lick and stick kits. don't remember what i did with the chains when i was done with them. just loved making them i guess.  about a month ago one of the Garnett Hill catalogs came in the mail and on the cover was a simple but beautiful paper and ribbon chain. (it had nothing to do with the items in the catalog for ordering, just simply a beautiful cover). ever since i saw that cover i've wanted to make one. so i bought some scrapbooking papers in amazing colors, used the paper cutter in the art room at work, and tonight while the cookies baked i constructed a chain. fun stuff!

and i'm weary....of the black yarn....so close.....want to be done....does carrying a project around with you help you get it done?........NO!  how do i know this? because i've tried it for a few days now. in my purse, thinking i might have some "waiting" moments and none come. i even carried it to the kitchen tonight to make the cookies, along with the paper chaining stuff. what won? the paper chains. i tried knitting a bit on something else last night to see if that would help.....it did a bit. even tried renting some DVDs.

4 days!!! it's getting exciting!

8 days to go....and finally a weekend without a list filled with errands to do. i think i will spend most of the morning in my p.j.s here at home getting stuff done. a bit of a breather.

our internet has been down so i've been "catching up" on those things at work only...but now we are up and running!

i plan to address and stuff The Cards today.  finish all the gift wrapping. and put the final, little touches on the decorations.

today i will start planning the menu and making the food shopping lists for the holiday weekend while the house will be full of hungry family! lots of fun food to plan for! and some christmas cookie baking to do in the new oven!

i'm reading Elizabeth Berg's new book. a short, fictional tale of the story of Mary and Joseph and what it may have been like for them dating and finding out about the pregnancy of Mary, their travels to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus. it's an enjoyable tale that i'm reading in stolen moments, mostly found sitting at my desk at school, or with book in hand walking around the classroom, setting a "good example" during silent reading time.(you can find it over on my sidebar)

oh, and i'm still knitting away on that jet-black yarn every free minute i have....it's going to be down-to-the-wire i'm afraid. but...things are winding down.

i'm not really a big tv commercial fan. however i do like one that really catches your attention once and awhile.

and i do look forward to some of the annual Christmas ones that we all have come to expect and love.

love.....Target for their "fade-ins" and great colors.

love......Old Navy for the "jingle". Do you have your fash on?

and....J C Penney even joined in this year with what i thought was some cute nostalgia.

oh and speaking of rappin'.....

the tape, sissors, wrapping paper and my special homemade gift tags will be flying tonight. i plan for a little wrapping section all my own at the dinning room table.

PEACE, LOVE AND (of course it wouldn't be christmas without) GAP!

12 days people.

okay.....about 16 and 1/2 days (i'm writing this on my lunch break) to go.

and i have many things left on my christmas to-do list but i have 1 and 2...1/2 things i would REALLY like to get done before the BIG day. and good thing is none of them need to be mailed!

think i can do it?

my hands are feverishly moving every free second....last night i just had to take a break...actually it felt more like my tired eyes needed a break than my hands so i watched the last 15 minutes of the News instead of listened to it.

one of the items i'm knitting is with Jet-Black yarn and is fully cabled. i really think that black yarn is slowing me down. really hard to see. i'm thinking of trying to find one of those coalminers hats, with the light in the front and wearing that when i knit. that could really shine some light on the subject and speed things up.

knit-on!!!!!

the count down continues...20 days to go!

we need some snow around here. we had our freezing rain that turned to a snow storm here last Thursday night. the snow is still here because it has been FREEZING cold since. but really...i would much rather have more snow than this very cold weather.

i'd like to try out my new 4 wheel drive. it's been years since i've had it.

the decorating is just about done. the Christmas tree downstairs in the familyroom is decorated and some various decorations are out-and-around throughout the house. we still need to either pick out or fresh-cut the "main tree" for the living room and decorate that tree and the outside decorations need to be done.

Christmas shopping is about half done. and this online shopping is great. keeps the delivery men very busy. soon the wrapping will need to begin. the goodies are stacking up.

and why do you get this sudden desire to make Christmas Cookies when the oven went out two nights ago. yeah, is that crazy or what? hubby had just made this beautiful pizza to put in the oven when we realized that the pre-heating was just not happening this time. oh it's not just out, it's dead, toasted....it's been going for sometime now and we have gotten every bit of life out of it......

guess i'll be doing some more shopping  :(        !?!?!?!

22 days till Christmas!

started out the morning yesterday with hubby and i digging out all the boxes of christmas decorations. they will sit in the family room for a few days while we slowly decorate the house.

then we hit the malls.

aside from some on-line shopping i officially started my christmas shopping. it was a successful trip. found gifts for two people on my list. it was great fun to make those choices.

then on the way home stopped and bought a new car!!!

ha! yep, i did!