to make it more worth your while ;)

My body doesn't know what time zone I'm in so I'll have to make this short.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! :)

Walter and I (and the dogs) had a grand time in Ohio visiting with friends and family, celebrating birthdays and holidays, reveling in snow flurries on my birthday, and remembering the life of my grandma lewis. deborah's cats were not quite so thrilled but were still cuddly when we came upstairs into their terrain. deborah was also very forgiving. ;)

We trekked on up to Chicago on Thursday. We did so by way of Lafayette, yummy tea, conversation, and dinner with friends (yay, Dawn and Travis!) and drove into Wheaton to Christmas lights and green grass... sadly, that's what we left in Arkansas. I was hoping for snow. Luckily, it didn't stay that way for long.

This morning we woke up to the sound tiny snow flakes hitting the sky light and when it finally began to really come down I convinced mom to take the dogs on a walk with me. They were wonderful. Didn't complain about the cold or snow at all. :) They were just too busy smelling every tree, newspaper, and mailbox. They're such country dogs! Alas, we're going to have to work harder on socializing them. Some other time. They found a bunny and tried to make friends with some dogs. They pulled us along on the slippery sidewalks and then made it home in one piece. (phew!) So we took them into the back yard to let them run and jump and play in the snow, got some cute pictures and then brought them in for nap time (they're so cute when they're exhausted). Such sweet puppies!

This afternoon I spent time with Karla and Ian (can't believe how much he's grown!), Walter enjoyed his Christmas presents, and mom took a nap. We're enjoying movies, hot chocolate, toasted/spiced pecans, and warm meals in one of my favorite cities in the US. How wonderful to have the chance to spend time with family. :) Hooray for Christmas!

Also, just as a side thought, when we come home we should almost have a sun room on our house. Soon we'll have windows just off the dining room! That will be very exciting. :D

post

walter has my sewing machine in pieces (just a few) and our house smells of homemade coconut shrimp, donuts, and peppermint. walter promises that i'll get to use my sewing machine again. just thought you needed an update. :)

amigurumi

So I'm in my pajamas and hungry for lunch but I just had to say a quick 'hello!' :)

I haven't done a whole lot lately: gone to Dorothy's to help out there and hold babies (yay!), go to the chiropractor (today will be the 4th day in a row, i think my back is starting to feel better), a little Christmas shopping and baking (i am all about baking), and a whole lot of knitting. Yay knitting!

I've made some ornaments, most of a twirly ribbon scarf (I need another circular needle to finish it off), one super silky present (did you know you could buy silk yarn?!), and three attempts at one super cool scarf. The first time I ripped it out I hadn't gone too far. No sweat. This last time I was quite a ways in before I realized that the mistake I'd corrected showed more than I'd thought. I want this scarf to be gift worthy. I may gift it only to myself but I'd like to be able to give it and that just wouldn't happen with the bulge I most recently discovered. Alas. At least this is a fun and soothing project. I don't really mind doing it again and again. Also, Walter went out and bought me a set of bamboo needles for this project and I love how smooth and soft they feel. All in all, it's great.

I was perusing the internet ... oh an hour or so ago... when I accidentally rediscovered AMIGURUMI. i love these things! Amigurumi is Japanese for crocheted doll, I think. And I can't wait to get started on this next project! Just simple little dolls with millions of millions of possibilities. Seriously, you should check out this flickr group. They've posted pictures of tons of completely diff. amigurumi all made with the same exact pattern. lots of fun. anyway, i'd better get on with the day.