Christmas Wrap Up

I finished knitting my gifts! all were received VERY well! however i forgot to take photos of them so i have to round them up and do so individually.... oops. i also bought more fabric and yarn to make more, i would like a set for myself and i'm going to make a few for housewarming gifts AND i would like to have a few sets on hand for quick gifts. sooner or later everyone i know will have a set of my fabulous hand knit pot holders.

i have ventured into the world of the log cabin pattern. i've started my first adventure which will end up being a blanket for our living room. it's going to be greens and browns and it already an addiction :) photos to follow.

For christmas i received a few really thoughtful gifts from my WH (wonderful husband) Mason Dixon Knitting (which i asked for) and Oddball Knitting (a book about how to use up your stash). I only mentioned to wh one day that i didn't know what to do with my odds and ends of yarn so while he was purchasing the book i asked for he noticed this book and bought it too! That's a milestone really!

Speaking of milestones, max has had a few recently. he's totally in love with his feet! can't get enough of them, wants to hug and kiss them all the time in love with them! it's adorable! he also has started to play with small toys, and has passed a few of them from hand to hand. He also wants to stand all day long! i need to find a copy of Stand by REM and play it for him. he might like it....

In other family news, my little brother popped the question! this is very exciting news as we all really really like Heather. She's a really sweet person and compliments Jesse's personality well. We can't wait for that party!

Ok, now back to knitting :) my needles are getting cold....

the art of communication

i'm at a loss as to how this happens... but as children weren't we taught to only speak when the person we're talking to is finished talking and to not talk over others? were we all taught this or am i imagining it?

this happens to me more often than not. and it just grates my nerves... it makes me feel like the person i'm conversing with really could give a rats ass about what i'm saying. it's rude. and makes me feel bad. these people i might add, are friends! i just can't figure it out. they asked me a question and i'm answering them and they decide to have another conversation at the same time with someone else... it's like they are distracted or think they can multitask a conversation (which i might add, you shouldn't try to do) multitasking is fine when it's household chores or stuff at work... but a conversation? what the heck!

Onto a little knitting update:
i have finished more than half of my potholders, i've given two sets and both were received very well and were much appreciated! for not much work, these are the cutest little gifts. now if only my sewing machine wasn't so ancient and made a nicer stitch....

things left to do prior to the holiday:
wrap all gifts
bake two more kinds of cookies.
knit 1 1/2 more sets of pot holders, pin and sew them to completion.

i better get baking, wrapping and knitting

New ride

lots to update, we sold two of our cars and bought a used jeep this weekend. we both were driving a honda civic and a mazda protege plus chris bought an older jeep cherokee this past summer so that he can haul stuff for work and such. well that jeep needed some tlc, which it recieved and is now in tip top shape. so we decided to trade in our other two smaller cars for another, newer jeep for me. much more room for all of us and safer too. so now we're back down to a two car family which is much better considering we only have two drivers :)

i finished my christmas shopping, i just have to wrap them all and finish knitting a few of the potholders. two more sets to go :) i gave one set away already to grandma, she really loved them and said that she never remembers to buy them and she has needed to replace some of hers for a while :) i might make her some more. pat also noted that they were cute, little does she know that she's getting a set too. i'm giving another set away today to my hairdresser along with a loaf of bread, that i still need to bake.... which i need to get started on... tomorrow i'll give another set away to my friend denise. totally by accident i bought fabric and yarn that match her dishes exactly, so i'm sure she'll like them too.

well, i've got a busy day ahead of me.

cries from a terodactyl

that's what max sounds like when he's being cranky and wants something... a little baby dinosaur.... it's cute actually.

so i'm 1 gift from being finished with christmas shopping. and it's on order, so i can't go get it until it arrives. hope it arrives in time :) now i just have to wrap everything. i have lots of little items this year. so wrapping might take longer than usual... boo...

really not much is going on, just waiting for chris to be finished with the semester. he is almost finished with a built-in bench in the dining room that looks awesome. he just needs to sand, prime and paint it and it will be finished :) looks good! i'll take photos when it's done to share.

i wish i could type more and enjoy my tea a bit longer but above mentioned terodactyl is screeching from upstairs....

date night

i'm so happy, i'm almost done with writing out my christmas cards! i send out 62 cards and i only have 8 left to write and address. I'm waiting on updated address for those 8 or else i would be totally done with them. chris is out buying christmas stamps as we speak and as soon as those get here i'll stamp them all and they will go out in the mail tomorrow! i'm so happy to be done with this so early! i'm usually mailing my cards the week of christmas so this is great!

chris and i are going on a little date sans the baby tonight :) can't wait for that either. my parents are coming over to watch him. that will be nice.

max has had three bad nights in a row now... i think it's due to teething... he gets really cranky and won't go to sleep, he crys and screams it's futile... and very hard on us. he's been so easy up until now. even thought this isn't a huge crisis, he's previous easiness has spoiled us and has made this difficult to deal with.

that's all for now.

first snow

today it's snowing for the first time this season. that also makes it max's first snow. i'll need to take a photo for him to remember :) the snow is really putting me into the christmas spirit, that feels great. i only have two items up so far in regards to christmas decorations... not sure what i'm waiting for. but i think i'll get more out today. we are planning a trip to get our christmas tree this weekend, i'll have the entire house decorated come monday. i can't wait to see how max reacts to the lights on the tree.

not much else to say today. last thought, i'm hungry, i had a sand which and it totally didn't satisfy me.... i want something warm and hearty...

potholder progress

DSCN0627
Originally uploaded by cararolinson.

just wanted to share my current knitting project and it's progress. i'm not very far along. my little guy was quite demanding last night so i only got to knit about an inch of the 2nd one in the photo.... i plan on cranking out a few today. i HAVE to knit at least 8 of these and sew them together prior to christmas. i would like to do a few more sets though for some friends and my cousin who we are going to visit in january.

the woman in target

so i was in target today. i was there with max, he was in the stroller because i had thought all i needed was two birthday cards but then remembered that 1/2 the reason that i needed to go there was to get paper products for a shower being held this weekend. so i'm standing there picking out plates and napkins - they are totally cute btw, the cake plates have a little mama pushing a stroller on them - adorable.

anyways, i'm standing there doing my balancing act with the plates, napkins and cups (since i didn't have a cart i needed to carry all of these items....) and this woman who looked to be my mother's age, stops to make conversation about max, she asked how old he was, i told her 3 mo. she said he was very cute, i said thanks. she then mentioned that her daughter was adopting and they planned on receiving their child in about 3 weeks. this woman was beaming and was so excited about the prospect of her new grandchild. having a friend who just adopted, i know how exciting it is. having just had a baby myself, i know how crazy the excitement is, for both the new parents AND the new grandparents. I was just so happy for this woman and her new adventure that was upon her. She wished me good luck and i returned the statement. the little child that is soon going to join her family has one joyful grandma waiting to fill that child with lots of love.

as she walked away, i thought about when three weeks from now would be and that puts us right at christmas. was a wonderful gift THAT family is going to receive for christmas.

day two

getting up with chris wasn't so bad this morning, but that might have been because i HAD to in order to make it to my meeting on time. i went to a networking meeting for the first time this morning. it was the first "professional" work thing i've done since i left my job four and a half months ago. it felt great to be around business professionals and to have some conversation that consisted of things other than goo goo and gah gah. not that i don't love those conversations, those are great too, but an adult needs a certain amount of non baby time in order to keep a sane life. this meeting was catered by one of the network members, wow, it was really good. I love food and i especially love breakfast and THIS was a great one... i would love to find a recipe that would duplicate this, eggs, cheese, onions, sausage and a slightly sweet bread top that was puffy and really good all baked up in a casserole. fresh fruit salad too, and a yummy cherry scone. I am thinking that i'll have her cater our small gathering for after max's baptism.... it's only just family and the god parents but that's one less thing that i have to worry about right?

Knitting news: i found this great project on magknits.com it's super easy potholders i'm making these for a few of the women in my life. i just think they are so cute and i already have one done (with the knitting portion of it) with just putting in about a hours worth of knitting last night. I'm sure the sewing part will take a little longer but that's not a big deal. I love giving knitted gifts :) when i'm finished with them i'll take photos and share them here and probably on flickr.com as well.

well, i'm off to do a little more christmas shopping and to purchase some items for a baby shower that i'm helping out with this weekend.

one more thing, my new obsession

www.flickr.com

my first entry

this is it. i've started a blog....



it's cold, first REALLY cold day of the year.



chris and i are trying something new where i am getting up when he gets up... today is day one, we'll see how it goes. he wants me to get an earlier start to my day and help him get out the door in the morning. I would like to do this too, but my body isn't very willing.... i've never been one for early morning conversation...



morris the cat says hello, he's helping me type this... meow!



the last of my grandfather's siblings passed away yesterday. she was the last to go. kind of an odd feeling, sad.



I am going to head out to joann's today to pick up some cotton yarn for some quick knitting projects for christmas gifts. I also have to run to the post office.



i think i like this blogging thing... more later