Taking a breath

I feel as though I finally have a moment to think for the first time in at least two weeks. Heading into the Birthday Week, I was sick. Sicker than I have been in a very long time. Sick enough to call in sick to work, sick enough to sleep all day, so sick I couldn't even sit in bed and knit while watching horrible daytime TV. Ugh.

Of course, I recovered. But having to take the two sick days made my last week before vacation very unpleasant. You know those days where, no matter what you do or how much you get done, no matter how many hours you work, your to-do list is still huge at the end of the day? That was every day last week.

I still had a great birthday- cards and kisses and lovely flowers from Pete and the Lou:

Saturday was Pete's birthday and he really wanted just to hang out at home, so we made some food and had a few friends over. It was just a fun, easy, hang out in the kitchen and eat and drink homebrew deal. He made the best roasted pork and veggies- the pork was kind of a porchetta deal with garlic, fennel and parsley...mmmm.

What else? Well, there's been plenty of this:

Although no matter how much we play, we will not be able to defeat Beth.

I'm also finishing up a few projects, so I've been working on my felting mojo. It's like alchemy, turning this:

Into this:

Yesterday I finished some mittens to match my new winter coat, and will be felting them today. Fun fun! Lou and I also went to the library, but sadly the gerbils they keep in the Childrens' Room slept the whole time we were there. Lou had fun playing with the trains, and even let me know when she needed to use the potty! Yay Lou!

Don't you wish you had her fashion sense?

Oh, to be little.

Today I am taking care of a few odds and ends, perhaps starting the dreaded Christmas shopping. Now, usually I am in frank denial about the approach of Christmas. It is not that I dread Christmas, I just hate the types of crowds that one often has to fight in order to buy gifts for the loved ones. You know them- the nasty, impatient people who'd run over their grandmother with a cart for the last whatever-it-is they need, and also feel entitled to insult the staff just because they're there. For the last few years, I have made it my mission to avoid the malls if at all possible. I'll usually swing through downtown Dover, then downtown Exeter, and hit a few favorite stores in Portsmouth. We usually make a trip to the Kittery Trading Post, sometimes LL Bean. I'd rather support the local business folks if I can....and those of you who have not see Pete in a crowded mall, well, be glad you missed it.

More later......