Christmas P.S.

I almost forgot some of the sweetest moments of my Christmas week!

First, my daughter-in-law and I had a wonderful week exploring her area. I haven't had the time on my visits before now, and it was a real treat to see southern NJ through the eyes of someone who truly loves the area. We also stopped at a yarn store at one point, and my DIL spotted a skein of yarn that she fell in love with. She asked if I could make her a hat out of it, and of course, I said yes. I can't refuse family when they ask me to make them something. I know they appreciate my knitting, and know they will appreciate it, so I just can't resist. The hat is almost half done now...

The other sweet moment was with my nephew, at breakfast, the morning after the long drive. My other sister, his aunt, had taught him to crochet while she was there, and he took right to it. He's very talented - his stitches were nice and even, not too tight, and the double crochet looked good with the yarn he used. A future crafter in the making! We snagged another one! The sweetest part was seeing how proud he was of his work, and how he couldn't wait to show me, a fellow crafter, what he had done. He's caught the bug for sure!

Warm memories on a cold day. Nothing like them.

Winter days are here

Winter is really, really here. The temperature has been in the teens during the day, and single digits at night. It's been so cold that the weather folks are telling us to cover all exposed skin if we're going to be out more than a minute. That means bundling up to my teeth just to walk the dog. Thank heavens I have the dog to get me out, or I'd never leave the house! She loves the snow, so I spend about 15 minutes outside every 2 hours or so. No strictly utility walks for her - she wants to dive in and get her nose into every drift! It's doubly good because all that diving through snow drifts wears her out, so she comes in and crashes hard for the next hour or so. That tells me the exercise is doing her good!

Christmas was wonderful after all. I drove to NJ to spend a week with my son and daughter-in-law, and stopped at my mom's and older sister's houses on the way. I was so happy to see them. It really helped me get in the Christmas mood after all. I ate way too much, stayed up way too late, and generally had a wonderful time. On the way home, I stopped at my mom's again, and got to see my other sister and her two kids, so that was a really happy bonus. The only downer was getting caught in a snowstorm on my way through Connecticut, so my 6-hour drive to my mom's turned into 12 hours. Owie. Thank God I was safe, though, and thank Daddy for getting me out of a couple of sticky situations. I kept hearing his voice in my head telling me to "throw it in 1st gear and don't stamp on any pedals!" It worked! I guess the 5 years he lived in Minnesota before he and my mom married came in handy, huh?

So now I have a new year of knitting projects to look forward to, along with a part-time bank teller job to get me through the next few months, until I take the bar exam. Things seem to work out for the best, somehow. The part-time job even gets me health insurance, which was a real concern for me. I think I'm more excited about the insurance than about the paycheck! Well, not really, but it's a close second.

Happy New Year everyone. Make it a good one.