Friday, December 7, 2012

Two Pretties

Pretty the first:
Yay! A new bed that we hope will be the most comfortable thing ever.  It was delivered today.  Talking about beds and mattresses seems really personal so I'll just say we really needed it and leave it at that.  Isn't it pretty? (as pretty as it can be without bedding --- the windows are open and I'm airing out the new/factory smell of the mattress)

This was our Christmas present to ourselves for the past 5 years or so.  Paul and I don't exchange gifts for Christmas or birthdays.  Our gift is just being together.  Yes, I totally just went there.  But really, what started out as a financial thing, has become a "we just don't need to" thing.  The fact that it is Christmastime is just our way of justifying buying the bed sooner rather than later.  Somehow, we've just settled into the idea that if there is something we want or need, and it's a big ticket item, we talk about it and get it or not get it depending on finances.   And if it's a little ticket item we don't talk about it, we just get it.  On birthdays we go out to dinner and have cake.

And speaking of delivery... don't you just hate that we'll-call-you-the-morning-of-and-give-you-a-three-hour-window thing?  Ugh.  Makes it so hard to plan things.  I had the dog scheduled to go for a bath (boy did she need that) and a chiropractor appointment, both in the morning.  Of course, they called at 7:45 and said they'd be there between 9am and noon, necessitating a quick call to change my appointment and a plea to the groomer to hold onto Mandy if she was done before the delivery arrived.

But isn't she pretty?:
Being a little diva-ish, refusing to look at me...
P.S. I was in the rain and she was under cover.

And speaking of Christmas... I'm sure you are wondering how my Christmas knitting is coming.
I still haven't found the thing that I started that I wanted to finish for someone.  To be honest, I haven't looked terribly hard in the "not-obvious-everywhere" yet.  I figured that will come when it's the only thing left to knit. The problem is, it's something to be felted and will need a few days to dry, so it can't be too close to Christmas.  Which is only 2 1/2 weeks away, by the way.  I realized that yesterday and suddenly my knitting list made me a little panicky.

I did finish these:

Not telling who they are for....
And made some good progress on this:
Sorry, you aren't getting
more than this until the gift is given!
But I've got several more projects to do.  Plus the shopping shopping.

What makes it worse is that I gave in to temptation and purchased this:
Yarn to participate in the Mystery Sock V: April Showers sock knit-a-long from Knitters Brewing Company.  That picture is the yarn and the first clue to the sock pattern, as well as a commemorative stitch marker (meant to be a raindrop - how cute is that?).  So, we don't know what the sock will look like and we'll get clues every week for 4 weeks (I think.  It might be 5 weeks.).  Fun right?

Here's the rub:  The knit-a-long doesn't officially start until January 11th.  The clues to the pattern are free and you get the first clue starting on that date.  But if you buy your yarn from them starting on December 1, you already get the first clue to the pattern.  Therefore, as of right now, i have everything i need to get started.  Which I want to do.  And which I won't do, since I have so much other deadline knitting to do.   It's not like I can knit these for a gift since I will only be able to get a little way and then have to wait until a week after Jan 11 for the second clue.  But it's sitting there staring at me and making it very difficult.

I totally could have waited until after Christmas to order the yarn but something about being able to get the clue ahead of time just made me write down on the calendar, on Dec 1, that I should order it as soon as it was available.  (Have I ever talked about my impatience problem?) And just a little note about Wendy at The Knitter's Brewing company:  She is so incredibly nice and always includes a hand-written thank you note with my purchase.  Excellent customer service! (Click up there on the pink to go to her website.)

Ooh and I forgot to tell you about my Small Business Saturday purchase:
This sideways thing is going to make
me bust a blood vessel in my temple!
November Knits by Kate Gagnon Osborn and Courtney Kelley.  Love this book!  It has some really pretty patterns in it.  These designers also did Vintage Modern Knits which had the Brigid Jacket that I made. Click there to see my project page, but you can click here to see the pattern page, since I HAVEN'T PUT THE BUTTONS ON IT YET! (i finished it about a year ago....)  Both books have several patterns that I would like to make.   Check out your local yarn shop to find/order these books.

And speaking of books.....  I'm just going to go ahead and tell you about the book I'm reading now, since I'm still not done.  But I really like it so far: Charley's Web  by Joy Fielding.  Joy Fielding's books are usually extremely suspenseful - see a previous post/review of Mad River Road  here (And click on those book links to purchase on Amazon.) - but this one isn't quite as in-your-face suspenseful as her others.  It's more subtle.  So I'm expecting something big to happen but don't know if it will (der - the definition of suspense?).  Charley Webb is a journalist for a newspaper who gets chosen by a death row inmate to write a book about her.  She committed an awful crime, of course, and Charley is having some doubts about whether she should be doing it since the interviews are upsetting her.  The interviews are also making her take a look at her family relationships, and upsetting her as well.  In the midst of this are some threatening emails and we don't know yet how/if they are related.  And then there is a little bit of conflicted romance going on.  All in all, very engaging.  I'm only a little more than half way through this 581 page (!) book , so it might be a minute or two before I can give you my full review.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep this in mind during the time leading up to Christmas (again, only two and a half weeks!):
"Stress is an ignorant state.  It believes that everything is an emergency.  Nothing is that important."
~Natalie Goldberg

1 comment:

  1. Mandy is SUCH A PRINCESS!!! - love her 'tude ! Hehehe...
    The finished pair of socks are BEAUTEOUS ! :) hmmmmmmmm (for Paul ???).
    XO,
    Me

    ReplyDelete