I'm a Bad Blogger.

I know, I know. It's been a few days. Between wrapping gifts, nursing a cold (and a baby with a cold), finishing up the knitting, and getting ready for our trip, I just haven't had the time to sit down and blog. I really shouldn't even be here now. There are some poor white boxes on the table, begging to be stuffed with tissue paper and beautiful hand knits and wrapped lovingly with colorful paper. The Christmas tree is up and decorated, spending its short time out of the box twinkling and glittering and lovingly sheltering the presents underneath it. (I told it if any harm came to them, it would pay with it's life.)I've been baking cookies, although I'll admit I didn't really feel like baking four batches of cookies from scratch (no time, remember?), so I'm cheating and doing the break-and-bake variety. I can still call them homemade because technically I did make them at home, right? I thought so. Well, back to finish some knitting and wrapping. Maybe if you're lucky, I'll post some tree pictures tomorrow. You'll just have to wait and see...

Hey, I've Been There!

Because their seems to be a clog in the creative juice pipes today, here is a map of the United States! No, not just the map. This one is special! All the states I have visited are in red. I only counted the ones I have really been to- not just driven through. I've driven through a lot of states! I would really like to someday visit all the states, and many of them I plan to visit again. So here you go. Tomorrow I'll try to be more interesting. p.s. Thanks, Erin, for the idea!

Crunch Time

Only two weeks until Christmas! Yaay! I really do love this time of year. I've got almost all of the Christmas shopping done, and even more of the Christmas knitting. Although, I do keep trying to find little projects to add to the knitting list. I think I'm going to start next years Christmas knitting much earlier- like, March. That way I don't have to see all these beautiful and awesome projects flying off my needles without a single one being for myself! I'm really proud of all I have accomplished in my knitting, though, and I am excited to see how people react to the gifts I've made them. I really do think that is the best part of it all- giving the gifts you made. Hopefully in the next few days, I'll have my mini tree up, and I'll be sure to post pictures. Gift wrapping, baking, and lots of other fun holiday things are coming, too! Please, don't spoil my festivity by reminding me I have a 9 day vacation to pack for... Update: I forgot to add we found the missing mouse- she hadn't escaped, but died in the cage. I found her when I was changing the bedding. I know, I'm sad too.

I'm Up.

Yep. Not only am I awake, but I'm ready for work. Yaay. Sorry, I'll try to curb my enthusiasm a bit. Ahem. I closed last night, which means I didn't get home until one o' clock this morning. I finally got to bed a little after two. Joie woke me up (screaming, I might add) at seven. I have to go work an eight hour shift. Man, am I stoked! Doesn't my life sound like fun?! I don't know what dickhead scheduled me like this, but I hope they burn in hell for the cruel and unsual punishment of a working mother. Moving on, we discovered one of our mice escaped sometime yesterday. I can see the semi humor in the situation, but I'm still really not to pleased about having a mouse wandering our apartment. I'm going to set some humane traps, and hope she surfaces. At least we know this is a healthy mouse, and we don't have to worry about Hanta Virus and The Plague. (Yes, we still have the plague in New Mexico. It's like a third world country, right in America's backyard!) I am going to apologize now if I offended anyone, it's too early for my brain to know right from wrong. P.S. Fuck you, holidailies, and your 8-hour-in-between-posting rule. Last time I posted was yesterday, who the fuck cares if I post less than 8 hours since that one if it's a completely different day? You can burn in hell, too.

Progress

There is progress being made all over the Saving Nine household today! First off, I'm only about 50 stitches away from finishing SSSG2. Granted, I was up until 2 this morning, but with a few episodes of Everest: Beyond The Limits on the DVR, I cranked it out. This project went really quickly, and hopefully today I'll be able to get some more yarn so I can do another one for another person, also to be secret. I really did love this project, and I'm excited to do it for myself, too. Yaay for fun, quick, and satisfying knitting! In way more exciting progress, Joie walked today! All by herself. Without any mom or dad suggesting and prodding or fingers to hold on to. Granted, it was only about 4 steps, but she did it! I'm so proud of my baby girl, and I really can't believe how fast she is growing up. In just a few weeks, she's going to be a year old. CRAZY! The time flies by so fast. I'm excited to watch her grow more, though. Every day she amazes me!

Holiday Meme

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Definitely Eggnog. We don't really do much hot chocolate, but there is hot apple cider. 2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa wraps presents, and puts them under the tree very late at night. Funny, though, his handwriting has always been strikingly like my mom's. 3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? My mom does colored lights, but not excessively. When I have a house to put lights on, I'll do white. 4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. 5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually around the first week in December. I don't have the mini tree up yet, because I've been so busy with all the Christmas knitting. 6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? My grandma makes this awesome potato casserole that is diced potatoes with cheese and sour cream and oh, it is just too good. 7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I always loved decorating the tree- my family has such an eclectic assortment of ornaments, wel ove to pull them out and laugh and reminesce. 8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Honestly, I don't remember! 9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We've always done Christmas Eve with my dad's side of thre family- dinner, presents, the whole shebang. 10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Like I said, my mom's is very eclectic. My very first tree was done with white lights, silver garland, and different sized balls in silvers and whites, with a star on top. Oh, and of course, candy canes! Now, though, we have some different ornaments, which I am fine with. 11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love it! Christmas isn't the same without snow. 12. Can you ice skate? Are you kidding? I'm from Minnesota. Of course I can ice skate! 13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Joie was born right after Christmas- does that count? 14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Everything! This is truly my favorite time of year. I love the spirit, the joy of gift giving, the family, the food. 15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? My Grandma makes this awesome rice pudding and we put fresh strawberry sauce on top. Yum! 16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Since we were really little, my brother and sister and I have gotten up around 4:30 on Christmas morning, just to look at the tree. We sit quietly in the dark, and just admire it all lit up with the presents stacked underneath it. 17. What tops your tree? Mine has a twinkly star, but my mom's has an angel. 18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I really love it when someone opens a gift from me and they love it. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. 19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Carol of the Bells. I like it because it's kind of creepy. 20. Candy canes? Yum! I like all of the flavored ones, too.

Oops.

Yeah, I know. I haven't blogged for two days. I'm a bad blogger. Life has just been busy, with knitting and cleaning and parties and work and Joie, I haven't been able to find the time to sit down and blog. Nothing too interesting has been going on, despite how busy I have been. I've been working on the Super Secret Spy Gift, and it is going so quickly! It really is fun to knit, and I think I'm going to try to find time to make a few of these for other people. Once all this Christmas knitting is done, I'm making it for myself as well. I can't wait to show you guys all the secret Christmas gifts I have been doing! Well, Joie apparently isn't happy with me blogging right now, so I'm going to deal with her and hopefully I'll see you tomorrow!

Why Didn't You Tell Me?!

So, I started a new Super Secret Spy Gift. The chances of the person I'm making it for stumbling across my blog are slim-ish, but still, there's a chance, so Super Secret it is. The new project has cables. My very first cabled project ever. I was a little scared at first, but damn. Cables are easy. I can't believe nobody told me how easy they are. Had someone told me this when I started knitting, I wouldn't have been so scared of them. So, for all of you new-ish or future knitters who haven't tried cables, they're easy! All you're doing is rearranging the order of a few stitches using an extra needel. for example, C4B, a knitting notation I was terrified of for a long time, only means that with a series of 4 stitches, you put the last two in front of the front two. See? Easy! And you never would have known with all those scary letter and number combinations. And those freaky looking needles? Don't even get me started. So, before I start really rambling, I'm just going to say that I'm looking forward to doing more cables, and I'm really loving this project. yaay for non-boring knitting! I would like to say thanks to everyone who left comments on my last post- the warm wishes and congratulations made me smile!

Boy Meets Girl

One chilly night, a girl walked into a coffee shop on Hennepin Avenue to grab a quick Irish Cream Latte. As she paid for her drink, a dark, handsome man caught her eye. They exchanged smiles, and then numbers, in a short but sweet conversation. The next night, at a classy Irish pub downtown, the girl fell in love with the handsome stranger. They talked (and a few other things) all through the night, and ended the date with breakfast in a small local restaurant. A month or so later, the dark and handsome not-so-much-a-stranger-anymore asked the girl to move in with him. She blissfully agreed, having been staying at his apartment every waking moment, anyways. Their love blossomed, and a few months later, the boy proposed. It wasn't very romantic, getting engaged in a car at the Mall of America parking lot, but the girl was swept off of her feet nonetheless. She had never been so happy! With tears in her eyes, she smiled as the dark, handsome man, no longer a stranger, slid the perfect ring onto her finger. It didn't quite fit, but that's okay- she got it resized for free, and then it fit like a dream! The boy and the girl moved across the country together and started a new life. Shortly after their arrival in the high desert city of Santa Fe, they got the joyful news that they were going to blessed with a child. Nine months of trials, pineapple cravings, and pickles and ice cream (the boy's craving!) later, they were joyous to announce the arrival of a beautiful baby girl. Time flew by for the now family of three, and their daughter grew quickly. One cold December morning, the trio drove to the Metropolitan Court of Albuquerque, and patiently waited in a tastefully done art deco hallway. Their names were called, and with smiles on their faces, they entered to court room. That night, as the girl wrote in her (online) journal, she thought back on the short but amazing ceremony that took place earlier. No longer was she just a mother and fiance- she was a wife! with a smile on her face, she published the post and went to give her dark, handsome husband a kiss before getting ready for work.