How'd I do?

I do not make New Year's resolutions, but last year I made a "this year I would like to" list. I thought it might be fun and helpful to see how I did.

In 2008, I said I wanted to:

• Learn to knit. And I did! And I have had so much fun both knitting and making knitting friends. I just wonder why I waited so long.
  
• Speak more positively about living here, and to find things to like rather than focus on the many things I don't like. I probably don't speak any more positively about living here but neither do I speak any more negatively - I am Switzerland. But since we have come to the realization that this is not the place we want to live long-term and that our residence here is temporary (even if "temporary" means years), it has become easier to accept. But I still want out of Georgia!
  
• Be more patient with my mother and brother. I love them both dearly but they both try my patience, for different reasons. I made progress, but I can do better.
  
• Make bagels. There is not a decent bagel to be found out here in greater metropolitan Hooterville and I get tired of driving into Atlanta to get one. For some stupid reason that eludes me, I did not even attempt making bagels - perhaps a "to do" again for 2009!
  
• Grow three inches, since I don't think I am actually going to lose fifteen pounds! Okay, so maybe that isn't a serious one...but it was! And I did lose fifteen pounds and so far, I have kept it off. Yay for me!
  
• Be more active. I hate exercise with every fiber of my being but I understand that I need to get moving to be healthier. I totally missed the mark on this one - I am still as active as a lazy slug.
  
• Write more. This blog is a small start, but I need to be disciplined about putting my thoughts into words, if only for my enjoyment. While I have not expanded beyond the blog, I have kept up with it and really enjoyed having an outlet for my thoughts and phrases.
  

All in all, not too bad although there is certainly room for improvement. Stay tuned for the 2009 "to do" list.

An excellent Christmas gift

Despite a less than pleasant holiday overall (see Too), I received some very nice gifts for Christmas. James and Aidan gave me a cute handbag (always appreciated), knitting needles and some luscious yarn. Lovely! But one of the nicest gifts I received was the gift of time, to visit with a friend.

Since joining Ravelry, I have met some incredibly nice people all over the United States and around the world. One of my favorites is a woman named Kelli, who lives in South Carolina. We have communicated via Ravelry discussion boards,via email and now even via Facebook. When I told her that we would be in South Carolina (just south of Charlotte, NC) for Christmas, she suggested that we get together for coffee. She was willing to drive up from Columbia, about an hour away, so we could meet in Rock Hill. I am sure that my in-laws thought it odd that I was getting together with someone I had never met, but that really wasn't the case at all: we had met, just not face to face.

So at 10 am on Christmas Eve, Kelli and I finally met in person for coffee and for the next two hours, the conversation never lagged. We talked about ourselves, our families, our knitting, politics and just about anything and everything else. Kelli is just as funny, friendly, caring and interesting as she comes across via electronic media. The time flew by and before I knew it, I was late for lunch back at my in-laws' house.

Visiting with Kelli was the highlight of my Christmas and I cherish the time that James and Aidan gave me to spend with her. Is there a better gift than time spent with a friend? I think not.

Too

We are back at our house after spending a few days at my in-laws' house in South Carolina. The experience is best summed up with the word "too" - too much noise, too many snacks, too few healthy choices, too much whining, too much quarreling, too many presents given with too little thought, too little discipline and, for my part, too little alcohol to ease the pain and dull the senses.

Sometimes the best that can be said of a holiday is that it is over.

Hockey bum[med]

Tonight we were going with Aidan’s Cub Scout pack to an Atlanta Thrashers’ hockey game. Thank goodness we never told Aidan that he was going to be part of the color guard before the game because…

He has strep. He told me yesterday at lunch that his throat hurt when he swallowed, but he still ate a big lunch. Around 4 pm, he said he was cold…and it was about 70 degrees at the time, so I took his temp and it was 101. He hasn’t run a fever like that since he was a year old and had his one and only ear infection. So I put him to bed. He slept all night with only a few wake-ups, for water, bathroom, reassurance.

This morning, the fever was gone but his throat still hurt. We checked his glands and they were a bit swollen so we decided to take him in. Glad we did. The culture showed that he has strep, the doc prescribed antibiotics and warned us that he would be contagious for another 36 hours, so he could not be around other people.

Our poor little guy started to cry when he realized that he couldn’t go to the hockey game tonight. His lip quivered, his eyes filled and he said “Mommy, I’ve never been to a hockey game.” Even the doc got a little verklempt.

Porta-potty float photos

Our friend Dave sent me the photos of the porta-potty float from the Christmas parade in Senoia.

Here it is coming:


And here it is going:

"Santa looks...different"

Aidan and I were looking at my old school photos the other day when we found this photo of me with Santa.

The cardboard frame indicates that the photo was taken at Halle's Department Store. A note in my mother's handwriting indicates that I was three years old when the photo was made, which would make the year 19mumble-mumble.

Aidan absolutely adores the photo - he giggled and giggled as he looked at it. After studying it for a few moments, he said "Mommy, you look really different!" I pointed out that I was even younger than he is now when the photo was made. Then he said, "And Santa looks different!" When I asked different how, he said that Santa just looks different.

Well, he does look different than Santas do now; how, exactly, I can't pinpoint. But Aidan is right, the Santa in the photo looks a bit different. I frantically thought for a few quick seconds and said "Well, it was a long time ago...and just like I look different than I do now because I am older, Santa looks different because he is older, too!"

He bought that explanation, thank goodness. It is getting harder and harder to stay one step ahead of that boy!

'Tis the season...

...for fun activities! Saturday was a busy day at our house. First, we went over to Aidan's school for Deck the Halls, the annual holiday event that raises money for the school and celebrates the season. Santa was available for photos (Aidan emphatically put the kibosh that idea), there was Santa's shop where children could shop for small gifts, a silent auction was held of the gift baskets and/or decorations created by each class, and the children performed songs in the cafeteria. The first graders sang at 10 am and although Aidan was initially not too thrilled, he finally got into the spirit and sang enthusiastically with his classmates:


That afternoon we headed back to Senaoia, the scene of last week's Porta-Potty Parade. One team of the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales were in town! Simply put, they are magnificent animals. Here is a photo of the first two horses in place:


Aidan got some help from Dad in seeing over the crowd:


While waiting for the entire team of eight to be hitched up and start parading, we talked with a nice family next to us who brought their three dogs. Aidan quickly became friends with Bruno, a seven year old black Lab/Boxer mix:


Finally, the team started their tour of downtown Senoia:


I was in awe at the size of their horse heinies:

Holiday knitting

I (almost) finished three holiday knitting projects this week. Aidan asked me early last week to please make fuzzy scarves for his teacher and the parapro. I panicked just a bit but how could I say no? He did, after all, say "please"... besides, they are a simple knit stitch on size 11 needles, so I thought I had time to finish before the last day of school on 18 December.

I got the yarn the next day and set to work. Mrs. D'Andrea's scarf knit it very quickly, in less than four days:


Then I started Mrs. Malcolm's scarf. I was already a bit tired of fun fur by then and the simplicity, but I kept at it and finished last night:


Today I also worked on assembling the felted bird house that will be a Christmas gift for my mother. I still have not added the perch - James will help me - so that is why I said that I am "almost" finished. The bird house turned out cute enough, but I am not especially happy with it overall:


I like that I can make gifts for people and I finished in plenty of time!

Popularity, at last

It seems that at the ripe old age of 39.95 plus shipping and handling, I have achieved what was never possible before: popularity at school. I had lunch with Aidan today at school and a seat near me was the hottest ticket in Mrs. Malcolm's class.

After much pushing, wiggling and jockeying for position, I was seated between Aidan and Henry, with Joshua, Andrew and Gabrielle across the table; Jada was on the other side of Aidan, and kept leaning across him to talk to me. The children know me since I work in his class each week and they were eager to talk to me. All at once.

I don't think that I am particularly good with children (and sometimes not even with my own child); I am not indulgent, I don't look away from misbehavior, I correct their grammar and their manners. But I guess when you are the only non-faculty adult at the class table, popularity is a given.

Eating lunch with a cafeteria full of first graders is a unique experience. The sound level must be on par with that on an aircraft carrier when a fighter jet lands...the ears ring and the brain becomes numb. And when five or six of those little voices are raised, trying vainly to get your undivided attention, I swear the table vibrates.

For all my grousing and joking, it was fun to have lunch with Aidan and his friends. And they were all so sweet to make me feel welcome, even though almost every one of them showed me the food in their mouth at some point during the meal!

Things that go "Mommy!" in the night

My recent streak of about ten straight nights of great sleep was broken early this morning. Around 2:30 am, I awoke to hear "Mommy! Daddy! Mommy! Daddy!" coming from Aidan's room. James, of course, Mr. Light Sleeper who "hears everything at night" did not stir. I managed to find the edge of bed, get up and make my way to Aidan's room without colliding with any walls, door jambs or furniture, which is a minor miracle - after all, I collide with those things even when it is not 2:30 am or have just been awakened from a deep sleep.

Aidan was sitting up in bed and when I asked what was wrong, he said "I need help in thinking of some good dreams." It seems that he was having bad dreams and when I asked what the bad dreams were about, he said the Man Game.

Ah, yes, the Man Game. The subject of one of the few parenting disagreements that James and I have. The Man Game is our family's name for World of Warcraft, which is a multi-player online role-playing game. We call it the Man Game because a character - usually a man - is created and then played in the fantasy Warcraft world. James has been playing the game for several years and Aidan decided he wanted to play, too. I think he is far too young to play such a game, but I was overruled; James helped Aidan set up his man and taught him the basics of play.

Playing the Man Game is a reward for Aidan. If he does what he is supposed to do at home and at school, he is allowed to play for a set amount of time every other day. He has done surprisingly well at the game, but I have strong concerns about a game where the character battles other characters, usually very scary characters such as ogres (not the Shrek variety), zombies and skeletons.

And last night, some of my concerns were validated by Aidan's bad dreams. After he told me about the dreams, I suggested that he dream about Christmas, going to see the Clydesdales on Saturday, playing outside, then rubbed his back and made his lie down. He fell asleep pretty quickly and I heard nothing more from him the rest of the night.

While I do not plan any immediate action, I will file it away and see if further bad dreams ensue. And, next time, I am elbowing James to get up and see to his son's middle of the night anxiety.

Chickens and porta-pottys

Small towns can be unique little places, with unusual people, happenings and things. Saturday evening's Christmas parade in Senoia was a good example.

We like Senoia, a town even smaller than the town in which we live; its little downtown reminds us of downtown Apex, NC. They are doing their best to revitalize their downtown by filling the vacant storefronts with restaurants, shops and service providers. We go there regularly to buy coffee from the Senoia Coffee Co. - we can't start our day without a cup (or two) of their Mocha Java!

Saturday was Light Up Senoia, where they closed downtown to car traffic. There were food vendors, a special store for children to buy gifts, and all the shops were decorated for the season. The parade started around 5:30, led off by police cruisers and a fire truck. What followed was, for the most part, typical small-town parade fare: baton twirlers, Shriners, old cars, a marching band, Cub Scouts and Brownies riding on flat bed “floats”. Strangely enough, no pageant queens.

When the local 4-H Poultry Club went by with cages full of chickens on their float, I thought I had seen it all…until a porta-potty went by! Yes, some company/group decorated a porta-potty with lights and put it on their float! I laughed until I stopped, then I started laughing again. Our friend Dave took a photo and if he sends it to me as he promised, I will post it here as proof. What a hoot!

Free jeans

I like a bargain as much as the next person, but honestly, I don't want to work too hard for one. I don't shop thrift stores, flea markets or yard sales, and I hate plowing through piles of clothes to find one gem. But when stores are having sales on everything and web sites are offering free shipping, it is hard NOT to score a bargain.

Several months ago, I went shopping for new jeans that fit my 15 pound less body and found two pair suited for low heel shoes. I love wearing heels and wanted a pair of jeans that I could wear with my high heeled mules or these great patent boots that I have. Kohl's is having one of their two day sales that they have every week, so I headed over there early today to find some tall jeans.

I am not particularly fond of Kohl's for me; I am able to find good clothes at good prices for Aidan there, but not for me. Their basic jean selection, however, is pretty good. With the sale, the additional 15% coupon and the $20 in Kohl's Cash that James received last week after he did some shopping, I thought it was worth a trip. No lie, I tried on at least 12 pairs of jeans (plus several shirts and sweaters, and several pair of dress pants) and did find one pair that seem to fit well and work well with my tall shoes (which I had the good sense to wear).

When I got to the cashier and presented all my various papers, I owed a grand total of nothing. Nada. Zero. It was an hour of my time well spent to walk out the door with a pair of free jeans!

Whoosh

Whoosh is the sound of December to me...not carols, not bell ringing, not the ka-ching of the cash registers. Whoosh. Once the calendar turns to 1 December, time accelerates until 24 December, when everything slows down to half its normal speed.

For some stupid reason, December crept up on me this year. I know December arrives at the same time each year, but with the U.S. Thanksgiving falling at the end of November, the time between the two holidays is shorter than usual. So that extra week I thought I had to take care of tasks simply does not exist. Whoosh!

Don't get me wrong, I am not panicking about the holidays. As I wrote last year, I simply don't stress about the holidays - that is wrong to me. But I do know that I have a schedule of card writing, knitting, baking and wrapping that must be adhered to, which simply cuts into my free time. No big whoop.

For example, this morning after I work in Aidan's class, I have a list of about four errands I need to complete rather than coming back to the house for my usual Wedneday morning late breakfast and extra cup of coffee. And if I get them done today, I won't have to go out tomorrow - bonus!

So it all comes down to good time management. And whooshing!