Merry!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here...

Happy Turkey Day!

Here in the US, today is Thanksgiving!  In my family we usually start the day with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (watching it on TV...but someday we may go to NY and see it in person, who knows?).  Super fun to watch, especially now that we're closer to the action. And watching football...and football pools.  I'm so happy that our family is still included in my Dad's football pools...it makes football watching so much more fun.  And we all feel more connected to our family far away in California.

Then there's the question of the day, "When are we gonna eat?"  Because today is mostly about EATING!

Ok, yes, it's a day to be thankful too.  I'm thankful for many things...my list probably looks a lot like yours.  It's my favorite holiday because it's about family and just being together...no presents, no crazy prepping (except food shopping) and hanging out.

Well, I'm not sitting and knitting all day...I'm cooking!  It's really an easy meal to make, I think.  We eat the basics...turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, croissant rolls, green beans and a salad.  Pies for dessert...I made a chocolate one and bought an apple pie.  One glitch though...the turkey is still a bit frozen.  I've had it in the fridge since Sunday and it's only a 14 pounder...should be ready to roll but still a little frozen.  It's in the sink in some water to help it along right now. I'll do some defrosting and as long as it's in the oven (stuffed) by 9am we should be eating around 2 or 3pm.  I have a cheese ball and crackers to feed the family while they're waiting.

Joey asked me yesterday what the hardest part of cooking Thanksgiving Dinner was....I told him, "Getting everything to come out at the same time."  No problem!

I hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful.

Oh, almost forgot!  Today is my favorite day of the year to take a walk.  I have many memories of Thanksgiving Day and being out walking around my neighborhood...be it La Mesa, Pacific Beach, Fleming Island or Annapolis, it's a special day for looking at the world.  Go check it out for yourselves.

Godzilla Strikes...again!

So we had some stormy weather overnight last night.  I woke in the middle of the night to Mike's alarm clock flashing...then noticed mine doing the same thing (his is much brighter and lights up the room).  So I got my running watch and tried to reset my clock to the time on the watch in the dark.  Fail.  Mike wakes up and says, "Oh, did the power go off?" "Yeah, the time is 3:52." I say.  Turned on the lights so I could SEE to reset the clocks. So we reset the clocks and when back to sleep.

You know where this is going, right?

I realized after I woke up (jeez, I'm so tired this morning...) and after I woke up Joey (had to shake him awake instead of just call to him...) and saw how dark it was outside (that's unusual, it's so dark outside...).  Yup.  Forgot to change the time on my running watch (haven't been running much lately, can you tell).

And Mike is at work an hour early again too.

Godzilla strikes, again.

Godzilla Strikes

It's Monday.  Kissed Mike goodbye as he left for work, the alarm for me goes off at 6 am, I get up, get dressed, and go wake up Joey for school.  Two minutes later he comes down stairs (I'm making lunches) and says, "Mom, it's only 5:15."

Crap.

Forgot to switch the bedroom alarm clocks.  Apparently Mike did too.  Godzilla strikes.

I guess it was a good thing I went to bed a little early at 9:30 pm last night, oh, um....I guess it was really 8:30 pm.

Crap.

THEY'RE HERE!

Al and Mary Lou came for a visit last month.  It was so fun to have family here...we really miss them so much!  The weather was perfect!  We finally have a proper guest room (Veronica's room) for them!  And they have their own half-bath, too.  They got to see Joey in his field show competition and in a parade.

There he is, in all his tenor-playing glory!!  

We also took a cruise in Annapolis harbor! It was only a little cool on the boat, weather-wise, and the sun was shining! 

We also did some hiking at Quiet Waters Park.  It's a county park in Annapolis with tons of hiking/biking/walking trails, water views, picnic areas, a visitor's center...and an ice skating rink!

 How cool is this outdoor ice skating rink?!  I've never skated outdoors before (nor will I ever, having broken my elbow the last time I did ice skate...my ice skating days are over) and neither have the kids.  Can't wait for the chance for them to experience it!  I'll sit on the sidelines with my blanket, hot chocolate and knitting, thank you very much.

We visited Ellicott City...cuz it's just so darn cute!  We had a nice lunch, walked around and shopped a bit, too!

We also visited Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  We walked up and down, then had a lovely lunch in Little Italy.

 Outside the aquarium.

 We found an interactive park with musical instruments and had to try the marimbas in honor of Veronica!

It was a great visit.  When they come back we'll do an harbor cruise at the Inner Harbor.  So on the day they left, Mike left too.  He went to South Africa on business.  Then the next day we heard about Hurricane Sandy coming to visit on Monday.  Holy Crap!

I'm quite proud of myself for getting all the necessities ready for the hurricane.  At the time, we didn't know if she was coming directly for us or further North.  Guess we all know the outcome, eh?  Those poor folks in New York and New Jersey.  We really lucked out here, the damage was minimal.  We lost power for about 16 hours, had lots of rain and wind but really, not too bad.  

Mike's return flight was overnight on Sunday, arriving in Atlanta on Monday morning.  He thought Sandy wasn't going to be any big deal...well, that all changed when he arrived in Atlanta!  His flight was cancelled and the hotels were all taken (duh).  He got a rental car and drove to Macon, stayed there two nights and got a flight for home on Wednesday.  We were so happy to see him!!  He felt so bad about having not been here for the storm.  He felt so bad, in fact, that he did some yarn shopping for me!  He got me this wonderful denim colored sock yarn made by Copper Corgi...a Savannah yarn company!  Sweet!  What a guy!

I think you're caught up now.

Been Busy Knitting

Happy Sunday everyone!  I've been absent for a while, I know...but a lot has been happening!

Knitting first!

I finished a few shawls, socks and hats.  I even finished a pair of mittens!  Here's what some of them look like:

 Stripe Study...all garter stitch and short rows.

 Skinny Fit Mitts out of left over Cascade 220.

 Charlize out of Jitterbug.  

Hat for Mike.  My own pattern.

This lovely is Mormorio which I knit with a bunch a folks on Ravelry.  The designer sponsored a KAL with a drawing for knitting goodies on December 1st...keep your fingers crossed for me!  I never win anything...

I also started an ambitious project called Sock Yarn Blankie.  That's right a blankie knit with sock yarn, but before you hurt yourself rolling your eyes too much, let me explain.  It's small mitered squares (3") knit with leftover sock yarn.  You pick up from the sides of each square to knit a new one so there's no sewing.  There are a few ends for weaving in but I'm doing them every couple rows to stay caught up.  Still scratching your head?  Well, I'm making this entire blanket with my sock scraps...of which I have TONS!!!  So no yarn buying (it's a miracle!). I've knit 70 squares and I have yet to repeat a color.  It's really pretty, very patch workie.  This is a long term project...hopefully shorter term than my last blankie which took 14 years...that I'm sure will take a couple years.  When the weather warms in the spring, I'll put it away till Fall then start up again. I'll post a pic in another month or so.