Author: Sarah

Second List Check

Sarah General

(Side note: Last night’s concert went much better. I totally choked on the first note of my solo, but…it’s not brain surgery, and no one died, so I’m ok with that. At least I corrected the first note and redeemed myself playing the rest of it. :) Someday I will learn to get over my stage fright. Maybe.)

So, what’s left on my to-do list from Monday?

  • I still have two gifts to finish knitting. One of them isn’t even started yet. Can you hear the panic in my typing? Obviously, that’s what’s being packed knitting-wise for the trip. I might toss in a ball of sock yarn just in case (yeah, right) I manage to finish the gifts before we get back.
  • I’m almost done wrapping things, enough so that the rest could probably wait until we get back from our trip. Especially since two of the things aren’t done anyway. (See above.)
  • The inside decorations are up and the boxes put away, and the outside just hasn’t been cooperating weather-wise…maybe I just won’t bother this year. :(
  • Cookie baking. Well, I have two choices: stay up until probably 2 or 3 in the morning tonight, or buy cookies. The Italian Catholic guilt gene is saying “stay up, you know you really shouldn’t bring store-bought cookies.” The rest of me is saying “go buy those really fancy Italian cookies and go to bed early so you can enjoy the trip.” Which will win? Tune in tomorrow…

So, aside from the cookie debate, and the feeling that the neighbors must think we’re horrible grinchy people with just a small door decoration and candles in the windows but no wreaths or garlands, and the fact that I have several hours of knitting left to do, I’m less stressed. No, really, my to-do list is getting shorter every day. Of course, the time left to finish everything I have to do is also getting shorter every day.

Really, I just want to be able to get back to knitting stuff for me. Two sweaters and a vest, and several pairs worth of sock yarn have been calling from my stash for days now. Not to mention my stalled aran afghan. But I’m going to be a good girl and ignore them for just a few more days. Probably.

Molly’s Law

Sarah Dogs

Everyone makes such a big deal about Murphy’s law – you know, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Well, we decided that Molly needs her own law – we don’t want to show favoritism, here! So, without further ado, here is Molly’s law:

Anything that can be barked at will be barked at.

(This includes C.A.T.s, the mail truck, deer, cars pulling out of the driveway across the street, cars pulling into the driveway across the street, people walking by, dogs walking by, reflections on the ceiling, noises from the furnace…you get the idea.)

Could We Start Again, Please?

Sarah General

I’m having one of those days where I probably would have been better off going back to bed and trying again tomorrow morning. I really hope it gets better, because it’s a nice sunny day, and I’m in anything but a sunny mood.

Maybe I could crawl back under the covers for just a minute or two and get up on the right side of the bed this time?

Making a List, Checking it Twice.

Sarah General
  • Shopping done…check.
  • Cards done…check.
  • Tree decorated…check.
  • Boxes of decorations put away…no.
  • Outside decorations up…no.
  • Gifts wrapped…no.
  • Knitted gifts done…no.
  • Cookies baked…no.
  • Cookie dough made…no.
  • State of house…complete disaster.

How many days until Christmas? Let’s see, according to my handy countdown: 10. More importantly, how many days until we leave for NYC? Yeah, that would be 3. And how many concerts/parties/social gatherings do I have between now and then? At least 4. Plus, I have a full-time job…

Sleep? That’s overrated, right?

Can You (drip) Hear Me (drip) Now?

Sarah General

Amazing! Not that I’d recommend it, but the LG VX4400 phones that Verizon sells seem to be able to take a trip through the washer, then work just fine after they’ve had a chance to dry. No, I didn’t wash my phone, but my brother washed his. That’s the problem with these modern little itty bitty phones – they’re easily pocketable, which makes them a little more prone to being left in a pocket…and tossed in the wash.

His phone seems to work perfectly now – and it’s cleaner, too! :)

Thanks, everyone, for the birthday wishes yesterday! My birthday is actually being stretched through the weekend – one of the benefits of it being on a Friday!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Sarah General

A little history: I’ve never liked my birthstone, blue zircon, because it’s this pale, weak turquoise that, well, I’ve never liked. But…

…we December babies now have a new birthstone! It’s this pretty light blue with a violet cast to it. How do I know this? Because my first birthday present of the day was a lovely necklace from Denis.

Of course, I then had a laundry crisis, because everything I could have worn to show off my new present needed to be washed. It’s amazing how fast things go through the wash, though, when you only put a few things in the washer, then dry them on volcano heat. :)

And no, I’m not going to tell you how old I am, because I’m old enough to know better!

Concerts and Christmas Trees

Sarah General, Music

Do you have any idea how hard it is to play French horn when you can’t hear? My ears are still stuffed up from my cold last week. Last night’s concert went pretty well, but I didn’t play my best. Fortunately, it was in the mall, where there are so many other noises it wasn’t too obvious. And next week I have a chance to redeem myself at the concert in the school auditorium.

I have to admit, I was somewhat surprised at how many people came and stayed for the whole concert – I think the community band and chorus have somehow acquired a fan base. And thank you to everyone who came out to hear me play! :)

In other news, we’ve had our tree for two days now, but we were going to put it up last night (before the concert) and the chainsaw wouldn’t work to make the fresh cut. So, I still don’t have my tree up, and it’s only 2 weeks until Christmas. How long can you keep a tree bundled up in the plastic mesh before the branches stay that way permanently? Anyway, at least I’ve managed to clear a spot in the living room, and a path to that spot. The rest of the living room is literally covered in Christmas gifts, and yarn to create the rest of the Christmas gifts with. The dining room also has gifts spread from one end of the room to the other. I’d like to start wrapping things, but I don’t think I’ll be able to find a large enough flat surface!

Mini-Socks

Sarah Crafts

So what do you do with leftover sock yarn after making a pair of socks? Make mini socks!

I actually gave these socks to my niece Lizzy during our visit at Thanksgiving, but I just now picked up the camera and realized I had pictures in there I hadn’t done anything with. Silly me!

Anyway, kids socks are so much faster to make than adult socks – each sock was about an evening of knitting. And, as you can see, she couldn’t wait to put them on…actually, I think they go very well with her purple plaid dress and pink stripe stockings!

I hope I can make a kids’ pair out of all my sock yarn leftovers. Of course, that implies that I have the time to knit up all of my sock yarn. Someday I’m going to put it all in one place and count how many pairs of socks I can make. I honestly don’t know, but I’d guess that it’s at least a dozen pair of adult socks, plus whatever kids socks I can get from the mini-balls. Hello, my name is Sarah, and I’m a sock yarn addict.

Sharing, Finally!

Sarah Crafts

Want the skinny on my new knitting project? Take a pile of blue railroad yarn, add size 13 needles, and you get…a pile of knitted blue railroad yarn!

Really, this is going to become something wearable. I think. And if it does, it’s going to be my holiday outfit (over something, obviously). It’s very loosely based on this pattern, although I’m really just using that for the overall shape. More details can be found here.