We wish you a . . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

From our house to yours, we wish you a very happy holiday season, and a very blessed new year.

If you'd like to see next year's card, click here.

It's beginning to feel like Christmas . . .

i kinda like the idea of having a day off during the week following Thanksgiving. everyone else is at work or school, and it feels almost restful... so Monday started out rainy, and my walk was delayed until about 8:30, but in the mean time, i made serious progress on Clue #6. it seemed eerily easier, don't know if the pattern was easier to follow, or my technique has improved, either way, we're getting there.

despite the rain, mom and i headed off to run some errands- first stop-- Whole Nine Yarns for some additional yarn for a gift (Mom anyway), I bought yarn for this wrap,











i decided to forgo the Evelyn Clark Swallowtail Shawl for now, and will live vicariously through the Yarn Harlot's knitting of that project. i've put myself on yarn restriction until at least mid-January, have got to focus on what I've bought--have baby socks and a scarf to do before Christmas. i did splurge on a pair of lace needles for the new wrap I've got planned. mary swears by them, so I'll give them a go then-- they didn't have them in the size of the SOTS, so i'll finish using the one's i have. we had the pleasure of meeting the WNY store mascot, an English Mohair rabbit, kinda weird.









next made our way to the Avenues at West Cobb to do some shopping at Barnes and Noble, grabbed a snack and then made a couple more quick stops before we got home.

managed to make the exploding box for Uncle David and Aunt Gwen's 50th anniversary, and will put it in the post this weekend.


finally got the 3 trees decorated, (and have one more to go, a small one in the foyer)--living room (big tree), overlooking the foyer (med. tree), and a itty bitty in the powder room. oh yea. . Andrew decorated the itty bitty one in his room also. now i just have to put a few items around the house, and then i'm done, and it's not even Dec. 1-i think it will really feel like Christmas, once the parties begin this weekend!


TTFN

Busy, busy, busy

it should be no surprise, this past week has been a flurry of activity, and I feel like the holidays have officially begun, here's a recap that most likely will include some incomplete sentences, and multiple grammar errors, but here it is nonetheless, and besides most of my readers are already aware of what I've been up to this week, oh well, here are some photos to give you a visual. . .

SATURDAY
It all got started on November 17th, ♥Mary's Birthday♥
Mom had her jewelry show, and I high-tailed it to Starbucks to finish clue #4










final soccer game of the season, they lost :-(
SUNDAY

Birthday brunch at Mary's, fab food as always, Andrew kicked the wine glass over, wine spilled, but glass remained unharmed.









Made a stop to Only Ewe, got this yarn, but you should already know about that!

MONDAY- work as usual, continued making progress on clue #5, cleaned up the basement, it was a total wreck, and wanted it to be presentable for company on Saturday.

TUESDAY-work and Mexican dinner at Rancho Grande for Mary's birthday, here's a picture of the dessert, that I'm not sure was supposed to be for Mary or not, but the kids enjoyed it!








then some of us went to Starbucks, some of us went home, and some went shopping. It's great being in a family where we can function with out feeling like we're joined at the hip!

WEDNESDAY- half day of working, went to Knitch, Why Knot Knit, and Knitting Emporium. I was on a quest to buy short and long #2 dpn. Found the long one's WKN, and the short one's at KE (my least favorite shop, but I was desperate!) Battled my way through Harry's and then went to Publix to finish the food shopping. Cooking until about 10:00 on Wednesday, then i woke up to this on THURSDAY




totally wrecked my walking plans, we could have used much much more-I kept checking the weather until about 8, but had to get a shower as we were having guests for breakfast. I did manage to work on the SOTS, do laundry, and other cleaning up.


Later on, some of the Moller's joined us for breakfast, Kathy and Courtney stayed at home to finish up dinner and then we went to their house for a wonderfully relaxing Thanksgiving dinner. Courtney did the table settings,








I think we have a little home maker on our hands.






After dinner Mom and I knit while Kathy went through her quilting stash, I'm "this close" to looking at quilting as a new hobby in the New Year-, I'm just thinking about it now, don't call out the guys in the white coats, yet!

FRIDAY

did my 6 miles about 6ish (i think), and headed out to Starbucks to finish working on Clue #5,while I waited for the shops in downtown Acworth to open,









loved going into the shops-


made a date with Karen to visit the shops on the 1st Friday of the month ( do this in January?) when the stores stay open late, then dinner at Henry's, Mary join us?
While I was gone Steve painted the living room, and put up the Christmas tree, it remains undecorated except for the cool Starbucks cup that I bought.


A trip to Cast on Cottage to get sock yarn, and yarn for a shawl or stole, you'll have to wait for yarn photos, also got some yarn to make a Christmas gift, the yarn is incredibly soft baby alpaca. . . later that day . .
Barry and Donna's wedding party (post-wedding reception), great food and music, and even better -it was at our neighborhood clubhouse, so no driving! Had a great time with some of the other neighbors- fun, fun

SATURDAY

A bit of absolutely unavoidable shopping, Target, Gap, Office Max, and the library, then home to get food ready for the game and the family, we had a blast despite the fact that Tech LOST! Ugh, how many more years are we going to have to deal with this???!!! Anyway, we knit, we admired Mary's latest WIP, and her shawl pin, aahed Jean's scarf she's making for a Christmas gift, oohed over Karen's hat she's making for Ron, similar to the on found on Brooklyn Tweed (cap karma posting), and had a feel of Jillian's afghan, our knitting circle is growing-exchanged names, drank wine and beer, ate, admired the new furniture, and the new mixer,

got a high-5 from Karen on that one. It was great seeing Polly and Roy before they head off to their next barge trip. Getting caught up on some blogs, deciding what I'm going to knit in the new year.

Have been thinking about several resolutions for the new year. Hard to believe another year is almost over. I'm not quite in the Christmas spirit yet, but hope to get the tree decorated on Sunday, we have church and then the Hanging of the Greens service, so hope to also fit in some work on Clue #6. Monday will be a day of shopping with Mom and then working on an "exploding box" for Aunt Gwen and Uncle David's 50th wedding anniversary.

Somehow, I have to still find time to finish 2 Christmas gifts, watch holiday shows, finish the SOTS, Mom's socks, the WOC scrapbook, excercies, bake cookies, attend parties, continue to blog, keep my house clean, laundry, work and remain calm all at the same time- egad, I don't know if I can do it . . may need some wine to help me along, glad I've restocked the wine fridge! Hope to have some holiday musings later in the week.

Gratitudes:
♥continued good health of myself and my family
♥family traditions-old and new
♥memories





TTFN

Who'd have thought. . .

at brunch yesterday, i got to admire Mary's stash (some gorgeous stuff!), and her WIPs, spent some extra time checking out the monkey socks. i commented on how tiny (short) the needles were, and how leery i was of working with them. well, unbeknownest to me, when i stopped by Only Ewe to purchase another set of #1 dp, i bought the shorter needles! imagine my dismay when i discovered this on the bus ride to work- however, the determined knitter that i am, i was willing to give them a try, and well. . . ♥ them! they are so much easier to work with (so far, anyway). maybe it's because i have small hands, and i'm working with fine yarn. . here they are on the foot part of mom's socks.










also bought sock yarn to make baby isabell some socks or booties- ain't it sweet,










will look for some lavender at Knitch, and if i have time, i'll stop by Why Knot Knit, which was highly recommended by mary. hope to do this when i leave work on Wednesday.


finally--look what came in the mail- i'm just giddy with delight right now, can't you tell!!??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY!

Happy Birthday Mary-

Okay, I’ve literally spent a ton of time figuring out what to say to wish Mary a very happy birthday (and meaningful ) on the blog. Also, wanted to add a photo, but the scanner at work wasn't cooperating. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve come to realize (and appreciate) how much influence Mary has had on my life since I’ve been part of her family. Grant it I could say much of the same thing about many other ladies in my life, but it is Mary’s birthday, so she gets the spotlight!

First off, I don’t know if I have or could ever thank Mary (and her family) enough, for allowing Steve and I to live in her living room for an entire month following my car accident. Way, way over and above the call of duty, and a generous gesture that won’t be forgotten. Other “things” . . . teaching me to knit (yeah), showing me how to blog (double yeah), enjoying the simple things, loving my kids for who they are, great food, wine, compassion, encouraging me through not only 1 college degree- but two, support while I tried to start my embroidery business, always being positive(and supportive) no matter what zany thing I decide to try, sharing books and music, trips to the museum and lunches out, many meals around the Rogovin dinner table, being happy for others when they succeed and being ready to celebrate, realizing that life is a series of phases and we should appreciate each one realizing that if you wait long enough-things (will change often for the better-especially in parenting) or get brighter, enjoy the view, it’s okay to cry, less is often more, Starbucks, traveling light . . . . I could go on an on, but I will end by wishing Mary a very happy birthday and many many more to come!

It’s early so I’ll raise my coffee mug in salute,when I get back in from my walk, and tomorrow we’ll share a glass of wine and celebrate some more!

TTFN

Taking a break

It was a cold weekend in Lovejoy. Andrew had two soccer games in Clayton County on Saturday, and one on Sunday.
Originally, we thought it was in Fayette County, which is just down the road, but turns out it was off Tara Boulevard- I tried knitting on my travel blanket, but it was incredibly cold (31 ish degrees) My toes were very warm as I wore my Strawberry Switchblade socks!

Anyway, first game was over by 11:00, so the kids had lunch at McDonalds (ick), I had brought my own sandwich, so I was okay. Once we were finished eating, how much time can you actually spend in McD's once your kids are too big for the playplace? We had sometime before the 2:00 game, which didn't actually start until 3:15. Sooooo Andrew and I decided it was worth the risk to cross 4 lanes of highway, so we wouldn't have to move the car, to spend the rest of the time at Starbucks. It was a welcoming sight indeed when we got to the fields earlier in the day-there is some semblance of civilization down south-especially since the "Rainbow Spa" was boarded up- don't ask!
Here's the place.









I was armed with my knitting (Mom's socks), and Andrew found this





so we played 2 games, I knit in between moves, and I totally stomped my sweet child, didn't know checkers could be this much fun-









I guess based on this look, his two time defeat wasn't too heartbreaking!









By the time we were finished we were joined by a few team mates and their parents, and they gave us a ride (safely) back to the fields where the team won 6-0 (I think). However, on Sunday, we lost 7-2 and because of the "goal differentiation" we did not advance in the tournament, but finished in 3rd out of 16 teams-not too bad a showing. One more game on the 17th, then we're done for a while.

Looking forward to a seeing the in-laws on Sunday, and look what Melanie from Lotus yarns did for me-it's called "nymph" isn't it exquisite?










Gratitudes:
Veterans- those who have and do serve our country- big THANK YOU!
My DH who, dusted the family room ceiling fan, replaced the light bulb, and took care of the cobwebs- all of which I couldn't reach! Big thanks

2 + 1 = . . .

new furniture. . . steve spend a whole week clearing out the basement, re-arranging stuff and moving the computer/tv from out of the bedroom into the new office space downstairs (space without sheet rock, etc., but space with actual walls nonetheless). Now that we have an open area in the bedroom he wanted to go look at chairs and table to create a sitting area in our room. So off we went on Sunday to Haverty's to see what they had, and then we returned on Monday to look again. I did not take my knitting, but this trip took me away from knitting (ugh, wanted to finish Clue #4, I'm nearly there 10 more rows!, but I digress) and so what was going to be 3 possibly 5 pieces of furniture turned out to be well . . . a lot, we got this set for the family room, the old will go into the basement to provide more seating when that space is finished, we'll keep the recliner, and this, this, and this to go in the living room, I love the round chair, it's my "Austin Powers is my boyfriend" chair. Well, Austin Powers might have one that is a bit more psychiadelic in color, but I so LOVE this chair. Oh yea, and we got 2 of these and this for the bedroom. We'll have everything on the 16th except for the mocha chair and the cocktail table for the living room. Now if we could just get new flooring . . . . . . .





TTFN



Gratitudes:

A spouse who has the time off from work to take care of these kinds of projects

Making progress on my SOTS

Some custom dyed yarn that's coming my way soon!!! You have to go to Ravelry to learn about that!

Insantity or determination

so . . . I'm still plugging away at the blue thing, did manage to get clue #2 finished, and then stopped at my favorite Starbucks for a couple hours on Tuesday to work on #3, and now I'm stuck, again! It seems like for every 10 rows I finish- I have to re-do at least 4. There was absolutely no more time to work on it this week, so now that clue #6 is out I hope to work on it more this weekend, as I have Monday off- we'll see. I just have to bear in mind that it will be worth the work, and I shouldn't get caught up in the deadline thing, it's not like I'm being paid to do this thing! Here's a photo of clue#2, not very good, but I was standing in Starbucks trying to take this without looking totally stupid!





Finished the Strawberry Switchblade socks!






Finished Karen's scarf-- she had bought the yarn at Knitch with every intention of learning how to knit, and making something for her self.









She gave it to me, saying "I'm sure you can do something with this", well after much ooohing and aaahing over it trying to think of something for me, it hit me! . . . knit something for Karen, so I did, and here it is. She's getting ready to retire from the Army, so I got it to her in the nick of time! It is also incredibly soft, Rowan baby Alpaca- loved knitting withit.

Finally, I cast on a pair of socks for mom, I promised her the next pair, so here's the yarn I'm using for that . ..








will have a photo showing how they're shaping up next week.


So despite the fact that the blue thing is giving me fits, I did manage to get some things accomplished.

And by the way, if anyone mentions an odd sighting of a lady standing at the corner of W Peachtree and 5th street knitting at 4:15 in the afternoon, that'd be me- . . hey if I gotta wait, I gotta knit!

TTFN

P. S. Off to Peachtree City/Fayette County for a soccer tournament this weekend, staying overnight so hopefully Mexican food and margaritas for dinner, and some knitting time- we'll see.