Monday, August 29, 2005

Christmas is so close...

but I think I have most of the gifts ready in my head. At least the hard ones have been chosen...ok, some of the hard ones have been chosen. There are other difficult ones to figure out. What do you get a 20-something, almost 30-something who buys everything he wants? I have no clue. I figured out my grandparents. Those were semi-easy. I'm lost on my parents and in-laws. Maybe I can do one a month, and not break the bank.

As for my grandparents, my dad's mom is getting DVDs. We already bought them. They just need to be wrapped. For my mom's parents, I'm all about the socks now. I figured out the heel on the one I started for me, and I'm hoping the rest will be easy and will move right along. I haven't finished my sweaters, mainly because it's been too hot. I still have to finish the Cigar gloves for my brother as well. I honestly am at a loss for him for Christmas. Maybe a scarf from the leftovers? We'll have to see what comes out of the ol' bag o' tricks for him.

I cleaned more in the study...I finally have my sewing machine set up! However, I can't get to it. There's more stuff to go through and find a place for but it's coming along. I'm hoping that before Thanksgiving it'll be completed.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Alright, I've been a slacker...

Well, sort of. It's not all my fault, but I guess most of the blame should rest with me. Work has kept me busier than I'd care to admit, and then there was the first week of vacation, spent cleaning. The second week of vacation (last week) was spent in Gatlinburg, TN. For those of you who don't know, it's a great tourist trap. I say great because it has some of the most beautiful scenery in this country. To me at least. I love the Great Smoky Mountains. As much of a city person as I am, I have to admit moving closer to that region has a definite appeal.

Knitting hasn't been happening that much...it's been too hot. I almost finished the Mohair Cowl Neck sweater, and the temperature soared (as did the humidity). I set it aside. All that's left is the collar. That's it. You'd think I'd endure the heat for a weekend and finish it, but nope, not me. I've set it aside in lieu of other things. I completed one of the Cigar gloves from Knitty for my brother, although I'm thinking of making it a little bigger for him. I'm also mid-sock. It's the first ever pair of socks I've done, and I'm slow. They're small needles, with thin yarn, so it's taking longer than I'd probably like for it to, but it's hot. Knitting is a cold weather activity to me.

I've also been catching up on some reading, or at least trying to. I've been making good progress on the Diana Gabaldon series, all things considered. I'm almost done with book 2 (Dragonfly in Amber) and want to finish the other 2 before the next book in the series comes out. Did I mention that it comes out September 27th? I'm excited.

I've also been cleaning like a mad woman. We're having Christmas at our place this year, and I want everything to be just so. You know how it is...I'm the Martha Stewart wannabe. One of the girls at work calls me "Betty Crocker" so I just want everything to run smoothly, especially since it's the first time we haven't been at my grandparents'. We usually travel all over creation (ok, just the state of GA) for Christmas, which means travelling on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This is just NOT happy. It makes us miserable, and we wind up dreading Christmas. Not this year...it's at our place and all I have to do is cook and clean. I'll take that over driving for 8 hours over 2 days. I'm starting early, and I'm almost halfway there. Saturday, I'll be finishing the study, which is the big killer. I already cleaned out the trash, so I'm just down to what should be in there. It's a lot more manageable now. I love making progress.

So, that all being said, hopefully soon I'll be able to post the pictures I keep promising, because I have digital camera and the computer's in the study. It should get hooked up to the internet sometime soon (as soon as my husband uses the hub we have and connects all the computers). He's kind of waiting on me, since the cords are in my stuff. But it's getting there. I thought I had posted something before I went on vacation, but I guess I didn't. Oh well...hopefully I'll have time next week for another posting. Keep your fingers crossed!!!