I Made It

I did it, y'all!  

Yes, my friends, I finally made it up to Batesville, and more importantly to Hobby Lobby!  

I was good.  I resisted temptation and only bought four skeins of yarn for my sailor hats.  That's pretty much the whole reason I went up there anyway.  They are from left to right:  Day Dreamery, Songbird Stripe, Rainbow Galaxy, and Dakota.  

Now I need to finish the hat I already have OTN so I can cast on with one of these.  That's pretty much what I spent the rest of the day doing, catching up on my TV shows and knitting.  

I'm almost to the point I can start the crown decreases, so it won't be much longer now. 

By the way, they had...this!  

Sit down and be quiet, Scrooge!  This makes me happy.  It means that the end of the relentless summer heat is on the horizon.  We still have to make it through August, but there is hope... Besides, people who make handcrafts to sell at Christmas need to start now, or they won't have any in November.  Nobody seems to understand this.  

Funny story, I was wearing a t-shirt with the company logo on it, and the cashier at HL asked me if I worked there now.  I said yes, and she told me she'd worked there a long time ago, but had to quit because the fiberglass insulation was tearing her skin up and they wouldn't move her. 

This is the weird part, I remembered her!  I didn't say so out loud, because I didn't want to get drawn into a long conversation, but I did remember her.  Even her name.  I don't remember half the people that work out there now, but I remember someone from 20 years ago.  Go figure.

Of course, before I went to Hobby Lobby, I had to stop by Lowe's first.  I browsed new stoves, and dishwashers, and vinyl flooring, and circuit breakers, and bathroom vanities.  No, I don't need a new stove, but I want one.  All the appliances in this house are black, and to me, it makes the kitchen look so gloomy -- not to mention that every teeny tiny speck of dust glows like a light in the pitch black night.  I want to switch everything to white, but the tightwad in me doesn't want to spend money on new appliances when the old ones still work. 

I would love to completely remodel this house, but money is an issue and so is finding an honest contractor.  Or maybe it's just me.  I don't seem to have any better luck choosing contractors than I do choosing husbands.  Even when the red flags are there, I convince myself everything will work out in the end, but it never does.  

After daydreaming a while, I wandered into the garden center and look what I found!  

A customizable soaker hose system!  I've been wanting a soaker system for my raised beds, but Walmart only had pre-cut hoses.  This way, I can customize one, and if I need more connectors, they are available on Amazon.  I already checked.

I also picked up a new pack of landscape pins, because the ones I bought last year rust so quickly.  

I'm going to give these a try and hope they work better.  

Alas, it's all going to have to wait.  By the time I got home, the heat index was already up into the triple digits.  That's also why I didn't go to the Mounds.  I'll wait until it's cooler -- like October -- to do that.  Oh, and then it started storming, so I had to run outside and bring the clothes horse back inside.  Fortunately, I'd already gotten most of the clothes off and folded before, so no harm done.  That's also when I remembered I'd forgotten to look for clothesline poles while up at Lowe's.  

I'm thinking I could build some out of PVC pipe, then just pay someone to dig the holes and set the poles into quickcrete.  It should work, and won't rust like a metal pole will.  

And finally, here is your bit of humor for the day. 

 Heh, just look at that smirk!

Full disclosure, I didn't research to see if this was legit or satire, but it's still funny.  

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a hat to finish.  

The Last Gift

There I was at work, just a working away, confirming an order in the computer when over in the TXV area, I heard a lot of shouting and screaming. 

Long time readers may remember me referring to a certain coworker as Greedy Bess.  If you don't, you can just click that link above and read about her.  She's a piece of work, I'm telling ya. 

Back to my story, I looked over to where all the shouting was happening, and Greedy Bess and another coworker I'll call Attitude were all up in each other's faces just a going at it.  Another TXV worker walked over and got them separated and calmed down, and I went on about my business.  

Some time later, someone had told me that they were arguing over a fan.  Sheesh....A few minutes after that, I saw Cuz come get Attitude and take her up to the HR office.  A minute or two later, Inspector Gadget came and got all of her stuff and took it up there.  

They'd fired her.  "Seriously?  They fired her for arguing about a fan?"  But no, they'd fired her for cussing out Inspector Gadget.  Oh...yeah, you can't cuss out your supervisor like that.  

The only thing, though, and my coworkers and I discussed this, is that they don't perp walk them out of the plant any more when they fire someone.  Back in the day, they walked them out -- down the main aisle in front of the whole plant so everyone knew they were getting walked out the door.  

Anyway, that's one way to start the new year off with a bang.  

The rest of my day seems dull by comparison, but let me tell you about it anyway.   My last Christmas gift finally arrived.   My brother had told me he'd ordered me something that wouldn't arrive until after Christmas, and it's here!  

It actually got here yesterday, but I was so tired I forgot to tell you about it.  I've been wanting this book for ages, and I've already started reading it.  OK, I read about half of the introduction then fell asleep, but it's a start.  I'm going to go read some more, if I don't fall asleep again.  These 3:30 mornings are a bit rough.

Not much else going on right now.  I'm still trying to get back into the swing of the work routine.  This afternoon, I planted one packet of my bluebonnet seeds, which looks like it might be enough, provided most of the seeds germinate.  The gardening bench my sister sent me really came in handy for that.  It was nice not to have to squat-- which I'm definitely getting too old to do -- or kneel on damp ground.  

On a similar note, my garlic is starting to perk up a bit, but I'm not so sure about the celery.  

Maybe it'll start growing when it warms up some or maybe it won't.  We'll have to wait and see.  

My onions are definitely growing, though.  

The only other thing of note is that I finished my Classical music course from Hillsdale College.  The last lesson was just listening to him play for 45 minutes, which reminds me, I still need to practice my piano.  

I guess I'd better get on that. 

Laters. 

I Did It

I did it.  I survived my first day back at work, but it wasn't easy, I'm telling ya.   When that alarm went off at 3:30, I did not want to get out of bed.  I briefly considered checking my 401(k) to see if I had enough saved up to retire today, but in the end, out of bed I got and to work I went. 

Where nothing had changed, as far as I could tell.  The very first order I set up on was short on adapter tubes -- and I mean short in quantity, not length.  And the second was short on a header, and the third had too many headers and not enough adapter tubes, and the next one had adapter tubes bent wrong...and so on and so forth. 

In other words, business as usual.  

By the way, Salena, Robert brought out some of the 2026 calendars, so I don't need one, but thank you for thinking about it.  😊  I knew you would.  

After work, I ran into Walmart and bought a new computer mouse. 

And it really is lavender.  And it really is silent.  It's a bit disconcerting not to hear the click of the buttons, but I'm slowly getting used to it.  I was clicking four or five times at first, before I remembered it's supposed to be silent.  

While I was there, I took a gander at the coffee makers and found one with the keep warm technology and it was only $13.  

It's not programmable, but it does have auto shut off and anti drip capability.   As soon as I got home, I ran the two cycles of plain water through it, and then made hot water for real.  I now have a bag of Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer tea steeping and an episode of Call The Midwife on the TV.

I also checked out the Christmas clearance, which was indeed marked down to 90% off.  It was pretty well picked over, but I did get two more boxes of cards, which were only 66 cents each. 

I was thinking I could send some off to Seaman's Church Institute with my next shipment of hats, since they can always use Christmas cards.  The only other thing I got is this cookie cutter with a stencil.  

I debated on whether I would even use it, but it was only 23 cents, so I took a chance.  Since I have so many other cookies in the freezer, I want to do roll out cookies next Christmas, so this will come in handy.   

The last thing I did was to swing by the garden center to see what they had out.  The shelves are still pretty bare, but they're working on filling them up.  They have quite a few seed displays already, so I got two more packets of bluebonnet seeds. 

Tomorrow, I'll plant them in some of the bare spots where the last batch didn't germinate, and we'll just see what comes up.   Over the next few weeks, I'll buy a few more packets to stash in the freezer and plant in September.  

Now if you'll excuse me, 3:30 came mighty early this morning, and I have a mug of hot tea waiting for me.  

Laters. 

That’s That

That's that for this year.  

The kids are gone, and even though they were only here a few hours, the house still feels a bit empty without them.  

I vacuum sealed the rest of the cookies and candy and put them into the deep freeze to save for next year, keeping only a small amount out for me to enjoy this evening and tomorrow. 

We didn't even open the store bought cookies and fruit cake.  

Yes, I like fruit cake!  We used to make it every year when I was a kid-- it was one of our family traditions, and eating it was a much of a deal as baking it.  We'd all gather as a family, and each get a small slice with a cup of Coca-Cola.  I still enjoy a good slice of fruit cake, but I'm the only one here who will eat it, so if I do make it, I make mini loaves and vacuum seal those.  I don't know why I bought a cake, since I still have one mini loaf left in the freezer.  I ought to get it out and cut it up...I think I will. 

I wish the kids would have stayed one more day, because today would have been the perfect day to sit out by the fire pit.  It was chilly enough to make the fire feel good, but not so cold as to freeze our toes off.  I debated on putting a fire out there myself, but I was still melancholy enough I just didn't feel like it. 

Instead, this was today's project. 

It's a bit of a pain in the butt to put them together, and this roof holder thing never fits right, but we got 'er done in the end. 

Decorating it was fun,  

but I was a little disappointed that they changed the tray.  You can see in this photo of the one I did last year, the tray had a whole front yard that could also be decorated.  

This one had barely enough room for the house.  

There wasn't even enough room for the gingerbread men.  Heh, you can also see that my piping skills have not improved one whit since last year.   Oh well, it was still fun to do.

I debated on whether to bring my storage boxes in from the shed and start taking my decorations down, but I didn't.  I'll probably wait until Friday to do that.  Instead, I just watched football and knit all day.  And as promised, here is the current hat OTN. 

Yarn:  Red Heart Supersaver Bitty Stripes

Colorway:  Crayon Box

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8/ 5 mm

By the way, my garden staples still haven't arrived.  They were supposed to get here Monday.   Not that the need is urgent or anything, but still I want stuff to get here when they say they're going to get here.

And finally, I did lesson two of my classical music course.  It made me cry, too, but in a totally different way.  I forget which song the professor was playing, but it was so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes.  

Needless to say, I'm enjoying this one so much more than chemistry.  

Boxing Day

I gotta be honest, I've tried several times to start this post, but am having a hard time getting it going.  Truth is, Christmas just hits differently when there is no longer any family around to celebrate with.  I don't know why this year seems to be harder, but it is.  Even my introverted self misses the noise and the chaos, and all the kids opening their presents -- even when those kids were us.  My sibs and I.  

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate all of my friends who reached out to wish me a Merry Christmas, but it's just not the same.  I suppose by now I ought to be used to spending Christmas alone -- except for those few hours of time Cody manages to pry away from Brennan's parents.  

About that, Brennan had to work Christmas Eve, so they didn't get here until nearly 7:00 PM, and the store had been so slammed all day, she hadn't had a chance even to get something to eat and she was starving. Good thing I'd been starving about an hour before then and had already fixed all of the food.  She just had to zap it in the microwave, and I don't know what it is about those two, but they always want to stand in my kitchen to eat.  

So we ate, opened gifts -- more about that in a minute-- then Cody drove us around looking at lights.  By the time we got back from doing that, we were all pretty tired, and went to bed not long after that.  Christmas morning, they had to get up and rush off to Memphis so they could spend time with Brennan's parents before all of her cousins came over. 

I was a bit disappointed, because I'd wanted to bake and decorate cookies with them.  And watch Christmas movies, and just spend time with my son.  We did talk about it briefly, though, while Bren was out of the room.  He said he'd vented a bit, because he was the one having to drive 200 miles, and felt like they should be more considerate of him.  I said, "Not just that, but you know I'd like to spend some time with you over the holidays, too."  

I told him I wasn't going to say anything, because it wasn't my place, but I'm tired of being treated like an afterthought, settling for the leftovers of my son's time  -- especially when they're spending all week up there in Memphis.  Cody said they'd stop by on their way home, but knowing them, it'll be just long enough to use the bathroom and they'll be gone again. 

OK, enough of my moaning.   After they'd eaten, we sat down to open gifts, and everyone seemed delighted with the haul. 

Brennan has gotten into crochet lately, so I got her a set of hooks, some yarn, a ball winder and spool.

I also got her a candle and some fuzzy slipper socks.  She seemed to love it all. 

This yarn wasn't a Christmas present, but I gave it to her because honestly, I can't even remember what I'd bought it for. 

As you can see, I'd started a scarf, but I changed my mind and bought three more skeins of the yarn, but I have no idea why.  Oh, well, Brennan can use it for whatever she wants, and I'm excited to see what she does with it. 

Cody's big gifts were a Strikeman Dry Fire training system, which he couldn't wait to get started playing with.  

He let me try it, too and I did OK, considering how long it's been since I've shot.  Let's just say, they all landed in the gray center area, but my grouping was pretty loose.  It didn't help that I couldn't see the front sight, and I'm sure that's because I desperately need new glasses.  

My eye doctor retired and I'm having trouble bringing myself to find a new one.  I've been going to the same eye clinic ever since I moved here.  It was run by a father and his two sons, and when the last one of them retired, I'm left eye doctorless.  

But that's another story for another day.  

I also got an expansion pack of targets where you could play them like an arcade game.  It was pretty fun, and Cody didn't put it down until he was ready to go to bed.  I even got mine out and he figured out the app for me.  I'd bought one years ago, but never could figure out how to make it work.  

I'm not very technical, you see.   The question now is, can I figure it out without him there to work the app for me? 

His other presents were a new range bag, which is really nice, and some new flannel pants. 

I told him I didn't know what to get him this year, since they don't use Amazon any more.  He said it's because they're going to robotics and taking jobs away from real people -- but he uses the self checkout at stores.  Go figure. 

The one thing I got them both that I forgot to put into the photo above was this sausage and cheese gift set from Hickory Farms. 

And this is my loot.   The Rudolph record is from my older brother and his family.  The house shoes, Downton Abbey DVD and gardening bench are from my sister and her family.  The fairy house is from my younger brother, and

the blanket, candle, and hot chocolate mix are from the kids. 

I joked with Brennan that every time someone gives me something warm for Christmas like a blanket or jacket or hoodie, it's always hot. It won't last long, though, because we're supposed to be back below freezing Sunday night into Monday.   

That's meteorologist speak...

I have no idea who sent the mug with the Texas flag on it.  It just appeared on my doorstep a few days before Christmas.  I have my suspicions... but nobody has fessed up yet. 

I hate to say I have a favorite gift, but I'm totally loving this garden bench.  I turn it like this and I can kneel on it, then use the handles to help get myself back up.  

Or I can turn it up this way, and sit on it. 

And I can put the tool pouches on which ever side I need them to be.  And the whole thing folds up for storage. 

Look at this: 

The gloves that came with the bench has claws on the right one, so I can dig with them.  This afternoon, I used those claws -- and the bench -- to weed my bluebonnet bed. 

Oh, it made it so easy, and my back didn't hurt at all!  

By the way, those candles turned out to be such a disappointment.  They're gorgeous and all, but it only takes about three days for the batteries to run down.  After the second time, I stopped replacing them.  Next year, I might try to find some solar powered lights.  

Before Cody and Brennan rushed off Christmas morning, he got his new drone out and flew it a bit.  

Can you see it?  It's a tiny little speck up there.   He got it high enough that we were able to see the lake from here.  He let me fly it a minute, but I didn't dare go that high.  I was afraid I'd get it stuck in a tree or something.   I only flew it for a few minutes, and got so caught up in it, I completely forgot to look at what was showing on Cody's phone.  I was watching the drone. 

Cody says when they come back through on the way home, he wants to take it out to the lake and fly it somewhere out there.  I'd be afraid I'd drop it into the water myself.   

Anyway, they left around 11:00, and I was left to my own devices for the rest of the day.  I caught up on some Christmas movies that I hadn't gotten around to watching yet,  cleaned up the kitchen a bit, then settled in with my new house shoes and some knitting to watch my never-miss Christmas classic. 

By the time Harry declared his big brother George was the richest man in town, I had another hat ready to send off to some seafarer next year. 

Yarn:  Red Heart Granny Square

Colorway:  Soft White-Frigid

Pattern:  Basic Beanie

Needles:  US 8/ 5 mm

I think I have enough of this yarn for one more hat, which I will be casting on here in a minute.  

This morning, despite my better judgement, I drove into town to check out the clearance sales.  I didn't get very much, just one box of cards, some wax melts and a few things to put back for next year's Christmas gifts. 

I picked up a couple of bags of the candy melts, but put them back.  I've still got all of those chocolate chips.  I'll just use them to make the candy in my new molds.  

The only other thing I did today was to start vacuum sealing some of the cookies I'd made and putting them into the deep freeze.  Tomorrow I'll put up some of the candy as well.  But for now, I've got a hat to cast on and a chemistry lesson to watch.  

The Word Became Flesh

 

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to their own town to register.