Hubster Has a Birthday

By December 26th each year, I feel sick at the thought of birthday cake. With our traditional Solstice kick-off of a Yule Log (read here, yummy chocolatey cake with creamy insides all rolled up and covered in still more chocolate that meets butter and much powdered sugar to make even the purist soul moan in unbecoming ways) which happened to occur on Thing 2's birthday this year (Happy Birthday, kid - I lurve you!) so there was much munching on this and the requested birthday dinner of chili. Don't you wish you were in my house the next day? Then, we have the usual piggery of holiday proportions with pies, treats, candy, bribes from a fat man in a furry suit who gets far more respect than I ever have from my hungry babes, and a feast or two. Poor hubster. Since he can remember, he's gotten batteries for that gadget he got for x-mus and a card. We don't do that to him but where I fail every year is a home-made cake. By this day, my arms are near beaten off by all the cooking and threatening of husband-thing over the preceding three days. So, I called in sick again this year and told him I'll make him a pie tomorrow. Don't hurt yourselves feeling too sorry for him - he does love pie and I gave him permission to have that ever so often splurge he goes on wherein he devours a box of donuts or Lil' Debbie cakes and somehow manages not to vomit or gain a pound. Life just isn't fair.....

Thanks so much to all of you who emailed or commented and offered a donation to my 'surprise Santa' box for my friend who lost her home in a fire a few days before the holiday. I'll probably send out the monster package after the New Year and I can't say thank you in as eloquent a manner as I'd like because I'm still drooling on myself and coming off of a 5 day sugar high. It's a miracle, trust me, that I haven't already forgotten what I'm doing and starting bouncing off the walls or something.

We had a pretty good holiday and hope ya'll did, too. Things 1, 2 and 3 were totally thrilled with their hand-knits and the socks were still on their feet this morning so I better get to knitting more because they're threatening not to take them off until they have another pair. Geez! Like I'm their personal knitting machine or something. Oh, stars, galaxies far and away - is there a sock knitting machine out there with my name on it? I know, I know, me - a machine - it may seem utter heresy but I'd be lying if I didn't say that the moment a sock knitting machine comes into my life, I'm naming it and accepting it as a member of the family. While I generally hold the 'make it yourself you bum' line - like all people in this world, I have temptations I cannot resist.

One of those temptations happened on my one shopping trip in preparation for the holidays. See, my 'rule' is that since I work like a dog making so many gifts - I will only go out in the 'real' world to shop during the holiday season ONCE. You know, there are those little extras that are needed to make even a handmade holiday nicer. Paper, tape, a sweet momento that says, 'this is just for you'. So, this year I did something totally out of character and dropped the things off at the movie theater and went to do my 1.5 hrs. of time in the trenches with the far more savvy and brutal pool of genuine Christmas shoppers than I ever hope to be. I managed to get it all done and buy the one store bought gift that mattered (some games because we are a game loving family - poker, pirate dice, monopoly, rook, chess, and yahtzee)and while I was finishing up at a discount store I saw yarn. Yes, even though I own my own shop and raise my own wool and spin my own yarn - I still have a dashing moment wherein I feel I may get so excited I will squeal when I see a pile of yarn. I looked through it all skeptical and in control. Acrylic, suede, stuff I'll never want to knit....and, then, ONE Noro skein at the bottom - silk garden, no less. If you've ever felt this stuff, you know it isn't as soft as you'd expect with being mohair and silk (primarily). But, for some reason, I have always liked the IDEA of it, at least. I never got past the idea because the price is usually a killer. But, this one was 1/3 of the original price and although I'm sure I'm written down in some book of naughty and not-nice for buying meself something whilst on a presumed shopping trip for my children's meager Christmas - I bought it anyway.

Now that I've knit it, I understand why I was so attracted to it in the first place. The colors, while not my favorite mix, are done in much the same way that some of my 'layered' spinning batts will knit into. Also, ya'll, its a soft single - need I say more? After meeting my duties as mother and wife, I broke out the ball on Christmas morning and made myself a Calorimetry. Thanks to Ravelry and the kind help of Ms. Mouse-Mama, I knew to cut the cast on in half and made modifications to this one just like I did for thing 1's Caloritmetry (which she loved, by the way) and had it finished by lunch. Sweet. My new friend - 'Cookie' is wearing it for you, here. I've graduated from the styrofoam head to the ex-beauty school mannequin head (god help the poor soul who get a haircut from the person who massacred this dear mannequin). This is just a tiny step, my friends. Today, it is one head - tomorrow - a whole herd of mannequins! What's that I hear coming down the road? Sirens? I better scoot before they put me in the van!

Oh, if you still read me, hubster - happy birthday and I love you. Hmmm, did you make the call?