Too Hectic for My Comfort...

...more like "freakin' INSANE" and I don't like it. 

Well. Can't even remember where I left off. So we'll start with pictures and go from there... 

Weather... 

St. John's Church

So it snowed. Finally, I guess. Don't be lobbing snowballs at me. I like it. Honest. Though who knows - if I lived in Buffalo, NY, where they got a YEAR'S worth of snow in a day or so? Probably not so much. But this is what it looked like when we came out of church this past Sunday.

Kid #2 lives farther north and west of us, so he got his early. And Kid #1 doesn't care.

So far, we're just getting much of the cold weather. It's deceptive and shocking, because it's lovely sunny weather, and you walk outside - and freeze your lungs!

But this is definitely a switch because it truly has not been this cold, this bitter, this early.

Which makes me wonder what winter will be like when it finally gets here. 

Sunrise on Saturday

And I suppose the atmosphere had something to do with this shot. This was the sunrise last Saturday, when I had to come to work at "dawn:thirty." It is cropped, because as I explained to Hubby, you would otherwise see the gas station and parking lot lights. And the sunrise + clouds is just much more beautiful than all that miscellaneous stuff. 

Besides, I kind of wanted to compete with his pictures from the parks where he walks the dogs. This can't compare, of course, but it sure comes close. 


If you're wondering about the weather, take a tip from Tippi: Baby it's gonna be COLD outside. This is what we got off her last night. We figure she's gearing up for an even MORE luxurious coat for the coming weather. 

Yes, I know - enough to start another bag of spinning stash, but after what the last batch cost me, I can't do that. And I haven't even BEGUN to knit that stuff up. This will go outside for the birds, whoever's staying around for the winter. 

Knitting...

Well, I've got about a foot on the blanket now. Another foot to go yet, before I get to the edging. It'll happen. I'm willing it so. 

St. Charles Sock

Though I'm still plugging away on the St. Charles Sock. Here it is, and I think it'll be lovely. Not much done on it this past week, because I've been zipping along on the blanket. 

I have all my bags ready for the "Knit From Stash" KAL that our Addicted to Sock Knitting group is doing. Can't wait to see what Hubby put in the January bag. 

Can I knit a pair of socks in a month? I've done it before. 

Three Planted Seeds...

...is the Etsy store of my friend Kristy. Here's a lovely amethyst bracelet she made for me. She got Audrey and in return, I got this bracelet. I love amethyst and it fits nicely. 

So check it out and see what you think:  Three Planted Seeds -- I think you'll like her work. The bracelets are lovely and she's got a nice little thing going there. 

She's a yoga teacher who teaches with me at Just Breathe Yoga in Crest Hill. She does a lovely weekend class and does a lot with kids' yoga and the like. 

I teach a basic class, and will also pick up two more of them during the week. It's nice to have some sort of job security, even if it's part-time. 

Health Stuff...

Ok, so SuPrep is an amazing "cleanse" for a colonoscopy. If only it wasn't so vile-tasting. I now have an aversion to white grape juice. You've gotta drink it with liquid. You have to dilute it to 16 oz., so it's 6 oz. of the stuff and 10 oz. of some "clear" liquid. I chose white grape juice, figuring that it wouldn't be so bad. 

Oh, it was. 

Then, I had to drink another TWO of the 16-oz. containers of water, within an hour of drinking that vile brew. In the meantime, Hubby made me some yellow Jell-O. I don't like Jell-O except as a vehicle for fruit and/or ice cream... As you can see, Raisa had an opinion on it. Urgh. 

Let's just say that this prep worked, and I didn't have to leap over dogs to get to the bathroom on time. But I was up at least 3 times in the night. 

For what it's worth, they found 2 polyps and are sending them off to be biopsied. But the doc says that it's "normal" to do that. Just typing this, I realized that I hadn't scheduled the follow-up. Well, that's done now!

And I had a little "toe problem" which was taken care of. Normally, I wouldn't mention this except that I was looking for coban tape - you know, that stuff that sticks to itself and not your skin? Well... Apparently, all we had was "doggie coban" - which, you will be happy to know, is chew-proof... Notice the lovely paw prints on the lime green bandage.

Yikes...

Anyway, I think I'm reacting to something; both legs itch. I suspect it's the cream I used on my feet last night. If it's not one thing, it's another! 

Christmas...

So this year, I won't have Kid #2 to help with baking. Hubby and I will split it. Here's our list, so far. Now to just stick with it. Kid #1 wanted to know why potica was questionable. It's not a question. I have to make it. It's just a question of WHEN to do so. 

I was thinking of decorating for Christmas over the Thanksgiving weekend, since I'm not working and we are actually having our family Thanksgiving this coming Sunday. We shall see how it works. Depends a lot on the weather, too. I want to put some things into the ground, but if the cold pattern continues, we may have to settle on garland and lights around the porch and call it good. 

I do have a hankering to make macaroons and they're not on the list. We'll stick to one batch of each thing, though I'm pretty sure Hubby will do several batches of the Filled Cookies. Addicting little buggers, though. 

And here's what was in our local paper today. Truly a statement on "Christmas Creep" which almost rivals my Zombie Santas on Halloween picture...

Of course, they didn't have pumpkins with legs helping to haul the sleigh, but they might as well have had. 

I just heard Sirius Radio expounding on their "Holiday" channels. I admit, part of me wanted to skip over to that space, but the other part is more like, "No. Not till at LEAST Thanksgiving." 

It's going to be an easy year anyway. I'm not loading the kids down with stuff. Just a few kitchen items I know they both want or need, and that's likely to be it. Maybe a couple of t-shirts, if I can find them. We have a "thing" about t-shirts, mostly with snarky sayings on them.  

So here's my Christmas gift to me. Two porcelain ornaments by artist Amy Bolin. She does fantastic dog stuff, and even though it's not a red Husky, it does remind me of my Topaz, so I got that one. And the heart with an Elkhound was too sweet to resist. 

Click on Amy's name and check out her site. She even does custom work, so if you have a special canine you want memorialized, Amy's your artist. 

These are 2-sided, and I had her print the picture on both sides. You could have the one side left blank or have an inscription on it. 

Random Picture...


Yep. Tippi. With her special friend from Lewis University. This is what I enjoy about Tuesdays with Tippi. The kids just love her. 

And she loves them. 

She has her favorites, but all in all, she's overjoyed every time we go there. 

Doesn't matter when. Just that she's happy to be there, and they are happy that she's with them.

Tonight we have a guest appearance at the local chapter of The Compassionate Friends at my campus. So in a bit, I'll log off and go get her to come back for a little while. She'll be a good comfort to those folks. 

Hopefully, they will appreciate the joy of a big fluffy Elkhound. I know so many people do.