Random Stuff Today...

Aside from the idiot-in-chief claiming that "Democrats vote, go change their shirt, and vote again," as if Election Judges were blind as freakin' bats?? I mean, Jesus, Mary & Joseph. On a stick. 

Sorry, the continual barrage of stupid is getting more and more unbearable. 

Let's get to the good stuff. 

Early Thanksgiving...

As has been our custom, this year, Thanksgiving for our family is actually the Sunday before. This year, I'm feeling cheated. Thanksgiving is usually near Hubby's birthday, and this year, it feels extremely early. That's not fair. I need time to process the speed-of-light stuff going on in 2018 and an early Thanksgiving is just not right. 

On top of that, I'm a bit peeved... I'm working (as usual, it seems, and yes, I'm feeling a bit pressured...) and so Hubby will be doing the turkey this year. I'll be doing the sweet potatoes on Saturday night. Kid #2 will be at the house on Sunday to do the potatoes (the cheesy ones he does every year) while we're at church and then it's off to my mom's house. 

We're trimming the menu this year - or at least we're trying. Hubby found the largest turkey I've ever seen - a 28-lb. one. 

Yes, I'd rather have an organic one. Free range. But I'm outvoted every year and you know what? Some battles you just can't win. One year, I got a "heritage turkey" and someone didn't put out the whole bird - my family thought I'd gotten a little 12-pounder. That was the end of that. They want what they want. 

We're doing it a little differently this year, though. Roasting it with garlic, so that could be interesting. 

The Titanic...

So, today I had to drive Hubby's vehicle in to work. I call it "The Titanic" because it's a lot bigger than mine. Everyone says there's "not much difference" between an Edge and an Explorer, but thank you very much: there is! 

My truck needed a new hub bearing, and we also had to have a sensor replaced. They ordered the wrong sensor. 

It's back now, and I can drive my own cozy little truck to work. Good job that I got the thing fixed, but I had a bit of "sticker shock."

My sunroof "lid" (the part that matches the interior of the car that you close when you don't want sun pounding down onto you) managed to get loose while The Kid and I were in Colorado. Hubby tried to fix it, but it wasn't working and with the weather change, the fabric was getting loose again. 

I asked him to ask the dealer to estimate the repair. FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. 

Are you kidding me? $500 for the parts (???) and $1,000 for the labor because you apparently have to take the entire thing apart to do this. 

Ummmmm. What the heck?? So we're going to talk to our "body guy" (my brother's best friend) and see if we can get something done a little cheaper. Hubby says, "That's why I always have mine open." But I don't like to drive with the sun on my head, thanks. And what's the point of having something that's able to be closed, except you can't close it? 

The Knitting...

Well, this is my time of year! I get to wear All The Knitted Things. I've been enjoying my socks (and boy, do I wish I could be knitting on the WIPs and the new ones I want to start!). And I'm able to wear my shawlettes. And I'm wearing my mitts. 

It's not quite scarf weather yet, but I've worn my pink march hat a couple of times already. 

This is the first time I've worn the "wingspan" shawlette that I made from the Sally Melville book, using the alpaca lace-weight, with size 7 needles. I would like to make this one again, with sock yarn, maybe. 

And at the lunch break, I was working on the last of the Christmas hats. I'm honestly tired of this pattern and I can't wait to finish this one off. 

Like I said, I just want to be knitting the other stuff. 

But it was rolling along today, as I pulled up a Sherlock Holmes video on my laptop. I normally don't bring my laptop to the job, but the other job has gotten busy, so I have to work through lunch, I guess. 

Maybe this is why I'm frustrated at not being able to cook Thanksgiving dinner - I'm pulled in a few too many directions right now. 

Anyway, the red stripe is the first one, and I'm very pleased at how it's going to look. I think this will be the "classiest" one of all of them. 

But I'll still be happy to knit something else. At this point? Almost anything else. Even baby stuff. 

Of course, the leftovers will be used for the prayer patches; I'm still churning those out. 

I may, though, make a "scrappy hat" using the blue or the gold for the base and doing just one more hat. Maybe. Someone can talk me out of it, please...

Speaking of which I do have some stash to do a baby layette. Just waiting. Got some interesting colors: burgundy and pumpkin. Before you poo-poo it, let me tell you that it looks really interesting. 

I like different colorways for baby stuff, unless Mommy wants the pastels. 

The Banner...

The banner is coming along. Sort of. I'm definitely a crafter, not a seamstress. 


I stitched up the base - the duck cloth. Hubby drew the tree. We had quite the discussion about how big the tree was supposed to be. There was no good answer. I was given the dimensions, and my hands are kind of tied. 

The tree is done; I had to cut out the adhesive stuff, and then iron it on to the brown fabric. 

Then I had to iron that onto the base. 


Hubby finished drawing the outline on the adhesive bonding product with a Sharpie marker. That actually marked up my ironing board pad. Irretrievably, I think. 

I'll wash it, but I'm pretty sure I have to buy a new one. 

I'm going to "cheat" a bit, because of time and my own sewing skills. I'm going to outline the tree on the base cloth with fabric paint - the stuff that's dimensional, and that we used to use to make the "painted sweatshirts" back a decade or so ago. I was pretty good with those - but it's been a while. Anyway, that should work, but my only concern will be the hand prints. 

Because of the constraints of the dimensions, it's going to be interesting to not have the "hand print leaves" look like a muddy mess! An adult hand print will be pretty large! Kids' prints will work better, honestly, but we don't have a lot of kids at the church. 

I'll do the painting Friday night or Saturday. It's got to be at the church on Sunday for the first batch of prints. Wish me luck! 

Random Picture...

Yes, it's blurry. It's not your eyes. This is from several years ago, when Tippi and I used to do therapy work outside the lunchroom at Lewis University. We used to go during the day, and we'd see so many students. 

She was younger then, too, and a ball of energy. This is her, getting the Zoomies when one of her favorite students came by. 

I used to use a 15-foot lead, which I don't do anymore. She tangles up too many students! 

Anyhow, we still go to Lewis, but we're in the evenings, in the Library. And Tippi's slowing down some. Her coat's not what it used to be; she's got some bald patches and she's a little less energetic. Actually, we'll be trimming her hours a bit in the next few weeks. 

She's 10 - going on 11 in January. When she's got to go potty, she's GOT to go. And the 2-hour visits are getting to be a tiny bit too long for her bladder. 

This makes me happy - this picture shows her true personality and her joy. But it also makes me sad, because she's an "elder dog" now. That black muzzle is grey now. The eyes are a tad dim. And she doesn't "zoomie" as much. 

They steal your heart. And break it. And I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Mom Wants a Hat...

...So Christmas has come and gone in a whirl and we're on the verge of the New Year. We really have to do something about the chaos that is Christmas Eve around here. Seriously, it's getting to me in all the wrong ways. 

Too many places to be in too short a time span. This year, we didn't have to do as much of the cooking, which was actually kind of odd. I'm used to it, and I honestly would've preferred to have done it. But it's done and over and all enjoyed it, I think. 

I know my nephew enjoyed his vegan casserole. I ended up with a melange of spaghetti squash, small zucchini squash (I mean little ones, not the fancy "baby" ones - I sliced them and sauteed them), baby portobello mushrooms, shallots, small tomatoes, and roasted garbanzo beans. I also wilted some kale and used that as the base. Drizzled with infused balsamic vinegar and olive oil, it went over well, but I should have put it all in a chafing dish. 

And when I make it again, I'm adding cheese... Not that it wasn't perfectly fine without it. And the V & O drizzle was, if I may say, an inspiration. But I could do cheese and it might be a little more hearty. 

Roasted garbanzo beans, by the way? Yowza, delicious! So easy: take a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drain them and rinse them. Toss them with olive oil and lay them on a parchment-lined jellyroll pan (they roll...you need a pan with a small lip). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and your favorite herb blend. I used Penzey's Spices Mural of Flavor salt-free blend, since I'd already salted the beans. Oven at 400* and bake for about 10-15 minutes. They'll shrink up a bit, and brown slightly. 

So, two things you can do with them: eat them right then and there, or use them in a casserole. Well, three things: you can chill them, and use them as "croutons" for your salad, when it's salad weather. 

I've been in a cooking mood, and with the holidays, I've had time to indulge. Cornbread was on the menu the other night; usually it's in a cast-iron pan, and I should've stuck with that! Anyway, this is my "salmon loaf" pan. 

I also baked some banana/flax/oatmeal muffins. And I started some turkey broth for soup. 

We had a couple of turkey carcasses in the freezer, and Hubby had initially pulled out two bags - with 2 carcasses each...That would've made a lot of broth, which we can freeze, but he decided to just do one bag, which was fine with me. Leeks, garlic, carrots and celery. A little salt & pepper. 

I also added 4 cubes of Knorr vegetarian broth. That adds a little more depth of flavor. Simmering for a couple of hours, the house smells "homey." I mean, I love my essential oils, but there's something about just really nice home cooking to bring that smell and that feeling to a house. I have egg noodles that we'll use in the soup -- and I told Hubby (boy, I'm ambitious today!) that if we didn't have noodles, "I can just make them."

Which I can. Egg noodles are easy. I haven't done them in a long while. I even have a pasta maker, which hasn't seen the light of day in many a year. Honestly, to do the noodles, I'd have done them like my granny did: rolling them out and cutting with a knife. 

The muffins are my new plan: I need to eat breakfast. Lately, the days get away from me, and I find myself starving. And then, of course, I eat ALL the wrong things. 

This isn't a "punish myself" thing. It's an honest reflection on what my days have been like lately, and I know I need to do better. A muffin, particularly a home-made one, is better than just drinking tea. I used a muffin recipe and - of course - added stuff. So there's about 1/4 c. molasses in this one, diced candied ginger, clove, fresh ground nutmeg, and a handful of flax seed. That should make them fairly "beefy." I don't like sweets in the morning. I probably should've added some chopped dates, but there's enough in there. I added 1/4 c. of unsweetened applesauce to the mix instead of oil, so that took the fat down a notch. I froze half of them, and have the other half in the fridge so I can "grab and go."

Knitting...

So my mom wants a hat. She expressed in no uncertain terms that she'd even take one from the dog-hair yarn. She can't seem to keep a hat on her head, so she wanted a "hat-band" kind of device. And of course, I couldn't find a pattern. So I made one up. 

I used Cascade 220 superwash wool, and I held it double. I was originally going to do the whole thing in one piece, with increases on the one end and decreases on the other. Instead, I decided to split it in half. So it's garter stitch (straight knitting) and apparently, to do a grafting on garter is something odd...

Who knew? But anyway, I managed to graft it together, and then used some leftover Cascade 220 superwash (from a baby sweater) and did 2 rows around the whole thing. Then, I crocheted two chains (3 strands - 1 of the multi-colored, and 2 of the brown), and attached them, using buttons as an accent, and I tried it on myself. 

I wasn't sure of the dimensions, and I frankly guessed! But it should be ok, and I told my mom that if it was too big, she could just pin it under her chin - OR - tie it OVER her hat. 

She wants to have something to cover her ears, so I hope this works. She's coming to pick it up today. We shall see. 

If it works for her, I may make myself one. 

This is going to be a knit-heavy post! Finally, I got around to blocking my student's shawl. Honestly? If you're going to give someone a knitted object, unless it's socks (which I don't think really need to be blocked), block it!! 

This shawlette wasn't blocked and it was far too small. So I blocked it for her. I don't like blocking someone else's knitting. I think I did it right, but it wasn't the dimensions according to the picture she showed me. But it's better than it was. 

I hope she likes it. On tap this weekend, I'm going to block my "Close to You" shawl. Can't wait to see that finished and can't wait to wear it. 

Yarn held double

But...in the meantime, I started some crocheted mitts. It's cold and my fingers don't want to work. I'm using the same yarn as my mom's hat-band, but held singly. And the stitch is called "Urchin Stitch." It's the only stitch I can read in the crochet reference book I have! Aside from that, it's really a sweet scalloped stitch. So the part of the mitts that will show will be ruffled and hopefully pretty. I'm doing them flat, then I'll seam them up. I may add buttons for a little pizzazz, but I'm not sure yet. 

Yarn held single

I started them with yarn held double, but I had two problems: (a) only 2 partial balls left; and (b) they were too big. So I frogged them, and re-started, holding the yarn single. I think they'll be more comfortable, and I'm likely to be using the yarn more efficiently. I do have enough of the baby yarn to use in a pinch, but I'd rather keep these a solid color if I can. The flat construction is good for me - first off, I've never been able to crochet any other way than flat. And second, I can adjust the thumbs better. Since my left thumb is fused, and a bit shorter than my right, it "sits" differently on my hand. 

By creating the mitts in this manner, I can make the left thumb fit the physical limitations I have. I actually crochet faster than I knit, so we'll see how much progress I made. But that being said, holding the crochet can tend to cramp up my left hand, so I have to take breaks.

For Christmas Kid #2 gave me this book - which I initially read about in Jean Miles' blog. I didn't really give it a second thought, but then it turned up as a gift from him! 

It's gorgeous, but it's all charts! I don't know how to read charts, but I guess I'd better learn. 

If nothing else, it's eye-candy. The cover knitting is amazing because it's very reminiscent of the churches we saw in France and Switzerland. I love architectural knitting - at least in the sense of the fabric having an architectural aspect. 

I do not like "architectural" knitting where a pattern isn't symmetrical. I know it's supposed to be a "design element," but I get the distinct feeling that if I showed up for work in a sweater that I'd knitted with a "staggered" hem, I'd get a bit of side-eye and there would be questions as to whether I actually knew what I was doing!

I get it - I see the patterns in Vogue and in some of the "runway" pictures in the paper. I just don't like it. I'm cool with a ruffle, or certain details - which, ultimately, can hide some knitting flubs. But when I see a sweater where the right front, left front, and back are three different lengths? Nope. Can't do it. 

Mother Nature's Circle of Life...

Hubby filled the bird feeders and put extra suet feeders out, since we have trouble with the woodpeckers - they seem to want to poke holes in our house! Today, I also tossed out some bread for the birds - right or wrong, I had some stale bread that was going to be pitched anyway. The birds might as well enjoy it. 

I was on the phone with my mother, and all of a sudden - WOOSH -- a hawk flew by. Scattered the birds. He landed on the evergreen next door. 

I've seen them snatch a sparrow off a feeder, and this time, he was just scouting. I haven't seen him since, and the birds are back, chowing down. 

Random Picture...

One of my Christmas gifts was Opus! I've wanted one for a while, and this is apparently the newest version. He's pretty huge, actually. 

When I opened it, Raisa was sitting next to me, and the look on her face was amazing: "Wow, is this MY toy???" 

No. It's not. I pet him every once in a while. He's sitting and holding court on the dining room table, next to the tree. 

We've taken down the lights on the gutters; figured we'd get them down before the true deep-freeze hits for the next several days. I hate the look of the post-Christmas season. I get so used to the beautiful lights - and now everything is naked. 

We still have the deck decorated and then left the garland on the porch rail. At this point, everything's frozen anyway. We've had a few days of really, really cold weather (double-digits below zero), and the garland would snap. More importantly, the lights on the deck are wound kind of tightly, and when Hubby was taking the gutter lights down, he commented on how frozen the cords were. 

So I'll have my pretty lights up for a few days longer, and I'll enjoy them. Now, it's back to see about skimming the broth, and working on those mitts. 

Truckin' Through Thursday...

...as in "truckin through the mush." 

Big news: It's snowing again. Now, I don't mean I'm all "Henny Penny" about it. Just saying that our current weather is 19*F with "feels like" at 10* and snow showers. 

Tomorrow, it turns to rain. Saturday it turns to sleet. Welcome, January. We went from -45* at the beginning of the week to Sunday's upcoming high of 40* - ABOVE zero, mind you. Darn nearly spring weather...

So now that 2014 is here, let's get back to the interesting stuff. Not that food, reading and knitting are NOT interesting, but I did take a slight holiday break from "The Insanity." Let's have some discussion, though. It's time.

Women...

From a study done by a Harvard economist which indicated that flexible hours would lessen the gender pay gap to those good ol' boy Republicans who want to legislate women back into servitude. We're head-slappingly going back to fight fights we oughtn't have to fight in this century. 

In the Chicago Tribune the other day, Professor Claudia Goldin (gasp! a WOMAN!) states that gender salary differentials "would be considerably reduced and might vanish altogether if firms did not have an incentive to disproportionately reward individuals who labord long hours and worked particular hours." 

Translation: How come women 25 - 69 years of age, working full time, still make 77% of what men earn? She says that the pay gap in industries with more flexible work schedules (science, technology, health) is smaller than that of other industries with more rigid workdays (those professions include financial and legal professions). 

"Quite simply, the gap exists because hours of work in many occupations are worth more when given at particular moments and when the hours are more continuous," says her study. Here's her solution to closing that gender pay gap: workers must get more autonomy in determining their schedules. Read the entire article here. 

I'm 55. I have worked in office settings where I had to be at a certain place at a certain time. I actually had to pay my kid's Catholic school a fee every month because I was unable to do my monthly "lunch monitor" work. Well, because I had to WORK to pay the tuition. Plus, of course, the fee for not being able to volunteer because I had to work. 

Can you see where this argument goes? Now, I have my MA and my MBA and I work a more flexible schedule. But there are still so many women stuck in "pink collar" jobs - and whether they're stuck by training or inclination, they're still stuck. And I'm not saying that we don't need those kinds of jobs. We do. 

Crap - ANY jobs now are good ones! 

That being said, why must it only be the women who've been able to break the mold of traditional office jobs who can take advantage of that lesser pay gap? Frankly, it's the ones stuck in the cube farm or in other work where the day is fairly regimented who really need the smaller pay gap. 

But of course, we're talking about women. Who, even though they are in large part major contributors to their family's incomes, are still considered "less than" by employers. Men still get more than women, for doing the same job. 

It is 2014, right? 

Of course, with jobs at a premium here in the US anyway, I suppose I shouldn't carp on it, but it bugs me that the fights that were fought in the 70s and 80s are now either being re-fought or aren't won yet. How long will this take?

Sooooooooooo... The Republicans are trying again to legislate birth control and abortion, battles we thought we'd already dealt with. Because, you know, nothing else is going on. 

But there's good news on the ACA front: Breast cancer prevention drugs must be covered. See this link and rejoice! Now, if we can get more research money toward lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and ovarian cancer, we'd be golden. 

Yesterday on Make it Plain, I heard Dahlia Lithwick talk about Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor and her rather interesting decision regarding the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order with one of many ACA "I don't want your birth control mandate" lawsuits. The issue appears to be a release form. 

Here's how it goes. You object to the ACA mandate. Okey-dokey. Do you fit into one of the categories that qualify? Yes. Okey-dokey. Please sign this form. 

Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, says Little Sisters. If WE sign this form then it means SOMEONE ELSE has to give our employees birth control. And we object to THAT. Their ability to give our employees birth control violates OUR religious views. Here's the story. 

Now just hang on a pea-picking moment here, good Sisters. My take on this is thus: It's none of your business what I do. If you object to providing birth control, peachy. Object. Sign the form. Move on. 

But no. You have to force YOUR religion down ANYONE else's throat. That makes no sense. Well, maybe a warped manner of sense. 

So if I object to the war (Doesn't matter which one. Pick one.) and I register that objection, then that's the end of the argument. I don't get to object to anyone else's stand in the issue. Because that slope is more slippery than an Illinois freeway right now. 

That would cause whole segments of commerce and society to collapse. 

Oh, and it would likely cause the ACA to collapse. Regardless of the good the ACA does (see the cancer drug mentioned above), regardless of the countless people it'll help. "Ye Gods and Little Fishes, we WILL NOT HAVE BIRTH CONTROL." (stomp your foot here)

Just because the Little Sisters (or insert your favorite religion here) have that belief does not entitle them to push that on anyone else. Because that, my children, is then called a theocracy. 

And let me remind you of the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli. See the first sentence? This treaty was written under the presidency of George Washington and signed under the presidency of John Adams. 

"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion..." 

While every one of the Founding Fathers were "religious" - they were most often "deist" - they believed in a God, but nowhere is that God mentioned in the CONSTITUTION, which is our governing document. The Declaration of Independence, a lovely document, is not a governing document. Big difference. 

Fewer Republicans...

I liken this to slavery or indentured servitude. A small percentage of the people decide that they know what religion is best. And the rest of us are forced to go along with it. Remember the old movies? What the master of the house believed, everyone had to conform with. When he prayed, the servants prayed. When the plantation owner prayed, his slaves prayed. What he believed, they believed. 

Because that's what will happen if we keep to the current trend of legislating freedoms. 

Sr. Joan Speaks

How come it's "legislating freedoms" when they do it to those of us with ovaries and a uterus, but when it comes to guns it's all "restricting my rights"? 

How come y'all are "all about the fetus" but, making Sr. Joan Chittister's point, you all could give a lamb's left leg about the baby AFTER it gets here. In fact, not only that, but you slut-shame the mothers of said children as if the fathers had no earthly responsibility toward the child now living in this world surrounded by your condescending hatred of its very existence. Because it's a CHILD now, not a fetus. As if one has more value than the other. 

According to a recent Gallup poll, "record numbers" are registering as Independents. Not Republicans. Actually, the number of registered Republicans seems to be declining. Hey, when you have to have sensitivity training to deal with over 50% of the population (and that's only the gender split, not counting racial lines), then you have problems, kids. 

Now, if the Democrats could get as good of a message-making machine, we'd be golden. As an example, we have the redoubtable Chris Christie...Bridge-gate. But on Fox, nary a whisper. What Christie scandal? 

We Democrats/Progressives should have such a news network. Though we're not really into suspending belief in the face of evidence...that could be a problem. 

Polar Vortex...

Speaking of flying in the face of evidence, there's the "isn't he dead yet?" Pat Robertson claiming that global warming must be a hoax because there are no SUVs on Jupiter.

Ok. And pickles have feathers. 

Because that sentence makes as much sense as Robertson's statement. And for good measure, Hannity, Limpblow, Trump, and the rest of FakesNews chimed right in. 

"There IS NO GLOBAL WARMING because it's cold."

Ok, guys, here's the thing. GLOBAL. That means the ENTIRE world, not just the silly little bubble you seem to inhabit. See, Australia (Remember, that's on the OTHER side of the Earth) is having summer now. That's how it works. The seasons rotate and while WE have winter here in this hemisphere (follow along, it's not hard), the OTHER hemispheres have other seasons, so Australia, in its hemisphere - the SOUTHERN hemisphere - is having SUMMER. 

And they're baking. Record high temps. Heat wave. Massive problems with heat, including wildfires, bats dropping out of the trees and destruction of homes and property. That's why it's called GLOBAL warming. Because the temperatures all across the GLOBE are changing, too rapidly, and because of us stupid humans. 

So while I'm sitting here watching the snow fall in Illinois, Queensland is having a raging fire. Because of the heat wave. 

Because of global warming. 

If you're interested, here's a story on the polar vortex. 

Religion...

As if we weren't already bashing enough, right? Well, look at this video and just let the chills go up and down your arms. Scientology. Religion for profit. Urgh. 

Again, hearkening back to the news lately, it seems like we're on a crusade. Or I should say a Crusade. 

Now I'm the first one to say that, since the dawn of "reality TV" (an oxymoron of massive proportions) society and civility have been going down the flusher. But I don't think a massive swing back to "Puritania" will cure this. 

Common sense will. But as the sage said, "Common sense... isn't."

Knitting...

No pictures. Just a note that my mom likes the Nephew Afghan. I saw the bridal registry. Sorry, but I'm sticking to my own gifts: the afghan, and then I got them a convertible punch bowl/cake topper/dip thingie + a "First Christmas" ornament. Done and done. 

I'm cool with gift registries. But I'm a renegade. I'm the weird aunt who buys the kids books. Obscure books. Reading is cool. 

Oh, and I find I need to knit myself a hat. I've got a cloche pattern for a "fancy church hat" (just for fun, and I have the wool) and a really cute beanie style. I have hats; I just don't have the "right" hat and I have a ton of the grey/black/cream yarn left from the Charity Afghan. I may as well use it. 

I don't particularly care what my hats look like, because like I told Roberta from choir, I have very few (read: NONE) "cute" hats. They're all functional. 

So I've just searched something like 16 pages of "free knitting hat patterns" and I came up with several. Now to just get the time to knit one before spring...

Raisa...

Raisa, f/k/a "Dolly"

We had the home visit. It went fine, for the most part. There were a few stumbles. Like when the volunteer brings Raisa up the front porch and Quinn goes ballistic. Dude... it's HER territory. We should have met down the street. 

Or when, as the dogs were licking faces (and I'm talking Raisa licking the faces of Tippi and Quinn, just like a puppy does) and the volunteer kept sticking his hand between them. Great way to lose a finger or encourage a bite. 

Ok, there's "puppy licking" and the "stare and flick." The "stare and flick" you really want to avoid, because that's the precursor to trouble. With a capital "T" - which we didn't want. But Puppy Licking is submissive behavior. I learned a lot because after we were done, I contacted a friend in England with masses of years of dog experience, and a friend in TN who not only fostered, but bred, and also had years/decades of experience in huskies, elkies, wolf hybrids, you name it. And I talked with our trainer. To a person, each said, "Pfffffffth - he didn't really know what he was talking about." However, our trainer did say that perhaps he had a placement go really wrong, so he was overreacting to what was going on in our house. 

So Tippi responded quite well to Raisa. Then she became oblivious, which is a good sign. Quinn took a while, and it would've been easier if the volunteer hadn't gone all "Cesar" on us and talked about being "the alpha in the room." 

Really? It's MY house. Thanks. Aside from the fact that Kid #2 was there, and Hubby, let's face it; I'm really the alpha female in this household. Either way, the kids grew up with northern breeds and this isn't exactly Hubby's first rodeo either. 

Nonetheless, we are approved!! Raisa comes on the 18th of January. Puppy all over again. As you can see, she not only found the couch, but found the grunting hedgehog. We have the crate ordered; along with a pad for it. I have spare toys, Kong bones and dishes. We're all set except for the first few sleepless nights. 

And realistically, she's our last puppy. I'm in my mid-50s and perhaps at some point, I'll retire. We will have 3 dogs. And when Kid #2 moves out, we more or less lose our in-home dog-watching service. Though he's already said that he's kidnapping -- errrrr - DOGnaping Raisa. "After all, you have THREE and you're only supposed to have TWO." Um, dear child - we will count paws when you leave. 

Anyway, you have to add up the vet costs; the fact that you have to train each of them; the fact that you can't exactly up and take off for a trip. Of course, after everyone's housebroken and trained, we can take them with us, or leave them home longer. But you still have to think about things. Particularly since neither Huskies nor Elkhounds are small dogs. 

Random Picture...

Eskimo Snow

I used to do a lot of counted cross stitch. A lot. Masses. Of course, I still have a cache of WIPs in that media as well. You guessed that, though, didn't you?? Anyway, here's one of the pics in the hallway. I love it. I used a glossy floss on the snowman and I only outlined him. I mean, the fabric is white, so why stitch it over? I don't remember its exact title. But the frame is a lovely denim-dark-blue and it's on the Wall of Fame. One of these days, I have to get a long shot of that. When we repainted, I had hubby gather up all the stuff I'd done and put it all up there. May as well display it, right?

I should put up my Curtis Boehringer snowman for January. I also have one for February, but March is sitting in the cross stitch frame waiting on me. We won't go into the WIPs for counted cross stitch right now. 

It would make me want to retire. Well, a lot of things make me want to retire...