WHEW!

i cannot describe to you the joy i feel today, sitting here at the computer, ready to write a post.  i have time!  there is still a laundry list of things to be done, but none of them need to be finished RIGHT NOW- so nice, and so different from the past week.  of course, first there was this:

i used an old cooking light recipe- orange maple turkey.  highly recommended.  we had both my sisters, and my brother in law, and neice and nephews.  a nice small crowd.  my neice helped colored in the paper dolls i was making for sage (downloaded from Kiddley, thanks Claire!), which was a huge help (thanks T!), and everyone else had a nice visit.  we missed grandmommy and grandsam, though, who are in guatemala visiting grandsam’s brother.  so glad they had the chance to be there, but were missing them nonetheless. 

next up, a certain someone’s fourth birthday…

edited to add: i made the hat and that’s a finished woolen flower up there!  a happy hat for my hat wearin’ gal!

there was much celebration.  we had presents, sage used the POTTY all day(!!!), people came to play, much fun was had by all. 

and then there was the cake…

uncle geof, of ace of cakes fame, really outdid himself on the jerome cake.  sage loved it- she thought it was so funny that there were two jeromes in the house.  she blew out all the candles in a single breath, too, without singeing a single hair on her head.   

next, on to the annual lighting of the 34th street hoopla:

dear reader, if you are the nice lady in the superman shirt, please forgive me for using your photo on my blog without your permission- I tried to cut your head out, but I was bumped and pushed so much, i was happy to get any photo at all.  apparently HGTV was filming a special on our humble Hampden lights, which brought out even more than the usual seventy gajillion people who attend the annual lighting.  it was a good vibe, though, not hostile at all, just busy, like a bee hive.  oh, and baltimore peeps?  what is up with the dude selling ravens swag?  i mean, i can get behind the hot chocolate and the italian sausages, but do we really need ravens brand santa hats in order to fully experience the miracle of kitsch?  really?  sorry.  sliding the soapbox back under the counter now… 

later tonight, i must get to work on decorating the house, and getting this prepared.  what did i do before kiddley?  seriously, if you have or know children, you simply must get over there.  really.

in progress…

wow.  there’s a lot in progress i have to discuss today.  enumerated list?  why, yes! 

1.  first things first, there is a somewhat new and completely wonderful yarn shop in my neighborhood, hon.  if you are a baltimore area fiber aficionado, get on down to lovelyarns today.  sue, the owner, is a warm and genuine lady.  the shop itself is beautiful, and the yarn selection great- if you don’t see what you need, just ask.  it’s that kind of a place.  make sure you check out the local handspun, named for the sheep who gave their fleece for each particular skein.  and no, she is not paying me for this review, and the gushing she did over my next work in progress in the enumerated list also had nothing to do with my feelings of pure love for her and her shop.  just to clear that up. 

2.  ahem.

3.  woolen flowers:  <<<spoiler alert>>> if you are my real-life friend, you may be the recipient of this next item for a certain upcoming holiday.  avert your eyes if you’d rather it be a delightful surprise.  if you don’t care, neither do i.  and, you might just get cookies.  i’m heather von marko, and i approved this message. 

4.  apron artist trading cards:  these are for selena’s swap– they are the first i’ve made, and i hope they’re up to par.  they are entirely paper, with ink accents.  i decided i wanted to create my perfect imaginary world, where aprons, skirts, and wallpaper are all mod-style patterns and bright colors.  the letters indicate placement in the series. 

5.  christmas decorations and gifts: see item 3, above.  the great tree debate has begun in my head.  the left side of my head wants a tabletop (3 foot) live tree, like we had last year.  the right side is not interested in cleaning up dropped needles for months after the tree has rotted in the compost pile.  thoughts?  if i could find an amazing vintage style fakey tree, like Alicia’s (only bigger?), that would be something.  yuppers, that there would be something.  the grandkids on my dad’s side trade names for gifts, and my 3 year old daughter was paired with my 12 year old nephew.  there were some homemade gift ideas for boys on whip-up a while back, but none really spoke to me.  he may just get cold hard cash.  i also have committed to making 3 baby hats, one soon to be four year old hat (more on that in a couple weeks), and a sweater.  for a grown man.  and i really want to make an afghan for sue’s charitable knitting venture (see item 1, above).  oh, and hosting thanksgiving for 10. 

6.  yeeeaaahhh.  stop typing and start knitting….

ps- can you not stop singing that new decemberists duet song, or is it just me?