Michigan or Bust!

It's 6:00 and I'm sitting here blogging, an old Snoop Doggy Dogg song running through my head:

"I got some b!tches in the living room getting in on, and they ain't leavin' till six in tha mo'nin

(SIX IN THA MO'NIN)"

Ah, Snoop. You always seem to find a way to put into words all of those little tricky life situations.

We leave for Michigan today. We are driving. It should take about 2 days and all the patience I can muster to ride in the car with The Cowboy, AKA He Who Thinks He is the Only and Best Driver in the Word and on the Road, and All Other People Should Get the Hell Out of His Way or He Will Run You Off the Road Because You Are An Idiot and Clearly Don't Know How to Drive For Shit.

Does Snoop have a song for that? I'm thinking I'll take a large sedative. Wake me when we cross over the border in Ohio.

Accompanying us on this journey will be my gnew gnome friend

This is Lloyd. He's a Michignome. He was a gift from my friend Cheeto (Stinky Pants' Mom). He is appropriately named after the recently retired and beloved coach of Michigan football (before they sucked this year, thank you RichRod), Lloyd Carr.

I am really looking forward to a nice, long, relaxing trip home, where I get to see my family, my friends and all my favorite places that they just don't have here in Austin, Texas (Meijer, Coney Island, Trader Joe's, Panera). Because of this, I'm not sure how often, if at all, I will be blogging while I'm gone. But I will be taking LOTS of pictures, and mentally writing lots of blogs. So I'll have lots to report when I get back.

I hope you all have a great, wonderful, magical, safe and fun holiday, where ever you may be and however you choose to spend it.

It's a Festivus for the Rest of Us!

Apparently, no one loves me this year.

It is December 17th, right?

Christmas is still on the 25th of this year, if I'm not mistaken.

That's 8 days away.

One week from tomorrow, if you will.

I've gotten a total of 6 Christmas cards so far. Here they are.

Except that 3 of them were for The Cowboy, and 1 from a lady I used to work with who I only spoke to like twice. Seriously. She gave me a Christmas card, but are there any up there from my family?

No.

From my friends in Michigan? Who all have kids?

No and no.

I love getting Christmas cards. Every day for the past week and a half (or so), I've rushed home to look at the mail and see what cards came. And every day for the past week and a half (or so), I've been sad. I've wanted to cry and crawl in a hole of self pity and despair.

Bah Humbug.

No Freaking Wonder

It was 81 degrees in Austin yesterday.

Then, last night.....THIS

It's no freaking wonder I'm sick.

**To my friends and family in Michigan who are going to tell me to shut up because it's been snowing there for a month already and I used to be used to it and blar blar blar, I say the following: 1) I'm not complaining about the snow...it was actually quite lovely (while it lasted for all of 20 minutes) and 2) SAVE IT. You come live in a warm climate for 2 and a half years and tell me your blood doesn't thin out.

Mom? I need you...

I am sick. Dog ass sick. Coughing, sneezing, stuffy-head and all the rest of the adjectives used in the Nyquil commercials sick. I need my mom.

The Cowboy has been sick too, but is starting to feel better and has been taking decent care of me.

But let's face it. There's no substitute for your mom. I'm not too old to admit it.

Chuck Woolery would be proud

I met a cyber friend today. Lisatastrophies - a reader of this blog and winner of my blog contest and fellow resident of Austin and frequent shopper of The Knitting Nest. Lisa and I had been talking back and forth via our blogs (hers, by the way is hee-LAR-ious, if you haven't checked it out already, what are you waiting for?) and Ravelry. When she won the contest, we both thought it would be fitting that we met each other finally (so she could receive her winnings) at (Duh) The Knitting Nest.

It was kind of like a blind date. But with a friend. Who you sort of know. But not really. You know a lot about this person, but then again, you don't know anything at all about them. I mean, she didn't even know my real name! She talks about all sorts of crazy things on her blog, as do I, and so we know silly little details about each other's lives, but we don't know a lot of big stuff. It was weird.

Anyway, while I was getting ready to go, I kept thinking "What should I wear? I want to make a good impression" (by the way, I decided on jeans and a sweatshirt and was pleased to see she had selected the same outfit) and "I hope she likes me" and "What if she's weird" and "What if she's really crazy and tries to kill me, steal my yarn and dispose of the body in a dumpster?"

This are things you need to consider when meeting an online acquaintance for the first time. Important stuff.

You can all rest easy. The meeting went wonderfully. For starters, we were in broad daylight. Second, it was a public place. And finally, Lisa did not have a third eye, mustache, snaggletooth, bad hair, or any other offensive traits.

She did seem to think that she smelled (she did not) from a friend who had stayed at her place, and I was coughing all over the place and talking in my super sexy sick man voice, so we were kind of even in that regard.

Anyway, as I said, it went well. We chatted for about an hour about ourselves, and then we knit for a little while. She showed me some things, and I showed her some things. It was a good exchange. Then we drooled over some of the yarn at TKN, though neither of us bought any (we did both buy some new DPNs, though).

All in all, a successful friend blind date!

Lisa, are you reading this? I'd love to ask you out for a second date. Let's see who our audience selected for me.....

We'll be back in two and two.

Despite Appearances....

Contrary to how it looks, I've gotten a lot done in the past week. Let's review.

House - decorated (inside anyway, The Cowboy is in charge of the exterior holiday illumination, a la Clark W. Griswold and he's been sick sick sick for over a week, the poor bastard)

Shopping - done (except for a few minor things for The Cowboy for his stocking and what not)

Gifts - wrapped

Tree - up

Cards - signed, sealed and stamped to be dropped in the mailbox tomorrow

Knitted Christmas Items - almost done (save one more that I'm just starting on for one of my cousins, but it will only take me 2 days, MAX)

Blog contest winners packages - mailed, delivered or scheduled delivery (I get to meet Lisatastrophies in person, yay!)

Yarn Swap from Ravelry package - delivered

(those bastards at the US Post Office who I and my friend Heather both hate very much got like $30 of my money today, which I parted with not easily)

Sometimes I ask myself how I do it all. And then I pat myself on the back. All that's left to do is bake cookies and make party mix and I am waiting until the second week of December for that, so now I'm just relaxing, reading (re-reading, actually, Eat, Pray, Love which if you haven't read it you should because it was so good that I'm reading it again. It soothes me), and knitting for pleasure. And drinking wine. Right now, I mean. Not all the time. Hehe, I wish. I could be so lucky.

Hey remember how I told you about those fancy shmancy Christmas decorations I used to make for my friends? Well I took some pictures. Sit down my friends, you're about to get your pants knocked off. I am so damn crafty.

The first year I made these little guys - Snowmen.

Then came the Angels (I KNOW!!!!).

And finally, Rudolph.

I stopped there, though I contemplated doing a Santa Claus, but did not. These little characters are between 3 and 4 inches tall and are among my favorite Christmas decorations. Mostly because I did them myself.

Speaking of things I did myself, I painted this Nativity. I bought the figures plain ceramic and painted them. Damn, I'm good.

I didn't make this, but someone did. Everyone in my family has one of these trees. Do you? I think they're old school. This one belonged to my late great aunt Betty (Betty Six Tooth, we used to call her, for reasons that I don't think need explanation). When she passed, it became mine and I love it. The Cowboy broke the tip off a few years ago and I about died. I was so overcome with grief. He glued it back on, but you can still see where it broke.

Here's our "real" tree. I put it up all by myself while The Cowboy laid his sick ass on the couch and told me where to put stuff. He's awfully bossy when he's sick. And oh. Those lights? Yeah, not my first choice. I prefer the white lights, but the Cowboy went all LED crazy on me last year and bought all new Christmas lights for both the inside and outside, so I have to use them for at least a few years and then I'll switch back and he'll never know.
Moose likes the tree.
I like snow globes.

Coincidentally, the dogs didn't help me one bit. They are so lazy!

But they're also really really cute.
Hope your holiday preparations are coming along as swimmingly as mine!!!