Holiday Meme

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate-even better with marshmallows and/or whip cream.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Both. Depends on the size of the gift.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I like both.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nah, get plenty of smooches w/o it.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
It depends on my schedule and mood. Sometimes its right after Thanksgiving, sometimes it's right before Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
hmmm...I guess baked ham since I only tend to eat it on holidays. Oh, and jello salads!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
It's hard to limit it to just one. But I always love the first view of the lit tree and the fun and laughter of being with friends and family

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
What truth??? He's real!!!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We could open one gift Christmas Eve (after church) and the rest Christmas morning.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
No special order.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
LOVE it if I'm able to admire it from a cozy living room. Dread it when I had to drive in it.

12. Can you ice skate? I used to go skating quite a bit in my younger days.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My Barbie Townhouse with the built in elevator.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with my DH, family, friends and relaxing.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Christmas cookies

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Decorating the tree

17. What tops your tree? I think it's an angel

18. Which do you prefer giving or getting? Giving!!!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Yum-but the with traditional flavor. I don't care for blueberry flavored candy canes.

The Top Ten Ways You Know My Parents are Coming to Visit

10. Some DIY work is done. DH and I painted my office area/den last Friday. It's a "Sweet Potato" color and I absolutely love it. I'd been wanting to paint my den for quite awhile and their visit spurred me into getting it done.


9. Cobwebs are cleaned from the corners. Ceiling fans and door ledges are dusted.

8. I buy wine. Lots of wine. Doesn't matter who drinks it. Wine is a good thing.

7. Cleaning gadgets that haven't been used since the last time Mom and Dad visited come out of retirement.

6. I contemplate buying hazmat masks for DH and myself while we sleep in the guestroom (with the pokey mattress) since that room is always the last one to get vacuumed and dusted-if at all.

5. I get really creative in finding "hiding places" for my yarn stash, magazine collection and other "life" paraphernalia. DH was amazed at how clean my office area got. He wondered where everything went. I told him to be careful when opening closets.

4. The vacuum cleaner makes sputtering sounds even after it's turned off from all the use.

3. I don't update my blog or knit for awhile since it cuts into my "Operation Parental Visit" duties.

2. I hide my Victori@'s Secret "S0 Sexy" shampoo and conditioner and replace it with "Ivory" to maintain my "Pure as the Driven Snow" persona.

1. Everything is vacuumed, dusted and washed...All at the same time!!!!

What a Knitter Does on Vacation

I am nearing conclusion of Day 3 (of 9) of my Thanksgiving vacation.

Sooo.... what does a knitter do with some time off?

1. Visits her LYS for some stash enhancement!!

Actually some of the yarn will be used for/as gifts. What you see pictured is just a sampling of what I bought. My bag runneth over. I am most excited about the sock yarn, the 2nd time Cotton yarn, and the yarn I bought to use for kool-aid dyeing.

2. Knits!
Here's what's on the needles these days:

There's a M/D box that just needs one side left, the starting of M/D 9 Patch dishrag, a grey scarf for brother, and the almost finished ballband M/D warshrag that was part of a housewarming gift I gave nearly 3 weeks ago I just hadn't finished this last dishcloth.

3. Reads books with knitting content.
Yes, I read all sorts of books(not just knitting related) but am in the mood for some "fun" reading these days.
I'm about 1/3 of the way through an older Debbie Macomber book-which always contains some knitting references. I also checked out Chicks with Sticks... from the library last week. I'm hoping to get both read this week.


4. I guess I'll also do the cooking/cleaning thing at some point too.

A Patchwork of States

Being born and raised in Minnesota, I was happy with these results since I haven't lived there for 16+ years. I did have to guess on a few since I did grow up in a mining town "up north." I guess my "urban" knowledge came from driving through the twin cities as often as I did.

You are 83% Minnesotan

 

You are urban Minnesotan, or at least from the suburbs, and you know your stuff pretty well! Great job!

How Minnesotan are you?
Make Your Own Quiz

I guess I did pretty good on the TX quiz(I had to guess on several questions) only being a resident for 16 years but still feel MN is my true home. My parents are not from TX but Grandparents and Aunts/Uncles have all lived here "for a spell" at least. I do like to go shopping on the border but not as much as I first got here.

You are 77% REAL Texan!!

 

You're way more Texan than average. You're parents were probably from here too. We're glad to have you. You probably go to the border for Christmas shopping and are well versed in BBQ, Mexican Food and .. well thats pretty much it.

How Texan Are You?

Kid n' Ewe Part 1-The Fiber!

Yesterday several S.A. knitters (Amanda , Janna -with sister Linda and friend Jody, Kim , Enid, Susan , Courtney , David ) and myself found our way to Boerne's Kid n' Ewe festival. It was my first fiber festival and from what I had been told, didn't expect a whole lot. It was soooooo much fun! I had to split my pictures into 3 posts! My DH was shocked to see that I had taken 37 pictures yesterday!! I kept telling him once I got home-"I had such a great day!" I was giddy from my fiber high!

I think we all agreed what made it such fun was the perfect weather, being with our fellow knitting friends-including some blogging friends from Austin, Houston, etc. and the atmosphere! What would have made it even better would have been being able to share it with our SnB friends who came on Friday, and the other Kim -who moved out of state.

The first images I saw when I entered were weavers and spinners!
(Click on the photos to enlarge)



The main reason for our trek-Brooks Farm yarn! which I found out later can only be bought at fiber shows such as this or online!


Here are my purchases for the day:

I bought 2 hanks of Brooks Farm-Riata which will become a scarf or shawl at some point. I also purchased 2 skeins of sock yarn for my "practice socks" at a very reasonable price; and some local honey. I also won a really cool credit card/business card holder made by Caro at our Blogger pot luck lunch organized by Julia and Christine -thanks ladies! It was so much fun to see faces to match all the blogs I read.

Continue reading down for more pics and commentary from the trip!

Kid 'n Ewe Part 2-The Funny!

My "gag reel" (so to speak) of the trip:

Here's a picture I bet no one else has! It's from the inside of one of the bathroom stalls-yes I washed my hands! I just found it humorous trying to keep some dignity and the curtain closed on both sides while doing my bizness.


Here's David , our local kiltman but kiltless today, being sized up by another kiltman.


Some mischief! Kim and I thought it would be funny to steal Janna's beloved knitting magnet and put it on my car and see how long it takes before she notices. It didn't take long!! I swear Janna had radar! The very first time we walked by the cars to one of the other buildings she noticed it gone. She was so sad and it took a half second to realize it was on the car right next to hers and who that car belonged to. We did get a good laugh out of it!


Finally, we all got a chuckle out of this sign. We weren't sure if food and drink was for alpacas or for people!

Kid n' Ewe Part 3-The Animals!

Some very friendly alpacas:






Janna and some angora rabbits:

Yah, You Betcha- I'm from "da Nort"

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Midland
The West
The South
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

What about you?
What American accent do you have?

A Taste of Minnesota

This morning I visited one of my favorite places on Earth-H.E.B. Centr@l M@rket . I was so excited when the first dispay I saw was of apples from Minnesota. I ended up purchasing 3 Regents, 3 Firesides, and 3 Haralsons-all from Pepin Heights Orchard. I LOVE apples..and the fact they're from MN will make them taste even better.



I also ended up buying some potted herbs. My parents are planning a pit stop here November 29 & 30 (24 cleaning days left) on their way to winter in S. Padre and my mom requested some herbs to bring to the condo but for the life of me I couldn't remember which ones so I bought one of each (Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Italian Parsley, Basil, and Oregano). I wanted to post a pic of them actually being alive since I do not have the greenest thumb in the world, as evidenced from my last attempt at growing herbs:


This was once a thriving rosemary plant. I keep telling my DH that it's going to "bounce back." Anyways, he's in charge of the plants and hopefully they'll stay alive until my parents get here. Is there a Saint for herbs I should pray to? Seriously, any advice on growing these herbs would be greatly appreciated.



Finally, I decided to post a review of some new products I've tried lately. The first is MetroMint water. I first saw Michelle drinking it at a SNB and seemed like a fun thing to try. When I saw the flavors-Spearmint and Peppermint I wondered if it would just taste like a piece of gum got mixed with water. Michelle didn't seem to think it did and sang its praises. The cashier at the grocery store also had very favorable comments to make about the water. Well, I definitely prefer the spearmint over the peppermint; it's also an acquired taste; and be careful what you eat with it. I'd recommend to drink it on its own and not with, let's say, a bratwurst.

The next product is Dreyers Slow Churned Light French Silk ice cream. Wow! This stuff is awesome!! It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when the gang's obsessed with this new lowfat frozen yogurt and find out that it really does have fat in it after they all gain weight. It tastes like the real stuff!

Last for the new products is Lipton's Green Tea with Mixed Berry flavoring added. I LOVE this stuff and prefer it to drinking diet soda.


Oh yea! There's been some knitting going on too! I'll save that for another post.