it’s raining. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t bear much comment. Except that today, I had actually planned to dig in the shed and get out the Christmas decorations. I don’t want to do that in the rain!!! It’s no fun!

On the other hand, I did ask the kids to get the living room ready, and they didn’t, so …. I mean, some of them did some of it, but it’s not finished, and I refuse to decorate a dirty house, so I have to finish that first. But I’m not real thrilled about it. I am trying to squeeze in a bunch of stuff over the weekend, and had hoped they could finish that small part for me, because my master plan calls for finishing the work before we begin to play.

So, instead, I am looking at nursing scrubs. Not because I plan to be a nurse, but because I have heard they are comfortable. Since I am starting school soon, I need to find some comfortable clothes, and I am not quite willing to wear sweats all the time. As appealing as that might be in winter, I think cheap scrubs might be a better summer-time option. Unless they have the a/c maxed out, unlike my current job where we sweat all summer and shiver all winter. Just sayin’ In that case, I’d need to pack a sweatshirt in my bag for slipping over my scrubs top.

In the meantime, I’m starved, and I just heard my food beep at me. Yay!!!!

No knitting. Now that it’s done and we’ve been cleared, I feel at liberty to say that I have spent most of the last week fighting the battle against head lice, which my first grader brought home from school. Yay! Luckily, only the youngest 2 children got them, and I may have. We’re all treated and declared good by the school nurse, and yippee!

Let me tell ya, it’s easier to get rid of acne than nits. You can actually SEE pimples, at least.

Hopefully knitting will resume in a few days.

This is a guest post by Christine Duda

Want a television show that makes your children more accepting of other cultures in the world? Then I highly recommend “Gullah Gullah Island” for your enjoyment. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching “Gullah Gullah Island” with my own children on our direct tv Mississippi. This show is inspiring for its use of a variety of educational tools and ability to combine educational value with a bit of entertainment value.

I think this show is great for children with an interest in art. It truly encourages the creativity of children and motivates them to excel in whatever they do. I think this show is great for the way it exposes them to other world cultures as well.

In one episode I watched with my children, they were able to learn the craft of bead making. The show depicted the way beads are created from start to finish and was truly fascinating. While I don’t expect my children to someday be bead makers, I do expect that they will value the hard work of other people. I think they also learned how to appreciate true craftsmanship and originality from this episode. The show made my children work harder in their own endeavors and work to do an excellent job in being open to new ideas. I really enjoy watching Gullah Gullah Island with my kids and think you will too!

You may or may not have noticed that when my sidebar loads, way down near the bottom is a random image from my photo album. I generally look to see what’s there when I hit the front page of the site, but I usually don’t repost the pic. In fact, I think this may be the first time I have done so. For those who don’t remember, this is my Grandmother, and I made her those socks. I own and wear them now.

The picture is a pleasant one for me, in spite of that fact that I am beastly fat in it. I should post it to weight loss stories, LOL. There’s about 30 pounds or so more of me in that picture. That suit is about a size 16, and I now wear a six. Ok, enough strolling down memory lane, here. The next post will have something to do with knitting or crafting of some sort that isn’t all in the past tense.

So, today, about 6pm, I finished the secret Christmas stitching. Now that it is done, and one has been delivered and the other two recipients won’t be reading my blog, I can tell you that I was crocheting stockings for Micheal, The Clone’s boyfriend and That One. I am exhausted, but they are done, and for that I am glad. And oh by the way, do you know how hard it is to keep a secret in a house of ten? Really, really hard. Of course, I did do one right under the recipient’s nose, but I don’t think he realizes it yet. I hope. LOL.

We got the tree decorated last Sunday night, but it is still package-less, since we aren’t opening presents until The Clone gets here in January. I imagine I will spend some time wrapping things on Saturday, while the kids are with their dad. I always enjoy the time right after Christmas the best, so that suits me. I like the reverence of the season and not the bustle, so this delayed Christmas pleases me quite well.

Tomorrow, however, is the big family party on my dad’s side. It’s always fun. Or at least it is since I decided to quit worrying about it and just have a good time. That’s only been a few years ago, but now I only have a few minutes of nervousness instead of days of it. The children’s clothing is all together, thanks to Mama, and while it’s not quite as clever as these outfits by TeaCollection.com, it’s cute and fits their personalities for the most part. The littlest girls have the cutest little plaid jumpers! Of course, I work tomorrow, so I won’t get to see them until I get to the party.

Yes, yes, I know I need to put up pictures: Hat the First, The Stockings Three, The Tree and the cute babies. But first, I have to find a camera card. And before that I have to work. And before that I have to sleep and before that, I have to write another post while I wait for my hair to dry so I can go to bed, which I have been ready to do for a couple hours already.

That would be me. I know some of you are holding your guffawing sides, reckoning that I would never be more than 23 feet from electircal lighting, kitchen faucets and central heating and air, but you are wrong. I did actually take my plump little self into the woods, and I hiked 2.6 miles with the Cub Scouts. And I had such a good time that I volunteered to go back again with the church youth.

In knitting news, not much–you didn’t have any recommendations, and what with the woods and all, I haven’t had time. Plus, I am almost through with a book, so I want to see how it ends. And the tree is supposed to go up tonight, so I may not knit until sometime later this week.

In beading news, we did better at this weekend’s sale than at our previous sale. IOW, we haven’t given up yet. I was hiking instead of selling, but I am told that someone purchased one stitch marker. Apparently to decorate her cell phone. Yeah, I don’t unsterstand it either, but that’s ok. I don’t have to understand. No one bought any bookmarks, but I did sell a few necklaces in addition to the lone marker.

On a mostly unrelated note, I took my husband to get a cat scan yesterday, as you may already know, if you read my personal blog. I’ll find out if he’s sick or merely crazy on Monday. It’s kinda odd to hope his shunt is messed up, but I do. Mostly because the other alternatives are vastly less pleasant.

You know, I was thinking. Not so very long ago, this blog was all about babies and milk and my love/hate relationship with the Medela Pump’nStyle. *Shivers of horror* And now, DaBaby is almost three, and we aren’t expecting. That just feels weird to me, because always before, I’ve been almost ready to pop with the next baby, or even already popped. In fact, I have given most of my baby stuff, including those trendy maternity clothes from 1993, away. Yeah, quit laughing! What, did you go out and buy new Ingrid and Isabel each time you had a baby? All eight times? 😉

I did keep a couple of things, though. I kept the Original Baby Basket that my husband slept in as a child. We slept five children in that basket, and it will go to Country. When we were expecting Drama, the baby basket was declared no longer safe for baby use, and so we got a new bassinet. She will get that bassinet, but both Drama and DaBaby were placed in the OBB for a photo. How could we not?

I also kept the blankets that I made for each one. Along with the quilts made by their great-grandmothers. I guess it’s ok to admit that I am already looking forward to eventually seeing those things used again, though I am not ready for any of my children to be parents quite yet. I’m old fashioned enough to want them to do things in a certain order: first the hoiorse, then the cart, not the other way around.

And I’ll bet they will all be relieved when reading this post that I don’t have any maternity clothes left to hand down. I’m sure Juicy Maternity is going to be much more their style than my old stuff, LOL!

Holy Cow! I am STILL sick. When will this crud end? It feels like I have been sick forever and three days already. Nonetheless, I cannot devote any more of my life to this whatever-it-is, and it’s time to bust a move. Not that I have been sitting on my laurels. Oh, no.

I have gone to Mama’s house everyday that she has been off or even gotten off early and I have beaded my wee bitty fingers to the bone. I have accumulated quite a bit of salable product, even though I haven’t listed any of it on the jewelry page. I had actually planned to open an etsy shop soon, but have decided to hold off until after the Craft Show, and see how that goes first. I think I said most of this last Friday, but I was kinda feverish then still.

Two of the schoolers started new Ambleside years today, and Country started Year 5, Term 3. Speaking of Country, she needs some help with an algebra assignment. Guess that means I am done here, at least for now.