Update -- Too Long so I'll Summarize

How can it be 3 weeks since I updated this? Well, a lot has gone on since December 6, some of it crappy and most of it great.

To summarize:

(1) Haley's birthday party in Charlotte -- Good. Finished Jitterbug mitts which were well received. (Bad: both daughters now want mitts -- in black! @@$^% and both younger granddaughters want mitts, too. That's four pairs!)





















(2) Job over -- Crappy. Very emotional days at The Big Corporation, as it folds onto itself in a Super Slo Mo implosion. As of the 21st of December, I'm finished there. Got my vacation time paid out and, of course, I forgot about 401(k) deductions being huge, so check was smaller than I anticipated. Bad. But at least I got the check. Good.


(3) Christmas over -- Good. Christmas in Charlotte with family was chaotic and crazy, but good for the most part. Lots of noise and no knitting but (a) it's over and (b) we don't have to do it again until next year. And (c) it's over. As I have gotten older (er, more mature), Christmas has morphed from a time of anticipation into a time of unmet expectations (not mine--I have few expectations about holidays, but I never seem to be able to meet other people's expectations, or think I don't.) I'm ready for it to be over. (The Grinch seems to be back.)


(4) Bumper cars -- Ugh. Mr. Pug was nice enough to let me drive his car to Charlotte for Christmas and I brought it back with a crunched rear bumper. A friend, driving to breakfast behind me, rearended me. No injuries except to the car. Mr. Pug was very nice about it but wants it fixed NOW. I can't blame him.

(5) Christmas with Mr. Pug and the babies -- Good. No knitting-related gifties but I did get a good laugh. Both Mr. Pug and Jake gave me digital photo frames. You just can't have too many of those things--in fact, I'll have one in the bedroom and one in the office. The laugh came when I opened up Mr. Pug's version. "Oh," said I, "wonderful--now I can have a 24/7 slideshow of all my yarn." Mr. P visibly blanched and I had to quickly reassure him that I was just kidding (as if). And I was--I'll use his for family and pugs. The slideshow will go on Jake's (in the office where it won't annoy Mr. P.)







(6) After Christmas shopping -- Good. What to do when you don't get knitting-related gifts? Go shopping. In my case, I went straight to Bass Pro Shops on my way home from Charlotte, where I upgraded my knitting needle storage solution.

The one on the bottom is the old case, Xtreme Worm Binder, which has one space like a giant ring binder, with ziploc pouches to hold your fishing supplies and zipper compartments to hold other fishing-type thingies. (I have no idea what those might be!) I have used it for about three years to hold my needles, squishing all my DPNs and circs into pouches, separated by size, and filling all those pockets with tapestry needles, knitting markers, etc. At this point, I can only zip it shut with the most xtreme hassle because--surprise, surprise--I have too many needles. So, the upgrade to a double sided bag (upper one) was overdue. Now I have the DPNs in the front side, each size in its separate pouch, and the circs in the back side, ditto.


(7) Friends -- Good. When I moved to Atlanta six-and-a-half years ago, I thought I was in durance vile, sentenced to leave all my friends, family, etc. As so often happens, it has turned out to be the best thing that could have happened, as I've made a whole new group of friends that I would hate to leave. (So I guess it's okay that the Savannah job didn't happen -- NOT!) I have been moved to tears by the caring and loving expressions of friendship from this group of Atlanta knitters -- I hope I can share that much love with someone else over the next years, to help them share a point in their life when things aren't going so well. Love you guys!

(8) But -- Crappy. I still miss my faraway friends and family. Deirdre and Debbie are too far away (2000 and 600 miles respectively). So is Connie. So are Linda and Cathy and Nydia. I don't get to see them very often and I hate that. I miss being around for all the family events--I will go to Virginia for my niece Caitlin's wedding in March and then again for nephew Andrew's baby, to be born in April, I think. (All those doggy toys and treats that the pugs are playing with came from Linda and Cathy--AKA "the other moms" and "the flatmates.")

(9) Job -- Ugh. Don't even ask. Nothing going there at this point, but I have to admit that I haven't done much in the past week or so. The job market has been dead but I'm hoping it will pick up after the holidays are over. Not to worry at this point.

(10) Atlanta Knitting Guild -- Good. December meeting was fun--it's one of two potlucks we have every year and also the day we present dressed bears to a group that uses them for traumatized children. This year was a light year -- only 130 bears -- but that's still 130 children that will have something to comfort them when something bad happens.






This is the one I did. Yes, I know, I'm bad -- only one. And here she is, comforting Brett. (Brett, that's just SO wrong.)



The best part of the Atlanta Knitting Guild is that I get to be the liaison with the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children. This month (again!), the members came through with so much stuff that it completely filled my car (or Mr. Pug's car, if you want to be exact). One non-member even sent 18 handknit children's sweaters. When I took them to the shelter, one of the men working there said, "oh, my! a bunch of children will have a nice Christmas present!" I am so appreciative of the generosity of people--knitters are amazing!

Overall Score: GOOD