Dec 26

Christmas part 2 was good for the Twins; Santa brought many nice things they enjoyed. I liked it because they were enjoying themselves. The Paternal Grandmother and I could not stay long with the early fight, but it was nice while it lasted.

Yesterday was the worst flight experience I have ever had. We were late departing, landing, and our luggage was delayed. No lunch whatsoever and the StepMaternal Grandparents were still here when we made it to the house. We wolfed down food and had the last Christmas. Then I crashed.

Dad and I spent the afternoon at the Portrait Gallery. We did not get the chance to look at everything but I saw some early American writers that I knew. All was cool.

Dec 24

It is official: the Crew has left and the house is clean once more.

We skipped the sermon this morning to get ready for lunch which doubled as my Christmas part 1 of 3. Earlier, Mom noticed that one of the Twins’ friend’s mom only had her younger girls. Her husband is serving overseas and her older two kids went to see their dad. So the girls and their mom joined us for Christmas part 1. It was surprisingly fun. I have been completely sister-ed and Puppy is exhausted but it was a good time.

Apparently, at their house they take turns opening stuff whereas this branch of my family just goes at it. The mom just sat back flabbergasted at the chaos. But we do chaos well.

All that aside, Christmas part 1 was good. I had an Austen/Shakespeare theme this year. Mom and StepDa found 9 editions of the 1926 Yale Shakespeare for me and bought the BBC taped performances of his comedies. The Maternal Grandparents gave me the 10^th anniversary edition of the A&E Pride and Prejudice (I was heartbroken when the Maternal Grandfather accidentally opened it and showed it to me. Why would he get it instead of me? I asked for it.). Going with the Austen theme, I also received a day planner with her quotes and a friend gave me Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating as a gag. Mom also found a sweatshirt that says: “I heart Mr. Darcy.”

I really have gotten into her lately and I am not sure why. I suppose that is because I been able to read her without some teacher standing over me pointing everything out. I have a tendency to resent some of those texts.

The Paternal Grandmother should be showing up in the next few minutes. Tomorrow is a tight calendar, after Christmas part 2: Santa, we hop on a plane to see Dad. I do not expect much in the morning by way of gifts, as most of mine was given today. Oh, Christmas Mass is this afternoon with the StepPatneral Grandmother. Yea!

Dec 22

The Maternal Grandmother and I went shopping with Mom yesterday. And other than the Younger Twin spending the night last night, not much excitement has happened here.

The box did get to Dad’s side of the family this week. That is always a good thing.

And my blue cobweb shawl has been started. Glad to be done with all Christmas Knitting and wrapping, but I am feeling tired. I have not been sleeping well the past few nights.

How many days before Christmas is over?

Dec 19

Happy Dance! All Christmas Knitting is finished. As soon as my, repeat my, blue cobweb shawl is finished; I am starting next year Christmas Knits.

But guess what? Grades are out and I have 2 As and 1 B. The local family is really proud of me for doing so well. Wish I could have made a perfect 4 point my first semester but there is always this spring.

Dec 18

When was someone going to tell me Christmas is Monday? Ok, so I knew that but it just hit me how close it is.

I finally mailed off the last of everything that needed to be mailed. I wonder if Dad’s family got their box yet.

The rule is, do not buy anything for yourself after Turkey Day but I had to have two of Hayley Westenra’s songs. I heard her on PBS the other night as part of Celtic Women and thought her voice was familiar. Turns out she sings a duet with Helmut Lotti on his current CD. Anyways, she is now on the Shuffle and will be for the time being. “Wuthering Heights” and “Dark Waltz” are simply gorgeous. Now if only her songs from the promotion were available...

Today was the last day of warm weather for awhile. No more 60-70 degree days with sunshine. This will not be fun.

Dec 17

My guest has left, so I will not be rude to spend more time talking about yesterday at the yarn store. We played musical knitting projects. Girl A who has been knitting a stocking for her sister for the past 3 weeks gave her project to Girl B who works there. Girl B gave the scarf she was working on to Girl A. Then my friend, Girl C was handed the scarf to see how well she worked with the larger needle size (35). I picked up the stocking while Girl B checked people out at the resister. About that time, another employee took over Girl D’s scarf that had to be done within an hour. I gave Girl A her stocking back because the needles were hurting my hands. She was working on circular needles that were 24 inches long and she really needed them to be 16 inches long. I picked up Girl B’s scarf to try out the needles but was not too impressed by them so I only worked a row. Ten minutes later she buys a pair that length and when we left, Girl B had the stocking again. It was really fun to pass all the projects around. No one wanted the socks I was working on, so not a whole lot of progress was made on them. However, the hat I started last night is nearly done.

My friend gave me a box of Earle Gray for Christmas and Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating for Christmas. It is a cute book and is probably someone dissertation in a novel format.

I am about to screen, March of the Penguins to see if the Younger Twin will like it.

Dec 16

A buddy from my former college is in town for the weekend which means we are doing all the touristy things like Graceland and Beale Street. She kept yawning in the car when we were headed back home, apparently she needs to get more sleep during finals.

In honor of the 2 As, I picked up 2 hanks of yarn today. Now what to do with them? I am open to all sorts of possibilities.

Dec 15

If I am not careful, I will only be writing on this thing every other day. But things have been hectic, as they always are this time of the year.

Good news, grades for two of my three courses this fall are up. Both are As. Af/Am Lit is still out, however, I do not feel that I should be too worried. After all, grades are not due to be up until next week. I am so relieved.

Tomorrow, I’ll be sending the last of my Christmas off in the mail. This includes cards and whatever else.

I did not work on the Last Christmas Knitting today; I seem to have lost motivation. Never fear, I shall jump-motivate myself over the weekend. I need to be on the foot part by Monday for when I observe a third-grade class. The elementary school requires their substitute teachers to sit in on a class for a day. No big. It should give me the time to work the foot.

Dec 13

Mom was sick last night, so after dance the Twins came here and spent the night. I woke up this morning when the Younger Twin asked if I was awake or not.

But all looks good for substitute teaching in the Spring. I’m only signed up for kindergarten through fifth grade. So I will not be getting as many days as those who are signed up for the whole district, but this will work out better for me.

I learned how to do a 3-needle bind-off for the Maternal Grandmother’s socks. That is the last Christmas Knit-gift for the year and one of the pair is done. I am so happy, the end is in sight.

Lastly, I actually sent off the box for the DC family today. It took awhile to find a box that would fit all the gifts. I plan to send off the Christmas cards by the end of the week. Fun.

Dec 11

Since Friday:

• An Extended Family Grandmother (Hey Sis, it’s Mimi) managed to flip her car. She broke her wrist and cracked a thigh bone. The photo landed on the front page in the paper tonight and how she walk away from it is a wonder.
• I finished 3 washcloths, including the one on Friday, and a scarf. I did not block the Purple Spider Web but I did find some scarves I stashed back. And as of December 20^th, I am stopping all Christmas Knitting. If someone did not get a knitted gift, they can wait until January. Mom is actually surprised it has taken me until now to declare I am tried of knitting for Christmas—she was expecting it a fortnight ago.
• Went to church 3 times yesterday. The middle one was at the StepPaternal Grandmother’s new church. They had a service on carols and the scriptures that went with them. She had a solo that went over well.
• The Twins’ art lessons ended with a ‘gallery opening.’ It was not half-bad, better than some of the modern stuff I’ve seen in museums.
• Saturday night, I watched Tristan and Isolde, the recent movie. Romeo and Juliet have nothing on these two. It is so much better than R&J. I love it.
• The Maternal Grandfather and I watched Celtic Women on PBS. Wow. Oh, look it is on again. Later!

Dec 8

So, the job prospect is on hold until Monday. I tried twice to get in touch with the right person but she was out both times.

I am half-way done with a washcloth and could finish it tonight if I push hard. The Twins helped me ball some yarn, not all of it needed to be re-balled but hey, if it keeps them occupied we’ll ball yarn.

I’m going to enjoy some down-time while they are bathing. Yea! No cartoons on the TV!

Dec 7

Well, one semester down and only three to go. Now I can focus on the remaining Christmas knits, cleaning my room, tossing out all the rough drafts, and weeding out my bookcase. It really is past time that I got rid of Heidi, The Secret Garden, and others along that line. H. G. Wells may also end up at the County Library; I mean how many copies of Time Machine do I need? Stevenson and I have to talk tomorrow as well since I am rather fond of Treasure Island.

Turns out my Women N Lit prof did not realize that it was Study Day, we knew it but if your prof says show up, you show up. After turning in papers and filling out an evaluation she made up, she lectured on one of my favorite writers—Virginia Woolf. I was one of the few in class that has read the novels the prof referenced. Now I really want to reread them all. But no time for that Christmas is coming up way too fast. Anyways, after we were dismissed a buddy and I went to this Italian place just off campus to grab a bite. We are both experiencing the stress of the end of the semester and needed to vent about life. It was fun.

Look, I made a Scarf Tree from the swing arm of my lamp. And I still have about 3, maybe 4, scarfs left to hang on it. I might want to start wrapping and shipping them.

Dec 6

I spent the day at home writing papers/essays. I cannot wait to turn them all in tomorrow because then it is all out of my hands. Everything I could have done, I did. The grade is now in the hands of God and the professors’ pens. Sure, if I do horribly I feel bad but this philosophy gets me through a week of anticipation.

The County Library had a dedication of the new children’s section. Like the previous Library (the current building is about 5-6 years old), the children’s room is dedicated in memory to a former librarian who ran the County Library for 22 years. Lots of people showed up, including Santa. He read some books to the handful of kids present, which made the Twins actually get close to him. And they took a picture with him. What can I say; we are a family who reads.

After browbeating myself over the yarn shortage of 256 yards needed to complete Dad’s gift; I’ve switched projects. Late in the game, yes but it is the only choice I have. It will not be shipped with the others late this week/early next week. Which means I have to remember to take it with me or pack it.

The Maternal Grandmother is editing the bigger paper due tomorrow, the little essay is already undergone the pen. I’ll get up around my normal time to wrap them up since tomorrow is a Study Day and the only class that is meeting is the Women N Lit (where we turn everything in and watch a movie).

Dec 5

The Lit Research paper has been turned in. It is exactly 1 inch short of a full 14 pages. And it is turned in. How great is that?

My Af/Am Lit Prof returned my rough draft all marked up. I had really thought it would be done by now and the fact it isn’t… I feel the breaking point coming on fast. Most of the technical errors I fixed at lunch and tomorrow will fix the weak points of the argument. I can not look at it right now.

The idiot in my Af/Am Lit class presented his Annotated Bib today. I have never been so happy that mom put me in an organization that forced me to give public speeches so often. Apparently this guy has a problem about doing so. It was painful to watch and would not have been so bad if he hadn’t continued to come down on himself verbally to us.

We just got back from the town’s Christmas Parade. The first one about 7 or so years ago consisted of “an exotic horned dog” and the Public School’s Band. This year, there were about 20 floats and it took 30 minutes for the whole thing. Of course, we thought it started an hour earlier than it actually did so I’m pretty frozen right now. Weather is not that bad, but after awhile it gets to ya.

Volume 11 was so worth the wait. Volume 12 comes out in May. May!

Dec 4

I finished another draft of the Lit Research paper due tomorrow.
Guess what comes out tomorrow? Volume 11! Yea.
Here is a quick story about the Younger Twin that took place over the weekend. For months, anytime the Twins want something that obviously they will never get (like a hippo or castle), Mom has been telling them “It is on the list.” Well, the list is pretty long at this point. The Twins and Mom had breakfast with Santa on Saturday and neither wanted to go; but the Maternal Grandmother talked the Younger Twin into telling Santa: “Tell him that I have been good this year and I want a diamond ring.” This sounded good to her, so she went quietly. When it was her turn to see Santa she told him what the Maternal Grandmother had said. He was very happy to know that but wanted to know what she wanted. The Younger Twin looked aghast, “You mean you didn’t get the list?” He quickly remembered it and assured her he did.
Well, back to the paper mill…

Dec 3

This weekend was wonderful, full of rest and much needed relaxation. But now reality has settled in and I am starting to feel the stress. I have the week all mapped out, but will ignore any incoming calls (except family, naturally). Please forward all mail to the university’s library.

However, I have just realized that I am over 200 yards short of the yarn I need to complete Dad’s Christmas gift. I could just cry. It might even be worth the migraine that the crying will trigger. Now the real question is: mittens, hat, or scarf? Because that is all I have time for. The Maternal Grandmother pointed out that I have a great start on next year’s gifts. That statement would really sound great next week sometime, but not right now.
I am unsure who is happier that I’m home: Puppy or the Maternal Grandmother. Though one of the Twins’ friends told me she missed me. Glad I picked up a little something for her and her little sister; because she just made me smile. The Younger Twin gave me lots of kisses when I walked in; the Older Twin just ignored me after ‘Hello.’

How many trees did I help put up this year? Not even a full 1. Somehow I missed most of it, either I was chasing after the Twins while Mom was setting hers up or I walked in too late to help. It was not intentional, it just happened that way. Oh well. I know it won’t happen again and that I will take part in the taking them down.

The December wedding sent me an invitation this weekend. Without an RSVP card. I asked the Bride’s Mom if showing up was an option. She told me no. The lack of the RSVP card was due to her knowing I was showing up in a dress that is not black. Yes Bride’s Mom.