Twas the night before Christmas...

Heading east....

Catching up on internet world.  And buying a tshirt.  Should probably be sleeping...

Happy to be with the fam for the holidays!

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before,
"What if Christmas doesn't come from a store?
"What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"
~ Dr. Seuss

O Christmas Shoes!

Celebrating a 30th birthday with a friend as I'll be missing her actual birthday on my vacation...

We spent a couple hours at the gym and rewarded ourselves with high calorie food and wearing fabulous shoes. :)

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
~ Dr Seuss

O Christmas Dog Hair

In case any of you get a present with an overwhelming amount of dog hair on it....

It looks like he doesn't have a tail because its wagging that fast...

I apologize in advance.  This is what happens when I leave my project on the floor in search of pins.

Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live. ~ Dennis Miller

O Christmas Sun

We've been having fairly beautiful weather for the PNW.  In the 30's or 40s every day and not raining.  Not necessarily sunny, but NOT RAINY. 

Atticus has been exploring every corner of the yard and often doesn't want to come inside when its time.

I took these 2 days ago from the kitchen window without his permission...

Last night Atticus gave me a good scare...I had left him outside while I took my shower and got ready to go out and when I called for him, he didn't come inside.  I went to look for him and saw that the roofer who had been here just hours before never closed and locked the gate (like he found it!!!!!) after he left.  So, Atticus was in the great unknown - new neighborhood, new street, new smells, etc and had been gone for at least 20 minutes.  Pretty much fighting back panic, I stood in the front yard and whistled, and heard him in my neighbors yard - he found his way in but couldn't find his way out.  Long story short, I rescued him and in the process met my super nice neighbors on the left side of me.  So very thankful #1 - for my neighbors, and #2 - that I guess Atticus is old enough and wise enough and maybe I taught him well enough to not wander too far. 

Whew.

Now I need to get seriously sewing - went on a shopping spree at Joanns yesterday - before I spend the night at the gym tonight.  Well, not the night, but a serious part of my evening. 

No matter how carefully you stored the lights last year, they will be snarled again this Christmas.

~ Robert Kirby

O Christmas needles and pins

The sewing frenzy has started. In between long 6 hour naps.

So far I've ruined about 10 pins due to the fact I like to sew over them whenever possible. 

Only a couple have made the ultimate sacrifice - speared in half and stuffed into where my bobbin sits. 

This used to be one piece with a little red topper on one end...

So far I've found them all...I need to start being more careful though....

Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas. ~ Johnny Carson

O Christmas Vacation!!!

Finally finally finally finally finally on vacation.  Too happy and exhausted to complain about my week.  Just happy to be gone from work for the next 3+ weeks. 

Atticus and I celebrated our morning by playing with tennis balls and a santa hat...

I turn my back for one minute....

There is a remarkable breakdown of taste and intelligence at Christmastime. Mature, responsible grown men wear neckties made of holly leaves and drink alcoholic beverages with raw egg yolks and cottage cheese in them.
~ P.J. O'Rourke

O Christmas...Snowflakes?

What is turning into a tradition with my friend Jenni...pedicures and ethnic food.  Only one is pictured.

This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone. ~Taylor Caldwell

O Christmas Lists

Started to make my things-to-make Christmas list this morning.  Couldn't find any actual paper, so its on a folded up piece of wrapping paper (the kind you move with, not the kind you wrap with).

Yikes....its kinda long....can I finish it in 2 weeks?

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. ~ W.T. Ellis

O Christmas tree

A housewarming gift from my dear friend, Sarah, who knows exactly what this place needs, even from the far away land of Texas....

My first Christmas tree, in all its miniature splendor:

I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.

~ Thomas A. Edison

Majestic



Somewhere between Chicago and Harrisburg



In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own. 

~ Steven Kloves, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

De-stressing

Finally in the home stretch of the sewing frenzy.  Got all my big stuff done.  Still haven't received my specialty fabrics so I need to make my nephew an alternative present, which I actually have all picked out and ready to go. 

But here represents several hours...

Many more hours....

Oh, and I also need to figure out what to do with him...

I even managed to get all these done so I could meet up with some board-gamers yesterday and play for 5 hours.  Awesome.

To give vent now and then to his feelings, whether of pleasure or discontent, is a great ease to a man's heart. ~ Francesco Guicciardini

Some things

Some things are coming together.

And some things are still up in the air.

I love mankind - it's people I can't stand.  ~ Charles M. Schulz