Crafty

I went out to see my folks last night after work. They had ordered me some new snowboots for Christmas and Mom wanted me to try them on so if they didn't fit, she would have time to return them and get new ones before Christmas, or at least that's what I thought. When I got ready to leave (the boots fit fine), I said, "Well, I'll pretend to be surprised on Christmas," and they acted confused, like they couldn't figure out what I meant. Mom said, "What?" And I repeated what I had said, and she said, no, you get to take them now! I said I thought they were a Christmas present, and she said that it had been Dad's idea to order them, and they wanted me to have them now, so I came home with a new pair of tan microfiber zip-up boots, and I'm kind of hoping for snow.

My mom is doing fine, despite the miles of clear oxygen tubing strung around the house. Fortunately, they have a ranch house, not a two story. I'm pretty sure that I would have tripped over the tubing by now and fallen down and broken something, but she said neither one of them had tripped over it as yet. She only has to use the oxygen until the first of next week, I think. I'm sure she'll be glad to get rid of that.

By the time I got out there, it was almost 7:00, and they'd already eaten. I was hungry, but I didn't want them to go to any trouble, so when they asked if I wanted something to eat, I said no, that I'd pick up something on my way home. But when Daddy asked again if I was hungry, and asked if he could make me a sandwich, I said okay. Why is it that everything always tastes so good at Mom and Dad's house?

He made me a ham sandwich on seven grain bread, with Miracle Whip and lettuce, and some Cheese Nips crackers, and for dessert a couple of Low Fat Oreos. And it all tasted so good! I almost never eat bread or crackers anymore, so it was a real treat. I think they're probably eating mostly sandwiches and things like that right now--Mom said she hadn't been doing much cooking because she didn't want to risk starting a fire with the oxygen. I don't know if that's a valid concern or not, but in my book, any excuse not to cook is a good one.

I made things this week! I used to do all kinds of crafts stuff, but I haven't done anything except knitting for a long time now. But even so, this is kind of knitting related. I've been seeing handmade beaded stitch markers on knitting blogs for awhile, and they're pretty, but they hadn't really interested me. I'm not sure what changed my mind, but lately I had started thinking about making some, and last weekend I went to the craft store and bought beads and rings and charms and various things, and Wednesday night I sat down with all the goodies and made some.

I'll try to remember to take a picture tonight and post it at the knitting blog, because I'm really proud of them, they came out wonderfully. In fact, I might even think about selling them. The ones I liked best are sets of five markers with little pewter tags reading Inspire, Imagine, Live, Laugh, and Wish. Four are stitch markers that will fit up to Size 11 needles, and the fifth is on a smaller ring with a lobster clasp attached to use as a row marker. They're all strung on a thin wire ring to use as storage.

I'm going to give a few sets as Chrsitmas gifts, and I think I'll give away a set in a new contest. Send me an email with the subject "Crafty" before the end of December and I'll draw a winner on New Year's. Don't worry about giving me a mailing address right now, I'll email the winner and verify an address at that time.

It felt good to do something crafty. While I was out at Mom and Dad's, my mom asked me if I had finished the poncho I'd been working on at Thanksgiving. I told her that I had had to order another skein of yarn to finish the fringe. I had actually thought of bringing it out with me, since I had used one of their "Prevention" magazines to wind the yarn around to make the fringe, and didn't have one at home. She, of course, told me to take one home with me, so if I have time tonight, I might finish the poncho.

I've started another Fifty Things list, called Fifty More Things. I only got up to twenty before I got distracted and did something else, but I'll finish it this month.