When your college student comes home for the holidays

I have a book idea. It's called, "How to Live With A College Student".

Chapter 1: Laundry 101.
Chapter 2: Why your living room is not a dorm.
Chapter 3: Why your sofa is not a spare room for touring college friends.
Chapter 4: Snack food is not breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Chapter 5: How to get your child to stop texting while they are asking for money.
Chapter 6: How to get your child to text you to say they will not be home for the night.
Chapter 7: When should the family car be returned to the family.
Chapter 8: Laundry 102.
Chapter 9: Chores, and how to inspire a college student to do them.
Chapter 10: Prozac is your friend.

Lots of knitting, not many pictures

Dashing

I love this pattern from Knitty, the companion to Fetching. I made the first pair using Patons Wool. This one is Zara I think. I snapped this just before I frogged it because I did the cables in the wrong direction.

As some of you know, many of us here in Jersey are snowed and iced in. I shouldn't complain considering what my nephew is dealing with in Oklahoma. Still, December, in my mind, should never include snow - I don't care what that song is dreaming about. I need December to get adjusted to winter. To get cold and snow in the same month makes me want to just sit in my kitchen with a hot cup of java and simply spend the day looking out of the window -



Fortunately, there are some fun and games in December, not just lists, shopping and cooking. My garden club had its holiday party at a local restaurant this year. I was on the decorations committee. We gathered in my kitchen the night before and made 10 centerpieces and decorated a small tree.


My computer is still acting weird. For some reason, it won't let me comment on many of your blogs, some pages won't load and my bookmarked list of my favorite blogs isn't recognized in Firefox. Hopefully, during the holiday, I'll either get the time to fix it or Santa will bring me a new machine.

Snow much better

Actually, more snow is never better, I was just trying to be clever. I am feeling better, despite the snow.

I've been away from blogland sort of on vacation. Last week was 'winter break' and the schools were closed. I and my pocketbook wasn't feeling well enough to travel so we all spent the week putting up with each other.

Monday morning, yesterday, the boys almost got a snow day. While the Oscars was on in sunny California, it was snowing here. My sons never watch that show from start to finish but they were lobbying for a snow day and I think the superstition goes something like, you have to wear your pjs on backward (they no longer wear pjs so that was out) or do something unusual. Food fights are seriously banned in this house so they did the next best thing, they watched the Oscars. Sometime ago, they were trying to get some mojo going to get a day off school and they tuned into Miss America or Miss Universe but I disconnected that idea by disconnecting the cable. Miss America and Miss Universe contests are also banned in my house. At least until Mr. Universe contests sports a dude with a power tool making repairs around the house while wearing a thong and singing Unforgettable in perfect pitch!

Anyways, back to the snow. Yup we got lots and they got a 2 hour delayed start. This is a picture of my patio table before it snowed, again -

That's all ice on my table, chucks of it. Big chucks started falling off my roof too. Everything was ice. Then we got more snow and it was kind of pretty I suppose.





Mother nature knew not to play a snow day on me after enduring a week long vacation with 3 teenage boys! I had to work my mojo -



The big 48!

Friday was my birthday. Yes, the old girl tried to put on a happy face even with 50 looming around the corner







I got a box full of the most delicious smelling soaps and lots of lotion. I think I'm set until Mother's Day!

I don't have any knitting to show you. I am almost done with a black shawl that I want to show you. I also got some surprises in the mail that I have to photograph. Oh, I knew there was something else I wanted to share. I've been experimenting with paper crafts



That's an altered book concept done with folded brown paper bags! It's my first one. And the picture below is an ATC (artist trading card) that I did for the Song title/Lyric swap.