A Curious Statistical Anomaly

You’re probably wondering why I have a cup as the image for this post. Well, this is the new December coffee cup. There was a bit of an accident with the original December coffee cup. I was making bread and opened the cupboard to get out the measuring cups when the cupboard exploded. Well, it didn’t actually explode but it seemed like it to me as things just fell out of it shattering an heavy eight ounce glass and breaking my December mug into 6 pieces. The glass was the worse as it left splinters of glass all over the cupboard, the floor, and the small rug in front of the sink. Luckily, I had shoes on. But it took quite a while to get all the pieces and slivers (and cup/glass contents wiped up). But finally, it was a shoe free zone again — except I’d lost a cup I really, really liked. This weekend I found this cup and it seemed like a fair replacement to help me keep in the Christmas spirit.

We’ve had the tree up since December 1st. I thought I’d finally get a photo in of it. We found a nifty tin Santa tree topper (actually it’s a table topper). Hyperion and I have never been able to find a tree topper that we think is more than so-so and this was a compromise to replace our star ornament that we’ve been weaving over the upper branch to use as a tree topper for the last few years. This Santa is made of painted tin and is cone-shaped so it fits on the tree top. It also matches with most of our ornaments. We have lots of Santa ornaments interspersed with some ornaments Hyperion made as a child, some bear ornaments (of various types), and then the rest are sort of homespun/natural type ornaments. All of the ornaments are ones we’ve collected over the years and have meaning for us or made us smile, laugh, or giggle when we saw them.

Bear-Making Part two:
When last you saw the bear I was making it was the various parts — flat. I’ve now got them all sewed together: arms are arms, legs are legs, and the body is one piece. I’ve also stuffed the body/head and limbs. The seams are still open in the arms and legs so I can add in the large buttons that I use for joints.

What’s left to do now is to sculpt the bears face, add the buttons into the interior on the arms and legs and connect to the bear for joints so that it can sit or stand or be positioned. The button go inside so that the child can’t pull them off and eat them. I also use large buttons so that IF for some weird reason they get out of the arms or legs they’re too big to swallow and choke on.

Hopefully, I’ll get to the face sculpting and connecting the arms and legs sometime soon. Meanwhile, this little proto-bear sits there looking forlorn and a bit lost.

Baby sweater:
Last time you saw this project it was on the needles and only down to just below the arms. I’ve got it finished except for blocking. I crocheted around the edges and added a crochet tie. I like ties rather than buttons on baby sweaters whenever possible so the baby can’t pull the buttons off. Okay, okay — so I have a tiny bit of a problem with baby safety issues. These ties, since their in one piece with the edging that goes all along the outside edge of the sweater, can’t be just pulled free and swallowed by baby. (PS: I think the mom-to-be reads my blog so pretend it’s a surprise when this shows up at some point as a gift. Okay?)

So, I’m now on a roll with finishing things off. I’ve still got some green fleece to spin, three sweaters on the needles, a lace scarf on the needles, a pair of socks, and a pair of mittens (which I might give up on). So, it’s a toss up when I’ll find the time but I’m trying to fit the knitting into the spaces where I have wait time (usually for downloads). However, I finally found my wire book holder so I can knit and read at the same time. But, it only really works well for hardcovers and trade paperbacks. So, I read all those first this month, and now I’m into the paperbacks so the knitting is on hold again.

Anyway, after the excitement of exploding cupboards and smashed cups, several very bad fibromyalgia days (where I could barely move), I think I’m back to being mostly normal and may be back to posting again.

It’s cold outside. Well, cold for Maryland. Yesterday there was a lot of wind as well, but today it’s just a calm, cold, cold, day.

I miss the seasons. I grew up in Maine in a small town called Mexico. Yeah, I know. It’s on the famous Maine sign at the Tourist Information Center just after you cross the bridge into Maine and get on the Turnpike. Mexico is not that far from So. Paris, Norway, and Sweden. But the point is that I grew up with seasons. There was Spring, Mud, Summer, Fall, Mud, and Winter. Yes, there were two seasons of Mud if it was rainy enough.  And if Mud season was bad enough we had an additional season of mosquitos and black flies, but we had those anyway no matter what season (except Winter).

The Christmas Holiday season always meant snow. I think that during my childhood we only had one year when it didn’t snow (to stick on the ground) until Christmas Eve. That’s become more frequent over the years. But, here in Maryland, there’s has seldom been snow during the Winter; at least during the ten+ years we’ve lived here. People tell us they used to always have snow for Christmas but not anymore, or at least in our part of the state. Last Friday, we had a few bits of white falling from the sky but it was gone the minute it touched down. Even Maine doesn’t have snow except in the mountains and ski areas — and I think they make most of their snow in the ski areas now because the winters aren’t what they used to be.

I talked to my mom, who still lives in Maine, and she said it snowed the other day but then it rained and it was all gone or mostly all gone as far as she could see. She lives in town, but still — it’s December and there’s still no snow yet back in my home town in Maine.

So, here it is sixteen days until Christmas and once again it’s still Fall here in Maryland. The leaves have fallen and piled up where we haven’t done anything to get rid of them. They’re beautiful in their own way — orange, yellow, and some reds along with the dead browns. The trees are bare against the sky which today is a clear, cold blue of water ice.

It is beautiful but I miss the white drifts of snow that always meant Christmas is coming when I was a child. My husband just says I should be very glad we don’t have to shovel six feet of the stuff off our quarter-mile driveway. He’s right but I still miss the Winter season of snow.  [Hyperion: That’s because she’s not the one that had to shovel it.  I like snow too but, I’m just saying, there needs to be priorities :-)]

Guess I’m just feeling nostalgic today. Home with the tree lights on and a mystery to read (Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass) which I’ll be reviewing for Gumshoe Review’s January issue. The story takes place in the cold. So, guess I’ll just go back to sipping my warm coffee with it’s Mocha Peppermint creamer and visit the world of the body farm and stop thinking about the snow that isn’t outside my window.

It’s now December. That means Christmas is just on the horizon (23 days from today — yikes). I’ve got my December cup. Isn’t it beau-ti-ful? I saw it in October and fell in love with it. To me it screams December/Christmas with a bit of Dr. Seuss thrown in for giggles. So, hopefully this cup will see me through all the stress and strain of the holiday season.

I love Christmas with all my heart. Not the commercialism of Christmas but the spirit. The love that just seems to come out at Christmas time. Though after the stampedes on Black Friday and the resultant deaths — its seems that the spirit of Christmas has been lost in the greed of Christmas. Maybe the reading of A Christmas Carol should be mandatory for everyone during this month.

I love that story and the movies made of it. I think I own at least four variations on the story. Believe it or not, The Muppet Christmas Carol is actually the closest to the book.

I’ve heard too many parents who are convinced that the only way to show love to their children is to spend, spend, spend. Too many children equate how many gifts they get (and how much they cost) with how much their parents love them. And everyone is trying to keep up appearances with some mythical family named Jones.

Love can’t be measured in money and things. It springs from the heart and is best measured in time — time spent listening, time spent together. Gifts are fine but they don’t replace or represent love. A gift is a thing, a possession that will in time break down, fall apart, stop working, or be outgrown. Love only grows stronger as time goes by (probably why it makes such a nice song title).

Our Christmases have always been sparse on gifts. At first because I was a single parent working two full-time and one part-time job while going to school. Luckily most of my jobs were late evening and night, so I could spend some daytime with my son. But Christmas was a time to open our gift (that’s not a misprint — gift, singular) have a good meal, watch Christmas movies, play games, cuddle up with hot chocolate and have me read to him. As time passed things changed, but Christmas has always been a time to spend with family — visiting, talking, laughing, just being together.

So, in these economic hard times, think about purging your Christmas gift list. Keep it to immediate family. If necessary eliminate the adults or draw a name out of a hat for the adults, and buy for the children. Set a monetary limit you can afford and stick to it. Have a contest to see who can make the best gift from found items or under a certain amount.

Decide if traveling over hill-and-dale is worth it. Is it now time to start your own Christmas traditions in your own home and phone/ICU/IM family to wish them happy holidays? We stopped the holiday visits to those outside the nuclear family when we moved out of state and found they still expected us to come to them. Now we have our own traditions of Christmas. We cuddle up and watch Christmas movies while dinner cooks or admire the tree and spend time being together. Of course, Christmas is now just the two of us (son stays in Rhode Island for that holiday).

The trick, especially now, is forget what you’ve done before. Don’t spend more than you can afford — and that means limit severely the use of credit cards. Try to think of interesting ways to make the holidays fun for the family that don’t cost a lot of money. Visit some of the free events in the area — here we have many Festival of Lights places that take donations per carload. Some places are free. Many museums have Christmas displays — take the family. Maybe a local theater is having a production of A Christmas Carol. Talk with your children about the changes you want to make and ask for their help and suggestions — you may be surprised by their response (positively surprised). Children are more aware of what’s happening around them than most people give them credit for and if you ask for their input, they just may be willing to understand and help.

Anyway, the object is to have a very Merry Holiday without going into debt or being trampled in a stampede, or worrying about that mythical Jones family — while many people may have the same last name, I don’t think they exist.

Here in the United States it’s Thanksgiving Day. This is a day to gives thanks for all the wonders and joys in our lives. Families get together and spend time together, though if you watch the commercials you’d believe it’s to watch football and not talk and then to finish it all up by shopping.

My son is here for the holiday, he came in on Tuesday and flies out again tomorrow. We haven’t seen him since July (He lives in Rhode Island). So, that makes today and this holiday extra special since he doesn’t make it down for Christmas. Paul (aka Hyperion) has had these days off and so we’ve been able to spend time together mostly joking around and talking.

I came across this version of Amazing Grace, and it is one of my favorite songs. I love most versions and thought this one was most appropriate for today.

Even if it is not a special day of thanksgiving for you, enjoy the video, and be especially nice to all the people who add joy, love, and laughter to your life.

Halloween isn’t really my favorite holiday — that honor goes to Christmas (well Christmas spirit, not the commercialized nightmare it has become). But I’m a sucker for candy corn. In fact, it’s about all I can do to keep myself from buying pounds of it each year during the Halloween candy extravaganzas.

Resistance was more difficult than usual this year since all the grocery stores had those scoop things set out so you could fill a plastic bag with as much candy corn as you wanted and it would be weighed on check out. We had to really look to find the small one pound bag you see in the photo. It’s a limit, I can live with — 1 bag per year.

You see it’s not widely known but candy corn is addicting. Really. I bet you don’t know anyone who likes candy corn who can eat just one handful if there is more in the bowl. I mean you could be lying on the floor in a sugary stupor barely able to lift your head without getting a full-on sugar rush and you’d still reach into the bowl for another hand full. It’s insidious. So, the limit is only one bag of the stuff comes into the house. One. Just one. Then no more for a full year.  [Hyperion: It’s actually worse for me.  I’ll eat so much that I’m sick to my stomach, in physical pain, wondering if I’ll be able to get to the bathroom in time, and my hand will still be reaching into the bowl for more.]

We don’t buy candy for Halloween. We live on five acres in the woods down a dirt road. Our neighbor with children goes to parties so there’s no one to give candy out too. This year we’re skipping the Halloween Party since the zines go live at midnight and while I’ve done my part, the web guru is now doing his, so I think we’ll take a break and watch a scary movie and enjoy our candy corn then to sleep to dream of swimming in pools of candy corn.

Tomorrow starts NaNoWriMo, so I’ve got to limber up my fingers and check on the website again since I couldn’t get in earlier and I’ve been too busy since then to check back. November is going to be a month filled with interesting new experiences.

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s Eve. This is a bit late, but we went to dinner at our friend’s house in Alexandria, VA and after dinner out to the First Night activities. I’d never been to a city’s First Night before, although we’ve lived in several that had lots of activities on First Night. So, we had a great time.

The weather was cold but not fiercely so — so we walked most of the way to the Torpedo Factory Art Center for a bit of old fashioned rock and roll by the Grandsons. The surprising bit was that people spontaneously started to dance in the open area away from the stage. There was no seating and the stage was the floor, so unless you were in the front rows or exceedingly tall, you could only hear the band. The second surprise was the families — many people with children. Throughout the night, in all the venues we dropped in on, there were families with children. Here many were teaching their kids to jitterbug and fast dance. It was a hoot and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Next we walked to a jazz venue. On the way, Ern helped a couple taking pictures so they helped us out by taking our picture.

From left to right is my husband Paul, me, and our friends EJ and Ern.

The jazz was wonderful but the venue was very, very warm — it was packed and all the standing room was filled. So after three numbers we headed over to hear another group. At the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, we listened to Al Petteway and Amy White who played a number of different instruments and played Celtic and Appalachian folk songs (some their own). We stayed to the end of their set. And because I loved their music I bought two CDs: Winter Tidings and Acoustic Journey.

Next it was back to EJ & Ern’s for dessert and to watch the ball drop in Time Square. Some interesting conversation and  then it was the homeward drive and sleep and dreams of a better year to come.

Hope everyone had a wonderful a safe and joyous New Year’s Eve.

There’s just something about that space between Christmas and the New Year. There’s all the anticipation of Christmas; of family arriving, joy, laughter, and the sharing of stories. Then Christmas is over and loved ones return to their lives. The wrapping paper is recycled, the dishes done, the leftovers packed away, the last story told, and the hugs and tears of a parting for another year. And yet another celebration is looming — New Years Eve and the start of a new year full of possibilities.

New Years has always been special to me. It’s a time to look over the past year and say goodbye to the mistakes, polish the successes, and decide what to focus on in the coming year. Not so much making resolutions to NOT do something but deciding what I will do during the coming year. Make a list, check it twice, and hope that the energy and positive feelings of this holiday season will be the catalyst for the positive achievement of some of the goals on my list.

Some of my hopeful goals

Learn to knit two socks at the same time with circular needles;
Finish at least 4 of my UFOs (UnFinished Objects);
Write up the directions for the shrug and sweater I’ve been working on;
Post at least 4 times a week in this blog;
Finish my 3 hanging short stories and send them out;
Finish the novel Paul and I are working on together (it’s been half done for over a two years);
Read at least one (adult) non-fiction book every two months;
Remember to be grateful for every day;
Strive to get more food out of our garden than the critters get from our garden

Small steps, small goals — hopefully next year at this time I can say I did all this, though I think the hardest one is going to be the “Remember to be grateful for every day”. What about you?

[Note: When I was looking around I found Amazon had Music for Motivation (cover art used for this post). There’s also several other albums of music for various activities: thinking, learning, de-stressing, and relaxing among others.]

Here it is the day of Christmas Eve. My son arrived yesterday and today I baked an apple pie and bread rolls. The pie is traditional for our family. It’s a cross between a Butterscotch Apple Pie and a French Apple Pie only with pecans and crasins. The bread rolls are from a Fanny Farmer cookbook and are great. With luck they’ll last until tomorrow but there so good out of the oven — hot with butter — that’s it’s going to be a near thing.

The tree is up and decorated with the old star ornament that seems to always want to lean one way of the other but never sit up straight. I collect Santa ornaments and so the tree is decorated with Santa Clauses of various kinds . We also collect bears, including bear ornaments, so there’s lots of bears on our tree as well. Mostly the ornaments are those Paul and I pick up as we see something that has meaning for us but they tend to be sort of a mix of country-ish ornaments, Santas, and bears (with the occasional tiger for Paul).

My son often doesn’t make it for the holidays since he works a lot of part-time jobs and a missed day is a day of pay missed so having him here for Christmas is a real treat. I hope that everyone has a very happy holiday season filled with love, laughter, and joy. Party wisely and if travel take care. Best wishes to all. To keep track of Santa’s trip check out NORAD.