Christmas In the Rear-view Mirror

Warning; Objects may appear smaller than they really are....

I love Christmas, and I've always enjoyed the giving aspect of the whole affair, even though it's commercialized beyond belief, and Santa is more popular than Jesus in the scheme of things, it is still my favorite holiday.

But.

It always seems like half way through Christmas day I get depressed. I get irritable and grouchy and am just as likely to snap at you as smile. This I have come to know as the 'Christmas Blues'.
All Mother's out there can attest to this; we never get what we ask for. Well, ok, sometimes we'll find the occasional listener, who actually thought about what we asked for, or hinted for, all year who will surprise and delight us on Christmas day. I have asked for pots and pans, a dishwasher, electronic appliances, anything that will help make my life easier! I've asked for spinning tools, spinning fiber, knitting/crochet tools, books, etc ad nauseum.
So I get up Christmas morning, knowing for the most part that I will get something that took someones fancy as they were racing down an isle to get to something someone else asked for, and they thought "Ooo! Mom would like that!".
Don't get me wrong, I know they appreciate me, they just don't think about me very often. ...Ok, no, I don't know they appreciate me. But I do know they love me, which makes the whole off-the-cuff thing easier to swallow.

But!

This Christmas was different. My kids are 18 and 20 years old, and I realize that a lot of my depression mid through Christmas day is, it just isn't as fun anymore. And missing Tad doesn't help either... but this year, we have Joy. It is so nice, so uplifting and invigorating to have a baby in the house again, to over-kill on presents because we can, and watch her learn and play (with the boxes and wrapper tubes), and listen to her laugh and giggle. And I did get something I asked for (been asking for it for 8 years, but never mind that!), DH got me a Kindle! I love it! I've now ordered a skin and a cover for it, and I'm pretty sure I won't be going far without it in the near future.
As you saw in the last post, I also got the book Aran Knitting, the DVD "The Gentle Art of Plying" with Judith MacKenzie McCuin, and the book Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders. These of course were self-given gifts, but I can deal with that :)

So to tie in the title of this post, looking back on Christmas' Past and specifically this Christmas, rather makes me feel like I'm looking back at the Grinch's heart when it grew three sizes that day; the more I look back on it, the bigger and more fulfilling it becomes.

It was a good Christmas.

Early Christmas Present

Want a review?

Wow. Just Wow. I haven't even gotten to the knitting yet.

I decided to take part of my day and delve into this book that I had promised myself when on a stroll through Barns and Noble while in the Tucson Mall. I fell in love with it there, but didn't have the money to buy it at the time. This book is not only about Aran knitting but will also edify you with a short but poignant look into the history of the Aran Isles as well as the history (surprisingly short history) of Aran knitting.
As much as I want to lay claim to a Celtic background by blood, it is thin blood indeed that a claim may be made. I am approximately 7th or 8th generation after the original crossing of my ancestors, brothers who crossed in the late 1700s from Ireland. But I think that that early desire to claim that heritage has blessed me with an insatiable curiosity about other lands, other peoples, and other cultures.
So, with that point made, here is the other. I decided to learn how to knit mainly for one reason; Aran knitting. The intricate patterns of Celtic knots, the waves of cables, and the rocky peaks and valleys of picot captured my imagination and spoke to me of far away lands and cultures.

At this point, if I got nothing else for Christmas, I would be a happy knitter/amateur anthropolgist :)

The Job

So I've been at it for a little over two weeks, its not even close to being what I had hoped. I haven't been bar tending, I am working the 'floor', the casino floor, and while its not a bad job, it isn't the one I was shooting for. Not that bar tending is the job I want, its just the only one I thought I could get. The senior bartender is going for surgery in January, and I was told I would get her shift when she went, apparently I will only get two days a week, because the other bartender realized she should be getting it. She's right, I was just hoping she wouldn't want it.

In seasonal news, we got our tree! Finally! I love noble fir, my favorite Christmas tree, and although I grew up with pinion pine at Christmas, I have come to love the pinion for its level branches, hardiness (even after cut), its wonderful aroma, and its deep green color.
Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Its been so long...

I know, its been too long since my last post, but a lot has happened!
I had been knitting and knitting, making hats, scarves, socks, spinning, and knitting some more.
Then, outta left field, someone hired me.

Don't get me wrong, I do want to work, just not very much. I'm spoiled. That's the only explanation I can come up with for the resentment that I feel over having to go back to work full time. And the fact that I have a college education and I'm bar tending. Sometimes. Most of the time, for now, I'm 'hosting' the casino floor, which takes the brains of a small amoeba to do. I like bar tending, always have, but not as a career. A hobby maybe. Unfortunately, times are such that any money coming in is welcome money, and my fairer sensibilities be damned. Another resentment comes from the fact that as long as my DH and I have been together I have had a paying job, as well as the one that I didn't get paid for, and have never had any help with the 'non' paying job, and I'm pretty sure that wont change now. Leopards and spots and all that jazz.

On a more optimistic front, we got new phones! They didn't work, but that's OK now :)
We were with Altell, which sold out to AT&T. AT&T sent us new phones that would work on their network. And the problem with that? We don't have AT&T network in this area!
So three frustrated days later, we switched to Verizon. Since the phones (4 of them) were replacements for our Altell phones, we didn't have to send them back to AT&T, so I'm selling them on ebay. Two of them (Palm Pre and a Blackberry) have sold with 'buy it now' and I've been Christmas shopping. I've got Derek's presents ordered except for his cigars, and have bought Joy several things (she'll probably play with the boxes), and have of course been forced to take a sellers fee, and ordered "The Gentle Art of Plying", "Aran Knitting: New and Expanded Edition", the new "SpinKnit E-Mag" from Interweave and Bare Minerals makeup for the new job. Ah, the trials and travails of online commerce!! I'm so excited! I'm down loading the E-Mag now, and if you haven't looked into it, go check it out, the teaser video convinced me!

In the middle of all this, my sweet grandbaby girl had her first birthday on December 1st. She really enjoyed her cake :)
Jari and the baby-daddy took Joy to Vegas to visit her other grandma and grandpa and are headed back today. We will most likely go Christmas tree hunting this week sometime, and for the first time in 5 years I want to put up outside Christmas lights. ...I still can't quite believe that he is lost to me forever, but it seems to be getting easier to deal with. So up with the lights! It's Christmas time!

ETA: I got this in the mail last week and am dying to share it.

This is the NTSRI's (National Tunis Sheep Registry) first annual calendar, and Gracie made the cover! Another of our pictures was used for January. I am so excited to have our pictures chosen! Thanks to all who had a hand in the making of the calendar!