ONE WORD

Your hair? Thinning
Your mother? Difficult
Your father? Sincere
Your favorite thing? Cooking
Your dream last night? LittleBird
Your favorite drink? Tea
Your dream/goal? Weightloss
What room are you in? Office
Your hobby? Baking
Your fear? Abandonment
Where do you want to be in 6 Yrs? Here
Where were you last night? Home
Something that you aren't? Handsome
Muffins? Yes
Wish list item? HDTV
Last thing you did? Burped
What are you wearing? Turtleneck
TV? Yes
Your pets? Everything
Friends? Treasured
Your life? Grateful
Your mood? Fearful
Missing someone? Yes
Drinking? Tea
Your car? Santa Fe
Something you're not wearing? Watch
Your favorite store? Macy's
Your favorite color? Sage
When is the last time you cried? Yesterday
Where do you go to over and over? Chinatown
My favorite place to eat? Nancy's
Favorite place I'd like to be at right now? Kitchen

UNLOADING

I am tired. Exhausted. Stressed.

I've billed 185 hours this month. (I only work 90% time, so my target is 125.) And there are still 3 days left in the month for me to work.

I have managed to get a couple more repeats of the shawl knit. I'm pretty sure I made a mistake, but I'm actually -- and contrary to my usual nature -- ok with my mistake. No one but me will be able to see it, and I'm really knitting it because knitting helps to keep me sane when the lack of light starts playing the bongos with my mental health.

Like I said before -- I'm going to finish the scarf, block it, and if it looks good, I'm going to give it to my bosses daughter, who is getting married. If it doesn't look perfect, but still nice, I'm sure there are people in my life who will enjoy it.

I'm going to sleep now. And maybe when I wake I will feel less stressed.

BTW -- if you ever have the opportunity to buy a pack of Fox's BisQuits, BUY THEM! MOST YUMMY! My friend, Sinead, sent me a few packs, and I've already finished 2 of the three packs! I saved the chocolate for last!

Myfanwe, Norbert & I are leaving Mitzi with the house sitter and taking a long weekend to visit our god-daughter, Little Bird, in St. Louis this weekend. My wee Little Bird is turning a year old! We haven't seen her in 2 months, and I can't wait to see everything new she's doing! I'm making a batch of cinnamon rolls and freezing them so I can bake them off in St. Louis. Which means somehow I have to find time tomorrow night to form them and freeze them. Oi! Wish me luck!

GREAT DAY! THE RIGHTEOUS MARCHIN'!

This is the day of jubilee!
God’s going to build up Zion’s walls!

I couldn't get this to embed, so you'll have to follow the link -- you won't be disappointed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-0NvkuPHZI&feature=player_embedded

One personal observation.

I wasn't processing the who thing. It's so big. But last night, walking Mitzi past President Obama's house, it hit. Like a bag of cement. His house, once lit and full of life and light, was absolutely, completely, totally dark. Not so much as a porch light. And I said to Mitzi, "Well, I guess we weren't dreaming. They've really gone." I don't think Mitzi has the emotional capacity to understand "bittersweet".

Lace & Cakes

This is how I am spending my long weekend:


Welsh tea cakes, the Lacy Wrap from Rowan, and decaf black Ceylon tea.


My friend Sinead -- Hi, Sinead! -- pointed me towards the recipe. (And also the book "A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down: A book about having a sit down, a biscuit, and a nice cup of tea" by Nicey & Wifey.) These cakes are like a cross between an American biscuit and a pancake and a quick bread. They are actually harder to describe than I thought they would be. They are rich and studded (in my variation) with chopped dried apricots and sultanas. Rolled out, cut into rounds, and baked on a griddle. Yum. There are, however, more than we can eat at one sitting. I have been warned away from "jam splits" -- breaking them open, toasting them, then spreading them with jam -- as jam splits are, apparently, "an abomination". Since some of my favorite people/things/foods have been described as "abominations", I might have to try one. But I will do it with the requisite amount of shame...probably hiding it from my family and friends.


I'm also 1.5 repeats into the Lacy Wrap. On slightly bigger needles, so I get an airy, diaphanous look. If it turns out nicely, I plan to give it to my boss' daughter, who is marrying this fall.

I gotta go. The tea cakes are getting cold.
This

WINTER

I happen to like winter. No, that isn't entirely accurate.

I LOVE WINTER! I love snow. I love snowstorms. I love winter, pure and simple. Because I love winter and I love snow, I live in Chicago, though oftentimes I spend a portion of the winter bemoaning how those lucky people in Indiana and Buffalo, New York get all the good snow. I am at my happiest when it is snowing like a scene from The Long Winter.

I don't understand Chicagoans -- particularly TV weatherpersons in Chicago. I'm not exaggerating -- at the very first hint that so much as a flake of snow could possibly fall from the sky they start running around in front of the camera screaming, "Oh my G-d! We're all going to die!" The next thing I know people are stalking around, whispering, asking if it's possible the office might close early "because of the weather". Complete strangers expect me to empathize as they moan and groan about it being a "freezing" 28 degrees.

This is Chicago, people! Man up! Quit your bellyachin' and grow a pair! We don't go home early because it might snow! We don't even go home early if it DOES snow. The worst thing that could happen is we get snowed in and end up sleeping under our desks, which, far from being the end of the world, builds character! Try to look on the bright side! If we do all sleep under our desks, I bet the firm will bring in breakfast!

This week we are expecting a blast of arctic air, with daytime high temperatures hovering at the -2 degree mark. And I have a response to every person who feels entitled to bitch and moan.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..." So shut up already.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

I have always loved Designing Women, and I remember this clip so well. I value loyalty -- I am, though flawed, a very loyal person. Don't mess with my friends!



BTW -- I will let you know what my present to Myfanwe was when I find the camera memory card. It has to have a picture to go with!

I Got a Wicked Present

Hidden in chocolate bars...isn't Myfanwe cute?

What was the present?



Tickets to see Wicked in it's last week of a 3.5 year run. We saw it on Broadway, see the picture of Norbert and Sockey, below, for proof. We all loved it. So I'm excited to see it again.

THE WAY THE NEWS WOULD READ IF I RAN THE WORLD

I saw a great headline online today

"Cheney says Obama should keep terror polices"

If I ran the world, the next line would be

"VP-Elect says Cheney should shut the fuck up"

Wouldn't that be refreshing?

Ah, well. In my dreams. In my dreams.

History

This afternoon Myfanwe, Norbert & I got to watch President-Elect Obama's motorcade as it passed, taking the President-Elect to Washington. We waved. I didn't care if we looked odd. (Though thank Dog the CNN footage we just saw on the tube started just feet past where we were!)

It was a moving experience. I first met President Obama when he was first elected to the Illinois General Assembly twelve or so years ago. (Myfanwe and I were both lobbyists at the time.) When we moved to Hyde Park 11 years ago, he became my State Senator, then my U.S. Senator, and then he became my neighbor.

It is hard to reconcile the guy who stood in line at Walgreens with the guy who will be the leader of the free world. I mean -- our dog has pooped in their yard! (We pick up after her, not to worry.) And now the guy living at the corner who walked the three blocks to pick up his dry cleaning is now the President of the United States! Doesn't that sound like some sort of weird fan fiction?

Sad, though, that the guy who likes walking around the neighborhood won't ever be able to take walks like that again.

I'm hopeful President Obama can make some sense of things and get us pointed in the right direction once again. I also pray that it won't be at too great a price.

G-dspeed, Mr. Obama. We are very, very proud of you. You are in our prayers.