Criquette Is Back In the Building...

....in case you didn't realize she had left.

I have been persona non grata since Thanksgiving because I ate way too many pumpkin desserts. Not really. I can never get enough pumpkin.

But I have been very busy doing the elf thing around here since I decided to make as many hand-crafted gifts as I could this year. Unfortunately, not much in the way of knitted goods, but wait until you see what I've been up to. I'll post pictures in a few days. As well as doing some decorating. And of course, working like a maniac, since this time of year raises everyone's stress levels, kids included. I'm seeing lots of social anxiety and perfectionism (the obsessive-compulsive having meltdowns kind) in kids the past few weeks, not sure why so many cases of these 2 types of anxiety.

And I had to have some minor surgery to my jaw last week in preparation for some dental work. Did I ever mention my dental phobia? Even 15mg of valium and nitrous didn't keep me from having a panic attack in the middle of the procedure. I wish I could bop every medical professional upside the head for each time they have said I would feel "a little discomfort". But, aside from looking like a one-cheeked chipmunk, mumbling instead of talking, drinking my meals and feeling very loopy for a couple of days, I'm feeling fine.

I hope to catch up with everyone's blogs over the next week and I can't wait to see what all of you have been up to. Especially all of my poor Northeastern buddies - hope you're all safe and warm and enjoying electric power! And if not, at least I know you'll stay warm in your beautiful wooly handknits. We're having a little preview of the nastiness that's heading your way later in the week. Our temps plunged from 63 to 26 in just 1 hour on Sunday (!!!), on Monday we had a high of 10 with wind chills at 16 below. Yesterday we got about 3" of snow (most of it during rush hour, of course) and tomorrow we are scheduled to be hit with a freezing rain/ice thingie, also during rush hour. The biggest problem tis week has been the very gusty winds, but the prairie without wind is like New Orleans without the humidity. You just learn to suck it up.

However, I'm getting lots of usage out of my thick alpaca scarfies and Hurricane hat, although I need a thick alpaca hat for cold days like we're having this week. I have a wonderful alpaca scarf that I made out of some gorgeous extra-super-bulky yarn that I received from Sonya in one of first swaps I joined. It is so thick and warm I can only wear it in arctic-like temps. It gets so hot that I have to immediately remove it when I get inside.




Thanks, Sonya, I always send good thoughts your way when I wrap it around my neck. And if Nichole doesn't get her power back on soon, I may need to send it to her so she and her pack can stay warm at night.

Of course, you know things are really bad when it snows in New Orleans (first time since 1988). Ironically, I sent a Christmas mix to my spoilee in the Mix swap that has the track "The Day It Snows on Christmas". It's a song by Allan Toussaint (famous for the hoochie-song "Voulez-Vous Couchez Avec Moi"). It's about all of these bizarre things that would happen if it ever snowed in New Orleans on Christmas, that's how rare snow is in NOLA. He was almost right. And you can listen to the song for free here.

I've actually started writing my DoT blog for tomorrow, featuring some special guests. See you then, and stay warm!