Turkey Day Was A Wonderful and Relaxing Day

Yesterday was a wonderful day filled with relaxing, cooking a very large bird, eating too much, and finally relaxing in front of the TV. I'm hoping today will be the antithesis to yesterday, and that it will be busy, filled with customers wanting to take advantage of our Black Friday sales event, and that we'll be too exhausted at the end of it to do much more than eat leftovers. 

This is my bird after I took it out of the 
oven and had it resting for 1/2 hour 
before carving. It was an excellent 
bird and ended up roasted perfectly. 

Among the things I had done on Wednesday was pick up my pumpkin pie (an annual treat) and then I had settled down at my knitting machine determined to make that bubble hat. My first effort was pretty good, but I was an idiot and pulled it off the machine without binding off the edge, so I pulled off live stitches. That didn't work well, so I pulled it completely apart and remade it. In essence, I made two complete hats on Wednesday, but only one was actually finished. 

For dessert, we each had a piece of my pumpkin 
pie as well as a piece of DH's home-made pecan 
pie. Both pies were lovely. Too many calories, 
but I'll work those off quickly. 

I wore it yesterday and asked DH what he thought of my new hat. He said he thought it was really cute. I said that I had "made it yesterday afternoon" and he sighed. "Really? In one afternoon? What did you buy this time, a knitting machine?" When I acknowledged that I had indeed purchased a knitting machine, he made a mighty sigh, complained a bit about more junk, but since he was actually in a good mood, he didn't lose his temper about more stuff, just lived with it. I told him my goal was to make him two sweaters for next year's Holiday gift. 

Yes, the eyes are ridiculous on the head bust the pattern designer 
used for her photo, but the actual hat I made from her pattern 
is adorable. Now I've followed her pattern and I can change 
it to make it the sizes I really need for the people I want to 
knit for. 

So, the hurdle was presented and I jumped over it with grace instead of tripping on the top and falling flat on my face. The machine has now been acknowledged, and I might be able to work on items on days and times other than Wednesday afternoons. That would make me very happy, since I have things I want to make for the holidays. 

It's been a year of broken dreams. But through the 
shards, hope appears as the stars above. That's been 
my theme for this year's cards. I'll be sending them 
out soon - within a couple of weeks. 

I'm almost at the end for my holiday cards. Just checking my lists again, making sure I've caught everyone, and then I'll get them signed, the envelopes addressed, and into the mail. I'll be sure to let you know when they're out of my hands and on to yours. Have a wonderful Black Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. As always, please be kind, stay safe, and wear your mask. It's polite and it's life-saving. 

This Week Is The Beginning of Our Holiday Season

I'm going to be finishing my cards over the next two mornings, and beginning to bring my equipment back from the shop to my house. I hope to spend Thursday roasting my turkey and printing out holiday card envelopes while watching football. On Friday we jump into our annual Two-Day sale and that starts our holiday season. I'll be putting up our garlands at the shop on Tuesday, and DH will have to decorate the store tree with our remaining ornaments on Wednesday. (I refuse to decorate any Christmas trees.) 

My holiday job at the shop (aside from composing and 
sending our various e-flyers to our customers) is to 
hang our tinsel garland along the tops of our bookcases 
and display areas. I'll be very happy when I never have 
to do this again. 

But none of us are really in a holiday mood. I haven't found anything wonderful for DH for either Christmas or his birthday (both of which are in late December), and I hate letting him down. I'll keep looking, of course, and I do have a few ideas, but I really have to get moving on those. I have a month, approximately, and that's not a lot of time. 

It's been a year of broken dreams. Even if 
I've allowed myself to expand in some ways, 
I've retreated in others. I miss hugging people 
a lot. Waving at them from behind barriers and 
a mask just doesn't make up for the personal touch. 

It's hard to get into a holiday mood in the "Year of Broken Dreams", which is how I think of this year of masks, fear and The Virus. I'm not seeing happiness and joy at the upcoming holidays, I'm seeing people at the edge of their patience with the combination of COVID and a contentious and horrible election. Frankly, I think we're all fed up with this year, and the celebrations for New Year's should be epic because we all want a do-over. 

I think getting a do-over for 2020 would be on everyone's 
holiday gift list, but it's impossible to gift this one. It 
doesn't stop me wishing that this year had been other 
than the terror-stricken and grief-filled year of angst that 
it actually has been. Maybe we can finish the year in 
a slightly more relaxed way, but only if we stay 
vigilant. 

So, as I finalize my Holiday cards, I think of everyone they are being sent to and hoping that our upcoming holiday season and solstice will be the beginning of some wonderful things over the next year. As always, please be kind, stay safe and wear your masks. I'll be back tomorrow.