Merry Christmas!

Accompanying

Yesterday I had the very exciting opportunity to accompany a middle school choir on the piano. Mrs. Greene is the pianist, and the choir performed a song that had two piano parts called Rhythm of Life. Mrs. Greene called Mom last Wednesday to ask me if I could do it. I had to call the director of The Miracle Worker about it because we had rehearsal on the same night. Anyway, I was (obviously) given the green light. I first played the piece on Thursday, so I kind of stressed out about learning it. I practiced with Mrs. Greene again on Sunday, went to rehearse with the choir on Monday, and played it a few more times yesterday before we left. I really, really enjoyed accompanying. I enjoy being in the partial spotlight when I'm playing piano rather than playing by myself when all the attention is on me. Also, when you're accompanying if you mess up you just keep going instead of trying to fix the mistake and getting all nervous and embarrassed. I definitely missed some notes last night, but it didn't bug me as much as it usually does. Maybe that's because I knew that perfection was practically impossible in less than a week!

Crazy Day

Today was a little bonkers, because I forgot to write on my audition application that I couldn't rehearse on the third Monday of the month because of a previous commitment. I've been teaching some of the people who participate in the Friendship Ministry, a local organization that ministers to physically and mentally disabled people, a song to sign to. So, I had two things going on today, at the same time. I was kind of totally stressed out about calling people to figure out how to do both of them. The Friendship coordinators said they would try to fit me in before they ate, but as it turned out, the church where they meet was rehearsing choir while we were going to be practicing, so it didn't work out. Then I went to rehearsal. It went well, and I'm excited to see the show come to life. It will be a little more difficult than I anticipated, because the character I'm playing is written as an African-American servant, but the director wants me to do it with a southern accent. I can't wait to get back into the whole theater thing!

The Miracle Worker

I'm super excited, because I found out yesterday that I made it into The Miracle Worker. I am Percy, who is the Keller's servant's son. Johnathan also got a part; he is Anne Sullivan's brother Jimmie. I'm also excited because some of the people who were in Annie are also in this. I found that out today when the cast list was published.

Election

Today was an interesting election for me. I felt like I had more invested in it than any other election in the past, but I didn't have as much blissful naivete and faith in the candidate I thought the best for President. In other areas, school has been going pretty well. I'm also planning on auditioning for The Miracle Worker next week.

Last day of summer!*

*Sort of. Tomorrow we start school. Sometimes, I wish that summer could go on forever, but then I could never graduate. On another note, my spindle that I've been waiting almost a week for still hasn't come. It's being shipped from Canada, so I know it will take longer, but I was hoping it would come before school started...

End of corn

Today was the last day that we will be working at the Severson's this year. I'm glad that it's over, but I'm going to be wishing that I still have a job in a few weeks, I'm sure! Also, I'm going to miss spending time with my 'co-workers'.

Annie

As you probably all know, the musical Annie Jr. that I was in is now over. I have mixed emotions about this: I'm happy that I can move on with my life and maybe play a different part in another play, but I'm disappointed that I might not see some of the people in the play again. I went to work again today and the rest of the days this week so far except yesterday. Today I ran the saw, which cuts off the butt end and the skinny end of the corn, and husked some. For whatever reason, we're now husking all of the husk, whereas before we were only removing the husk from one half of the ear.

Well, I'm kind of disappointed because I can't work today. No one is working because our employer doesn't have any corn to process. Nobody worked yesterday either. I'm hoping to be able to work at least a few more weeks because I have my eye on some stuff, and I need to save more money to get to the 'magical' 50/40/10 save/spend/tithe. I spent one weeks worth of my save money at Stitches.

Humongous post about everything imaginable...

Well, I obviously haven't blogged in a while. This is mostly due to the fact that I've been busy. My summer job working at the Severson's farm has been going well. I've been enjoying it as much as anyone can enjoy a pretty repetitive, on-your-feet-half-the-day job. However, the pay is good and I've been enjoying building up my fiber stash.
       My birthday was on August 3, which you probably all know already. I picked the meals, as usual, and chose pancakes for breakfast. Then I went to work from 9-2. Most people might not want to work on their birthdays, but I decided that would be my birthday present to myself. I couldn't really think of anything else in particular that I wanted to do, so I went on a shopping trip to Le Mouton Rouge and spent my own birthday money. I bought this for myself:

It's Polwarth, a breed of sheep, in the colorway 'Chipotle'. This is my first time spinning Polwarth, and I'm definitely enjoying it. I think I'm going to make a pair of socks for myself. I also added on to the order Rebekah placed on KnitPicks.com. I bought roving in the color 'Salsa Heather'.

I don't know yet what I'm going to make out of this. I also placed an order for some silk and sparkle, but the company emailed me to say that my order had been 'slightly' delayed and would ship in 6-8 weeks! I decided to cancel the order and keep the money. As it turned out, I didn't keep it for long... More about that later.
       As many of you know, last week I had opening night for Annie Jr. I made only one mistake: I sang the wrong line. Since then, I've messed up a couple times, but I haven't forgotten any lines yet. Interestingly enough, the part that I was most worried about was the costume change at the end. I was worried about not having enough time, because I am arrested by a secret service agent who takes me out the front, and then I have to run around to the back of the building to change back into my original costume in the amount of time it takes to sing two songs. So far, that has gone really well. I've decided that I really enjoy acting, and for whatever reason I don't get very nervous at all. I asked one of the directors who also directs at the high school if I could audition for high school plays, and she said that I'd have to ask the principal. Also, the Morris theatre guild is going to be performing The Miracle Worker, which is about the life of Helen Keller, early next year. I'm thinking about trying out for that. I forgot to mention that Rebekah and Mom went to my opening night. When they came out of the door to congratulate me etc., I noticed that Mom was carrying a tissue wrapped parcel. I was expecting it to be flowers, but when I looked inside... :

Fiber! I was super excited! Rebekah had gone to Le Mouton Rouge earlier that day, and while she was there Mom bought this for me. It's merino in the color 'Swamp Thing'.
 As I already mentioned, I've been buying and acquiring a lot of fiber. One of the biggest shopping sprees I went on you may have already read about on Rebekah's blog:
Stitches Midwest!

Stitches is a big event! There were lots of vendors there, including almost every fiber shop I've been to (i.e., Esther's Place and The Fold). I had researched thoroughly which vendors had the cheapest fiber, and so I went with a plan: a printed map of the booths with all the ones I wanted to go to named and a path drawn to each one.
I bought a russian supported spindle from Carolina Homespun (I didn't have one of those):

Merino/bamboo/silk roving and Blue-faced Leicester (another sheep breed) from Lisa Souza Dyeworks:

 A few sample braids of roving (Blue faced Leicester, Polwarth, and Merino), of which I already spun one and some of; and a full sized braid of BFL in Cider House (last picture).

 And last but not least, a big ball of Potluck Roving in 'Party Time'. I love the colors but I'm not sure what I want to make out of it since the colors aren't quite my type, there's too much pink and purple.

 I think that concludes the biggest blog post I've ever written, and I think in the future I shall try to split it up and blog as things happen!

Annie

        So far, my rehearsals are going well. I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm glad I decided to do it. I've realized that I really enjoy the singing and acting, but I don't enjoy having to memorize all the choreography.
       
        We haven't started working at our friends farm yet, but we are hopefully going to next Monday.
       
        I had a lot of fun on vacation, and I might write more about it later.

Yesterday was the meet and greet for my play. Unfortunately, I didn't find out about it until it was over because I didn't get the e-mail. However, I went after it was over and got my script. I had a pretty crazy day yesterday. First, I went to help our friend unpack her storage facility so she could decide what to get rid of and what to send to California, where she moved to a few years ago. Stephen and I droving down to the building around nine am. Since she wasn't there yet, Stephen and I loaded a futon that she offered to us into our van. Then we helped her move stuff around so she could figure out what to take. I'm super excited, because she gave me a thirty quart turkey fryer/steamer/boiler that I'm going to use for dyeing! Stephen and I came home at about twelve-thirty. After I ate lunch, I gave Cuddles a bath. Then, about an hour later Mom made all of us lay down and rest because Katherine has been sick. Much to my surprise, I fell asleep and didn't wake up for two hours, at five-thirty! I needed to go to a piano lesson at ten til five, so I let out Cuddles, and ate supper. Then, I was off in the car to my lesson, which was at our church. After I finished my lesson, I helped with the sound system for someone else, then I went downstairs for prayer. About two minutes before it ended, I was startled by someone tapping on my shoulder. Mary Ann was standing there, and she hadn't even come to prayer as far as I knew! She motioned to me to leave, and I was even more surprised, but I left anyway. Mary Ann told me on the way out that there was a meeting for my play that night that I had missed! Mom told me that one of the organizers said that she would stay at the Morris Theatre Guild until I came to get my script, so that was why Mom had Mary Ann get me before it was over. We drove over to the theater, and I picked up my script and the schedule. I'm very glad to report that there aren't any rehearsals until the eighth, which is the day we get back from vacation. Finally, Anna, Mary Ann, and I went over to another friends house to help her stuff bean bags for the game in which one tries to throw the bags in the hole. It was nice that I was able to see how exactly she did it, because I offered to make a set for my uncle. Well, so that was my crazy day. We're leaving to go to Tennessee on Monday early in the morning. I'm super excited, but I feel like the vacation is going to be over in a flash. In addition to all my other activities, I'm starting to write a novel. We'll see how that goes. 

Softball again

Well, I forgot about softball until now. Ugh! Anyway, we won, and I hit the ball well but didn't make it on base ever. I played catcher again, and didn't really do anything worth noting. The wind was really crazy, and the ball was blowing all over the place, so there were a lot of foul balls.

Softball

Today began the softball season for my church. This year, I decided that I wanted to play, I wasn't sure before, and I wasn't old enough, but I played today. I didn't do as well as I'd like but I had one base on balls out of three or four at bats, and I caught a foul tip when I played catcher. Julia's birthday is also today, so after the game we went and had Oberweis ice cream. Except for Kristian, he chose raspberry sorbet. Mint Chip was my choice, and Julia wanted Birthday Cake, which I thought was appropriate for the occasion. I drove to the game and back, so I'm a few hours closer to getting my license. I'm still not sure if I like driving in general; I like spinning or reading in the back seat too. Our next softball game is next Monday, so I'll probably blog about that too. We lost today, by the way.

Fiber and a new spindle!

On Wednesday, a new spindle arrived on my doorstep. Ok, well it didn't actually touch the doorstep; I grabbed it right out of the mail carriers hand. Politely, of course. It's a spindlepop, and it fits inside a mini M&M's tube.

I dyed the fiber on it with easter egg dyes. Here's another picture of it next to one of my other spindles:

 The other spindle in the picture is also 'wearing' fiber I dyed with easter egg dyes. I've been doing a lot of easter egg dyeing lately:

That's about 10 ounces of fiber that I dyed. Hopefully I'll spin it up soon and post pictures here.

 

Local Yarn Store

So, yesterday I brought about six of my hand-spun yarn skeins to Le Mouton Rouge  to try and sell it. Hopefully this will turn into a profitable business!

I made it!

I made it! I'm in Annie! I got the part of Rooster Hannigan! I can't wait!

Annie Auditions

Last night I went to audition for the Annie jr. production at my local theater guild. I think I did pretty well on the reading the lines part, but I didn't do so well on the singing. I didn't sing the rhythm quite right, and I ended on the wrong note. But, I think it went pretty well overall. I can't wait to hear whether or not I got in or called back!

Music Man

Today I went to see the play 'Music Man' that my classmate from co-op is in. I really enjoyed it, and the singing was great, as was the acting and dancing. I had also met the actress who played Miriam at church a few times, so I'm acquainted with her too. I think it's fun to see the difference between when someone acts in a play and how they are in real life. Watching the musical made me want to be in another play/musical. However, I just don't know how realistic it is, and I'm thinking I may have to choose between a play and basketball next school year, if I'm even going to be able to do either one. Oh well. 

Today I went ice skating with Rebekah and Katherine. Stephen drove us but didn't skate. Some friends from church and government class went too. I enjoyed it a lot, except for the fact that my feet and lower legs were really sore. However, they don't hurt anymore. There weren't very many people there, the people I knew outnumbered the people I didn't; which is nice, I don't like skating really slowly to avoid bumping into people.

Political Rally!

Today we went to a political rally in Dixon, IL. I drove the one-and-a-half hours there through pouring rain and dark skies during the first half of it, but the sun came out during the last forty-five minutes or so. Once we got into the town, I had difficulty navigating through narrow streets trying to find a place to park, so Dad took the wheel and parked the van after letting the rest of us (except Stephen, who went right to the rally) out at the library. When Dad came back, Anna went with him to get the diaper bag out of the van while the rest of us walked the few, short blocks to the riverside. Stephen met us about halfway there and exclaimed, "The Duggars are here!" Some of my siblings didn't believe him, but they were there all right! It was fun to look around and try to figure out who was a Duggar. Having watched the show, we were able to spot about half of them. I think some of the younger ones weren't there. The oldest Duggar, Josh, started the rally by recommending Santorum and saying that all his siblings were there. After that, a few other people spoke before Senator Rick Santorum was introduced.

He spoke for quite a while and frequently referenced Ronald Reagan, who apparently lived in Dixon when he was a child. He also said that we need families to restore the economy. Freedom was another common theme, along with the fact that if people follow moral laws we don't need to be restricted by additional laws. He said a lot of other stuff, but I don't remember much more.
      In my opinion the highlight of the trip was 'meeting' the Duggars. We pretty much just said, "Hi, we're the White's." However, I managed to shake a few of their hands, and we (well, Dad) took a picture of us together:

 Also, I'm wondering how many news stations/newspapers/websites we'll be on. We already saw the back of Julia's head when she was on Stephen's shoulders on CBS and one other station. Also, a photographer from the United Press International (similar to the Associated Press) took a picture of us in front of the Duggar's Van:

Here's the whole 'story'

Here's our picture of the above scene, taken by a friendly stranger:

I'm still surprised that Rebekah's camera took a nicer photo than the UPI guy. Well, that's all for now from the White House!

We lost today. However, I'm not terribly disappointed. I feel like I played a good game. I made two shots out of five. I also made at least one steal while #20 was dribbling. I'm not sure how many rebounds I got because I didn't look at the stats for that, but I think I got a few. I almost fouled out, though. I had four fouls going into the fourth quarter. In addition, today was the awards ceremony. Since our team had the worst record we went first. We didn't have any mvp awards or anything like that; everyone received a trophy. I'm hoping to be able to play basketball again next year.

Another Win!

I'm super excited because we won again! Yesterday we beat the Sixers 40-34. I was a little disappointed that we didn't beat them by more because they only had five of their players, but we didn't play as well as we could. However, I made two shots out of three, and had six rebounds and at least one steal. I'm really enjoying playing basketball. Tomorrow is our last game. The other team will have all their players there, and we haven't beaten them with all their players yet. Here's hoping that we win!

Well, I've realized that I haven't updated about how my super busy semester is going. I finished drivers ed at the end of February and passed the road test. Also, I finished spinning and plying and washing, and shipped, the yarn for Julie Weir. I've spun about half the yarn for my other important spinning project, and hope to be finished by the end of this week. My piano lessons are going well. Basketball is ending this weekend, which I am quite disappointed about. So, I guess I'll be returning to 'normal' life soon.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sooooooooooo excited! We won our basketball game last night by two points! I'm sure you already know that I'm super, crazily, ridiculously thrilled about winning, but I figured I'd tell you anyway. I grabbed nine rebounds and scored two points. I can't wait until tomorrow, when we have another game. Unfortunately, Stephen won't be at that game or the one on Saturday, but the opposing team will be missing three players tomorrow, so we will hopefully be able to win again.

Well, today we had another basketball game. I didn't write anything about Tuesday's game either, so I'll kill two birds with one stone. On Tuesday, we lost, but only by seven points! I could almost taste victory! I also grew hoarse from cheering so much. The other amazing thing about that game is that we didn't score any points in the first quarter. The Sixers were winning 15-0, but we still came back to make it close. I was also fouled in the act of shooting, so I shot two free throws, which I missed. Fortunately, one of my teammates grabbed the rebound and scored. However, today didn't go as well from a points perspective. We lost. However, in the fourth quarter we again rallied from a thirty point deficit to a fifteen point loss. As for my performance, I missed my first shot, made my other two shots, and was fouled on the second one I scored. My one free throw didn't go in. Both of the shots I made were essentially lay-ups. On the first one, one of my teammates took a shot that missed the whole basket, but I was in position to nab the ball and single-handedly swish it. The second one (when I was fouled) was made when I beat (ran around) the player, #20, who was guarding me. Number twenty is the tallest player, so I was pretty excited. In the past I became fairly nervous when I was guarded by him because he is so tall. Actually, though, I'm only about five inches shorter than him. In addition, to my shots, I nabbed a couple of rebounds, and intercepted a few passes. I also barely fingered the ball when the opposition passed it to another player and made it. But, all things considered, I'm very happy with how well I played.
This morning, we went to listen to a speaker at a local church. John Stonestreet spoke about worldview and culture. Mom asked Kristian what he remembered the orator talking about, and Kristian replied, "Bonhoeffer!" Mr. Stonestreet did actually talk about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. We were all floored!

Well we lost the basketball game again, by about 25 points. We started out a lot better, but then everything went downhill. Our next game is on Tuesday; we'll see what happens then!

Saturday we came home from Winterfest. We left for Winterfest yesterday. We arrived in Oakbrook(?) at about 6:00 and went directly to Panera Bread. I had the you pick two Sierra turkey sandwich with the creamy tomato soup in a bread bowl. Dad left to check us into the hotel while the rest of us finished eating (we took the car and the van). I was really glad that he checked in before the rest of us arrived, because what usually happens it Dad parks the van in the unloading lane, we all jump out and then stand in the lobby looking silly and definitely out of place with all the college students while Dad stands in line for fifteen minutes or so waiting for our room key. This time, however, we were able to all take our stuff and go right up to our rooms. After we brought enough stuff for (almost) a week up, we pretty much just watched t.v. until bedtime. Nobody got very much sleep because nobody conceded to sleeping on the floor. Julia slept in a pack n' play, but everybody else slept in four full (no pun originally intended!) beds. Needless to say, the little sleep I did get wasn't very deep. I also punched the headboard in the middle of the night and drew blood. It really wasn't very bad though. In the morning we went swimming. For lunch we had Little Caesar's pizza.

We (as in everyone except Dad, Katherine, Anna, Mary Ann, and Kristian) went right to the basketball game from Winterfest. Unfortunately, we lost again. By 29 points. However, we keep getting better. For some reason, I was wondering how that was possible, until Mom pointed out that the other team is getting better too. Duh..... I shot approximately four times during the game and made one easy lay-up. I think I got about four rebounds and I blocked at least one pass forcing a turnover. My guy tried to pass it to a teammate and I got a finger on it. Consequently, the desired recipient had to reach for the ball and essentially knocked it out of bounds. I'm still holding out hope that we can win the next 6 games and have a winning record....

Today we had co-op, and it's been one of the best co-ops so far. I didn't get brain-dead at all, unlike what usually happens. After we were done with school we went to Culver's to have $1.99 banana splits (today only!). Yesterday I finally went to choir practice. I haven't been able to go to any of the other practices because basketball practice has been on the same night as choir practice. But, we aren't going to have any more basketball practices on Monday nights because the school team where we play basketball at is having games on Mondays. I'm hoping that I will be able to learn the songs for Easter in time.

Today was the first basketball game that I was able to play in. I'm excited that we didn't lose... by as much. Last game we lost 57-22. Today, we lost 43-31. If we keep this up, we should be able to win next game! Also, we have one more player who hasn't been to any games yet who is pretty good.
I'm also excited that I only have a little bit more schoolwork to do before Tuesday.

Today is the beginning of the second week of school. I have to agree with Rebekah that I dread the beginning of school but then don't really mind it once I get used to it.
Jill Weiss's (formerly Roebuck) wedding was on Saturday. Mom played the guitar and sang twice during the service. It was really funny because right before the pastor said, 'You may now kiss the bride' one of the groomsmen yelled 'cut' and the best man, the brother of the groom, started putting makeup on the groom!  The ceremony was very nice, but I kind of wish there would have been some congregational singing, but I didn't realize that it was missing until after the service was over. Although, they did have a 'Sing-a-long' of Disney songs while we were waiting to congratulate the newlyweds. The wedding started at 1:30, but the reception wasn't until 5:30, so we waited for an hour or two playing ping-pong. At approximately 4:30, we left for the reception. Stephen, Rebekah, Katherine, and I had been requested to help serve the meal. I did enjoy serving people, but it was crazier than I expected. After the meal we danced. I enjoyed the dancing, especially the English country dancing, but I only was able to dance one of the English country dances, because I couldn't find a partner in time for the first one. When the dancing was over some of us talked to a couple of the other servers our age. I really like meeting new people at weddings.
Well, I still haven't finished spinning (well, plying) the alpaca for Julie Weir. There are four balls out of nine left to be plied, so I should be done... soon.
Apparently, our basketball team lost, 57-22, the game they played on the day of the wedding. Although I am hopeful for this next game since I originally thought that Stephen and I were the only players not there, but I found out yesterday that another good player wasn't there too. We'll see what happens on Saturday!

I'm bummed out. Our basketball game for today was cancelled, probably because of the snow. As, if that wasn't bad enough, next Saturday we are going to a wedding, so I'll miss the next game too. I do like going to weddings though.
On a brighter note, here are some pictures of some of the Punta roving that I got for Christmas that I dyed on Wednesday with Kool-aid. I think I'm going to make myself a pair of gloves with it.

That is a spindle full of white alpaca. That's eight ounces, folks! And, that doesn't include the weight of the spindle. I'm excited because I'm close to finishing spinning all the alpaca for Julie Weir. I'm hoping to be finished with it by the time Co-op (yikes!) starts on Tuesday.

Chili's and Julia

Yesterday we went to Chili's for supper to celebrate Dad being done with the move at his work. I ordered Cajun Chicken Pasta. Delicious! A bed of penne noodles bathed in garlic alfredo sauce, topped with grilled cajun chicken and onions, tomatoes and parmesan cheese. It also came with a piece of garlic bread.

On the way home, I was listening to Julia sing the chorus to 'Angels We have Heard On High'. I was marveling at how she skillfully hit all the notes, but then she started singing it wrong. I was disappointed until I realized that she was singing the soprano part to a song our choir sang at Christmas! She hit the high notes in 'Love Came Down at Christmas' almost perfectly with just a little bit of screeching. Julia regularly surprises me with how many songs she knows and how well she sings them.

Haircuts, hankies, and hangings (sounds like a western movie)

Kristian and I got our hair cut today:

 I recently spun and plied some silk hankies that I purchased at the Fold over the summer and dyed on the day I bought them.

 And last, but not least, I found Kristian at a crime scene:

One care bear was impaled on the railing through the formerly ripped hole in its back. The other victim was found hung by it's necklace.

Yesterday I went to see Courageous with Dad, Stephen, Rebekah and Katherine. I really enjoyed it. It's a movie about five men, four of them police officers. The plot is exciting, the acting good, and the music very fitting. I don't like trying not to ruin plots! I wish I could talk about my favorite scenes.
After we went to the movie, we went shopping for basketball shoes. We went to Panera Bread after that, and I had a warm chocolate chip bagel and an orange cinnamon roll.
Today was my second driver ed class. Apparently my teachers don't change, just the students I drive with. I worked on driveway and street turnabouts in neighborhoods around the school and angled parking in downtown Morris.

I've now watched all the episodes in Star Wars except the last one. I can't wait until tonight, when we'll probably watch the last one. I think I'm becoming a little too crazy about Star Wars. I just changed my blog font to Droid sans.
Yesterday, Dad signed Stephen and Me up to play in a basketball league at a church in Channahon. Dad is going to coach! I think that he might be doing too much with all the stuff happening at his work too, but I'm glad that he's going to be the coach. I'm also going to be a little over-scheduled soon too. My behind-the-wheel class started today, and it's going to be every other weekday, or something like that. The teacher that I had today, Mrs. Vahle, was very nice. However, I'm going to be rotating between teachers and the other students that I'm going to driving with. Anyway, I have the driving class and basketball until sometime in March, two piano lessons this semester, and co-op is going to start in a couple weeks. I also need to spin some yarn for Mrs. Short by March, and I need to finish spinning the alpaca fleece for the lady I did the spin-a-bag, get a bag deal with. I'm getting a little overwhelmed just thinking about it!

Party!

On Monday we had our last Christmas party. (Rebekah, however, insists that it's the first party-of the year, that is.) It was supposed to start at 2, but, as usual, some people didn't get there until 2:30. We started out with appetizers, including a wonderful cheese ball. The meal was catered by Rosati's, which is what Grandma did last year, too. At least I think she did. After the meal, we chatted and watched football games for a while before opening presents. I received two presents from Grandma B, but she gave one of them to me about a week ago, The Twisted Sister's Sock Workbook. A tin whistle was my other present. Grandma said that I'm supposed to learn to play it by St. Patrick's day. I've tried it out already and it wasn't as easy I expected. After most people had passed out and opened their assigned gifts, we began the grab bag. And I have to add that I did give a hand-spun, hand-crocheted hat to my youngest cousin, Justice. I wasn't totally delinquent in my gift-giving! The grab bag was really fun, as expected.  I received a Lego set, which was rather unexpected but not disappointing. Rebekah got a Darth Vader M&M's dispenser, and Stephen got a Lego set too. It was a grand party.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year all! I didn't watch the ball drop because I was watching episode II of Star Wars. Now I almost wish I would have watched the ball drop instead. Anyway, I watched episode III last night (and this morning... yawn).

I gave up on making presents. I just bought one thing and decided not to give anyone presents. I feel a little guilty about that, particularly since I have been reading a book I got for Christmas instead, so I don't have any excuse. I finished the Space Trilogy on Friday I think, and then when I finished that I started the fourth book of the Epic of Karolan, Darkness Gathers Round by Ari Heinze. I still haven't finished Darkness Gathers Round, but it's more than 600 pages long. I really recommend this series.

I'm excited to see that it's snowing, particularly since there wasn't any snow on Christmas. I guess we'll have a sort of white Christmas after all. 

All the fibery stuff I got for Christmas

I'm really excited about all the stuff I got for Christmas. I got a whole bunch of roving, another spindle (yay!), and three great books. (just in case you can't see the picture :) ). I love the fleece and fiber sourcebook: 400+ pages of pictures of wool, sheep, alpaca, llama, camel down... you get the picture I think. Oh, and three sets of needles.