Merry Christmas!!

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Just a couple of updates for your viewing pleasure...

I updated my Blog picture. It's from the party over the weekend and it shows off my sassy new haircut. (BW says I have evil eyes, as I try to keep them open when my picture is taken - I have a tendency to squint. He says it's cute, so we'll see)

Other projects that have been in progress/completed:
Stocking for my newest SIL Stacy:



I made Matt's about 20 years ago and I'm impressed that they are pretty similar. I cannot say the same for some of the others I have made! My great-grandmother MaMoo made stockings for the other 4 of us before she died, so Mom asked me to make Matt's for him, as I was his god-mother. (or at least that's what I was told) I've been the designated "stocking maker" since then.
I finished another baby sweater:

Pattern: Baby Pullover from Knitting Pure & Simple

Yarn: Blue Sky Cotton (I think)

Recipient: No clue now. I originally made it for the son of my project manager in NC, but he was born in July and was a big kid, so not sure if this will fit him now. It may go to another cute little guy who was born recently. (Of the 7 people who were pregnant early this year, I think 4 of them had boys...)

I don't have pictures of the green roving I spun, but I'll post when I ply it with another shade of green. No Christmas knitting this year...not. enough. time...

I will have lots of travel knitting going on though and I've already hinted to the girls that I was going to teach them how to knit. Oh sure, they know the knit stitch, but they have no clue what other fun adventures await them with the PURL stitch....bwwwaaaaa!!!

OMG It Snowed In St. Louis - A LOT!!

It snowed in STL this weekend. In fact, they are calling it the largest snowfall in December EVER or something like that. Saturday was an exciting day though...

So Friday night it was cold and they were talking snow. Sure, it's been raining all week and it's the first day we've seen the sun in 10 days, but whatever. Overnight though, it snowed out my way about 2 inches - enough to cover the driveway and put a good amount on the deck. Since our Christmas party for work was that night, I went ahead and shoveled early, in case it kept snowing, so I could get out of the driveway. It snowed off and on for the rest of the day, but nothing really bad, that I could tell.

Saturday afternoon I found out that BW had a terrible head cold. He also was shocked that it had snowed so much overnight - he was so cute - this was his first snowstorm, since he's lived the last 30+ years in CA. He was freaked out about it and I was like - yeah, been driving in it for 20 years - no big deal! It ended up that he didn't feel up to going to the party with me, which I don't blame him for - I hate getting out my PJ's when I have that bad of a cold! Cocktail hour for the party was at 6:30, so I left the house at 5:05, in case there was some issue with the roads. I had been all over WashMO that afternoon and it was really wet, but didn't see much ice or slush, so I figured it was OK. (Sure, whatever...)

It took me about 20 minutes to get out to the interstate, when it usually takes me 10. It was snowing, but it wasn't really sticking. Traffic was going pretty slow and I knew I'd be Ok on time. By the time I made it to the interstate, the snow was coming down harder AND sticking to the road. Traffic of course slowed down and I have 4WD, so I took my time. About 10 miles into my 35 mile trek, there was an accident, on a hill, with lots of semis out there. And lots of non-4WD vehicles out there, on the hills and the road getting pretty covered up by now. At this point I called Mom to let her know that there was a good chance that I was going to be staying at their house that night, as I knew it was going to get worse as the evening went on. So after we got out of the stopped/slowed traffic for the accident, traffic moved pretty slow and there was only 2 lanes of traffic over the 4 lanes - you couldn't even see the lines on the highway! Oh, and I was going 40mph max and was being passed by little Taurus' and minivans as if I was standing still! (See you in the ditch!!) As I made it through the next major town, traffic slowed down for the snow plows going. It was OK to drive behind them, but they were pokey!! But of course there was the one guy in a Taurus that rode the shoulder all the way up to pass the snowplow - idiot!! After the snowplows pulled off and allowed traffic to pass, the pavement went back to just being wet with snow blowing. Which also meant all the semis blowing past me with crap blowing all over my windsheild - NICE!! It only took 50 minutes to go the same distance it usually takes 20 minutes....

I made it to the party in time and parked in the lot. I had cute shoes on and it was semi-formal, so it was fun to see everyone. Based on the number of empty spots, about 20 people had not made it in, which was less than I thought, honestly. Dinner and dancing was fun. Since I had come solo, I hung with some of the other "singles" and "not-married yets". It was fun and we had a great time. (Me with Z & Ray)

The DJ was TKO Dj's, which was started when I was in high school by people I used to know, but I didn't recognize him - that would have been really strange!

By the time we got out of there, it had been snowing all night and was still coming down. All of our cars were completely covered and there was about 5 inches of snow on the street. It was not fun trying to get back to the car, though I have to give Kudo's to Ray's man, as he made me get in the car and cleaned it off for me! (He's a keeper Ray!!) I called Mom and told her that I was on my way out there, as there was no way I was going to make it to my home in a decent amount of time.

It ended up taking me an hour to get out to my parents' house. It would take probably around 30 minutes on a normal night. Traffic was AWFUL and the roads were just as bad. There was no asphalt to be seen - all of it was slushy snow. I now get why MODOT wanted everyone to stay off the roads! A couple of observations while driving though:

* Semis get mad when you are going only 40 through this stuff and blow past you completely pissy. Then they start to lose traction and the backend starts slipping. Gee, cooincidence? That is why I stay as far away from you as possible! Not to mention all the crap you blow up on my car. I get that you are vital to the US economy, but just because you weigh a hell of a lot more than me does NOT make you immune to ice.

* People in Lincoln Continentals going 20 in the "middle" lane of the highway with their Hazard lights on should NOT be driving on the highway. I cannot tell you how many people almost hit that guy!

* Apparently having a big SUV with TX plates allows you to tailgate, weave traffic and speed through ice & snow. I did not know that preveiously....

I got to my parents OK and ended up watching part of a movie with my youngest brother Matty. I had to laugh though, as there were 3 kids with sleds walking through my parent's yard at about midnight last night. Apparently that's the best time to sled out that way. They ended up getting over 8" - I think we got 4-5" out here in WashMO.

I did make it home this morning, though the roads were not much better. I've been "holed" up in the house all day, but getting stuff done. Alas, no knitting as of yet, but I probably will pull something out this evening after dinner. Christmas shopping is still not finished, especially for BW, who is turning out to be tough to shop for, as he's incredibly picky!! I finally got an idea for Dad and I just need to get a book for Little A and something cute for Little E. Other than that, I'm actually good to go.

Our flight to Switzerland is the first week of Jan and I still have a ton of stuff to get before then. I have a list started, but decided to not stress about that until AFTER Christmas, as I will have time then. It's going to be fun and exciting, though still a little apprehensive about the flight. Luckily I'm flying with 3 or 5 of my co-workers, so that will help. I may be taking Nyquil to help me sleep...

Pix of the snow:

THIS Girl

Apparently THAT girl upset a certain someone last night in her phone calling efforts. Thus, all day, due to a quick stern e-mail and no other communication until 8:30pm, I was totally not myself at all today. Of course I LOVE to jump to the worst conclusion, so there was I for most of the day.

So I'm back to being THIS girl. I was able to explain the source of some of my anxiety and was understood. I'm still working through the issues with the distance stuff, but I get more confident in myself every day. I'm going to have to get better at this if I'm going to be in Switzerland for up to 6 months. I still think that will be easier for me, as I will be gone too, but we'll see! I'm defining a lot of who I am for me too, which has been such a growth process for me. And of course the prayers for peace worked too, as I feel much better about everything now.

This weekend is a family party for BW and the company party for CRB. Both should be a really great time, if I can ever figure out what to wear! Perhaps some shopping is in order again tomorrow night...

And I'm seriously considering writing a book on my (mis)adventures as THAT girl....

THAT Girl

My goal this week is NOT be THAT girl.

You know THAT girl.

You've seen THAT girl.

Hell, I'm sure a bunch of you have BEEN THAT girl.

The girl that completely loses it over a guy and acts completely irrationally. Calls a gazillion times, texts incessantly, drives by the house - in a familiar car - with a sign for that individual taped to the back of it. You KNOW what I'm talking about. I do NOT want to be THAT girl.

Yet I became THAT girl over the weekend. Over something I knew was going to happen and I had prepared myself for it. But I couldn't stop myself. I started working myself up on Friday night anticipating the worst and then by the time it came to deal with it, I had worked myself into a frenzy and laid in to him over it. Yep, THAT girl cometh. And as soon as I was able to get out all of my frenzied thoughts, the rational part came through and I couldn't argue much. I sounded like a whiny girlfriend and everything that I pride myself on NOT being, I was - in full force. So I got through the weekend with a couple of projects and talking to lots of friends and I survived. THAT girl had been squashed....for a bit.

So for some reason, the irrational thoughts started gurgling again on Monday. I have no clue if it was unresolved stuff or just me having a moment. I got nothing! But here I was BEING THAT girl. Oh yeah, multiple text messages, phone calls, the whole bit. It was CRAZY! I was crazy. I even got a phone message saying what was going on and still couldn't handle it. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?? Are you serious? A smart, sassy, cute, fun, alpha chick is acting like this? You have got to be kidding me!! This is not normal...or is it? This is not logical....or is it? What are the rules on this? Based on where we are in the relationship x things that have been said/ things that have been implied = Should I be thinking/feeling/acting this way? Am I really that screwed up from all the stupid things that have happened to me in the past? Did all those past relationships doom me from every being happy? Am I ever going to have something normal? Again, what is normal? Do I cling too much? Why the hell am I so insecure? Do I rely on someone else too much to make me happy? What makes ME happy? Do I really need someone in my life, or Do I really want someone in my life? How is that different? How should I be acting? Do I really have time to be dwelling on this so much??? (Can you tell I'm an engineer? Loves to analyze...)

Thus today, my goal, seriously, was to NOT be THAT girl. I was going to play it cool. I was going to be collected. I was going to not e-mail/text/call today. I told the people close to me my plan and they agreed THAT girl was not cool and "Chill" Shannon was much more pleasant, which was good to know. And it worked. I did good. No irrational behavior, just 2 e-mails updating on travel plans to Switzerland - 8 hours apart. I did text at 4:30 before leaving work and got a phone call on my way out the door. And we chatted for 10 minutes or so. Then something was said during that phone call. I caught it and jokingly brought it up and got a satisfactory answer as to what was going on. "All is OK" I thought and let it go. I went to the Christmas Tree lot to work and didn't think anything of it. So I sent a text message that didn't get returned, so the wheels started turning. Not much, but just enough to get out of park. Then on the way home, I started my thinking. And churning. And assuming. And jumping to conclusions. And rationalizing. Myself. Into a frenzy. Again. Damnit!

Instead of being THAT girl and going on the attack, I was much smarter. I called in reinforcements. My first conversation yielded a "This is no big deal to him. I would trust him and let it go. You are worrying because you like him so much and want to see this work. You have no reason not to think anything different." I could live with that. It made sense. It was rational and logical. Good plan.

That didn't last long, so I called in another opinion. She knew what I was feeling and told me to embrace it. And that I was not crazy or irrational, though still feeling that way. She said to really look at it and figure out how I was feeling. Obviously there are some feelings out there that need to be addressed and dealt with. And by the end of the conversation, I was feeling more confident that all was OK. And I started this blog entry. I just needed to get it out on "paper" and look at it and see how irrational or maybe rational I was being.

Of course I had a THAT girl flash and made a phone call. And he was still where he said he would be and the first thing he said was "Sweetheart, I'm still at XX, is everything OK?" That pretty much answered the questions I had. So,y eah, so I wanted to bring it up, but didn't want to interupt and then really kind of felt stupid for even thinking that, so I back pedaled out of it and promised him all was Ok and that I would talk to him tomorrow. (Of course he hates it when I bring something up, then don't go into it, so I'll have to work to get that smoothed over.) I will probably still talk about it with him, but probably not until the weekend when I see him.

So THAT girl got the answer I wanted, but now I have REALLY have to NOT be THAT girl for the rest of the week. Damnit. I need to start trusting my instincts better. I know this is a growth thing for me, but alright already!! (I've been praying for peace about all of this, this week, but I need some trust and some wisdom and guidance too and maybe some grace....)

Yep, for those of you still with us after the commentary, I did mention that the Switzerland trip was still a go. In fact, I booked flights for my first trip today. I'm out for 2 weeks, home for 1, out for 2 weeks, home for 1, then out for 3 weeks through the end of February. I know that Switzerland in the Winter does not sound like fun, but I would take snow and ick there over being here any day. Especially with no traffic to deal with! The traveling will be tough with a quick turnaround time and we'll have some time for sightseeing, but I think it will be so worth it. And what's more, some of the girls on the team found a yarn store in Basel for me and already went into it. They said it had a lot of stuff and its colorful (no word on soft or luxurious - Muggles!), so I'll have more to report on that. In the meantime, I have projects that need to be done on the plane and on the weekends, so an extra bag to stash projects will be going too...

I have done some spinning. I finally got brave enough and spun some of the roving I got at the STL Weaver's guild sale. It actually spun up pretty nice and I was really proud of myself for keeping the strand pretty consistent and actually pretty thin. I think I will spin up another color of the same stuff, to draft it them together for some really cool yarn, that I have no clue what I will do with!

I love my wheel. Not only was it a bargain, but it works great. I'm thinking that any issues I have with it is all operator error. It's seen a lot of wool over the years and she knows what she's doing. I named her Cecelia right after I got it. It's from the song, but it seemed to fit. I was thinking of an older name, a little sassy, with lots of class. Worldly in her ways, but practical. A little like me, but a whole lot more wiser. I think she and I will learn a lot from each other in the years to come...