This isn’t an apology for not posting much over the last few weeks, but more of an explanation as to why…

	I have an empty house to fill. In Austin! Closing was yesterday, and move-in date is very soon. See why I’ve been busy?
	Aaaaand, some doggie goodness. I’m going to fall off the face of the earth for a little while, but I’ll be back soon. And when I get back, I’ll start an exciting new chapter.

Time for Christmas music also means Time For Carbs!

I usually stick to the rule of “No White Foods”, except for the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then all bets are off. It’s the most luxurious gift I could possibly give myself.

“No White Foods” means that I don’t normally eat bread, rice, or potatoes. Don’t try to read too much into it. I do eat eggs. I do eat chicken. I do take cream in my coffee. Some people find it a challenge to think of every white food on the planet, then quiz me about it. Makes me laugh.

It’s a fast-topic-changing-Friday, so hang on…

	Have you seen these fancy automatic shower cleaners? It’s a great idea. Just push a button and it sprays the whole shower down with cleaner, so you never have to scrub. The latest refill I bought came with an extra bit of information…
	Oh, no. Does that mean that someone actually – and then wrote to the company to complain that their skin burned off or something – and…? I suppose we can’t credit all of America with being supersmart. Next…!
	I spent Thanksgiving with some new and old friends. Here is one of my new friends, Muffin. She is a bottle-fed kitten, cared for by one of my Thanksgiving hosts, Elissa, who works in an animal clinic. Please drop me a note if you’re in Houston and interested in adoption. Funny, last year’s Thanksgiving post was also about animal rescue. Next…!
	I enjoyed a fantastic Thanksgiving meal, with all of the trimmings, cooked to perfection. I was even sent home with a ton of leftovers, so the carbohydrate merriment continues! Next…!
	To make it to Thanksgiving dinner on time, I had to feed and walk my dogs early in the afternoon. (Any disruption to their normal schedule is potentially a cause for 4 meltdowns.) When I got home late in the evening, I saw that Lou had thrown a decent tantrum, by rearranging everything he could move in the front room. Ah, well. Have a great weekend!

I will remain calm.

I am not freaking out.

But I would forgive myself if I did freak out. You see, I was at the supermarket fish counter, turned my head, and saw this:

…and I threw up a little bit in my mouth.

Not because it’s a crazy Texas cowboy Santa with a cactus and a penguin, but because I am NOT READY to deal with Christmas yet.

By this time last year, I had already:

• - mixed up new Christmas music playlists
• - put together a Christmas party outfit
• - selected the Christmas-ey scent for my home
• - bought my Christmas cards
• - selected gifts for the nieces and nephews
• - I was very close to buying a tree and decorating
• - photoshopped my dogs to look like reindeer
• - had a plan for wrapping and shipping everything off to our family and friends

But mostly, I had:

KNIT MORE THAN TWELVE CHRISTMAS GIFTS, and I did it all without ever stepping into a mall.

Clearly, Christmas is going to be different this year. Not bad, but different.

Just as long as I don’t freak out because I can’t be Martha Stewart this time.

Instead of wool and alpaca and cotton and silk, my attention has been focused on other materials – namely cardboard and tape.

	And a black magic marker, of course.
	The art of knitting has been replaced by the art of stacking and lifting…
	And sorting, and sorting, and sorting. Packing and moving is one thing…but inspecting every single item to decide whether it’s “his” or “hers” is time consuming. I’m not complaining. It’s actually sort of cleansing.
	Speaking of cleansing, my closet positively echoes right now. “Big picture” details soon.
	The dogs and I have a deal. As long as I move the dog beds around the house to follow the sun, they won’t unpack what I’ve packed. Win win!

Sometimes even an emotionally stable person can’t avoid baby talk.

Especially in the presence of so many tiny, cute things.

	First up, my niece. This is Molly Renee at 10 weeks with her mom (aka my sister). Recently, someone on the street mistook Molly for a boy. Since then, Phyllis has been careful to cover her in pink and bows. A boy? Really? Only in Alaska.
	Next little, cute thing – these tiny mittens. I made these as a shop sample for The Knitting Nest, to help show off the Baby Ull yarn. I love this pattern, so much that this isn’t the first pair of these mittens I’ve knit.
	Yet another cute thing…here is the Baby Surprise Sweater I knit a few weeks ago, but this time with buttons. The buttons aren’t actually attached yet in this photo.
	Are you about to reach your limit on little cute things? I wasn’t going to take a photo of Little Lou’s head, but he got curious about what I was doing. The sweater is my latest WIP, Basic Black from the new MagKnits, knit with Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Chocolate.
	Little Lou again, looking kind of huge from this angle.