Friday, December 28, 2007

And news shoots across the bow…

Well, as I expected, we’re skidding into 2008 sideways, covered in drywall dust and gasping, “@*&^&@, whadda ride!!”

Also as expected, the Den has been full of visitors, people coming and going and coughs and colds (my sinuses are at war with me – I have actually broken down and bought Afrin, which I hate using due to the rebound-effect it can sometimes have but I AM DESPERATE HERE).

There was a great deal of last-second Christmas knitting, because I have trouble telling people to bug off, I’m knitting until I am down to the wire, at which point I become completely irrational and will not only tell them to bug off, but to bug the @*^&@ off, can’t you see I’m KNITTING SOMETHING WITH LOVE IN THE STITCHES, @*^&@^ IT?!

Peace love and joy, expressed in wool. Now with more cursing.

Next year, I swear to Dog, I am going to start my Christmas knitting early. Like, now.

Anyway.

Christmas was fun, and also I got to answer the question: What happens if everybody – as in, all but three of the expected contingent – shows up an hour and fifteen minutes before you expect them for Christmas dinner?

The answer is, neither you nor your spouse get a shower, you go through the party with an absolutely disgusting kitchen floor and floury jeans, and also you might have to simply throw away the dinner roll dough you now can’t finish kneading and shaping because every available surface is suddenly covered in purses, bags and coolers. And someone has already helpfully put your oiled bowl in the sink with soapy water “to soak”.

Also, putting on scented antiperspirant and a fresh shirt is not going to fix that little BO problem you were intending to fix with hot water and soap. This is an important little detail that those of you who may be suffering from mostly-in-the-sinuses colds might not realize on your own, so I pass the information along as a public service.

Febreze might work, though. I’ll let y’all know the next time I have occasion to test the theory.

We are hosting a kind of…extended sleepover party, for the kids of some friends, over New Years. The first arrivals are tomorrow, with a few more dribbling in between Sunday and Monday. Oddly, the most local invitees are the least likely to be coming over, largely because their parents think we might be the dangerous kind of crazy their offspring are a little young and/or nervous for the overnight thing.

We will have anywhere from a mere eight (including our own Denizens) up to fourteen children running through the house hyped up on soda, popcorn, video games and self-frosted cookies. FOR FOUR DAYS.

It is going to be a very interesting party. But a lot of fun, too. Except for the part where I lose my mind and start trying to knit with uncooked spaghetti.

Until the spaghetti starts to look like a good idea, I am knitting a nice, peaceful pair of men’s socks in Schaefer Anne, because I don’t care how chaotic it gets around here, I am not going to mess up a pair of socks (she said confidently, thus inviting all manner of disaster to befall her socks):

A Nice Peaceful Sock

And oh, what’s that purple-ish thing in the background there, on the right?

Future Shawl

It’s a skein of Claudia Silk Lace 20/2 – 100% silk, hand-dyed, in Purple Earth. I’m fixated on the Pacific Northwest Shawl for this, and am looking forward to starting it. Even though I have a somewhat less than stellar track record with lace knitting.

Never let it be said that I allow such things as past performance to influence my hopes for future returns.

As spotty as my posting has been this last week, I don’t really expect it will be any better until into 2008. So! I hope your winter observances have been merry and bright, and that 2008 finds you healthy, happy and looking forward to the challenges to come.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go sink-defrost a big old turkey for tomorrow night, when I should have twelve (or possibly fifteen) people here for dinner…

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So nice to hear that your festive season is as chaotic as ours. I got through Boxing Day with a houseful of guests and a running buffet before realizing, at four in the afternoon, that I had never got around to brushing my hair. My mother pointed out that I looked a little more mad than usual but they had all assumed that it was the cooking with eight children underfoot that had caused that!

Happy New Year to you all!

Yarnhog said...

Well, that little sleepover for four shrieking boys that I just barely managed to survive last night suddenly doesn't sound so bad. Good luck. You'll need it.

Anonymous said...

Sinus revolts are best handled with a neti pot at our house. Ever since I discovered it, I have had no more than transient sinus problems. Hurray!!! Have a wonderful sleepover. I read you all the time.

Science PhD Mom said...

Me, I find plain old saline spray applied routinely inside the ol' nasal passages defeats most nasties that care to set up housekeeping in my sinuses. And let us not forget the good standby of a bowl of hot water, a towel over your head, and if it's really bad, some Vicks vaporub dissolving in the water. Hoo-wee, that will clear out your sinuses quick!

Good luck with the sleepover. Our urchins are too young for such things as of yet, so I will read about your adventures to stiffen my resolve to just say "no" (oh who am I kidding...it's like the "I'm never going through THIS again resolve after childbirth...uh-huh...)