New family members!

We've managed to increase our family by 4 over the past couple of weeks! Both Sydney and I requested new pets for Xmas, and Santa came through (with a couple extras thrown in for good measure).

First we added Hot Rod and Cupcake (thank you, Owen & Sydney, for the great names):



This brother-and-sister pair were dumped in the yard of someone who works at our vet's office. We discovered them there when we took Kika in for her checkup (Kika is NOT at all pleased with her new friends - she's spent the past week hiding from them in the basement even though they're not the least bit interested in her, poor girl!). They're delightful kitties and quite patient with being lugged around by the kids.

Today I got my present in the form of two lovely bunnies who are now keeping me company in my office. I present to you...Bella and Cocoa Puff! (Bill wants to change Cocoa Puff's name to Edward, but I'm not convinced we need a Bunnicula on our hands.)



These lovely buns came from the Humane Society and are my new BFFs. The kids are quite enamored with them, too, although they're not allowed to pick up the bunnies like they are the kitties... Bill was kind enough to put a lock on the outside of my office door so we won't have any issues with kiddos letting the bunnies out when I'm not looking!

My next task is to bunny-proof the office so I can let them hop around while I'm in here working. Even though they're on the small side for rabbits (around 4 lbs each), we're realizing that the cage we've got for them is way too small so they'll need to get out during the day.

Now that the holiday excitement is over, I've got to hustle my rump getting ready for TNNA. We leave next Wednesday - yikes!

Besides the bunnies, I got the book Baking With Julia Child and the complete Battlestar Galactica series on DVD for Xmas - exactly what I wanted. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

We've got winners!

Congrats to our blog comment contest winners (I couldn't resist drawing three names instead of just two, so we've got one extra), chosen by random number generator: Karen, Margaret and Geek Knitter. Congrats, ladies!!! And thanks so much to all of you for playing. I loved hearing which socks were your faves and why!

I hope your holiday preparations are going well - it's sheer madness around here. Fortunately I'm not stupid enough to attempt any last-minute projects requiring me to stay up until the wee hours of the morning like I have the past couple of years - all the shopping is done, and other than a marathon wrapping session and lots of cookie baking, we're pretty much set.

Sydney got one of her presents early, and I'd love to show them to you, but the kids were playing swordfight with empty wrapping paper tubes and scared them into hiding before I could get a picture. I will tell you that our household has expanded by two (and will soon be expanding by two more once I get my present), and boy are they cute!

If I'm not back before Friday, and with my track record that's pretty likely, have a great Christmas (or at least a nice relaxing holiday from work if you don't celebrate)!

Looking forward...and a little contest!

So I've obviously let a couple weeks slip by. Whoops! I was too busy enjoying my extended vacation (which has ended very abruptly with the stark realization that TNNA in Long Beach is a short month away...). My mom was here for Thanksgiving and we spent the week enjoying all that Portland has to offer. We walked over the downtown bridges, toured the submarine at OMSI, took the kids to the zoo and generally had a great time. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house and managed to fit our gigantic 23-lb turkey in the oven (nothing else went in until the bird came out - it was like a toddler in a roasting pan!).

The food was all spectacular, thanks to a little help from my mother-in-law and foodie friend Chris (who made the most amazing pinot cranberry sauce - I don't like cranberry sauce as a general rule, but I liked this!). The highlight of the day, besides the pastured heritage turkey (which was quite tasty), was unbelievably the brussel sprouts. Even Sydney liked them! I used the Alice Waters recipe from The Art of Simple Food, which calls for the sprouts to be blanched and then sauteed with onions and bacon. I'm not a huge brussel sprout fan myself, but these were outstanding.

Mom left on Friday and the kids went to my in-laws' for the night, freeing Bill and I up to go see New Moon at a great little neighborhood theater (the Roseway) that we've never been to before. It was no Citizen Kane, but it was quite entertaining and a fun way to spend a couple hours. I tried not to annoy Bill too much with my True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse comparisons...

I managed to finish a knitting project during all this madness (actually wove in the ends Saturday) - Owen's socks are done!



He put them on right away, then had to take them off again because he immediately slipped and fell on the wood floor in the kitchen and bonked his elbow. We decided they were socks better worn inside shoes. I also got the monster felt applique Advent calendar done, just in the nick of time. It turned out really well!



Here's a close-up of Santa's workshop:



And a project that may or may not be done in time for Christmas, a sparkly pink Pinecone Scarf for Sydney made with some crazy glitter yarn I picked up at The Naked Sheep:



I was going to make something new up for this yarn, but after I started I wasn't feeling inspired and decided Pinecone would make a fine sparkle scarf for an almost-7-year-old girl. I'd forgotten that the pattern is a little bit of a pain, as in, you need to pay attention or you will get lost.

Okay. Finally, let's get to the contest, for those of you patient enough to read this far. Here's how it goes - I'm looking to give away a couple copies of Toe-Up! in time for Xmas. Go to the Toe-Up! website and pick the pattern in the book you'd most like to knit, then leave a comment here as to what it is and why. I'll draw two winners from the comments the week of Dec 14. Woot!