“How cold is it?” J All joking aside, it’s currently 13 degrees Fahrenheit, and the National Weather Service says the current condition outside is “Freezing Fog”. WTF??? Last Thursday, we received our first first big snow of the season, 5+ inchese. It’s been coming down, off and on, ever since. Over night we’re predicted to get just under an inch of ICE. Oh, yea. This is the time of year when I’m grateful for the DH’s gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing Jeep. And the fact that he’s willing to loan it to me for my long commute and drive my tiny Honda in exchange. (And that he filled it up for me so I wouldn’t have to get gas this morning!). As bad of an environmentalist as this probably makes me, I enjoy driving the thing, especially in the snow…it just feels safer. I suppose it’s one of those necessary evils if you choose to live in this sort of climate…
Did I mention I signed up for another 4 months of Wardrobe Refashion? This month I’m going to concentrate on making warm items of clothing, instead of the cute little dresses I’ve been sewing. To start, last night, I whipped up a pair of fleece pants for the DH to wear around the house, and I put elastic in the cut-off sleeves of a sweater to make legwarmers…which are doing the leg-warming trick right now as I type this! I need to make a full-body stocking out of leftover sweater parts…hmmm… Also in the works is a pair of fleece pants for myself, as well as a couple fleece hats with whatever fabric is left. If he’s lucky, Ryker will receive some scraps to warm his kennel for afternoon naps…
This weekend, the DH and I hosted our annual Diva Soma Christmas Party. It was a Very Merry Diva Christmas, from what I remember. The DH and I have thrown this party since 2004 and it’s one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. Ryker loves it too – everyone feeds him “people food” until he is ready to burst. Despite the icky weather, we had a full house. And there is nothing quite like a house-full of Divas and their Diva Dudes and Cabana Boys… What a party!
Of course, just one party does not a full weekend make, so the DH and I rounded it out on Friday night by eating out, attending the latest Bemis exhibit opening, and seeing yet another Film Streams movie – this time we saw “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.” It was a family flick…with some sex, drugs, and killing thrown in. Saturday morning we prepped for the party and finished up the majority of our Christmas shopping before I headed out to deliver some treats for a neighborhood cookie exchange. I spent most of Sunday recovering, and then sewing, while the DH watched football and went to band practice…after cleaning up the entire party mess and retrieving greasy hangover food for me. He’s so sweet. I’m guessing I owe him a few… J
How do we do it all you ask? By careful planning and making things as simple as possible. We put up minimal Christmas decorations this year (despite my extensive collection), “cheated” on our Christmas cards (according to ML – we sent out photo cards and didn’t sign them), and bought the majority of our gifts online (or made them ourselves). For the party, I planned a few simple treats that I do best, and the rest of the spread was potluck and BYOB. For the cookie exchange, I simply doubled a recipe that I was already making. Easy-peasy and much less stressful.
That’s all for now – my fingers are getting too cold to type…better pull out the mittens! Welcome to winter everyone!
