I love that! The colors are wonderful too.

Hey everyone... probably many of us in the US have been socked in by this weather system that moved across the midwest and east. I'm making progress on the projects on my two looms. Here's the 1st of 3 scarves on my little loom: How's everyone else doing? Got any photos?? Please share.

that's great!

My dh is very hard to buy for and often doesn't seem to like what we get him. FWIW, I'm hard to buy for too. Anyway, I'm stumped.. just like every year lately. Ugh.

I'm so sorry. Wish we could all put our impractical Christmas gifts together and get your sister back for you. May your sister's memory be eternal! :grouphug: BTW, I love your school name.

I agree. I think I saw our "neighborhood inspector" but then when the letter came it said "Someone complained"... ugh. Seriously, I doubt if my neighbors cared about my trashcan. I thought it was pretty underhanded to pit the neighbors against each other that way too.

horrifying! I also agree that the idea of a Evangelical Industrial Complex is disturbing. I'm not evangelical, but I used to be and many people I love and care about still are. This is heartbreaking. I'm glad it's coming to light.... they need to clean the barn out - so to speak.

that's great.

I've always wanted the complete OED in book form.

:grouphug:

doing research on an HOA can only go so far, sometimes they change. We moved into an HOA community 2 years ago and I hate it. Same kind of stuff too. The one that gets me is that there's a rule that no moveable basketball hoops are to be left over night (no hoops attached to the house either). It's in the bi-laws, but it seems like every other house has some kind of hoops. Neighbors we talked to before we moved in said the HOA was really not intrusive and never bothered anyone. That, and seeing toys in yards (also a no no overnight) was actually a selling point to us because it meant the neighborhood had KIDS. One neighbor even had a pink flamingo and I was SO happy!! LOL. We moved from an aging community to this one. Now we have a new board, and I happened to go to the board meeting (don't get me started on why), and discovered they're going to start sending out mailings to everyone with hoops that they have to move them either into the garage or to the backyard overnight. I got a mailing this summer because I left my trash can on the curb overnight - the night my grandson was born, btw. One time and they send out annoying letters wagging their finger at me to put my trash can away. Ugh. To me an HOA is just another layer of gov't-style intrusion. For 20 yrs we lived without an HOA. Not one neighbor painted their house purple, had an abundance of gaudy lawn ornaments, or left decorations up all year. I'd take gaudy decorations over an oppressive HOA any day. Does anyone know of anyone who successfully changed their HOA to get rid of some of their stupid micromanaging type by-laws?

Yes, the kids had chocolate coins in their shoes.

I have done all three by myself. In fact, I rather enjoy going to the movies alone, I just haven't had any time in the last couple of years. I went to church alone when I was making the switch to Orthodoxy and then went alone with the kids for many years afterwards. The funny thing is the only one of those three I don't really enjoy doing alone is eating out. I feel like everyone is watching me. It's hard to read a book and eat at the same time too. I've considered going camping by myself, but I think that might be more of a safety issue. I probably won't ever do it. but, I like being alone.

I'm so sorry you are struggling right now. I have no answers.... But congrats on the new baby. I'm not Catholic but I do remember two of my pregnancies which were unplanned and knew it was going to be difficult. There was that feeling of impending dread. and feeling like I just couldn't do it (yes, and feeling terribly guilty about all those feelings too). God gave me the grace to make it through the really, really difficult stuff (health issues for me). I pray He will do the same for you in this situation. :grouphug:

I've started weaving up the towels and I really like the pattern. This is just brown cotton on white. I think I might use the pattern in a pretty scarf someday too... something with a nice sheen to it. oh and my sister informed me that her daughter would like a scarf for Christmas. :scared: I warned it I might not be ready.

they were not pantry moths. I've had those before at our old house... SO hard to get rid of. I guess that's one thing to be thankful for. These looked more like very, very small pill (potato) bugs.

Mine started about the time I turned 40. Maddening is right. Magnesium helps me some. It helps more with some of the things that keep me awake (stressed thoughts, RLS, stuff like that). I still wake up in the middle of the night, but I can often get back to sleep more easily. It's very, very rare that I actually go to sleep and don't wake up until morning. I'm appreciating some of the other recommendations.

I want to think that too!! But it's too late.

Can't help specifically with this issue, but my dh did defend himself in traffic court and won! It's been several years.... and it did come down a bit to he said/he said. But, my husband got the officer to admit he couldn't remember what the weather was like that night (lightly snowing) so he couldn't say whether the "turn left only" sign on the ground was covered (it was). Anyway... maybe your dh can work that angle. My dh did take pictures after the fact to show that the "turn left only" sign was ONLY on the ground and not up on a street sign,etc.

I found live bugs in my paprika...yuck. In reading on the internet I think the eggs must have come in the tin...and it's more than half used! I guess it helps to have reading glasses on when fixing dinner. :ack2:

Lots of cool and very diverse things being made. I love it!

praying

Thanks for the heads up. I prefer not to see them.

Thanksgiving is behind us but now it's December already! Yikes. I'm not making too many gifts for Christmas. On the loom I have a warp for 6 kitchen towels/placemats. My plan is to give away 4 and keep 2. I'm hoping to make soap today. I have a bunch in my stash, but will give some of that away for Christmas gifts to teachers/tutors. What is everyone else up to?

Mrs. Pollifax! I love her and want to be here when I get old. I think the first one is "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax". Also, Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - great, great book - but very long The Book Thief True Grit - fantastic book on which the movies are based Maisie Dobbs series Snow Falling on Cedars Cry, the Beloved Country I'm sure others will have some great ideas too.