1. There were several general maintenance things I’d let slide on the blog. I think the site feels a little fuller and a little cleaner now.
2. The bright lamp at my bedside works well in a pinch for last minute photos late at night, but I really should plan better and take photos during the day.
3. I don’t take photos as often as I could, or as often as I should.
4. Some days when I don’t think I can come up with anything to write about, I can still manage to find something.
5. Some days, not so much.
6. Blogging on the weekend feels a little like working on the weekend, I’d rather not.
7. However, I’m far more likely to have daylight available to photograph stuff on the weekends.
8. Some of the posts that have formed in my head but never made it to the blog were still good to write out. Writing has healing powers even if it never makes it to the front page.
9. I’m much better at drafting posts in my head when the pressure to produce something daily is off.
10. I’m far more compelled to leave comments on other people’s blogs when I’m blogging frequently.
11. I’m still not convinced I’ve found the right balance when it comes to replying to comments left on my blog.
12. Pneumonia sucks.
13. I’m motivated to post more often now. But I won’t keep up the every day thing. I want my blog posts to reflect quality over quantity. This month verified that I won’t produce quality on a daily basis.
14. Most importantly, I can do it. I can approach a task on a daily basis for a month through sickness and boredom. I don’t always do the best job at it, but I can do it.

I’ve already got a few new blog posts stewing around in my head, but it’ll be a few days before any of you see them…

I’ve had tomorrow’s post drafted all month… today’s… not so much. I keep forgetting to post til the last minute since I’m focused on planning the insanity of next month now. I’ve got some major knitting to do in a short amount of time and I’m trying to get a more solid and realistic view of what’s on my plate and make sure I have everything available to knock everything out as quickly as possible. It’s going to be a wild ride this year.

So, I have a photo tonight. And I apologize in advance if my brother decides to read this and I “ruin Christmas” for him. But, this is too massive a project and had dominated so much of my week, that I have to show it off. So, Adam, you’ve been warned. And you should be used to it, I’ve been ruining the surprises at Christmas our whole lives.  I’ve always been a “peeker” when it comes to holidays and as a kid we would usually find an afternoon home alone to go scrounging through closets and get a preview.

Anyway, back to the massive time-dominating project that will only ruin my Christmas gift for my brother from me and not any of the other things he’ll be getting…
(even if he doesn’t read this, I think he already knows that I’m attempting these, the “surprise” will be if I actually pull it off and finish them in time).

My brother is about the furthest thing from a little guy around. He’s tall. Very very tall. And with his brand of tall, he also has tree trunks for feet. So, I’m knitting the largest pair of handknit socks ever. 80 stitches, on size 2 needles. And after two attempts that were larger, now I’m worried that they may be too narrow. This third attempt was cast on on Thanksgiving, so I’ve knit the better part of one sock in about a week. I still have about 5 inches to knit including the toe for the first sock to come off the needles. Fortunately, they’re a mindless knit in straight stockinette, so they’re actually going along reasonably fast. Still, massive socks. I’ll have to get some better photos once the first one is done to give a better scale representation but if it helps represent it any, the photo above it is sitting on and covering most of the armrest on my couch. The cuff fits around my bicep. Yup, I’m insane.

Are you a card person or not? I’ve skipped a few years, but I generally enjoy sending holiday cards. I don’t do a big huge letter or any sort of newsletter and some years the cards barely get signed, but it’s one of those little traditional things I like to do every year.

It gets me onto some of the family card lists that my cousins aren’t necessarily included on. It makes me feel like a grown up (as often as I try to deny my adulthood, I still have that little kid-ish need to prove that I’m grown up in random silly ways and holiday cards are one of my random ways). It connects me to friends who have moved away or with whom I don’t keep in as close of contact as I should. And since I know that my mom can’t necessarily get her cards out every year, it feels like I’m helping to fill in when she can’t finish as many cards as she’d like to. So, every year I find and/or make cards and send to about 50 households. And this year I’m planning on getting myself some moo cards to put in the envelopes and (scary thought) bring this blog into the general consciousness of the people with whom I share some holiday cheer.
I went through and updated my recipient list this week and I always have to limit myself when I get to adding names to my list. That got me thinking about bloggers (doesn’t every thought lead back to bloggers, or is it just me?) I love my blog and while I’m starting to forge acquaintances and friendships with some of you through comments and contests and exchanges, the whole comment & reply conversations always seem a little fragmented to me. I’m not sure who I would or would not automagically add to my holiday card list. So, I’m going to throw this idea out there and see if there’s any interest and follow the model of the Pay it Forward post from yesterday and let you all decide for me.

Spread some holiday cheer

I will send a holiday card during the month of December to the first 5 people who leave a comment on this post requesting to receive a holiday card. I would love to get a card in return but that’s not necessary. However, I would ask that you make the same offer on your blog, spread some holiday cheer and send cards to a few of your readers as well.  I don’t intend for this to be some extravagant gift exchange. My crafty resources are spread thin this time of year but I can definitely put a few extra cards in the mail and share some of my abundance of holiday spirit. 

Also as an aside (beyond the scope of the snippet above), I’ll probably be ordering more than the 5 extra of my cards, so if there are already 5 comments here and you’re still interested feel free to comment anyway. I’d like to see the ‘5′ number work it’s way through the blog-world if by some miracle of blogginess this actually catches on, but I’ll send as many cards as I have to exhaust my supply. I may not always write a lot in my cards, but I do try to be a bit matchy-matchy and send all the same card each year and exhaust that year’s supply so I don’t have to worry about sending a repeat card to the same person the next year. That’s about as close to tricking myself into being organized as I can get. The holiday season has a bit of that mystical fantasy charm to it, so if I can trick myself into pretending that I’m an organized person for one month out of the year it just adds to the fantasy. Fortunately, I have a couple more days before that month begins so I can finish the prep work necessary to fool myself into that belief.

I admit, I’ve been kinda chasing this particular meme-esque thing around the blogs for a few days trying to catch one, and today I caught it on KT’s blog.

I’ve been contemplating contesty things to put something up for NaBloPoMo, and this sorta fits that criteria too. So, here it is.

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days. That is my promise. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

One more week of this NaBloPoMo thing and I’m kinda looking forward to a few days to self-edit and come up with interesting relevant posts instead of all these filler posts. The sick fog is lifting now and today is the best I’ve felt in a couple weeks. Hopefully that means the meds are working and I’ll get back to something resembling normal soon.

I’m giving myself this week to get the living room and kitchen in shape so I can get my tree up next weekend. I won’t have anyone over for the holidays this year, so it’s not “necessary” but it’s one of those things I love to do every year just for me. It is a bit of a pain to keep the kitties out of the tree, but I like my holiday decorations and my tree and if nothing else it may be the incentive I need to get the needles flying for the final pre-holiday push.

I could have something to update, but I’ve wasted the entire day playing this game.

Beware of that link, it’s addictive.

The sick isn’t going away still, but I am happy to have others around to help take care of me this weekend. I’ve mostly been all about the sleeping today, but I have found a little time to knit and have the third start (that is measuring closer to realistic than the first two attempts) on the impossible socks. I’ll put the progress photo over on Ravelry since the recipient reads here.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Sick sucks. It took all my energy to get dressed and packed today and as soon as I was 5 miles into the drive I knew I shouldn’t be driving tonight and turned around. I’ll give it another try in the daylight tomorrow.