Hello, 2012!

I'm starting out the year, playing catch-up.

This was what most of the end of 2011 looked like.



The weather - up until last week - was unseasonably mild. The first snow of the season came on December 17th and didn't stick around long when temperatures rose back into the 40's and 50's. Then last Friday we got the first big storm of the season - a good 8 -10 inches of snow. It was a bit of a let-down to have to actually bundle up in a coat, scarf, and gloves.

Politics - in the form of recalling the governor - also took up time in December and January. Read here for a recent opinion piece about those efforts.

A friend was married in December and this was the top of her cake.





2012 is going to be the of knitting for me. So far, I only have a scarf that I kept for myself after finishing it over a year ago. So - off to take photos of what's on my needles.

Merry Christmas

My family's holiday traditions are firmly rooted in our Swedish and German heritage. Christmas was (and is) a big deal, the anticipation heightened by observing the season of Advent and music being an important part of our observance of the holidays.

Whether you observe the passing of the darkest days of winter and the coming of more light; the Coming of the Light of the world; the miracle of light lasting for 8 days; or however you mark this time of the year, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

In keeping with my family's traditions, I thought I would share two of my favorite carols with you.





Wishing you light, peace, and love.

I Heart WI

This says it all.



If you're a reader living in Wisconsin, please do your part.

Habits - They're Not Just For Nuns

It's not New Year's (obviously). I don't believe in resolutions. But how to make a positive action become a habit is of interest to me. One article I read states that a habit can take anywhere from an average of 66 - 254 days to form.

So many places to improve...I'm going to list many of them here, in no particular order, more for my sake, than for your's, dear reader. Perhaps this blog will help provide a type of accountability for me.

I would like to: go to bed at a reasonable time (11 p.m.) on work nights; knit more; exercise every day (I've got absolutely no excuse now that my commute is more reasonable); eat more healthy; cook on the weekends for the following week; lose weight; learn to like tea (because even though it's good for me, it only tastes like hot water with a little flavoring. Blech.); drink more water; keep in better touch with family and friends; blog more frequently (when it's not NaBloPoMo); save more money; spend less and more wisely; use more of my yarn stash; read more books (especially the ones I already own but haven't read); drink less Diet Coke (notice I'm not giving it up entirely); switch to greener ways to clean my house without using chemical cleaners; keep the house picked up throughout the week so it's not a big deal to clean on the weekends; pack a lunch to take to work; have a date night with DH every couple of weeks; listen to more podcast episodes (because I've only got 1000 in my iTunes that I haven't listened to yet).

I started trying to break some of my bad habits a couple of weeks ago. So far, I've been getting to bed before midnight somewhat regularly. I really have to force myself to stop what I'm doing. I've found it helps to actually get into bed around 10 - 10:30 p.m. and then read for a half hour or so. But if the book is really good, I really have to be stern with myself to put it down and shut off the light. I've been drinking more water at work. Now I need to start replacing caffeine-free Diet Coke in the evenings with water and tea. (I tried a blueberry tea tonight. I let the bag steep for a long time - but it still tastes mainly like hot water. This will obviously have to be an acquired taste.) Watching the TV shows about hoarders most definitely helps me keep the house picked up during the week (because I don't fast forward through the commercials but use that time to do small housekeeping tasks).

I'm not sure yet whether I'll try to post quarterly, semi-annually, or annually about my progress on forming healthy habits.

Have you formed any good habits lately? How did you do it and how long did it take you? Please share any tips you may have - I'm going to need all the help I can get.

OK, off to drink some water (as I grudgingly think how much I want a Diet Coke right now).

Toasted Buns

The old Stashmobile has been retired. It was a 2000 Toyota Camry. It was time - it had over 251,000 miles on it, 190,000 of which had been put on it since we got it in 2006. It served me well and I really liked driving that car. Now that I think of it, Franklin and Stephanie had been passengers in that car. (Hmmm, could this help the re-sale value?)

I wasn't really looking for a "new" vehicle. DH and I had been debating whether my car could/would make it through the winter vs whether we wanted a monthly car payment (even though the rate for an auto loan through our credit union was very low). Then, DH was looking at Craigslist and found a Camry Hybrid, 2008, 49,000 miles, and with every bell and whistle you can imagine. (All the bells and whistles he would never agree to adding on if we were buying a new car.) He found it on the 15th. The owner was moving 1,500 miles away on the 20th. We met the owner in Clinton, IA on the 18th, drove the car, had it inspected at the local Toyota dealer, and closed the deal. It's enough to make my head spin.

There are a couple of advantages to this car for knitters. First, the light from the dashboard is bright enough that it will backlight one's knitting when traveling after dark. I'll let you know once I've had a chance to test that theory.





See? The dashboard's so bright, I have to wear shades.

The other bell and whistle that I love, love, love is the seat warmer. Holy heat, Batman! How the heck did I survive upper midwest winters all these years without this feature?! (Especially when I hate wearing a coat in the car for any trip longer than 10 minutes.) For the knitter, if your fingers are cold, sit on them for a bit while the seat warmer is on - nice warm fingers for knitting. While I'm sure it's gotten old for DH, I haven't tired of calling him from the car when I'm leaving work, telling him that I may be freezing, but my buns are toasty!