I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

In my last post, I promised to let you know about the surprise I had for my mom over the weekend, so here it is. My mom's favorite stories as a young girl, were Anne of Green Gables. Also, as a young girl, my mom spent part of her childhood growing up in a town about two hours north of where we live now. My grandparents were from Chico, California, so it's always nice for my mom to be able to occasionally visit relatives she still has there. They also have a small theater company that I happened to hear advertising on the radio a few weeks ago, about a play they would be performing, called Anne of Green Gables. My whole family loves live theater, and in fact, that's how one of my cousins got her dream job of performing with the dance troupe of Siegfried and Roy for 20 years! I knew my mom would love to see this play, so for part of her Christmas gift, I ordered tickets and Scooter and I took her to see it this past Sunday. We had so much fun as the cast kept us laughing. The story is a humorous one, about an older couple (brother and sister) looking to have a boy from an orphanage come live with them at Avonlea to help with the chores as they were getting on in years. What they got instead, was a young, talkative, girl, that endears herself to them. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and mom really enjoyed it!!!

At first glance, I had weeks to prepare for the holiday season. I woke up a couple of days ago and realized I now only have days. We are having our family Christmas tomorrow, so I've been using the past four days to get some shopping done. I got up yesterday at 4:30 (that should be illegal) so I could be at the stores when they opened at 6 am. One of my last stops for the day was Macy's, where I make sure I go every year to pick up Scooter's favorite cologne. They always have boxed sets of Giorgio Armani (his favorite and my favorite on him!), for the same price as a single bottle. I should have remembered also, that it's this time of year when they have free gifts for making a purchase of a certain amount. I had no clue until I arrived back home, that I had scored this awesome bag in my package, and I love it...it's going to make a great knitting bag!!! My daughter and I did the same thing last year, and sometimes we use our bags for knitting and sometimes, it's actually our purse! And sometimes, if it's a small enough knitting project, it doubles as both at the same time!!

Much to my relief, the shopping is done. I am not a mall shopper, and never really have been. I detest hanging out at malls, and if I have to go to them, I usually always know what I want, so I go in, get what I came for, and get out as fast as I can. Even better if the store I want has an entrance and exit that leads to the outdoors. Now that's not to say I don't like lingering in a particular store for a while to see all the latest fashions and trends, especially since I have grandchildren in their teens and it's a must...no, it's my pleasure to see to it that I'm up on all of the latest and greatest! I am also very fortunate to have grandchildren that will say to me, "grandma, I would much rather have you make that for me. That way, I know it will fit perfect and be sewn a whole lot better!" So, in the coming months, I will be doing more sewing than shopping, and that makes for one happy grandma!

Though, not as much knitting has taken place this week as usual, I have still managed to get some needle clicking in, mostly in the evenings. I wanted to knit one of my granddaughters a pair of leg warmers to match her mom's, and I completed one. I won't finish the pair in time for our family get together tomorrow, but that's ok, as they weren't intended to be a Christmas gift anyway. Her favorite color is purple, so naturally, I chose a purple yarn for her, and I think she will be quite excited with them. The pattern is called Spiral Legwarmers and is a free one on Ravelry.

This past Wednesday at knit night, my longtime gal pal Kathy, finished her scarf I taught her to knit for her sister's birthday present. She was so proud, as she should have been...it was perfect!!! It's good to see she is a bit of a perfectionist like me, (which I have always known about her anyway), so she doesn't have a problem with tinking once she has recognized a mistake. I started her out learning to knit with a sport weight yarn doubled up with an eyelash yarn. I was asked why I did that to her and my response was, "I figure if she can start with the hardest thing possible, from here on out, everything else will be a cakewalk for her". I look at it as a confidence builder and she did a fantastic job!!! It is so soft, and I'm sure her sister loved it when she gave it to her last night.

It's raining here in northern California again today, and it's expected to stay that way for the next four days. We will be heading to the mountains tomorrow to my daughter's, and I'm hoping for some of the white stuff. I love how pretty it makes everything, and my grandkids have a blast in it! I've had white Thanksgivings before, but never a white Christmas...maybe this will be the year for it.

Have a warm and wonderful weekend!!