I bought a new chair yesterday. Nothing special. Just this club chair from Target. My glider rocker, the very expensive one that Richard bought for me, just prior to giving birth to Dylan, was going to just collapse any day. I can't knit or spin without my chair. So in other words, this seating situation was reaching critical mass.

Last night while I'm sitting in my comfy new, inexpensive chair, my dad calls and asks how our day was, what did we do, yada yada. So I tell him about the new chair..

Dad: laugh, you bought a chair?

Me: Yep!

Dad: Not a new couch?

Me: Nope

Dad: You didn't find it on the side of the road?

Me: Nope

Dad: You didn't get it on that internet thingie you do?

Me: Nope

Dad: Your telling me you paid cold hard cash.. for furniture?

Me: laughing.. Yep!

Dad: So when are you buying a new couch?

Ok, I admit.. we need a new couch. Everyone knows that. But everyone also knows, I'm pretty cheap. Not so much cheap as frugal and insistent on "using up" what we have. Besides that, have you any idea the kind of abuse children inflict on furniture? Before I lay down cold hard cash, as my dad said.. I make damn sure I can't repair, or "make pretty" what we already have. I mean, my glider is the perfect example of this.. my kids ruined this chair. What was once a lovely soft cream color, turned gray. The original "floating on air" graceful glide of that cushy soft chair, one day turned into a loud, clunking, metal scraping wood, uncomfortable place to park my arse.

To get back on my main topic of knitting, I actually did some knitting in my new chair last night. I'm in the homestretch of the second Shibui Breeze basic sock, having turned the heel and completed gusset stitches while watching movies with Richard. For the interested they were Clerks 2 (predictable, boring) and Jackass 2 (hilarious, but stupid in that "boys are weird" kind of way.)

Lastly, back to my cheapness.. I'd have never paid the price on the Target website. I got it for half that price, in store. If the kids destroy it.. I won't cry.

I meant to take a picture before we cleared the driveway, but I forgot.. and it was much more important that we got the driveway clear. I kid you not.. there were 5 foot drifts up to the wood fence. And the area between the stone wall and the front of the van had drifted in. When I was able to back the van out this morning, imprinted in the packed snow was our license plate!

But with all that yucky winter weather, it sure was nice coming into the living room and sitting in front of this..

The fireplace/chimney technician was so nice. He didn't even charge me full price since hes a neighbor (only living 2 blocks down the street. Us Valley folk gotta stick together ya know!) He declared the chimney so perfect that he didn't even need to clean it. He also made my day by alerting us that both fireplaces.. the living room and the office, share a chimney. Each arch up to form an upside down Y and merge. That means that the fireplace in the office is safe to use as well!

While I very much like the heat from a traditional hardwood, roaring, crackling, fire.. I cannot stand the smell. I swear the whole house reeked like a smoky link on Saturday. Instead we've been using store bought fire logs. Its a trade off.. I know.

What else did I do this weekend? I finished Christmas shopping. OK.. I need some stocking stuffers, but I'll pick those up when I hit the market on Wednesday evening. I also got to visit with Patric a bit while he cut my hair (its growing out nicely!) And lastly, I learned that when you mix holiday shoppers with people trying to get last minute needs before a big storm hits, you end up with lots of traffic, long lines, and extremely irate people. It wasn't fun. I left at 8:30 in the morning. I didn't get home until FIVE!

After dinner, Richard and I sat down to watch "Super Bad", and well.. it was super bad. We heard so many great reviews, but this just sucked to the extreme. There were a few funny parts.. big time laugh out loud funny parts, but they certainly didn't make up for the rest of the movie. One of the worst movies I've seen in a very VERY long time.

Thanks for the tips on Eucerin. I've used it in the past, but I can't stand the way it makes my skin feel when its on. I mean, really can't stand it. I've toughed it out a few times, in the name of cracked skin, but I also don't think it works all that great for me. Instead I've been using Mary Kay night cream (the thick pink stuff) then putting on cotton gloves at bedtime. Its definitely helping. But shoveling lots of snow has set me back a bit.

Just taking out a minute, in my hyper scramble towards the holidays. Shopping, baking, cleaning, shoveling snow. Oh and a pesky contract knitting deadline in which I'm very likely to pass and be late, by at least one day if I'm to get any sleep at all this week! Again I'm grateful I'm not doing much of any holiday knitting this year, or I'd be in big trouble. I tweaked my right wrist, and as usual with this time of year, my skin is dry and cracking, no matter what brand of lotion I use, or how much I use of it. This ailment has made meeting any sort of knitting deadline a little tricky.

But last night, as I trucked along on the deadline project, Richard helped the kids write letters to Santa. I missed the first part of the conversation, the part in which urged Richard to remind them that there are indeed some children who don't have a light in their home to write their letter to santa. They go to bed hungry at night. And have no heat to keep them warm.

Cassidy proceeds to start her letter to Santa by saying..

Dear Santa,

First, please bring the poor people some light bulbs..

And for some reason, Alex thinks he'll be getting not only a Wii, but also an XBox360, aaannnnd a Playstation 2. Oh.. and an iPod and Gameboy DS!

Dylan, sweet kid.. only wants more Lego Star Wars kits (which are not in the already purchased and nicely tucked in the attic, Santa stash. This means some more shopping.)

Today the skies clear a bit, allowing warmer temperatures to melt the 7" of snow that fell yesterday. This will permit some last minute shopping tonight and tomorrow morning before the skies open wide to take another wintery shit on Saturday evening into Sunday. Oh joy. This also allows time for the glass/window guy to stop by on Saturday to fix the window in Cassidy's room that Alex broke by pushing Connor into it (!!!!) No injuries thankfully (what is it with this kid and windows?) As well as the chimney sweep guy to come inspect the fireplace and give it a cleaning. If it requires any serious repairs, we will not have a fire on Christmas morning and it will have to wait. Keep your fingers crossed that all that is needed is a little cleaning.

Now back to those knitting needles with deadlines..

Three days without internet access. Oy.

Lots of food, Lots of family, LOTS of children, Lots of shopping.

First the food...

Mom made everything besides the mashed potatoes (I brought those.) And while I love my mom's Thanksgiving feast.. I think I've just grown accustomed to my own menu. I missed my apple raisin stuffing, and my way of making green bean casserole (I use fresh or frozen beans, mom uses canned.) I had to practically twist Mom's arm into letting me bring the potatoes, how do you think she would react to my suggestion of making the turkey and stuffing?

I tried Ree's recipe for mashed potatoes when she posted it earlier this month, and I can't rave enough. There are never leftovers. And if there is, they reheat perfectly. Usually leftover mashed potatoes, get gloopy, lumpy and disgusting, but not these. We finished ours off on Saturday evening for dinner and I swear they tasted better than they did on Thanksgiving day!

Lots of family. Got to see my dad, my aunt and uncle.. sisters, one brother, and nephews and niece. It was a lively house with all the children.

Shopping. We (Jill, Danny, Jess, Jay, and myself) were at Penney's when they opened at FOUR A.M., just so my sister could get that silly free snow globe *sigh*. Then Walmart.. then Target.. then Toys R Us. I didn't get the deals I usually snag, because, well.. there just weren't many this year unless you were buying a large screen TV. But the crowds were immense... the worst I've ever seen. And people were just rude to the extreme, though we did encounter many very nice, courteous, and helpful folks.

Toys R Us really ticked me off because items I wanted, were listed on the shelf tag, much lower than they rang up. Not just once but twice. A High School Musical "Gabriella" doll that Cassidy asked for, was 14.99 on the shelf. Rang up at over 20 (I put it back.) A hideaway popup tent for Connor that was 12.99 on the shelf rang up at 22.99. I put that one back too. I swear they do that on purpose.

And at Sears, I tried to buy one of those small exercise trampolines for Connor since his OT has been suggesting we purchase one. It was on sale for 19.99, but the shipment never arrived. The salesman told me I could buy it then for the sale price and pick it up when they came in at my local store here in Syracuse, but the damn "store locater system" wasn't working, so we couldn't get the order to go through.

We had a great time though.. and went to the Glider Diner in Scranton for breakfast. Fries with gravy.. for breakfast.. YUM. As I've said a million times when people ask why I go shopping on Black Friday... its all about having fun with my family. A great deal is just the bonus.

3AM wake up call

3:20 head out the door

3:30 stop for breakfast at the donut hole in Clarks Summit (the worlds BEST coffee and sour cream donuts!)

4AM standing in line at one of the stores listed here.

If your shopping today..

First, laugh at the crazies.. there are tons of them

Second, be careful!

Third, hope you get the deal you were hoping for.

Now I expected y'all to talk me out of the shoes, so I wasn't expecting every comment (except for my sister who is usually my enabler,)  to urge me to get them. And as of this afternoon, I was going to pass. Actually,.. I was going to go back over on Sunday when we return from our holiday traveling, fully expecting my size to be long gone. If they were.. then it was a sign.

So, Richard had the afternoon off today before having to go give that damn final. This allowed me some time to go do my last minute errands without toting four kids along, like gassing up the van, picking up the vacation feeder thingie for the fish, and some "today only" sale candles at ACMoore for holiday baskets... clear on the opposite side of town from Fairmount. But whatta ya know.. I forgot about the Marshalls on Erie Blvd! I looked fruitlessly... lots of Eccos, but not my Eccos. Oh well, indeed, this was a sign.

Upon returning home, a conversation in the kitchen went a little like this..

Me: I stopped in the Marshalls on Erie {frown} They didn't have my shoes.

Richard: {smile} You have another hour before I have to leave.

Me: Naaah. Its ok. I'll check on Sunday  (see.. I gave him that "out")

Richard: No, really, you have another hour.

Anyone care to guess how many minutes it took me to get out the door?

But I did encounter a problem. See, there was this awesome pair of Clark Privo Belfrys right next to my Eccos, which weren't there on Sunday. And oh... my... goodness, are they comfortable. More comfy than my Danskos. It was like walking on air. (Jumping on Zappos.com is dangerous, because look what I found when I was looking for those Belfrys!)

And all Richard can do is laugh at me. When I tried to explain to him how I don't understand my new obsession with shoes, and that perhaps its because in my younger years, I just, wasn't. His response... "Corvette".

Well, at least my mid-life crisis is cheaper than a sports car.

*I didn't buy the Privos. I stuck to my plan. If the Privos are meant to be.. well.. they'll be there the next time I go to Marshalls in Fairmount. 

See, I skip a few days, then return with lots of pictures..

Behold.. Momos. Mine aren't as pretty as the ones on the wiki link, but I bet they taste better! And you can be sure, I definitely ate more than three. I only put three in the bowl for the purpose of taking a picture!

Fellow fans of the Loopy Ewe will recognize what arrived in my mailbox on Saturday. See, once you place your sixth order, you become a "Loopy Groupie". I knew about the tote bag, but I wasn't expecting BONUS yarn! Whoa Sheri.. very nice surprise! And truth is.. I didn't even realize this was my sixth order, so my "Loopy Status" really was a surprise! If you are the type that cares about what I bought... I ordered the SKNITches Kettle Drum "Cherry Bark" bamboo/merino/nylon sock yarn there on the right. The surprise sock yarn is two skeins of Shibui superwash merino in the "Breeze" colorway. Squee!

I couldn't pass up the hand painted fiber sale at Spunky Ecclectic. Isn't this colorway amazing? See? My favorite colors! Three bundles of blue faced leicester (I swear this is my new favorite fiber!) Amy's colorways are beautiful.. and the selection of fiber, vast. More Squee!

I knit this hat for myself last week, using the Sublime merino silk cashmere dk that Byrony sent me over the summer. Well apparently my ability to pull off the hat look has expired. Good thing Cassidy can though! What a ham, huh? And thanks to Rosa for linking to bighugelabs where I made the mosaic. (What a find!)

Want to know which pattern? You can get the pattern here.

Lastly.. Talk me out of driving back over to Marshall's in Fairmount to buy these shoes. I tried them on yesterday. I almost bought them before I talked myself out of it with my usual mental argument : Shoe whore - You idiot, Christmas is coming - Heating season - Gas up to 3.31 a gallon - We really want to buy a new sofa - And the TV is on its last legs - But I waaaaant them - $110.00 retail, compared to the $38.99 price tag at Marshalls...

See the inner struggle at work here?

Wonder if I can sell off some yarn to buy the shoes because I.can't.stop.thinking.about.them!

I'm not exactly sure at what moment in time that I became so into shoes. Honestly, I'm struggling with this turn of events. Shoe obsession is for other women, right? But here I am surfing zappos way too often, and I can't pass a shoe department without a peek. Of course you'll never find me in anything with heels or pointy toes.. but comfortable casual? Yeah baby.

Earlier this evening we had to exchange a table cloth at TJMaxx so we thought we'd check out the new L.L. Bean outlet while we were in the neighborhood. I'm soooo glad we did. Not only did we get a real steal on a new winter coat for Cassidy, but look what I got. And I had to talk myself out of a similarly styled green pair. And you know, how I talked myself out of that second pair, was the want of another pair of shoes. I have my eyes set on a pair of Keen calistogas. Crazy huh? Carla.. shoe whore. Who woulda thunk it?

P.S. Birthday contest ends tomorrow peeps! I'll draw a name randomly sometime tomorrow evening.. so don't forget to visit that blog post and comment!