Short Story Long

Oooh I felt bad leaving you with that eye-sore so here's something nicer, something else I look forward to in the spring:

Today is my wedding anniversary! I have a date later... One of the things I usually end up doing on my anniversary is taking down the Christmas tree and decorations. Specifically, the tree. (And now, new blog header!) I just like to start the new year with a clean(-ish) house, instead of a project to clean up from last year. This one will be no different, as we awoke to a CRASH! in the living room. Several of our favorite ornaments were broken, including the first one I ever gave BFJ. But that does not define our relationship, so it's time to clean up and move on. There are many elements of my year (every year) that could keep it from being my personal favorite year, but in my marriage, every year has gotten better. Some years more than others; this year has been a good year. Now, on to the next! Another thing I am looking forward to is new plantings in the Spring. I mean, how can I help it when I get new seed catalogs every day? BFJ accused me of ordering them, but you know I did...

I mentioned earlier that I had made a lot of gifts for Christmas; here are some pictures... crochet hook case for mom: shadowbox for dad from grandpa's old tackle boxes: hand-drawn calendars for mom and mother-in-law: camera case for sister's new digital camera: scarf-turned-neckwarmer for a sister-in-law: Besides these things, I also made hats for my boys and nephews, which I previously blogged about, and also made a hat for my brother. I was planning to make a few more hats and another scarf, but the celtic knotwork turned out to take a lot more time than I had bargained for, especially with my little experience! I also received some handmade gifts, which surprised me! One sister-in-law made a sign for my garden, and painted a cute little crate to transport seedlings, and another of my SILs made little cement pieces for the garden that spell out a saying about gardens. I don't know it off the top of my head. I will have to get pictures of those items for you. And I ...

...from my parents' bedroom window.

Love, Karen

I got the recipe for meringue from my cookbook but if you go to http://www.foodnetwork.com/ , Tyler Florence shows you how to make them. Key instruction: do not underbeat . Batches 1 & 3 look like soft serve ice cream. Batch 2 looks like ... blobs.

Three days left til Christmas. Three little boys can hardly wait. The middle one is about to burst, due to excessive secret-holding. He's made it three weeks with a big one. Don't even tempt him, that's just cruel. I'm so close to finishing lots of projects, but keep running into one-more-little-things that need to be done. At least everyone is feeling much better. (Thank you for asking after us.) Boy, was it cold today. BFJ said, "It's not hard to believe it's the first day of winter." I never thought of it before, but I guess my birthday is technically in the fall. Tomorrow is Cookie Day. Problem : the dog has taken to digging up my tulips suddenly, every chance she gets. (You know, those tulips my sister just gave me in November, they haven't even bloomed yet!) I finally covered them with chicken wire, but they are probably ruined. I'm so glad I put some in a pot. After the dog got in trouble for that the fifth time, I left for a few hours a...