If you are a knitter, you owe it to yourself to try a pair of Addi needles. The turbo circular, the turbo double points, the straights – anything. Just give them a whirl. You’ll never look back. I promise.
December 2007
Monthly Archive
Aaron has become what he has always hated most: a fundie.
No, not the religious kind – he’s a food fundie.
I am cutting out (or at least way down) on carbs in my diet, but I don’t get as worked up as he does about it – I do my own thing, and I don’t really care if anyone else believes in this food choice lifestyle or not.
Is that selfish? Should it bother me when I see people gorging themselves on sugar and refined carbs, knowing how their bodies are going to react and the damage it’s causing? I mean, I guess it should if I care about those people. The same way they should care when I have more than the recommended one glass of wine a night. But food is such a personal thing – and no one wants to hear that they’re ‘doing it wrong’. And I’m still going to have a second glass! But even the American Diabetes Association is coming on board with low carb lifestyles. So maybe it will start getting some positive attention.
All I know is I feel a lot better since I’ve started eating this way, I’m never as hungry as I used to be, I have more energy, and I get to eat all the food I really love the most. If I lived in France with ready access to all that incredible bread, I might feel differently. But for now? I’m good.
Tea has always been present in my life, yet I have a very schizophrenic view of it. There was my mom’s tea, and then there was my dad’s tea.
This picture is of my dad’s tea. (To my mother, this is an abomination, I’m sure).
There are a few differences between the picture and my dad’s tea. First, we always used Lipton tea bags growing up, and the tea would have been a much lighter color owing to the fact the we always put lemon juice in the pot, along with the sugar. I am using Earl Gray here, and Aaron despises lemon juice, so I have to pour it into my mug rather than the pot. I bought this tea pot so I could make Aaron’s tea in the morning and keep it hot before putting it into his thermos. Using the electric kettle and then making tea in a regular tea pot loses too much heat. Making it all directly in the thermos was a pain in the ass. So, I went back to my roots. I leave out the rum my dad favored, however. Aaron’s not much of a drinker.
In my dad’s house, a tea pot very much like this one was always on the stove, always at least a quarter full of sweetened, lemony tea – unless my brother made it in which case more often than not he used lime, and not lemon. *shudder*
We would reheat as necessary, and whomever finished the last of it would always start a fresh pot. Always.
It’s comforting visiting my brother in Arizona and being offered tea – it’s like coming home, in a way. He has taken to using real lemons rather than our reconstituted lemon juice (Jewel brand, of course) but I think he uses the same type of tea pot.
Now my mother’s tea, that is a different story. She is English and we had tea time at 4pm. In England we would have it with a proper tea pot covered in a hand knitted tea cozy and matching tea cups with handles as thin as fish bones which I felt like I could snap if I squeezed them too hard. I took mine with milk (pour the milk in first so the china doesn’t crack) and sugar (apparently four sugars is frowned upon, but it’s what I liked) and of course, the multitude of biscuits that always accompanied tea time.
When we were at her house in the States, I would prefer having it with lemon (real lemons) and honey. And I favored Earl Gray, although English Breakfast was good in pinch. I still have the mug with the horse on it that she would pour my tea in when I got home from school. I remember buttered toast spread with honey, and honeycomb bits.
Why did I like it with milk and sugar in England, but lemon and honey in the States? I don’t know. Maybe because I was never offered lemon or honey in England. But to this day whenever I smell Earl Gray with milk and sugar, if I shut my eyes, I’m back in London.
So there you have my multiple tea personality.
It was a pink and polar bear Christmas. In homage to my love of Pepper, my polar bear, Aaron got me a polar bear mug and the book Arctic Tale featuring, of course, polar bears. I am now also the proud owner of a pink tool belt and a pink hammer! And a pink train makeup case. And an aero garden, but not in pink. Among other things. We have had a fantastic day so far but are in dire need of digesting our pork loin dinner and pumpkin pie dessert.
Merry Christmas!
Yesterday Aaron had to go outside for whatever reason, but the deck was soaked from the rain, and he didn’t want to get his feet wet. He only had to go outside for a moment, so he shoved his feet into his shoes so that his toes were in, but his heels were resting on top of the shoes.
He hobbled around like a drunk super model.
hobble
“Is this what wearing high heels is like? This sucks.”
hobble a bit more
“But I bet my calves look great!”
It looks like we may well be snowboarding for New Years, which I’m beyond thrilled about. We have a friend of a friend who works at Snowshoe and is getting us a hook-up, so to speak. We aren’t 100% committed yet, but it’s looking good. I’m not excited about the crowds of people sure to be there, but hopefully it won’t be too bad. I’m looking forward to knitting on the drive – for some reason I just can’t get motivated to knit at home lately.
I haven’t been motivated to do much of anything lately, actually.
Ah, the holiday slump. Hopefully getting back on the slopes will fix that!
One of my favorite book series of all time is the Dragonlance series. My favorite character is Raistlin, the dark mage. He undergoes a test of magic during which his irises are turned into hourglasses. This is a physical reflection of his soul – his curse is that he now sees Time as it affects the world and the people in it. All things wither and die in Raistlin’s vision.
And I feel like I curse myself with a similar fate. I take on sorrow that is not my own, at least not yet. Enjoying the moment is hard, because I am constantly bracing for the inevitable end.
I think the hurt will be muted when it finally comes if I worry it away little by little every day.
But I know this to not be true. You cannot be prepared, will never be prepared. No matter what you do. So better to just let it come when it comes, and enjoy what you have while you have it.
I need to get rid of these hourglass eyes.
I had such a great birthday. I’m still processing it. For now, you get cake:
Aaron made me a peanut butter fudge cake – chocolate cake smeared with a layer of peanut butter, followed by a layer of homemade fudge frosting. Topped with the best thing ever: Cinnamon Chips!! We found them when I was on the hunt for mint chocolate chips. They are sooooo good. They would be awesome in oatmeal cookies!
The cake was delectable. To die for. YUM!
The best part? I didn’t wash a single dish all night!
And just like that, I am no longer in my 20’s! It’s great waking up to decorations (yes, I’ve left them up since Saturday) and numerous birthday greetings. However I am also about to be late for work so I will have to cut this short.
Happy Birthday to me!