Happy 2011 !!!

The Day-After-Christmas-East-Coast snowstorm left our backyard looking like this, so that nice get-things-done week between Christmas and New Year's was interrupted by A LOT of shoveling.

We're welcoming the New Year with a movie night at home, featuring some of my husband's specialties -- stuffed artichokes and clams casino (YUM!).

2011 will begin busily for us just as 2010 ended, with a lot of family gatherings and visiting, and the biggest event we're looking forward to is a trip to Florida next week.

Wishing everyone health, happiness and prosperity -- see you in the New Year!

Welcome Christmas...

...or, I think Dr. Seuss has had WAY too much impact on my psyche.

I finally figured out the most accurate metaphor for my state of mind during the holiday season.

From a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving until December 26, I feel the way the Grinch's dog, Max, must feel after the Grinch has a change of heart and decides to return all the trappings of Christmas to Whoville -- precariously balanced on an overwhelming sack of holiday expectations, hurtling toward Christmas day; happy and excited, yet wishing the ride would slow down so it doesn't all come crashing down.

Which would explain why I haven't blogged lately.

However, I've been crocheting when time allows -- slipper socks and hats mostly, with a plan to write up the patterns sometime after the New Year.

So despite my tendency toward Grinchiness, " welcome, Christmas, bring your cheer. Cheer to all Whos far and near. Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we. Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand. "