Get moving!

That's the living room. It's only up five steps from here, where I sit with my coffee and my lack of motivation. It's reasonably clean. It just needs me to drag out the Christmas decorations and get at it.

I think I'm going to go to the grocery store. I really don't feel like doing anything right now. But I really ought to go out and get at least milk, eggs, bread ... stuff like that. We're due for more snow over night, and I will probably feel even less like doing anything tomorrow.

Time to get ready for Christmas

Jury duty was pretty much a non-event. In this county, you're on call for a week, from Monday through Thursday, or for one trial if you're selected. Each night, you call or check a web site to see what you need to do the next day. Monday was the only day I had to even report to the court house. Thankfully. Small room. Overheated. Lots of coughing and sneezing going on. It wasn't bad, though, and the ride to the county seat, a little town called Belvedere, is pretty. I am glad, though, to have my time back, just in terms of knowing where I had to be.

Psychologically, I had to get past this week before I felt free to plan for Christmas. I guess I really ought to start making some lists now. This will be the year of the home-made knits, but it is critical that I pre-determine who is sock-worthy. There's nothing as nice, in a knitter's eyes, as a pair of hand knit socks. It is, however, critical to a knitter's self-esteem and self-image, to be certain to gift the socks to sock-worthy recipients. Nothing bruises a knitter's ego worse than giving hand-knit socks to someone who would not realize how much is put into each and every stitch. In truth, I already have 6 pairs of socks done, and had a good idea, due to inherent sock-worthiness, of to whom each pair would go and for whom each specific pair was being made.

Of course, there were those other 10 pairs that ended up in my own drawer, because, oh the yarn was so yummy, or the colorway was gorgeously unright for the intended recipient, or, oh! I really bunged up that gusset, didn't I? Just can't give these away (and I love them sooo much!,) they're not gift-worthy.

But there must be more to Christmas than socks, and felted mittens, and felted clogs. There must be. I must make my lists and check them twice before it is clear to me what that "more" is.

Now that jury duty, which loomed ever-so-much larger than it turned out to be, is over, I can move on.

Right now, though, I'm too tired to get up and go to bed. Am I the only one this happens to?

A big rat and jury duty

Duncan's now about 6 months old. He's a big boy. Right at this very moment, Crow's asleep on the couch, Hudson's asleep on the floor by my feet, and Duncan's sound asleep under my sweater. When Duncan was new, the dogs were really excited by him, and all of the energy was a little bit scary. Now, just three months since Duncan arrived, he's old news, and I love it that I can sit with him this way. Little things make me happy.

Jury duty today - day one of four was easy. Reported. Got logged in. Sat. Waited. Knit a sock. Watched an instructional video. Waited for further instructions. Got a bathroom break. And ultimately, we were let go early because the defendant in the pending trial entered a guilty plea and a jury would not be needed. Day two will be even easier. My "services are not needed," and I can go to work, although I will need to check the court website tomorrow night to see if I have to report to court on Wednesday, and again on Wednesday night, to see if I'm required on Thursday. And that's it then, for three years. In this county, you can't be called more often than once every three years, and since the population in this county isn't sufficient to support "one day, one trial," you're on call for one week, Monday through Thursday. We were told today that there didn't appear to be any more trials pending, and that if we had any plans this week, we could probably count on keeping them, although we still have to check each evening regarding the next day's service. Without making any promises, though, the jury coordinator told us it looked like we were off the hook.

As I said, little things make me happy.

P.S. When I saw this photo, I realized I needed to take some weight off Duncan. I have, which is more than I've done for myself.

The many ways by which to waste time

All in the name of accomplishing things, of course, I have discovered even more ways to waste time. For instance, one can spend as much time searching through knitting patterns as one can spend knitting. Or searching through menu plans as one can spend shopping or cooking. Even the dogs present opportunities, as it is possible to spend over an hour comparison shopping for the best price on a Furminator, which, of course, is time that could have been spent raking out the dogs with the tools I already own.

Can't write more now. Must knit, and shop, and cook, and groom. I can't figure out how it's gotten to be so late.