Be it therefore RESOLVED . . .

I CANNOT (or will not) stick to any tpe of New Years resolution. Were it otherwise, I would be svelte, fit, would not swear or live in a messy house, or car. So, my quasi-annual self improvement takes the form of learning something new.

Four years, five photography/darkroom courses and 8 cameras, assorted lenses, filters, tripods and vats of chemicals later I can take a photo, develop the film and make a print. THEN came knitting . . . Christmas 2006, my daughter wanted to learn to knit. Although I learned as a kid and re-learned when my kids were babies, I never actually completed anything. Now however I can (and do) knit (and complete) mittens, socks, and most anything I put my mind to doing (not lace). I have put my mind to knit quite a bit. AND, I've acquired a comfortable backlog of projects and to dos as well as a handsome yarn stash. So, what's next?

DECLARING I have no interest in a subject is often the precursor to my complete immersion in it. Based on this observation, my path in 2008 is already cast. In much the same way that I proclaimed I had absolutely no interest in doing darkroom work (note: i LOVE it), I have said I have absolutely no interest in spinning. UH OHHH!!

AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, I received a spindolyn spindle for Christmas from very attentive and champion gift-giver gal pal, Beth. That, of course required that I purchase and secure expedited shipping for some fiber to spin--of COURSE. I have yet to spin anything, but there are only two possible outcomes for attempts at spindle spinning: 1) I'll make a mess of some great fiber and hate it altogether, which will make the case for obtaining a spinning wheel because of the inadequacies inherent in spindle spinning; or 2) I'll absolutely love it, which makes the case for obtaining a spinning wheel because I would love that even more.

AS LUCK WOULD FURTHER HAVE IT, barring an ice storm or other natrual disaster, I am taking my daughter to school in Atchison by way of Lawrence, home of the Yarn Barn, which just so happens to also sell spinning stuff (spelled W-H-E-E-L-S).

IT JUST SO HAPPENS, that the listing for the sale of my medium format camera on e-bay will end in enough time for me to have the money in hand before I leave for Lawrence.
(Note the beautiful symmetry in the sacrifice of the noble tools of one hobby to feed another--circle of life, baby! Awwwww, don't get too teary-eyed at this Disney moment, I still have 7 cameras that I use).

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the convergence of so much luck and so many just-so-happens, it would be plainly foolish to resist the temptation to get a wheel. In fact, so many signs are in line, the wheel is probably not temptation at all, but divinely ordained. Who am I to resist such a force?

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED I can justify just about anything.

Overrun by BEAVERS!!

Most of Tulsa and the surrounding area lost power for days due to an ice storm . . . or was it? Believe the ice storm story if you must, but for me the evidence points convincingly to a massive city-wide assault by crazed, drunken and woefully disoriented --- BEAVERS.

Mother Nature's little architects seem to have gone on a wild binge (no doubt caused by global warming) and have left their handiwork in yards all over town, even those miles from the nearest stream. A cursory glance down any residential street in Tulsa will confirm the theory as practically every yard has its own useless beaver dam.
Some houses are nearly obscured by the damnable dams:
I'm not sure what I hope to accomplish by bringing this to light. I mean the beavers no harm, but think it is time for those destructive critters to move on.

My Cup Runneth Over . . .

. . . and I'm not talking about my bra, although I could be.

Thanksgiving is a distant memory -- the food was delicious and the company interesting. The day was perfect, except I didn't get a bike ride in. I fell asleep while the last two pies were baking the night before, didn't hear the timer go off and consequently they were burnt to a crisp. So, I had to re-make those in the morning. Plus it was a little cold outside for a bike ride. Well, maybe the day wasn't quite perfect, but it was darned close.

The Christmas knitting is coming along nicely, but I foresee being jammed up in a week or so--oh well, 'tis the season for hurriedly completed projects.

Lately I've been in a baking slump--everything I've baked has been gross. The expresso-hazelnut bread went in the trash. What a waste of innocent hazelnuts. Now that I think of it, that bread deserved to be gross--the recipe doesn't even sound good. The carmel-iced banana muffins went where all really bad muffins go--trash again.

I had a firm plan to move to Montana, raise a few Alpacas and play in yarn, darkroom chemicals and bread dough in the shadow of the mountains for the rest of my life. That fell through last week when some folks in Rhode Island got the powerball money I was counting on. Fortunately I had a back-up plan. Unfortunately that plan mostly involves working and paying taxes.

This weekend (Dec 7-8-9) I'm chaperoning some Bishop Kelley high school kids on a retreat at a state park. I thought the days of doing such things were over since my kids both graduated but I was asked and . . . You can call me Ado Annie cause I really cain't say no. (lame Oklahoma! reference--sorry). The retreat should be an opportunity for LOTS of knitting since the extent of my role is to be a warm bodied adult, a task for which I am remarkably well suited. BUT, that means the Christmas decorations and the attendant cleaning won't occur this weekend. Oh well.

To continue . . . on Monday I'm driving to get Meredith from school in Atchison, Kansas. (Meredith calls it Atchi-town, residents are Atchi-folk, and odors are Atchi-stink or Atchi-funk, etc. ). I'll leave at about 4:30 am and get back home by about 5pm. It always amuses me when I drive all day and end the day in my own bed where I started. The good news, aside from having Meredith home for a month, is that I drive through Lawrence and will stop at the Yarn Barn. Maybe I'll buy a drop spindle and some roving . . . I've never tried spinning and probably shouldn't. I do NOT need to enable my stage 4 PCD (project completion disorder). But DANG, as I sit here I am ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that's what I'll do.

Even though the Christmas decorations haven't made an appearance at my home, I apparently got overcome by seasonal cheer because I invited my MIL to ride along to Atchison. ARGHHHHHHHH I figure 10 hours in a car with her following on the heels of spending a weekend virtually locked inside a cabin with 12 high school seniors ought to move my Karma-meter waaaaaay out of the red zone. OR, does talking about the Karma-meter counter act the stored good? I am not making fun here--I just like to know the rules. Regardless, the weekend and the drive will be certain fodder for future blog posts, unless those folks in Rhode Island give me my money, then I'll just blog about that.