Yarn Along: The Last of 2014

Joining with Ginny at Small Thing's for this last Yarn Along of 2014! I can't believe that tomorrow brings a new year. Already!

Well, all that secret knitting I was doing these past few weeks were these cowls. But, unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of all 3 of them before they were mailed away. Oops! Luckily, now that the holidays are coming to an end, I am making one for myself (yup, that's the knitting in my photo), so I will have one to show you eventually.

I also finished up a dress for Phoebe, just a couple of nights ago. I have yet to give it to her, but I will get a picture posted in the next week or so.

I'm reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I am a couple hundred pages in and am really enjoying it. It's sort of a monster of a book, but I was captivated from the get-go.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

Wishing you all a lovely last day of 2014!!!

Gratitude Sunday

Today I am feeling grateful for

• These slower-paced days with minimal to-do lists. The bustle and anticipation of Christmas is over, and now we have a few days to just slow down and enjoy being together. We have been 'busy' building forts, playing games, and reading. We have all stayed in bed later than normal and our pajamas have clocked some serious wear-time. The house is a disaster, but somehow it seems acceptable. The kids and I still have another week of break, and I look forward to a few more lazy days ahead....
• A chance to head back to the gym this morning... my body is feeling under-worked and overfed (see above!) and it felt good to lift some weights again.
• The hummingbirds that have decided to stick around and visit our feeders each day, even through the winter. Spying them out my kitchen window is a guaranteed mood-lifter. Their tiny bodies never cease to amaze me.

What are you grateful for today?

Playing along with the other Taryn of Wooly Moss Roots

A San Diego Tradition

First off, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! We spend Christmas eve with friends, and, since we have no family in town, we had a very quiet Christmas all to ourselves.
We used to spend the holidays rushing home to visit our families (mine in Chicago and Todd's in Texas)... however, plane tickets to these places from Portland are typically very expensive, and with a family of four, we just can't swing it. But, as we discovered last year, plane tickets to San Diego in December are very cheap. Plus we have friends there, it is warm and sunny, there is a beach, and the Mexican food is outstanding. So this year, just like last, we spent a few days in San Diego, soaking up the sun, before Christmas. And we even got to watch a flock of wild parrots! It was fantastic! Here are a few pictures of our highlights:

Happy Solstice!

Wishing you warmth and light on this shortest day of the year!

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo- no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny at Small Thing's for this week's Yarn Along.

Trying to finish up my last secret knitting project... and I just realized that I forgot to take pictures of the two that I already mailed out (oops).... So I guess I can't show you all those but I do promise to reveal the secret post-holidays!

I just finished This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. It was amazing. It is heavy... very heavy.. and was a bit difficult to immerse myself in, but once I got going I was hooked. It talks about the climate crisis (in detail)-- not so much about the science of climate change, but the politics behind climate change and why nothing has (yet) been done to change the way things work. Klein discusses the problems with Big Oil, the scandalous sides of many of the big green organizations, and the power that money (and greed) has over the world's economies. Most of the book is a bit of a downer.. discussing the urgency of the threat of climate change and how the situation is starting to become hopeless. But the last quarter of the book talks about what has been successfully done so far and where we need to go. In short-- we need people power. Mass organizations of individuals who think that PEOPLE matter MORE than CORPORATIONS. And people who are willing to stand for that.
Anyways, as I said, it is heavy, but so worth the read.

And now I have started Pretties by Scott Westerfield, the second in his Uglies series.  It's teen sci-fi. I needed something imaginative and very fiction-y after This Changes Everything.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

Around Here

Holiday preparations are in full swing around here. Here's a peak into our past week;

Pattern for these felt ornaments can be found here

 

Gratitude Sunday

Today I am feeling grateful for

• A completed term (and grades turned in) which means that I am officially on break!
• The family time that will fill these next few weeks- I love the joy and excitement that fills the children this time of year.
• Security. We have everything we need and I am very aware that there are so many people who don't. I try to never take that for granted, especially during the holidays.
• A morning filled with sunshine and afternoon plans to head to the theater!

What are you grateful for today?

Playing along with the other Taryn of Wooly Moss Roots

Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny at Small Thing's for this week's Yarn Along.

This week I could probably just re-post what I shared last week. I am still in the thick of some secret holiday knitting-- hoping to finish up 2 more projects before the weekend is up... the clock is ticking! Once again, I will tell myself now that I need to start my holiday knitting earlier next year. Much earlier. Like July earlier. It is doubtful that I will heed my own advice, as I never have yet, but I will tell myself nonetheless.

I am still reading This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. It is a non-fiction book about climate change-- it is long and intense (to say the least), but I am loving it. There is so much mind-blowing information in there and once I got into the rhythm of her dense writing, I have been soaking it up. It is still gut wrenching information, and so far mostly pessimistic, but I wouldn't expect a book about climate change to be full of rainbows and unicorns. I will have to read something very lighthearted after finishing this though....

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

A Time to Share

I have a love-hate relationship with the holidays. I love the festivities, decorations and parties. I love the book reading, cookie making, and hanging of lights. I love the anticipation of Santa's arrival. I love the smile on my children's faces on Christmas morning.
But the consumerism and materialism that comes along with it makes me feel pretty gross. And I am totally guilty of partaking. We will be giving our children gifts that are store bought (if only I knew how to knit legos!). Some of the gifts will be packaged in plastic. Some will be made in China or somewhere else that is likely not giving its employees a living wage. But my children will be bright-eyed when they open them and the magic of Christmas will make me forget about all of the social and environmental injustices that went into making those gifts.... at least temporarily.
Don't get me wrong-- I am conscious of my impact and try to reduce it--- buying toys locally when available, making gifts or buying from etsy, and reusing wrappings. But I feel like it's not enough. I am mentally making plans for ways to re-vamp our Christmas that will ease our burden on the Earth, without damping the joy for my children. I haven't quite figured out how to pull it off... yet...... but I do have some plans in the works for next year.
Anyways, the point of the post wasn't supposed to be a rant about the downsides of the holidays. I sat down this morning to write about how, despite all of the consumerism that surrounds the holidays, Todd and I make a point of emphasizing to our children that the holiday season is about giving and sharing what you have-- whether that is money, time or love. We typically give during the holidays by donating to others in need-- toys for tots, sending money to Heifer International, and donating to a family in need. We make our children aware of why we are helping, but there is a big disconnect-- sending a check in the mail doesn't mean a lot to a 7 year old. And yes, choosing and bringing a toy to a toy drive is great, but when they don't see who that toy is going to, I am not sure if it really sinks in.
So, this year, in addition to our regular donations, we borrowed an idea from a friend and decided to make care bags for homeless people. We purchased socks, hats, gloves, toothbrushes and some snacks. The kids divided everything up into gallon sized plastic bags and added a note that said "happy holidays". We decided to keep them in the car and when we see someone who is down on their luck, we can share ours. Finn enjoyed choosing what to put in the bags and assembling them. And after giving out our first bag a couple of days ago, he continued to talk about it for several hours afterwards.

Do you share your luck during the holidays? If you do, how? I would love to compile some more ideas that we could use for future holidays or throughout the year.

Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny at Small Thing's for this week's Yarn Along.

I have been trying to knit as much as possible lately, squeezing in a few rows here and there. Mostly I am knitting presents for the holidays, which I can't share here quite yet. I am hoping to finish up those gifts soon as I have a couple different projects I am working on for Miss Phoebe. I was hoping to have them done in time for the holidays, but now I am thinking her birthday (March 1st) seems more reasonable....

I am currently reading This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. It is the newest literature on Climate Change and I am considering it for my student's literature review next term. I am only about 60 pages in, but it is dense, and doesn't read quick. I read Shock Doctrine, her most famous work last year, and so far this new book is in a similar style. She has so much important information to share, but at times it also feel like a burden because it encompasses so much. However, she is amazingly smart and shares my sense of humor.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

Happy December!

As a child, I always loved the month of December. I loved the snow, the break from school, the holiday traditions we had as a family, and of course, the advent calender.  Most years we made a green and red paper chain, and tore off a link each morning when we woke up. If we were lucky, we also got an advent calendar filled with chocolate (and yes, we got to eat it each morning!).
For the past 4 years, we have done a family time advent calendar with our children.... there is an owl for each day of the month through Christmas... and each owl holds a scroll that has a family activity for the day.
Today we decorated our tree. Some of the other ideas include making paper snowflakes, seeing the lights downtown, going out to a movie, decorating a gingerbread house, choosing and donating toys for children in need, and baking cookies. As this tradition has grown, we have learned to plan most things out only a day or two ahead of time. Weather and schedules can change plans and we have found it is easier to have a list to work from, and then piece it together as we go along.

Does your family have a special advent tradition?

And for those of you who read my last couple of posts.... I had a root canal done today and I am feeling worlds better! Thanks for all of your kind words!