Christmas

It's the end of the year, and I haven't done a Christmas post yet! I'll make up for it with pictures.


I got Calvin an electronic circuts board with 300 projects. The boys went to town with it, and Calvin wanted to do anything with an amplifier.


Does this one speak for itself?


I spent hours online looking for a coffee pot that would fit under my parents' cabinet. The opening is only 12", and the only one I could find was an under-cabinet pot for boats. This one, though, was pretty ingenious. It's 13", but it's front-loading, so once you get it under the cabinet (which has a higher clearance behind the front plate), you don't have to get it back out. I'm letting Lew figure out how to get it there.


I think this one is pretty self-explanatory for my readers, as well. Lew predicted the line the first time he watched it, so I thought he needed the shirt. I bought myself "You are not my nemesis" at the same time.


Dad's garden cart repair supplies. He also got plywood, and he figured out what it was for as soon as he opened it.


Nike do-bok with dry weave! Very sweet. Although the chemicals they treat it with smell like gak. It's supposed to go away with washing.


And I made a yule log cake. It was very good. And pretty!

It was a good Christmas. I really enjoyed having Sonia and her family here for Christmas. We were only missing Em's family and Rachael's family. And the kids! Christmas is just more magical when there are kids around. Jacob's four and Cassie's two and Sonia's two. Were we really that loud when we were young, or am I just getting crochety? Em would say a little from column A, and little from column B....

The best gift I received this year will take up a whole other post. More pictures to come!

Calla

This is Calla Katherine, my new next door neighbor (Jamie's little sister). She was born on Wednesday and was 10 lbs, 6 oz and delivered at home:



This is the blanket I finished very quickly, and thanks to Annika for directing my attention to the pattern. It turned out beautifully, and everyone was very impressed:

Hayden's Stocking

I think I knitted this thing three times over, more than that for the short row heel, but in the end, I think it turned out well.

The weird coincidence of the thing was that the same day Emily and Matt were discussing the wish that Hayden would have a homemade stocking, since they also had stockings made by family members, I was browsing Ravelry for stocking patterns that I liked, and this one was so appropriate for my Alaskan-born nephew. It was committed to the US Mail yesterday, along with my contribution to the contents. Hopefully it gets there on time.

Now if I can just get my Christmas cards out...if you'd like to be included and aren't sure if I have your address, you should know one way or another to get a hold of me.

Battered and Bruised but Worth it

I tested for my first degree black belt on Friday. While I don't officially find out the results until Wednesday, and I won't get my belt for weeks yet, we're not allowed to test if we aren't cabable of passing, so the outcome is not in doubt.



It went pretty well, and mostly as expected. Line drills were relatively easy, and I only had to do three of the ten forms. (We're going to start learning the taeguek forms in the club now. I'm so excited! We only do the palgwe forms now, and I hear the taeguk forms are more showy.) Forms are my favorite, because I'm good at things I can memorize.



Sparring, not so much. I've never been *great* at sparring...I've improved over the years, but since it relies so much on reacting and instinct instead of memorization, it's more difficult for me. I did pretty good on the first bout, since I was pretty fresh. Second bout, not so much since I got kicked in the head and was so woozy Master Ashton had to yell at me to snap me out of it. In my defense, I was fighting a National Champion, so I don't feel too bad.

Board breaks were a little disappointing. I tried to do a speed break with a knife hand, and while I had no trouble with the practice board, I bruised up my hand and forearm, and had to do a regular break instead. Part may have been the way Cameron was holding the board - since speed breaks rely on speed instead of power, it's much more important that the board is held correctly, and Christie mentioned he was holding it differently than she had held it when I practiced. It took me two tries on the flying side kick when it only should have taken me one, and I think it was because I was flustered from the speed break and wasn't paying as much attention to my aim. So that was a little disappointing.



I'm glad I waited the extra time, though. I feel much better about this testing than I would have last year when I was still trying to figure out my heat issues. I feel more like I have earned it, and that's an accomplishment.