The last 4 days December 26, 2006

So I did in fact end up getting sick, which means I did not go with the family out of town. In a way it sucked, since I started feeling better on Sunday and then I was bored out of my mind. In a way it was good because my aunt and uncle celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. How do you acknowledge and not acknowledge Jesus at the same time? I know they really don’t celebrate Jewish holidays, they don’t belong to a synagogue, they don’t do Passover, and I’m sure they have no idea the religious significance of Hanukkah or how unimportant it is in the scope of Jewish religions. My mother says this makes it better. I somehow feel like it is worse. Also, they do both holidays to excess with gifts, all of which are obnoxiously expensive and often unneeded. They do this all in front of you, when they know we aren’t going to celebrate (but they wake us up to watch their teenage kids open all the presents, so we can ooh and ahh), and they don’t even bother to get any of us a cheap gift card or anything. So for those reasons I am glad I was not there.

So how did I spend my time (when I wasn’t sleeping, which admittedly was most of the time)?

First, I finished my second Jaywalker sock. They turned out really well and I am really happy. Then I started the arm warmer from Stitch and Bitch Nation. I am almost through the first one. I am not sure about it. I decided to use some cheap yarn I picked up at my LYS. I was going to use the yarn to make a hat for a student, but decided to use something else. Anyway, the yarn does not do the pattern on the top justice. I am glad I used it because it is my first real try with reading off a chart and doing cables, so it is a good yarn to experiment with. Also, I am not sure because I don’t know how I like the pattern. Not the tree on the top, but the actual structure. I will admit I just looked at pictures and picked the one I liked best, so I did not read the pattern before starting. Now I wonder. Most the other patterns I looked at, like the fetchings from Knitty, increase for the hand. These are like tubes with a thumb hole. I am not sure how they are going to fit. I am going to finish it tomorrow and then decide if I want to make the second one. I have some really cool Noro for the “real” ones. I may either edit the pattern or try the knitty fetchings and just extend the wrist part and also the hand part.

I also watched a lot of tv. All I can say is thank god for HGTV and Law and Order: CI marathons. I also finally saw In Her Shoes. It was surprisingly good. I really had not liked the book, the movie stayed on my list, but never really moved up that list. Anyway, I found it on HBO and sat down to watch it. I don’t need to see it again, but if you are sick and bored, I recommend it as a good way to pass 2 plus hours.

I’m sure I did a few other things, but honestly most of the weekend was a fog of sickness.

Tomorrow I am going to see Dreamgirls with my mother. I never saw the Broadway musical, but I am looking forward to the movie. I am especially looking forward to the performance by Jennifer Hudson. I have heard she steals the movie. I am also looking forward to making fun of Beyonce’s performance. Maybe she will surprise me but I am not holding my breath.

Finally, I wanted to acknowledge the passing of two great men. First, James Brown. I never really got into his music, but I did get to see him live once, and it was one of the most amazing live performances I have ever seen. Second, Gerald Ford. He came to power in an awkward situation replacing Nixon. Was not elected by the people, but managed to get the nation back on track, which says a lot.