Friday Quote Day

You know the drill: Click and save, print on cardstock, punch a hole, add a yarn tassle and stick it in a book!

Merry second Friday in December!

Sacrifice … something our indulgent selves have trouble with sometimes. I would sacrifice anything and everything for my children or my husband, but what am I willing to do for myself?

That's what I'm thinking about today, but I'm not really coming up with much to write about in this season of excess. More. Thinking. Required.

I might be finished with the baking and making. I still need to decorate the mitten cookies, but when I finished the Snickerdoodles yesterday and took an inventory of all the food gifts I've made, I think I'm done. There are lots more sticky notes popping out of my cookbooks, and printed recipes piled up on the counter, but … well, see the previous paragraph, particularly the phrase "season of excess."

I was able to get outside for a walk yesterday – the temperature was only 25 and I went five miles (looooong, slooooow miles), but I did it. And felt like crap when I got home. I was plumb worn out! Took a nap before dinner and went to bed earlier than usual. Which is saying something, because I go to bed pretty early anyway, as a rule. It will be a much nicer day today, and I'm planning to try it again.

I think it would do me a lot of good to get all the gifts wrapped and shipped, and to turn the guest room back into a guest room, rather than Christmas Central. I'll have a little time to work on that today, and a lot more time over the weekend.

Hope your weekend is as restful or productive as you want or need it to be.

Friday Quote Day

So where's the quote? I just know both of you out there reading are thinking I've really lost it. It's Friday,  and there's supposed to be a quote at the top of the page.

I put it at the end today, and will do so for all of December, because I think this month's presentation looks good at the bottom of the post. Call me crazy. Oh. You already have.

I need to answer Jane, who wanted to know what sorghum is. Here's the Wikipedia article about it. The first time I saw it growing at the Amish settlement, I thought it was corn. It looks like corn when it's young, but the tassles have little beads on them. I asked my dad if he knew what it might be and he immediately said they were growing sorghum, to make syrup.

When Dad was a boy, it was part of the community entertainment to gather and press the cane, releasing a sweet liquid which was then boiled into a molasses-type syrup. It's a multi-day process for the Amish, who sell both the syrup and the stalks which are left behind, which can be used for animal fodder or for decorative purposes.

As I said earlier, a spoonful in a glass of warm milk with a little vanilla added is a delicious, soothing treat at the end of the day, and a nutritious way to add some calories if you're having trouble eating enough (which I never thought would be a problem!).

The other thing I've meant to do is give you a link to the flip-top mitten pattern, which are called Pop-up Paws. The only place I could find in a quick search sells the pattern along with yarn as a kit, for $24. You might check with your local yarn shop before you invest in a kit. If you're anything like me, you have enough yarn to make enough pairs of mittens for your entire neighborhood.

I began Round 2, Day 1 of the December plan yesterday. I finished five miles in 76 minutes, and estimate that I walked half and ran half. I may have run slightly more than half, but I'm going to be conservative with my estimate. It felt good to be running again; maybe I needed that rest day.

And now, because it's the gift-giving season, here's your quote. All the quotes this month will be in the form of printable bookmarks. Simply click on the image, save it to your hard drive, print it on cardstock, punch a hole where the black circle is and loop some yarn through to make a little tassle.

You do have some yarn, right?