a very merry

now that all the festivities are over, i've been thinking about what to report about christmas. i guess the bottom line is this: our families are awesome. we love to see them. we love to hang out and eat great food and be silly and play video games and make cookies and do all those fun things that just don't happen enough. we do not, however, enjoy driving with the threat of a screaming boy hovering over us in the backseat while we make our way to the various gatherings. and though we really did have a spectacular time, and sam (for the most part) did a fabulous job of sleeping in transport, i do certainly hope that in the future sam will roll with things a little easier. it took a couple of days of being back in his home territory for him to settle back down into his "schedule". in the past week we have all been making good use of his new stash of toys (and i'm enjoying the fact that we've got a place to store most of them too! woo!) thanks to all who made this such a happy holiday for the three of us. we love you!

still, i really think someone needs to get busy and invent those transporters right quick. i don't know what the hold-up is. they've had them on star trek for ages. who's with me? missy?

doodle doodle

i'm attempting to clean my office space. it's my last day in the office for the remainder of 2009, and i thought coming in to a (slightly more) clean office would be a great way to start 2010.

anywho, i found these sketches for waterbuggy critters. i like how my final bugs ended up, but i think these are kinda cute too. a bit powerpuff, but still kinda cute.

deck the halls and all that jazz

contrary to what my posting might indicate, we have been rather busy partaking in many holiday related activities.
friday afternoon we bundled up the boy and went out into the wild, windy, winter weather to pick out a tree with grandma and grandpa h. due to the boy's boogery-ness and the general frigidity, i only managed a couple photos, but we quickly found the best tree ever and cut it down to take home with us.
we then proceeded to the grandparents' house to use their fabulous machine in the making of our christmas card. i'm not post a photo of said card because i got admonished last year for showing a spoiler before christmas. in any case, the card turned out pretty much as i had hoped, and i was mightily pleased at not having to cut them by hand. woot!

saturday morning we were out and about with our sniffly boy. we had groceries to get, a bank appointment to keep, and lots of christmas shopping left to do. it was a marathon of a day, but we managed to hit nearly all our stops and get all our gifting done. just a few more things to pick up, and then we'll be able to sit back and happily watch the shoppers from afar.
that evening we put up the tree and our other decorations. the house is now suitably festive to suit our (harried and) festive mood.

sunday was a day of church and wrapping. i wrapped until my wrapper was sore. and i still have more to do, but at least i'm well on my way to having everything complete by next week. we want to free up as much time as possible so we can play with the mississippi crew while they're here - we want to enjoy them as much as possible, because it will be a long time until we'll get another chance.
today we're hoping to make some goodies for my co-workers (if i can manage to keep the boy happy long enough to get anything done) and assemble christmas cards. tomorrow is my last day of work for the year (hoorah!) after that, it's holidays or bust!

who has the most fabulous 10 month old?

we do! aren't we lucky?

i really believe i NEEEEEEEEEEEEED this

perhaps it's been kicked into high gear from watching one too many seasons of project runway (is that possible? maybe), but i've always had a hankering to design my own clothes. i remember designing a whole mix-and-match summer wardrobe, which my mother (in her infinite wonderfulness) actually sewed for me (thanks mom!) and recently, when i was going through a bin of clothes to hand down to my niece, i noticed a real tendency to sew, cut, resew, tie-dye, iron-on and reconfigure my clothing. most of the items had been, at the very least, re-hemmed to fit me. there was at least one skirt that had gone through several incarnations in length.

also, i'm not exactly a cookie-cutter-i-can-wear-things-right-off-the-hanger-type person, and when i shop for clothes i have very (very, very) specific ideas about what i want (and can rarely find it with a pricetag i'm willing to pay). it would be nice to have the confidence to be able to build those non-existent garments myself - or when i see things that i like, but want to change this about it. or that. or have it taken in here - i could just whip up my very own perfect version.

so, i'm adding this book to my wishlist. even if i don't have the time right now to actually sew. maybe if i could design and sew, i'd spend less time looking around the internet for the perfect little denim jacket. maybe.

homework

i brought the cards home from work yesterday in order to get them stuffed into their envelopes. with any luck, we'll get them out by the end of the week.
177 cards printed, cut, folded, and stuffed in one day isn't too shabby. now if only i could get half as much done today, it would be a christmas miracle!

early christmas presents

they're here! they're here!

yesterday when i got to work i found two advance copies of the book looking all official-like and shiny and new -- one of my dreams come true!