Boo yeah!

One pair of Fetching: DONE!

Hahaha(insert Machiavellian voice here)….I sooo rock!

I am sooooooo going to bed now.

One down!!

One to go!

I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough of the Peacock to finish both gloves, so I added some grey stripes, including a bitty one around the thumb. It seems now that I had little to worry about, but I like the stripes: I think they’re funky, and SIL is pretty funky!

Not sure if you can tell from the at-RO-cious pic (damn, I need a proper camera! this thing only does misty black-and-whites well) but there are about 16 ends of yarn hanging out of that glove, waiting to be woven in. I’ll get to that tomorrow.

Off to cast on another!

Come and Get it!

Or, FETCH it, as the case may be.

Quick post. Decided that needle roll with beaded stitch markers and row marker will be SIL’s Christmas gift (probably). But her birthday – remind me to ensure that I conceive my children NOT in the month of March – is on the 22nd. So what will she get for her birthday? Maybe some fetching Fetchings!

MORE leftover Patons Classic, I happened to have needles to knit to gauge, and I’ll be adding some grey – possibly around the palm – to make sure I have enough of the Peacock Blue Patons to finish the Fetchings.

Good thing I’m a pretty quick knitter – you know, for a poser-knitter, who’s never knit a sock, and has only knit one sweater, EVER – so the Fetchings should be done for Friday, when we meet for Thai food for the SIL’s birthday dinner. Of course, I also have to finish (and by that, I mean start) my little cocktail dress for the little cocktail party Hubs and I need to go to for his job on Thursday evening. Ack!

Gotta go. Too much to do!!

Meteorological craziness

The grass outside my house is green.

It’s GREEN.

This just generally sucks. Usually when people around here talk about a green Christmas, they really mean a greyish-brown Christmas, that is, one lacking in snow. Currently, I’m looking at a Christmas greener than Hallowe-en was!!! WTF??!!

Is this some sort of El Nino year? And does anyone know why Blogger won’t let me use accents? I feel like a big tool using French and Spanish words without accents.

Oh, yeah, I still knit. I totally frogged that scarf for my sister, and now I’m knitting it again much narrower, possibly too narrow, and possibly on needles just one mm too small – I’m not positive. I do have the purse for her. It’s little, but it’s pretty adorable, so I think it will be fine if the scarf doesn’t get quite finished.

SIL’s needle roll…umm, not started yet. But I’m not too concerned, since it should take only a few hours to throw together in my sewing room. I have some lurvely fabric and ribbon to use: I’m looking forward to getting it done! I’m thinking I might try to knit up some wristwarmers for her, too. But we’ll see how much time I end up with.

Happy Christmas wishes to you all!

L’amour est enfant de Boheme, il n’a jamais connu de loi

I know, I know, three posts in the same day; what’s up with that?

Last year, I was involved with an amateur opera night, and it was…ok. It was expensive and a little disappointing (largely staging issues, due in great part to the SD kind of, well, not know what she was doing. Nice lady, clueless in regards to music, opera, and I would venture, staging) and I didn’t think I would do it again this year.

Then I got an email from the Artistic Director/Board.

They offered me Bizet’s “Habanera” from Carmen, Malika in the Flower Duet from Delibes’ Lakme, and Papagena from Mozart’s Die Zauberflote. Well. That’s a horse of a different colour!

After explaining that I’m not in a position to pony (ha ha, get it? with the horse metaphor? yeah, my pun-filled grandfather would be so proud!) up $400 to cover costs, some other options have been presented, including seamstressing which, obviously, would work out well for me, so it looks like I’ll be singing with Bytowne again this season. Which, frankly, makes me happy.

I felt it necessary to reiterate to the AD that I am not a mezzo-soprano, even though I sang a mezzo/switch part last year (Octavian from Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier which is a fabulous opera and sooo lovely to listen to, anyone with any interest in opera should have a listen. I’m partial to the trio/duet at the end of the opera, since that’s what I got to sing, but really, it’s all lovely!! And funny!! Try to see it, if you can!). And I got this lovely email back telling me that I have a “wide range and warm-velvety tone”. !!!! I still have trouble taking compliments seriously, and maybe it’s BS to try to fill out roles; either way, it’s a damned fine thing to read about myself! I’m certainly don’t mean to sound vain: I just want to share my joy! I honestly have trouble believing these things said about my voice; it just seems so unreal. I’ve been singing for years, but this is new, and very novel (which is really just a French loanword, to mean new, so that’s sort of a redundant statement, isn’t it?).

So, all things being equal, I’ll be singing with Bytowne again this year. Anyone need tickets? Because I’ve got a whole wack of them to sell.

Now if I could just find my copy of Dame Joan singing the Flower Duet from Delibes’ “Lakme”…I wish I wouldn’t misplace cd’s so often; what a pain!

Anyway, that’s my happy update. I’m singing at my oldest friend’s wedding this December 30 (a piece by John Denver he recorded with Placido Domingo, “Perhaps Love”, very pretty) and my friend L from choir and I are planning to work on a duet someday soon, after the holiday rush. Lots of music things happening, so many I may start a second blog devoted to music. So keep your eyes peeled for a new button!

Have a great night all! I send you all lullabies!

Bed-time stories

Or, stories about bedtime.

Which is to say, I’m still sleepy as all get-out. I just realised that I never mentioned my little sleepover at the hospital, nor explained my long period of unemployment. Answers:

For about the last, ooh, let’s say 6 months, I have been a zombie. Honestly, it started before that. In fact, I can’t remember a time in which I wasn’t sleepy or tired or burnt out. This has become my natural state. I don’t like it much.

So when my time working at Hubs’ office was at an end, we decided that I should take a little time, regroup, figure out what I really wanted to do, and have a break, because I hadn’t really taken any sort of break since sometime in early high school (granted, not all that long ago, but still over ten years – yikes!). That was when we realised something was wrong. I slept for ten hours straight, then napped during the day. I slept for twelve hours straight, and napped. I had insomnia issues, and slept for fourteen hours straight, once I was able to sleep. Oh, we thought, this can’t be right. And since most places of business will have you work for at least four hours at a stretch, and they usually want you conscious the whole time, working became not so much an option.

To the doctor we go, and she says “Sleep issues. Go do a sleep study.” A month later, a fun sleepover at a hospital a 45-minute drive from our home, except for the part about it being fun, or a sleepover, because I didn’t feel like I slept much. It was awful, uncomfortable, and possibly a waste of time.

So that is why I am in my house all day, every day. That is why I’ve started seamstressing. Because I can’t stay awake long enough to have a real job. And it’s no good, because I miss having a real life, although I do enjoy staying home with my puppy, and baking and cooking yummy things for me and Hubs to eat.

Yesterday, I heard from my doctor’s office that the results of the study are in, so she’ll discuss them with me in January when I am there for my annual physical. Here’s hoping the problem is one easily fixed without weird or costly treatment! In the meantime, I’ll be continuing my current practice of pretending to be energetic and lively. So far, I seem to have most people fooled!

So that is my tale of woe. Ok, not so much woe as irritation and moderate poverty. As you may note from several posts ago, I bought a pair of shoes, so obviously we aren’t starving, but we certainly eat a lot of chickpeas out the cheap blue cans (whatever, I’m veggie, so I don’t mind!). I just thought I should fill in the blanks, because if I was reading this blog, I’d be thinking “Why doesn’t that chick go get herself a job?! What a lame-ass!” Maybe I am a lame-ass, but at least now you know why.

Happy Christmas to you all! And to all a good, slumbery, peaceful night!

Ribbit

I knit my sister a scarf last year, which I finished after Christmas because someone ate the needles it was on before it was finished (as I said about 3 posts ago, it’s become a Christmas tradition). So the scarf moved from the apartment to the townhouse, and has been waiting for this Christmas. But it’s too short. It just IS, you know? And I used all the yarn, and the nearest location for another ball of it is an hour long bus-ride. In the unseasonable, and yucky, rain.

Therefore, RIBBIT! I’ll knit the whole thing a little narrower, and thus, longer! A good solution, I think.

Must go knit now. Too much time spent doing….nothing.

I’m BACH!

Magnificat anima mea, Dominum
Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes
Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen eius
Et misericordia eius in progenies timentibus eum
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo dispersit superbos mente cordis sui
Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles
Esurientes implevit bonis et divitis dimitis inanes
Suscepit Israel puerum suum recordatus misericordiae suae
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros Abraham et semini eius in saecula
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto
Sicut erat in principio, in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

And we’re done! It runs about 30 minutes and features some fabulous Bach harmonies. The piece is at least 278 years old, and now I’ve performed it twice. Though I haven’t had the very real honour of performing the two soprano solos, it is such a priviledge to be part of the over quarter-millenium legacy surrounding the work. And it’s a super way to celebrate Christmas!

Magnificat being one of the most anticipated and preparation-heavy aspects of the season this year, I feel like I’m over the hump! It’s all easier from here on in.

Still have some gifts to make, most specifically the needle-roll (or whatever it’s going to be, maybe a small project bag with little pockets for scissors and stitch markers and such) for SIL. I think tomorrow will be a project-y kind of day. I’ve spent the last few days reading – for some reason, I really wanted to re-read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I’m not sure why. But I’ve read through them so back to the knitting and sewing. Benefits of knitting over sewing: I get to sit on my comfy sofa, watch movies, and sniff my Christmas tree while I do it. I can’t do any of those things while I sew on my machine.

Mmm, and maybe Christmas cookies should happen soon…pretty ones in fun shapes with icing and crystal-y sugar.

Common

What is remarkable about the Christmas story – indeed, about the entire story of Christ – is how very unremarkable it is. The great commonness of the story, of the circumstances of His birth and upbringing and death, is what underscores and places in sharp relief the unfathomable wonder of His reality.

Born to poor, ordinary people, He was also born into a regal and priestly heritage. His father was a descendant of the great King David, and His mother cousined to a member of the priesthood, but neither of these attributes in any way signify that greatness and miraculous events will stem from their marriage. And they loved and raised a Saviour. They parented God.

He was homeless for much of His life. Born in a stable, sharing hay and warmth with livestock, His parents escaped with Him to Egypt to avoid the wrath and paranoia of King Herod. It was only after Herod’s death that His family brought Him back to His homeland, the people whom He was born to save. As an adult, He wandered throughout His country, relying on the kindness and generosity of strangers and faithful for shelter. He was ostracized in Nazareth, where He and Mary and Joseph had made their home after the return from Egypt. He was neither kingly nor awesome. His life, His circumstances, were decidely human, decidedly common. And that is what is most beautiful about His story.

I have often pondered the Christ-question. So easy is it to wonder, “if God wanted so dearly for us to be saved, why suffer the birth and death of His Son – of His very self – to make it so? Could He not simply allow it to be? But in reading Old Testament scripture, one comes to understand that He wishes truly to save the people He so carefully and thoughfully created out of His deep love. Merely saving us from damnation is not enough. The making right, the making whole, of our souls is necessary. We need to be put into a state of grace, a somewhat state of understanding and oneness with God, which could only be achieved through sacrifice. How better can He demonstrate our great worth while also making clear to us our painfully broken nature?

So He came, and dwelt among us, and was one of us, was one with us, and One for us. And His sacrifice also became ours, and we were made to be right with God, no longer separated from, but together with Him, despite our brokenness, despite our sin. We are made able to ascend out of the mire of sin and heartache, and live in the Love of God. A love so perfect and everlasting as to become common. For He is common; He is in common with all People. The humanity of the story, the humanity of the Nativity, is what is so deeply compelling. We are driven to act.

What will you do?

I know, I missed another one…

I didn’t post anything again yesterday. I’m having no luck, am I? But I was really busy. Here, look at what I did:

All by myself! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: IKEA rocks. The Lions Club in Ottawa and IKEA teamed up and are selling balsam firs for $20 in the parking lot. AND, you get a voucher good for $20 at IKEA in the new year! So I didn’t buy a tree, I bought another little glass end table, but right now it *looks* like a Christmas tree. Fabulous!

So I drove Hubs to work yesterday morning (half-hour drive) and then went directly to IKEA (a longish drive, but still worth it!) The people there are super: we crazies who were waiting in the snow for them to open were let inside ten minutes early and given coffee! And people were chatty and cheerful and it was lovely. Got my tree from a kind Lions Club gentleman and successfully shoved it into my trunk. Did I ever mention I’m a little shrimp of a person? I’m like 5’2″. I bought a 6.5’+ tree! And it’s a nice fat one! I’m sure I looked ridiculous battling with it. Whatever; I triumphed!

Then I got my copy of John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas, waiting at a cd shop. Yay! Hubs says “It’s cheesey”. I said “I don’t care if you like it or not: you’re going to have to listen to it every year”. I put up with a lot of football. He can deal with some Denver!

Hauled the tree home. Stopped off at CTire, got a stand. Lugged the tree out of the trunk to the front steps. Sawed the end of the trunk. Rearranged the living room to make room for the tree, sweeping up entire warrens of dust bunnies, prompting serious allergic reactions that have only recently abated (yeah, I know, if I dusted more frequently, it wouldn’t be a problem. I’m lazy). Put the tree in the stand. Got it in the living room – still not entirely sure how I did that without knocking over everything, including the piano – and snipped the twine holding it all folded up. Tree was crooked. Nearly knocked it over and/or broke the stand in the process of righting it. But – again – I triumphed. Boo-yah! And now I have a big, lit, but otherwise naked, tree in my living room, slowly smelling up the house to be all Christmas-y. Yum!

I’m planning to post again later today, since this is essentially yesterday’s post. I think I’ll put my scholarly cap on for that one. Dig out my brain and see if it still works!

To conclude, when I arrived home with my tree and my cd, I discovered that the dog had opened the bedroom door, and had proceeded to eat my knitting needles. AGAIN. So that is Wembley’s Christmas tradition: eating bamboo needles weeks before Christmas while there is a gift ON the needles. She’s lucky she’s so damned cute. But you see how I end up writing up these posts:

Any wonder they take so long to complete? What a little nut!