If you knew me and saw me recently, you would know that my butt is much smaller (not really) because I've been working it off!  This year, because I haven't been working, I am making most of our Christmas gifts and am getting close to being finished.  Dollar-wise, we are spending less than $500 for all of our family and friends' gifts.  Usually we spend about two to three times that amount.  I am very happy with how everything is turning out.  I'll post more than a taste (see previous post) after the holidays are over.

Saturday night was my first performance with the Souhegan Valley Chorus and the Valleyaires at the Nashua Holiday Stroll.  Everything went well except for my out-of-tune "solo" during the Valleyaires performance of "Hang the Holly."

Our big concert is on December 9th at 7:30pm at Souhegan High School in Amherst.  Directions are available at the Souhegan Valley Chorus Website

I had my last knitting class on Thursday. Everyone graduated! The instructor said that she was very impressed with all the work we all did. Everyone in the class signed up for knitting with a teacher starting a week after Thanksgiving until the end of the year. I am going to make mittens. I am excited!

I am still hard at work making Christmas gifts for everyone. I finished my sister's and I am half finished with my brother's gift. I just finished my last craft swap on Craftster for a while. I had the very best partner. She sent me a great package. Especially this apron she made out of her husband's old jeans.



Thanks Jennyleigh!

Recently, I signed the Buy Handmade Pledge (see sidebar). I am very happy I did so. This year, as I tried to start making a living through my jewelry, I realized how many amazing craftspeople and artists are in this world who deserve our support. I am going to try to buy handmade for all the gifts that I don't actually make myself. Back to working my butt off!

Happy Veteran's Day. I want to thank all the service people who have given their lives and their freedom to ensure the freedom of people all over the world. Regardless of how I feel about the war or about war in general the troops deserve our support and our respect. I spent three years in the US Army. Those years gave me an insight into what life with limited amounts of freedom is like. Every day I am incredibly thankful for the freedoms so many people in this country take for granted.

To the woman who left the thank you card on my windshield at the mall, thank you, it touched me.

In crafty news, I have been working very hard making Christmas gifts and just playing around with beads. I took a whole bunch of old glass beads and made a cool bracelet:



Here's some hints of the crocheting I have been doing:





Jealous much? Bet you want more than taste, huh? Too bad, so sad!

And last but not least, a cute blanket and hat combo I made for a friend's baby:





OK, so I have one more picture, a gratuitous shot of my baby sleeping:

The in-laws have gone home and life is now returning to normal. I am knitting knitting knitting for my class and I found out that after I was practicing for a week that I was doing it all wrong! I know what I am doing now for the most part and am about a third of the way through my scarf.



I am so awesome. Soon, there will be no craft I cannot do! HA!

Happy November! I know it has been a while, but not a lot of crafty things have been happening. My in-laws are visiting for a long weekend so most of my time is devoted to them.

I went to my first knitting class last week and knitting is much easier than I thought it would be. I look forward to making lots of lovely things with all the gorgeous yarn that is available in this world.

In doggie news, Jesus is doing well. He is on a low sodium diet and on lots of medication to keep his heart in check and to keep his lungs from filling up with fluid. He is extra spoiled and now gets to sleep in bed with mommy and daddy every night. He has to be touching one of us at all times. He especially loves all the attention he is getting from his grandma and grandpa right now.