I spent the last several weeks making things for Tangle’s holiday window display. Today I put it all together in a flurry of yoyos, pompoms and new bags. Here are photos of the finished product.

Closeup of the yarn trees we made.

The windows from inside the store

I had been wanting a baby. For like the last year, I really wanted to have another kid. I didn’t know how it would possibly fit into our lives, but I wanted it. And then I didn’t. I think it was when I was hanging out with one of my friends who is the the grips of motherhood right now. She has teeny kids that demand so much of her attention and time and I thought, I’ve paid my dues. Really, I have. I went through the teeny kids who yelled about everything and made messes faster than I could clean them. And now I’ve got kids that are at the perfect age. They are in school, they make their breakfast every morning, dress themselves, do chores (with lots of threats), wipe their own butts, take their own showers and they READ.

This has been my biggest dream with my children: to get them to the point that I can say, please go read your books. I mean really, it’s amazing. The other day I told Honor I would buy him a book at Borders and he was so excited that he told all of his friends at school about it and asked me if I could go buy it and bring it back to school that very minute. He stayed up til 10:30 that night reading (really, how much trouble can a kid get in for reading?) And the next day he chose to STAY IN FROM RECESS so he could read his book. Eden is the same way. I have grown a pair of nerds! It’s the best thing ever!

So at this time where my kids run through the house chasing the dog, repeat the same phrase 50 times, have disasters of rooms and yap non-stop, I’m just deciding to be thankful for the way they are. So much easier than toddlers and, I imagine, so much easier than teenagers too.

*monday: lentil curry with cauliflower and sweet potatoes (I love this!)
*tuesday: mac & cheese for the kids while I’m at a meeting
*Wednesday: sweet potato & chipotle soup
*thursday: potato basil fritatta
*Friday: tortilla pizzas with ricotta and mushrooms
*saturday: ?
*sunday: mixed vegetable curry

Interesting how when Jim is gone I eat vegetarian….

Gosh, I don’t even know where to begin. Its been such a busy past month! I think the best I can muster is a bullet-point, boring list.

*my business partner, Christina, had to go to Germany for a couple of weeks because her father has been really sick in the hospital. I wasn’t too worried about her leaving because i used to run the store all by myself before she came along. That was when our sales volume was way lower than it is now and needless to say, it was a terribly crazy few weeks. I’m thankful Tangle is so super busy, but there were days I wished for things to be slower, I wont lie.

*during that time Jim and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. We had a fun day of shopping and running around together, then dinner in Palisade before Jim’s show at The Livery, Palisade’s local bar. When I worked at Palisade Pharmacy in high school, I used to have to deliver prescriptions to that bar. My dad lives in Palisade so he’s got lots if friends there and he spent the night introducing me to all of them. It was an experience to say the least.

*speaking of my dad and Palisade. He managed to get the mayor recalled in this last election.

*Jim is currently on tour with the Pineapple Crackers. And I’ve been a single parent for seven days now. It’s been going pretty well without him, better than I expected, I’ve just had to be really organized. Jim will be gone for another two weeks. He’s currently in LA and has several shows planned there before he moves up the coast. I’m super jealous that he will be in Portland and Seattle, two places I’ve never been and really want to see. The tour schedule is on their website if you want to see if they will be in your neck of the woods.

*what else? I’m still working out with the trainer twice a week. She currently has me on a 24 day diet/14 day cleanse that hasn’t been setting with me very well. I’m still preserving a ton of food with my friend Amy. Our current obsession is apple sauce and apple cider cardamom butter. (more about our preserving efforts later.) All crafting has been set aside while I work on our holiday window decorations which need to be up by the 18th. I hate how Christmas comes earlier every year, but oh well…

And I think that’s about it!