Weekend Update Dec20-21

We had a pleasantly busy weekend, and I forgot to pull the photos I managed to remember to take off my camera

After more than 1.5 hours in the car Friday night, I made it the 20 miles from work to Leslie’s house for a wine tasting party (Leslie works with Steve and provides the cats love & attention when we leave them to go on trips). Great party, we ordered a couple of bottles. Steve & I agreed to open one present when we got home – I got this lil guy and Steve grabbed a box and tore into…only to find he was opening one of my presents. Uh, yeah…he was having a little trouble reading his own handwriting on the sticker. So he put that package back, and opened up his binoculars (a true Geek, yes – a camping Geek!).

We opened the rest of the presents in the morning on Saturday…and I got Seams to Me, David Cook’s CD, electronic Monopoly, Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, Rabbids for the DS, and a bunch of great lil stocking stuffers, including these yummy things, which will go on the airplane with me on Wednesday (it’s tradition). Apparently, the cashier @ Target asked Steve if the Monopoly, Rabbids & David Cook CD were for his kid… Um…not quite!

(photo added in as a post edit later)

On Saturday, we went over to Shannon & Cory’s for turkey dinner & Rock Band. I can manage playing bass on easy mode and hit most of the notes – but Enter Sandman almost did me in, there’s quite a few “easy” bass notes in that song! I like singing, but other people do too, so I just sat down to press buttons and hope my hand-eye coordination functions properly.

Sunday was spent crafting a few last-minute gifts. I’ve had this USC fabric for a while now, going to incorporate into a quilt for us since Steve is getting is Master’s degree from USC, but I realized very quickly that the fabric wasn’t going to be used for him. Fortunately, my friend Christina is now teaching @ USC, and fiancee Jason is also an alum. So I made Christina a fully reversible tote bag with the USC on one side, and this cute Recess panel making up the reverse (from local fabric store though, I needed to match the fabric up). I took the remainder USC fabric and made Jason a scarf backed in dark gray fleece (50% off @ Joanns right now!). Of course, I neglected to get a photo of the finished product. Gave them their gifts last night, before we went and walked around a crazy neighborhood in Torrance totally decked out in white lights and decorations. *sigh* I love white Christmas lights (there were a few blues in the mix, guessing for Hanukkah). This is what I came up when I googled for the Torrance lights. We didn’t see the Simpsons…but we did see a polar bear praying to Baby Jesus, but I thought it looked like the polar bear was ready to stage a coup on the manger.

These scarfs are my favorite thing to make right now – super easy, and if you get a nice geometric print, you can just sew right down the lines. So then I took the leftover Echino airplane fabric from Joelle’s bag and whipped up a scarf for my friend Carrie, one of my college roomies, later bridesmaid @ my wedding, and an aerospace engineer working @ Boeing. I’ll give her the scarf on Friday, we’re meeting up in Omaha to have breakfast @ Village Inn…I haven’t seen her in over a year, and Steve has never met boyfriend Dave, who is a great guy!

Sorry for the linky post with no 1 photos – boo for me!

Tonight, I need to attempt to pack a bunch of warm clothes in one small carry-on suitcase… I will deserve a prize if I can accomplish this! Plus, my anxiety levels have kicked up a notch after hearing about the airplane near-disaster in Denver on Saturday night… Let’s hope Denver has learned their lesson and stop allowing airplanes to take off in 31 knot crosswinds!