Festy

Ah, yes. Here it is: the final report on the egg nog. After aging in the fridge for 3 weeks as per the recipe, The Boy and I cracked this stuff open and had ourselves a little taste.

The first thing that we noticed, of course, was the deeply alcoholic smell wafting from the jug. I figured this was a good sign, because how could the milk and eggs possibly go bad with that much alcohol sloshing around in there. Next came the sexy pin-up photoshoot of the nog in front of the tree, and then finally we were ready to take the first sip.

Whoo. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. The nog turned out really strong and smooth. There's a bit of an alcoholic burn that shows up on the middle of the tongue, but after that it goes down sweet and smooth. It's quite lovely, with a much better (less thick-and-gluey) mouthfeel than the regular store-bought stuff. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner.

My only quibble is that I swear I can detect a faint hint of the bad brandy I used to substitute the cognac, and it's possible that I'm right. So to test this theory, yesterday I whipped up another batch, with The Boy donating half a cup of some really nice cognac he likes. The pouring went smoother, and I spilled nary a drop transferring it from the pot to the jug. This batch will age just a little less than the called-for 3 weeks, and then we'll be sharing it around at whatever New Year's Eve party is lucky enough to host us. Until then, it sits in the fridge undergoing whatever magical chemical reactions it takes to transform from a bunch of dairy-and-liquor to the sublime concoction it's meant to be.

Cheers.

Progress

That's what's happening, yes yes! This morning when I finally woke up I was actually breathing through my nose! And my throat wasn't hurting quite as much as yesterday morning. Of course the breathing thing changed as soon as I sat up... and my throat is still hurting as I type this, which may have something to do with the fact that my ears feel like they've been draining. Yeah, eww. But still, can the end be far away? I think not.

And as far as the christmas knitting goes, well, I've made a lot of progress since I started... back in September. But I've still got a ways to go in the home stretch, partly because I keep adding new projects on. The person who was going to get the Worms and Fish scarf will not be getting that, but will be getting something that is, hopefully, a better fit for him. I'm also mostly, but not quite, done with the third Knitty Pocket Creature for the arctic-dwelling niece. When that's done I've still got the finishing touches to put on all three. I'm still working on the soon-to-be-mismatching yarn mittens for myself. And there's the felted thing for The Boy, which is yet to be started. And then, I've added on two more projects that will probably not be done in time: a lace scarf for the mom-type person in my life, since I totally missed her birthday last month, and another pair of Fetching gloves, for my sister's birthday. But that one can maybe wait a bit.

Karmacoma

Today was a good day; I was up and dressed before 6 pm, I met with the lady who's going to host my practicum next semester, wrote up a proposal, and got some paperwork signed by my advisor and turned in. I also had enough energy that I decided to get up and fight this bug, so I went and stocked up on sicky supplies: juice, kleenex, peppermint tea and Nyquil (because I was out of those things) and some of those effervescent vitamin-and-herbal tablets. I figure it can't hurt, so why not give it a go?

But let me just say that I am so, SO relieved to have gotten my practicum (like an internship) sorted. Yep. Starting January 8th I'll be interning at the Wilmot branch of the public library. If I weren't so light-headed from the Sick, I'd get up and do a little dance.

And ohhhhh, I've got some knitting pictures to share. I can just sense your enthrallment. Well, it's nothing too exciting, but I finally got over my second-sock-syndrome and started on sock #2! Got almost two inches of the (boring, boring, boring) leg ribbing done last Friday night whilst having tea with Erika, just before the Sick settled in. And while I was sitting there, who should show up in the cafe but the lady I usually see working at Kiwi, the LYS. We chatted a bit about my slow sock progress (I started these suckers back in May, I think), and she offered to teach me how to knit on two circulars instead of the dpns, and added that since I'm a continental knitter, the circulars might make the work faster for me. Ooooohh, "continental knitter," that sounds so sexy! Just like that Prince song, "The Continental." Yep, that's me: doing the knitting how it wants to be done.

Aaaaaaand, I've got two out of three of the Knitty pocket creatures nearly done for my niece in Alaska. I think they look a little demented, but cute demented. Or am I just deluding myself? I'm not totally sure I'd want to play with/keep these things around if I were my super-girly (but still incredibly tough) niece. Is this another case of me knitting someone a gift because I want to make it rather than because they'll like it? Only time will tell, I suppose. Or maybe it won't. I mean, how hard would it be to tell a little white lie over the phone?.... "Oh, sure Ang, Ailie uses those creepy - I mean, cute - little things every day.." Well. Not too hard, I suppose. So far the one on the left is my favorite, because of his eyes and because he doesn't have any arms. The one with the orange hair turned out a little too rasta... or a little too Carrot Top, take your pick.

And finally, some sad news. For those of you who knew them, the super orange and green wristies I made last year are no more, due to the loss of the right-hand wristie at the movies on Sunday night. I called the theater to check lost and found as soon as I realized what had happened, and the Boy even went over there in person the next day, but no luck. So tell me, dear blog-friends, would it be too Michael Jackson to make myself a new, non-matching glove/wristie? Is it ok to mix and match? I eagerly await your tender advice. Perhaps it's the loss of the beloved wristie, or perhaps it's the fact that I'm off to the Bitter North in 2 short weeks, but I was finally moved to try and make something out of this freebie yarn Jacey sent me, called Sorbet Clouds. It's not really my color, not really my thing, but as soon as I started to knit these thick-and-bulky mittens, I fell a little bit in love. The colors are much softer and girlier than I normally go for, and the yarn itself is fuzzy enough to give off a halo... it's kind of like coming home to the girl I could've been, if things had gone a little differently back in high school. But, as is my usual curse, I don't have enough yarn to completely finish the second mitten, so these will be a little punk too by being finished in a non-matching yarn. And you know, I'm actually starting to like that look. I just need to work on making it look a little more on-purpose.

Laid Low and Letting Go

Whatever this new bug is I've caught, it's really doing a number on me. It's been going strong since Friday night and there haven't been too many signs of it letting up yet. At least the symptoms have been changing a bit here and there, just for variety's sake. Gone are the achey muscles and sinus headache, in exchange for mucous: runny nose and expectoration. This morning it was so bad I almost thought I had another case of the dreaded lung butter.

There's nothing for it now but to do what everybody always tells you to do in these situations: relax, drink the fluids, stay home and rest. For whatever reason, I always seem to have a hard time with just letting go and being sick. There's no way I could work in this condition, but I feel guilty for staying home. If I don't accomplish something every day, I feel like a bit of a failure. And I keep pushing myself a little bit too far every day, hoping that if I just act healthy enough, this thing will quit. Like a childhood fantasy, right?

So chalk today up as an exercise in letting go. It's mid-afternoon and I haven't showered or changed out of my pjs. I haven't checked my email, or paid those bills online yet, or washed dishes. I have managed to take a 2-hour nap. I've done a little knitting, which I'll talk about on another post. But now I've got to go... I can't keep my virus waiting.