80+ in December is just plain wrong.

I think we have had one cold day since the end of October, and I am officially frustrated with the fact that it just won't cool off. OK, so I didn't have to bring a coat to R's office party last night, but even a mild chill would be nice at this point.

We slept in late again this morning, but I've been working on a few things. I made a second batch of spiced nuts in the crock pot today (this time sweet; the first were nice and spicy) and I'm trying to figure out the pattern in the lace shawl I want to start. So far it's not going too well, but I know that once I get a little further along it will be clearer what stitch is required where.

My first lace scarf is complete. Things got a bit tricky in the end, and I still need to try to block it, but overall I am happy with this first attempt.



The office party wasn't too bad. We were a bit skeptical as they decided to hold on the mezzanine floor of their office building instead of a hotel ballroom as per usual, but it was all very pretty and the food was good (although I focused on the crab cake and only had a bite or two of the fillet mignon). We didn't win any of the raffle drawings--one guy at our table actually one a digital camera--but we did win our table's drawing for the centerpiece. I carried a gorgeous arrangement of white hydrangea, roses and calla lilies home on my lap, with one stop at the neighborhood wine bar for a bottle of chilled champagne to go.



Not bad for a cellphone shot.

Someone's been missing his green veggies

Yes, I admit it. I have been horrible about vegetables lately. I love them, but I haven't been good about making them for us. Our last real vegetables came Saturday night in the Chinese takeout we brought over to our friends' house. Sunday and Monday we had gumbo and nothing else. True, there were bell peppers and celery in there, but you can't really count that. Last night was chicken cordon bleu (I made extra when cooking for my client), mashed potatoes (I almost never make these for us, but I had one to use up), and frozen corn.

I know...corn is a vegetable. In fact I have clients who wont eat many more vegetables than that. I managed to find an opened bag of frozen corn in the freezer and that was my attempt at balancing our meal. The key point, however, is that it's not green.

Last night I asked R what he wanted for dinner tonight. His reply "Something green and some whole grains. Oh, and fish. Fish would be good."

(I love what I have done to this guy's diet. Before me he ate pizza 3 nights a week, sandwiches 2 nights, and ate out on the weekends.)

I didn't work today, but I did spend 10:30 to 3:15 at my friend's house giving her moral support while she prepared a dinner for the first night of Hanukkah. I left her and headed straight to Starbucks to meet another friend who is moving home to Turkey at the end of March. It had been ages since we last met for coffee, and I'm running out of opportunities to do so. I left her at 5:00 faced with the horrible task of stopping by the grocery store. Luckily I was able to get in an out of Whole Foods (I refuse to buy fish at Kroger) in about 10 minutes.

Dinner: Maple/Mustard-Glazed orange roughy, broccoli, and barley risotto with swiss chard.

Now: I'm just a yard or two from the end of the first of two skeins of yarn needed to finish my lace scarf. I have already bought new yarn for my next lace project and I so want to start working on it. I am forcing myself to finish this one first. Thank goodness it is fast-moving.

Something good from Thanksgiving

I'm making my turkey stock this afternoon for my gumbo. The next thing I need to do is make my roux, but I'm trying the no-oil one that my dad makes. This involves cooking dry flour in a pan and it's a very smoky process. I think I'm going to take my portable burner out on the porch and do it there.

We got our Christmas tree yesterday and decorated it today. It's just so hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it's 80 degrees outside.



Last night the cats were having a territorial fight under the tree. I was glad that it was still standing when we woke up this morning.

Oh, and my knitting ADD has come back with a vengeance. I'm happy just sitting and knitting all day long, when I really should be straightening the house. I found a book on Victorian lace patterns Friday and now I'm working on a scarf. It's going well, and it's making me want to go buy a nicer lace weight yarn and start over again.



Oh crap. That needle says 6. I'm supposed to be working with 7s. I must be working with one of each.