Snow!!!

We finally got snow yesterday! It was wet and heavy, so heavy that a bunch of branches from the neighbors' pine tree broke off and fell next to the house.

It was a rude awakening for Banjo. He still likes to go outside, but he can't stand the feeling of cold and snow on his paws. We tried doggie booties on him last year without success. He didn't want to ruin his reputation in the neighborhood because of some silly looking booties. I will likely try that again this year because I think if he really tried it, he would like it. It would allow him to hunt moles in the backyard for a longer period of time (he caught another one yesterday and hid it under the deck).

While it was sleeting outside, I cleaned and organized inside. I let my room get extremely messy, to the point where it was frustrating just walking in. I pulled everything down, dusted it off and rearranged. I love doing that kind of thing because I like changing things up every once in a while. It makes things feel new even when it's all the same stuff. I finally got around to hanging more of my pictures too. They had been cluttering the bookshelf and now they are hanging in nice clumps on the wall.

Another project this weekend has been cleaning out knitting patterns. I have the tendency of saving any knitting pattern that I remotely think is interesting, which often means there's not a chance in hell I'll actually knit that pattern any time soon if ever. I decided to clean house, and it felt amazing. At the same time, I went through my stash and pulled out some long lost yarn for Christmas knitting projects.

This impetus for this cleaning was that I did something I told myself I wasn't going to do: buy more yarn before I worked through what I already had. That's one of the main reasons I hadn't started knitting my own Christmas stocking - it meant I'd have to buy more yarn. I finally broke down and got it though because if I didn't now, I never would. I'm excited to get started on it. There's little chance I'll get it done before Christmas, but at least I can get a running start at it.

I've also started realistically thinking about projects I want to get done next year. I have big plans, and hopefully those plans remain realistic! I think I'll be able to get a lot more done since we won't be planning a wedding! And for those of you who are wondering, we are still working on the thank-yous. We're taking our time because we're enjoying all the awesome gifts you got us!

Ghoulish Halloween Recap

We had about 80 trick-or-treaters this year (about 10 more than last). Chris wasn't working so he dressed up with me and we tag-teamed handing out the candy. We barricaded Banjo in the dining room to prevent him from eating the little monsters. He let out a bone-chilling howl each time we opened the door (Banjo made me write that - in actuality, all the kids asked "What's that?" He was mortified and will work on making his howl more terrifying for next year.) In addition to decorating the porch, we also put on costumes. Chris was a pumpkin and I was a bumble bee.

To kick off the Halloween weekend, we went to a costume party at G & P's. I was dressed as an Angry Bird (this was a blue bird costume for those who haven't enjoyed the game Angry Birds) and Chris wore the same pumpkin. The blue bird costume was actually one my mom made way back when and she wore it way back when. My friends determined my mom must have been quite silly and figured that's where I must have gotten it.

(Thanks for the pics Sarah)