I'm an Independent Individual

(See, the alliteration there? I'm also a terrifically talented thinker.)

There was a time when I would not tell the waitress that my chicken was burnt or ask the cashier to please add the whipped cream that I requested. And I would make one of my siblings go up to the front to get a spoon for my custard.

But now I am an independent individual.

Josiah, Katherine, Anna and I went to a Thanksgiving service at a local church. Grandma B directed a bell choir that played. (Interesting story happened there that should be asked of one of us in person, if you care to ask about it.) Afterwards, we went to McDonald's to get an iced coffee for me. I drink a lot of iced coffee since other guilty pleasures are banned from my diet. So Josiah pulled up to the drive-thru and asked for a dollar iced coffee with no sugar.

I payed my $1.80. (They apparently don't have iced coffee for a dollar anymore, but you don't want to get me started on that. I do realize it's late at night, and this post will probably be funnier because of it-even though 'funnier' isn't a word.) When we got to the last window, they handed Josiah the coffee, and he handed it to me. I opened the straw quickly so I could check to make sure the drink wasn't sweet. Up to this point, it never had been, but there's always the first time.

That first time was tonight.

We're pulling out onto the road, and I say, "It's sweet! I payed $1.80 for this and I can't even drink it!"

"I'll turn back if you say so," says Josiah.

"OK, turn back."

"I'll turn back and you can go into the building yourself and tell them."

"Let's do it."

You should have heard the great cries that erupted from the back. Katherine and Anna couldn't believe that I just agreed to march into a scary building full of scary people to fix a little, bitty coffee by my own lonesome self.

Alone.

Josiah drives around the block, and I barely get out of the car without spilling the coffee. I walk into the building like I'm on a mission, because I am. A guy holds the door open for me, and when I say, "Thank you," he replies, "No problem."

I walk across the restaurant to the front, and state my problem to the cashier. (I think she was a woman, but I'm not really sure. Of course, that's irrelevant.) I get my coffee, and triumphantly return to the van.

"A guy held the door open for you!" Katherine says.

"Oh, you noticed that?"

"Did you say 'thank you'?"

"Duh..." I answer, "and he said, [mustering my 'guy' voice] 'No problem.' "

I'm pretty sure they all replied with some variation of, "Ohhhh..." or "Wowww!"



Because that's what siblings do...whether they're independent individuals or not.

A Matter of Interest

As part of the Gift-A-Long that I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was interviewed by a fellow designer on her blog. I thought my readers might find it interesting even if they're not interested in knitting. You know, because you're interested in me-I think. :)

As for being content with my sales, I only sold one pattern during the sale portion, which made me sad. Mostly because I have four more patterns this year, and I sold more patterns last year. But I am content with it; at one point, I thought I wasn't going to sell any, and I was content with that.

It has been very good for my knitting mojo though. I've finished all my Christmas presents (not really that many for this year), and I've made very good progress on a sweater for Joseph. I've been planning on knitting it for two years. He seems fairly excited about it and I'm having fun knitting it. It's quite relaxing, and most of my knitting this year wasn't. So that's good.

Pictures of Joseph's Birthday Cake

It says Joseph, in case you can't tell.

I just adore Julia's face in this picture. Her face is shining as bright as the candles!

For the Little Boy Who Loves Orange

Happy 3rd Birthday Joseph!!!

Guess What...

...it's somebody's birthday.

Happy Birthday Stephen!!!

Now you're legal. ;)

The Itch

Everyone once in a while (maybe not as often as I would like), I get the itch to blog more than a few sentences. You know, like this, though I'm pretty sure I am not going to have that much to say today.

November is here, and with November comes lovely cold weather (in my mind; I'm a knitter), and the advance of my favorite time of the year, Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Fall is my favorite season, but the holidays are my favorite time. Some people wouldn't make such a distinction; I don't care, it's hard enough for me to pick favorites anyway. (I suppose that's probably a good thing...)

I've spent the past few days (OK, more like yesterday and today) knitting Christmas presents and listening to Christmas music (and you aren't going to stop me-HA!). And school of course, though mostly Geometry. I can't seem to be able to tell the difference between an ASA postulate and an AAS postulate...

Tonight Mom, Katherine, and I are going to Bible Study. I'm pretty excited about it; we have a pretty small group, and I think it's going to be nice and cozy.

Tonight is also the start of the Indie Design Gift-A-Long (at 7pm). I participated in it last year as well, but I see I failed to mention it on this blog. It's an event put on by 293 knitting and/or crocheting designers (including me!), where we have a big sale on a selection of our patterns for about a week. And from then on until the end of the year, tons of crafters get together and work on their Christmas presents, with the chance of winning some cool prizes. I'm participating as a designer and a knitter so I'm hoping to win a prize (or two would be great! :) Of course, what I really want is to sell a lot of patterns and have people knit them, but I've been praying that I will be content with whatever happens-that goes for the prizes too!

Birthday Greetings

Happy (Very) Belated Birthday to Anna!!!

I had a bad headache on her birthday; that's my excuse.

And today is one of our cousin's birthdays.

Happy Birthday Justice!!!