I didn't watch any news or weather yesterday, so I was surprised to wake up and see snow on the neighbor's roof this morning!  It was only an inch or so, but wet and sticky, and clinging to the trees -- very pretty!  I saw two cars in the ditch on the way to work.

DH & I went to my company Christmas party on Friday night -- it was fun, too much food!  He got a stocking full of goodies as thanks for letting me work there...

When we got home, I had to be St. Nick.  I know, I know, he's supposed to come on the 5th...  Katie was home for another whirlwind work weekend and had to leave right after work on Saturday (originally, I thought I'd only have to move it up a day), so Friday it was...  St. Nick brought her the other hank of Colinette Point 5 she needed to finish her scarf (which she did on Saturday night -- and she loves it!); Ali & Maddy each got a new shirt; and they all got a bunch of other little things (including candy and the requisite popcorn ball).

On Saturday, after finishing up the transcription (YAY!), I picked up another hank of Cascade Magnum -- I really liked the thick mittens I made using the Lion Brand Santa Mitten pattern.  I knit one up on Saturday night, and the other on Sunday, but this time I used some of the shaping in Kate's wonderful, new, free pattern.  What a great pattern!  Thanks, Kate.  The mitts are for my sister and will coordinate well with the scarf I made for her.

Since the stockings were up for St. Nick, my attention turned toward Christmas preparations at home.  I did some cleaning over the weekend and we brought the tree up last night.  I had to move my great grandma's sewing machine because we're putting the tree there this year -- a new location!  I took a picture of it, Ann (excuse the dust).  That cabinet has definitely seen better days -- there have been pieces of wood replaced (with crap, I might add) and there's a knob missing -- most importantly, the "apron" is missing.  I have my maternal grandmother's machine upstairs and it has a rather large, decorative piece of wood between the drawers on each side that kind of swings in when the machine is lifted out -- it hides the machine when it's put away.  The machine I saw in your Thanksgiving dining room, Ann, looks similar, but it looks like the apron piece is much smaller.  What say you?  I took a close-up of where that piece should attach, but I forgot to resize it and, well, most of you would not be interested in a humongous picture of hardware!

I have to replace one string of lights on the tree.  I got all poked and scratched during the removal part last night, and will likely put the new ones on tonight.  Then ornaments...  Oh yeah, it's been a tradition for quite a long time that St. Nick brings the grrs a new ornament for the tree.  They each have their own boxes for those ornaments, plus others they've received over the years, and they'll have a nice little start when they someday have their own trees to decorate.  I often pick these up at after-Christmas sales for the following year -- and I sometimes forget and then I'm either ahead or they get two!

Thank you all for your kind wishes for my sister.  The problem is placenta praevia -- according to my mom's medical dictionary, this is something that usually occurs in the third trimester and my sister is only entering her second.  An early caesarean birth is likely if it doesn't move -- and it might, but I don't know the likelihood.  Anyway, Annie's not exactly on bed-rest, I guess, but she is under strict orders to take it easy and mind the signals.

There's a history in my family of not quite coming up with the right word or term, but making a damn good stab at it.  For example, rather than "Old Wive's Tale," Sharon has referred to it as "Old Mother's Fable" (cracks me up every time).  I had an email from Karen last night in which she discussed Ann's condition -- she couldn't quite come up with the term, so referred to it as "placenta primavera," which she knew wasn't right, but what the hell.  I had a good laugh.  You've got to have a sense of humor, even if it's a sick one.