I made a stunning discovery today. Now, all of you out there who have already made this discovery, don't make fun. I learned that knitpicks metal needles get very cold in the winter. I know this is a no-brainer but I hadn't thought of it. As I stood on the platform waiting for the train, my steel needles in my little sock bag, it didn't occur to me that my needles were subject to the same sub freezing temperature as the rest of me. Maybe I thought that some mystical knitting force field would keep them warm. They are wrapped up in a wool sock so that should count for something. I sat down and took out my mp3 player, found my place in my recorded book and then opened the knitting bag and brrrr. Those suckers were cold! My hands were reluctant to unwind the sock and pick up the cold metal sticks. Maybe I'll have to go back to bamboo needles until April. I am finally working on the toe of the embossed leaves sock and the thought of one finished sock was enough to overcome my reluctance (that and the overheated train car).

I am making mitten number 2 of a pair to go with the scarf that Emily made for my niece. She used a difficult-to-work- with acrylic yarn in a gorgeous purple color. I used an easy-to-work-with white cotton/acrylic blend and just wove a piece of the purple through the cuff and made a bow. It helps them coordinate with the scarf and look all cute and girly. I am hoping to have time during the holiday week to finish my snowflake socks. I have half of one to finish and it's cold enough now to need them. I am hypothyroid and even though I take my medication every day, my hands and especially my feet are often cold. Those socks will come in handy (footy?)

I am sitting at work, wasting time. Although time spent online with knitters is hardly a waste. I have finished my three medication clinics for the week along with their accompanying paperwork. Today my goal is to do my social rehab notes and finish up odds and ends. Tomorrow and Friday, I have crisis management classes and then it's off for the week and a half. Katie has a friend that she met online who is coming in for a week's visit on the 28th. She is from Los Angeles but is living with her father in Missouri at the moment. I spoke to the father so that he could try to hear over the phone what a trustworthy and wonderful person I am but he was more interested in telling me what kind of foods his daughter likes. Maybe he is more trusting than I am but if my daughter was travelling to visit someone she had never met in person, I would want to know as much as possible about them.

There are no cookies baked yet. The motivation has not struck like I hoped. I know it will come all at once and I will spend a couple of days doing nothing but creaming butter and sugar. Kate made a batch of spritz cookies (the kind you make with a cookie gun) and some got burned so we ate them. All. So much for the weight the doctor told me I lost. Sigh, six more days to go.