It's early Sunday morning and we dodged another bullet. On Friday when Pk and I were doing some shopping it was pouring rain. Not just raining but pouring. We decided not to try to go grocery shopping. It would have been a mess. So, we went Christmas shopping instead. We don't usually do much shopping together and this was rather enjoyable. We were grateful for the rain because it could have been snow and then we would have not been able to finish the shopping.

I did the grocery shopping on Saturday morning and then finished up the holiday shopping last night. Now I have to wrap the presents. Sigh. It takes forever and I start out with all of these beautifully wrapped and be-ribboned packages and by the end I'm lucky to get the paper and a tag.

I will be baking cookies today. I try to buy a new cookie cutter each year and this year I got train shaped ones. Pk is already planning how he can decorate them as a train wreck. We always get reindeer cookies with missing heads or fangs. It's never dull.

And despite my promise to myself that I was not going to squeeze another fiber related project into the next few days, I decided to spin some roving into yarn for my cousin. She is a crocheter and makes lap blankets for vets and people in nursing home. She is one of those people that lives their faith every day and not just on Sunday. She uses only acrylic yarns and I thought she might like some soft, beautiful wool to use for herself. Kate bought some roving that is blue/purple/pink/white and it's spinning up really beautifully. I spun it into singles and plied it with some beautiful shiny thread. I hope she likes it. I've never given anyone my handspun as a gift and I'm a little nervous as to how she'll react.

It's raining. Again. At least I don't have to go out. Pk has to finish his shopping. He complained that my christmas list didn't have any "fun" things on it. I told him the knitting needles and yarn I asked for were fun to me. Just like when he asked for clamps (He has more clamps than I have sock needles). "But I like clamps!" he says. And I remind him that I like knitting needles.

I have only two days of work this week. And only one clinic each day so the week won't be onerous. I'll probably have a full day on Tuesday and then I'm done until the 29th. I'll work three days that week and then have another long weekend. Usually, I try to take the full week between the holidays off but this year I don't have the time so I manipulated what I do have to have the best vacation time I can.

Today's buddhist inspiration seems appropriate for the holidays. It's a rerun. It's what appears at the bottom of my blog.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

~Buddha

This is one of the sayings I have on the board in front of my desk. It reminds me that while we tend to share our complaints easily, we also tend to hoard our happinesses. Joy and happiness shared are joy and happiness doubled. What a good thought to carry with us as the holidays approach .