I’ve been playing with my new camera. I have another snow day, so I was outside practicing. This photography business is going to take some serious work. However, I did manage to get a few pictures of my front door (and I think they’re pretty decent).

The thing that makes a blog good is the writing, but it’s also a whole lot about the pictures. Bad pictures make a boring, tiresome blog. But good pictures and everyone gets excited to stop by and say hi. The writing around here is pretty straight forward. Nothing earth shattering, but generally pretty coherent and every once in awhile kind of funny. So, the key for me is the pictures. And I have to admit to being a whole lot lazy and dissatisfied with my photos. But dear readers, that is about to change. One of my goals for 2007 is to make a conscious effort to take better pictures. I need to find a good place to take pictures in the evening - a backdrop and lighting. I ordered a tripod in an attempt to take advantage of longer exposure times and use the flash less. But, I imagine it will be like anything - a process. But, I have one big advantage in my corner - a new camera.

It’s a teeny, tiny little Canon SD800IS and I love it. I’m still reading the book (there are 2 books and I’m through one and about half way through the second), but eventually I’ll have it figured out. I wish there was another ABC along for 2007 because I think I’d like to try to improve my skills with a lovely little “along” like that.

Travis bought be a lovely lightweight down jacket and this pretty bench for my entryway.

And my sister bought me a great new bag for my computer and a little bit of everything else a girl might need. This thing has a bunch of pockets and an ID number in case it ever gets lost. Isn’t that the greatest idea?

I got a lot of other great gifts, including a new house for my Christmas village. It turned out to be a merry Christmas, despite all the stress and anxiety beforehand. And more important than any gift was spending time with my family and talking to those I couldn’t be with.

I don’t know about you, but I’m really ready for 2007. I hope things work themselves out how they’re supposed to and that 2007 is a great year.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and you got to spend the holiday with those you love most. We had a lovely weekend with Travis’ family. The time was too short, as usual, but nice nonetheless. It was a very relaxing weekend, which is just what I needed. I spent some time shopping, some time knitting, and some time cooking. All my favorite things. Oh and let’s not forget the time spent eating - that was indeed a large portion of the time. How was your Christmas?

I started the baby Dale sweater over the weekend. I just have to tell you that it really helps if you read the chart the right way. Before you roll your eyes at my stupidity - it really wasn’t that obvious. The charts are labeled with letters - Chart A, B, C, etc. And the labels are on the sides so that the letter is right side up if you look at the chart horizontally. However, you’re supposed to read the chart vertically. Go figure. Anyway, despite the slow start and the chart-reading challenges, I made some nice progress.

I’m on the plain white stockinette portion of the sweater, so that should go quickly. I am going to try to dedicate most of my knitting time over the next couple of weeks to this project because I’d really like to try my best to get it done before the baby shower on the 13th of January. Just as an aside, I did get a bit of the second knee high done over the weekend - those times when mindless knitting was much more practical than anything that requires 5 balls of yarn. I turned the heel and have started on the never-ending leg. I imagine I’ll be done by 2008.

Travis plowed and blew snow for about 4 hours today. We haven’t gotten any more snow than we had last week, but I think the wind has blown every bit of snow in a 2 mile radius into our driveway. I’ll have to take some pictures of the snow mountains we now have - they’re quite impressive. Hopefully the wind will settle down a bit. Snowy, windy roads make the drive to work a real pain in the ass. Not that work itself isn’t a pain in the ass, but crappy roads make it oh so much worse. Sigh. 2007 and all it has to offer is just around the corner. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for something good. Tomorrow I’ll have a report on a couple of the goodies I got from Santa and the family - one of which should make this blog a little nicer place.

This is my Christmas village. My mom buys me another house every year and it’s one of the really great traditions we have. I love getting each one out and looking at the details and remembering when I got it.

Happy Holidays.

We are indeed going to have a white Christmas. And since so many of you aren’t going to have one, I thought I’d share mine.

Riley thinks the snow is pretty fabulous - he likes to plow through it and bury his head in the drifts. Weird dog.

Short legged dog included for scale. That’s after shoveling the snow off of the patio last night and this morning.

I’m home from work today, so I should theoretically get some knitting done. Who knows, I might even remember to take a picture or two for tomorrow.