Tuesday morning random

* There will be some time-embargoed posts while I am gone. Mostly Christmas music or things like that.

* Because yup, this afternoon my break starts. I need it. I feel happy and excited about it again, and just a few days ago I wasn't, and was maybe beginning to wonder if I was a little bit broken, because I wasn't even looking forward to BREAK. I think I was just overtired. And wasn't sleeping well. I don't know why.

* But I figured I was getting better when I felt the sheer goofy delight over my Ponies coming yesterday. (I now have them on top of a bookshelf in my bedroom but yeah, in January I am going to get some kind of small wall shelf and put it up there, and keep them on it.) I don't THINK I will get any more vintage Ponies, though it is nice to have these two. (Then again: I reserve the right to buy another some time if I see one I really want somewhere, or if I see one that needs a little TLC and is a good price, and I decide I want to try washing and re-setting the hair. Some people have a whole cottage industry of doing restorations or turning damaged ponies into "OCs" - some have even learned how to re-root the hair and tails.)

* Lots of yarn is coming with me. I'm still wavering on taking the Hagrid sweater and may remove it from my carry on if it seems to make it too heavy. But I have several pairs of socks (including a bright, apple-green pair I started but never finished) and a pair of fingerless mitts, and the Scottish Thistle Stole, and the little Alan Dart Ice Bear Christmas Bear kit....And yarn for a teddy bear pattern by the person who wrote the Joris pattern, it's another one of those "knit it all in one piece even though that's more complicated than doing sewing up at the end" and I admit that's a challenge I kind of enjoy.

I also have the skein of part-bison yarn I bought at this year's BPAFF and a sock pattern with a basketweave stitch, which is what I envisioned for that yarn. And some brilliant-magenta yarn that sort of came unskeined so I had to wind it off, and I may use a lace pattern from the same book for that one. 

* I also need space in my carry on for my version of an emotional comfort animal (this is apparently becoming a thing, people saying they need to take their pets on flights and stuff for their own emotional well being). I would never want to subject a pet to traveling because I know how stressful it can be for an animal (we used to occasionally take our old cat Sam along when we drove the 14 hours to my grandmother's - he did okay and was pretty happy while there, but he didn't like the start of the ride, or if it got hot in the car (we didn't have air conditioning in that car)). So I take a stuffed Pony or two with me....and yeah, I do feel happier having them. It seems dumb and crazy but there you are. And I've decided I'm a little done with not doing small things like that that make me happy, just because someone somewhere might think it odd....there are a lot of people who do things way stranger than what I do.

* And....womp womp.....Acorn has now sent out my missing order. The one I thought they had cancelled. So now there is an almost identical sweat-shirt and t-shirt (from an Amazon seller) on their way to my mom. (My mom is small and thin, so I can't just take the t-shirt and wear it, it won't fit me.) I suppose I can send the t-shirt back. But, yeah, way to communicate well, Acorn - the "notification" of the cancelled order seemed to have BOTH order numbers on it, suggesting both orders were cancelled.

Oh well. I think in the future I will mail order Christmas gifts MUCH earlier if I am using small retailers, it seems like they can get incredibly overwhelmed.

*I still have to remember to put my houseplants on the automatic waterers, and shut down some of the things I worry about while gone (I turn the electric range off from the breaker - probably overkill, but I do worry about anything that could heat having a problem. I also leave my toaster unplugged when I am not using it....old house, old-ish wiring)