Happy Solstice!

It's the Winter Solstice, and that means it's time to bring out the special candles and light up the night. I've been puttering all day-- it's vacation!-- so I napped, worked on Dad's socks, and braved the crowds at Walmart (sigh) to finish up the last of the Christmas shopping. I am almost done-- just Dad's big thing, which I still have to think about. Luckily the things I have in mind for him are sold in stores which will be (mostly) open the next few days. Plus, if I need to, I don't absolutely have to get it by the 25th as we will be having our second Christmas later in the week with the rest of the relatives. 'Tis the season for procrastination!

I absolutely hate shopping at Walmart. I detest it. The crowds, the lack of open registers, the crappy merchandise they sell, the corporate nightmare, the brainwashing monopoly they hold on the availability of items (if they doesn't have it, you don't need it and your life will be just fine without it; conversely, if they do have it, you need to have it and you'd better get it)... and yet I shop there, as we all do, feeling sick to our stomachs at the dire prospects.
..........That having been said, I got "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" wrapping paper!! Woot!

So, sock update! I am on the toe of Dad's sock #2. They are so very gorgeous-- when I brought them to school to work on them, everyone was oohing and aaahing over the colors. They're manly but still fun (from a distance they look like a very dark reddish brown, but up close you can really see the greens and blues and golds), and the dark green toes just make them. The second sock will be done tonight, and then I can wash them! I don't have a blocker big enough for them, and I hate using coat hanger blockers, so I'll just put them on the small blockers to dry and then as Dad wears them they will eventually block themselves.

.....And for the zillionth time, I wish I had a camera so I could show you!!!