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Holy Cats, it's Week 50! I'm struggling to keep up with everything and I fear jebra is in over his head. Last week he had FCB and TubaChristmas. In a normal year we would have left for Ionia after the Howell TubaChristmas, but seeing as the big Holiday concert was the following day, we just returned home and got ready for that. Which was good because I went walking while he was at TubaChristmas rehearsal and I wore myself out to the point where I was having trouble lifting my legs into the van when it was time to go home. I don't think the 1.5 miles I walked was exactly the cause, I think it was because I was walking alone and I had to spend extra energy keeping my balance.

The Holiday Concert was good enough that the band got a standing ovation after the last official piece (there was an encore). That last piece was something, Christmas and Sousa Forever, which made me think of two opposing bands warring with Christmas tunes on one side and Sousa marches on the other, and them deciding to join forces as the end.

Christmas crafting is keeping me busy as one of the nurses requested one of my cat beds for one of her friends when I got my shot last Thursday. I bought yarn for it on Monday night (no usual FCB rehearsal and they're taking the rest of the year off) and didn't have time to do anything with the yarn until today. Although I did ball it up while I was biking when I got home on Monday. Turns out I can bike and ball yarn at the same time.

Yesterday the Knitting Guild did their brown bag exchange (in the usual Chinese Auction method, in which when it was a person's turn they get to pick between choosing one of the bags on the table or stealing a previously chosen gift. My contribution seemed to go over well, although it resulted in no steals. I ended up with a cone of cotton yarn (dish-cloth type) and the crochet hook version of a Swiss Army knife. I was a little disappointed as some people don't quite get the concept of "yarn store quality yarn," but I also think that person who contributed it is not one of our wealthiest members, so better me than someone who would make a fuss at the meeting. And I can certainly use some new dish cloths. I read somewhere that a dish cloth is supposed to last for approximately five years and some of mine are double that. And coming apart at the edges.

Before I go I want to comment on the photographer's statue on today's scrapbook page. It wasn't there last year but I have no idea when it was installed. The photographer isn't someone I had heard of, but he was interested in the history of Howell and did a lot of work to preserve it. But what attracted me was the camera he's holding. My dad (a professional photographer himself) had one like it and it made me think of him. I also liked the stack of books, many of which had titles and authors I recognized, although today the only one I can name is Carl Sagan. I used to love books and reading, but for years all I've had time to do is knit and crochet. Especially now that I have to set two hours a day aside to exercise, there is just no time to read. I can't read and bike at the same time and by the time I've finished exercising and taking my shower and getting my night cloths on I'm too exhausted to try to concentrate on reading a book.

Two of jebra's cousins came out for TubaChristmas concert with their wives. It was lovely seeing them (and a surprise as one of the couples lives a good two hours north of Howell). As usual, I didn't think to take any photos while we were together. *sigh*

Which reminds me, I didn't take any photos of or after the Holiday Concert, but we went out to eat with jennlk, johnridley, mbumby and traveller42. The company was welcome and the stories entertaining, but I'd pretty much lost my sense of humor when it was time to go home and we discovered that jebra had locked his car key inside the van. Mine, meanwhile, was in my knitting bag which was in the back of the van. We were rescued by traveller42 and mbumby who drove us home where I fetched the spare from our dresser drawer and who then drove jebra back to fetch the van. A huge shout-out and thank you to them.

Scrapbook papers & elements from the kit Bohemian Breeze
For more information about the designers and their work, see
http://mrs-sweetpeach.dreamwidth.org/903338.html".



This entry was originally posted at https://mrs-sweetpeach.dreamwidth.org/989082.html.