the holidays are here!

Sooooo. I'm sittin here in a green sweater, drinking hot cocoa with a splash of coffee out of a mug that says "given enough coffee, I could rule the world."

That's pleasant. :)

It's almost time for a hair update.

I'm doing lots of trades on Etsy for christmas presents. It's awesome fun. Except for I have like 5 trades going at once now and it's getting a litle confusing. I'm so excited about all the cool stuff I'm getting for people!

Yesterday I realized it had been almost a week since my last post. Today it has been a week! AH! Sorry. :(

So, there are some pretty cool things coming up in just the next 3 weeks. Ah, the busy rush of the holiday season! Here I shall list some of the events I'm looking forward to:

• wednesday my Katie will be home from college, and Caiti, Katie, and Katey shall all go out for coffee in the morning. <3


• thursday is Thanksgiving. HELLO! THANKSGIVING. It rocks. **hums Josh Groban's Thankful**


• I just found out my awesome S.S. class is going ice skating soon. I've been waiting for this!


• December 2, 3, and 4th will be a first for me. The drama teacher of a local high school contacted me and asked it I wanted to participate in the Christmas Marketplace at the Henry County Performing Arts Center! Everyone who participates donates something for a silent auction and sets up a table to sell their goods before and after the Christmas performance her class is doing. How cool is that?! Come see me. ;-)
• December 12th is the College and Career Christmas party. I'm in charge of decorating a table for that. It's going to be SO FUN!!

So, there's more but we'll stick with that. I just wanted to do a quick update.

By the way, nobody'd better call me out on saying "holidays." I hate it when people make a fuss about the word "holidays", fussing about Christ being taken out of Christmas. I'm opposed to avoiding the word Christmas, too, but "holidays" is totally legit. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years togevva! So... I just wanted to rant about that for a second. :) And while I'm at it, I'll throw in that I think "season's greetings" is lame. Maybe that's just me.

Anyways, spread some holiday cheer this week. I'm off to make some stuff!

bye!

Last Feast of the Crocodiles

Five small children huddle together on the bed, the older ones holding the small ones protectively close. Growling, the menacing figure ahead of them lunges, nearly capturing the smallest in his claws. The crying shrieks of the children fill the house as the oldest kicks the beast in the chest, knocking him back to the floor. The monster regains his position for another lunge as the children press themselves harder into the corner furthest away from his relentless attacks.

With a roaring leap, he flings himself onto the bed, ruthlessly grabbing at the smallest, dragging her off the bed. They land with a thud, and he begins to roll and thrash wildly in the floor. The small one flails and cries. The children on the bed wail in grief and horror as their charge is taken down by the glowering beast. Pushing the small ones into the corner, the older two jump to the edge of the bed, not daring to get off, making a desperate but futile attempt to save the youngest. The escalating screams of horror and agony drown the low growl of the beast, who is rearing back to take out another now that the youngest lies motionless.

Those escalating screams also drowned out the voice of an unhappy mother, wishing her children could find quieter ways of occupying themselves.

You have witnessed, my friends, something very few people know about. PBS was our channel of choice years back, and there was a program called Last Feast of the Crocodiles. (I googled a few keywords and learned that just now. lol) We must have watched it three times.

Filmed during a brutal drought in central Africa, this brilliantly photographed video from NatGeo follows the predicament of animals living along the dwindling Luvuvhu River. As the water level sinks during the dry season, baboons and impalas are forced to seek water in pools filled with deadly crocodiles. The behavior of increasingly desperate and thirsty animals is shown in all its brutal detail, and some scenes, such as a violent confrontation between crocodiles and baboons, are heartrending. And while some of the video is inevitably difficult to watch, the photography is always spectacular. This video is both brutal and beautiful, and puts the viewer as close as possible (and desirable) to some of Africa's most amazing wildlife.

From this breathtakingly brutal documentary sprung what was to be our favorite game during 2002-2003 - Crocodiles and Baboons. Emmie Grace was the baby, and Nicholas the ruthless crocodile. Laura, Abby, Joey, and I were usually the dehydrating baboons. Laura and I would desperately try to get some water for the weak little babies. No matter how valiantly we faught, one of us was usually taken down along with a baby. Of course we switched it up sometimes, but this way worked best for maximum fun and drama.

The funny thing is, there wasn't really a point. We were just playing pretend. And when you're pretending, anything can happen. Sometimes the baby baboons would come back to life and crawl back to safety while the crocodile was busy with bigger prey. If the point had been for the crocodile to get all of the baboons, it would have been boring. If the point had been for no baboons to get eaten, it would have been super boring. As it stood, we could play endlessly.

There were no winners, no losers.
Just a bunch of terrified, desperate baboons and cruel, bloodthirsty crocodiles.

Happy Saturday!

Hello!

Welcome to Saturday. The sun is shining, the coffee is fresh and delicious, and it's going to be a good day.

I have some pictures I want to share, so just bear with me while I be random and show you pictures that have nothing to do with each other. :D

I didn't mention that I had planned to make a matching hat for those nifty gloves, did I?

But I did. See?

A couple days ago I was sitting here at the computer, looking out the window, and the sky just went black with birds. It was crazy. A HUGE flock of birds was just... I can't think of a good verb ... I dunno. Swarming is a lame word. It was more like undulating. But that sounds weird. At any rate, this huge flock of birds was just flying about, and it was so awesome. I ran outside as fast as I could to take a picture. I was disappointed because I only got like 1/4 of them in the shot, but it still turned out pretty cool.

Yesterday was good. I crocheted some stuff, and took 4 packages to the post office. Then I came home and got ready to go paint our sunday school classroom with some friends. I decided to take the camera and found this picture on the memory card.

Oddly morbid, yes? I was rather surprised. They took pictures of themselves rolicking happily in a leaf pile, and all of a sudden there's this. My little people apparently have some sort of appreciation for darker art. Who'da thunk a playful romp in a leaf pile would result in this creepy little photo? Awesome. lol

So, then I went to church and spent a little over 5 hours helping some super great people with some painting. Cubbie Bear and his friends have been banished from the walls. We've got some classier colors going on now. (shout out to Allison on her super trimwork!)

So. It's a great day for a walk. And since I'm caught up on Etsy orders, I can crochet whatever I want today! I plan to have a lovely day, and I wish you the same!

Bye!

The Vicious Cycle

I feel guilty for not blogging, therefore I keep not blogging.

Sad, isn't it?

I did finish those gloves! After many hours of torment trying to get the roses even.I could use the excuse "I've been crocheting a LOT" for not blogging. Which is true, except that I've spent plenty of time at the computer, too.

At any rate, here are some of the things I've been working on.
(can I just say I'm super proud of this photo?)

Currently annoyed because I ran out of yarn to do the scallop trim on the elf slippers.

I'm also in the middle of a making-non-slip-slippers experiment utilizing "craft goop" on the bottoms of the slippers. We'll see. I had faith, but it is waning.

I made a super cool scarf I was going to show you, but my pics disappeared!

I think this rain is ushering in the more wintery weather. Goodbye, pretty colors. I'll miss you.

So... Yep!
I'm ready for Christmas music, but I know I'll be sick of it by mid December if I start listening to it now. Building anticipation, I guess. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Caitlin

P.S. Sales have picked up some! wOOt!