I hope you had a wonderful holiday and all that.

Some pictures from my tree to hold you over until I recover from all that holiday travel:



(OK. Not just from the tree. These were from my friend the first Christmas she was married.)


This *is* from the tree. Some more below:





(I'm not really sure what Superman is rescuing the garlic from.)

And some pictures of the lake from a couple of weeks ago:





In another few weeks, I'll have pictures of people ice fishing. In the city.

Oh, and my Thanksgiving turkey, which I never got around to posting:


(Please ignore the wrinkled tablecloth.)

A sign that I am working at the right place.

I am *scrambling* to get everything finished today before I leave for Christmas, especially since I will not be back in the office until next year. One of my bosses was going to lunch and saw how busy I am and *brought me back a sandwich* because he knew that I would not have time to eat otherwise.

**Edited to Add**

And a brownie.

The answer is not 42.

The question is: how many women in a family are too many? The answer is: 5. Too many women. I am not sure which I would give back, though. Still, too many women. Too many crossed signals, too many opinions, too many women. To be fair, if some of them were men, I am not sure that would make it better.

That is all.

In which I encourage charitable giving

There are many ways to knit for charity, and I really can't do enough to encourage them all. Hats, scarves and blankets and shawls for those who are freezing or lost or in need of comfort are always something that will make a small difference in someone else's life. There is another way for knitters in particular to make a difference, though. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (a/k/a the Yarn Harlot) organizes Knitters without Borders, a way in which knitters get together to support Doctors without Borders. She has put out a new challenge to the knitters who read her blog.

If you don't knit, you can still give to Doctors without Borders.

(My other favorite charity is the Heifer Project, in case you were wondering.)

An Open Letter to a Certain Elderly Relative

People have lived in the Upper Midwest and dealt with extremely cold weather for years without freezing to death. It is, in fact, possible to warm one's house to a livable temperature even when it is below zero degrees fahrenheit outside. Really. Truly. I realize that you feel that you have a hard time warming your house when it is below forty degrees out, but it is, in fact, possible. Yes, it is very cold. All winter. In the north. No, we do not get lake effect snows, since Minneapolis is hundreds of miles from any of the great lakes. I do not live anywhere near Buffalo or Chicago, so even if those two cities have gotten tons of snow, I may not have gotten any. Every time you talk to me in the winter, it will be colder where I live than where you live. Really. With all due respect, can we get back to discussing the details of your current medication regimen?

Not to pull your attention away from the tits or anything . . .

. . . but I must have one of these.

It's not what you think.

Hee. "Great tits"

Because sometimes I am a twelve-year-old boy.

For your time-wasting pleasure

I haven't updated in a while, and I do have a few blog posts running around in my head. However, I don't have time to actually write them up right now, so here is something brief to keep you entertained.