I survived...barely

Hi! I have been on holiday hiatus trying to be productive outside the blog-o-sphere. It's been a whirlwind of shopping, birthday parties, Christmas celebrations, New Years celebrations, and all around good fun.
It is really hard to post on a knitting blog when you're trying to ensure everyone has knitted goodness under the tree. So, I did not blog. Sorry, I'll be better next year, I promise.
I tried really hard to get my holiday shopping done early this year by early I mean not Christmas Eve and I did okay, except for one holiday gift that I just couldn't remember to pick up. I typically do most of the Christmas shopping by most I mean I do not have to shop for myself thank goodness because Jamie doesn't like people a whole lot and Christmas shopping is guarenteed large crowds - this year even though Jamie wanted to go with me, he worked lots of overtime up to Christmas and could not come along until Christmas Eve. I did however get to do a bunch of my holiday shopping with Erica and that was great fun since we do not spend time together as much as we used to.
It was during these shopping trips I realized there was no way in hell I was going to get my holiday socks completely knitted in time for Christmas. The weekends were booked and I was already running ragged trying to get sock knitting done in the evenings. I called my sister who I knew wouldn't mind and told her she would only have one sock under the Christmas tree. And my niece, Sam, also had only one sock under the Christmas tree. She did not receive the warning and thought I had totally lost my mind by leaving one sock out of the carefully wrapped package she opened Christmas morning. :)
We had a First Birthday party with Baby Luke - who received all kinds of fun toys. We wore birthday hats and had great fun watching the new experiences Luke had during a first birthday party. Good times.
I was given a batch of Amish Friendship Bread and just in time for New Years had a loaf to enjoy while we were out of town.
In all this craziness, we finally broke down and bought me a newer car. After lots and lots of looking like over a year, I had decided it was time to let my 2001 Ford Ranger (which has 235,000 miles on it, has never had any major parts replaced, and continues to run like a trooper) have a little rest. I have been driving this vehicle for ten years now and felt like I was cheating on the poor thing when I pulled into the driveway with my newer car! It has been the best vehicle one could ask for - never leaving me stranded except for the times I tried to drive 300 miles on a quarter tank of gas, but really that's my fault not the Ranger's but Jamie, being a mechanic, kept telling me I was pushing my luck, that when it decided to finally die it would be without warning and I would be stranded. Which anyone with a high mileage vehicle understands it's always sort of like gambling when your trusty transportation will become not-so-trusty. The Ranger will do some work at the house and occasionally transport me to work. It's been a damn good truck.
Christmas went off with out a hitch - the nerd coasters were well received. I was told I should write the pattern down and post it on ravelry. I'm throwing around the idea. The helmet liner was well received also. As were the single socks with the second promised at a later date. We had lots of laughter and fun.
We were invited/decided to spend New Years at Lake Brownwood with Kat, Heather, and Noah. We packed up the dogs and headed that way. I must admit, I knew we would be following my sister. Heather, who has been to Kat's family cabin multiple times, and did not bother to mapquest the directions to see just how far this place was. This is not a good idea if your other half likes to know just how far, how long, and what direction your final destination is. It also isn't very helpful if you have invited some other friends to join you and they need to know how far, how long, and what direction your final destination is. But everything worked out well, we played board games, ate good food, laughed - lots, and shot off some fireworks. It was relaxing and restful. Good times were had by all. Kat also received her socks since she told me I could hand deliver them and loved them! And she is a woman after my heart - she gave me yarn in return!
I went ahead and took yesterday off work because I figured I'd need some time to get things in order at home since we'd been doing all this running around before and during the holidays. And it's a good thing I did because all I did was sleep. Not very productive, but it was needed.
I also learned there is a new baby for the new year! Expecting mom #1 (or #2 from the blogs of baby blankets) is now a proud mommy with a little girl. I plan on visiting baby and mom after work today. Very excited for their family!

Well, that is everything in a nut shell. I will be posting finished socks as I work through them - so you guys can see what I was working on.
Happy New Year to you all!