Feels good to be back!

Don't take that the wrong way - it doesn't necessarily feel great to be back to work (the first day back is always the hardest and today has been no exception!)....it feels great to be back to blogging!  I took me my entire lunch hour plus a few breaks from playing catch up to sit here and catch up on all my blog reading that I missed over the past 11 1/2 days!  Makes it sound like my parents live in the stone age for me to have not gotten on Blogger for so long but they really do have Internet in Busti, NY!  The issue is 2 fold....1 - with everything going on with the holidays and the crash that came once I was done crafting for the holidays there wasn't enough brain power for me to type and be witty, and 2 - thanks to how dad set up his last computer (telling Time Warner that he only has one computer....) I am now unable to connect to the Internet with anything more that "limited connectivity".  Yes I could call Time Warner and deal with all that comes with wasting half your morning on the phone with an Internet provider, but it just didn't seem worth it!  I would get on Dad's laptop if I really needed to look something up or print something out and did all emailing through my Droid....I also used the "Incredible" for any last minute random Google searches that needed to be done.....what did I ever do before I had the Internet at my finger tips either right there in my purse or sitting next to me on the counter?!?!

The holidays were wonderful (I'm very thankful to say "as always") and I was the closest to being ready for Christmas as I've ever been!  Seriously I was done with my last gift around midnight on Christmas Eve/Morning and when I was the first one up at 6 a.m. on Christmas morning I decided to make a last minute Santa gift for Jonathan and started crocheting a hat....Dad got a note that he would be getting one as well.  All I knew while I sat there waiting for the coffee to brew was that I didn't know what to do with my hands and I've crocheting so many years over breakfast and gifts at Grannie's late morning that I didn't think I could just "sit" there!  Cutting things off the to do last back around 12/18, wrapping before we drove home and driving through the night of the 22nd (vs waiting till the 23rd) certainly helped, but I already said to one person this morning, I'm starting in August this year!  Ok, the wedding is August 6th followed by a 2 week honeymoon so that's TOTALLY NOT going to happen (way to set yourself up for failure already Holly....) but you get the idea.  I think what would be best is that I keep making things and store them away now while the wedding planning is still in low to middle gear.  Only problem with that is that I'm on a bit of a fix of making things for myself.  Again, this is also 2 fold.  First of all I've made so much for so many people recently how could I possibly think of something else to make them right now?  Secondly, I haven't made something for myself in a very VERY long time and I think I most definitely deserve it!  I have my first pair of crocheted mittens over half way done and I started a crochet ribbed scarf last night....the scarf was frogged this morning and 5 dedicated minutes were put into getting back to where I was.  Hope to have pictures of both of these to share in the next few days.  The side note here is that in using a new pattern to make something for myself I will probably pick out a color to use the same pattern to make a gift for a friend or family member....

Oh and speaking of pictures, many were taken of all Christmas gifts that I made in 2010.  My plan when I get home for work tonight is to upload them all and create a slide show to share with all of you showcasing what kept me so busy since October and so stressed the final 2 weeks before heading home.

I also found this afternoon to be constructive as I was FINALLY able to fix the Blogger layout issues I've been having since November and my gadgets are back where they belong again.  I've also changed to a lovely "wedding themed" background....as you can see the picture on top is new as well, keep an eye out for some additional changes to that this evening as well - both these at home projects are assuming that I don't crash and pass out on the couch as soon as I walk through the front door!

Happy 2011 everyone - it's going to be a wonderful crafty year!