Cookies and a new Teddy Bear

Even though I am on vacation, I have been occupied with various pressing matters over the past few days. I spent all of yesterday on the Internet researching my upcoming trip to Europe. I leave for Spain the day after Christmas, but first I have a day-long layover in Amsterdam, which I am very excited about. It is one of my favorite cities- I love the contrast of the quiet canals and beautiful traditional architecture with the modern, hip vibe of all the young people cruising around on their bikes. I managed to find a yarn store mention on the web- De Afstap, so I may pop in there to see what I can find on my jet-lagged ramblings. To the left here you can see my latest project-in-progress. I am making another Teddy Bear from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. This one is going to be for Julian, Juan's 6 year old son. I have been entrusted to make him (the bear) a tee shirt that looks like a Barça jersey. Right now I'm just working on getting the bear done before I see him next week- we may have to settle for a scarf in the Barça colors of red and blue.

Meridith and I spent the entire day out and about getting errands and last-minute shopping done. (Well, I was- she just came along- poor thing had no idea what she was in for). Living in the middle of nowhere, I don't get near commercial temptation all that often. I had intended to take a couple of hours and be home before the crowds descended on the mall and the surrounding area, but it turns out that we were gone for SIX hours! About five hours into the marathon mall trip, both us of realized that the only food/beverage product we had consumed since breakfast were a couple of pieces of peppermint bark handed out by a smiling lady in a Santa hat at Williams and Sonoma and a dixie cup of hot cider at the same local. Determined to finish up and go home, we pressed on for another hour, fueled by an almost-empty can of roasted peanuts in the backseat of my car, remnants from last week's road trip.

Upon getting home (and eating), I proceeded to bake two batches of cookies: molasses spice and chocolate peppermint. Tomorrow they will be sent to my cousin in Iraq- more of a New Year's gift than Christmas at this point. But this package has been in the making for a couple of weeks now, so I'll be glad to have it sent out and on its way. I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and not stressing too much. And for those last-minute gift knitters like myself- animo! They will get done in time. And if not, there's always birthdays :)