elainegrey

I'm trying not to sleep too late because the theory is that i'm adjusting to this time zone. There is some rebellion in that this is also a vacation. And oh, my groggy head.

I think i'm celebrating Christmas on Sunday (so i'm glad i half wrapped the gifts and brought them). My sister's family is traveling away for two weeks over Christmas to be with her spouse's family; my folks leave the 22nd for many weeks in Asia with my brother. So i get the sense there's a little Yuletide celebration coming up.

Yesterday was mostly spent relaxing. My sister came over with her little ones. I showed off my socks and her toddler immediately wanted to put them on. Her son and i started talking about socks and i am now making a pair for him out of some blue cotton yarn i'd bought for his baby blanket. He was rather excited at the idea of socks and has asked for many pairs and if i could make some in orange. There's something sweet about his enthusiasm. He's also fascinating in his people skills. My sister has been the one of us siblings with something resembling people skills, and i suspect she's using them well with her W. And W is pretty quick. So we'd been looking at photos from the past year on my laptop, and i think W was getting bored. He gently suggested, "Maybe you'd like to work on my socks some more."

My sister, when confronted with the changed password on the wifi, corralled my Dad into figuring out what is is. He went through what he thought was possible then he called ATT. Apparently, ATT now controls his equipment and they (helped him?) remove the password. When that proved to work, i overheard him discussing with the person in the Philippines why he'd want to secure it. "I live out in the sticks, let's just leave it off," he decided. So it's super easy to get on line, as long as the bandwidth is there.

I was delighted to Skype with Christine before sleep.

After my sister's clan left, my mother and i went to the mall. We went into Belks, a upscale yet not Nordstroms level department store, and she encouraged me to look for a Yule gift and maybe a birthday gift. I was shocked at prices and generally dissatisfied with most of the choices. (In general, my reactions were, "That's fun, but for that price, i want something that will be wearable for YEARS.") The few nice classic pieces we did see did not fit. We passed a J. Jill in the mall as we wandered out and there i found the nice black cardigan i liked and that fit well. I saw Mom filing away in her mind that this was [Elaine's] Store. We stopped in Talbots, where a sheer short sleeve floral blouse was outrageously dear and not that special. Then i dragged her into Sears because that's where i tend to shop. Here the sheer floral blouse was in a print that didn't have to have precision printing on the fabric, and the finish wasn't perfect, but it was machine washable, and had a matching top to wear under neath, and was in colors i like. The purple was balanced with grey, black, and tan -- meaning the shirt can be worn with grey black and even tan pants. Mom took on the valiant charge of bringing me grey slacks in different sizes and different cuts until we found a pair that wasn't a horrible fit. I think this is a mutual gift giving. I think Mom really liked seeing my choices and preferences and listened to what i wear for work (tank tops with cardigans, ruffly sheer blouses with no ironing, machine washing) because she now feels more empowered to make choices for me. And i'll be receiving a pair of pants that might fit on my birthday. (And i'll probably go to Sears when i get home to see about a pair in black and brown.)

The weather is brisk and lovely: we did not get out for a walk, though.

OK, i think i've written myself awake.