Well, diets of all kinds have been broken during this holiday season. And you know what? I don’t regret any of it. The Lindt candy, the piles of sugary, buttery side dishes, the enormous slices chocolate cream pie, the wads of cash lost at Foxwoods in a Christmas gambling frenzy, and the yarn oh the sweet, sweet yarn. Who knew that lil’ Jesus being born would be a great excuse for going hog wild and splurging with reckless abandon? His folks really should have gotten into the spirit by springing for a nicer hotel and worried about the bills later. There’s always room at the inn if you’ve got a little something extra for the front desk, know what I mean?

I hope a good holiday was had by all. Ours was pretty darned fantastic. Friday night, I made a gorgeous drunken rib eye roast rare (I soaked it in red wine for a few hours and it was great). Sides included honeyed peas with walnuts, butternut squash sozzled in butter and brown sugar, mashed potatoes whipped with butter and cream, green bean casseroled with fried onions, Pillsbury out-of-the-tube biscuits and crescent rolls, and fresh cranberry-orange relish with enough sugar in it to qualify as cranberry-orange candy. I think there was a salad, too. Poor, neglected salad.

Saturday, we headed to Foxwoods and hit the slot machines pretty hard. Unfortunately, they hit back. Jon was doing fairly well (meaning the hole he was digging was a bit more shallow than mine), but then I took some of his money and gave it back to the nice machine. When we got there, my parents went their way, and we kids went ours. When it was time for dinner, we met them by the giant fake ice sculpture of the Native American guy squatting precariously in a loin cloth. The buffet was too crowded, so we opted for a meal in one of the many restaurants. It was good, I had fresh linguine with clams in a white wine sauce.

My dad drove his giant old man car because the five of us fit more comfortably in there. He and my mom were in front while Jon, Charlene and I sat in back. Somehow I got stuck on the hump in the middle both ways. It was very odd sitting back there. I rarely ever sit in a back seat of a car any more. Even though the three of us are home-owning, career-having, fully-grown adults in our mid-thirties, sitting back there on a long car trip with Christmas carols playing made me feel like a little kid. I actually felt like I was being cared for, had no responsibilities and no say in how the day went. I guess at that point it was true. It felt good and strange at the same time. The helplessness of childhood is both liberating and suffocating. Of course, we didn’t help our position on the way home by giggling furiously back there. We were all tired and getting punchy. My dad couldn’t find the highway and had just about had it with us. You would think that being home-owning, career-having, fully-grown adults in our mid-thirties, we would be sensitive to his dilemma, having been there ourselves many a time. But no, we kept giggling (I’m telling you, it’s a nervous reaction. When people are upset, it makes me nervous and I start laughing). My father was always very patient with us and rarely loses his temper, but he hates getting lost and it totally unnerves him.

I did make it up to him by sharing the lovely apples and pears that came in the Harry and David Tower of Treats my boss (er, my boss’s wife, actually) sent me. Yummmm! I have forbidden Jon to eat the chocolates or baklava when I’m not around. He has been warned.

And now, for the unveiling of my new diet-busting yarn purchase. It’s from Danette Taylor, who does exceptional things with color. As much as I complain about variegated (why can’t I spell that the first time around yet?) yarn, hers colorways make me forget all about it. The Tropical Shawl I’m making is from her yarn and I love the way it’s coming out.

Please note that I haven’t received this yarn yet, so I will be gushing about it further when it arrives. The photos are the ones Danette provided on eBay.

May I present, for your viewing pleasure:

Loopy Mohair in colorway “Wacky” (I just got one skein enough for a scarf to liven up the winter doldrums)

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Superwash Merino in colorway “Cirque” (this will become a baby something-or-other for a coworker with a bun in the oven. 700 yds should be good for a baby blanket, right?)

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Fingering Weight Alpaca in colorway “Azaleas” (could you just faint from how pretty this is?)

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~sigh~ It’s just so beautiful. *wipes single tear from eye*

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