I'm here, and oddly enough, I really haven't been anywhere. Well, I've been to ThreadBear, and there are lots of folks who would envy me that. I get to play in fiber every day. I have a wonderful staff who make my work infinitely easier. I have a phenomenal clientele who—often against my own judgement—seem to think we're doing something right. I have a loving family, two stellar pupmeisters, and more and more, I'm able to look in the mirror and say, "dang, kiddo. You're doing all right."

Of course, it doesn't hurt that I've been spending a lot of time rejoining my life in progress. When we started this business, we were scrambling to make ends meet. We had no idea that we were stepping into this industry on such a tremendous upswing, and it certainly never occurred to us that the way we were doing business would be such a welcome change to customers. We did, though, and it was. Our continued growth as the upswing matures into a reasonable trend has been proof—to us, at least—that our methods, though certainly unorthodox, are getting us where we want to go. Hell, how many other yarn shops have Cesaria Evora playing one moment, Cake the next, then Faith Hill, Pet Shop Boys, Third Eye Blind, Diana Krall, and Alphaville? Where do you buy cashmere and hear grandmothers telling dirty jokes? I'm continually amazed at the wondrous and wonderful experience of my life. And it seems only to get better day by day.

Having grown up Baptist, my Christmas traditions are full and varied. Rob and I haven't had much of a real Christmas for the last few years, and I'm thinking that maybe next year, we'll actually have a tree, a wreath on the door, and maybe put out a few sparkly lights. This year, though, I'm quite happy to know that we're taking a day off, snuggling in, and calling it a day. Of course, he's also baking a ham, and since he's a truly incredible cook, I'm really looking forward to Christmas dinner.

In all fairness, though, I must admit to a little bit of decadence this year. We were meeting at the house with our Louet sales rep and our spinning buyer. We'd been planning on expanding our spinning area, and we'd finally sat down to purchase. We ordered some fiber and a couple of different spinning wheels, and I mentioned that I was really looking forward to getting in the Victoria, because I'd tried one out at Woven Art, our friend Nancy's shop in East Lansing, and fallen in love. The rep looked stricken. The current run was sold out, she told me. The new run wouldn't be out until March. Apparently, I looked stricken, too. When we tied up for the evening, Rob pulled me aside. "You want to run over to Nancy's and pick up that wheel?" he asked.

Well, DUH!

So, I'm now the proud owner of Victoria. Ain't she purty?!?

Oh, and that in the background? That would be a smidgen of the Interlacements Wool Top that came in today. What's not pictured? Oh, that will have to wait until I get back to work, ladies and gents. And that's why I'm tying up this post quickly. You ain't gonna believe what we have in stock, now.

BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!