Today marks the start of my week off from school. I will be spending it at home, so I am very excited. I cannot wait until Thanksgiving dinner--it is always so much fun. We all make potato buns (a secret family recipe), my mom makes homemade stuffing, and my dad makes homemade cranberry sauce (much much better than that canned stuff!).  We usually just do it at home with the six of us, but this year we may have some visitors--yay!

This weekend my family and I drove up to Baraboo, WI to visit my aunt. She owns a boutique called The Widow's Peek on the town square. We came to visit for the Holly Jolly Light Parade. Every year Baraboo does this parade,and it is quite fun. During the day there are carriage rides, carolers, Santa Claus, and shop specials. Each shop usually does some sort of promotion, and then they have Christmas goodies for the customers. Last year we did Butter Beer (from Harry Potter!), and cranberry cider. This year we just did normal apple cider. There were also cookies---yum! Once night falls there is a parade, mostly made up of floats that are covered in Christmas lights and decorations. I even brought my light-up contact ball for some road-side contact juggling. I wasn't able to get too many pictures since it was so dark, but there were a few good ones.

See the lights!

and the crowd:

While I was in the shop, I worked on Banff. I haven't been working too much on it lately. With all the school projects before break, I have not had much time. I am halfway done with the second sleeve, and I cheated and seamed everything up already (I just couldn't wait!). I worked on the sleeve a little yesterday in the gallery, and I got many compliments on my work (some by experienced knitters!) I don't know if I'll make much progress for the rest of the week though---there is a lot to do at home!

So close to completion...

I spent last night out with my cousin--it was so much fun. Our families were estranged for about 10 years, so we hadn't seen eachother since we were about 8 (she's only a year and a half older than me). We met back up in 2003, but the two of us are pretty different people and go our own ways. So, we finally hung out for the first time in forever last night. She lives on the square across from her mom's shop, so we didn't need to go far. We spent the night bar hopping around town, and she introduced me to a few new drinks. Overall, it was a great night. I hope we get to do it again.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully next time, I'll have a finished Banff and a new project on my needles. My mom and aunt suggested I make a sweater for my grandma as a Christmas gift this year. I think 5 weeks or so should be ample time, given my progess with Banff (provided I don't take a week-long hiatus again ^_^).

I'm in: St Charles

Feeling: jubilant

Listening to: Trans-Siberian Orchestra--Carol of the Bells