reflections

#1) Hanukah is over as of dusk this evening. I'm a little relieved. We had a very fun and social holiday. It was great! That said, 4 evenings of dinner guests, 1 set of overnight guests and one invitation to dinner in 8 nights is a little much. I'm beat. I need to recover from my fun and relaxing holiday!

#2) While I'm still knitting (constantly, I'm telling you) like a fiend, I don't get to show any of it because these are still designs for book #2. I'm definitely missing posting about my knitting and can't wait until I can do some of that again.

#3) I had the time to think about all this while spinning on my great wheel for a few moments today. (when all works well, it is a very soothing and reflective experience) I took a break for a few days when it came to the great wheel; I was feeling frustrated with my progress in learning its quirks. (Totally normal, I'm always encouraging my students to have patience!) I stopped spinning the Shetland I'd been working with and returned to that easy to spin Cheviot. It just flies out of my hand and into yarn...so I guess I should take my own advice and spin what's easiest for now!

#4) I've been trying to read A Winnipeg paper occasionally in order to familiarize myself with my (hopefully) future home. Even though we won't know for 100% sure that we're moving until next May (the decision and funding is done through the Canadian gov't and takes a while) I decided I wanted to know more about where I'm moving. The combination of Canada/Prairie province seems so different than anywhere else that I've lived; I want to do some learning about it ahead of time. If you clicked on that link, you'll see it was to a specific article that talked about the governor general's statement, cautioning Canadians to be "realistic" about 2009. As explanation for this quote, the Governor General...? Her name is Michaelle Jean. The end of the article says this, and I was so inspired by it that I'm quoting it all:

"The governor general herself prevented the government's collapse by accepting a recommendation from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to prorogue Parliament until late January.
Jean also lamented the escalating number of deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, which surpassed the 100 mark in early December.
Those deaths, along with the looming recession and political upheaval, have shown how important it is for everyone to work together to make the country and the world a better place, she said.
"What these recent events bring to light is how important it is for us to work together - nations, governments, societies, businesses, organizations, individuals, side-by-side," she said.
"The fend-for-yourself mentality has no place in an interdependent world, where the decisions of some have a profound impact on the lives of others."

Whoa. This quote rang true for me...especially that last sentence, but such a good notion, to hope to make the world a better place. So true that I raced around the web, looking for an illustration to go with this comment. I found it here. Actually, it's hard to show an image of an interdependent world, where we all have to work together...but I love imagining it. Wouldn't that be a wonderful hope for 2009?!