Yarn and other stuff

So, today is DH's birthday. #38, which may explain why he's been a bit down this week. El Burrito and I trekked to the mall for birthday cards today, and we're taking him out for dinner tonight. Then he gets his gift - the almost-complete set of Farscape on DVD.

It's "almost complete" because I'm still hunting down the Starburst 1.2 set, since any Season 1 DVD - box set, Starburst, or individual disc - is scarcer than hen's teeth right now. I got seasons 2, 3, and 4 for $120, and will spend that much or a bit more on season 1 by the time I get it all. If only I'd started buying these last year, before ADV Films lost the DVD rights to the first season and was selling the sets cheap. Sony has the rights now, and they're doing nothing with them, the nits. They're apparently getting the rights to seasons 2-4 at the end of the year, and will hopefully do something about releasing them then.

Of course, by then I'll hopefully have that last elusive set, so I won't care personally, but I'm hoping that everyone else will be able to find sets easily. Because the Season 1 box set is going for astronomical prices online, and I know what it's like to be a fan of a show and lust after something unaffordable. I drooled for years over the Babylon 5 DVDs; they were running about $80 a set when they were first released, and that was on sale. No way could I afford those, as a grad student and underpaid librarian. I got lucky this year and actually read the Best Buy ad when they had the sets for $19.99 each. I didn't quite do a happy dance in the living room, but it was close. :)

***

Still working on El Burrito's hat. I tried it on him last night and it was too big, so I had to rip out everything back to the last row of increases, plus another two rows before that. Hopefully I'll have it the right size this time. I pay attention, but somehow I think I manage to add a stitch every row even when I don't mean to. I think it's somewhere in that "slip-stitch and chain one to get to the next row" area.

After that, I'm going to take a shot at one of those door-snake things to block the drafts. I've got a sock arrangement right now, but I need something that can withstand being toted around by El Burrito.

***

Then there's the whole issue of Thanksgiving this week. Lots of lovely travel, deciding if there's anything worth going after in the sales Friday, eating, and our lovely weather. It's in the 60's today, but the high on Thursday is going to be in the 30's. Joy. Plus my mother-in-law needs Christmas lists, and I don't have a clue what to ask for. Right now, the only thing I can come up with that's feasible is dish towels. I'd like a Tivo, a new house, and a jade plant that won't die, among other things, but those won't really work.

Having both sides of the family nearby is good most of the time, really. But geez, for the month around Thanksgiving and Christmas, it can suck. Both sides expect us to show up, since we're relatively close (30 minutes to the in-laws, 2 hours from my parents). If we were further away (say, oh, Michigan with my sister), they wouldn't expect us to try and see both families this week. Thanksgiving isn't bad, we'll probably have dinner at DH's folks Thursday and then spend most of the weekend with mine (causing issues with NaBloPoMo, being Internet-less down there).

Christmas, though, is a royal pain. DH's family is Catholic and does Midnight Mass, then opens gifts after Midnight Mass (except for the kiddies, who open earlier). This means that in the past, we've been there and awake until 4 a.m. or so - and that's when the priest had some sense and held Midnight Mass at 10:30 p.m. (How are you supposed to combine Midnight Mass with kids who have an earlier-than-midnight bedtime, without getting tired tantrums the next day????) Then we drive home, sleep for a few hours, and head down to my parents' place. And, of course, last year they opened everything before we got there, which really sucked all the fun out of it for me. This year, I'm begging my family to wait until we get there for the whole gift orgy, and if possible we're leaving the in-laws immediately after Mass.

I swear, when we get a house, we're doing at least one holiday at our house, plus El Burrito's birthday. Someone can come visit me for a change, because I'm sick and tired of spending Christmas on the road.