Because I can not resist any contest, and the Joneses are giving away a $20 gift certificate to the restaurant of your choice if you win this, I am posting my finds in the bloggityville scavenger hunt. $20! This is the big time! That's a date night for us here at Arabian Knits, and we would do a lot for a date night. So, anyway, I think I should get some credit for creativity in my selections. We'll see what Darren and Sara think.

Since I am also a copycat, I will likely host a scavenger hunt of my own sometime this year, once I come up with a good prize for it. Watch this space for details.

• A Shoe - Antique Mommy
  
  Last week when Sean and I went grocery shopping, he was very insistent that he wear his dress shoes. With his sweatpants. I tried to tell him there was no reason to get all fancied up, that we were just going to Wal-Mart and he might not want to go to the trouble. But he was insistent saying, "I need to be fancy." And well, I can understand that. Sometimes one needs to be fancy, even if it is just at Wal-Mart.
  
  The extra effort was not lost on the greeter.
  
  



• A Tooth - Arabian Knits
  
  I forgot to mention that two weeks ago, Alexander finally lost that tooth. On the 18th of November, my baby lost his first baby tooth. It seems like an era has just ended. Here is his toothless grin:
  
  



• An Odd Name - Steph's Knitting Bag These are the names she calls her kids online
  
  Here is Cheese Monkey and his copy cat! LOL! Everything Cheese Monkey does, Princess Pruny Toes has to do!
  
  And here is Little Miss! She was just tuckered out!



• A Car - Crazy Aunt Purl Warning, some pg-13 language
  
  I love my neighborhood, I truly do. Even though there's a burned-out crackhouse a few doors away and I live so far out in the Valley you lose coolness points with every mile up the 101, and even though it's a sweltering inferno all summer long ... I love it.
  
  But. The people? The ones across the street? Who cannot remember EACH AND EVERY DAY that they have set the alarm on their car? Those people? The ones who set it off each and every weekend morning?
  
  Yeah. They can move now. Anytime! Really. Bye, ya'll! Nice knowing you. Now GO, please?



• A Frightful Dilemma - Living in Grace A woman waiting for a kidney transplant in the face of another surgery
  
  Since we started talking about this late Monday, I have tried to accept the deal. I have had long conversations with John and God, and myself at various times. And still. in the pit of my stomach I could not accept that this was the way to go.
  
  On the way to the hospital today, I had a full-blown panic attack and just knew, knew, that this was not what was supposed to happen.
  
  In.My.Gut.
  
  I told John I couldn't do it. Well, actually my exact statement was "I'm not going to do it. I'm not."
  
  Thus, as he was driving me to the pre-op appointment with the surgeon, I started making several calls to both my doctor (who was on rounds and had to be paged) as well as my PD nurse.
  
  Options, There HAD to be options.
  
  And there is one.



• A Discussion of Childbirth - Life and Me
  
  Israel hates home birth and the paperwork, etc. is a major hassle. But it was great for many reasons, the top ones being 1) I would have had to have a C-section otherwise, as the twins were breach, 2) I did not have to worry about being seperated from S. for several days, something we have never experienced, and 3) The truth is having babies in the hospital either here or the States is kind of worrisome as it seems that so much more can go wrong. I know that sounds nuts, but when you have home birth, the doctor(s) let the mother call the shots more, within reason, and things happen at a more natural and relaxed pace. Plus there is no worry that the doctor will take the child away and do something against parental wishes, vaccinations or bottle feeding when the mother would rather nurse, or not being allowed to sleep with the child in the room, etc.



• A Theological Discussion - Mere Comments Look especially in the comments for debate, as well.
  
  Ruminating on Touchstone’s difficulty in appealing to certain kinds of Evangelical, a long-time friend of the magazine reminded the editors about a group that is dissatisfied with where Evangelicalism is going, but nervous about anything smacking too much of Catholicism. We agreed, I think, that the cure for this is in simply reading the magazine, not because we tend to avoid publishing much on disputed subjects (we have never viewed reconciliation on these matters, at least by direct argumentation, as part of our mission), but because the fundamental question troubling these traditional Evangelicals—whether Catholics, especially perhaps the unapologetically Catholic Catholics such as write for Touchstone, can be heard as Christians—will very likely be answered in the reading. I expect there to come a point at which this kind of reader either abandons us, deciding there is some subtle deceit at work here, or remains, feeling it absurd for him to question the Christianity of at least “this kind of Catholic.”



• A Funny Line, Joke, or Short Post - Arabian Knits
  
  Oh, before I forget, I told an Epiphany joke at the Epiphany service last Thursday:
  We know the Magi were women, because they remembered a birthday, asked directions and brought gifts.
  
  Fr. Jonathan countered that they couldn't have been women because if they had, they would have been on time, helped with the delivery and brought food.



• A Train - Antique Mommy
  
  Back in September, on the first day of school, Sean bounced right into the classroom and started playing with the train set. He didn’t look back or take notice when I left the room, so I left feeling smugly satisfied with how well it went. I flashed “poor you” glances at the mothers whom I passed in the hall on my way out, sobbing mothers pulling unwilling children down the hall like stubborn mules, mother’s whose children aren’t as secure and well adjusted as mine. Tsk.
  
  And that was the last time I took Sean to school without incident.



• A Hairbrush - Crazy Aunt Purl
  
  And so concludes my Hairstory. That inpenetrable mountain of hair fabulosity was to this day the hardest and also most rewarding thing about high school. On a good day I was closer to heaven... on a bad day (read: rain) I would literally cry in anguish. I carried a butane curling iron with me everywhere I went. I had travel-size cans of hairspray in every strength lining the shelves of my locker, my vanity at home and the glove compartment of my car. I carried a pick, a teasing comb and a brush. I was perhaps more committed to that hair than any other thing either before or since.



• An Appeal for Money - Boo Mama
  
  Next Tuesday, January 16th, I’m going to have a button on my blog that will link you to an Amazon Pay Page that I set up yesterday. What I’m going to ask - and I know that this is pretty bold of me, but I’ve never been much of a wallflower, anyway, so why start now - is that the people who visit my blog that day consider making a donation to Kelli and her family. I’m not talking big bucks here - just $1.50. And if you don’t feel led to contribute financially, that is perfectly fine - I think it would mean just as much to Kelli if you simply said a prayer for her. But if you do decide to make a contribution, you can make a secure payment using your debit card or credit card through Amazon’s website. The beauty of this set-up is that neither Kelli nor I will have any idea who donates - the whole shindig will be totally anonymous (and you can donate more than $1.50, by the way - that’s just the minimum amount that I set).
  
  Kelli quit work several months ago because, honestly, work was no longer viable with her condition. Her family has their health insurance through her former employer, and that will run out at the end of this month. What I’d love for us to be able to do for her is to cover a portion of her COBRA payments so that she can be free from the worry of being cut off by her private insurance. We all know that sometimes when it rains, it pours - and on top of the COBRA pressure, Kelli’s facing some incredibly expensive post-transplant medicines, the adjustment to being a single-income family, and, more than anything, the realization that if COBRA doesn’t come through - and if she and her husband can’t show the ability to pay for part of the transplant on their own - she’ll no longer be a transplant candidate. Without a transplant, quite frankly, she will die.
  
  Kelli didn’t ask me to spearhead this thing - she knew absolutely nothing about it until I emailed her with my idea and asked her permission. But since I feel led to do something - and since I have the tens of you to tell about it - I think we can really do something special to minister to Kelli and her family.



• A Hobby - Yarn Harlot
  
  Dear Muggle Non-knitter who loves a knitter,
  
  I know that shopping for a knitter can be hard if you are not a knitter. I understand. You have two shopping days left (assuming the gift occasion is Christmas.) and your knitter will have a birthday as well. I'd like to help you. Please know that even though I have written this and your knitter has printed it out (perhaps multiple copies) - that we are not judging the gifts from previous years. The small appliances and countless bathrobes have been wonderful. We're all just ready to move on.
  
  First, take a really good look around your house. Even though you may not be very interested in the wool arts yourself, try and recall the times you have seen your knitter with wool.
  
  1. Did you see one of these?
  
  This is a ball winder. They can be procured from all reputable yarn stores and if your knitter doesn't have one...they would like to.
  
  2. How about one of these umbrella type action things clamped to a table? Perhaps in the dining room?
  
  This is a swift. There are metal ones and wooden ones. Swifts hold skeins of yarn so that your knitter can wind it into a ball. Your knitter would like to have one, and more than that? You want your knitter to have one. Swifts replace the family member who has to hold the skein for them. (That might be you. If you buy this, then you can go back to whatever your hobbies might be.)
  
  3. Your knitter wants this.
  
  Yarn. Buy yarn. I hear muggles say it all the time "But she has so much yarn. I'll get her something else." Hear me now. Your knitter has a lot of yarn because she LIKES yarn. Yarn is always a good choice. Go to a yarn shop, not a regular store and tell the nice people there that your knitter has lots of yarn, and that you would like to get some good yarn. They will help you. Yarn stores are just like other stores, and you don't have to be afraid to go into them.
  
  Further to that, if you go to the yarn store that your knitter goes to, then they will know him or her and probably be able to point you in the direction of whatever they almost bought last week. (Along with what they already bought.) If you still feel freaked out about the yarn store....two words. Gift Certificate. Yarn stores have them.



• Green - Bean Sprouts
  
  

Labels: Contests, Scavenger Hunt