My Holiday Doodle cowl is almost done! It’s so wide and thick, I’ve decided one loop is enough. Just a few more segments to knit!

For Thanksgiving, Bob and I and my two oldest kids spent the weekend in Pittsburgh seeing all the zombie sites: Evans City Cemetery, Monroeville Mall, and the Living Dead Museum. We also rode the Duquesne Incline, went thrifting, and went shopping at McWalker Yarns! I thought it was funny the yarn shop had “walker” in the name. I got to experience a Bavarian Christkindlemart complete with wooden stalls. We ended the trip with a fabulous dinner at Apteka — an Eastern European vegan restaurant. Their borscht is amazing!

I’m already listening to holiday music and watching Christmas movies and shows. Here’s my watch list so far:

• Gilmore Girls holiday episodes
• Great British Baking Show holiday episodes
• Great American Baking Show holiday edition
• A Christmas Story Christmas movie (a worthy follow up to the original)

It’s almost Krampusnacht! You know what that means, right? A viewing of Rare Exports, my favorite Christmas movie ever –possibly my favorite movie ever — and our “drinking” game where we eat gingerbread cookies every time a character takes a bite of gingerbread. This year I get to use my Krampus cookie cutters that Freya gave me for Christmas last year.

In other news, I ran the numbers on my little business, and I lost money this year. I promised myself if I had a loss at the end of the year, I would close up shop. So I did. I’m sad, but I tried, and I did my best.