The obligatory post

When I told Brian the news, he said, "I hope there will be a post about this." And I told him there would be one. So here it is.

I've been sewing a lot this week. I plan on showing you some of the stuff (oh, it's cute!), but not until after Christmas. I'm not saying that anyone who reads this blog is getting anything handmade for Christmas. I'm not saying that at all. But this is all beside the point.

The point is I've been sewing. And perhaps I've tried sewing a bit more than my machine could handle. At one point, I tried sewing through a stack of about 4 pieces of fabric and 4 pieces of interfacing. The needle got stuck in a weird bendy position and it took a little work to get it out. But I checked the needle and it didn't appear bent and everything seemed to still work fine. So I pressed on.

Well, over the next day or two I noticed the fabric wasn't feeding properly. And it was pulling a bit to the right. And sometimes there was a popping noise. And, well, I didn't want to admit it, but I started thinking maybe I shouldn't have bought a sewing machine at a grocery store.

Last night I told Brian that I was having some trouble with the machine. He didn't say anything. I asked if he wanted to say something about it. He declined.

Today I packed up the sewing machine and returned it to the store. I was a bit nervous because I was afraid I would have to explain the problem in German. But the whole experience was very anti-climatic. After waiting in line for a few minutes, I had my cash and walked out of the store.

I'm hoping to buy a new machine tomorrow. I have projects to finish.

I couldn't resist

You've probably already seen the "Elf Yourself" videos floating around, but I thought this one was more fitting for Brian.

You'd better watch out

Remember how your parents used to scare you into good behavior by threatening to have Santa add you to his "naughty" list. Well, they do the same thing here in Austria. Only it's not a naughty list the parents are threatening.

On December 6th, you're likely to find two characters making their way around town -- Nikolo and Krampus. Nikolo is St. Nicholas. He gives gifts of candy and fruit to all of the good children. But if you've been a bad kid, you might get a visit from Krampus. Here's how one of my friends described Krampus:

Krampus is like the devil. He has black fur, hooves and a long tail. He is very ugly. The bad kids will be beaten by Krampus, who has a switch.

So much for the lump of coal in your stocking. If you're bad around here, you're facing a beating with a switch! And these aren't just empty words. There are some pretty scary looking signs and costumes. I'm hoping to see a Krampus or two tomorrow or Thursday. (Traditionally, Krampus makes his rounds on the 5th and Nikolo makes his on the 6th, but I've heard that they travel together often these days.) Until then, I'll leave you with some frightening pictures from Flickr.


1. Nikolaus und der Krampus, 2. krampus, 3. Perchten Schwadorf 2, 4. Krampus 06' (25)

I had to repost this because the photos weren't showing up. Sorry for the double-post to those of you using a reader.

Wish list -- Christmas edition

Updated -- 1/9.
Thank you for all of the lovely Christmas gifts. I'm rarely very good at coming up with gift ideas for myself. I'm going to try to keep the original Wish List post up-to-date in the event that someone wants to buy me something. Not that I want someone to buy me something. And not that I need someone to buy me something. But I know that this is what people do.

This year, I started a new tradition of making holiday gifts instead of buying them. I'm plan to continue this tradition (that's why I'm calling it a tradition) and am really excited about the ideas I have for next Christmas. I'm telling you this just to say that I also appreciate handmade gifts.

This is a very awkward update. I'm not asking that you send me something, but if you are here looking for ideas, check out the original wish list. Or make something you think I will like. If you think I'll like it, chances are I will. :)

Updated -- 12/4.

I've been asked to update my wish list. Honestly, it wasn't my idea. When I told Brian that someone requested an update to the wish list, he asked, "Was it my mother or your mother?" It doesn't matter. A request was made, and shall be fulfilled.

So, here it is. Some of this was lifted from the original wish list, but some of it is new.

Books
Jesus and the Victory of God, by N. T. Wright

Genesis: Interpretation : A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, by Walter Brueggemann

24/7 Prayer Manual: A Guide To Creating and Sustaining Holy Space in the Real World, by Peter Greig and David Blackwell

Amy Butler's In Stitches, by Amy Butler

DVDs
Seinfeld DVD, Volume 1 (Seasons 1 & 2) and Volume 2 (Season 3), Volume 8 (Season 9)

Scrubs DVD, Season 1, 2, 3 and 6

Any of the Nooma videos (You can buy these at Christian bookstores or online at http://www.nooma.com/)

Food Items and other stuff
Reese's Candy: Miniature Peanut Butter Cups or Reese's Pieces

Peanut butter (I may use most of our existing stash for holiday candies)

Sugar-free Jello powder (Strawberry, Cherry, Lime, Orange)

Velveeta processed cheese stuff -- I can't believe I'm asking for this, but it's the only stuff that makes good cheese dip :)

Plastic ice cube trays -- We've only been able to find the silicone ones here and you can't really pop the cubes out. I think it's slowly driving Brian mad.

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That's all I can come up with at the moment. The last time I posted a wish list I was all worried about getting multiples of something (especially the DVDs). But I've decided not to worry about that. We can always re-gift any multiples we receive. :)

Show and tell

Brian is really a sweetheart. I don't say that enough. We're not one of those sappy couples oohing and ahhing over one another all the time. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just not us. But we do have our moments...

Over the next few weeks, everyone in our German class has to give a short presentation over their favorite object. A bit like show-and-tell. Brian was up first, but he refused to tell me what he was taking as his favorite object. He said he would probably take one of his books.

When it came time for his presentation, sure enough, Brian pulled a book from his bag. But it wasn't one of the books I was expecting. It was a small book of poetry. His poetry. You see, many years ago when Brian and I were dating, I asked if I could read some his poetry and I made the poems into a book. The book itself isn't all that impressive -- the pages are uneven and the words are crooked -- but it's a pretty special book.

His presentation was very sweet. One of the girls even cried. Then I gave my presentation, which was about one of our wedding photos.

Maybe we are one of those sappy couples after all.

The art of Austrian shopping

I'm just going to come out and say it -- shopping in Austria is strange. If you're looking for a one-stop-shop, well, you're not going to find it. For example, if you're looking for cornmeal, try the drugstore. But if you're looking for medication, skip the drugstore. Any type of medication, prescription or over-the-counter, can only be found at a pharmacy. Do you need cooking spray? Well, you can find it at the grocery store, but out of the six or so chains I've shopped at, it's only available at one.

And while you may not be able to find the groceries you want, you can find some other really strange things at the grocery store. Let's just say that Brian wasn't exactly thrilled the day I came home from the grocery store with a sewing machine. Not because I had bought a sewing machine (I already had permission for that), but because I bought it at a grocery store. I tried to convince him that you can buy nice things at a grocery store by pointing out the Dyson vacuum cleaner at our favorite grocery store. (Because, really, who can deny the goodness of a Dyson?). I'm not sure he's convinced.

Some other things I've seen at grocery stores recently: ski pants, boots, sandwich maker, tool set and, my favorite, a chocolate fountain. These item are usually found in large bins, not on shelves. And mind you, this is a store about the size of your neighborhood Walgreen's. So you may not be able to find what you're looking for, but you're almost certain to find something interesting.

I can be a little crafy sometimes

I've finished my first sewing project. Can you tell what it is?



Why, a coaster, of course!


I actually made four. One coaster would be pretty sad, indeed. I used this tutorial and think it was a pretty good first project. Quick and easy. Next I'm going to try some coasters and matching place mats from Bend-the-Rules Sewing. And I have a few other things I'm going to try to complete before Christmas, but I can't really talk about them yet.

And in other craftiness, I'd like to point you over to my sister's blog, Two Little Princesses. She requested a banner with pink and brown, so I whipped up a little something and stuck it on her page while she wasn't looking. I hope she likes it -- and I hope she doesn't mind that I hijacked her blog to set it up.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my other sister's blog, Just the Two of Us. She designed her own banner after a brief Gimp tutorial by yours truly. But she figured out how to make the photos black and white with just a splash of color all on her own. She's pretty good. Some might even call her a genius.