Tagged by spinnermom.....The twenty question meme:

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?  

Members of the family, totally! We don’t treat our pets like they are our children, but they are well cared for, loved, missed when they are gone....Just like people family.

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?

Well, other than something altruistic like jobs and homes for everybody....I’d love to be independently wealthy, live off my annuity interest with dh in a cabin on the side of a mountain by a babbling brook.

3. What is the one thing most hated by you?

When people aren’t treated justly, fairly or ethically.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

See #2.  I could be altruistic and selfish! Woot!

5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Knitting, my finches, sunshine, friends, family.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

I don’t think it’s a fair question, both are wonderful.

7. What is your bedtime routine?

I brush my teeth and go upstairs to bed. Dh tucks me in (seriously, he does!) and I turn on my heated mattress pad.  I must have the fan going on medium for the white noise and we have some special soothing music to play.  Plus the window is open a crack every night all year.

8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?

Wow....complicated answer or quick answer?  K...quick version: I met him at college. 

9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

I would love to watch a glass blower.

10. What kinds of books do you buy?

Self-improvement books.  I am always looking for ways to better myself.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

Working and hopefully still at the nursing home where I am now.  In my own home (i.e. one that we own) with dh, in Vermont.

12. What’s your fear?

Losing dh or Nature Boy.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

Oh! I think she is a wonderful lady who juggles a busy life in an admirable way.  She is smart, funny and resourceful.  And best of all, she is the person who inspired me to learn to knit...How can you beat that?

 14. Would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?

Having been married and poor, I can say that being rich and having material things is not essential to my happiness or my relationship to my husband.  I would be happy as a clam to be married and poor.

5. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

You mean after I pee?  Well...the alarm goes off, I turn it off, get up, go downstairs to pee and shower.  I flick on a few lights on the way.....It’s a very uninteresting routine.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?

Nope, I gotta be me. J  Seriously, I think relationships are strengthened by what each person brings to it, not by what of themselves they think they need to give up to be together.

17.  If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?  First name is fine, but if you’re feeling imaginative, you can do the whole thing.

Ummm....I like my first name very much.  And my first name and my married name handily fit quite well together.  I’m not budging.  I’m keeping it.

18. What’s your favorite magazine?

I am not much of a magazine reader.  I enjoy some of the knitting magazines and Mother Earth News is good.

19. When it comes to patterns, what sort of patterns do you prefer?

Besides knitting patterns?   Basically, as long as a pattern is symmetrical, I am good with it.  I do not like asymmetry. At. All. (Dh finds this quirk somewhat amusing!)

20. List people to tag.

Gosh...Is anyone even still reading my blog after all my absences? I don't know if anyone will see that they've been tagged!

We have snow!

And it was icy and slippery on the roads this morning.  I was about 3/4 the way to work and I encountered a line of stopped cars.  Turns out the bridge over the highway had iced and there was an accident on the bridge.  It would have taken a fair bit of backtracking to get around, and I figured the accident would be sorted out quickly, so I waited.  Of course, my wait took 40 minutes and I was late for work. <sigh>  But I called to let them know and I just worked a bit later in the afternoon.

It is snowing a bit now too.  And we learned that our chickens are afraid of snow.  They won't even come out of the coop!  Very. Very. Silly. <shakes head>

And speaking of chickens, dh snapped this picture of them the other day.

That was the day dh finished up the nesting box too.

To put in this spot on the coop.

Mind you, I don't have a picture of it installed, but let me assure you, it is done. And I am sure the chickens are appreciative!

Last night, I got together with a friend who noted that I had not blogged recently.  As a matter of fact, she knew exactly the date that I had last blogged and urged me to blog more.  Luckily, I respond to pressure  and here I am.

I had promised pictures of us getting our tree in the rain....

We always get our tree the day after Thanksgiving.  It is a nice family tradition and we like to have our routines here chez Craftymomma.  So, despite a steady bit of light rain, we made our way to the Christmas tree farm.

I have to say, the tree farm has almost too many trees to choose from!

There are literally thousands of trees there. If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say they have 15 acres of land planted with trees.  It is fun and overwhelming. With so many to choose on, finding just the right tree is a process.

And we spend lots of time going back and forth among the trees.

I will say though, the rain was okay.  Some years we have done this and just been sooooo cold. <shiver>  It was milder, I think about 50 when we went tree hunting.  It gave us more time to browse!

And finally, we found the right tree.

Of course, the amusing thing is after traipsing around the tree farm for 45 minutes, going back and forth and up and down the paths, the tree we found was actually about 6 trees down from the car.  Not that I'm complaining!!!  I just appreciate the irony of it.

I am nearly done my holiday shopping.  Nature Boy is shopped for. I know what I want to get dh.  I have my relatives all set too at this point.  I must say, the ability to get most of my shopping done at Amazon is great!  I don't like shopping in crowds with all that jostling and hustle-bustle.  Shopping at home on the couch in my jammies is right up my alley!!!

In other news....I appear to have done something to my back and it is very sore.  Or to quote Dr. Smith from Lost in Space, "My back is very delicate today."  It started Thursday afternoon at work and I am really moving quite gingerly right now.    I even got a substitute for me for the UU  preschool class there is no way I can work with the kidlets today.