Did have a cow

In January of last year (2013) I attended a conference and one of the giveaways was a little plastic piggy bank. Except it wasn't actually a piggy bank, it was a cow bank.  Not really one to collect all my change, I repurposed the cow for something else.  I decided it was going to be my Cow of Awesome.

My what?

My Cow of Awesome.

I decided that every time something awesome happened, I'd jot it down on a piece of paper and keep it in the cow.  Then, at the end of the year (or, as it happened, at the beginning of this year), I'd open up the cow and see what awesomeness had taken place over the year.  Today was the opening day.

Awesomeness spilled out all over the table.  One by one, I reminisced over the year as Malcolm stayed close by to share in the memories.  There were a lot of wedding ones, but there were a lot of other randoms too.  Many memories were made with others, though Malcolm and I also got to share a number between the two of us.

I've since relocated the awesomeness to a nondescript envelope for the time being, until I can figure out the best way I can store them for the future trips down memory lane.  In the meantime, I needed the Cow back to start this year's stock of awesomeness. :)

Old fashioned

Okay, so I knit.  And I crochet.  I enjoy it.  And who doesn't love a homemade gift from time to time?  I really have to make more of a habit of taking pictures of my completed projects (because I've never really kept anything that I've made), but I've made leg warmers, hand warmers, mitts, gloves, scarves, kitten mittens (those were funny) and more.

This Christmas, I probably outdid myself, but with the warm reception that my home crafted gifts were getting, I couldn't help it.  I even rushed and completed a knitted infinity scarf with matching finger-less mitts for one 6-year old that we were going to see after a long hiatus.  When I finished that set and took a step back, it hit me what I'd just done.

I'm about to give clothes as a gift to a kid.  Worse, I'm about to give knitted clothes as a gift to a kid.  What am I thinking?!

I remembered those young days when the uncoolest gifts you could get were those boxes full of clothing that you never wanted in the first place - where was the fun in clothes when you know toys could have fit in that same box?

In a panic, I raced through the house to find something to pump up the cool factor of the gift.  Something.  Anything.  But alas, my house was barren of coolness and the best I could do was a scented and flavoured lip gloss from Bath & Body Works that I used in place of a bow on the outside of the box.  Having done my best, off we went to present our presents.

We met our friends at a restaurant and I basked in the attentions of my most enjoyable 6-year old.  We had lunch, had conversations, had desserts, and then...it was time for the present.  Holding my breath, I handed it over to her and watched her glance at the lip gloss momentarily before putting it aside to tear into the brightly wrapped box.  Uh-oh, my cool was not cool enough.  And then she got to the guts of the present...

...and gleefully wrapped herself in the scarf and mitts and refused to take them off for the rest of the day.

I was speechless.  Not only did she know how to wear everything, but she LIKED them.  Her dad leaned over and explained to me,

   "She's a bit of a fashionista."

Indeed she is.