7 Quick Takes {Take 61} Finishing up my holiday crafting, dance performance updates & what's going on with the book club? edition

-1- *gets winter coat out of storage with a sour expression*

Winter has officially arrived here in Western New York, we've had light snow flurries the past two days. I don't mind the winter, but we had such a long one this past year (Polar Vortex, anybody?) that it feels like we haven't had much of a break from it, so I'm a bit more resistant this year. These flurries we've had though are the very best kind, with big fluffy flakes that barely stick to the ground. They truly are lovely.

Somewhat relatedly, I'm pleased to report that Anne seems to be on the mend from her first cold of the winter. We had a better night, with only one wakeup. During which time she called out for Daddy, so...

#ScoreForMommy :0

This morning, she was running around, drinking her juice like normal, and acting sassy. So I'd say she is feeling a lot better.

-2- Dishcloth madness!

I'm officially coming to the end of my holiday crafting, and I'm pleased as punch about this. I have 3 dishcloths remaining to crochet for family Christmas Eve gifts, and I'm just making a menagerie of patterns, like this one:

They're not all in Christmas colors, but I did make one set that way. I've been using one of my favorite pattern books of all time, which is 2 Hour Dishcloths:

The patterns are lovely, and as the name indicates, very quick to work up. #HappyLibrarian

-3- *feels virtuous*

And the final project that I'm aiming to finish before Christmas (hopefully before Thanksgiving!) are Mike's requested brown tweed socks. Ta da!:

Not exactly the most exciting knit in the world, but I have one cuff done, and I'm very proud of it. :0

-4- "We'll just show up and see what happens!"

Ok, so moving on to dance. Our next troupe performance is slated for tomorrow, and as of right now, the date hasn't changed, so that's good. The organization at some of these events we perform at isn't always the best. We're also simultaneously preparing for the hafla on the 22nd, and we have a new Shaabi choreography in the mix, so lots of rehearsing going on. For the performance tomorrow, we're using a few choreographies that we already know very well to keep things easy. We're splitting up into small groups for two shorter numbers, and then performing all together for another. I'm assigned to the new drum number *beams* which pleases me since I love that one. Soooooo, hopefully this will go well. :) It's a fashion show of some kind, but my understanding is that there is no official runway to worry about (whew! Too many calamities to worry about with those) so we'll see what the conditions  are like. It's always an adventure! I will report in early next week with the amusing details. :)

-5- Bonding with my sword again...

And so FINALLY I picked music and decided what to do for a hafla solo. I chose a slower song that I've always loved, and I think it's ideal for sword. It has a couple different segments of music: an intro when I can kind of swirl about the room since I'll be dancing in the round. :) An up-tempo sequence where I can dance with the sword before balancing it, then a real slow segment where I can balance, followed by a pickup in the music when I can dance with it balanced on my head. All in 3 and a half minutes. :0 I need to just run through the music a bunch of times so that I feel very comfortable with it in terms of my improvisation, so here's hoping everything goes well. As ever, I will keep you posted. :)

-6- Currently on my Kindle...

I couldn't resisted starting the November installment in the Love Inspired Big Sky Centennial series, His Montana Homecoming:

It's set around Thanksgiving, and I just love that I'm reading along with the seasonal timeline. Next in my queue is A Subtle Grace, by Ellen Gable:

This is historical Catholic fiction, and I can't wait to start reading! I'll be reviewing it as an informal part of the Catholic Book Club whenever I'm done, which will hopefully be by early December.

-7-This month's book club is going to be *mighty* interesting...

The November edition of the Catholic Book Club, which is The Cana Mystery by David Beckett, will prove to be an interesting one, I'm thinking. :) My reaction to this book is much different than I was expecting, and I will be laying out all the interesting details for you on November 26th, so tune in then.

Ok everyone, I'm off! I have an Information Literacy Coffee Hour to attend this afternoon (the fun never ends in library-land :)) and then an errand to run on my way home, before dinner, family time, and then dance rehearsal. Talk to you all on Monday!

And don't forget to head to Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes!