So, trying my hand at making a pattern... this is the Questionable Content Worry Hat.

This hat is loosely based on the pattern by Alex Tinsley found at: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/worry-hat

When I went to knit this pattern, I found that it was to small for an adult head. I also wanted to add a black border to mimic the drawn border for the hat. So, I modified this pattern to make it more to my liking.

Last weekend was the Christmas holiday.  I had plans to visit family and have a relaxing weekend.  Instead, I had a cat that showed signs of distress, and been worried about him all weekend.  What is wrong with the cat, and the root cause, is still up in the air, but the one thing we are sure of is that he developed a heart murmur in the last 4 months, and it's a significant one.  He'll be on a platelet inhibitor (Plavix) and will get an echocardiogram in 2 weeks (first appointment I could get).

We once again have traveled around the sun, and our northern reaches are pointing as far away form it as they can.  This means we have just passed the longest night and will be having longer and longer days ahead of us.  This is a time that we honor Suna and pray for her return.  This is a time where we honor Odhinn and ask her but take us in his wild hunts.  This is a time to spend with friends and family and to celebrate each other.

It is the ADF Election season again, and I'm just coming to process what has happened in the past 10 days.  In what have turned out to be the final hours of the nomination window for ArchDruid, on Friday I was approached by Rev. Nancy McAndrew, without any prior communications on the whole AD election situation, and asked if I would run for ArchDruid.  I will be frank in that I had no intent on running this year going into the election season, I was honestly not even looking at running for any office.  I am though a big proponent for not having uncontested elections.

This past weekend was a wonderful time for me.  This is because I was able to spend it with someone I truly have deep affection for.  We came into it with no plans, and in reality we didn't do to much.  I showed him some of the sights of the area, but really only the tip of what is here.  Instead, we spent time together, not really doing much, but being together.  It was, for me at least, a very satisfying weekend and one I can't wait to have again.

With thanksgiving now over, we are in the middle of the holiday season.  The tree at Rockefeller center will be lit up this Wednesday, and my favorite event of the season, tubachristmas is starting up again.  It is also the start of a busy time of year for many of us, myself included.

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, an armistice was signed ending the war to end all wars, the Great War, what is now known as World War One.  Since then, we have had more wars, and have more veterans of military service.  The day was renamed in 1954 here in the US to Veterans Day.

Today is a day to set aside our personal feelings about war, and about the military.  It is not about us, but about recognizing those that have selflessly served our country, for that service is surely a sacrifice that they have made.

This past weekend I was honored to perform a wedding for two great friends, M.J. and Cary.  I was honored when I was asked many months ago, and we talked periodically throughout the year to pass ideas back and forth.  The biggest concern for all was how pagan the rite should be considering that a large percentage of people invited were going to be Christian in faith.  We decided in the end to do a full core order ADF ritual, and I was going to do most of the work.

This past weekend was Charter Oak Grove's festival, Harvest Nights.  I have to say, it is a gem of a festival in large part because of how relaxed it is.  It started Friday with me doing a seidhr ritual.  I kept it rather low key, and more along the lines of a blot, and by fast not an ADF style ritual.  No journeying of everyone to some place, just me doing the journeying and an "adult" to watch over me.  We had about 10 questions, and had a being give me an answer but limited me in what I could tell the person who asked.

This has to have been one of the worst starts to fall I've had in a long while.  When October hit, I got hit with some kind of eye issue.  Still have no idea what it was, but one, and only one, eye started to be seeking up.  After it was obvious it was not allergic, I went to the doctors, was prescribed antibiotics, and went on my merry way.  Well, it took about a week for that to clear up, just in time for my annual change of seasons cold to hit.  I was out of it for about 3 days, and was feeling mostly myself by Sunday the 11th.