Dear Santa, I want time to stand still.

Yup, that's it. That's what I want for Christmas. When I'm stitching, knitting, reading with my kids, or otherwise following my bliss, I would like time to stand still. But of course those are the times when it seems to go fastest.

Yesterday we had a delightful morning of visiting with old friends and fun neighbors at Bren's annual Christmas brunch. Normally we would've then romped through the snow with these folks as we all searched for our perfect xmas tree, but this year we did the tree the day before because we had plans to spend the afternoon at a Lego League competition. Leah was in a snit there because she was overdressed for the occasion (still in her fancies from the brunch), but Jesse was in his element. He immediately disappeared and we noticed him right up front and center -- couldn't have gotten closer to the competition fields without being on a team. Later, we found him collaborating with a team that was having some difficulty with their robot on the practice fields. He gave them some suggestions that helped their robot perform better and they were most appreciative. And he was most proud. (I was knitting in the background throughout brunch and all of this Legomania.)

When we got home, I plopped myself and my knitting in my favorite chair and proclaimed that this was where I would be for the remainder of the day. It seemed like this would be a l-o-n-g time and I felt a little smug in designating these hours for exactly what I wanted them to be. But somehow time sped up and those hours flew by and oh no it's dark out and nooooo, it can't be bedtime already! One more row!

It's funny because this is exactly how I spent Sundays throughout my childhood too. In this exact same chair, doing these exact same things (more crochet then), in perfect bliss. To get the full picture there, though, you'd need to add in the feelings of impending doom, knowing that the next morning brought another dreaded day in the school machine, and the fun and distracting lunacy of my parents and their friends cheering the Steelers on.

Ah well, today time will slow down while I work for a while and mull over my chances for some stitching moments again today. I have to do a 2-3 hour conference call training session today and I'm figuring on a few secret stitches during that. What they don't know won't hurt them and perhaps it'll make the time go faster...until I'd like it to slow down again.