The Middle

You know the point in a sweater where you knit and knit, but don't seem to be getting anywhere? It's like time stands still, but the needles and the yarn don't. It's a little past halfway in the project -- that yarn eating, time sucking middle -- and it gets me every time.

So that's where I am on Maya's new sweater.

Just above the butt. Two skeins in, and one to go, but until I start to see the progress, it's seriously slogging along. I'm thinking that the 5 hour car ride in my near future will address the problem soon enough.

At least I love the yarn. It's a new shade of Cascade 220 Heathers - a deep royal blue with flecks of hot pink and teal in it. Soft to work with and gorgeous to look at. I might even miss it once I finish up.

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In the meantime, we also seem to be stuck in the middle of our big jug of Jim Beam Burbon. Which is crazy, since I spent about a month with the Hot Toddies earlier this fall, and really there should have been a dent in the stuff. But this is that crazy middle of the bottle and it's not going anywhere. So, in the interest of getting past the middle on that baby, we made a few more burbon cocktails over the weekend.

We started out with a jones for Mint Juleps (While raking, we noticed how ginourmous our mint bush had gotten...) But, reading the recipe for Mint Juleps, we were unimpressed. Mint, sugar, water and burbon. Not really a drinking drink, it seemed more of a sippy thing. And we were a little thirsty after all the raking. (All 15 minutes of it. We gave up to make the drinks and are now paying the neighborhood kids $2 a bag for whatever they get done over the holiday. We left 80 bags with two kids. They have dollar signs in their eyes.)

So for $160 in laziness, here's the winning recipe. It's kind of a Not Hot Toddy.

Which might come in useful if you feel a little sniffy after being on planes, trains and automobiles with the general flu-ridden population this weekend. If you're feeling just fine, the burbon will still make an entire holiday celebration with relatives that much more fun. Either way, I'm thinking this is a perfect Thanksgiving Weekend Drink.

handful of fresh mint leaves
teaspoon of water
1.5 oz burbon
lemon slice
half can of ginger ale
ice cubes

Muddle the mint leaves and water well in the bottom of a tall glass.
Add the burbon and ginger ale.
Slice lemon and squeeze into the glass.
Stir. Add ice cubes.

If your throat's feeling sore, add a little honey. The tea version was awesome when I was feeling crappy earlier this fall, so this might just do the trick too. Or make the tea. Because burbon's good and good for you.