Where does the time go?

Wow. Where has the time gone? I understand the passage of time, but the way the days just add up and suddenly a month is gone just baffles me. And really, I am not normally as grumpy as the last post would have me seem.

So what has happened in the last three weeks? A lot. Aside from having several miserable days at work, I've actually had a lot of fun. So yes, this will be quite the long post.

The weekend of the 20th was quite busy. Mike went to the National Homebrewing Competition and Conference in Cincinnati, so I was alone, but not unoccupied. Friday night was "Hamlet" with the knitting group. Mike called around 10 to check in, and I told him I went to see a boy. Hamlet's a boy, right? Saturday brought the Kirtlandia meeting in the morning, lunchtime with Zuzu and a trip to JoAnn with Jen, and dinner was a potluck at Elizabeth's. From Parma on Friday to University Circle and Elyria on Saturday - I did a lot of driving!

I skipped knitting the next week, because I needed to spend some time around the house - Kelly was coming to visit! For those of you who don't know, we've been BFF's since we were 8, which is more years than I care to acknowledge. Her plane landed around noon on the 26th, and thankfully I escaped work with just a few moments to spare. Kudos to CHIA for having 30 minute free parking!

You know when friends are visiting from out of town, there's a lot to do. On Thursday, we went to Melt for lunch. YUM! I will be going back there. After lunch, we visited the Christmas Story House. Which was fun, but I don't know that I'll do it again. I will go back to the gift shop and museum, though - must have some leg lamp chocolate bars. I refrained from buying any that day, as I didn't want them to melt in the car. After that, we stopped at Friendly's for ice cream, as a Rav-friend had been promoting their Reese's cup sundae. Yes, it is quite tasty. Thursday night, we went to the Rocky River Brewing Company for dinner with Mary and her friend Marcia, although I didn't eat much, as the ice cream had filled my tummy. The beer was great, though. As I've said many times, Matt Cole makes good stuff. Most exciting news of the day? I taught Kel to knit while we sat at the bar waiting for our friends. Mary's friend Marcia was especially amazed to find us knitting at the bar.

Friday was another long day. Off to Tommy's for brunch, the Natural History Museum in the afternoon, Indian food for dinner with Mary, and then back to Parma for "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival was playing that and "Hamlet" in repertory, which works quite well, as many of the characters overlap, and those with bit parts in one have larger roles in the other. I can now share details of one bit of my secret knitting - I finished the sun as part of the Mobile Menagerie that the knitting group was making for Patti's baby shower. The pattern was a bit odd, and suggested making the sun in two halves, and grafting together. I made one piece, as my grafting skills are not that advanced. Worst part of the whole thing was the embroidery on the face. I was not very happy at first, but was either satisfied or got tired of the attempts. What do you think? Thanks to Megan for the picture. (I didn't have time to take one before the mobile was assembled)

At the play, started another big alpaca blanket. It's good mindless knitting, which keeps the hands occupied while the brain is elsewhere. And a quick knit - I started it on the 27th, and am more than halfway done. Not sure who will get this one, but unless Zuzu steals it, it will be a Christmas gift. No pictures yet, but they will follow eventually.

Saturday morning, we were off early to visit Woolfest. I was somewhat disappointed, as there weren't very many vendors, and Kelly wasn't really inspired by any of the yarn. She bought a pair of alpaca socks, though. I found some nice sock yarn, and some Classic Alpaca. Jessica made a pair of socks out of that, and I couldn't stop petting them. I might make some socks with it, or I might make something else. Not sure. Whatever I make, it will be very pettable.

Woolfest goodies

After a light lunch, we were off to Patti's baby shower. It was wonderful to see Patti again. She'd been in Georgia since just before her husband came back from Iraq, which was in April. We've missed her! Sadly, Kelly got a migraine and lost her lunch, so we drove home through the rain and vegged the rest of the afternoon. She woke up around dinnertime, and it was off to the Lizard.

Sunday morning we slept in. Well, Kelly slept in. As always, I have a kitty to wake me. We listened to Chasing Infinity (a Sunday morning ritual in the Zuzu household - thanks, Ed, for playing the Zoo song!) and dyed some yarn. It was my first time dyeing, and obviously Kelly's as well. Jen had provided several useful links and documents, and after reviewing a few of them, I decided that the microwave method would work best. We used Kool-aid of varying colors, and dyed Kashmira yarn that felt like noodles when wet. I think we got some good results! We also used some Fisherman's Wool to try the Sun Tea method with grape Kool-aid, as supposedly its dyes break down well.

Yarn dyed with kool-aid. Note Zuzu snoozing in the background.

Sun tea yarn

We left the yarn to dry, and went to Aladdin's for lunch. Then it was off to the zoo! Tradition held, and we were rained on. (For those of you not in the know, when we went to Sea World it rained all day. We were soaked. Therefore we sat in the front row of the Shamu Show.) We had some good weather, though, and I think the threat of rain kept the crowds down. We had fun visiting the animals - it was only Kelly's second trip to a zoo, ever!

Oh yeah, I guess this is where I should say that Mike left us for the weekend. He went to Origins in Columbus. Funny, we were both at the Columbus Convention Center in June. He got home just in time to bring the yarn in out of the rain. We stopped at Romeo's on the way home to pick up pizza for dinner. Good stuff.

Monday we visited the Rock Hall, which is always fun. Went to Great Lakes Brewing for lunch, and then wandered around Whiskey Island for a while. Always nice to look at the lake for a bit. After that, we headed over to the Beer Engine for knitting. We were there early, so we got a good bit of knitting done before the rest of the group arrived. I made a few kitty toys for Sebastian, Kel's cat, and worked on the big blanket.

Tuesday morning we slept in, and headed to the Brew Kettle for lunch. (Yes, I made Kelly drink many beers during her visit. She has become a muscadine wine snob, and I wanted to make sure she knew about all of the beer varieties available!) Then it was off to the airport, and poof, she was gone.

Tuesday afternoon I hung out with Jessica, and we saw WALL-E. Cute movie, with several "Idiocracy"-type digs, and some 80s pop culture references. She'd had jury duty, and they finished Tuesday around lunchtime. Spent Tuesday evening with Mike, which was nice, since I'd hardly seen him during Kel's visit. Somehow, July started.

Worked two days, and went to WOW with the knitting group on the 2nd. Didn't do very much for the 4th; just hung out at home on Friday, and spent some time with friends on Saturday. Oh, used the weekend to knit a bag for a swap. On Sunday, Jen and Nick called and asked for help capturing the stray kittens in their back yard. These guys are so cute! And they need homes. Does anyone want a kitten? (Jen took the pictures)

Link to more

Anyway, kitten capture wasn't as difficult as capturing mama cat. Mama got trapped, but then escaped when they tried to transfer her into the carrier. She is quite nimble, and climbed up the walls of their garage into the eaves. Apparently she has escaped the garage, and has been hanging out near where Jen and Nick are keeping the kittens. The daddy cat has also been hanging around - we are wondering if mama cat is planning to have more babies in the near future. If all goes well, mama will be trapped again and fixed, so no more stray kittens.

We are nearly caught up! Went to knitting on Monday at Abuelo's, and to the zoo with Mary last night for ZooFriends night. We walked quite a bit, then stopped at Rockne's for a late dinner. I'd never been there before, and was pleasantly surprised with their food. Granted, they had very few vegetarian options, but the fruit salad was quite nice. I am told that their soups are good, but did not ask if they were vegetarian or not. The mushroom and brie soup sounds quite tasty, if I can eat it.

Oh, on Tuesday I started test-knitting a sock pattern for Emmms. Because I can't follow directions, I ripped out the toe Wednesday morning and started over that afternoon. When I remembered how to read, the toe went much more smoothly. I haven't made it past the increases yet onto the foot of the sock, but I am further along than I'd gotten when I decided to frog. Snapped a needle and gouged another, so it is now Magic Loop for me! I had pondered scrapping her three-needle directions, but was going to continue for the sake of testing the pattern, but my needles have forced me to go ML. Pictures will follow when there's something to show. Until then, here is the yarn:

Mountain Colors Bearfoot, in Juniper

Tonight is Stitch and Pitch with the Indians! Let's hope they can play a good game against the Devil Rays. Worst case scenario, I will get to visit with other knitters, including the HS girls I taught during the school year, and work on Emmms's sock.

This weekend, Mike is again leaving me, and my mom is coming to visit. He will be hanging out in Pittsburgh, with his message board pals, and Mom will be taking the turnpike west to Ohio. I know she wants to have some projects framed, so we will go on a framing spree, and maybe I can frame some of my projects and posters that I've ignored for quite a while. Should be productive, and Mom and I always have fun.

Oh! I should share the excitement. Have I mentioned Zuzu's Chipmunk Friend, Alejandro? (I was listening to Alejandro Escavedo when he told me his name.) Well, Alejandro has been spending time on our deck recently, helping himself to the sunflower seeds in the bird feeder. Apparently Alejandro is a gardener, because he planted little clusters of sunflowers in several of my vegetable plant containers as well as all around the house! I have a photo essay on my flickr, if you would like to see how Zuzu and Alejandro interact. And for good measure, here's a preview:

Well, the other morning, Zuzu was running frantically from the sliding glass door to the window and back. I wasn't sure what was out there attracting her attention, but I knew she had a Mystery Friend out there. Mike discovered on Tuesday that Mystery Friend is a raccoon. Rocky Raccoon was coming up on the deck and eating the sunflower seeds, too, right from the bag in which they are kept. The seed bag is no longer on the deck, and the bird feeder is no longer on the ground. Sorry, Alejandro, but you will need to climb if you want seeds. We don't want Rocky's sort around. Yes, we are species-ist. Raccoons and skunks are welcome to live in the woods and back yard, but are not welcome in the house, and since the deck is an extension of the house, they are not welcome there. I don't want my sweet, innocent (non-rabid!) little kitty to be corrupted by their sort. Chipmunks are fine; they are cute and good gardeners. And non-threatening to the Zuzu.

Anyway, I should move along. Kudos to you if you've read so far. Maybe I should post a contest here at the bottom, to see who is paying attention. I will send cookies to the first three people to comment or send me an email about this small, silly contest, as long as you promise me that you read *the whole thing*. Maybe I should even make T-shirts that say "I can't believe I read the whole thing!" Or "I read a huge blog post about mostly nothing and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." Thoughts? I will laugh if no one comments. Anyway, I am off to straighten up the house a bit. Have fun!

Multiple post weekend

Couldn't wait to share the Muppet excitement of last night. (Well, I have been awake for several hours, so I waited that long, I guess, but still...)

Muppets History 101 was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Have discovered that I now need to own the first season of SNL (Skred and Lily Tomlin singing "I Got You Babe" plus some other other skits) and an Ed Sullivan DVD that is now apparently out of print. Somewhere, somehow, I'd love to get my hands on a copy of the British Muppet Show, as well as the promo reels that they made. So add all of those things to my wish list, as well as the pattern for Jim Henson's Kermit sweater. (And then the sweater. I may have to design one someday if I can't find an official one. Love the band of Kermit faces.)

Okay, so I have now been sidetracked for an hour, making Mike's breakfast (sleepyhead!), and searching for pictures of the Kermit sweater. Again, no luck. Anyway, stripey sweater with band of Kermit faces across the belly. If you see one, please grab it for me - I will pay handsomely for a sweater or pattern.

Anyway, am quite happy that I caught the show. If anyone out there has a chance to see any of the Jim Henson Legacy Foundation programs, definitely go.

Side note, finished the blanket this morning. 24" of yarn leftover. Longest cast off ever, as I was interrupted many times by Zuzu, who wanted to play. I think she was all worked up because we danced around the house a bit. That said, blanket is finally finished, folded, and can sit upstairs until Christmas. Worked on the cabled hat last night; it's looking good, I think. What next? Probably time to frog/restart the Fibonacci glove.

And Zuzu is telling me that I should do that now, because she wants to snuggle with me and a blanket.

Just wasting time...

Had a perfect Friday afternoon yesterday. Stopped at Cold Stone for ice cream on the way home - who knew that their birthday coupon wasn't a BOGOF, but truly a free concoction? - had ice cream for lunch, and then curled up with Zuzu to work on my sister's blanket. We listened to the Weakerthans, and snuggled. Zuzu loves alpaca. Nearly finished - just two rows and cast off to do. Anyway, it was a wonderful way to spend a chilly, gray afternoon - with kitty, blanket, and good music. And the sun came out just in time to drive to work.

Worked Friday night, as well as all day today. New experience - I kinda audited a professional development class on bullying and the media. Very interesting. I should explain, though, as I don't normally get paid to sit in a classroom. (Usually I get paid to sit in an office and knit.) As the class focused on media literacy, the instructor had many videos as well as a PowerPoint presentation to share. As aware as she is about the media, she is not tremendously technologically savvy. So I sat there and knitted, and assisted with any media transitions and computer issues. I think the instructor learned a few things in the past day and a half, too.

While I was disappointed to be away from the computer so much, I did get a bit of knitting accomplished. Made a pair of clogs in their entirety (well, they are not felted), and worked on the cabled hat. Ready to start the third cabled row. Not sure if I will make a fourth set of cables or not. Depends on how I feel, where I am, and what time it is when I get to row 25. Also helped a few people in the computer lab during lunchtime. That counts as an accomplishment, right? Even though I couldn't replace the exhaust fan in a printer? (We don't have the part on hand, not to mention that I don't know the first thing about how to replace it. Might have been able to figure it out, if I had to, but can't do it without the part.)

Oh, mild amusement, at least to me: Was enjoying last night's lecture/discussion, and the instructor mentions a fabulous book by Susan Douglas. I start looking for a pen so that I can scribble down the info, when she mentions the title: Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. No need - I already own the book. Will have to bump it up on the reading list.

Killing time now between work and Muppets History 101. Won Cinematheque tickets (did I mention that already?) for this weekend, which is convenient because it is the weekend that I had planned to go. Muppets History 101 is at 7:00, and it made no sense to get home at 5:00 just to turn around and leave again at 6:00, especially when I'm about 20 minutes from University Circle already. Only issue is that Zuzu is home alone. Mike is on the SAAZ bus trip/pubcrawl to Michigan. I set up her feeder, so she should eat while we're gone. Dry food even, which means she's even more likely to eat. Silly kitty prefers kibble sometimes. Although maybe having kibble for lunch and dinner will make her appreciate the wet food for breakfast tomorrow. And she will be even more thrilled to see me when I finally get home.

Anyway, they are showing Muppets Musical Moments tomorrow, and I may go, just because I can. I think I have most of the clips (Muppet Shows, right?), but it's always fun to watch on the big screen. I love the Muppets. (Never would have guessed, right?)

Let's see, rundown of the last week: Monday was knitting. Fun. Tuesday was quiet, I think. Wednesday went to a lecture with Jessica. Worked on the cable hat, as blanket was too big and has metal (clicky) needles. Had dinner with Cathy on Thursday; was quite good to catch up. Gave her her clogs, she gave me a lovely plant. So that leaves Friday, which was a lovely afternoon, which is where we started. And I should probably catch up on Rav, and get moving - perhaps I can do some more knitting before the show.

Currently listening: Weakerthans and New Pornographers and Push (old band from Pittsburgh - they came to memory because I don't like coconuts)
Reading: Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington
Watching: Veronica Mars and South Park, or whatever Mike has on TV. And tonight - MUPPETS!!

After a long day

Yesterday was my birthday. With the party to celebrate the fact that my birthday was on a Saturday and that I didn't have to work.

Knitting group came over, we went to Miss Chickpea's and bought yarn, came back and exchanged gifts and ate cake.

Nine cakes. Just a few more people. Yum. I still haven't sampled everything. To be honest, there is a cake that has not yet been cut.

Here's what the table looked like when we started. (To be honest, we had some of the peanut-buttery-goodness-frozen-dessert-cake before the trip to Miss Chickpea's.)


We have, clockwise from lower right:

1. Plain cheesecake
2. Chocolate cheesecake
3. Peanut-buttery-frozen-goodness
4. Mocha layered cheesecake (complete with chocolate covered espresso beans)
5. Raspberry layer cake with raspberry frosting (pink)
6. Cassata cake (white)
7. Ugly Bundt cake - white with chocolate filling and glaze (ugly because the top stuck in the pan when removed)
   
8. Three-layer chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting
9. Four-layer yellow cake with chocolate sour cream frosting

We ordered pizza for dinner, and the boys ran to get it. (A change, as I am usually the carryout driver.) Patti brought salad with some tasty dressing she made, and we chowed.

Cakes went over mostly well, I think. Megan really liked the cassata cake's frosting, Jessica really liked the raspberry cake, Melita liked the cheesecake(s), and Nick really liked the peanut-buttery-goodness. Not sure what Patti took home, but she filled her tupperware. I still haven't sampled them all. Hope no one was freaked out my my very strong french press coffee.

Oh well. Zuzu was very well-behaved, although I think she did swat at a few people who were trying to pet her. It takes her a while to adjust to people. At some point during the evening she did sit on my lap, which was nice. She is now snuggling on her alpaca blanket.



Oh, I finished Chris's clogs. They were desperately crying out for red hearts on the toe, and now they have them.



Yes, I am rediscovering the joy of posting pictures. Hope you appreciate it.

About 60% done with my sister's blanket. Here, you can see how beautiful Zuzu looks on it.



Because she needs the love.

Oh, and the gifts! Patti brought some tupperware in a cute bag (I told her to bring her own tupperware if she wanted to take leftovers home since I was running low). I get to regift the bag back to her, as she realized that it said "Baby" on the handle. Megan brought some chocolate and some very cute coasters that she'd made from a thrift shop sweater (great idea!), and Jen had somehow found the time in her crazy schedule to make a needle organizer! I am thrilled - the needle shoebox can be retired. :-) I will have to post pictures of that once I get everything organized. Carl brought me a six-pack of mead, too. Mine, not Mike's. Although he will probably drink most of it, as I can only drink mead in small, small doses.

The gift exchange was fun - much yarn and needles were exchanged, as well as a project bag and even cash.

Anyway, I should have more cake, and get back to the knitting. Enjoy some cheesecake!

And just like that...it's winter again

I am sitting at home, watching it snow. Wimped out on the museum lecture, as I headed home after work because it was cold and rainy and I didn't feel like camping out somewhere for three hours, plus a friend was supposed to come with me, so we could carpool back up, and the closer I got to home, the worse the weather became. Rain turned to freezing rain to sleet to snow. And snow it stays. The ground is covered, the cars are covered (Mike is brewing, so cars are on the driveway), and the road is covered. I am cold and depressed.

Okay, life is slightly better now. We just had dinner. Breakfast for dinner, to be exact. I am warmer. Mike's watching the Pirates play the Yankees in Florida. (On TV, of course. Do I need to specify something so obvious?)

Anyway, life has been full of bad drivers lately. Last week, after stopping at North End for a drink with Mike after work on Saturday, I was approaching a traffic light. Watched a Lincoln coming from the road to the left stop at the green light, get passed by a pickup, finally decide to make a left turn, and then veer into the left lane, right into oncoming traffic. Luckily the SUV that would have been hit was more observant than the Lincoln driver, and stopped. I think Lincoln decided to turn around after that.

After that, I needed to make a left turn. I used my blinker, and waited for the oncoming traffic to clear. The SUV that was nearly hit by the Lincoln started into the intersection, then stopped. I waited, as the intersection was blocked. Next thing I know, the SUV is making a left turn behind me. No blinker - in which case we could have both made our left turns simultaneously, and with the other clearly in sight. Oh well. The whole episode was clearly a case of "WTF?!?!?!?!"

Trying to keep this week calm. Skipped knitting group this week (Monday) to stay in and watch a movie with Mike. Little did I know that my Thursday dinner would be cancelled, and we'd get snow today, so I'd wimp out on the lecture. I'm sorry to miss it, as the lecturing curator is always entertaining. Last night we went to a Monsters game. A few WTF moments there, too. Most notably the mascot, an eagle. They are the Lake Erie Monsters. Logo is a Nessie-ish aquatic lizard-like creature. The costumed mascot was an eagle. WTF? The hockey team has cheerleaders. WTF? Okay, I gave in and looked at their site. They claim that the eagle is a seagull that has seen the Monster. Best part of that whole bit are the Mullets, who imitate the Hanson brothers while working on the ice. It was 80s night, so the music made me laugh, even though I still find it difficult to tolerate AC/DC. Damn you WEBN!!! Stupid station even bled through the stereo when I was trying to listen to CDs. Yet another reason I no longer live in Cincinnati.

Over halfway done with the blanket. It's just far too easy, although now it's a bit on the bulky side. Brought it to knitting on Tuesday afternoon, and the kids and teachers asked me to work on it, because they didn't quite grasp the concept of HUGE needles and fluffy yarn. A row is about 1/2" of fabric, so it goes quite quickly. Haven't worked on much else other than hats. Finished Matt's hat, with the exception of weaving in the ends. It is in the car, so that won't happen tonight. Started another hat, probably for Brad, because he was the recipient of one of my first hats, and I want to prove that I have advanced since then. Plus he likes blue and wool. I am using the Hat Attack ribbing pattern (p2-k2-p1-k2) to start, and will probably throw in a few cable crosses, but not in the binary pattern.

Haven't frogged/restarted the Fibonacci glove, although I did pop it off the needles so it can be frogged. I've decided that I will make the smaller size, too. Used it as an example to show the HS knitters stockinette stitch. They've mainly been doing garter stitch, but I taught a few how to purl. Not sure that they will remember it when they get back from break, but you never know. Too many projects, too little time. And here I am posting rather than cooking and knitting.

Yes, I should be making cakes tonight. Or at least cassata filling. I should have tomorrow evening, though, as well as Friday afternoon/evening. I am such a procrastinator. Haven't even really invited anyone outside of the knitting group to the event. I want to make at least six cakes, but there will only be um, 14? 16? people there. So if you're lucky enough to be one of the few invited, bring your appetite! Maybe I should buy more milk.........

Oh, found out that the makeup weekend for the work I missed is the weekend that I'm supposed to go to Knitter's Fantasy. Don't know if I will have to work or if someone will cover for me.

Zuzu is being a pest tonight. Poor Mike is very annoyed, as she will not leave him alone. Especially when he is trying to do some brewing calculations.

Anyway, I should get this posted, so I can work on something productive. I Will.Not.Ravel for the rest of the evening. Yeah, right. We'll see how long that lasts. Probably not long, as I need to research recipes online, and whenever I'm online, I log on.

Losing it

So I have been losing things lately. DPNs (not just the missing 8s, which of course turned up as soon as I brought the replacements home, but individual needles, so I'll have sets of 4 rather than 5, stuff like that.), an Amazon certificate that I set aside for safekeeping, stuff like that. Maybe I am also losing my mind.

Have been too busy to knit very much lately. Even at work today, I've been too busy. (Imagine that, working at work!) It's about an hour before I leave, and I haven't touched all of the stuff I brought with me. Worked on a hat last night at a lecture. Very intense stuff. The speaker was great, but she kept me awake longer than I wanted. The Explorer lectures are usually about an hour, followed by 30 minutes of Q&A. She spoke for nearly 2 hours, answered a few questions, and it was off to the book signing. Looking forward to reading the book, but expect to cry quite a bit. It's awful what humans can do to other humans. I guess I did get home about the time I would if I'd worked, but I expected to be home earlier.

Made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning. Yum. Zuzu wanted my milk. (Gotta have milk with pancakes, right?) She kept trying to get close to the glass. At one point, I leaned back and held the glass in an outstretched arm, thinking that she'd have to leave my lap to try to get to it. Oh no, little kitty climbed up my chest and across my arm to get to the milk. It was as if she realized that if I couldn't move my arm, she had a good chance of getting the milk. She was right. I let her have a pawful for her effort. She's not supposed to have dairy because of the calcium, but a drop or two of milk can't hurt too much, right? There wasn't much in the glass, and she was so intent on drinking some, I couldn't turn her away.

Very foggy on the way to work. Was very foggy on the way home yesterday, too. It was hard to see our house, even.

Accomplished very little last weekend, of course. Vegging is quite the thing to do when there's so much snow. Most of it has melted now, just in time for us to get more. Hopefully not much.

Went to the North Coast Knitting Guild's meeting on Monday with the SNB. Learned about some decorative cast-on techniques, and got my picot in a twist. Took a Fair Isle class on Wednesday. Learned the difference between Fair Isle and Intarsia, and also learned what I'd been doing wrong when doing Fair Isle. Whoops. Most of what I'd done got felted anyway. Or was included in socks for Mike, and he doesn't care. But I know better now.

Worked on my sister's blanket a bit, too. I am 3/8 done. Have done no knitting today, even though I had high hopes of knitting a lot. Again, it's terrible how I've had to work at work. There's been a lot of work going on during the week, too. I don't want to talk about a certain brand of server. And if you have a problem that is important enough to require me to drive over to you, don't leave. Please. Enough venting.

Thursday was Member's Night at the Museum. Always a good time, talking to the curators and running around the offices and whatnot.

Oh, and won tickets to the Bang and the Clatter's production of Essential Self-Defense on Sunday. Should be interesting, assuming I can convince myself to leave the house.

Looking forward to having a small birthday party for my knitting group next week. It should be just the core group, those who have been part of the group for most of its existence. Looking forward to making lots of cakes, too. Cheesecake, chocolate cake, butter cake, and a few other kinds. I haven't decided on all of the recipes yet. Yum. Will include some cake in a swap package, too. (Which reminds me, I'll need to pick up a few more things to include in that, as well.)

Oh well. I should pack up to go home now. Perhaps I will finish my Fibonacci gauge swatch tonight, now that I found my size 8 DPNs. Although I'll probably start them over, since I think I can make the smaller size rather than the larger ones. Really looking forward to making that sweater.

One more thing - Won't You Be My Neighbor Days are coming up. Be sure to wear your favorite sweater on March 20! I will need to sew the buttons on my cardigan and wear it.

Listening to the SXSW coverage on NPR's website. The weather was so bad last weekend that even the radio station cancelled shows, so I missed my Sunday morning rituals. And to think I'd wanted to go grocery shopping. Save that for tomorrow, I guess.

Finished "The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld" the other day. Very quick read.

Haven't had time to watch much of anything lately.

Unexpected time

Work was cancelled yesterday and today. Imagine that - we have had more than a foot of snow dropped on us since Friday morning. Luckily we didn't get the ice they'd originally predicted. Here's what it looked like earlier today. There is a car parked on the street in this picture. Can you see it?

We witnessed some kids try to go sledding behind our house this evening (why they ventured out at 6, when it was windier than it had been all day, as well as not long before dark, is beyond me). They lasted about 10 minutes in the knee-deep snow.

I have one vent about people driving in this weather. If you insist on driving a moving snowball, please turn on your lights so that you don't blend in with the rest of the snow on the road/in the air. Preferably, you would actually clear the snow from your car so that you can see and also be seen, but as you are too lazy to do that, please turn on your lights so your car appears as something other than white.

When I last checked in with everyone here, I was looking for my Size 8 DPNs. They were not in the baby hat bag, so I bought replacements. Haven't worked on the gloves yet - this Wednesday is a Fair Isle class, and as the gloves/sweater uses some Fair Isle techniques to weave in ends and whatnot, I decided to wait until after the class to work on them. Even though I really really really really want to start that sweater. Still have 3 pairs of clogs to do, and what did I do yesterday? I started a blanket.

I should explain. As my weekend work is rarely cancelled (never in 20 years or something like that), I was expecting to have to work. Being as I work until 10 pm on Friday, and start at 8 am on Saturday, I figured I'd pack an overnight bag, and crash on the couch in the office, rather than deal with the stress of driving back and forth in the snow/ice. I packed a blanket in the bag, but realized that I might still be cold, especially if they turn off the heat in the building overnight, so I brought yarn for a blanket. It's made from alpaca, and is a very loose knit (size 19 needles), so it knits up very quickly. Figured that I could get a good bit of that done while at work (not to mention when I was waiting for work to start - no need to go home during my afternoon break), and have that as a supplement in case I needed it Friday night. Luckily, work was cancelled, so I used the immortal words of Eric Cartman, "Screw you guys, I'm going home," and drove home.

At any rate, I have about a quarter of the blanket done, as I didn't work on it all that much yesterday. I read a book. "Cross Bones" by Kathy Reichs. Large print edition, which made the pages turn all that much faster. Finished it this morning, as I simply couldn't stay awake for the last two chapters last night. I am somewhat curious about the facts she used as a basis for the book, so I may be reading more nonfiction in the near future. As soon as I finish "Collapse" and "World Cafe."

Nearly finished Shawn's hat on Thursday. Was supposed to be a quiet evening at home, but wasn't. Started the hat on Wednesday, at the museum. Got the ribbing done during the T-Rex vs. Triceratops lecture. Always good to hear Michael Ryan. Always interesting to learn how well-read some kids are on the latest discoveries in the world of dinosaurs. Driving home that night, passed Cleveland Power, and misread their "Super Choice" lighted sign as "Super Chicken." I was tired.

Oh, Thursday Mike drove to the Grape and Granary to pick up some ingredients, as our friend Carl was supposed to come over and brew with him today. I went along for the ride, petted Homer the shop cat, and then we stopped by North End for a drink. Worked on Shawn's hat in the car and at the bar, and got to the decrease point, which is when I insisted that we leave. Still haven't finished it, but will do so soon. Maybe even tonight.

On Wednesday, during the day (at least I think it was Wednesday), was driving from one client to another, and saw lots of falling ice. We'd had an ice storm that morning, it warmed up during the day, and I watched snakes of ice fall from power/phone lines onto the side of the road, the road itself, and a few cars that were unlucky enough to be on the road when the ice fell. I was lucky, and enjoyed the visuals with none of the consequences.

Saw a Great Blue Heron the other day, so spring can't really be all that far off. Please, please, let spring be right around the corner.

Anyway, it's movie time. "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" right now; "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" this morning, and "The Maltese Falcon" this afternoon. Mike also watched "Outpost," but I ignored it, which was probably a good plan.

Have lately been listening to Matthew Sweet, "Kimi Ga Suki", and Vienna Teng, "Warm Strangers."

Just for kicks, here's another winter picture. Enjoy!