Spiders!

I don't know about where you live, but here it seems that we have many more spiders than usual.  I've been noticing this for about a month now.  Yesterday in one part of the garden I counted six big webs and each had a rather large spider sitting in the center.  That's another thing - the spiders are BIG!  I should check with the Farmer's Almanac.  Maybe an abundance of spiders indicates a mild winter (one can always hope) or maybe just the opposite.  Whatever the meaning, they are annoying.  I keep running into them.

Again I got no knitting done last night.  I was exhausted from a long day.  I just wanted to watch Inside the NFL and relax.  Which is what I did.  I'll get some good knitting in this weekend.  Mr. M is gone tomorrow from six in the morning and again on Saturday so I'll have plenty of me time and I can knit to my heart's content.  Oh ... rats!  I just remembered, I have to rehearse tomorrow night.  And Saturday is the "gig".  Actually it's going to be more of a chaotic jam session but I've got my InEars so one thing I know for sure, I'll be able to hear.  We don't go on until 9:30 so I can get my errands done in the morning, set the Husky game to record and go out to the venue to check with the sound guy to make sure there's a feed for my InEars and then go home and veg with Tink and knit.  It'll be nice.  And quiet.

When I was biking in this morning and passing the usual parade of characters, I realized that I had a dream either last night or the night before that I spoke to some of them.  The woman jogger, some of the older men who all ride together.  Not the weird he/she.  Someday I will figure that one out.  Someday.

What is it about a scent that can take you back?

It never ceases to amaze me how powerful that link is between scent and memory.  One little whiff and the  memories flooded back so vividly my knees nearly buckled.  I'm still a little unsteady more than twelve hours later.  I ran across some incense I had saved from when I lived in Paris - just 3 little pieces, each one smaller than the other but I decided to burn them while I was working.  Wow.  Wow.

Yesterday the home theatre was emptied in preparation for painting and when I came home I found two more bookcases in my office.  I was not all that keen because, frankly, if I had wanted them in there I would have put them in there in the first place.  However, there was nothing for it, I just had to make do.  So that necessitated moving things around my shelves.  It ended up to be not a totally wasted exercise since I got to have that experience with the time traveling and went through and organized my yarn stash.  I really should take some time soon and take some pictures and put it up on Ravelry.  I have some good stuff!  Some beautiful linen, and three different bags of Noro, enough Ella Rae Shibu for some sort of top and ... well, just lots of good stuff.  I am re-vitalized and I want to knit knit knit.  I just wish I had more time.  And I also decided that I'm going to try felting in my front loader because I've got some perfect felting yarn and I love to do it.

Since I worked long and hard in my office I didn't feel like doing much after cooking dinner so I just watched a movie and conked out.  I want to finish up that book tonight.  I've got about 4 sitting on my bedside table that I want to read and two that I'm only half done with.  Another couple weeks and work will calm down and I can look forward to evenings when I've got a bit of energy left!  And getting up in the morning, now that it's dark, is really difficult.  I just couldn't pull myself out of it this morning.  Plus I was having interesting dreams.  I can't remember what, but interesting enough that I didn't want to get up.

Okay, enough blathering.  Onward!

Quite the contrast

My poor sister is in London.  Working.  She's not going to take any extra time there as had been originally planned since I can't come visit with her.  So she's just working the entire week and then getting back on the airplane and coming back to California where it has been very hot.  I'll bet, knowing her and how she is when she comes to Seattle, that she's bundled up like it's below zero outside.  I wish I was there anyway. 

Things at work are very very busy.  We've got another exam up tomorrow afternoon so the students are going crazy and I'm trying to do too many things at once.  I was too tired to do much of anything when I got home last night, having stopped at the grocery store to do the week's shopping.  I cooked a simple dinner and watched the football game.  Nope -- no wins yet.  Then I watched a show I had recorded yesterday while in bed and I believe I was asleep before 10.  I feel pretty good today and not very sore at all, thank goodness.  I noticed it a little bit on my ride in, but not too bad.  So no knitting last night either.  I've got to get back on the horse though.  I've got a few projects started that need to be finished.

Didn't win my Fantasy this week.  Ah well, I am getting better.

I've got blisters on me fingers!!

Boy do I feel stupid.  And sore, let's not forget sore.  I had a really great weekend out in Union, Washington which is on Hood Canal.  We went out Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with friends in a house on the golf course at Alderbrook.  It was a birthday weekend for my friend.  She doesn't golf but I (kind of) do so the idea was that her husband and I would have a nice couple days of golf and we'd all have a nice relaxing time.  They left earlier that I was able to get away so I skipped the golf on Friday and Saturday afternoon we set out for 18 holes.  It was GORGEOUS outside.  A really beautiful day.   And I was looking forward to it.  I hadn't golfed for two years so I knew it would take a few holes to get my mojo back and indeed it did.  But everyone was very nice and laid back and we let a few parties play through so we didn't feel rushed.  Unfortunately I was SO out of it that by the 12th hole I had blisters on my fingers and my thumb!  Yes, I was wearing a glove on my left hand.  However I was gripping the clubs rather tightly and the glove was rubbing on my right ring finger.  I had to stop because we had no band aids and I literally could not swing.  We were going to quit at the 14th anyway because it was taking forever and that's where the house is.  And the next morning as the day went on I got stiffer and more sore!  My neck and back!   Just not used to that motion.  Of course I hit easily twice as many balls as my partner.  Yeah, I got my money's worth for sure.

I hit the jacuzzi tub as soon as I got home on Sunday after getting a load of laundry going, but it didn't help much.  I was in agony all night.  Every time I turned over I woke up, it seemed.  I finally took some Naproxen this morning and I'm feeling almost normal.  At least I can turn my head now without wincing.  When did I become such a wuss?

Mr. M had to leave at some ridiculous time on Sunday morning ... as in 5 am ... to get to a load-in so I hung out with my friends and watched football and had a leisurely ride back, listening to the Seahawks game which was very exciting.  And they won!  I had purchased the special football package from Dish network called NFL Red Zone and I was really looking forward to seeing the highlights of the game.  We had not one but two kick offs returned for touchdowns.  One 101 yards and the other 99 yards.  This was the first Sunday evening I was available to watch my new channel but it wasn't coming on!  Dang!  I called Dish but wasn't able to get a satisfactory explanation only that they would report it.  Well ... thanks.  I will try to call them again today and see if there's a better explanation available.

We did a little yarn shopping while on our weekend.  I bought a very cute sock kit and a couple balls of lovely soft mohair for a scarf. Monika was a good girl.

It's going to be a busy week.  I'd better get at it.

I am so furious I think my head is going to explode!!!!

Yesterday I had a hair appointment right after work so I didn't get home until sometime after six.  Since we're going away this weekend I figured I'd just get my stuff together for the weekend before making dinner.  I'm going to be golfing so I went into the guest room where I keep another dresser that has my sports clothes.  I found my golf skirt but the shirt wasn't with it so I looked in the bottom drawer where I keep T-shirts.  It's a deep drawer and pretty full.  I was pushing the shirts around looking for my golf shirt and I felt something hard.  What the heck?  I lifted up a couple of shirts and what do you think I found buried in with my clean clothes?  A DIRTY bowl, 2 forks, a spoon and a used paper towel.  That PIG!!  Mr. M's son has been told not to eat upstairs since the first time I went into that room looking for something in the drawers and opened it to find an empty soup can and dirty bowl and spoon.  And that idiot kid said , "Oh, I don't know how that got there".  Right to my face!  That was a year ago.  And now again I find dirty dishes in with my clean clothes.  I was so mad ...I'm still mad!  In what universe is this acceptable behavior??  That find necessitated a thorough search through the whole room, the closet, the night stand, under the bed.  Lucky for that kid I didn't find anything else.  I really don't know what to do.  I imagine he's going to be up again for the Christmas holidays.  Just the thought makes me want to scream.  You better believe I'm going to lay the law down to that pig the next time he stays in my guest room.

Obviously that pretty much ruined my evening.  I certainly lost my appetite.  Mr. M had the intelligence to leave me alone.  I had some great silly TV to watch and that calmed me down a bit.  That and a martini.  My dinner then consisted of the olive in my martini and a plate of cheese and crackers.  I am very much looking forward to getting out of town.  The weather is supposed to be lovely.

First day of autumn

and a gorgeous full moon last night. It really is starting to look like autumn already. And the squirrels have been so busy. I see them on the trail and in my garden and find peanut shells on my deck in the morning. Also they have been digging in my planters on the deck. I can't tell if it's squirrels or raccoons that are digging in my herb garden but I know raccoons come in the yard at night because my carefully plugged holes along the fence are newly opened every few days. I thought I was going crazy when Tink would keep getting out when I KNEW I had plugged the holes. Last weekend I discovered the logs pushed away from the fence again. Squirrels can't do that. Nor cats. Come to think of it, I've seen quite a few raccoons in broad daylight lately as well as HUGE spiders and webs all over the place. This morning I drove in and there was a web between my car and Mr. M's. Ick

We had rehearsal last night since I won't be in town this weekend and neither will the bass player. Doug is a very frustrating guy. I know it's his band and all but does that mean that his mic has to be 10 times louder than mine when he's just singing back ups? We recorded a few songs just for the heck of it and I am way down in the mix and the back ups right out there. *sigh* I sure hope the sound guy can fix it in the mix. Since Rusty, the drummer, is one of the coordinators of this thing he put us in the best spot, 9:30 to 10. I tell you, if you're starting at 6 pm and you tell bands they can play 30 minutes, how many of them do you believe will actually limit themselves to 30 minutes? And us -- I timed us last night and even with no chatting between songs it took us longer than 30 minutes to play 7 songs and Doug wants to do 10. And the songs he chose ... well don't get me started. He wants to start off with two songs using his acoustic guitar so he doesn't have to change to it later. That means starting off with either "Don't Speak" or "Another Round of Blues". While "Don't Speak" (recorded by No Doubt) is unquestionably the more popular song, it's slow! I'd rather start out with the P!nk song we do, "Who Knew", which is a rocker. But no, he won't budge no matter that all the rest of us agree. At least he was willing to switch around so that we can start with "Another Round of Blues".

I arrived home rather frustrated and in no mood to sleep so I watched "Inside the NFL" and another 30 minutes or so of some silly TV while I had a glass of wine ... okay, 2 glasses of wine, and tried to get into sleep mode. Once I got there I had a decent night's sleep, thank goodness. We'll be getting together Friday October 1st, the day before the gig and the new guitar player and Rusty and Doug are getting together this Friday. I am hoping it'll pull together because if we had to play right now ... I'd shoot myself.

Bike path characters

As a creature of habit and routine I often run into the same people, day after day, who are also on their own hamster wheel of routine.  There's the older guy I see toiling up the same hills I am coming down in the morning, the woman jogger I pass nearly every day, the lady out taking a stroll, rain or shine and my latest ... a person of indeterminate sex riding the opposite direction as me on the trail in the morning.  I usually pass s/he near the University Village.  I have been trying for weeks to figure out if it is a woman or a boy.  With a perpetual scowl, hunched over the handlebars and clad in unisex bike gear, it is impossible to say.  S/he looks kind of like Harpo Marx without his wig.  Pretty strange.

We tried out a new (for us) restaurant last night in Edmonds - which is another place that has taken off like Ballard.  It was recommended by some friend of Mr. M's so we thought we'd give it a try.  It was quite busy, even on a Tuesday night.  The menu was interesting and I chose a salad of Romaine lettuce with pancetta and  lamb pappardelle which was prepared with chick peas and mint in a tomato based sauce.  It was lovely.  Mr. M chose the tasting menu ... not realizing that it was a TASTING menu, meaning small portions.  I ended up giving him about half of my meal.  That's fine -- I didn't stuff myself and he didn't end up crabby.  Win win.

I didn't knit when we got home but instead sat up with a nice glass of wine and read my new knitting book that came yesterday - Modern Top Down Knitting by Kristina McGowan.  It's a wonderful book.  There are at least two dresses that I'd like to do.  I wonder if I have enough of that linen for one of them .... hmmm.  Anyway she took the top down methods of Barbara Walker and went from there.  What I am particular intrigued about is the sleeve construction.  She starts with a provisional cast on, which is illustrated with great pictures so I think I finally get it, and knits the back down to the end of the arm hole, then unravels the provisional and knits the front, joins and goes on down.  Then for the sleeves she picks up stitches around the arm holes and with short rows knits the cap, then on down.  So if one isn't in the mood for raglan sleeves, this is an awesome way to get set in sleeves without the terrible process of mattress stitching them in.  I can't wait to try it!

Complement!! I'm going to have to quit reading my old posts!

Oh it makes me NUTS when I find typos in my older posts.  I should just stop re-reading them but I also don't like to keep repeating myself so ....

I had a most wonderful ride in this morning.  With freshly pumped tires and no head wind I was flying!  I made it to my normal 30 minute mark in under 27 minutes and to work nearly 5 minutes faster than normal.  The speed limit on the trail is 15 mph and this morning I was speeding.  I feel great and I'm going to start running this afternoon as well.  I haven't been for a few weeks, having decided to skip that Iron Girl race.  Maybe I can do the Husky dash in October.

My Monday night game didn't give me enough points to bring me out of the basement in two of my 3 leagues.  I am number 3 in my public Yahoo league and dead last in my public NFL league and 9th out of 10 in my nephew's league.  So what happens when I wake in the middle of the night?  I don't lay there and worry about work. Nope.  It's my fantasy leagues.  Who should I drop?  Who can I trade?  Good heavens.

I am looking forward to this weekend.  I'd better dust off my golf clubs. 

Not such a good football weekend

It was a busy weekend.  I drove in on Friday because we had to go to Mr. M's youngest daughter's wedding.  She is going to have a real wedding next August but they decided to have a quick one to make it legal.  So it was rush rush rush.  It was quickly thrown together and held at the common room at Mr. M's parent's condo and even though it was immediate family only that comprised 28 people.  The groom's mother was supposed to bring salad to compliment the lasagna and bread.  Instead she brought more pasta.  So dinner consisted of lasagna, fettuccine, bread and cake.  The cake was awesome.

I was looking forward to Saturday.  Mr. M was up and out to a show early and I was looking forward to knitting and football.  The  Huskies were playing Nebraska at home.  Nebraska is ranked number 8.  And oh my goodness they played like it.  They crushed us.  I put the game on record at about an hour in and took a nap so when it was done I could fast forward through the carnage.  As before the special teams were awful.  And the defense was missing tackles.  Hope we do better in conference play. 

I did have a little time before rehearsal to work a few rows of the Shining Birds Eyes Shawl.  And also some time on Sunday.  It is slow going.  And since it is bottom up, or point up since it's triangular, it gets larger every four rows.  I've done 10 rows so far and have 17 more to go before the picot edging.  I just love the feel of this.  So soft and yet it's got a little weight.  It is just such a hassle to knit.  Again I've chosen a pattern that has no easy purl back.  Each row is a lace row and every other row you have to move the markers.  But it's going to be gorgeous and I'll use it a lot.

We had an okay rehearsal on Saturday.  We are indeed going to be playing a short set on October 2nd.  Unfortunately both Gregg (the bass player) and I will be gone this coming weekend, so we're going to do another rehearsal this Wednesday night.  The new guitar player is a nice enough guy but it's very frustrating the way Doug is trying to teach him the songs.  And I'm not all that keen on the 10 song he chose.  But what the heck, I'm only the singer.  And he decided on a name.  Try to hold back your gag reflex ... okay, ready?  Shelley and the Resist Hers.  I swear to god.  And now of course we're louder than ever and I am concerned about being able to hear.  If I can't hear I can't sing.  I'm trying to find out who is mixing us.  Mr. M will undoubtedly know him/her and if I can get a pair of In Ears Monitors I should be okay.

It doesn't look like we're going to get an Indian Summer this year.  I turned off the irrigation system this weekend since it was pouring rain and cloudy.  Ah well.  Maybe next year.

Yesterday I had lots of errands to do -- grocery shopping and schlepping my food to work for the week and then laundry.  But I got all of my running around done in time for the football game.  Seahawks at Denver playing the Broncos.  And again, terrible game.  The Seahawks could not get anything going at all.  They are still crap on the road.  My fantasy teams didn't do that good either but I've got Monday Night football points yet and so hopefully I'll pull out of the basement.

It's starting early this year

The flu season is upon us.  And it's early this year.  My nephews in California have both been sick and yesterday one of my knitting buddies was also out.  I'm feeling marginally better today but I'm still not feeling like going in to work would be a good idea so it's work from home again today.  No matter how I feel tomorrow I've got to get in so I'll drive for sure.

Tink was good company yesterday, as she usually is when I'm under the weather. But now she's not feeling well.  I had to let her out at 6 because her tummy was gurgling.  It is so loud that I can hear it so you know she's not feeling well.  She's been out for about an hour, eating grass.  I wish curing my upset could be that easy.  Just go outside and grab a couple hands full of grass and let the magic begin. 

Obviously I didn't do any knitting yesterday.  When I wasn't actually doing work I was snoozing and in the evening I watched mindless TV.  I didn't feel much like eating.  The only things that appealed to me yesterday was soup and cereal and milk.  Odd, huh? 

I also did a good couple hours of reading.  I am enjoying "Medium Raw", Anthony Bourdain's second book about cooking and food.  Before "Kitchen Confidential" he had written another book, a mystery that never got off the ground.  He has a very casual voice and I like his sense of humor.  I have a stack of books by my bed.  Less knitting, more reading.  That should be my motto.  Although .... still a big fan of the audio books.  I just feel like I am cheating somehow.  I know that doesn't make sense, but there ya go.

I have drawn a conclusion and it's making me sick

Oh probably not literally.  I would hope.  I was getting ready for work this morning and was just getting ready to put my biking clothes on when it hit me ... hard.  And I realized there was no way on earth I'd be able to get on my bike.  Although it is early in the season there is some stomach flu going around and I think that's what has my guts in a knot.  But there's something else that has me in knots and that's the conclusion I drew yesterday evening.

Every couple of weeks I have a  housekeeping service come to the house.  I was introduced to this woman , M,  when I was selling my house a couple years ago.  She cleans the house of the woman who sold me my house, P, who gives her work cleaning houses she is getting ready to sell, for example.  So M came with a pretty good recommendation.   M usually comes with 2 or 3 other women, not always the same ones.  About a year ago I noticed that a ring I had in a little dish on the counter in the bathroom was gone.  I assumed that when they were cleaning it  had fallen out of the dish and gotten vacuumed up.  I was upset about it but not willing to make a fuss.  Then in March I couldn't find a top that I particularly loved.  I remembered washing it and hanging it in the guest bathroom to dry and that's the last time I saw it.  A few weeks later I went to grab a jacket to walk the dog and it was not there.  I did a closet and drawer purge another few weeks after I noticed those things missing and sure enough they were gone.  Disappeared!  I suspected that Mr. M's youngest daughter had accidentally taken them when she was staying with us but she swore not.

In August I was looking for a pair of pants I had purchased along with a coordinating tunic when we went to Hawaii.  I didn't find them where they were supposed to be but I thought that perhaps I had put them in a drawer in the guest bedroom and since it was occupied at the time I just left it.  But yesterday after work I thought about those pants again and went into the guest room to search the drawers and they were not there, so I looked again where they should be and where they could be and even in Mr. M's closet.  Nope, gone.  And that's when I thought that I hadn't seen the tunic for a few weeks either.  Mr. M's daughter hasn't been here and even if she had she's pregnant now and nothing I have would fit her.  The only other person who is ever in the house when we're not home is the bookkeeper and she a very nice lady and way too big to fit into my clothes.

So what other conclusion can I draw?  Someone is taking my clothes and the only people who have access are the cleaners.   I just don't know what to do.  I am going to talk to P and see if she has heard anything like that from other people.  My sister says I have to find someone else and I think she is right.  I just hate for this to be happening.  It feels bad.

I'm not a big fan of mediocre

A couple of years ago a restaurant in my neighborhood burned down.  It had been there a long time and had been known for it's breakfast, which always drew a huge crowd, and the music - typically R&B and a wonderful place to go dance the night away.  A kind of dive bar, I guess you could say.  But it had character and it was a lot of fun.  They never re-built on the old spot but rather chose to relocate a couple of blocks away in a new structure.  They were selling $30 worth of food and drink for $15 on the weekend and so I thought, what the heck let's give it a try.  And that's what we did last night.  It is a very sterile environment.  I wasn't impressed.  The service was bad and the food was mediocre.  Maybe because it was a Monday night?  Although there were people there watching the Monday Night Football so .....  The menu had only 5 entrees besides sandwiches and they didn't have the one I wanted.  I settled for some ravioli and they were barely edible.  If I hadn't been starving I most likely wouldn't have eaten them.  Ah well ... live and learn.

I drove all four days of last week because I had to be in early every day but yesterday we had no class in the morning and I was dying to ride in, so even though I had to bring my laptop I did just that.  My new panniers are large enough for the laptop and all of the other stuff I need to bring in but oh my goodness, that extra weight was killer!  I didn't notice it too much on the way in because it is more downhill riding but on the way home .... gasp!  Plus there was a headwind.  I had to really work to get up those hills.  Not fun.  On the good side, I felt like I was flying this morning since I wasn't carrying it.

Little knits has some 100% cashmere lace weight yarn on sale.  I am trying trying trying to resist.  I am weakening as I type.  Maybe just one skein.  I'll see what I can make with 350 yards.  [Go ahead, call me an addict, but who doesn't love cashmere?]

What a fabulous weekend!

Ah yes, it was grrrrreat!  I turned onto my street Friday and lo and behold the driveway did NOT contain a junk heap.  The boy was gone and I had the whole house all to myself the entire weekend.   I was pretty tired Friday so didn't stay up too late.  Just had a nice little dinner, watched some TV and did some TV knitting.  Saturday I had intended to work in the garden but it was icky outside and I had plenty of work to do inside.  I got the first of about a million loads of laundry going, walked Tink and then went out to run errands.  I still had a couple of hours to knit on the tough project before the football game. 

This was the Huskies second game and Syracuse came out on fire.  They scored 10 points in the first quarter and the Huskies nothing.  Ah but then ... the Huskies seemed to click all of a sudden and they ended up winning 41 to 20.  It was wonderful!  I didn't get the see the end of the game because I had to run off to rehearsal.  We had another guitar player join us part way through.  It was nice to have the extra instrument.  It really adds a lot of depth to the sound.  I understand he can sing harmonies as well.  We will see next Saturday but so far so good.  I still haven't told Doug that I can't be at rehearsal the last week of the month since we are going away with friends for a birthday weekend.  It was planned way before he had booked this little 30 minute gig.  I guess we're just going to have to get together during the week a couple times.

Sunday I got up early and set to work using the heavy duty carpet spot cleaner on all of the messes that boy left on my carpet.  And it worked great!  I was pretty impressed.  Sunday evening my old high school Anthropology teach came over for dinner and to show me the slides from his trip to Turkey last spring and the souvenirs he brought back.  We had a wonderful time.  He takes a trip every spring and takes photographs that he sells.  This next spring he's going to Tunisia and Sicily and Rome .... I can't remember the other places.  I would DEARLY love to meet him in Tunisia to travel around for a couple weeks.  I have such a travel bug.  I haven't been to Europe since the last time I went to London at Thanksgiving ... what? 3 years ago?  Too long. I need to start scheming!!

Also on Sunday was Seahawks game day and they won as well!  It's funny but their game started out much like the Huskies and they ended up winning too.  My fantasy teams .... the one with my nephew I am not doing nearly so well as the others and that's most likely because I didn't get to draft my players on his team and I'm sure I got the dregs.  There is a trade being contemplated and I would end up with what I consider to be better players but I've got to take a little time and check them out first. 

My annual blog and proctor

Today is the first exam for Anatomy.  What an action packed four days these students have every year.  They hit the ground running after a long weekend and are busy all day in class and late into the night studying.  They have their exam today and this evening a party.  Then I suspect they sleep for 12 hours.

I have a super great weekend coming up.  Mr. M took off today for a job in Oregon and won't be back until after midnight on Sunday AND the son finally got his car fixed and he is heading off today as well!  Hoooooray! It's going to take me much of this evening and a good bit of tomorrow to get the guest room back into shape but oh it will be wonderful to have access to my other closet and dresser.  I know I'm going to have to get spot cleaner for the carpet.  I really want to give all of the carpet a good scrub but that is a chore for another time.  I may have to hire someone to do it.  Oh the quiet and solitude .... ahhhhh.

Besides rehearsal tomorrow I must make myself do an hour or so in the garden.  My carrot will be a few hours in my comfy chair working on my Shining Birds Eyes.  I should get some pictures next week.

Last night started the football season and I got points on every team.  I am mostly looking forward to Monday Night Football because of the pool I'm in.  And the Huskies are playing Syracuse at home tomorrow.  I'll be able to watch most of the game before I have to leave for rehearsal.  Hope they do better than last week.

And my head comes above water to take a breath

As predicted the weather was not all that nice this weekend but I managed to eke out some enjoyment even though my house guest is STILL hanging around.  He is getting closer to leaving though and I have my fingers crossed that he'll be hitting the highway on Thursday or Friday at the latest.  Am I fooling myself?  Yes, yes I probably am.  It's either that or go absolutely crazy.  I'll tell you what though, when he finally does vacate I am going to run around the house stark naked.  And then go buy an industrial sized bottle of Febreeze and get to work on the upholstery.

Because it was icky outside and because I hate gardening in anything but ideal weather (and still I hate it then as well) I mostly knit and listened to my audiobook.  I finished the last Tana French novel, "Faithful Place".  I liked it the least of the 3.  The second one, "Likeness" was my favorite. 

Anyway ... I finished up the blanket on Saturday before rehearsal.  I had just enough of the cotton yarn, thank goodness.  It turned out really cute.  Then before rehearsal I started the Shining Birds Eyes shawl.  I bought this kit from Elann with a gift from one of my friends who also has the bug.  The yarn is absolutely the softest and most gorgeous stuff!  You hold two strands together - one of  Elann Silken Kydd (a Kidsilk Haze knock off) and the other a cashmere and alpaca blends and the resulting fabric is indescribable.  So soft and yet with a silky feel and a little weight to it.  I started and ripped out twice!  The third time I cast on with a larger needle and some scrap yarn and went at it to figure out where I was going wrong.  I don't like to work from charts so I was working from the written directions but checked the charts all the same.  Then I realized that the markers move on rows 5 and 7.  Ah ha!  Don't you think that could have been written into the pattern?  Come on!!  Once I figured that out it was time to go to rehearsal so I couldn't start in earnest until Sunday.   And Sunday I did get a good start.  And did a bit more on Monday.  I also started another blanket for TV knitting.  This shawl is definitely not TV knitting.  It's sit in a quiet corner knitting.

I was quite anxious for the Husky football game on Saturday and watched until the last second when I had to go to rehearsal.  At that point I was stuck checking the score on my iPhone.  And much to my dismay, they lost.  Jake came out there looking awesome but he can't do everything.  Plus which BYU is a good team.  And coming up we host Syracuse here.  All that hype.  They'd better do something!

The Seahawks host San Francisco this Sunday for their season opener.  Tomorrow is the first pro game so I've got to make sure my fantasy teams are set.  The Seahawks released Housh, who I had on my bench.  He signed with another team and I'm not sure how that works out.  I am slammed at work - I'll have to take sometime tonight and get online and get that taken care of.

The weather is crap all week.  I SO wanted to ride in today but it was dumping rain all night.  I woke up four times from the rain.  It's like in May - still warm enough to have the windows wide and so when it rains I wake up.  I hate that.  Thankfully I was able to get back to sleep and I don't feel too bad today.  I can't ride tomorrow either because I've got a quiz to give first thing in the morning.  Friday no ... errands after work.  I feel like a slug.  Maybe I can get out and run tomorrow afternoon. 

I love the long weekend!

It is absolutely gorgeous today!  Blue sky and a few puffy clouds and it's supposed to get up to 80.  I am hoping to scoot out of here a bit early today so I can enjoy it because tomorrow and the rest of the weekend it's going to be in the low 60s and cloudy, maybe even rainy.  I'll find a way to enjoy the weekend, no worries there.  Mr. M is going to be working and, with any luck, my houseguest will be driving home and if not, out at Bumbershoot most of the time so I can have the house all to myself.  I am going to read and knit and that's about it.  Well, rehearse on Saturday.  My goal is to get that blanket finished up and then start a new project.

Last night was the Seahawks' last preseason game.  They lost to the Raiders.  And to add insult to injury, even though I was tired I stayed up to watch it!  I was knitting so it wasn't totally wasted time but still.  Tomorrow is the game I am most looking forward to - the first Husky football game.  They are away, playing BYU.  They have a super tough schedule this year.  Not only BYU but Syracuse AND Nebraska.  With all the hype they are giving Jake Locker it will be really embarrassing if he doesn't come through.  Really.

And then Tuesday starts the school year again.  September is always the toughest month for everyone around here and the first week especially.  I am getting tired just thinking about it.

Dragging

It is the super busy time of year for me when I get to work, turn around twice and it's 5 o'clock.   Definitely it is better to be too busy than not busy at all, but it takes its toll.  I am dragging today.  Part of that is because my houseguest thought it was a good idea to get up at 3 am and make himself some microwave popcorn.  Nice.  That woke me up because the microwave is right below my head in the kitchen.  I got up for a drink of water which in turn woke Mr. M up and he couldn't get back to sleep and started tossing and turning which kept me awake.  Thank goodness it's Thursday and we've got a long weekend.  I plan on doing some sleeping.  It is supposed to be rainy this weekend, which is not good for Bumbershoot.  Hopefully it won't be pouring rain.  I'm not going to be going but Mr. M has a stage and it's kind of a drag keeping all that sound gear out of the wet.

After I got cleaned up and did a little work in my office I plugged in my audiobook - I'm now listening to Tana French's third novel, "Faithful Place" - and worked on the blanket.  It is really close to being done now.  One more 16 row repeat, a final 12 row repeat and 4 garter rows.  Thirty-two more rows.  I can definitely get it done this weekend and cast on for the  Shining Birds Eyes shawl, which I will find infinitely more interesting. 

I would of course love to get out in the garden but I don't have any great hope of that.  I refuse to pull weeds in the rain.  Fingers crossed for just a little more sun so my tomatoes can ripen.  I have lots of Romas, and maybe six Early Girls.