Footsore

This is being done on my iPad, so everything runs together. It can't be helped. We woke up to a gorgeous, sunny day today. This hotel is so nice and quiet compared to where we were staying in November! However there is some work being done on a building nearby so the jackhammers were going. Just as well, since we didn't want to miss any of the sunshine. We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower since it had been a long time for both of us. We took our time, trolling through shops on the way. Of course it was very crowded there but we posed for pictures and strolled through. Emma had forgotten her sunglasses and there was a spring market set up by the river. She got glasses and I bought a lavender sachet woven with ribbons. Onwards we went, shedding our coats, stopping for lunch when we got out of the crush of tourists. After lunch we continued on to Champs Elysee. I wanted to stop into the big Sephora, which we did, but turned right around and left. The crowds were too much. We did find where the Marks and Spencer has relocated, which is good. But they had the heat turned up so high we couldn't stand it. I suggested we get out of the crowds and head back to the hotel, stopping for a drink on the way. And he we are. The wind is picking up but it is supposed to be nice again tomorrow so I think we will go to Sacre Coeur. I need to buy a bottle of good champagne to take to Joan's tonight. She is cooking dinner. Swordfish. She is a pretty good cook. Usually. Emma just asked "Do we have to stay all evening?". Oh I hope not!

Sunday in Paris

A gorgeous evening after a very rainy morning. Emma missed her train, so I spent the morning wandering through a market, then helped Joan with shopping. Here is a picture I took last night from the window of the apartment she is staying in. You can see how cloudy it was. But still. Nice.


My hotel is pretty quiet except for the mating pigeons who are going hard at it. I thought it was humans at first.

I am happily sitting at the pub, watching the world go by and wondering what I should have for dinner. I will be on my own since Emma won't get in until around 10. Or who knows? I might be able to round up some company.

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A quick post from the train

Well this has been a pretty eventful few days. I was awakened by a phone call from my lawyer a couple mornings ago giving me some extraordinarily good news. I never dreamed it would be this good! So I am very happy and my faith in the judicial system has been cemented. I want to say a public thank you to my wonderfully patient friends for listening to me for these long months.

It is Saturday morning and I am on the train heading for a few days in Paris. I will write more and post done pictures when I can use my iPad. Now there are crying children and I need to plug into my book and watch the countryside go by.


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From Normandy

Well I am WAY out in the French countryside. For some reason I have enough signal to post a few lines. It has been very windy but it is calm tonight.

I am having a super vacation despite the weather. I even managed a few rows on the Whisper Cardigan while I was cooking dinner tonight. I will be more prolific in Paris. Tomorrow is our last day in Normandy.
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Here's the picture

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A swan nesting

Yesterday evening the rain stayed away and it was just beautiful. The taxi ride to dinner took us past some fabulous spring gardens in bloom. The restaurant was historic and beautiful and just perfect. (oooo thunder!) Clouds rolled in again in the night but the morning was a perfect spring day. I decided to walk to the park and just see where I would end up. At one point I was by the Round Pond .. I think that was it, but maybe the Serpentine something. Anyway, I came upon this magnificent sight. Oh shoot! I just realized I can't add pictures when I am posting from my iPad. I will do it separately. The swans were very frisky this morning. Except for the one on the nest. I went through the park and found myself at Harrod's. But that place is so huge. Every time I go in I last about 10 minutes, then give up and go back outside. The weather was still nice so I kept walking and ended up in Chelsea, where I had lunch. Then the weather came and I decided taking a taxi back to the hotel would be a prudent move, even though I did bring the umbrella. Now I will rest a bit, then maybe knit until the rain stops again. It won't be a late night since I have a big travel day tomorrow and need to be at the airport around 9 am.

Hello rainy London

It is just a little after 5, and I have a few minutes before I need to finish getting ready for dinner. Yester was a looooooong day. My flight wasn't bad.... A little bumpy but I did get a few hours of sleep. I was met at the airport by a very handsome man, and good thing too because my suitcase weighs a ton! It was sunny for the entire train ride in to London and then pouring rain. We got soaked on the way to the hotel. It is raining now again. Not that I care. I am going to have a fabulous time no matter what the weather is doing. I had a little nap. I feel a million times better. Now I need to get dressed.

Woohoo

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I am the worst packer in the world

Let's not kid ourselves.  I am just terrible at it!  There was a time in my life when I was quite proud of my packing skills and I even traveled around  Europe for three weeks with only a carry on sized bag.  But you know what?  I got pretty sick of those clothes, and I did not enjoy washing my socks and underwear in the sink and having wet clothes strung up all over the hotel rooms.  Not at all.  Now I just take what I want.  This time I did completely omit the accessories and jewelry which is surprisingly heavy.  But I brought plenty of other stuff to make up for it.  Thankfully I have a larger suitcase AND I had room to pack my little duffel bag so I can use it for carry on when I come home.  I am carrying some things for people this time - Eoghan's wife asked me to bring him to special salad dressing, and I had to bring some things for the daughter as well, and then it's Emma's birthday next week so there are a few things in there for her.  But mostly it's clothes for me.  Did I bring too much?  Probably.  Do I care?  Not one little teensie bit!

Now I'm going to have to make it through this entire day and it's going to be tough.  Thank goodness I've got noon knitting to look forward to.  I can hopefully finish up that cardigan.

I'm too excited.  I'd better settle down or I'm going to be a basket case by the end of the day. 

Another sleeping pill trial

And the results are much different than the last time.  I had a early hair appointment after work.  Dana is leaving this morning for Thailand and so she was trying to get her last appointments done before she had to leave.  Of course I brought Tink in with me because it makes for too long a day if I leave her home and she loves being at the salon and getting all the attention.  Even though we started at 3:45 it wasn't until some time after six that we actually got out of there and headed home.  I had some nice fresh salad at home, so I just picked up a little pizza and that would be dinner.  While I was carrying on a conversation with my sister I got us home, upstairs, my laundry sorted and into the machines and even went down stairs and reloaded my laundry card, all the while keeping up with the conversation.  Kelli rolled her ankle last Thursday which has seriously curtailed her Pilates activities so she finds she's got a lot of time on her hands, especially since Mike is back from making the pilot.  I had to cut her loose though so I could play with Tink and get my salad put together.

I had a nice bottle of Malbec I had picked up at Trader Joe's on Saturday so I opened that and did  a couple rows on the cardigan  while I was waiting for the laundry to be done.  Tink got another short walk around the garden while the clothes were drying, then I had to get my diner ready since it was getting late -- for me anyway.  I got all my laundry done and folded.  No point in putting it away since I'm going to be putting most of it into a suitcase tonight anyway.  So it was around 9 by this time and nothing on TV so I thought I would have my shower and get ready for bed, pop a sleeping pill and watch Firefly on my iPad until I fell into a deep sleep.  Unfortunately it didn't quite work that way.  It took much longer to get to sleep this time.  I don't know if it was that I took the pill to shortly after eating ... and I didn't eat much, just a little plain vegetable salad and 3 small slices of super thin pizza.  And the wine.  But for whatever reason it did take much longer for me to drop off.  I sleep soundly but the alarm at 6 was not going to happen.  I turned that one off and turned my iPhone for 6:30 wake up and even that was a toughie.  Groggy is the word I would use to describe my state of mind , even now.  And I as seeing double at the bus stop.  I'm going now for a second cup of tea and maybe some hot oatmeal will shake me out of this.  The good news is that I'm flying into an airport I am not completely ignorant of.  Even if I don't get met, I should be able to keep it together enough to get onto the Heathrow Express.

I got an email from my girlfriend I'm meeting up with in Bayeux saying she's been checking the weather and it's not going to be nice, so I should bring appropriate things.  I'm guess that means how I've been dressing around here lately - layers and long sleeved T-shirts and fleece hoodies.  You know.  Seattle sexy.  ;-)

Ok. Time for more tea and some food so I can come down!  woo ...

That's how it's supposed to be!

How many times have you worked through a beautiful week only to have the clouds move in Friday night and have a soggy, dreary weekend?  Too many times to count, I'd imagine.  Well, this weekend it was the opposite.  It's drizzly and yucky today, but our weekend was so nice!  Not warm exactly, but sunny at least. 

It's very different getting ready to travel mid-week.  I'm really looking forward to it.  There will be many more "professional" travelers and fewer families going on vacation, which is going to make for a better travel experience all around.  I had a super relaxing weekend and then things will start to pick up as I head towards take off on Wednesday.  Tonight will be laundry after my haircut.  Well, I should say partial laundry because I'm going to have to do sheets and towels for the house sitter Tuesday night while I'm packing, which won't be much of a chore. 

Tink was groomed on Saturday morning so we didn't get much of a walk.  I tried to make up for it yesterday and it was no chore, since it was sunny and nice.  We were less than half a mile from the lake when we came upon a cute little dog out having an adventure.  He let me get close enough to pick him up and I found his tags, but no owner's phone number.  There was the phone number for the microchip company so I called them, but all they had was the rescue group who had originally micro-chipped him and they weren't picking up the phone.  So I put the dog down and Tink and I followed him, hoping he'd lead us to his house or we'd find the owner out searching.  After a couple of false starts we did find his owner.  Happy ending.

In between girls night and just general lazing around, I got a good bit done on the Whisper Cardigan.  I am getting near the end of the ball of yarn and I want to just keep knitting as long as I can.  The trick is going to be holding out enough yarn to bind off but not waste any.  I am thinking I've probably got two or three more rows left.  Friday I found a cute pattern for fingerless mitts that I think I'll use for the travel project.  How many trips have I taken this particular bag of yarn and needles along, assuming I'd get some knitting done?  I've lost count.  But better to have it with me.  I have been looking at the forecast and it doesn't look like we're going to be in for any fantastic weather, at least not in the near future. 

Happy Friday

This has been a long week and I am SO glad it's Friday.  There are so many things I want to get done this weekend and I have a girls night to look forward to tomorrow too!  I think I'll go out tonight for a change.  I really wanted to go last night but I talked myself out of it with the promise that if I still felt like it, tonight would be the night.

I visited the doctor yesterday morning and got some good sleeping pills.  I tried one out last night and it worked great!  I needed a baseline study, so no alcohol and a moderately empty stomach.  At a friend's direction I took it 30 minutes before I wanted to be asleep.  It took me a little longer, more like 60 minutes, but I fell into a gorgeous sleep and didn't wake up for 7 hours.  Perfect!  I feel rested, not at all groggy.  Therefore I am quite confident I'll be able to sleep on the plane.  It's the sitting up that's the hardest part, but if I can get an aisle seat on the correct side of the plane so I can lean AWAY from my seatmates, with the aid of the pill it should be a snap.

I still have one chore hanging over my head with regards to the tournament, which I hope to solve today.  My errands on the weekend are easy.  Tink is getting groomed on Saturday and I'm meeting up with the house sitter to give her keys and the final instructions on Sunday.  I'll do a little laundry on Monday and pack on Tuesday.  I'm in good shape.  I have been checking the weather on the coast.  So far this week it is an awful lot like Seattle, but you know what?  I don't care.  Just being able to spend a whole week with my friends is going to be awesome!  Eoghan is the type who loves to plan tours and I'm all over that.  I am thrilled that I don't have to pick and chose the sites.  He's also the type who will have read up on everything and will not be shy about sharing his knowledge.  And if there's something I'm not keen on seeing, I am perfectly content to curl up with a book or go walk on the beach alone.  And the evenings will be great!  We'll take turns cooking, although Eoghan is very  keen to use the barbecue so he's hoping for warm-sh (or at least not rainy) weather for that.  Deirdre has been dreaming about the seafood platters.  And me?  Cheese. 

And ... and before this marvelous week I've got a few precious hours in London to look forward to.  And oh, I am.  Looking forward to them, I mean. 

How rude this this?

I bring my lunch to work and eat in our little lunchroom after my run every day.  Usually I have my iPad with me and I play Scrabble or my boss stops by and we chat.  It's not a big table - it seats four people - and sometimes other people are there eating, but rarely.  There is a postdoc who typically eats his lunch a little later than me.  Tuesday I came in after my run and he was there and just putting one of his containers into the microwave to heat it up.  As he was doing that I set a place for myself at the table and retrieved my yogurt from the refrigerator and took out something from the freezer to cook after he was done with the microwave.  He saw what I was doing, immediately stopped the microwave and took out his dish, gathered the other two dishes and left the lunchroom!  Left rather than sit at the table and eat his lunch while I was there!  As if I was going to talk to him or something equally heinous.  I used to think he was a nice guy.  Not any more.  He wasn't even subtle about it.  He could have finished heating up the dish and pretended he was intending to eat it in his office all the time, although he had set himself a place so that would have been hard to pull off, but certainly worth trying rather than being so obviously rude, don't you think?

Hoorah for Peggy's sharp eyes.  Yesterday at noon knitting I was working on the Whisper Cardigan and Peggy spotted a hole, which at first I thought was just a wrapped stitch that I hadn't picked up correctly, but upon closer inspection I saw that it was indeed a dropped stitch!  Yikes!  She put a pin through it and last night I got it woven through the six inches I had knit since I dropped it.  That was a chore, but it would have been a disaster if I hadn't caught it!

It is a gorgeous day today.  I stopped by my Doctor's office this morning to get some sleeping pills so I can sleep on the plane and be all rested up when I get to London.  It was difficult turning that car towards the office.  It is a gorgeous day today.  Not too warm, but it may heat up before the day is over.

The search for a May race

I am still looking for a suitable 5K to run in May and I am not having much luck.  I really like running the Top Pot Donut 5K because it's around Green Lake, but this year it's on April 29 and I'll be in Paris. The next race I've found in Seattle is on Mother's Day at Magnusson Park, which I think would be a really great place for a run, but once I did a little more reading about the race I decided to pass on it.  It's called "Run like a Mother", because it's on Mother's Day.  It is going to be too much a "Mommie and Me" type of event though, I can just tell from the posters.  Not that I have anything against mommies OR kids, but this is a women's only race so it's bound to be full of those types of women with the strollers and the big dogs who hog the track, or the fat walkers who spread out and give you dirty looks when you try to squeeze by them to RUN, like you're cutting into their Sunday stroll.  It's just an aggravating experience all around, so I'm going to have to keep looking.  I may have to spread out and go over to Redmond or Kirkland.  Or .... wait until something comes up in June.

I must say it took me a while to get back into the swing of things yesterday and I ended up forgetting one project entirely until I was reminded last night by a student.  So that's first on my list today.  Those drugs ... wow.  The memory erasing part is quite impressive.

Besides work things that need to be handled before I leave in ... one week! ... I have been working on getting the venue and catering set up for the tournament in August.  I sent the contract in for the tournament and talked to the caterer yesterday only to find out that there will be an extra charge for the picnic area where the dinner will take place.  I am doing my best to keep the cost of this thing down as far as possible because it's going to be hard to get people to come who are not golfers, so I've got to get back to the pro shop and see if we can make a deal regarding the picnic area.  Other than that, I'm set for a few weeks on that front.

I was hoping to get a few rows done on the Whisper Cardigan last night but I didn't even get to touch it.  My evening was just eaten up.  My bus was late getting home, and by the time I finished my workout and shower it was time to walk Tink again, then I was just sitting down to dinner around 7:30 and I got an email about some work, which I had to take care of right away.  After that I sat down to go through the mail and relax and I just felt like reading.  But I'm almost done with it, so it'll be done for sure before I leave.  And I've got noon knitting to get a good bit done today.

A very different Easter weekend

The title says it all.  It was out of the ordinary.  I hadn't realized when I made this appointment that it was the Monday after Easter Sunday.  So there was no ham for me.  No eggs or candy.  In fact on Sunday there was nothing after 10 am except juice and jello.  The good news is that the weather was spectacular!  It was warm and sunny.  On our afternoon walk on Sunday I wore sandals and a shirt -- no jacket!  Spring finally. 

Since I wasn't participating in any family events I had plenty of time to knit and made great headway with the Whisper Cardigan, although on Sunday I had to take out two entire rows because I had knit a nice garter ridge.  Lucky I found it when I did and it was only two rows and not more.  Oh how I hate to tink back with lace weight yarn!

Yesterday is mostly a blur.  The drugs they give you .... wow.  My friend Monika picked me up around 1:30 or so, I ate half a sandwich while she walked Tink, then I slept until 6, got up for a couple hours and walked Tink and had a couple bites of ice cream and fell asleep for another two hours.  By that time it was 10, so I watched some Firefly on my iPad and conked out again around 11:30 and slept the entire night.  I have a headache this morning though.  I am going to have to use my last two fizzy tablets.  Luckily I'll be able to replace them in just over a week!

This is going to be a busy busy week and I am grateful for that.  I am getting super excited about my trip, especially now that the weather is starting to feel more like spring.  I might even be able to run without a jacket this afternoon!

Friday at last

This has seemed a long long week.  I have been so busy at work.  I remarked at lunch yesterday that it felt like Friday, because I was so tired.  Someone thought I was anxious for my vacation, but I explained that I don't like to rush the days up to vacation.  I like them to go slowly because then I can hope that my vacation days go just as slowly.  I know ... doesn't make much sense but what can I say? 

I am happy to report that I have finally been able to get to the body of the Whisper Cardigan.  Last night I measured and I was right at 2 1/2 inches.  I got the first set of short rows done before bedtime so this weekend it should really move right along.  I had made a teensie little mistake in the ribbing, which I pointed out at noon knitting Wednesday.  I was urged to take it out but it's 1X1 ribbing!  On small needles with lace weight yarn!  What a nightmare.  And as luck would have it, it is the collar portion of the garment so it won't be noticeable anyway.  Even if it were on the waist it wouldn't be noticeable because it's black cashmere -- which has a little halo that would make it virtually invisible. 

This day should go by quickly and I hope that I won't have to run in the rain.  At least there is no wind ... yet.  It is Easter weekend, but I don't have any lovely Easter plans.  Instead I am home prepping for a doctor's appointment Monday morning.  It's nothing  - just a routine baseline study.  But not a fun prep, from what I hear.  I should get lots and lots of knitting done, especially Sunday.

Well ... I've put it off long enough.  I'm going in!

The door to the hall, Pt. 2

I was surprised last Friday to find a notice on my door telling me that the apartment building was now owned by another company.  All of the staff had been changed over night except for the maintenance staff, which are now headed by another person.  As I suspected, the extra weather stripping around the door did very little to dampen the noise of the slamming, especially when the door is flung closed behind one, as my neighbor down the hall is in the habit of doing.  Yesterday afternoon as I was coming home from my walk with Tink I stopped in to try once again to have it fixed.  As luck would have it the property supervisor was visiting, and she's a very nice woman.  I explained the situation and how the maintenance man had put a band aid on it and made it clear that the mechanism needed to be replaced.  You  know the saying - A new broom sweeps clean.  I am counting on really and truly having a silent door very soon. 

Yesterday was my mid-week day of rest.  No running at lunch because of noon knitting, and no after work work out either.  Walking the dog was it yesterday.  In fact, I didn't even knit, although I am very close to being able to bind off the ribbing.  Maybe tonight I can finish it up and start on the bottom.  I took it to noon knitting yesterday and got a couple of good rows in.  I want to make the ribbing portion a little smaller than called for, as I said, but I think 2 1/2 inches is the very smallest it can be.

Work is very busy and I am thankful for that.  It is always difficult when I have a nice trip to look forward to.  I find myself messing around and day dreaming rather than keeping to task if I don't have a big project to work on.  But now I have several things that I really  need to get together before I leave so the days go by quickly and I'm tired at the end of them.

I got a bit of bad news yesterday.  My trip to Portland for that meeting in June is in jeopardy.  These departmental budget cuts are terrible and my boss wants me to be able to go to the meeting but he dropped by to suggest that this might not be the best time to go and perhaps next year would be better.  I told him he'd better watch what he promises me because they typically go between the US and Europe with these meetings, not that I would mind at all having to go to Amsterdam for a meeting in  June.  It's still up in the air.  I sent him the program and the workshops I'd like to attend.  I'll find out before I leave anyway and if it doesn't work out, that's okay.  I am going to have a nice week or so with my sister to look forward to this summer.

A little disappointing

I really wanted to get the ribbing done on that cardigan last night, but when I re-measured it I found I'm at least 1/2 an inch away from being done.  That's not a huge amount, and I'm cutting it down from the original 3 inches it asks for to 2 1/2, partly because I don't  like the collar that large and secondly because I don't know that I'll have enough yarn if I don't.  But the 1X1 ribbing is oddly messing with my elbow.  I only did about one round and it was feeling a bit tweaky.  I can do all of my upper body workout without so much as a twinge -- push ups, curls, presses ... no problem.  But that back and forth with the knit and purl is not comfortable.  I have brought it with me to noon knitting and maybe I can finish it up there.  I really want to start on the body!

Another reason I wasn't able to do much is that Tink was in a chase the ball mood and it lasted for quite some time.  Thank goodness for that long hallway.  She runs back and forth for as long as I'm willing to keep throwing that ball.  Silly thing.

Today is the monthly curriculum meeting but I'm going to skip it.  I have so much work to do and I don't want to waste 1 1/2 hours in that meeting when there's nothing that I'm really involved in being discussed.  I need to leave at 2 today for an appointment and I have a few things I want off my plate before then.

I got a nasty surprise on my run yesterday.  When I came into work it wasn't bad, and definitely not raining or blowing, so I didn't even bother checking the weather before I got dressed and went outside.  Bad mistake.  It was raining AND blowing, but I didn't want to go back inside because I doubted I had the strength to turn back around after I got a hat, so I went off in the rain.  I warmed up, but I got wet.  It wasn't pouring, but definitely more than a sprinkle.  The wind and chill is back, although I heard on the radio this morning that Sunday is supposed to be sunny and 60.  We shall see.

The bra mystery

I don't know a single woman in the world who likes to shop for bras.  It is frustrating business.  The reason for this is simple and I cannot understand why it hasn't been addressed and fixed.  The reason is that no two bras fit the same.  EVER.  On Saturday I was shopping and took six bras in with me to try on.  Six bras of the exact same size and three from the same company.  Each and every one of them fit differently ... or rather one of the six fit and the others did not.  How can that be?  You have two measurements - the cup size and the circumference of your rib cage.  Inches are inches.  It's a functional piece of underwear!  Why should there be so much difference?  When I do find one that fits correctly I buy one of every color because you can bet that the next time you come to shop for a bra that model will be long gone.  I used to have the same problem with running shoes but I am happy to find that my wonderful Nike Free Run is still around and this time I can just buy the shoe rather than spending an hour trying a million new ones.  Well .. now that I've gotten that off my chest ...

Yesterday was such a busy day that I didn't even realize the morning passing by and before I knew it, it was time to go for a run.  Thankfully no wind and no rain!  We even had an extra mild evening.  When I took Tink out at 7:30 it was 61 degrees!  Freaky.  It's back to normal --  normal being in the 50s -- but hopefully we are done with the cold, windy days.  I noticed so many trees starting to leaf out and all of the cherry trees are blooming.  I am SO looking forward to the park in London in a couple weeks.  It's going to be gorgeous.

I tried to finish up the ribbing on the Whisper Cardigan last night but after working on it Saturday and Sunday I had a sore elbow Sunday night, so I took it easy last night and when it started to twinge I stopped.  I should be able to finish it up and bind off the collar stitches tonight so that I can start on the bottom.I remember the rest of the sweater going quickly after that point.

I cannot believe here it is April and still no word from the court.  Just crazy.  I have stopped compulsively checking my email.  I guess when it comes it'll be a big surprise.  Let's hope it's a good surprise.

And a welcome goodbye to March!

Despite the crazy bad weather, I had a wonderful weekend, but I can't say I'm sorry that March is history.  Friday I did get to run at lunch since it wasn't pouring at that point but on the way home the wind picked up and it was FREEZING!  Miserable cold.  Saturday it was coming down in buckets again, so I put Tink into her raincoat and off we went for a walk.  I couldn't last longer than 90 minutes and even she wasn't that keen to keep on walking.

My first item of business this weekend was checking out the venue for the tournament this summer so off I went to the golf course.  I noticed people playing when I got there, all dressed up head to toe in waterproof gear.  I came find out there was a little tournament that weekend!  What luck, huh?  The course itself was just beautiful, especially with the cherry trees blooming.  It is on Lake Ballinger just a few blocks from where I lived while I was in high school and my friends had homes right on the lake, so I spent many hours gazing over at that beautiful golf course, which was private back then, and wondering what was in there.  Now it is open to the public and just as beautiful as I had thought it might be.  So I picked up the contract and later this week I'll talk to catering about our meal.  They have a lovely spot down by the lake, which I am considering.  The only thing I can see at this point is that it is quite a ways away from the bar, but I'll have plenty of time to figure that out.

I had an errand up north near Alderwood Mall, so I continued north and after the errand stopped at the Rack just to poke around.  And then after a quick stop for groceries I was home.  On Friday night I had steeled myself and picked up those 200 plus stitches around my cardigan so I had a nice afternoon knitting.  I should have been doing laundry but I just wasn't in the mood.

My house and Tink sitter came over on Sunday to check the place out.  My concern was that her work schedule wouldn't be flexible enough for her to be able to limit the time Tink is alone to 9 hours but it is, so hoorah!  I really like this girl and I am very happy she's going to be taking care of my place and my dog.  I told her the stories of my last house sitter and she was aghast.  "You mean he moved the furniture and didn't move it back??!!"  Perfect.

I had a little correspondence with my friends in France this weekend and I am starting to get super excited!  I've got a few things to pick up for them, which is lovely because I was killing myself trying to think of suitable gifts, especially for the 15 year old.  You know girls that age can be all over the map.  I didn't get to the bookstore this weekend, but I will.  

One of the best things that happened this weekend was that my friend Gregg, the man I was singing with last year, finally called.  He wants to start up again, which is awesome news!  He's been trying out a few configurations and thinks he's got a band for us but wanted to double check because I do not like playing with this particular drummer.  But no matter, I'd just like to start singing again - with him or with a band, doesn't matter - so he's going to talk to his guys this weekend and we'll go from there.  Unfortunately I don't have a free minute before I leave either this coming weekend or the next, so it'll have to be when I get back, which I consider to be super timing.

I downloaded a new album this weekend.  I have been hearing a song by Mayer Hawthorne that I just adore and so I thought I would love the album and I do!  It is such fun music and I love his voice.  I am going to suggest to Gregg that he do this song.  I think it would suit his voice to a T.