Hello Friday!

Why is February always such a slog?  Okay - no football.  What else?  Well, it's done anyway.  Here's hoping March will be better.

The drinks party last night was pretty fun, although the guy buying the wine had only TWO bottles of white wine, both pretty awful.  Red?  Oh ..15 maybe.  And they looked much better.  But I wasn't in the mood for red wine, so I choked down a glass of mediocre sauvingnon blanc.  The cheese selection was quite good, with a nice piece of boucheron, my current favorite, and a local Camembert that was also quite tasty.  The fun part was designing the T-shirts for the trivia team.  I though my design was the best, of course.  It incorporated the three art spires and the creek on the front, then the back was the logo of Thornton Place and underneath a most awesome slogan (I thought) for a trivia team - "We're smarter than you".  J  I thought it was much better than Keenan's, another resident in my building, which was simply a white T-shirt with the Thornton Place logo and the slogan - "It's not ghetto".   Frankly, I don't think either of us will win.

Tink got a nice walk after that and then I had time and energy to knit four rows on my Hitofude.  What a gorgeous gorgeous project this is.  And the lace pattern is very easy to memorize, so it's TV knitting now.

I was very good about doing my exercises for my foot yesterday and I am amazed how much more flexible it is even in one day.  I made a little chart so I can keep up with the heel raises, etc.  I wore tennis shoes twice yesterday and by the end of the second 2 hours my foot was quite sore.  The trick is not over doing it and that's going to be difficult this weekend.  If I can just get through this without re-injuring it ... Patience. 

I found someone on Ravelry to trade my February box for the January box, so I'm going to frog that cute hat I made and then I'll have 200 yards of the beautiful silk with sequins.  I don't know yet what I'll do with it.  It's not enough for a top and I don't want a beret, so a summer stole is most likely where I'll go.

It's supposed to get cold and snow this weekend, but right now it's bright and beautiful.  I wish I was on an airplane.  I do have the little four day weekend to look forward to in April and I get to go to Nashville in June!  It's a meeting and a very busy one at that.  But I think I'll be able to go out the night I get there, since I'm going west to east.  I have never been to Nashville so I am super excited about it.  But it's a long way to go.  I still have the hope alive for a trip to Europe in November, but this is going to depend upon what I hear at the meeting with my lawyer in a couple of weeks.  I'm not holding out much hope at this point. 

Oh happy Friday!  Fingers crossed for a fun weekend.

It was bound to happen

I got my February Yarn-Box finally and wouldn't you know it, it was the one color that I did not want.  I was so disappointed!  But I have posted on the ISO thread and I've got a couple of options.  I could get another January box and have more of that gorgeous silk with sequins, although it won't be enough to really do anything but a beret .... I can't decide.  But I've got to do it this morning.

Yesterday was my first Physical Therapy appointment for my foot.  I learned a bit more about the injury, which was not described to me accurately.  It is an avulsion fracture, rather than a chipped bone.  An avulsion fraction happens when the tendon which is attached to the bone is over-extended and tears a bit of the bone away.  This makes so much more sense to me because I didn't have any injury to the soft tissue that would suggest a smashing or crushing to cause a chip.  I remember pitching forward on the sand and my foot must have been caught.  So we worked on stretching the foot and manipulating the toe and walking normally, and then I was given a list of exercises and things to do.  I get to wear a normal shoe -- well, a tennis shoe -- on my left foot for two hours at a time during the day twice.  BUT I can't go outside and walk in it, just around the office.  And at home I can ditch the boot except when I go out to walk Tink.  Needless to say I was in a world of hurt when I got home.  I didn't want to take any pain medicine until after I had done the PT.  I iced it at home and it seemed to calm down.  It did not bother me during the night, so there is hope for a smooth recovery.  I won't say rapid, because it can't happen soon enough for me!!  Have I mentioned how crazy I'm going?  Yeah?  Have I?

Noon knitting was great - it was sunny and I got four rows done on my Hitofude.  I didn't do any last night and probably won't tonight either.  There is a drinks party at the apartment complex and also a T-shirt design contest for trivia teams.  That will be fun!  Hopefully the pub will be open soon and we will have trivia nights over there.  Or maybe they're going to have them in the Great Room.  Either way it'll be fun.

It was nearly 60 yesterday but the cold air is coming back and we might even have snow this weekend.  I can't be any worse than last weekend!  Oh ... this is funny.  When I was checking into the hotel Saturday I overheard the woman saying to another customer to let her know if they needed anything else, and she mentioned a footstool among the regular items.  I was kind of confused about that one until I got to the room and saw that the bed was SO high even I nearly needed one.  That's a new one for me though.

The world is full of idiots

Or maybe I'm just crabby again?  No.  Here's the deal.  A new type of paper towel dispenser was installed in the ladies room.  There are instructions printed on the front of the thing including pictures.  You don't even have to be able to read English to use this thing.  Using both hands, pull down on the paper and it will tear off and a new portion will automatically pop down.  How many times have I gone into that ladies room and found no towel hanging doing?  In that case, of course, you have to turn the crank to make a towel pop down.  And then you can clearly see how someone tried to rip the towel.  Oh ... it's just too stupid.  I don't know why those things bother me, but hey ... what can I do? 

This morning at 9 o'clock I get to start Physical Therapy for my broken toe!  That is good news and made getting out of bed much easier today.  I have been practicing at home walking without the boot.  It's not pretty, I will guarantee that.  I just want to get back into some real shoes.  My choice of outfits is greatly reduced when I have only a few pairs of flat shoes or boots to wear.

Tink was 100% fine yesterday and quite frisky.  I guess most dogs react that way when they get fed something new.  I got a few rows done on the Hitofude after chores and such.  I wanted to read - I am back to a two book backlog and I just got another pre-order on my iPad Kindle Reader, so I've got to buckle down and finish one of the two I am currently reading.  Maybe tonight I can stay awake long enough to read a couple of chapters.  At least I do listen to audio books and my current listen is quite good - The Luminaries.  I am going to hate for that to end.

Have you noticed how light it is these days?  It was light enough for me to wear my sunglasses this morning.  Well, not the dark dark ones, but sunglasses nonetheless.   Just a few more weeks and we turn the clocks again.  The only thing bad about that is that I can't walk Tink in my jammies at 7 o'clock.  Ah well, small price to pay.

Stuck in the snow

My appointment at the doctor went fine.  No surprises.  The x-rays show the chip just as it has been.  The swelling and bruising is nearly gone, so he prescribed physical therapy to wean me off the boot and to normalize my gait and I'm to see in him another four weeks when we can talk about my starting running.  I don't know that I'll wait that long though.  Let's see what the PT says.  I've got to make an appointment today.  Hopefully they can get me in here at the hospital, which would be most convenient.  The good news is that I don't have to wear the boot around the house, which is nice.  I am working hard on NOT limping.  And I was given the go ahead to wear normal shoes at the party Saturday night.

Saturday Tink was dropped off at the Doggie Resort and away we went up to Bellingham, in the rain.  But the rain was rather thick and we didn't get too far north until it turned into snow and then, in Bellingham proper, snow.  But it wasn't sticking on the roads and in fact quit in late afternoon.  We met up for cocktails before the do, and then headed in around 5:30.  There were quite a few good things at auction, but most of the ones I was interested in (spa visits, etc.) were good only in Bellingham so nothing worked for me.  By the time we got out of there, around 9 or 9:30, the snow was back and coming down pretty good.  We made it back to the hotel just fine but in the morning we were stuck.  It had snowed all night and it was still coming down.  So there I was, in Bellingham with nothing to do (the movie theatre at the mall was closed!).  Do I regret not bringing my knitting?  Oh, I was kicking myself from here and back.  I had good reasons not to bring it.  I had just done the one row after doing the provisional cast on and I thought it would be a bit difficult to be knitting on the Hitofude, size 4 needles, in a moving car.  I had no idea we'd be stuck.  Gosh, I could have gotten the sleeves nearly done with an entire day to knit.  But instead we walked to the mall where I bought myself some new PJs and I got SOAKED.  My boots, my pants, my socks - all soaked.  Except the sock on my ortho-booted foot, since I had wrapped that in plastic.  But I was in for the day.  Thank goodness for HBO.

They had salted the road by the time we were ready to head out on Monday and as I suspected, we were just fine once on the freeway, although it was very wet.  We got Tink around noon, I did some grocery shopping and then spent the rest of the work day at home.  I had a few things to handle but I could easily take care of them from home.  And I'm glad I did say home, because Tink was awfully sick.  I hadn't brought enough food for more than the 24 hours I thought she'd be there, so they fed her something else and it did not stick with her.  She threw up twice, drank water and threw that up as well!  She was down all afternoon.  She finally felt better around 5 and even played fetch when we got back from our walk, so I think she's okay.

I got two vertical repeats done on the Hitofude yesterday evening..  Oh my goodness, that Madeline Tosh yarn is just gorgeous!  I am so glad I splurged.  I suspect the drape is going to be awesome as well.  And that's what this garment is all about.  Hopefully I can get two more done tonight.  It's not exactly TV knitting.

A little lifting of the spirit

I don't know what it was -- the sunshine or something - but I started to feel a little less crabby yesterday afternoon.  It wasn't raining and I needed fresh vegetables for salad, so I took the bus up to the store, stopping into my LYS to buy a silly, furry pom-pom for the hat.  And then there I was, standing in the sunshine and I thought how lovely it would be to walk the mile back to work.  My toe wasn't hurting much and oh, wouldn't it be fine to walk down the Ave and look into the windows and ... and then reality smacked me across the face.  So I went instead back up to the bus stop and called it good.  I mean really - I was actually considering walking back to work!  The good news is that I stopped myself.  You know, this is just the type of thing that made it such a long painful process to rehabilitate my ankle in 2004.  Gosh, 10 years ago.  But it was a painful lesson.  I hurt my ankle in November, right at Thanksgiving time.  And I kept re-injuring it because I didn't take it slow.  An injury that should have taken 8 weeks to heal ended up taking more than four months.  So I am proud of myself that I did not over do it yesterday even though I was feeling quite well.  Today we will get another X-ray and see what's what.  I wish it felt a bit better, frankly.  But if the doctor can give me permission to start getting out of this boot I'll be very happy.

I finished up that cute hat last night.  It is adorable!  Especially with the pom-pom.  Pictures will be posted.  I believe I did something wrong with my decreases though, because my stitch count was off and I just had to do three rows with the single yarn and the pom-pom does cover it up.  The brass sequins in the silk yarn, Stargazer, adds such a nice weight to the thing.  And soon I'll get another YarnBox - like probably this weekend. 

After the doctor I will wind up the Madeline Tosh and maybe start casting on.  It's going to be a fiddly cast-on for the Hitofude because it's a provisional cast on.  It calls for the crochet version but I prefer this version.  It worked well for me in the past and since there are quite a few stitches to cast on I'd rather do it this way than picking up stitches from a crochet chain, especially with fingering weight yarn!

Hooray for Friday.

A fig scone

Every once in a while, if there is no line at the coffee stand, I'll stop for a latte on the way to my office.  Today I really wanted a coffee and, as luck would have it, there was no line.  I ordered my tall skinny and as I was waiting, scanned the pastries and saw something delicious looking.  Now that's something I VERY rarely do, ordering a pastry with my coffee.  However, who could resist a fig scone with flax and sunflower seeds?  You?  I thought so.

I had the best of intentions to finish up the little hat last evening.  However I was encouraged to try "House of Cards", a political drama starring Kevin Spacey that is a Netflix original program and has just started its second season.  I watched the first episode last night and am completely hooked.  I couldn't knit while I was watching that, but afterwards I worked on it for about an hour until I was too tired.  I did indeed run out of the Pixy Mini, but it is at the very tippy top of the hat so I will just keep on with the single thread of Stardust.  If I elect to get the furry ball for the top (I know, it sounds silly but looks awesome) then it will cover up the lack.  I'll assess the look tonight.  Maybe I'll make a pom-pom myself.  Or skip it all together.

I just got an email regarding the fundraiser I am attending Saturday.  The one with the formal dress code.  Ooops, says the email, it's not formal after all.  Casual/nice dress.  Really?  Seriously?  Two days before the event?  I am wearing my new dress.  Screw it.  If I'm overdressed I don't care.  That's just ... well, it actually makes me a little angry.  But oh well.  At least it wasn't the other way around.  I had a day to shop.  There's nothing worse than having to go out and get a special outfit in just a couple of hours.  As we all know - that never ends up well. 

I am getting excited about the doctor visit tomorrow.  Although, truth be told, I seriously don't feel like I should be in real shoes yet.  I am anxious to see the X-ray.

And I win AGAIN!

The Appeals Court acted very swiftly and denied the opposition's motion to reconsider.  The swiftness of that response says very definitely that they are done with this case.  The only thing left for this now is the State Supreme Court, which does not hear every case petitioned. We wait to see if they will petition the Supreme Court.  It seems very silly from my perspective, but it would, wouldn't it? 

It was pouring rain yesterday but I had to get some dog food so at lunchtime I took the bus up to Petco.  I would dearly have loved to walk the mile up and back but that was out of the question.   Thankfully the clouds went away and blue sky showed up for the late afternoon, so our walks after work were rather nice, if a bit cold and windy.  As long as the snow stays away, I'll be happy.

I was expecting to finish the little hat last night, but I had forgotten that I had left my notions box and therefore didn't have anything to hand to use as a marker.  This hat is being done on large needles and paper clips won't work.  I didn't feel like making four markers - yes, a bit lazy last night.  I can finish tonight.  I actually got a bit bored and went to bed super early to read.  I did have a pretty great night's sleep.  I'm still a bit blue, but rested.  Maybe tomorrow I can wind the Madeline Tosh.

I made reservations for a little get away on April.  Just a four day weekend.  And I've got my sister's visit to look forward to in late March.  I have in the back of my mind to run the 5K on May 4th at Seward Park.  I wonder .... if I get the go ahead to start training next week that would be 10 weeks and I'd for sure be ready.  But that's a big IF.  I still can't bend that toe so .... yeah.  But it's something to shoot for!

Short week

I do so love a long weekend!  And I especially like it when we get the Monday off when most people do not.  It just seems a little extra special that way.  My plan for yesterday was to shop for an outfit for the fund raiser this Saturday.  I thought I'd better go for the shoes first, since I wasn't even sure I would be able to find anything suitable.  Of course I found tons of higher heeled shoes I really wanted but that's to be expected.  The first pair of shoes I thought would be good did not work.  I couldn't get my left foot into it without a lot of pain.  But then I found several that could work and finally a pair that I just LOVE!  Black suede, pointed toe, gold heel (about 2 or 3 inches) and a little ankle strap with a bow in the back.  Just adorable.  Then it was on to the dresses.  I started at Macy's figuring I'd start there, then Nordstrom and, if all else failed, a trip to the Rack.  There were lots of nice dresses at Macy's, I tried on about 10 of them and ended up with a nice Calvin Klein dress.  The zipper, on the outside, is gold which will go nicely with the shoes.  It's not too low in front and fits closely and then flairs a bit at the skirt.  I really like it.  Success!  I was very happy.

And so I had the entire rest of the afternoon to do laundry and knit.  It was very cold and windy, but Tink got a few walks in as well.  I finished up the Color Affection but I'm going to have to block it somewhere NOT my house, because of its odd shape.  I simply don't have the floor space.  I did buy the Madeleine Tosh for the Hitofude on Friday.  I couldn't resist.  I found a beautiful plum and they had exactly 3 skeins of it left, so I splurged.  But before I wind that up and cast on, I thought I'd make the little hat that came with the cool yarn from my last YarnBox - the Knit Collage yarn.  It's a chunky knit and the yarn with the sequins is SO soft and gorgeous.  I got quite a ways into the hat.  I'm just about ready to do the decreases.  The thing is - I don't think I'm going to have enough of the Pixy Dust.  I did not check my gauge.  Well, I'm just going to continue on and if I have to do the tippy top with just the sequin silk yarn, then I'll do that.  It's very cute.

I have discovered True Detectives on HBO.  I watched an episode on the weekend - the 4th I think - so I wanted to start from the beginning.  Wow.  I just love Matthew Mcconaughey and Woody Harrelson is good too.

I think I've found a place for a little get away in April.  I just don't know if I can get reservations so that's on my list for today.

The toe - still broken.  I tried yesterday to walk somewhat normally with the boot and that was a huge mistake.  Ouch ouch ouch.  I see the doctor on Friday.  I cannot believe he's going to say to take the boot off but I so wish he would.

Happy Valentine's Day

And a full moon to boot!  Wow!  I am expecting a lot of crazy action today.  Grand romantic gestures gone wrong -- that kind of thing.  That's not very nice, I know.  But hey -- think about the state of mind I've been dragging around this week. 

I am glad for the holiday Monday.  My goal is going to be to find an outfit for the party next Saturday.  Obviously I'm not going to be able to wear any of my nice, high shoes.  So I'll have to get a pair of lower heeled shoes and hope I get the go ahead to step out without the boot.  And then -- I'll need to buy a dress to go with it.  Oh there are much worse things, right?  Who doesn't like to have a reason to buy an entire new outfit?  And it'll be right after Valentine's Day so I'll bet there will be plenty of nice dresses on sale.  Maybe I'll get a red one.  I haven't had a red dress in ages. 

I follow just a few blogs and one of them, Knitting like Crazy, comes up on my reader when I log in to write in my own blog.  Jen was one of my Secret Pals from a long time ago and now she's a successful author.  She wrote "Sock-Yarn Shawls".  Anyway, she has been getting into knitting sweaters.  This I can understand because I can't seem to get away from my shawl/wrap addiction and frankly, my closet is stuffed to overflowing with them - all gorgeous of course.  And my dressmaker's dummy likewise is draped six deep.  She, Jen, mentioned in a post a couple days ago that she made a sweater and liked it and thought she'd try another.  She had a link to Hitofude and cautioned that if you clicked on it you'd want to make it.  Sure enough -- try it.  You'll want to make it too.  It appeals to me because it seems that it would be much like making a lacy shawl but hey .. it's a sweater.  It calls for a fingering weight yarn with some drape to it.  The original used Madeline Tosh Merino Light.  I am going to indulge myself and buy something gorgeous and yummy for this project.  A silk blend.  Maybe cashmere and silk?  I don't know.  But I'm going to get it.  Jen suggests Hazel Knits Divine, which I have never heard of.  I will do some searching today.

It was blustery and a bit cloudy this morning, but not cold.  Where has our winter gone?  The rest of the country is freezing and snowy.  We are lucking out again.  I did spend a bit of time yesterday during the TWO exams I had to proctor (and oh, my foot was freaking killing me after the second) trying to find a little get away for April.  The trains are not convenient for a trip to Vancouver, BC - one train each day leaving at 6 am.  Nope.  Likewise going up into the mountains to Leavenworth.  I'll figure something out.  Even just thinking about it and looking around helps the mood a bit.  Not like getting out and running, of course, but what can I do.  Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait ...

Sunshine and clear skies

The weather is doing its best to cheer me up.  This is the second day in a row that it has been cloudless and beautiful in the morning and one can clearly see that the days are getting longer.  In fact, I wore my sunglasses HOME last night!  That's something.  Plus it's very mild, even though it's windy.  I don't expect it to last since it is still very much winter.  But it's a nice respite and it should help my spirits.  Although I can't get out and enjoy it today since I have to proctor an exam from 11:45 to 12:45.  Well ... I suppose I could go out for a nice stroll after the exam.  And I'm leaving a bit early for an appointment so, if the clouds don't move in before 3:30 I should be able to enjoy a bit of a hobble in the sun.

Yesterday was noon knitting and very sparsely attended.  An hour knitting with two is just as therapeutic as 5, but not quite so chatty.  I miss our larger group.  I was thinking last night that I need to pick a Sunday and have another finishing party.  I've got plenty to finish .... still.

Next Monday is President's Day and we get the day off.  My chore is going to be to find something to wear for the party the following Saturday.  Something that won't look utterly ridiculous with flats since I very much doubt I'll be able to wear nice high heels.  I will try - you know I will.  But in case it's not possible I should have a back up outfit.

Tink did not ask to go out last night but she did manage to step on my foot.  A glancing blow but it woke me, that's for sure.  Woke me out of an epic dream - trying to get home, on horseback.   I ended up in Alaska.  I guess I took a wrong turn somewhere.

As expected ....

It was two years ago this month that I went to trial for my divorce.  I was, of course, hoping that winning this appeal would finally put an end to this nonsense and I could get my settlement and the ex could get on with his life.  But no.  He has filed a Request to Reconsider with the appellate court.  It is a stalling technique, obviously.  He can't be so stupid as to think that the three .. THREE .... judges would read the same arguments presented before and say ... "Oh gosh, yes I guess we were wrong.  That first judge didn't know what she was doing".  I did finally read their opinion and there was no wiggle room.  They unanimously agreed that the original judge did not abuse her powers and that she made a logical and correct judgement.  Obviously he has plenty of money.  And I have plenty of time. 

The rain held off yesterday afternoon, for the most part, and I had a relatively easy trip up to the grocery store to get the last few ingredients for my first try at cauliflower soup.  It is a simple recipe with just a few ingredients and, despite the rich and creamy flavor, a tablespoon of butter is the only fat.  It is SO good I could hardly believe it.  This will definitely stay in the recipe rotation. 

I am quite disappointed with CenturyLink and I've started measuring the speed at different times in the evening.  I'm going to do this for a few days in a row and then, armed with facts and figures, give a call and see what we can do about this.  They promised me that I would have better connectivity than with Comcast and that I was not sharing the 40mps, like I was with the Comcast service.  At this point I definitely do NOT have a better connection.

Tink woke me up at 2:30 am for a potty.  She did it on Sunday  .... Monday am ... as well!  What is up with that???  I gave her the regular 7:30 walk each of those evenings.  I cannot figure out why this happens.  And with the foot it is doubly annoying.  But she definitely needs to go.  She goes out the door, runs straight across to the gravel and lets go.  Then right back to the door and upstairs to bed.  She falls right back asleep, of course, and me?  Not so much.  Ah well - I was only a few minutes late.  Everyone else here is late today.  Or not coming in at all.  I hate this time of year.  (Did I mention that before?)

What I know

I know part of the reason I'm feeling terrible is that I can't get any exercise.  But knowing WHY I feel bad doesn't make it any less real.  At least I remembered my pain meds this morning.  Now if they would just kick in and start working .....  It's good I live alone.  I suspect I would drive someone to drink (besides myself that is) with this attitude.  Yesterday at lunch I hobbled around outside for 30 minutes.  It wasn't raining much.  Today I am going to limp my way up to a small grocery store to get a few ingredients so I can make some cauliflower soup tonight.  Last night for dinner I had toasted ham and cheese and two martinis.  I think I'll try for something a little healthier tonight.  I found a recipe for cauliflower soup that sounds really yummy.  It is soup weather for sure.

My next appointment with the doctor is the 21st, which is the day before I have a fancy party to attend.  I would be SO thrilled if I could wear real shoes rather than this boot.  I simply don't know what I'm going to wear if I have to wear the boot.  How utterly ridiculous would I look in a nice dress wearing a boot on one foot and ... what? ... flats on the other?  I might as well stay home.

I didn't do any knitting last night.  I probably should have done more knitting and less martini.  I am a little disappointed with my CenturyLink WiFi.  I'm going to take readings for several nights in a row before I call them, but I am not getting anywhere near the 40 mps of speed they promised me.  I know there is always a difference between the advertised speed and the actual speed but I am not able to AirPlay a DVR'd show.  I was sure I had done it before but when I tried these past couple of nights it just wouldn't work.  I have the Seahawks and 49ers game that I saw in Mexico recorded.  I would like to watch it again.

So - enough of my crappy attitude.  Today I'll look hard for a different one.  If you were me, where would you look?

In the insult to injury column

This morning it is pouring rain.  It's been raining since yesterday afternoon - which in itself is good because it snowed Saturday night and the rain is washing it away.  But I am still in this horrible boot and will be for the next two weeks.  In order to keep my foot dry I had to put a baggie over my toes.  Such a terrific look. 

I'm not in such a fabulous mood this morning, in case it's not obvious.  I got soaked walking Tink this morning and then I left my pain pills at home.  I always forget in the morning - I feel good you see - and then I walk the dog and the pain starts.  Ah well ...

So Friday was the doctor.  We took more x-rays and the chip is quite evident but it doesn't look so much like it's in the joint, but rather right next to where it should be.  The doctor says this is because of the initial swelling.  I again voiced my concerned about letting that chip float around in there, especially since I am going to be running.  He assured me it should not be a problem because of all of the tendons and ligaments around the toe keeping it in place.  And anyway, says he, if it starts to bother me when I start rehabbing in earnest we can just take it out.  So I guess I'm okay with that.  If I can go without the pain and expense of surgery, why not?

These first few weekends without football are always difficult.  Saturday morning Tink went to the groomers and I got rid of my Comcast equipment.  I put that antenna up on Sunday and it was dead easy and I got quite a few channels besides my regular big networks, all HD and all free.  I wish I had done this a long time ago.  Think of all the money I could have saved.  But it's done now.  I saw some Olympics coverage Saturday and Sunday and then I'm re-watching all of the season 1 and 2 Sherlock episodes because the season 3 episodes are playing on PBS.  I wanted to re-watch the first six before I start the latest 3.  I don't know why.  Because.

I also got tons and tons and tons of knitting done on the Color Affection.  Obviously I couldn't do a thing outside in the snow.  I have four or six more rows of the tri-color short row bit and then it's just the edging.  I'm going back and forth about making it a ruffle.  But I probably will.

I really dislike this time of year.  Although I did notice that the sky was just a teensie bit lighter this morning even with the rain.  I must plan a holiday for April before I go mental. 

Wow! Is it ever cold!!

Once again we're in the grips of some super cold air.  The skies are clear and I woke up to 19 degree weather.  Yipes!  That is well below freezing.  The building maintenance crew was out early salting every little frozen puddle - and there were plenty.  It looked like the outdoor plants were watered recently since there were frozen trails from each one. 

I made it through an entire day at work yesterday.  It was painful and most of the day I had my foot elevated.  The hardest part, actually, was walking the dog.  I should have used a crutch but that would be quite difficult.   I didn't do much around the house in the evening.  My big thing was getting my hair blown out!  I have been having to wear it curly ever since my trip.  In Mexico it was not possible to blow it out - too hot and humid.  Last night was my first chance.  And that's about all I did except walk the dog.  Oh -- I did get unpacked at last.  Then I just crashed on the couch and played with my Apple TV.  There's plenty on there plus I can AirPlay anything from my iPad.  I don't miss Comcast at all.

Tonight I'm going to do a little tidying up and get the laundry going.  And then I'll knit to my heart's content.  I am going to move the Hearts, Vines & Flowers shawl to one of my super long Denise cords.  Right now I have it on a cord with a couple of additions and it came apart on Tuesday and I had a devil of a time getting it back onto the needles.  I am pretty sure I messed up a couple of stitches.  So that's my goal tonight.

The city was crazy yesterday with the Super Bowl parade.  I wouldn't have wanted to be there, but plenty of people were.  Like 700,000.  People were taking their children out of school!  Some of the private schools simply closed for the day. 

I have only one more thing to say.  Ouch.

The Seahawks

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.  It was such a beat down.  And SO different from the first time they were at the Super Bowl and I was watching from Paris, trying to stay awake.  This time there was no snoozing!  And my friend who owns the pub in Paris was texting me.  His wife is from Wisconsin and he was saying the only reason the Seahawks were in it was because the Packers weren't.  Ha!  At the bus this morning there were people in their colors getting on the downtown bus to get ready for the big parade today.  I'm glad I'm inside.

Ooooo because it's COLD!  This morning I had to get up at the regular time and hobble around and take Tink out for her morning walk.  It was not easy.  I haven't really walking around without at least one crutch except for a short walk yesterday with Tink.  It was glorious to get outside and walk but then I wasn't in any hurry.  Hurrying is a bit of a challenge.  She was good and didn't pull much.  I made the bus in plenty of time. 

So here I am back at my desk.  I'm glad it was busy last week while I was working at home or this would be even more of a shock than it already is.  I was getting used to sleeping in.  I guess it's been a while since I've had more than a one week vacation, hasn't it?  That's sad.  Well, I've used up all my vacation and I'm starting with zero this January, so I'm going to save it up!!  I like having a two week vacation rather than a little long weekend or just a week.  Next time it'll be at least two weeks.

This day starts off with two meetings and then noon knitting.  I brought my latest YarnBox in to show.  It is two yarns from Knit Collage!!  Gorgeous and soft and sequins.  I'd better get a little bit of oatmeal down before the meeting.

Getting close

I am still telecommuting but I am intending to get into the office tomorrow. I did not use my crutches yesterday around the house, although I did not do much walking around.  Oh I SO wanted to go outside and hobble around with Tink, but it is very cold and icy so I did not.  Tonight it is back to my apartment and I will have to take care of walking her. But it won't be so treacherous.  Frankly I am getting more than a little stir crazy.