The Blues with a capital B

I was tasked with the job of finding a hotel for a weekend away in Port Townsend.  I think that was in June.  Anyway, my choice of weekends was very limited due to family obligations and other things, so I ended up picking this weekend.  Then when I went looking for a hotel to find two rooms I was having a very hard time and ended up finding two rooms at the hotel farthest away from the center of town.  It wasn't until about two weeks ago that I found out that the reason it was difficult to find a room was that it is the Acoustic Blues Festival weekend.  We are all fans of the Blues so we are all looking forward to this vacation.  Add to it perfect weather and good company and you can't beat that.  I'm leaving at 1 o'clock and we're heading to the ferry dock.  Hopefully we can get on the 2:15 ferry.  Yay for the weekend.

It was of course bloody hot yesterday and I was in a rush after work.  I had to take Tink to the doggie boarding place and they are very strict with their pick up and drop off times.  Then to the dry cleaners to pick up, since they are closed on Sunday.  And finally a quick stop at the grocery store to get a pizza for dinner.  Huff puff ..... and then back home to soak the plants so they will live over the hot weekend and to clean up the mess I had left in the kitchen the night before.  AND I had pulled a broken glass out of the dishwasher so first I had to completely empty it and find the shards.  In the process of doing that I found a piece of the dishwasher on the floor of it.  Hmmm ... where does it go?  It wasn't broken so it must have worked itself loose.  Well, I had no time to figure that out. Besides -- not my job.  By 7:30 I was packed up for the weekend, showered (but hair left wild because I simply cannot straighten it in this heat) and relaxed.  It's weird not having Tinkerbell around though.  I miss her. That being said, I really do sleep well when she's not rooting around on the bed all night.

Well I've plenty to do this morning before I take off. 

How I turned my 1 hour commute into 2 & 1/2 hours

Yes, you're reading that correctly.  Typically I leave here on a 4 o'clock bus, arrive at the garage at 4:30 and get home at 5.  However, last evening as I was waiting for the bus I had to dial in to a conference call meeting.  My bus was a bit late but my app said it was arriving now so a bus pulled up just as I was asked to enter the code for the meeting.  I glanced up, saw the numbers and got on.  It wasn't until the bus pulled off the freeway that I realized I was on the wrong bus.  I had gotten on the 540 rather than the 542.  In a panic, I got off at the very first stop.  That was wrong.  I got onto the metro trip planner and found that I needed to take another bus to the next stop where I could catch a third bus that would take me to the Redmond Transit Center.  Well, I missed the correct bus because I didn't realize I needed the one saying Kenmore.  And when I finally got a bus to the next stop, the Kirkland Transit Center, I had just missed the bus to the Redmond Transit Center by one minute.  ONE MINUTE!  That meant that I had to stand in the 90 degree heat for 30 minutes.  I arrived at the garage at 6 o'clock.  Needless to say I didn't feel like doing anything when I got home.  I was SO mad at myself!!  The dog had already had her walk, so I stripped off and had a nice shower, made myself a big bloody Mary and calmed down.  What a bone headed mistake. 

It's another hot day and I'm very busy.  At least it will go by quickly. 

Caught up

I went to bed early last night and I believe I was asleep before 9 o'clock!  Ahhh, but I'm all caught up now and I feel good.  Noon knitting today will be much appreciated.  I still haven't done a stitch since my great knitting orgy of Sunday.

The heat is getting turned up even more today and each day through the weekend.  I must say, I hope we get an actual winter this year.  I miss it!

I must have been in a bit of a fog this morning because I put in my contacts and I didn't really want to wear them today because of noon knitting.  When I have close lace work to do, it's just easier without them since I wear two different ones.  Ah well, I'll make do.

Football training camp here in Seattle for the Seahawks starts Friday.  And then we're on our way to autumn and football!  I can't wait.  This baseball season has been just horrible and you know I've never gotten into soccer so ... it's a wasteland sports wise.  Not for long.

Pinch me!

Good heavens am I drowsy this morning!  I almost nodded off on the bus.  I don't know why really.  I got to bed at a decent time and I had a good night's sleep.  Probably just not enough since I was down a quart from staying up too late Sunday.  Well I'll just have to try to get to bed earlier tonight to catch up.  This is annoying.

Yesterday went by in a flash!  I hope the rest of the week flies by as well.  I'm looking forward to the weekend in Port Townsend.  And then at the end of August a trip to see my sister.  I was looking for a hotel in Laguna Beach for a couple of nights because there is a big art festival there in August and Sunday the 30th is the last day.  We arrive in LA Saturday at around 4 pm, so we're going to drive straight to Laguna Beach and spend the night there so we can enjoy the art show on Sunday, then we'll stay Sunday and drive back to LA on Monday after the traffic thins.  Well so I was tasked with finding a hotel.  No problem except they are all pretty darned pricey.  Instead I went to AirBnB and found us a beach house to rent!  Awesome!  Right in Laguna Village, walking distance to everything.  We're going to have a great time.   And my nephew is trying to get the football draft set up so we can do it together.  It's not easy getting everyone together - no, we're all over the country but we do it on line and even then, with the time differences, it's not easy.  Fingers crossed.

No knitting last night.  I was just too tired to count.  Maybe some tonight.  I won't be doing any on the weekend, that's for sure.

Things change

I have been waiting for things to pick up and they sure did on Friday.  I have so much work to do this week, which is a complete change from the way things have been these past few months.  I am trying not to get too worked up about it but I must say I'm glad it's finally starting.  I knew people would start getting frantic.  Now it begins.  I have to leave early this coming Friday so everything needs to be finished by then.  At least this one part of the job.  It's very nerve wracking waiting for the unknown, isn't it?  Now I know.

The rain came for the weekend and it was a lovely change.  I didn't get to the garden store.  I don't like to garden in the rain.  I had my hair appointment Saturday and got the shopping done and looked forward to my Sunday.  It was an orgy of knitting, I must say.  Oh I walked Tinkerbell and played ball with her.  I did laundry and baked cupcakes.  I made a complicated turkey meatloaf.  But I also knit and knit and knit and knit.  I am SO glad I changed yarns for the Shangri-la shawl.  I knew I was not into the Jo's Pride shawl and the yarn is much better suited for this project.  I finished the first repeat of the beaded pattern and got a few rows into the next.  It's just beautiful.  And it was a really good day.  I got enough real work done to feel like I hadn't wasted the entire day and enough knitting done to feel like I had a nice rest.  I did stay up a bit too late last night though and I'm SO tired this morning.  But once I get into my work I'll perk right up, I'm sure.

A cooler weekend

Gosh, I'm actually wearing shoes and socks today rather than sandals.  It wasn't even 60 degrees when I got up and out to walk Tinkerbell.  It's a relief, actually.  The hot weather is coming back, I know that, but for now it's nice to be cooler.  And with all of this hot weather so early in the season, it actually feels like the end of August rather than the end of July.

So what's on tap for this weekend?  Hair appointment.  And a trip to Home Depot to get some plants for the patio in front and perhaps some planters for the porch.  I accidentally killed the blueberry bushes - I totally spaced watering them because I didn't do it at all last year - so I've got those two planters to re-plant with seasonal annuals for some color in the front.  That'll be fun.

And, as I said, if I can get all of my chores and running around done on Saturday then I'll have loads of time on Sunday to just knit and knit.  I truly do need some of that zen time.  I need the type of day when I can just sit and knit and let my head fix itself.  Next weekend will be super busy in Port Townsend. I am looking forward to that.

I am all alone here in the office suite today.  Monika is on vacation.  Bill is on vacation and Sandra is off on Friday.  It's going to be very quiet.  I hope I can stay awake.

Sports talk

Ever since I finished up the Outlander series of audiobooks, each one of which was about 50 hours or more, I am running out of audiobooks to listen to before the next credit is available.  I love audiobooks but they can get pretty darned pricey, so that's why I only allow myself one a month which at the club price is fine.  Once in a while they'll have a deal of the day that I snap up at steep discount, but often those are flawed in one way or another.  This last one I got I frankly just didn't like even though I had read some of the author's other books and enjoyed them. So I didn't want to listen to the end of the book and therefore I have been alternating listening to sports talk radio and music on my commute and dog walks.  The thing about sports talk radio is that it is the same thing over and over and over and over again.  Plus I'm really only interested in the football news.  My credit should be available tomorrow.  Now I've got to find a nice loooooong book.  My commute is considerably longer than it was a year ago and so these books don't last quite as long as they used to last.

At noon knitting I got ready for the set up row of the pattern portion of the Shangri-la, version 2.  And last night I did the set up row and purled back.  So I'm only now one pattern repeat away from when I threw in the towel last week.  I should be able to get lots and lots of knitting done this weekend, since Ben is golfing on Sunday.  And the course is on Whidbey Island.  If I get all of my chores and hair appointment and manicure done on Saturday that means I'll have the entire day to knit.  What a luxury.  The following weekend is going to be spent having fun in Port Townsend.  No knitting there at all.

I haven't decided what I want to get myself for my birthday this year.  A spa day?  I can't decide.  But it's fun thinking about it.

When you dream you have a bad headache

Sometime in the night Monday the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped and my head ..... I was dreaming that I had such a bad headache that I was searching around for ice to make an ice pack.  And then I woke up and that was indeed the reality.  It was terrible!  I was awake most of the night with it and stayed home yesterday.  I slept for the greater part of the day, thank goodness.  It's still with me today but not nearly so bad.  I can only guess that the weather change aggravated my sinuses.  Not fun.

What is fun though is getting just what you want.  Yay for me!  I put the Ancient Arts Fingering and the linen yarn on the Yarnbox trade board on Ravelry and found a woman who will trade the Ancient Arts for an older Artyarns box and the linen yarn for the cashmere from the very first Luxe box I missed out on.  Perfect!  I'll pop that in the mail this morning.

Also on the agenda this morning is my annual review.  And this might be my very last annual review, which is pretty awesome.  And it's noon knitting.  It's going to be a good day.

We all have our little dances in the morning and I've talked about that from time to time.  If you miss a step or get distracted, who knows what can happen?  Well I looked in my tote this morning on the bus and what was on top of all of the other stuff I dragged in today?  Tinkerbell's leash!  The logical extension of this is that I put something else on the top closet shelf in place of the leash that lives there.  But I don't seem to be missing anything so ... all is well, so far.

Happy hump day, world.

Haste makes waste

I was in such a hurry to get out of the office on Friday that I forgot to turn off my personal fan!  It's still going, so no harm done.  But I guess that shows just how anxious I was to skedaddle.

It was just crazy hot over the weekend.  Sunday even hotter than Saturday.  I slept in a bit on Saturday and, without coffee because I had forgotten to stop for milk, I set about doing my chores.  When it's hot like it has been Tink is pretty easy.  She's just happy to lay in the grass and once in a while come in for a break under a chair and a drink of water.  If it cools down in the evening, then she'll play for a while.  Otherwise she's content. 

After all of the partying and family gatherings last weekend I was just looking forward to some quiet time.  Chores finished, we went off for some lunch and food shopping.  We had the BEST seafood tacos I've ever had at a restaurant in Redmond where our Trader Joe's is.  We probably could have just shared but we didn't.  Piggies.  I picked up some nice bread and some olives and cheese while shopping for the week and that's what we had for dinner.

I was working on that shawl while we were watching a movie and I finally just acknowledged the fact that I simply am not in love with the yarn I was using for the project.  I love the pattern but the yarn was not doing it for me.  Too many colors I think.  I just don't care for the variegated yarns.  Especially the pink/purple/blue.  So I frogged it!  I'm going to put it up for sale or trade on the Ravelry Yarnbox page. 

Sunday was again CRAZY hot and I'd about had it.  I do not do well with the heat.  I'm crabby and unhappy.  My hair won't dry.  We had to go to the mall but lunch plans didn't work out with Steve and Ginny because we had too many other little things to handle later that day.   When you have lunch with Steve and Ginny it often turns into the rest of the day.  Which is awesome usually but we couldn't take that time.  Ben had an outdoor project going on and I decided I was going to have some ME time and I cast on for the same shawl in a different yarn and got to work on the tedious stockinette portion.  I even brought it with me on the bus.  I am already much happier with this project.

But not much happier in the whole scheme of things.  I need something to plan for.  Work is so up in the air that it's very difficult to make plans so perhaps that's the source of my discontent.  I'll work on pinpointing it so I can fix it!!

The mileposts

How do you keep track of events?  Of time?  I mean, when you are asked a question like "What was the weather like this time last year"? do you think back to a birthday?  Maybe a major purchase - "Hmmmm ... well I bought my car in May and .....".  Mine is, of course, Paris.  And it was CRAZY hot there this time last year.  All over Europe, in fact.  Emma and I just sweltered in Belgium and Luxembourg.    We're heading for another hot weekend here.  Oh joy.

So, time again ... it's weird.  It has now been 12 weeks since I've been to Paris and it feels like AGES.  It feels as long ago as last summer, which I don't really understand.  Perhaps I should stop thinking about time.  It doesn't make any sense to me.

I am leaving work early today.  Ben & I are going out to dinner to celebrate.  We're going the Saffron Grill, one of our favorite places but someplace we rarely visit any more because it's near where I used to live and not easy to get to, especially during rush hour.  But we'll leave early and it won't be too bad.

Sleep is tops on my agenda for the weekend.  And chores and maybe lunch with Steve and Ginny on Sunday.  The following weekend Ben is golfing so I'll have most of Saturday to myself.  Maybe if I work hard I can get the shawl done.  I was knitting on it last night, but then I got distracted and my stitch count got off!  Grrrrr ... then I dropped a stitch as I was trying to fix it.  I brought it in with me and hopefully I can get back on track at lunch.  I won't go to the gym today because we're going out right after work and I don't want to have to do my hair.  I want to git!!

And now there are more

The coyotes were at it again last night and there were more of them howling.  It sounded to me like three of them.  I didn't get much sleep.  Tinkerbell was doing her crawl under the bed and then whine routine.  It is a continuing mystery to me why she does that.  After startling me three times at the brink of sleep I finally got on my hands and knees and dragged her out from under the bed.  And then she slept ON me the rest of the night.  Perhaps there was some thunder way far away because there were also two little cloud bursts.  Needless to say, I am very groggy this morning. Hot tea -- into my stomach or over my head?

I got two rows done at noon knitting and another one and a half in the evening.  I would like to get this project done and the Artyarns project started before my next Yarnbox Luxe arrives.  That's September.  I should be able to do it if I can get some nice quiet time to knit on the weekend.  Maybe not this weekend, since it's supposed to be VERY hot again.  But the following weekend Ben's golfing so .....

I could have chosen better tomatoes

I don't know what possessed me to buy the Early Girl "bush" variety of tomato plant.  I only bought three this year because we had so very many tomatoes last year but they are not doing nearly as well.  Granted, I didn't spray them with Miracle Grow either and it has been beastly hot.  The cherry tomatoes are doing well.  There are lots of flowers on the plant and it's by far the tallest.  The Roma is finally getting some fruit as well.  The Early Girl?  There were one or two little tomatoes on it when I bought it and they are growing and one is even starting to show some color.  But there are no flowers on the plant and it doesn't look like it has grown much at all.  I am disappointed because those are by far my favorite of the three. 

I got some really good knitting done last night as I caught up with a couple of the good programs I have been recording on HBO.  The weather stayed nice - not too hot.  And I got to bed at a decent hour.  In other words I didn't "just one more row" myself into the wee hours.  Then again the coyote woke me howling.  It also makes another weird noise...... still it is a way off in the distance.  But loud enough that it wakes me up!  I did remember that last year I saw one on the side of Avondale on my way to the Transit Center early one morning.  Just standing along side the road.  I think they are kind of creepy.

I ran yesterday!  Thirty strong minutes on the track.  No pain then.  No pain now either.  I thought I'd be a bit sore, but it doesn't seem so.  I think I'll do it again tomorrow and see how I do.  I don't want to over do it, but at the same time I've got to push myself a bit.  It would be really nice to be able to race this fall.

Scary

This is a first for me -- I heard a coyote howling last night!  I have heard them before, in California.  But I have never heard them around my house.  I couldn't tell which direction it was coming from, but it was definitely a coyote.

I left my iPad at work yesterday.   How annoying is that?  My knitting patterns and book are on my iPad.  Yes yes, they're on my iPhone as well but it's not nearly so comfortable using the iPhone in that way.  I had to drive home over the bridge last night.  It's the first time I've done that since I've moved out there and it went well.  The traffic was light, which made it tolerable.  I can't imagine having to drive back and forth in that traffic every day.  I would just hate it.

I didn't get as much knitting done as I had wanted last night. I was tired.  And I spent 45 minutes on the phone with my sister, talking about our upcoming visit. I was in the mood to read but, as I said, not on the iPhone.  Maybe tonight.  The cooler weather has been such a relief.  It is supposed to get hot again this weekend though.

Is Tuesday the most boring day of the week?

I need a rest from the weekend!

Oh heavens what a busy weekend!  I hit the house Friday evening and it was just go go go!  I got the cake made and baked and the mess cleaned up.  And then it was a silly movie and early bedtime.  Saturday morning I had to get up and get the laundry started, my hair blown dry and the frosting made and the cake frosted.  The recipe made WAY too much frosting but what the heck.  It'll keep and maybe I'll make some cupcakes later this week.  The party started at 2 but we got there early and took Tink.  She was SUCH a good doggie.  Didn't run off once.  And there were three other little dogs there and tons of kids.  So she was super happy.  We were expecting clouds but not rain.  But it rained and we had to move everything until the garage until it blew over.  Not a hard job since it's at least a four car garage.  Plenty of room for everybody and everything.

We ate and drank and ate and drank and played and I was ready to go home and go to bed.  I must have been asleep before 9 o'clock!  Sunday we were meeting everyone at the Mariner's game, taking the bus rather than fighting traffic over the bridge.  So we got up and headed to the grocery store to get the shopping done, then I got rushed out of the house, forgetting my hat and asthma inhaler!  Ooooo, I was not happy.  I do not like to be rushed.  I especially don't like having to get up early and then getting rushed.  We ended up getting to the park 2 hours before the game!!  Two hours!!  Granted there's a lot to do at the baseball park as opposed to the football stadium, but still.  I know, it was about the socializing but ..... well, I was a bit crabby.  Our seats were awesome though.  Too bad the Mariners lost so badly.  They were just awful.  We left at the top of the eighth inning.

I stayed up knitting and watching an episode of True Detective.  I didn't have to be at the doctor's office until 9 o'clock which meant I could sleep in until 7:30 but instead I woke up at 6 and stewed and worried for an hour and a half before getting up.  Stupid.  Then I drove in to work and here I am.  It's quiet.  Happy Monday, world.

I almost fell for a phishing scam!

In the morning my iPhone is my alarm clock.  It goes off and I hit the snooze and then wake up while I'm going through the night's collection of email.  One of the messages was purportedly from Apple telling me that a purchase had been made on my Apple iTunes account from a device unknown and that if I wanted to cancel the transaction I should click here.  A few years ago something similar happened to me.  I awoke and found quite a number of eBay transactions on my phone that I hadn't made.  My account had been hacked.  So I clicked on that link but then realized that I couldn't see the address from my iPhone.  You know how when you're on a laptop or desktop computer you can hover over the link and see the address.  But ..... but it was freaking me out that my Apple ID could be out there so I clicked the link and signed in.  Ah, but then there's another form asking for billing address, phone number, etc.  Nope.  I was willing to let it go until I could be sure it wasn't a phishing scam.  The forms and logos were flawless, at least at 6 am on an iPhone screen.  But when I got in to work and logged on, sure enough it was a scam from Australia.  I have changed my Apple ID password just to be sure.  They are going to hook a few for sure.  It's very well done and no spelling errors. 

Hooray it's Friday.  Tonight when I get home I'm going to bake a cake for the party tomorrow.  I will frost it in the morning.  And on Sunday we're going to a baseball game.  It should be fun.  And bonus!  The weather has cooled down some.  What a relief.

A little cloud cover

Oh what a relief!  It's still hot, mind you, but the sun is not burning down.  Last night it was so very pleasant in the garden.  The little evening breeze and high clouds made it perfect.  And actually I think that perhaps the clouds are mostly smoke from the Wenatchee files.  That's not so great.  My eyes were burning yesterday.

I got my first beaded row done at noon knitting yesterday.  There are, I think, three more repeats of those tear drop rows.  It depends upon how much yarn you have left over.  If I can do four I will.  I am itching to wind up the Artyarns yarn and start on that project as well, but I am going to try to resist for a while longer.

My sister is at ComicCon and I am SO jealous!  I told her I'm going to come with her next year.  That's something to look forward to, isn't it?  But first I've got a weekend in Port Townsend at the end of this month which happens to coincide with the Acoustic Blues Festival at Fort Warden.   Nice.  Then the first week of September in LA.  And then .... I just don't know.  But I'm going to push for another trip in April.  Just two weeks this time.  Maybe go to the south of France with Eoghan and Deidre.  Or one week in Italy somewhere and one week in Paris?  Ah well, there's time to figure it out.

A cup of coffee does help

I am sleepy again this morning, but I had my coffee on the way to the transit center and at least I didn't nod off on the bus.  Because Tink is not on the bed when it's so hot I have actually been sleeping quite well, despite the heat.  But it's rather slow around here in the summer and it's very difficult for me to wake up.

Speaking of Tink not being on the bed ..... I have found little puddles on the floor these past few days.  I believe that because of the heat she is drinking more water than usual and finds herself in need of a pee in the middle of the night.  Unfortunately she hasn't barked to go out or ... just thought of this ... perhaps the sound of the fan disguises her cries to go out!  At any rate, I'm going to have to make sure I take her outside before I finally go to bed at night.  Not that I stay up very late, but I'm sure another little piddle at 9 or 10 wouldn't hurt.  I'll give it a try.

Knitting at home is still a no go because it's just too hot.  As is blowing my hair dry.  I can't do it!  Well, maybe if I had a couple of fans blowing on me while I was trying to do it, but it's not worth it.  So I've been wild and curly lately.  I don't mind.  It is kind of nice for a change.  Blowing my hair straight is a hassle in the best of times and in this heat and humidity it's practically impossible. 

I got my first Yarnbox plus Artyarns shipment yesterday.  Oh it's lovely yarn.  I love Artyarns.  I don't really need another shawl but this one is going to be very cute and colorful and oh PS, with beads!  I think I'll check my color selection though because I was sure I had blue as my favorite and I got (more) purple.  I can't keep track.  I am glad I stopped the classic box though.  I have enough projects in the queue.

Missing my caffeine

It was a little cooler this morning thank goodness.  In fact I still have my little lace jacket on.  It won't last, of course.  One of the unfortunately side effects to this heat wave we're having is that I don't really want my normal cup of coffee on the ride to the transit center.  And boy am I groggy today!  I guess I could make an iced coffee.  But this morning my commuter mug was in the dishwasher, running, so it wasn't possible.

Yesterday was hot as blazes here in the office and I was worried the gym would be as bad, but they were cranking that AC, so it was tolerable.  And I must have done something right because I can hardly stretch my arms above my head.  I am very sore.

It was too hot to knit last night, of course.  The evening breeze never showed up yesterday so I didn't even go sit in the shade.  I probably won't do it tonight either.  My next row is a beading row and I need to be in a good, well lighted space for it.  At least for the first one.  Noon knitting tomorrow will be the place.

I still can't wake up.  Time for another cup of tea I guess.

A very hot long weekend

Oh my goodness.  I am going to try my best to NOT complain about the weather but it's going to be very difficult.

I did get to see Jane on Thursday because she picked me up at a point I could get to easily and her ex-husband (don't ask) then drove me back to Market Street where I could catch a bus back to work.  Nobody missed me.  It was that quiet.  Besides, the administrator had told everyone they could knock off early.  My plan was to take the 2:40 bus and get to the nail salon by 3:30 so that I could get the manicure and pedicure done before the long weekend.  That was not to be, unfortunately.  The bus was late, packed with summer school students and then it broke down.  Before it reached the transit center.  We waited for another bus to take us to the transit center and by the time I got to Cottage Lake it was almost 4:30.  I rescheduled for first thing Friday morning and I headed home.

So I was up and out early on Friday and then we worked.  I cleaned the house and it was a sweaty job in that heat.  In the early afternoon I finally collapsed and had a little nap, then we went out to play cards and I lost.  It's just friends and we don't play for much, therefore I only lost a few dollars.  But it's not very fun when you can't get ONE win!  Then we stayed up much too late reading so that we slept in on Saturday.  I am not complaining.

Saturday was another project day and we worked in the garage and shed, putting garbage into the truck for a last(!) trip to the dump and donating the rest of the things to Ben's niece who sells it.  Fine.  Great.  It's gone is all I care about.  We were planning on going to Gregg's for the 4th of July party but frankly, the heat was just killing me.  It was the very last thing I wanted to do - get into the car and drive 45 minutes each way to hang out in the heat.  Plus Tink is so freaked out with the loud noise.  The pills the vet gave us this time, an anti-anxiety, worked very well for her.  I'm pleased.  They didn't just dope her up, but instead calmed her down.  I do feel guilty about miss that party though.  I'll give him a call today.

So on the last day of the 3-day weekend we again started out with labor.  This time a trip to the dump.  Then all of the shopping for (at least) the week - Costco and Haggen.  And then I washed my vehicle and I was cooked.  Ben wanted to work on the privacy screen in the front but it was by that time (just after noon) on its way to 90 degrees.  Insanity.  We put the fan on and watched the baseball game and then later in the day the Women's World Cup.

I am going to swelter all week in this office.  It's going to be crazy hot for another week at least.  I am sick of it.  Sick.

It was a long day

With a party to go to at the end of the day, I had to take the bus to the transit center rather than drive.  It's been a while since I've done that and I forgot how that second bus ride seems to make the commute that much longer.  I was sleepy when I got to work, so I had a nice latte to start my day. 

Noon knitting in the conference room was tolerable.  I was afraid it would be too hot but it stays cool enough in there in the morning.  I can't imagine I'm going to be able to get any knitting done this weekend unless I can find some quiet time in the morning.  My guess is that we're going to be up and out doing something or going somewhere.  Gregg is having a party on the fourth and they're setting up a stage outside and he wants me to come up to sing.  I am undecided. 

I left work around four, thinking I'd take a slow bus downtown (with air conditioning) and then find a place for a drink while I waited for the others to arrive to go to the party.  Well I had it partially right -- the bus was slow but the air conditioning was nonexistent and I was pouring sweat by the time I got off.  I found a nice bar though, full of people watching the soccer match.  I ordered a nice martini and then I am thinking I should probably have some little snack so I don't get too high before the main event.  I didn't want fries or nuts or scotch eggs - something healthy, I'm thinking.  Well, they had crispy Brussels sprouts on the menu so I ordered them, feeling so virtuous.  But they were just unrelentingly bitter.  I couldn't eat them.

The party was fun but too many "in" jokes.  It is to be expected since it was the going away party for the CEO.  I managed to keep it together.  And I had a great night's sleep.  My prize for being such a good girl.

This morning I'm going to take another try at getting to see Jane.  This time she's picking me up at a point I know I can get to.  Wish me luck.

A real cluster you-know-what

I had an appointment yesterday at lunchtime to see my friend Jane.  Since I never ever drive in -- the traffic is just too crazy -- I had to take the bus.  Now normally this is not an issue, because she meets up with clients in a friend's house off of Greenwood.  But this time she's doing her appointments at a boat at the Elliott Bay Marina.  I did my usual Metro Trip Planner research and found the bus I had to take.  But when I got off the stop I had somehow forgotten I had to take a second bus.  I thought I could walk the rest of the way.  But you can't and I got mixed up despite my best efforts with my Google Maps, and then another bus picked me up and further complicated things.  Long story short, I just had to bale and head back to work.  There is a bridge involved.  And I can't walk over that bridge, I had to take a bus.  That's what confused me.  You don't see it on the Google Maps app.  I was SO angry with myself.

And it was mayhem when I got home with all of the doors and windows wide open.  Tink had a great day though, since the workers had to have the windows and doors open, she got to spend the day out in the yard in the shade.  She didn't even want to go for a walk when I got home!

This heat is crazy.  I think we've got at least another week of it.  I have been sleeping a lot better than I was at my old apartment though.  That's something.

Maybe I'll nail down the trip to LA today.