Move it to the spring

I was thinking about the trip to France in January.  I got to thinking, if we move it to April or May we can stay two weeks (or more) rather than a quick in and out in January.  I contacted my friends who live in Paris to see if we could go with them to a gite.  They typically go away in April somewhere and this year it's to a place near Beaune.  So we'll do a week with them in Beaune and then a week in Italy somewhere.  The planning is nearly as fun as being there.  The anticipation.  I am SO happy!

It must be the students causing the incredible traffic.  Last night my bus never showed up and I ended up waiting 30 minutes to get the bus to the transit center.  Then it took me 45 minutes to drive from the transit center home!  I didn't get home until 5:40 and usually I'm there about 10 to five.  And this morning ... bumper to bumper all the way to the transit center.  The bus filled up at the transit center and after a couple more stops and people standing in the aisle right on top of each other he had to skip some stops.  Insane.  Thank goodness this is my last year.  I won't have to put up with that ever again.

It's another busy day.  Have I said how much nicer it is to be at work when I am so busy?  It definitely is.  And today is noon knitting as well.  Only one meeting today and two tomorrow and ... ta da ... none on Friday!

Traffic

Holy cow -- what a terrible morning.  The traffic is a mess.  I guess there was an accident and one freeway was closed.  Even though the accident was on I-5 it impacted my commute.  My bus was late and then the traffic was crawling across the bridge. 

Yesterday was a busy and early day.  Monday I have an 8 o'clock meeting so I have to catch the early bus so I can get settled in with a cup of tea before the meeting starts.  It was a long and boring meeting and I was so tired.  But the weather has been gorgeous ... still!  Blue skies and warm temperatures.  At noontime Kate and I walked up the Ave to have lunch with Sundsten.  That was a nice treat.  I think we will go visit him - the long promised girlie weekend we have been talking about.  Ben is going to be away on business and so it's a perfect time for us to take off for the weekend.  And October -- we'll be able to pick mushrooms!  This time I'm going to leave Tinkie home.  it's too hard to visit him with her because he has a cat and she just won't leave that cat alone!

Do nothing Monday lived up to its hype.  Ahhhh ... I had some left over soup and heated up some foccia and called it dinner.  I didn't need to watch the football game because neither I nor my opponent had anyone in the game.  And I lost.  But not quite so badly as last time.  I had over 100 points!  But Marshawn went out of the game early and he's injured.  We just don't know how badly yet.  That could be the death knell for my team.  Fingers crossed he's not badly injured.

I got lots and lots of knitting done on the blanket this weekend.  I finished up the first of five grey bands and started on the first of four magenta ones.  Oh ... it is going to be super soft and super warm and gorgeous!  But I've got 4/5ths left to go.  A long ways.

Thwarted!!

I just want a cup of coffee!  I was super efficient and quick this morning and decided to start my Friday off with a latte from Starbucks.  But when I got there there was only one barista and a line and I couldn't wait so off I went to the Transit Center.  I figured I would grab one at work on the way up to my office.  Nobody in line in front of me. Yay.  I got my order in, paid and ..... fire alarm!!  Geez!  So now I have to wait until the fire alarm is done so I can go down and pick up my coffee.  Sometimes you really have to work for it, ya know?

I left work early yesterday so I could get home and get organized before my 5 o'clock meeting.  That meeting went until nearly 7 pm.  What a long long day that makes.  And we are all so confused at every level with this new curriculum.  I had a dream that I was lost.  No wonder, eh?

I am hoping to make up a lot of points this weekend, since the Seahawks are playing the Bears at home and we have Kam Chancellor back.  My season is not over but I do need a win this weekend, for sure.

And that's about it for the weekend plans.  I want to knit and watch football and that's about it.  Maybe wind some yarn.  Boring?  Maybe.  Relaxing.  Oh yes.

I have GOT to plan a trip

Yes yes I know I just got back from a week in California.  I mean I need to plan a trip to France.  I would, of course, much prefer to go in November.  But I can't - again.  What I can do is go in January and incorporate MLK birthday holiday.  I know people think I'm crazy for going to Europe in January but honestly, it is SO much nicer to be there off season.  A few days in Paris, maybe an overnight to Epernay.  Well, now I can start planning.

So it's now officially autumn.  Well, as of yesterday.  We're still getting pretty nice weather but it's getting colder at night and it's downright cold in the house in the mornings.  I am ready for winter this year.  I am ready for some cold weather and fires in the fireplace.  And getting snowed in. 

Something is going on with Yahoo this morning.  The page won't load, my email won't load.  Odd - it loads up okay on my iPad.  Maybe I should re-start Firefox.

I got three rows done on my blanket at noon knitting yesterday.  Maybe tonight I'll wind up some of the magenta Wool Classico to have ready.  Before I start the stripes though I've got to figure out how I want to do it so it matches.  I know how many yards of Fez makes six inches and I want the blanket to be 60 inches long by 50 inches wide.  And I have enough Fez, the gray color, to make 45 inches.  So - just a little math and I'll know where to put the stripes and how large to make them.

I have my 5 o'clock meeting tonight so I'll be leaving work early.  I am glad the Thursday 4 o'clock meeting was moved to Wednesday mornings.  I will get home early enough to get Tink walked and settled before I have to concentrate and ignore her.  Maybe I'll have time to get a pot of chicken soup on.  Yummm 

A busy weekend and a few days working from home

The party Saturday was a success.  Lots of people, lots of food, only a little sprinkle of rain earlier in the day, and Tiki torches at night!  I woke up Sunday feeling terrible though.  And I don't get hung over, so what was going on?  Well, my throat had been sore for a few days and Sunday morning is was blazing.  I did a little cleaning, a lot of football watching and went to bed early.  I had an 8 am meeting Monday but at six I knew there was no way I was going to go to work, so I ended up working from home Monday and Tuesday.  I'm here today.  I don't feel 100% but I am sure I'm not contagious so .... and it's Noon Knitting day.

I got more good work done on the blanket this past weekend as I watched the Seahawks lose.  Again.  My fantasy team?  TANKED!!! I am last for the first time in years and I am not happy about it.  I hope to have a better week this week.  I got on the waiver wire and got a couple of new guys.  But the Seahawks starting 0 and 2!  Terrible.  Thank goodness Kam Chancellor is back this morning and we're playing the Bears at home  Sunday.  Hopefully things will turn around now.

I have lots and lots of work to do, of course.  And I just wish I could crawl under my desk and sleep.  Ah well ....

And the air turned blue

Our night stands have a very handy feature.  There is a panel at the back that flips up to reveal a plug, and there is a cut out to allow the cords to come out.  Perfect for plugging in your phone, iPad, etc.  I plug my iPhone in and lay it on the table and I plug my iPad in and put it into the drawer because there are other things on the table, like candles and a little dish for lip balm, etc.  So, this morning when my alarm went off I picked up my iPhone, the cord snagged my glass of cranberry juice on the table and tipped it right into the drawer on top of my iPad and various other things in the drawer.  I was SO mad at myself!  What a boneheaded move.  Poor little Tinkerbell was rudely awakened by my cursing and running around.  What a way to start the day, eh?  There's no place to go but up.

I went home yesterday after noon so that I could work late taking meeting minutes.  Part way through the first meeting my cursor turned into a two headed arrow and I couldn't save the document or do anything!  I was so frustrated.  It spontaneously fixed itself but not until I was part way through the second meeting.  So I've had to bring my laptop in with me this morning so I can sort out those meeting minutes.  Needless to say they're not going to be very coherent because I was trying to fix my computer.

Big doings this weekend what with the party on Saturday and football on Sunday.  I just hope I can get some sleep on Sunday morning.  If I don't the week is just going to suck.  Ideally I'd like to have a few hours to knit and watch football and do absolutely nothing else.  Let's plan on that, shall we?

Still sleepy

It's not quite so bad as yesterday, but I'm still so tired today.  I think I was asleep by 9 or 9:30.  Tink got me up around 2, but even so I must have had a solid 8 hours last night, and maybe a bit more.  I think the fact that I haven't been able to go to the gym for the past few weeks might have something to do with it.  Next week I should be able to get back on some kind of gym schedule.  Or I might have to resign my membership and start running again at lunchtime.  I'd like that but I'm not sure my foot would.  Yes, it's been nearly two years and that toe is still not quite right.  Perhaps I should address that issue.

I got a couple of rows done on the blanket at noon knitting, but I wasn't much interested last night.  My hand was a bit sore from all of the knitting I have been doing lately.  Plus the blanket uses a bit bigger needle than I'm used to -- a size 9.  That's not huge, but most of my project have been on 2's or 6's.  I am only a 10th of the way through that thing so I'd better suck it up, yeah?

Thursday night football -- I decided to sit Peyton Manning and go with Sam Bradford this week in hopes of making up for that loss.  Maybe Peyton is done.  I just thought he'd have one more good year in him.  We'll have to wait and see.  The Seahawks have another tough game this week as well, Sunday night at the Packers.  They are going to be out for revenge.  Plus we've still not got Cam Chancellor back. 

Today I go home at noon so that I can work from home in the afternoon and take minutes at the 4 o'clock and 5 o'clock meetings.  Maybe I can get a mani/pedi in there before I am back on the clock.  I sure can't do it Saturday, since we'll be getting ready for that party.  Too bad the salon isn't open on Sundays although Sundays are not easy during football season.  I might have to push it to next week if she can't fit me in at 1 o'clock today.

Sanity

Ahhh ..... finally I am feeling organized and on top of things.  It was a wild ride there for a while.  Now I am organized and, hopefully, I can keep things that way.  It is not fun having so many balls in the air.  I have a little bit of breathing room this week.

I got a reprieve -- I don't have to find blue yarn for that blanket.  The maroon will work.  I think it'll look better that way.  I didn't work on it last night though.  There was too much going on regarding this party this weekend.  And it looks like we're going to luck out on the weather too!  The extended forecast shows 73 and partly sunny.  That'll work.

I am just so tired this morning and I had a good night's sleep too!  I think it's partly because it's darker in the mornings now.  And it's not going to be getting lighter for quite some time.  The good news is that I don't need my sleep mask.  The bad news is that I cannot wake up! 

Because we are serving do it yourself sandwiches at the party, I went up to the Ave yesterday to look for squeeze bottles for condiments.  The store had no bottles but I did find a Mason jar, which I have been looking for but could only find in packs of six.  I just need one.  Woohoo!  Now it'll be much easier to make the jalapeno infused tequila.  I have been just shoving the slices down the neck of the bottle and it is very difficult to get them out.  This will be much easier.

Crazy busy

I was so busy yesterday I didn't have a spare minute to post!  My first meeting was at 8 o'clock so I had to leave super early to catch the 7:11 bus.  I made it in time to get a cup of tea before I had to plug in and start recording the minutes.  Then it was one thing after another.  I am hoping that by the end of the day today I have my feet underneath me.  I feel like I've just been putting out fires as fast as I can since last week.  If I can just get organized things will be easier.

I figured out a good way to handle my Thursday dilemma.  I am going to leave work at noon on Thursday and work from home in the afternoon.  That way I can be home to get Tink walked and sorted out so that I can do my two meetings - 4 to 5 and 5 to 6-ish.  I have to take minutes for both of them and that's the only way I can make that work.

I lost my fantasy match up and I am very disappointed.  If only my quarterback had scored his points - and I took Peyton Manning, who was the last top tier QB left in the draft for me.  Like a few years ago when I took Tom Brady, another one who you expect to meet the goal each week, and he had a terrible year.  I sure hope it isn't going to be that way for Peyton.  All my other guys are so good!  I really was hoping this year I would be in the playoffs at least.  Well, early days.  Early days.

I got around to talking about the blanket I'm making.  I had two yarns picked out for the color - a green and a magenta.  Either of those two go with the decor and I own them.  But no.  It has to be blue.  *sigh*  I can't get Fez because it is a discontinued yarn so I don't yet know what I'm going to get.  I'll just have to shop.

As I suspected ....

I have a few standing meetings now with all of my new duties, and one of them is Thursdays at 5 o'clock.  *sigh*  Terrible time.  I was on that call until 6:30!  Thank goodness the football game was recording.  But truth be told, I got bored with it PDQ since it's the two teams I hate the most and I didn't have a fantasy stake.  My goal was to be in bed by 9:30 and I met that goal. 

Today I drove in to work because our new panting arrives and so Ben took the truck and I got the fancy car.  I decided to drive around rather than go to the transit center and take the bus or to drive the bridge to work.  Going around means going through Bothell and Kenmore on surface streets rather than the 520 Bridge.  I ride that freeway every morning and I know how stacked up it gets.  It's much more comfortable to drive around.  The traffic wasn't bad, I got to stop at Starbucks for a coffee and listen to my sports talk radio all the way in.  It only too 50 minutes.  And, bonus, tonight I can stop and pick up dinner from a BBQ place that I have been craving for weeks.  Win and win.  I think I'll leave the top up though.  I'd rather have the air conditioning.  It's going to be very hot today.

I hope we can get the painting up tomorrow.  Well, we have to get it done this weekend because we've got a party next Saturday.  It's going to be a work-y weekend with the addition of a Husky game on Saturday and the Seahawks season opener (on the road to the Rams) on Sunday morning.  Fingers crossed my fantasy team does well too.  I'm going to order Red Zone today.

Sore jaw

So I guess things are really heating up for me.  I woke up with a sore jaw this morning, which means I was clenching it last night.  My work load has gone from zero to 100 and I'm still trying to catch my breath.  It is exciting though and the days seem to zip right by. 

I did take my noon knitting time.  That is sacrosanct.  I got two rows done on the blanket and I probably could have gotten through another but my hands were a little bit sore because of all the work I had done on it during the weekend.  it is going to be a fabulous blankie.  And then when I got home I found my Luxe box!  Five skeins of camel yarn.  I was hoping for the gray but got the green instead.  I looked to see how the trading was going and it looks like most everybody who got the green wants to trade it for the gray so I will use my green.  The pattern that comes with it is for a nice stole/scarf thingie.  Hopefully we'll get a real winter and it'll be useful.

Football officially starts tonight with the two teams I hate the most playing each other.  I don't have any fantasy players on either of the teams so I don't know how long I'll be watching.  But it all counts now!

Responsibilities

For some time things have been rather slow here at work for me.  There are quite a few reasons why including the chairman preparing to step down and the new curriculum change over.  With some rather aggressive prodding on my part to get my colleagues in this department to advance my cause with the School of Medicine, I now have a bazillion new responsibilities.  Did I say a bazillion?  I might be exaggerating a bit, but not much.  I have four or five standing meetings each week, a retreat in October and I'm still trying to figure out what all else I am responsible for.  I have a meeting tomorrow with someone to nail it down.  I am not complaining but I am feeling a little overwhelmed at this point.  Just a little.

Yesterday morning I spent 3 hours at an HR seminar.  That was a dense three hours, I'll tell you.  It was exciting though and now I can make some better decisions about when I want to stop working.  Now would be fine .... but I can't do it now.  But I know when I can, and that's nice.

So -- I did finally finish up the Starry Nights shawl but I haven't blocked it.  I'm not that much in love with it.  I can't quite decide what to do next - I have some great projects in the wings and my Luxe box is on its way and it's camel yarn, so I might make that project.  But in the meantime, it got a little chilly this weekend and so I decided to start the blanket I've been promising to make.  I have some lovely Debbie Bliss Fez - merino and camel - that I started using to make a heavily cabled hoodie.  I frogged that I it is perfect for the blanket.  I am making my own pattern so first I swatched the pattern, which is alternating stripes of horseshoe lace and broken rib, then I measured and cast on and away we go!  I am really loving it and it goes pretty quickly, plus it's easy enough to be TV knitting.  I brought it in with me today for noon knitting.

It is warming up again and we're heading for the 80s for the weekend.  Summer is not done yet!  But I do notice it's dark in the morning.  I don't like that much. 

An artsy vacation

What fun we had on our vacation!  Lots of sunshine.  Lots of laughs.  Lots of food. 

We started out at Laguna Beach.  It was the final day of the Sawdust Festival, an annual arts festival, so the place was packed!  Lots of kids having a final hurrah before school starts and lots of people for the festival.  We had a cute beach house from AirBnb right at the top of the stairs to the beach.  Perfect.  We had a great dinner Saturday night and got to the festival early enough on Sunday that it wasn't too crowded.  And we nabbed a couple of awesome pieces - a beautiful cache pot and a cute little painting on wood with a gorgeous gold frame.  Lovely.

Monday it was back to LA via the PCH and then on Tuesday we headed out to Santa Barbara for a couple of days there.  We didn't really do much - walked around, I bought a cute little fringed bag, drank lots of wine and pretty much just relaxed.

The most fun part of the vacation for me was the live fantasy draft we had Friday night.  I got a really good team this year (fingers crossed) and the party was SO much fun!  We had all the guys there except for the two in Seattle since Omie and his cousin had come out from the east coast for Kris' wedding the previous weekend. 

Friday we stopped off at Emily Van Horn's studio to look at getting a big painting and oooooo ... I found a beauty. This is called Manana Mas and it's really big, but it'll fit over the bed.  She packed it up and sent it to us so we should have it Friday.  I cannot wait! 

I started a new knitting project this weekend, but it's going to have to wait because I've got to get ready to get out of the office for a 9 o'clock seminar.  I am going to be SUPER busy this next year.