It was really really nice

Just a fabulous look weekend!  Even the weather cooperated.  Wednesday night started the party with a nice dinner out at a restaurant I've been wanting to try for a while.  I had the duck, which was very very good.  Unfortunately I don't eat things that rich very often and I did not sleep well at all.  In fact I was awake from 1 am until after 4.  I did get to sleep in a bit Thursday morning, but not too long because I had a couple of stops to make before the spa appointment at 12:30.  First there was the yarn shop to check out their sale -- I bought a couple of magazines and a couple of skeins of yarn but nothing on sale.  Then out to Tuesday Morning just for fun -- got out of there quite cheaply as well.  Then it was off to the spa.  I could have been a better experience.  It was nice and I got a great scrub but it wasn't as relaxing as I had hoped because it was very busy.  There are signs posted everywhere saying that you are supposed to speak only in whispers but people just ignore it.  The pool room has a waterfall into a cool pool, then three other pools of varying heat where the ladies soak before the scrubs or moisturizing or just to soak.  So you can imagine when all of the pools are full of yapping women and the sound is echoing off the tile floor and walls and the waterfall is making noise ... gah!  It was really getting to me.  Of course, by the time I was done with my scrub it was nice and quiet there.  Next time I make an appointment I'm going to make sure I don't come at the busiest time of the day.

My nephews arrived that evening around 9:30 so I didn't get much time to knit that evening before I had to go pick them up.  We stayed up until we were all three starting to fall asleep in front of the TV.  We had a big day Friday to look forward to so we all went to bed around midnight.  Unfortunately I woke up WAY too early because Mr. M had to get up at 4 am for a job in Tacoma and I never really got back to deep sleep.  The boys slept in a bit and after breakfast we went out to shop for the birthday party we were having that night for my eldest nephew.  We went to the mall and the party store and Best Buy and finally the grocery store.  By then we were starving so we had some Pho then headed back home so I could get dinner started.  Because I had a bad night Wednesday night and hadn't gotten caught up Thursday I was dragging Friday afternoon and oh, I truly wanted a nap.  But one thing led to another and I just couldn't fit it in. 

So I had a house full starting at 6 and we had a fun party.  I asked my nephew what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he chose meatloaf!  Well that was easy enough and everybody likes meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  We had a yummy cake and everyone had a great time.  And we stayed up way too late.  Again.

Saturday I took all three nephews out to lunch at FX McRory's, then we had to run a few errands.  That evening was a major boxing match on PayPerView that we all wanted to watch.  The oldest nephew had to take one of his children to a party after lunch so we left him to it and did our errands.  I was able to get a one hour lay down that afternoon while the two guys were watching football but I didn't really sleep.  The boxing was great and we watched in the theatre.  The picture was sometimes a little TOO good.  You could really see some gory details.  And we stayed up way too late.  Again.

I managed to sleep in until maybe 9 on Sunday.  Mr. M hadn't gotten home until 3 or 4 am so he was going to sleep late as were the boys.  Although they did manage to get up in time to start watching the first football games.  The red zone is perfect for fantasy football because you can see all the teams.  Oh.  And the Seahawks won!  I lost my fantasy matchup but what else is new.  I had managed to put off my rehearsal to Sunday afternoon.  I was able to do a little knitting in between cleaning up from the weekend and football but I had to finally say goodbye at 3 and dash off to rehearsal, leaving Mr. M to take them to the airport while I was gone.

Rehearsal went okay.  We are all feeling a sense of urgency since our gig is coming up on the 27th.  Maybe 3 more rehearsals and a ton of work to do.  I was so exhausted though I could barely make it through.  We went until 6:30 then I was out of there.  I wanted to just relax, do a little knitting and go to bed early.  I was in bed before 9:30 and I truly believe I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.  And I woke up feeling fantastic!  I needed sleep and it was sweet and deep.  I did wake up a couple times for water.  Mr. M had ordered Chinese food while I was gone and since I was not in the mood to cook I was glad for it, but it made me thirsty.  And then of course while I was awake I started thinking about all the lyrics I have yet to memorize.  But I managed to put that to the back of my mind and fall back to sleep.

Even though I never really had a good chunk of time to knit this weekend I did manage to finish the thumb gusset and start on the hand part of the convertible mittens.  I want to make these ones work since I'm using cashmere and I'm not about to waste it.  I made a little error last night when I started the ribbing directly after the thumb gusset was finished.  I am going to call it a design element.  It was only a couple of rows and in fact it might help the fit. No one will know that I didn't mean to do it.  I sure want to finish those early this week.  I have so many things I want to make!!

Happy Fri-Wednesday

Yay!  The end of the short week.  I sure am looking forward to spending time with my  nephews.  And a spa day tomorrow to look forward to as well as a nice dinner out tonight.  All I have to do is make it through the day.

It started off cold, that's for sure.  As I was pulling out of the driveway on my bike the man across the street was scraping frost off his windshield!  There wasn't any ice along side the road or trail, thank goodness.  But I'm a little chilly still.  I should have brought a long sleeved top for work today rather than this short sleeved one, but it's usually so stuffy and warm in my closet. 

I had a lovely surprise waiting for me at home last night.  A couple weeks ago DBNY was having a sale on their grab bags.  I think it was left over stock from a yarn store buy out.  I thought I'd give it a shot and wow!  Totally worth the $25.  I think I got something like a dozen skeins.  Two skeins of several colors, and a few singles.  And the colors they picked out were great for me.  The patterns weren't anything much on first glance and a pair of long size 2 needles, pretty much useless for me.  But it was a great surprise.

Noon knitting today and I'm still slogging through the Cloisonne Jacket.  I am half way through the stranded color work.  I am able to do two or three rows in the hour we spend on Wednesdays.  I have so many other WIPs at home, I don't want to take it there or it'll get lost with the Shining Birds Eye shawl and the blue Green Gables and  ... oh! the white Simple Knitted Bodice that I haven't touched for a year.  Not to mention now I'm all gung ho on these convertible mittens.  I worked a bit on the cashmere ones last night.  I hope to be able to get some good work on them tomorrow.

I'm craving scrambled eggs.  Tough luck for me since our cafeteria doesn't make scrambled eggs.  I'll have to settle for oat meal or a scone.  Hmmmm ....

If at first you don't succeed

I finished up my first pair of convertible mittens last night during the football game (no money this week).  They are not perfect and not even wearable - by me anyway.  I started the decreases for the mitten top too early so the flap is not long enough, leaving a gap at the palm.  I have a couple of design changes in mind and will scrap that pair.  I would frog them but I ended the mitten part with an I-cord and finished one of them, sewing the I-cord end inside the mitten and stitching the ribbing inside the hand.   I think it would be much more of a hassle than it's worth.  I'll just scrap them.  I do have enough of that sock yarn to make another pair, easily.  My next pair is going to be on size six needles with the pure cashmere I made my bandit out of a few months ago.

It was raining this morning.  I was just going upstairs to put on my rain pants and my booties that my wonderful friend gave me after we biked in the pouring rain during the month of May.  But before I did that I checked once more and it had stopped.  I hate wearing those rain pants so I just said the heck with it and took off.  But of course it started raining again.  It wasn't so bad but I'm going to put my rain gear back into my panniers and leave it there.  I took it out earlier this summer because I needed extra room but it's time to put them where they belong.

I am getting so excited about my nephews visit!  And I made an appointment for a spa visit on Thursday afternoon.  It's been a while and I've been craving a massage.  A visit to the Olympus spa is just what the doctor ordered.  It's women only.  I like to do the body scrub - a massage plus you end up soft as a baby.  Ahhhhhh can't wait.

Unbelievable but true

The football was even worse that I had imagined.  Just awful.  I didn't really have much  hope for the Huskies going up against the number one team in the nation with a back up quarterback.  And since I had slept in late on Saturday I decided to just put off doing the errands until Sunday and take it easy.  Mr. M had to leave for a show so Tink and I had the house nice and quiet to ourselves.  After breakfast and cleaning up we went for our walk and then I settled in with my convertible mittens to knit on and the football game to watch.  And actually the Huskies did better than expected for the first half.  So I kept watching.  They were tied 3-3, but when they came back from the half the Ducks, who are famous for making adjustments during the half, came out and just ran all over us.  I switched off the torture.

Rehearsal was pretty good.  I felt much better than I had last weekend and the number of songs that we are really clicking on are growing, plus the new guy is fitting in nicely.  And bonus -- it was turn back the clock night so I got home at 10:30 but had an extra hour to de-stress and so I had a nice evening of "Saturday Night Live" and a couple martinis. 

I was up and out so early on Sunday even though I tried to sleep in.  And because I'm so used to running errands on Saturday, when I got to the salon it was closed.  They don't open until 11 on Sunday.  So off I went to the mall -- but same story.  Doh!  So I went to the grocery store and shopped slowly until I could get to the mall, then the salon and home in time to get dinner into the slow cooker, laundry going and settle in to watch the Seahawks.  I love my RedZone from Dish network, now that I finally figured out that it is over at 5 pm, so I was watching that and keeping track of my fantasy team.  Which -- erghghgh -- so I got these new guys who were KILLING last week and this week ... pft.  Nada.  I have one player in tonight's game and he's going to have to go crazy for me to win.  Not going to happen.  Anyway ... so the Seahawks were playing the Giants and we have just run over them the last few times they've played here.  This time?  Not so much.  We had our back up quarterback in and he couldn't connect with the receivers and the Giants offense was just running all over us, not the mention their defense picking off our quarterback.  We gave that game away.  It was pitiful.  I couldn't watch it.

I did very well with my convertible mittens.  I got the mitt part done and a few rows done on the mitten part.  I wish I had done a couple rows of ribbing when I started working on the covered part but I was so anxious to see if it was going to work.  This is my prototype anyway.  Next I will perfect the pattern with worsted weight yarn on size 6 needles and then do one last pair on size 3 needles and then I should be able to put the pattern on Ravelry.  And I'll have a few new pairs of convertible mittens. 

Short week this week.  Thursday is a holiday and my nephews are coming in from California for a visit.  I will take Friday off for a vacation day so I can spend as much time as possible with them.  I am making a party Friday night for my other nephew's birthday so it's going to be a busy weekend, but fun fun fun!

I had a great day yesterday

It was going to be a beautiful and sunny day.  I could tell even in the wee dawn light -- plus it had been forecast as such.  Mr. M had a show and was going to be gone from 8 am until 10 pm.  I had nothing at the office that I couldn't do from home so I decided, at 6:30 am, to work from home.  Knowing that the weekend is going to be cold and wet, I figured this would be the perfect (and only) time to get the vegetable beds cleaned up, tomato cages put away, pea vine sticks also stowed and maybe put together a couple of planters for the new patio.  I was outside by 8 am and make quick work of the vegetable bed clean out.  I didn't go crazy - just got the big stuff and cut down the blackberry vines crawling over from the neighbor's yard. 

I got on the computer and did a little work work and then dashed out to run some errands during lunch -- early lunch actually since I had been up and going so early.  Unfortunately I couldn't find any plants to put in the planters.  I wanted maybe some autumn pansies and some decorative cabbage.  Obviously I went to the wrong places.  I didn't really want to take the time to go to a full blown garden store but maybe I can do that this weekend.  I also made a quick run through Costco, just because it was a weekday morning and I knew it wouldn't be crowded and I thought maybe they might have some odd plants.  They didn't but I did pick up the Blu-Ray version of Toy Story 3 .. with digital copy.  I love the digital copy.  I know it's crazy small but watching movies on my iPhone is just so fun.

It was so nice and clean and quiet and sunny.  I had finished my Coquille shawl the night before so I tossed it in the washer and blocked it in the afternoon.  Here it is drying on the guest bed.  You can't even tell that I made that mistake unless you carefully count the points.   I was quite keen to cast on for the convertible mittens, which I did and got about 2 inches of ribbing done.  I meant to bring them in to work with me so I could do some at lunch but I forgot.  I did wear this today but frankly it's not that cold for such a heavy scarf.

It is going to be a very bad football weekend, I already know for sure.  First of all the Huskies are playing the Ducks, who are ranked number 1 in the nation.  We haven't been playing all that well and now it's going to be even worse because we're using the backup quarterback.  Jake Locker's bruised ribs turned into cracked ribs and now, broken so he can't play.  The Seahawks are playing the Giants and although they are here at home Matt Hasselbeck was concussed last weekend and is not cleared to play.  We have a pretty good back up quarterback but he hasn't had much real playing time.  Hopefully  my fantasy team will do well this weekend.

Dinner fail

I thought I'd try something new last night.  Not huge, just a different preparation for some squash.  Rather than peel it and cube it and steam it I thought I'd bake it.  I typically bake Acorn squash and this was just a big chunk of Hubbard and there's no reason I couldn't bake it, right?  Well, turns out I was wrong.  What I should have done is cut it up and roasted it like I do when I make roasted vegetables.  It wouldn't get done and wouldn't get done so I turned the oven up to cook the fish in hopes that the squash would finish cooking as well.  Okay, everyone reading this already  knows what happened, right?  The bottom of the squash burned and the flesh refused to cook.  Well no matter, I had a good bit of Trader Joe's marinated Ahi tuna and their lovely roasted vegetables in balsamic sauce and some lovely bread.  For some reason or other the fish was mushy(!) and therefore inedible as far as I was concerned and the vegetables were not hot.  But at that point I was so disgusted with myself I ate the tepid vegetables, took a couple bites of fish and called it dinner.  Ick.  I hate it when I mess up dinner.  I can't eat Mr. M's cooking at all so it's up to me and when I mess up such a simple meal it puts me in a very very bad mood.  In fact, I'm still upset about it.  I could be crazier than I think.

I did figure out the problem with the stitch count for the Coquille shawl/scarf.  I misread the pattern and therefore did only six repeats of the motifs rather than six MORE.  So what I am doing now is more of the smaller motif as I decrease 4 stitches each repeat.  It is going to mean that one side of the thing is longer than the other but since I'm not going to be using it as a shawl anyway it won't make any difference.  Design element.  I still haven't finished it though.  Hopefully tonight.

I'm hungry.

Back in the bike saddle again

Despite the warnings for a particularly nasty and early winter, the weather is still quite mild and since we haven't turned our clocks back yet, the mornings are pretty dark as well.  We will have lighter mornings starting this coming Saturday but again it won't be long before it's dark and treacherous.  I haven't been out there on the trail for more than a week so I was a bit surprised by how many big patches of wet leaves there are now.  It helps smooth out the bumps.

Despite my best intentions and working an hour at lunchtime and during the football game last night, I still haven't finished the Coquille.  Plus my stitch count is way off!  I don't know how that happened exactly but I'm going to have to figure it out at lunchtime today and then maybe I can finish it up tonight.  I want to get started on those convertible mittens.

My nephews are coming to visit for a long weekend - arriving next Thursday evening and leaving Sunday evening.  My other nephew that lives up here is having a birthday on Tuesday so hopefully I can make a little party at my house for everyone on Friday.  Thursday is a holiday for us so I'll take the Friday as well and have myself a nice long weekend too!  I'd probably be better off taking the Monday but I can't.

My fantasy team just took a big hit - Randy Moss was let go from the Vikings.  He was put on waivers and that means that, starting with the lowest ranking team, he can be picked up from the Vikings for the amount of his contract - something around 6 million I believe.  He hasn't been producing much and I really wanted to get rid of him and nearly had a trade done before they dropped that bombshell.  But who knows, maybe he'll get picked up from a team that can get the ball to him and he can score some points for me.  So far he has been a huge dud.

Another horrible football weekend

The little party Friday evening was quite nice and we stayed for a couple of hours.  I went right to bed when we got home, I was so tired!  I didn't sleep - couldn't sleep.  Which is so annoying.  I was just exhausted but I couldn't fall asleep.  I ended up reading and messing with my iPhone until I finally drifted off. 

Saturdays are more like work days, especially when there's a rehearsal at 7 pm.  I got up and out early enough so that I was able to walk and wash Tinkerbell and, as planned, spend a couple of hours on my fancy shawl.  It is coming along but now I am really quite anxious to finish up the Coquille so that I can make some convertible mittens to go with it.  I was thinking last week that I really need another pair of fingerless mitts since the ones I made a couple years ago are getting kind of ratty.  I thought it would be more useful to make mittens that convert to fingerless mitts but I couldn't find a pattern that I liked.  None of them are written to be done on two circulars and they all without exception make you knit through the palm with waste yarn and then go back and pick up those stitches to make the mitts.  I got to thinking that if one were to make them on two circulars that whole mess could be avoided.  So I am going to make my own pattern using the other two balls of Noro sock yarn I have and write it up and put it on Ravelry.  I need to finish that project first though because I have too many balls in the air as it is.

Rehearsal was good, mostly, but tempers flared near the end.  All of us except Doug, the leader, think we need more dance music.  When people come out to hear a band, especially a new one, they are not looking to see a concert.  They want to dance. Also, everyone but him wants to play in clubs and bars and he wants to only do parties.  He doesn't realize that in a party situation especially people don't want to hear slow tunes, they want to dance.  I am conflicted about what to do about it.  I have to do the gig on the 27th but after that ... I just don't know. 

Football this weekend was a travesty.  The Huskies were shut out at home for the first time in ... what? 50 years or more?  It was ugly.  The Seahawks went to Oakland and the Raiders kicked their collective butts to the tune of 33 to 3.  And my fantasy ... I managed to pick up two awesome players last week but instead of starting them, I let them sit on the bench because I thought my current line up was pretty sweet.  Ends up my bench out performed my players buy a lot.  SO annoying!  Let's cross our fingers that I win something tonight, although with those numbers it's not too likely.

Fffffffinally Ffffffriday

Tonight there is a potluck dinner to celebrate the end of the anatomy class -- several weeks after the fact but we had visiting faculty from Australia who have been taking advantage of being here and doing a bit of traveling.  So on the way home last night I stopped at the grocery store to pick up ingredients for a salad I'm making.  On the days I drive in to work, like this entire week, I take a little Victoria's Secret shopping bag to carry my fruit and milk that I bring for breakfast.  As I got out of the car in the parking lot I looked into the car next to me and at first thought I was seeing a reflection of my car but then realized that this person not only carried the same little shopping bag to work with her but the plastic container I keep my strawberries in was the same container she had in her bag!   Which all leads me to believe that I am much more ordinary that I would like to think. 

I have a few errands to run tomorrow, Tinkerbell to bathe and then I should be able to have a nice two or three hour quiet time to work on the fancy shawl.  I want to see some serious progress on that this weekend and so will do more on Sunday as well.  If I can get all my errands done tomorrow before I go to rehearsal at 7 then I will only have laundry to do on Sunday -- oh, and watch football. 

The weather has been decent as I have driven my car in every day this week.  I certainly hope it continues next week as well when I get back on the bike.  I am coughing much less and feel that I should be able to get back on the bike without compromising my health.  Only time will tell.  And on that deep note, nose back to the grindstone.

I fooled myself

I woke up last night, I'm guessing around 1 or so since I didn't look at the clock, and had myself convinced that it was Saturday early morning for a little while.  We went to a lovely little restaurant last night called Preservation Kitchen and when we got home I played with my latest Wii game, Rabbids Go Home.  That was enough to convince my sleepy self that it was Friday night rather than Wednesday night.  Ah me ....  But it was raining this morning and I slept late, most likely because I was awake too long thinking about the lovely Saturday ahead of me, so I drove in again.  It's probably for the best since I want to kick this sinus thing ASAP.

My sister called me last night saying that her boyfriend was just then making reservations to come up to visit us for New Years!  Yay!!!  I am SO excited!!!  They're coming December 30 and staying until the 3rd.  That will be so perfect.  We can have our Christmas up here only a few days later.  And then I'll have my January vacation to look forward to after they leave so I won't be too depressed. 

I have been working on the Cloisonne jacket exclusively at noon knitting on Wednesdays.  I am now finished with row 18 of the color work portion.  Nearly half way there.  Once I get the color work done I will take it home and go to town on it.  Certainly it will be a very warm garment and it is turning out to be quite lovely.

Pet Peeve # ..... well, who can keep count?

There are tasks that most people find boring and tedious and it drives me crazy when someone asks me to do one of those tasks saying I'm so much better at doing X than they are.  The fact is, I'm not better at it, it's that they're too lazy to do it themselves!   For example, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to find a decent airfare.  It takes me just as long as the next person to sift through the garbage and find the fare.  Plus, if I'm doing it for someone else, then there is the back and forth -- what time do you want to leave and if you have to have a lay over what is the most time you're willing to spend waiting for your next plane, etc. etc. etc.  I'm going to have to stop being so nice.

......... that was a joke.

What's not a joke is my on going sinus problem.  I did get to the doctor yesterday, and I am quite proud of myself for doing it.  I am going to get this problem handled once and for all.  It puts my race schedule back a week since I haven't been able to run or even bike since last Wednesday.  No matter, I shall get right back up on the horse as soon as I can.  Maybe as soon as next Monday.  Well, surely by then.

The band leader, Doug, booked us a date at the very same community center where we did the band reunion set a few weeks ago.  I would much rather play in a real venue, as in a bar or club, but he is set on doing it here.  It's going to be really stupid - some type of pot luck or something like that.  The only good thing is that Mr. M will be able to do the sound for it so I know I'll sound decent.  Hopefully he can get a good recording as well. 

I was very late getting home last night because I had a hair appointment at six, therefore dinner wasn't until 8:30 leaving me precious little time to knit.  I got another gusset done on the Coquille.  I'd like to finish that up this weekend but I also really  need to carve out some quality time with my fancy shawl.  I should dedicate an hour or two both Saturday and Sunday.  I don't believe there's anything else going on this weekend except rehearsing Saturday night and football on Sunday.  I need to put that bad boy to bed as well.  I have too many WIPs and a queue as long as my arm. And not near enough knitting time. 

Well THAT shouldn't have been there!

That's what I get for multi-tasking after two glasses of wine.  Friends en route to an enviable two week vacation in Italian wine country were asking for conversation starters, jokingly.   I thought I was sending a MMS but instead posted to my blog.  At least the picture went missing - a blurry shot of the TV screen, Monday Night Football.  Which, by the way, I did NOT win a single quarter plus I've got HORRIBLE numbers for next week.  Ah but can you imagine?  Two weeks in Italy.  They're staying in a house for a week and then driving to the coast and wherever else they feel like going for the second week.  I can't stand it, I am so envious.  Especially since the weather is now typical Seattle autumn - windy and rainy and cold to the bone.  Only twelve weeks to go before we head to the Caribbean for what I hope is a sun drenched week.  I am sure I'll really be ready by then if the predictions come true for a snowy winter.

We are very very close to getting the house wired up.  Mr. M needed help getting the ends terminated correctly so by the time I get home tonight we should be all set.  It's not a huge deal but we'll be able to stream Netflicks through the Wii and whatever box Mr. M gets for the theatre, plus I'll have hard wire to my office laptop which will make downloading faster.  Our wireless is pretty good but sometimes when I'm downloading audiobooks or movies from iTunes it takes a long while. And I'm sure there are things we will be able to do with our Dish Network boxes too.  Oh, and I found out that now I can stream from Netflicks right to my iPhone!  Trouble.

When we were out Sunday night to see Mike sing some friends came in with their new iPad.  Oh I want one!  Mr. M is going to get one for business because there are apps he can download so he can mix his digital boards from the iPad anywhere in the venue.  That is super useful.  I know he'll not want to share it, and I want my own anyway.  I think I'll wait for the second generation though.  I can wait to January.  It'll be perfect to bring on our vacation.

Felting in a front loader

Oh yes you can!  I saw this adorable pattern on Ravelry Friday afternoon when my headache had subsided enough to be able to mess around on my laptop.  It was for these adorable slippers.  The soles are knit first holding 3 strands of worsted weight yarn together.  I had some Lamb's Pride worsted in a beautiful fuchsia but only 2 skeins so I used some other pink yarn for the third strand.  Then you knit two sides and a strap for each slipper.  Since it is done on size 15 needles it zips right along.  After sewing them up I popped them into a pillow case, tied the top and put them in the washer with a couple of towels.  When you're felting you don't want to rinse with cold before you're finished with the felting process, so it makes it a bit tricky and messy.  Since the whole idea with these newer front loaders is to get as much cleaning done with as little water as possible, one can stop the machine in mid-cycle and fish out the project to check on the progress.  I set the washer going with hot water and a longer cycle first.  After about twenty minutes I could hear the washer start to drain in preparation for a rinse so I stopped it and canceled the cycle and checked on the project.  It was felting!  I took out the straps, which felt fastest, and chose another hot cycle, this one a bit shorter.  Again, when I heard it start to go into the rinse cycle I stopped it and checked the slippers.  In hindsight I should have run them a bit longer because you can still see the stitch definition,  but I was so thrilled that it was working I sent them through their rinse and called it good even though the soles were still a bit long.  I figured I could mold them while drying.   I shaped them and the next day they were dry so I sewed the straps and buttons on.  And then set them out to photograph them and that's when I realized I sewed one strap on differently than the other.  I was going to take it off and try again, but after wearing them for a little while I realized my mistakes and I am just going to have to make another pair so that they are perfect.

My sinus problems hung with me through Saturday so I didn't go to rehearsal.  We have a gig booked for the Saturday after Thanksgiving and that's not so far away so I had better get this problem handled and quickly.  So I was home to watch the Huskies get humiliated on TV again.  Again.  It was terrible.  Frankly I turned it off after the 3rd quarter when it was apparent that they were not going to win or even put up much of a fight.  And again a 2nd string quarterback to boot!!  The Seahawks did well on Sunday so that kind of evens out.  Now if I can win a couple of quarters with the Monday Night Football game I'll be happy.  I came THAT close to winning my fantasy matchup.  I don't think I'm going to be last this week, which is better than nothing.  I'm in such a deep hole from the first few weeks that I'm just going to have to be happy that I'm pulling myself up from the basement.

It was storming most of the weekend so I didn't get finished pictures of the patio - he came on Friday to finally add the last bit of sand.  Here are a couple pictures - one before and one during.  The first picture - the before - is looking north.  The during picture is looking south and the two bushes from the north picture have been removed so one can move from the deck to the patio without having to go around.

Colds all over the place

Wednesday afternoon I was so tired I didn't think I would be able to bike home.  I mean -- seriously exhausted.  And that usually means only one thing -- I'm getting sick.  I had Mr. M pick me up and I went straight to bed but not soon enough to outrun the virus.  And I'm not being a sissy either!  After last year and that horrible horrible sinus/chest thing that went on and on because I was sure I could take care of it on my own, I don't take any chances if I can help it.  That being said, I spent all of yesterday in bed, snoozing and reading, fighting this blasted sinus headache.  I read LeCarre's latest, which I quite enjoyed.  Nothing too deep.   I had a hair appointment at 4:30 yesterday which I assumed I'd be able to make but realized that I was sicker than I thought when even the thought of being out and about and able to pick up a bottle of whiskey so I could make a hot whiskey later couldn't get me out of bed.  I did the responsible thing and moved the appointment to next week.

Today I'm feeling marginally better.  Still have the sore throat but it's not so bad as yesterday and the headache is also, for the time being, under control.  But if I'm not 100% by Monday I'm going to visit the doctor.

The contractor is coming by today to finish up the patio and get paid.  It was pouring rain last night but not now so maybe I can get some pictures soon.

A jarring trail

I have been noticing lately a bunch of new bumpy patches on the trail.  The more treacherous patches have been marked with fluorescent paint by the Parks Department or maybe the bicycle club.  The beautiful trees that line the trail are, of course, the very reason we get these cracks and bumps and holes in the first place.  Right now it's not that much of a hazard because it's still light enough, both coming and going, that one can navigate around them.  However, it won't be long now when we will be turning the clocks back and the days are getting shorter.  It will be dark and more difficult to avoid them. 

I had a pretty decent run yesterday afternoon considering it's been over six weeks since I've been out running.  I thought I might be sore this morning, but I'm not.  I didn't have much stamina but I believe I should be back to speed next week.  Then I'll look for a race to sign up for.  I  know there are several in November.

I wanted to knit last night but I wanted to go out to dinner more, to celebrate my Monday wins.  This is restaurant week in Seattle when over 100 restaurants all over the city offer a 3 course dinner for $25.  I chose the Sandpoint Grill because it's close and I love the food.  The only thing that bothers me about the place is the number of children that will sometimes be there during dinner hour.  Mostly they're well behaved.  Nothing like a noisy child to put one off one's grub. 

We won!

Not once, but twice!  I am in a Monday Night Football pool, sharing a square with my friend's husband.  Every week the numbers change according to the final score of the previous week's game.  And it pays out every quarter.  We had Tennessee 7 and Jacksonville 0 last night.   That was the score for the first quarter and then in the second quarter the Titans' kicker missed the point after and we ended up with the same score for the half.  So yay!!  Not only are we square but now we're up.  What shall I do with my windfall? 

The football game was so exciting that I didn't get much knitting done.  I did start on the second half of the Coquille, which is decreasing back down.  These larger gussets are taking me about an hour to do the entire 12 rows including the short rows.  But at least it's TV knitting.

I am going to run at lunchtime today.  First time in weeks and weeks.  It's going to hurt for a while but hopefully by next week I should be back up to speed.  I think I should shoot for a November race to be sure I'm ready.  I don't want to commit to the Dawg Dash because it's too soon.

The patio didn't get finished yesterday.  Hopefully today.  I don't think it's really going to look much different with the rest of the finer sand put on.  Maybe I'll just snap some pictures tonight when I get home if it's still light enough.  Oh it was so beautiful on the way in this morning and if I hadn't been running a little bit late I would have whipped out the old iPhone and shot the lake.  The mist on the lake was apricot colored and the sun behind the clouds looked huge.  Just beautiful.

Success

What a grand football weekend!  The Huskies beat Oregon in double overtime!  It was so exciting but after the first overtime started I had to turn it off and let it record.  I couldn't stand the suspense.  And on Sunday the Seahawks beat the Bears on the road!  I watched the entire game.  They looked pretty darned good.  It's been tough for that team to win on the road so this was a big game for the new coach.  And finally -- it looks like I'm going to be beating my nephew in the matchup this week!  I have 71.6 points over his 61.33 and I've got another player in tonight's game.  He is done.  I have to resist the urge to gloat.  I messed up my other team though - the one in the league where I'm first.  I had made some roster changes, moving out the players who had a bye week and must have neglected to click the "submit changes" button because they're still sitting there.  I am winning my matchup but it's going to mess up my points total.

The patio is nearly done.  They have to finish it up today with some finer sand.  I am quite pleased although I wish it was a bit bigger.  But to keep within my budget I had to make a couple of small adjustments to my original plan.  Maybe this spring if I find it's really bothering me I can have them add more bricks.  For now though it's nice.  I'm take some pictures tonight and post before and afters.

I had plans to work on my Shining Birds Eyes shawl but ended up relaxing and listening to my book and working on the Coquille scarf/shawl.  I am exactly half way through now.  Even if I block this thing super aggressively it's not going to be what I would call a shawl, but it's going to be a really nice scarf.

The baby shower went off fine even though someone brought their 3 children even though they were specifically told NO CHILDREN ALLOWED.  *sigh*  I managed to get them all in, fed and out in a little over two hours.  I must not have been doing a very good job of hiding my desire to be rid of the lot of them because my brother in law's girlfriend asked me at one point if I had somewhere else to be that day.  "Only alone", is what I wanted to answer.  She's one of those busy bodies who insists on "helping" clean up and tidy up.  I don't want to sound ungrateful for assistance but I neither needed it nor wanted it.  Oh wait, no I did need a little bit of help moving one of the couches back to its spot but other than that, no help needed.  Good heavens, I really am a bitch, aren't I?

I am feeling a bit of a let down now that anatomy is over.  Maybe even a little depressed.  It's my favorite time of the year because I'm so busy. Now it's just back to the same old thing.  I have a little more time in the day to do other things.  First on my agenda this week is to give my office and good cleaning.  Yes, we have janitorial service but that only means that they empty out the wastebasket and maybe once every few months they'll sweep the floor.  This entire closet needs a good dusting and my desk needs to be cleaned up.  And I've GOT to get running again!  I just need to force myself a couple of times and I'll be right back in it. 

I'd like to finish up that scarf I'm working on as well as the blue Green Gables.  Then I can start thinking about what I want to make for gifts.  Still plenty of time for that.

A new patio!

Oh I am so excited!  Finally yesterday they started work on my new patio.  I took some before pictures yesterday.  I'll snap a couple of work in progress pictures today ... I worked from home yesterday and again today so I can be here while the work is going on.  Yesterday they got all of the plastic covered with weeds out of there and moved in all the pavers and sand and gravel.  First thing this morning they had a machine for flattening it.  I imagine they're going to start putting in the edging and then the bricks.  It is going to be just wonderful to be able to look out those windows and not be looking at a weed field.  And they've lucked out on the weather.  It was lovely and sunny yesterday for most of the day, started raining around 3 and now this morning the fog has lifted and it is a beautiful day.

I did a couple of rows on my "fancy" shawl yesterday evening before I cooked dinner and nothing on the Coquille.  Mr. M has to do a load in this evening so I'll have some nice quiet time and hope to get some done on both projects.  I also have to prep for the baby shower I'm giving tomorrow.  I know - not exactly something I'm up on. I think I've been to one baby shower in my entire life.  I had to go on line and read about what you do and get some games, etc.  I've got a nice menu planned and I've got to get it ready to go tonight so all I have to do tomorrow after picking up the balloons and cake is pop the strata in the oven.  They'll be here at 12:30 and hopefully I can get through this in a couple of hours. 

Then I'll have an entire afternoon and evening to get my house back in shape and knit before the football game at 7.  Oh man, I sure hope the Huskies do better this Saturday.  The Seahawks are back from their bye week and we can only hope they win.  My fantasy team is looking pretty good and evenly matched against my matchup this week, who happens to be one of my nephews.  The one that is first.  I would lllllove to beat him but he seems to have some sort of voodoo going on.  Fingers crossed.

It's still looking good ...

for me working from home Thursday and Friday.  I need to be here today so I can go to lab with the Histo students and help them, if they need it, with the Virtual Microscope application I made.  Every year at least some of them have a hard time getting connected or they use the wrong browser.  Now there's nothing I can do about the bandwidth problem.  The school is aware of it and when anatomy starts it's not much of a problem, but now all of the schools are in session - medical, dental, nursing, etc. etc. - and things tend to get sluggish.  They will figure out soon enough which one of them in their 4 person group has the laptop that pulls the strongest signal but until them it helps ease the frustration if it at least looks like we're helping.

I am sure Chris the contractor had the best of intentions, but he did not contact me yesterday.  Hopefully today.  I don't want to bug him because I know he's got a lot on his plate at this time, personally.  His wife of 20 years up and divorced him about six months ago.  He's still dealing with that and the fall out.  Poor guy.  Of course, there are always two sides to the story so I'm not going to judge.  I just want my patio done.  And I want him to double check the measurements before he orders the materials.  I'm not 100% sure Mr. M's calculations are accurate and he missed about 150 square feet when he made his initial diagram.

I did another gusset on the Coquille Shawl yesterday evening and then called it a night and went upstairs to read.  I was fighting to keep my eyes open at 9:30 and finally gave up.  I had a pretty good sleep for a change.  I've been working so hard and it's difficult to stay awake after dinner.  Things should calm down here in the next couple week though and then maybe I can start running again.  The weather is perfect for it.  Not too hot and still dry -- for today anyway.  But no running for me today.  It's noon knitting.

Full speed ahead

Saturday afternoon the nice contractor, Chris, came to take a look at my patio project.  He is the guy that fixed up my house on 20th and did such a fabulous job.  He took a look, understood exactly what I needed and even had a wholesale place to buy the pavers I wanted.  Last night he stopped by to show me the paver to double check and to give me his price.  He's just a touch over what I wanted to pay, but not by much so I gave him the go ahead.  He's going to be in touch today and hopefully they can start tomorrow or the next day.  I am SO excited!!  It's going to really make that back yard more useful and prettier to boot.  Definitely adding to the worth of the property.

Today's the first day in a very long time that I didn't have to stand around in my office in front of the fan to cool off before I could get dressed.  In fact, I'm sitting here in a skirt, top and cardigan and my legs are cold!  I don't believe they're going to turn the heat on in the building until November.  It's not a big deal to me, but I surely notice it.

Yesterday was a huge day.  I didn't get home until after 6 and I think the only time I stopped was for about 20 minutes for lunch.  This bunch of students is the nicest bunch ever and at the social after the final they gave all of the faculty and me a card and a gift.  Isn't that sweet?  That's a first in all the years I've been doing this job.  Histology starts today and I am hoping that once I get them launched I can work from home Thursday and Friday so I can keep an eye on the work.  After the ground cover disaster I don't dare let Mr. M be alone to supervise since he does not.

And in fantasy news .... I won my match up this week in my nephew's league!  Triple digits even!!  I am very very happy.  Now I don't look like a total loser plus just maybe I've got the hang of it and I'll win again next week.  I'm going to have to really put some thought into it, do a little reading, make a couple of adjustments (like get a defense that doesn't suck) and give it my best shot.  And in  my public league -- still number one!  That makes me happy too.  I still haven't won a square on the Monday night pool but it sure makes the games more fun to watch.