Blisters from knitting??

Oh what a great day I had Saturday!!  I got up and out at a very reasonable time and got my nails out of the way quickly.  I was ready to shop and got to the mall before it was packed.  You know how sometimes when you go shopping you can't find a single thing?  And other times .... watch out.  This was one of those times.  Everything I tried on with the exception of one dress, one top and one pair of pants worked out at the first stop.  And similar luck at the second.  I had to stop after that - for clothes that is.  Then I went on to DSW and found the absolutely BEST pair of boots ever!  I stopped at Bath and Body Works for a couple of prizes for the baby shower games and then made a stop at the party store for more things for the shower.  What a mistake that was (not that I had a choice).  Display and Costume was super busy because of Halloween, even though it's weeks and weeks away.  And I have to go back next Saturday to pick up the balloons.  At least it'll be early.

So after all that shopping I stopped to pick up a pizza to bake for dinner,  then home to reorganize the closets.  Since I had done such a thorough job this spring I didn't have much of a fall wardrobe so I really  needed this shopping trip.  I go the closets switched and all the new clothes in place and I felt SO good!  I even had time to do some knitting on the fancy shawl before the football game.  It was pouring rain and Jake Locker had been sick with the flu all week.  The Huskies lost and they lost ugly.  Very disappointing.

So, about the blisters from knitting.  I've been working on the Coquille Shawl and while I was clothes shopping Saturday I noticed that my thumb was slightly blistered.  I had been knitting Friday night on that project.  The yarn is a bit rough and the needles are small (oh when will I learn NOT to knit scarves/shawls on teensie weensie needles??).  I really didn't think my thumb could be blistering from knitting but I paid attention yesterday and indeed, that's what is happening.  I'm going to have to try it with a band aid tonight and see if that makes a difference.

We went to dinner to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving last night.  I got to bed at a very decent hour, watched a program on TV and was asleep by 10:30 or so.  And then I woke up and I was awake for hours.  There is so much going on.  I've got to make some lists so I can make it through this week without insomnia again.  I just hate that.  And I'm tired.  Nothing I can do about it now but I'm going to keep some Benadryl by my bed tonight.

Do you want the job, or ??????

Yesterday I contacted one of the three contractors I found to see if he'd like to come take a look at my project and make a bid on it.  He said he could be there at 5 to take a look, so I dashed out of the office and biked home in record time.  He wasn't waiting for me and so I looked at my iPhone and saw that he had left me a message.  The message said he'd be there around six.  I returned the call and said that was fine but if it was any later it'd be too dark to really get a good look at the project.  So of course he didn't arrive until after 7 pm.  And long story short, he was an A-hole!  I didn't like the way he was talking to me, he couldn't see even though I had a flashlight and he was making ridiculous assumptions.  As he left he said he'd be in touch with a bid.  My guess is this is the type of guy who is going to make me an outrageous bid.  What a jerk.  I am going to call that nice contractor who did the work on my house before it was sold.  He was great.  Honest and very reasonable and mostly always where he was when he said he would be.  Not a trait that very many contractors have, it seems.

Dinner was sushi out.  I couldn't face cooking dinner.  I was wrecked from the day I had yesterday - super busy.  I still have lots to do today AND I have an appointment downtown so I have to leave early so it's going to be frantic today as well.  Ahhh but my weekend is still looking good.  I'm just going to keep thinking about that.  A nice quiet day - just me and Tink and knitting and a little shopping and football.  Oh!  And I made some killer (I think) moves in my fantasy team yesterday.  Fingers crossed I get some points on those boys!!

Getting near the end

Things have been SO busy here but the end is in sight.  I had an early meeting yesterday and, since the weather is still decent, I wanted to ride in.  So I got everything ready the night before and was able to get up, showered and out the door in record time.  I got to work before eight so I could cool off and have a cup of tea before heading to my meeting.  I had slept quite well the night before even though I stayed up later than usual.  I wanted to start another project Wednesday night since the little blanket was done, so I sat down right after dinner and got started.  Mr. M had a finished theatre to enjoy so he was off watching something or other and I sat there for over 3 hours.  I am doing the Coquille Shawl from Knitty's early fall.  I would call it a large scarf rather than a shawl.  The construction is intriguing and is perfect for the Noro Kureyon sock yarn I got recently.  I was going to take a quick picture this morning but it's still rather small and looks more like a curl or a ruffle.  I will later when it's larger.

Yesterday's ride home was lovely.  I was supposed to be having dinner alone but Mr. M's business dinner turned out to be a quick meeting instead.  I was anxious to get back to the new project so I threw together something easy and spent a little while on it.  Wednesday night is "Inside the NFL" - a program I enjoy immensely.  I had gotten the hang of the new pattern so I was able to watch and knit.  I need all the football pointers I can get.  I have GOT to get something going with my fantasy league.  My primary Yahoo fantasy league, the public one, I am first now.  The other one with my nephews I am dead last.  I have been making adjustments and need to make a few more before this Sunday.  I was  going to put Randy Moss up for trade but then he was traded to the Vikings yesterday and you know that Brett Favre is going to be throwing to him all day long.  Maybe I'll get some points finally.

Even though this is only Thursday I am already looking forward to the weekend.  Yes, it's going to be raining and ugly.  But I don't care.  I am going to have all of Saturday to myself and I'm going to get my nails done, and do some shopping.  I need some fall clothes and a new rug for the kitchen.  And then in the afternoon I'm going to knit and later the Huskies will be on TV.  Oh it's going to be fabulous!  Also I've found 3 people I"m going to call to come make bids on the patio project.  I cannot wait to get that started.

But it's two long and full days left to go before the weekend. 

No good light this morning

I did want to take pictures/video of the spiders this morning but it's cloudy and cold and dark.  Maybe this weekend. I wish I would have thought of the video before.  I don't use that enough.

It was only 47 degrees this morning.  Much cooler than I'm used to.  I wore my fleece head band and full gloves as well as a long sleeved shirt.  It won't be long now when I'll have to put the shorts away as well.  I need a better pair of biking pants/tights.  The ones I got last spring are too light for winter.  They'll do for a month or two at most.

I was so very tired yesterday.  I got home and showered and watched Monday Night Football.  Still no win.  All we need is one square to be square.  The rest would be gravy.  There are plenty more games to go and we didn't really have terrific numbers.  7 and 9.  Seven is okay but 9 ... that's not really great.  I didn't get the final score so I don't know what the numbers are for next week yet.  

I finished up the hood for the hooded baby blanket and got all ends woven in.  Maybe tonight I'll sew the hood on or maybe I'll put that off to Saturday.  I was too tired last night.  I went up and watched TV in bed for an hour and then, even though I wanted to finish that book, I fell asleep.  And oh it was good!  But I couldn't wake up this morning I must have hit the snooze button four times but I can only remember two.    I feel rested so that's good.

I was folding clothes yesterday evening and came upon my cotton brown Green Gables. I had mistakenly popped it in the dryer and it is shrunken beyond wear.  That's okay.  I liked it but it was starting to look a bit shabby anyway.  That gives me reason to finish up the one I have on the needles that I'm making with the nice Debbie Bliss cotton cashmere.  I thought that I might make the sleeves long and echo the lace panel in the sleeve cuff, making it belled at the same time.  I can follow the Simple Knitted Bodice pattern for the sleeves.  And I'll make the body of it a little longer than the original as well.  Isn't it nice to have goals?

As predicted

It was a very very busy weekend.  I don't feel like I got much rest at all.  And this week is going to be very busy as well.  I do have next weekend to look forward to, thankfully.  Mr. M is going to be gone with shows from Friday again and I don't have a single thing planned for the weekend except a little shopping and plenty of knitting and football.  But it's a long way to the weekend from where I'm sitting Monday morning.

I was up and out early on Saturday to get my grooming essentials out of the way before running out to the venue to meet with the sound guy to get my In Ears monitor up and running.  The hall was a madhouse but Larz was a very nice man and took the time to get the unit going and tested.  It was a revelation!  Whoever invented them was a genius.  I had a few hours then before I was due back to walk Tinkerbell and run through  my songs to make sure I had the lyrics down.  The Husky game with USC was on at 5:30 so I had that going.  It was an exciting game and they pulled it out at the end, just like last year, and beat them!  The Huskies looked so much better than they did against Nebraska. 

I headed out to the gig and it was a zoo!  I had to park blocks and blocks away on a dark street with no sidewalks.  I had the foresight to bring a small flashlight so I wouldn't get run over.  It was packed at this thing --- what to call it?  It was a reunion of sorts for a high school I didn't attend, but my band mates had.  Of course with a bunch of groups going up and doing 30 minutes we were behind schedule but less than an hour.  I met up with the bass player and his wife and headed out to get a beer.  I believe I got one of the last ones.  The keg was empty!  The musicians were actually quite good and some of the blues was really good!  We got up there sometime after 10 and of course Doug had problems with his amplifier.  So he had to switch to another one which wasn't such a bad thing because tow trucks were towing people away who had parked illegally and we needed to make announcements.  It was pretty crazy.  When we actually got to play it was SO much fun!  The In Ears completely made it for me.  It was very loud up there on that teensie stage, all squished together but I just heard myself in my ears and a little bit of the band.  Perfect.  It breathed some life into our little group.  We've been rehearsing now for a year with the bass player and it's time to get out and play in public.  Anyway .... I had fun in spite of my bad attitude. 

Of course I couldn't go to sleep until about 2 am so slept in on Sunday until 11 and therefore didn't get to make any last minute changes to my fantasy roster!  My nephew had given me some good tips and made a very generous trade with me.  I had intended to get rid of some of my guys anyway so on Friday I made a few changes but our trade hadn't gone through.  I didn't get the email that it had gone through until 12:30 am Sunday morning.  I didn't think I was going to sleep until 11 so I didn't make the other move thinking I'd have time in the morning.  Gah!  I am going to lose my matchup again!  I have a couple players in the game tonight so hopefully it won't be a total blow out again.  My other team?  The one I don't have any money on .... I am KILLING there.  Next year ... just wait.

Yesterday therefore was shortened by the sleep in.  I had a million and one chores to do, the dog to wash, etc. etc. etc. I was going to put the Seahawks game on to record so I could watch it later and as I was running out to start my errands I turned it on, only to find out it was in St. Louis and was almost over.  Oh and they were getting their asses handed to them!  By the Rams!!! Unbelievable. I was glad I hadn't known and wasted the morning watching it.  I didn't have any me time until after 4.   But I sat in my comfy chair and worked on the fancy shawl for a couple of hours.  I have a long way to go but as I said, it's going to be very nice.

It was a gorgeous ride in this morning.  Just a hint of the cold weather to come in the air. And the leaves are falling on the trail.  There is a certain combination of colors this time of year that I particularly like -- the blue of the sky contrasted with the yellow gold of the leaves.  I wish you could see it.  I've been trying to think of a way to show the spider webs in a particular part of the garden in the front and I was thinking that maybe if I use the video on my iPhone it'll catch it.  If the light is good tomorrow morning I'm going to give it a try.

Happy Friday!

I wish I didn't have such a busy weekend to look forward to.  At least I'll be able to sleep in some and Sunday shouldn't be too bad. Mr. M was up and out before I got up this morning for a show and won't be back until late tonight, then up and out again tomorrow so I will have a nice, peaceful afternoon at least.  I sure hope the Huskies snap out of it and get some wins!  And speaking of wins -- I had better get some with my fantasy league pretty soon.  So far I'm 3 and 0 with my nephew's league.  It's embarrassing!!

It was a beautiful day yesterday but I didn't get to enjoy much of it since I was working hard.  We had such a lovely end of September and looks as though October is going to be nice too.  That's fine.  I can surely wait for the cold weather.

Tonight is our last rehearsal before our set on Saturday.  I am going to try very hard to pare down the list from 10 songs to 6 or 7.  That should be plenty but I think Doug will be stubborn about it.  I am very grateful that I have my In Ears monitor.  All I have to do is get it to the sound guy in the afternoon and make sure he can get the feed to the monitor mix.  I control my own volume and he controls the volume in the mains.  This way I won't be blasted by the guitars on stage and I'll just have to trust that he knows how to mix.

I sure have lost my knitting mojo.  I didn't pick up a project last night either!  This has to be some sort of record.  Why didn't I knit last night?  I have three words for you my friend - Angry Birds update!  Not that I spent all evening playing Angry Birds.  It is rather addicting though.

Spiders!

I don't know about where you live, but here it seems that we have many more spiders than usual.  I've been noticing this for about a month now.  Yesterday in one part of the garden I counted six big webs and each had a rather large spider sitting in the center.  That's another thing - the spiders are BIG!  I should check with the Farmer's Almanac.  Maybe an abundance of spiders indicates a mild winter (one can always hope) or maybe just the opposite.  Whatever the meaning, they are annoying.  I keep running into them.

Again I got no knitting done last night.  I was exhausted from a long day.  I just wanted to watch Inside the NFL and relax.  Which is what I did.  I'll get some good knitting in this weekend.  Mr. M is gone tomorrow from six in the morning and again on Saturday so I'll have plenty of me time and I can knit to my heart's content.  Oh ... rats!  I just remembered, I have to rehearse tomorrow night.  And Saturday is the "gig".  Actually it's going to be more of a chaotic jam session but I've got my InEars so one thing I know for sure, I'll be able to hear.  We don't go on until 9:30 so I can get my errands done in the morning, set the Husky game to record and go out to the venue to check with the sound guy to make sure there's a feed for my InEars and then go home and veg with Tink and knit.  It'll be nice.  And quiet.

When I was biking in this morning and passing the usual parade of characters, I realized that I had a dream either last night or the night before that I spoke to some of them.  The woman jogger, some of the older men who all ride together.  Not the weird he/she.  Someday I will figure that one out.  Someday.

What is it about a scent that can take you back?

It never ceases to amaze me how powerful that link is between scent and memory.  One little whiff and the  memories flooded back so vividly my knees nearly buckled.  I'm still a little unsteady more than twelve hours later.  I ran across some incense I had saved from when I lived in Paris - just 3 little pieces, each one smaller than the other but I decided to burn them while I was working.  Wow.  Wow.

Yesterday the home theatre was emptied in preparation for painting and when I came home I found two more bookcases in my office.  I was not all that keen because, frankly, if I had wanted them in there I would have put them in there in the first place.  However, there was nothing for it, I just had to make do.  So that necessitated moving things around my shelves.  It ended up to be not a totally wasted exercise since I got to have that experience with the time traveling and went through and organized my yarn stash.  I really should take some time soon and take some pictures and put it up on Ravelry.  I have some good stuff!  Some beautiful linen, and three different bags of Noro, enough Ella Rae Shibu for some sort of top and ... well, just lots of good stuff.  I am re-vitalized and I want to knit knit knit.  I just wish I had more time.  And I also decided that I'm going to try felting in my front loader because I've got some perfect felting yarn and I love to do it.

Since I worked long and hard in my office I didn't feel like doing much after cooking dinner so I just watched a movie and conked out.  I want to finish up that book tonight.  I've got about 4 sitting on my bedside table that I want to read and two that I'm only half done with.  Another couple weeks and work will calm down and I can look forward to evenings when I've got a bit of energy left!  And getting up in the morning, now that it's dark, is really difficult.  I just couldn't pull myself out of it this morning.  Plus I was having interesting dreams.  I can't remember what, but interesting enough that I didn't want to get up.

Okay, enough blathering.  Onward!

Quite the contrast

My poor sister is in London.  Working.  She's not going to take any extra time there as had been originally planned since I can't come visit with her.  So she's just working the entire week and then getting back on the airplane and coming back to California where it has been very hot.  I'll bet, knowing her and how she is when she comes to Seattle, that she's bundled up like it's below zero outside.  I wish I was there anyway. 

Things at work are very very busy.  We've got another exam up tomorrow afternoon so the students are going crazy and I'm trying to do too many things at once.  I was too tired to do much of anything when I got home last night, having stopped at the grocery store to do the week's shopping.  I cooked a simple dinner and watched the football game.  Nope -- no wins yet.  Then I watched a show I had recorded yesterday while in bed and I believe I was asleep before 10.  I feel pretty good today and not very sore at all, thank goodness.  I noticed it a little bit on my ride in, but not too bad.  So no knitting last night either.  I've got to get back on the horse though.  I've got a few projects started that need to be finished.

Didn't win my Fantasy this week.  Ah well, I am getting better.

I've got blisters on me fingers!!

Boy do I feel stupid.  And sore, let's not forget sore.  I had a really great weekend out in Union, Washington which is on Hood Canal.  We went out Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with friends in a house on the golf course at Alderbrook.  It was a birthday weekend for my friend.  She doesn't golf but I (kind of) do so the idea was that her husband and I would have a nice couple days of golf and we'd all have a nice relaxing time.  They left earlier that I was able to get away so I skipped the golf on Friday and Saturday afternoon we set out for 18 holes.  It was GORGEOUS outside.  A really beautiful day.   And I was looking forward to it.  I hadn't golfed for two years so I knew it would take a few holes to get my mojo back and indeed it did.  But everyone was very nice and laid back and we let a few parties play through so we didn't feel rushed.  Unfortunately I was SO out of it that by the 12th hole I had blisters on my fingers and my thumb!  Yes, I was wearing a glove on my left hand.  However I was gripping the clubs rather tightly and the glove was rubbing on my right ring finger.  I had to stop because we had no band aids and I literally could not swing.  We were going to quit at the 14th anyway because it was taking forever and that's where the house is.  And the next morning as the day went on I got stiffer and more sore!  My neck and back!   Just not used to that motion.  Of course I hit easily twice as many balls as my partner.  Yeah, I got my money's worth for sure.

I hit the jacuzzi tub as soon as I got home on Sunday after getting a load of laundry going, but it didn't help much.  I was in agony all night.  Every time I turned over I woke up, it seemed.  I finally took some Naproxen this morning and I'm feeling almost normal.  At least I can turn my head now without wincing.  When did I become such a wuss?

Mr. M had to leave at some ridiculous time on Sunday morning ... as in 5 am ... to get to a load-in so I hung out with my friends and watched football and had a leisurely ride back, listening to the Seahawks game which was very exciting.  And they won!  I had purchased the special football package from Dish network called NFL Red Zone and I was really looking forward to seeing the highlights of the game.  We had not one but two kick offs returned for touchdowns.  One 101 yards and the other 99 yards.  This was the first Sunday evening I was available to watch my new channel but it wasn't coming on!  Dang!  I called Dish but wasn't able to get a satisfactory explanation only that they would report it.  Well ... thanks.  I will try to call them again today and see if there's a better explanation available.

We did a little yarn shopping while on our weekend.  I bought a very cute sock kit and a couple balls of lovely soft mohair for a scarf. Monika was a good girl.

It's going to be a busy week.  I'd better get at it.

I am so furious I think my head is going to explode!!!!

Yesterday I had a hair appointment right after work so I didn't get home until sometime after six.  Since we're going away this weekend I figured I'd just get my stuff together for the weekend before making dinner.  I'm going to be golfing so I went into the guest room where I keep another dresser that has my sports clothes.  I found my golf skirt but the shirt wasn't with it so I looked in the bottom drawer where I keep T-shirts.  It's a deep drawer and pretty full.  I was pushing the shirts around looking for my golf shirt and I felt something hard.  What the heck?  I lifted up a couple of shirts and what do you think I found buried in with my clean clothes?  A DIRTY bowl, 2 forks, a spoon and a used paper towel.  That PIG!!  Mr. M's son has been told not to eat upstairs since the first time I went into that room looking for something in the drawers and opened it to find an empty soup can and dirty bowl and spoon.  And that idiot kid said , "Oh, I don't know how that got there".  Right to my face!  That was a year ago.  And now again I find dirty dishes in with my clean clothes.  I was so mad ...I'm still mad!  In what universe is this acceptable behavior??  That find necessitated a thorough search through the whole room, the closet, the night stand, under the bed.  Lucky for that kid I didn't find anything else.  I really don't know what to do.  I imagine he's going to be up again for the Christmas holidays.  Just the thought makes me want to scream.  You better believe I'm going to lay the law down to that pig the next time he stays in my guest room.

Obviously that pretty much ruined my evening.  I certainly lost my appetite.  Mr. M had the intelligence to leave me alone.  I had some great silly TV to watch and that calmed me down a bit.  That and a martini.  My dinner then consisted of the olive in my martini and a plate of cheese and crackers.  I am very much looking forward to getting out of town.  The weather is supposed to be lovely.

First day of autumn

and a gorgeous full moon last night. It really is starting to look like autumn already. And the squirrels have been so busy. I see them on the trail and in my garden and find peanut shells on my deck in the morning. Also they have been digging in my planters on the deck. I can't tell if it's squirrels or raccoons that are digging in my herb garden but I know raccoons come in the yard at night because my carefully plugged holes along the fence are newly opened every few days. I thought I was going crazy when Tink would keep getting out when I KNEW I had plugged the holes. Last weekend I discovered the logs pushed away from the fence again. Squirrels can't do that. Nor cats. Come to think of it, I've seen quite a few raccoons in broad daylight lately as well as HUGE spiders and webs all over the place. This morning I drove in and there was a web between my car and Mr. M's. Ick

We had rehearsal last night since I won't be in town this weekend and neither will the bass player. Doug is a very frustrating guy. I know it's his band and all but does that mean that his mic has to be 10 times louder than mine when he's just singing back ups? We recorded a few songs just for the heck of it and I am way down in the mix and the back ups right out there. *sigh* I sure hope the sound guy can fix it in the mix. Since Rusty, the drummer, is one of the coordinators of this thing he put us in the best spot, 9:30 to 10. I tell you, if you're starting at 6 pm and you tell bands they can play 30 minutes, how many of them do you believe will actually limit themselves to 30 minutes? And us -- I timed us last night and even with no chatting between songs it took us longer than 30 minutes to play 7 songs and Doug wants to do 10. And the songs he chose ... well don't get me started. He wants to start off with two songs using his acoustic guitar so he doesn't have to change to it later. That means starting off with either "Don't Speak" or "Another Round of Blues". While "Don't Speak" (recorded by No Doubt) is unquestionably the more popular song, it's slow! I'd rather start out with the P!nk song we do, "Who Knew", which is a rocker. But no, he won't budge no matter that all the rest of us agree. At least he was willing to switch around so that we can start with "Another Round of Blues".

I arrived home rather frustrated and in no mood to sleep so I watched "Inside the NFL" and another 30 minutes or so of some silly TV while I had a glass of wine ... okay, 2 glasses of wine, and tried to get into sleep mode. Once I got there I had a decent night's sleep, thank goodness. We'll be getting together Friday October 1st, the day before the gig and the new guitar player and Rusty and Doug are getting together this Friday. I am hoping it'll pull together because if we had to play right now ... I'd shoot myself.

Bike path characters

As a creature of habit and routine I often run into the same people, day after day, who are also on their own hamster wheel of routine.  There's the older guy I see toiling up the same hills I am coming down in the morning, the woman jogger I pass nearly every day, the lady out taking a stroll, rain or shine and my latest ... a person of indeterminate sex riding the opposite direction as me on the trail in the morning.  I usually pass s/he near the University Village.  I have been trying for weeks to figure out if it is a woman or a boy.  With a perpetual scowl, hunched over the handlebars and clad in unisex bike gear, it is impossible to say.  S/he looks kind of like Harpo Marx without his wig.  Pretty strange.

We tried out a new (for us) restaurant last night in Edmonds - which is another place that has taken off like Ballard.  It was recommended by some friend of Mr. M's so we thought we'd give it a try.  It was quite busy, even on a Tuesday night.  The menu was interesting and I chose a salad of Romaine lettuce with pancetta and  lamb pappardelle which was prepared with chick peas and mint in a tomato based sauce.  It was lovely.  Mr. M chose the tasting menu ... not realizing that it was a TASTING menu, meaning small portions.  I ended up giving him about half of my meal.  That's fine -- I didn't stuff myself and he didn't end up crabby.  Win win.

I didn't knit when we got home but instead sat up with a nice glass of wine and read my new knitting book that came yesterday - Modern Top Down Knitting by Kristina McGowan.  It's a wonderful book.  There are at least two dresses that I'd like to do.  I wonder if I have enough of that linen for one of them .... hmmm.  Anyway she took the top down methods of Barbara Walker and went from there.  What I am particular intrigued about is the sleeve construction.  She starts with a provisional cast on, which is illustrated with great pictures so I think I finally get it, and knits the back down to the end of the arm hole, then unravels the provisional and knits the front, joins and goes on down.  Then for the sleeves she picks up stitches around the arm holes and with short rows knits the cap, then on down.  So if one isn't in the mood for raglan sleeves, this is an awesome way to get set in sleeves without the terrible process of mattress stitching them in.  I can't wait to try it!

Complement!! I'm going to have to quit reading my old posts!

Oh it makes me NUTS when I find typos in my older posts.  I should just stop re-reading them but I also don't like to keep repeating myself so ....

I had a most wonderful ride in this morning.  With freshly pumped tires and no head wind I was flying!  I made it to my normal 30 minute mark in under 27 minutes and to work nearly 5 minutes faster than normal.  The speed limit on the trail is 15 mph and this morning I was speeding.  I feel great and I'm going to start running this afternoon as well.  I haven't been for a few weeks, having decided to skip that Iron Girl race.  Maybe I can do the Husky dash in October.

My Monday night game didn't give me enough points to bring me out of the basement in two of my 3 leagues.  I am number 3 in my public Yahoo league and dead last in my public NFL league and 9th out of 10 in my nephew's league.  So what happens when I wake in the middle of the night?  I don't lay there and worry about work. Nope.  It's my fantasy leagues.  Who should I drop?  Who can I trade?  Good heavens.

I am looking forward to this weekend.  I'd better dust off my golf clubs. 

Not such a good football weekend

It was a busy weekend.  I drove in on Friday because we had to go to Mr. M's youngest daughter's wedding.  She is going to have a real wedding next August but they decided to have a quick one to make it legal.  So it was rush rush rush.  It was quickly thrown together and held at the common room at Mr. M's parent's condo and even though it was immediate family only that comprised 28 people.  The groom's mother was supposed to bring salad to compliment the lasagna and bread.  Instead she brought more pasta.  So dinner consisted of lasagna, fettuccine, bread and cake.  The cake was awesome.

I was looking forward to Saturday.  Mr. M was up and out to a show early and I was looking forward to knitting and football.  The  Huskies were playing Nebraska at home.  Nebraska is ranked number 8.  And oh my goodness they played like it.  They crushed us.  I put the game on record at about an hour in and took a nap so when it was done I could fast forward through the carnage.  As before the special teams were awful.  And the defense was missing tackles.  Hope we do better in conference play. 

I did have a little time before rehearsal to work a few rows of the Shining Birds Eyes Shawl.  And also some time on Sunday.  It is slow going.  And since it is bottom up, or point up since it's triangular, it gets larger every four rows.  I've done 10 rows so far and have 17 more to go before the picot edging.  I just love the feel of this.  So soft and yet it's got a little weight.  It is just such a hassle to knit.  Again I've chosen a pattern that has no easy purl back.  Each row is a lace row and every other row you have to move the markers.  But it's going to be gorgeous and I'll use it a lot.

We had an okay rehearsal on Saturday.  We are indeed going to be playing a short set on October 2nd.  Unfortunately both Gregg (the bass player) and I will be gone this coming weekend, so we're going to do another rehearsal this Wednesday night.  The new guitar player is a nice enough guy but it's very frustrating the way Doug is trying to teach him the songs.  And I'm not all that keen on the 10 song he chose.  But what the heck, I'm only the singer.  And he decided on a name.  Try to hold back your gag reflex ... okay, ready?  Shelley and the Resist Hers.  I swear to god.  And now of course we're louder than ever and I am concerned about being able to hear.  If I can't hear I can't sing.  I'm trying to find out who is mixing us.  Mr. M will undoubtedly know him/her and if I can get a pair of In Ears Monitors I should be okay.

It doesn't look like we're going to get an Indian Summer this year.  I turned off the irrigation system this weekend since it was pouring rain and cloudy.  Ah well.  Maybe next year.

Yesterday I had lots of errands to do -- grocery shopping and schlepping my food to work for the week and then laundry.  But I got all of my running around done in time for the football game.  Seahawks at Denver playing the Broncos.  And again, terrible game.  The Seahawks could not get anything going at all.  They are still crap on the road.  My fantasy teams didn't do that good either but I've got Monday Night football points yet and so hopefully I'll pull out of the basement.

It's starting early this year

The flu season is upon us.  And it's early this year.  My nephews in California have both been sick and yesterday one of my knitting buddies was also out.  I'm feeling marginally better today but I'm still not feeling like going in to work would be a good idea so it's work from home again today.  No matter how I feel tomorrow I've got to get in so I'll drive for sure.

Tink was good company yesterday, as she usually is when I'm under the weather. But now she's not feeling well.  I had to let her out at 6 because her tummy was gurgling.  It is so loud that I can hear it so you know she's not feeling well.  She's been out for about an hour, eating grass.  I wish curing my upset could be that easy.  Just go outside and grab a couple hands full of grass and let the magic begin. 

Obviously I didn't do any knitting yesterday.  When I wasn't actually doing work I was snoozing and in the evening I watched mindless TV.  I didn't feel much like eating.  The only things that appealed to me yesterday was soup and cereal and milk.  Odd, huh? 

I also did a good couple hours of reading.  I am enjoying "Medium Raw", Anthony Bourdain's second book about cooking and food.  Before "Kitchen Confidential" he had written another book, a mystery that never got off the ground.  He has a very casual voice and I like his sense of humor.  I have a stack of books by my bed.  Less knitting, more reading.  That should be my motto.  Although .... still a big fan of the audio books.  I just feel like I am cheating somehow.  I know that doesn't make sense, but there ya go.

I have drawn a conclusion and it's making me sick

Oh probably not literally.  I would hope.  I was getting ready for work this morning and was just getting ready to put my biking clothes on when it hit me ... hard.  And I realized there was no way on earth I'd be able to get on my bike.  Although it is early in the season there is some stomach flu going around and I think that's what has my guts in a knot.  But there's something else that has me in knots and that's the conclusion I drew yesterday evening.

Every couple of weeks I have a  housekeeping service come to the house.  I was introduced to this woman , M,  when I was selling my house a couple years ago.  She cleans the house of the woman who sold me my house, P, who gives her work cleaning houses she is getting ready to sell, for example.  So M came with a pretty good recommendation.   M usually comes with 2 or 3 other women, not always the same ones.  About a year ago I noticed that a ring I had in a little dish on the counter in the bathroom was gone.  I assumed that when they were cleaning it  had fallen out of the dish and gotten vacuumed up.  I was upset about it but not willing to make a fuss.  Then in March I couldn't find a top that I particularly loved.  I remembered washing it and hanging it in the guest bathroom to dry and that's the last time I saw it.  A few weeks later I went to grab a jacket to walk the dog and it was not there.  I did a closet and drawer purge another few weeks after I noticed those things missing and sure enough they were gone.  Disappeared!  I suspected that Mr. M's youngest daughter had accidentally taken them when she was staying with us but she swore not.

In August I was looking for a pair of pants I had purchased along with a coordinating tunic when we went to Hawaii.  I didn't find them where they were supposed to be but I thought that perhaps I had put them in a drawer in the guest bedroom and since it was occupied at the time I just left it.  But yesterday after work I thought about those pants again and went into the guest room to search the drawers and they were not there, so I looked again where they should be and where they could be and even in Mr. M's closet.  Nope, gone.  And that's when I thought that I hadn't seen the tunic for a few weeks either.  Mr. M's daughter hasn't been here and even if she had she's pregnant now and nothing I have would fit her.  The only other person who is ever in the house when we're not home is the bookkeeper and she a very nice lady and way too big to fit into my clothes.

So what other conclusion can I draw?  Someone is taking my clothes and the only people who have access are the cleaners.   I just don't know what to do.  I am going to talk to P and see if she has heard anything like that from other people.  My sister says I have to find someone else and I think she is right.  I just hate for this to be happening.  It feels bad.

I'm not a big fan of mediocre

A couple of years ago a restaurant in my neighborhood burned down.  It had been there a long time and had been known for it's breakfast, which always drew a huge crowd, and the music - typically R&B and a wonderful place to go dance the night away.  A kind of dive bar, I guess you could say.  But it had character and it was a lot of fun.  They never re-built on the old spot but rather chose to relocate a couple of blocks away in a new structure.  They were selling $30 worth of food and drink for $15 on the weekend and so I thought, what the heck let's give it a try.  And that's what we did last night.  It is a very sterile environment.  I wasn't impressed.  The service was bad and the food was mediocre.  Maybe because it was a Monday night?  Although there were people there watching the Monday Night Football so .....  The menu had only 5 entrees besides sandwiches and they didn't have the one I wanted.  I settled for some ravioli and they were barely edible.  If I hadn't been starving I most likely wouldn't have eaten them.  Ah well ... live and learn.

I drove all four days of last week because I had to be in early every day but yesterday we had no class in the morning and I was dying to ride in, so even though I had to bring my laptop I did just that.  My new panniers are large enough for the laptop and all of the other stuff I need to bring in but oh my goodness, that extra weight was killer!  I didn't notice it too much on the way in because it is more downhill riding but on the way home .... gasp!  Plus there was a headwind.  I had to really work to get up those hills.  Not fun.  On the good side, I felt like I was flying this morning since I wasn't carrying it.

Little knits has some 100% cashmere lace weight yarn on sale.  I am trying trying trying to resist.  I am weakening as I type.  Maybe just one skein.  I'll see what I can make with 350 yards.  [Go ahead, call me an addict, but who doesn't love cashmere?]

What a fabulous weekend!

Ah yes, it was grrrrreat!  I turned onto my street Friday and lo and behold the driveway did NOT contain a junk heap.  The boy was gone and I had the whole house all to myself the entire weekend.   I was pretty tired Friday so didn't stay up too late.  Just had a nice little dinner, watched some TV and did some TV knitting.  Saturday I had intended to work in the garden but it was icky outside and I had plenty of work to do inside.  I got the first of about a million loads of laundry going, walked Tink and then went out to run errands.  I still had a couple of hours to knit on the tough project before the football game. 

This was the Huskies second game and Syracuse came out on fire.  They scored 10 points in the first quarter and the Huskies nothing.  Ah but then ... the Huskies seemed to click all of a sudden and they ended up winning 41 to 20.  It was wonderful!  I didn't get the see the end of the game because I had to run off to rehearsal.  We had another guitar player join us part way through.  It was nice to have the extra instrument.  It really adds a lot of depth to the sound.  I understand he can sing harmonies as well.  We will see next Saturday but so far so good.  I still haven't told Doug that I can't be at rehearsal the last week of the month since we are going away with friends for a birthday weekend.  It was planned way before he had booked this little 30 minute gig.  I guess we're just going to have to get together during the week a couple times.

Sunday I got up early and set to work using the heavy duty carpet spot cleaner on all of the messes that boy left on my carpet.  And it worked great!  I was pretty impressed.  Sunday evening my old high school Anthropology teach came over for dinner and to show me the slides from his trip to Turkey last spring and the souvenirs he brought back.  We had a wonderful time.  He takes a trip every spring and takes photographs that he sells.  This next spring he's going to Tunisia and Sicily and Rome .... I can't remember the other places.  I would DEARLY love to meet him in Tunisia to travel around for a couple weeks.  I have such a travel bug.  I haven't been to Europe since the last time I went to London at Thanksgiving ... what? 3 years ago?  Too long. I need to start scheming!!

Also on Sunday was Seahawks game day and they won as well!  It's funny but their game started out much like the Huskies and they ended up winning too.  My fantasy teams .... the one with my nephew I am not doing nearly so well as the others and that's most likely because I didn't get to draft my players on his team and I'm sure I got the dregs.  There is a trade being contemplated and I would end up with what I consider to be better players but I've got to take a little time and check them out first. 

My annual blog and proctor

Today is the first exam for Anatomy.  What an action packed four days these students have every year.  They hit the ground running after a long weekend and are busy all day in class and late into the night studying.  They have their exam today and this evening a party.  Then I suspect they sleep for 12 hours.

I have a super great weekend coming up.  Mr. M took off today for a job in Oregon and won't be back until after midnight on Sunday AND the son finally got his car fixed and he is heading off today as well!  Hoooooray! It's going to take me much of this evening and a good bit of tomorrow to get the guest room back into shape but oh it will be wonderful to have access to my other closet and dresser.  I know I'm going to have to get spot cleaner for the carpet.  I really want to give all of the carpet a good scrub but that is a chore for another time.  I may have to hire someone to do it.  Oh the quiet and solitude .... ahhhhh.

Besides rehearsal tomorrow I must make myself do an hour or so in the garden.  My carrot will be a few hours in my comfy chair working on my Shining Birds Eyes.  I should get some pictures next week.

Last night started the football season and I got points on every team.  I am mostly looking forward to Monday Night Football because of the pool I'm in.  And the Huskies are playing Syracuse at home tomorrow.  I'll be able to watch most of the game before I have to leave for rehearsal.  Hope they do better than last week.