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. 

Vacation here we come

I can't say for sure how long it has been since I've been on vacation this week.  I think maybe 15 years, but more than 20.  Medical school starts the day after the September holiday and so I always have to be here.  Not this year though.  This year we don't start our portion until the 14th and so here I go - a September holiday!  We're leaving Saturday morning, coming back the following Saturday evening and then I'll have two whole days to get back into the groove before I have to go back to work.

There's lots for me to get done this morning.  I have to leave around 1 o'clock for an appointment downtown - which I hope doesn't take more than an hour or so.  I have tons of things to do at home before I leave but since the plane doesn't take off tomorrow until 1:30 I will have plenty of time.

Last night I got started on the picot bind off for the Starry Night.  It's rather time consuming but I do love how it looks and it will give the piece a little weight.  It's rather small so blocking aggressively is going to be what I'll have to do.  Even so I suspect it's going to be more of a kerchief than a shawl.

I've also got to do some serious studying for my fantasy draft.  I haven't done much but I'll print out all of my cheat sheets, take my magazine and keep up with things while we're gone. 

Now to work.

Enjoy it while it lasts

Well it looks like today is the last day of sunshine for a while.   A storm is moving in with rain and wind.  Is it not a perfect time to head south for a vacation?  Yes, yes it is!

I nearly finished the Starry Nights shawl yesterday at noon knitting.  I've got one and a half rows to go before I bind off.  I was going to finish it last night but I got caught up in dinner preparation and catching up on some shows so tonight is the night.  Ben's golfing so I'll have the entire evening to myself.  My only question then is should I wind up the Ancient Gryphon yarn when I finish the shawl?  Maybe I'll wait until I get back from California.

Work is busy busy busy.  It sure makes the day go by faster.  I heard yesterday that the SOM is now paying 25% of my salary and the department is over the moon.  I'm pretty happy too knowing that I am golden for this year.  I just have to make it through the year which is going to be a slog at times.  Ah well .... when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel it's a bit easier to withstand the slog.

A visit to the vet

When I got home from work on Monday I found yet another puddle left by Tink.  This summer she has left a couple of puddles during the night which I just supposed were from her drinking more water than normal.  But during the day?  And then I realized she's been licking herself more than usual.  So I put 1 and 1 together and came up with UTI.  I called the vet first thing yesterday morning and got an appointment for 2 o'clock.  On her morning walk and got a good sample to take in with me.  She'd not been lethargic and everything seemed normal except for the puddles.  The urinalysis didn't show anything and the vet gave me a choice of putting her on a broad spectrum antibiotic and come cream for her irritated hoo-haw  or culturing the urine so we could see what is growing and treat that.  I chose that option and went out of there with a considerably lighter wallet and some cream for her nether regions.  Hopefully by Friday we'll see what we have growing.  I hope that's all it is.

For my birthday Monika got me a Yarnbox classic, the type I had discontinued.  That was in the mailbox on Monday and it is awesome!  A beautiful green color of a DK weight from the Verdant Gryphon.  I am considering making another Venomous Tentacular from it. 

I worked on my Starry Nights last night and brought it in today.  I am very close to being done.  It is a very small shawl - more like a lacy scarf.  I don't think I'll actually use it but it is fun to knit. The yarn is so soft.

Vacation -- come on!!

Pre-vacation week

Oh it is going to be a very interesting week, starting with a meeting this morning.  I cannot wait to dig in.

I didn't last the entire day on Friday.  I was just SO sleepy and nothing much was happening, so I took off a little early with the intention of having a little nap.  It had a nice rest anyway - don't think I dropped off.  The good news was that we didn't have to wait but could start the game right away and then stop it during dinner preparation.  It was a better game than last week, but not awesome and they lost by one point.  Good thing it doesn't count.

I did get to sleep in on Saturday though and it was glorious!  A nice long, deep sleep and a lazy breakfast.  And then ... chores.  I smacked my elbow right into the door jamb at one point and it still is aching!  There was no knitting at all this weekend because of it.  And having fun.  Saturday after all the chores were done and I was cleaned up off we went to the Triplehorn for the 3rd annual  Hoardfest.  It was much much better than last year, music-wise.  I actually enjoyed the bands.  We didn't stay very late - mostly because the beer is just SO strong.  And it was hot and sunny. 

Sunday I had to get my contacts ordered at Costco and do grocery shopping.  Poor Ben was not feeling great - I think the food he ate at Hoardfest did not agree with him.  He stayed home and I went to the mall to get a couple of things for vacation and then a nice early dinner at Steve and Ginny's with McG.  Great salad and wonderful salmon.  Cooked perfectly. 

Well ... off to my meeting.

Hooray for Friday

Oh am I ever glad this week is over.  I am SO tired.  I can't figure it out.  Maybe it's because the clouds are back, but I can't seem to wake up.  I was busy yesterday and I felt like I was walking with lead boots.  I have a busy weekend ahead of me, since we're leaving on vacation next Saturday.  I sure hope I perk up!

It's Seahawks tonight - the second preseason game.  I'm looking forward to that this evening and then a nice long sleep in tomorrow before I dig into my chores.  Next week I really need to start getting into my fantasy football team.  I need to be super prepared when I go to California since we're having the draft on that last Friday night.  I'll have to be ready to go before I leave since we'll be running around having fun and I won't be able to study too much directly before the draft.  I'll have to sign up for ESPN Insider next week too.

The students will be back next week, starting their orientation and clogging up the parking garage and bus.  Ah well ... twelve months to go and then I am free free free.  Tick tock, it's going to be a long year.

I am getting the feeling of autumn in the air - just a teensie bit - and it's darker in the mornings.  So of course my mind is set on Europe - can I make it work this year?  But no, I cannot.  I take this next week off to see my sister and I will be back to zero vacation days.  It grows quickly enough but I'll have to wait until after the first of the year. 

And there's another blog post that is just whine whine whine.  Enjoy.

When noon knitting sucks

I honestly look forward to my Wednesday noon knitting with the ladies.  It is usually fun and relaxing.  Yesterday?  Not so much.  There was a new person who joined us, plus one of the newer ladies had a bazillion questions.  When I finally got down to starting my own project I started on the wrong row in the pattern so when I figured it out I had to tink back almost 100 stitches.  By this time is was nearly time to leave, so I didn't re-start the row.  I was all wound up!  Not fun.  Plus it was very very hot yesterday. 

I didn't finally relax until nearly six o'clock.  I had to stop at the grocery store for things for a cold dinner and the guy at the deli counter was SO slow!  But I had a new episode of "Hard Knocks" to watch, and that was nice.   I did finally relax, but it was too hot to knit, even with the fan.  It's much cooler today and raining on the way in.  I can't wake up!  I need a vacation.  [whine whine whine]

Catching up

Oh how I love going to the gym in the summer time!  When I got to the locker room at the IMA I was the only one in there!  What a rare occurrence.  I was so tired yesterday though and while I managed to get through my 30 minutes of cardio, it was tough.  Hopefully Thursday it'll be better.

I went to bed ridiculously early last night and slept the sleep of the dead.  I know I woke up once but only briefly.  I do feel a lot better rested today.  It's going to be a very hot day today so I can't count on any good sleep tonight.  It'll be time for the fan again.  I just thank goodness I'm not in Thornton Place anymore.  It was brutal last summer and it wasn't near as hot for so many days as this summer.  I wouldn't have been able to handle it.

Noon knitting today and I've brought my Starry Summer Nights with me.  I want to button that project up before I go on vacation.  Speaking of vacation ... will I bring a project with me?  You know, I bring projects and I never ever knit on them!  I do remember knitting on something when I went to Hawaii once but that was avoidance knitting.  As in I didn't want to interact so therefore I knit.  I will be happy with the company this vacation, for sure.  So .... maybe not.

Big doings

Things have been very strange at work lately and yesterday it got really interesting.  The Chairman's secretary sent out an email that the chairman had called a staff meeting for 11:45.  He never calls staff meetings and the administrator is out on vacation.  He also called a faculty meeting directly before it so we all knew it was big news.  My money was on him stepping down and sure enough, that is what happened.  He is going to just run the Willed Body Program and we have an interim chair.  It will take at the very least 18 months to do a proper search to find a new one and by then I will be gone.  Or at least down to 40% time. 

This step is really a very good thing and it has already made my life easier at work.  There is no ambiguity about what the heck he is doing.  I just wish the meeting we're having next Monday could be happening this week, but alas Andy is gone for a holiday he had booked before this whole mess started so we wait. 

In a few more weeks Do Nothing Monday night will have a football game component.  But I did fine lounging in the back garden enjoying the weather and some nice wine.  I sleep so much better when it's not so hot, but it's going to be really hot today and hotter tomorrow.  I can't remember when we've had such a solid summer.  It's been quite a while.  I do notice some leaves changing and the light is just a little different.  I am not sorry to see autumn coming.

Two weeks until vacation

Friday we had quite the thunder storm.  It poured!  And I was worried about poor Tinkerbell all alone at home.  The storm had blown over by the time I got home and, of course, she was fine.  It was such a change from the hot hot summer we've been having. 

It was game night and we made a nice pizza and watched the first pre-season game.  Our two draftees were awesome but otherwise it was pretty boring, as we knew it would be.  But hey, it's football. 

Saturday morning we took off early to Flower World and I bought lots of pretty things to put in the planters and a Rosemary bush for a spot in the back.  Then I got to work cleaning out the debris from the older planters and planting the new things.  I am very pleased with the results although I need a few more plants - always need more plants I guess.  Then it was off to the nail salon and a trip to Trader Joe's and that was my Saturday. 

I had forgotten Ben's golf tournament Sunday.  So there I was with an entire morning and part of the afternoon to fill up with .. knitting.  Not all knitting - I did some chores.  I am trying to finish up that silly ArtYarns Starry Summer Nights shawl.  I got a one-off Yarnbox Classic for my birthday present from Monika and that's going out today, plus I've got a few other (million) projects in the wings.  Just waiting for some cooler weather.  This is not the time to have a blanket's worth of knitting on your lap.  Or even a cardigan.

This is a weird morning - the Chairman of the department has called a staff meeting!  He never calls staff meetings plus the Administrator is on vacation .... so the news is either going to be really good or really bad.  Stay tuned.

If it wasn't for bad luck ......

What is it with me and buses?  I always seem to be having some sort of mix up or other.  Yesterday I took the bus to Northgate so I could pick up some face cream and save myself a trip to the mall during the weekend.  I got there just fine but the getting back to work .... not so fine.  I waited on 5th for the 68 bus, assuming that it would be going to the University.  Ha!  Plus, oh it was late.  So I waited about 20 minutes for this bus that took me around the corner to the transit center across from where I used to live.  It was then that I realized that I had mistaken the 68's route.  It is not circular!  I then caught a 67 which is the bus I used to take to work.  I could have walked over to the transit center after my purchase and caught a 67.  Well at least I figured it out because I have to go back today because I got the wrong cream.  *sigh*

It was nearly 90 yesterday but the clouds moved in and now it's not even 70 and it was thundering and raining this morning.  I wonder if I should have given Tink a pill.  Well, too late.  Hopefully she won't be too freaked out.  The rain shouldn't last and I should be able to have some good garden time tomorrow.  I plan on going to Flower World in Maltby.  It's supposed to be very cool. 

I am SO looking forward to the Seahawks tonight, although I don't think any of the first stringers are going to be playing.  It doesn't matter.  It's back, that's all.

When do you call it finished?

I know that many many people post their projects on Ravelry and keep up with the progress of the item by posting pictures and then post a finished date.  I call a project finished when it is blocked but I think some people call it finished when it comes off the needles.  Unless you can wear it or use it I don't think you can call it done.  But I am a very picky and precise person so .... you can ignore this rant. Here are some pictures of the lovely shawl being blocked.  I am sorry that the beads don't show up as well in the photos.  They really pop in real life. You can kind of see them in the picture on the right.  Or if you look very closely at the bottom of the tear drops on the left.  I am anxious for it to dry but I won't be able to use it for weeks and weeks if this summer keeps up like it has been. 

We had thunder showers yesterday and the air is moist today but it will still be in the high 80s.  I think Friday it's supposed to cool down.  I hope it's nice on the weekend though because I want to work on the garden and the planters around the patio and porch.  I just don't like to garden at all when it's cloudy.

I had a quiet evening last night and will again tonight, hopefully.  Tomorrow night?  Ah, the first pre-season Seahawks game!!  Woohoo!!!

Finished Shangri-La

I finished binding off the Shangri-La shawl and it is SO gorgeous!  It needs to be blocked so I don't have any pictures.  I brought it in today to show the noon knitting group before it's blocked and tonight when I get home I'll give it a good soak and pin it out.  I need to be aggressive about it so that the nice mesh work can really show off the beaded tear drops.  Hopefully we'll get a winter this year so that I can wear it.

I worked from home yesterday afternoon after spending the morning at a doctor's appointment.  We've finally got all of the dosages right so with any luck I won't have to see her again until next May.  It just doesn't make any sense for me to drive to work after a morning doctor's appointment though.  It is expensive - tolls both ways and parking - and it takes an hour.  All of my files are on the cloud now so I took care of business as well as let Tink in and out a million times.

Since my Shangri-La was finally finished I decided I'd knit up the project from the Yarnbox ArtYarns shipment.  It's gorgeous yarn but I'm not crazy on the colors.  And right now I need a small project.  It's still so very very hot and not weather to start a sweater, which will be my next big project.  A lace panel drapey cardigan.  Monika made it and it's a great pattern.  But I'm weeks away from that.

What else?  All I can seem to do is complain about the weather.

Super Duper Birthday Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend!  It started out with a work at home day Friday because I had someone coming over to clean the furnace ducts. Actually I thought they were just coming to give me a bid, but they just started doing it and I had nobody else coming to give me a price so I just let them go ahead.  It needed to be done and they were done in 30 minutes.  The price was fine and I'm happy. 

Saturday and Sunday I got a lot of knitting done and I've finished up the body of the Shangri-La and I started the picot bind off last night.  However, after the third one I realized I had forgotten the bead!!  There is absolutely no way in the world to tink back to add it so I put it down.  I need to have all my wits about me when I do this bind off and I was distracted by the first pre-season game.  Ahhh, football. 

My birthday celebration Saturday was low key but really nice.  First I slept in, then after breakfast went to the mall where I got a new Seahawks 12 jersey.  Then some grocery shopping and a light lunch.  The main event was dinner at Preservation Kitchen.  It was super good. 

Sunday was a lazy day.  We had a party planning meeting at 3 o'clock and otherwise is was just knitting and football.  I don't feel bad about it at all.  It was still my birthday.  Next weekend I'll work on the planters and otherwise be more productive.

Mists

Yesterday evening the rains came and it really poured.  It smelled so nice - wet earth.  And it sounded lovely too.  I had had a bad day yesterday - except for noon knitting - and it was rather soothing.  This morning it's not actually raining, but still the air is wet and it's misty.  It won't last long, but I think this cooler weather will be with us for a while and for that I'm grateful.

I managed to dial in to my meeting yesterday and get on the correct bus - yay me.  The meeting went on long enough for me to get to the Transit Center, drive home in horrific traffic and walk Tinkerbell.  In other words, it went over time.  I just don't know ..... things are SO weird and things are still up in the air.  It is not going to be easy to get through another entire year of this, but I must do it.  Day by day.  Today I get to go to the gym.  There's a good thing.

I've got to get the heating air ducts cleaned before we turn the furnace back on this year.  After that remodel and the floor refinishing the ducts were NOT cleaned and I believe it did not do my asthma any favors.  This year it will be done - the sooner the better.

My Shangri-la is getting to have some weight and substance and it is such a comfort to work on.  I got another couple of rows done yesterday between noon knitting and the evening stupid TV time.  (Although stupid TV time now includes football news so that's good). After I finish the next beaded row I will take stock of my yarn and see how much further I can go.  I think four repeats and the edging will be fine, especially blocked, but if I can make it another repeat I shall do it because I like my wraps to be long.

Oh I hope I can stay awake.  While I love this cloudy weather it does make me sleepy.

Memorized

My Shangri-la is coming along nicely.  Now that I have the pattern memorized it is really zipping by.  I got another two rows done last night before I crashed and I will get two more done at noon knitting today.  Because I'm now working from the previously knitted portion of the Jo's Pride it is going to be difficult for me to judge if I will have enough yarn to add another pattern repeat.  But I'm a week or so away from having to make that judgement.

Yesterday was another present day on my birthday week.  This one a bottle of a liquor I am fond of.  But it can't keep up, I'm sure.  But while it is happening I'm liking it!!

The clouds have rolled in and with it cooler weather.  No rain though, which is what I was looking forward to.  And it won't last long either.  We'll be back in the 80s by Friday.

Football .... that's basically all we're hearing about now.  Especially after that horrible end to the Super Bowl.  Preseason games start on the 11th, I think.  Although the Hall of Fame game will be on this coming Sunday.  Guess what I'm going to be doing?

Hooray for the birthday week!

The best week of the year.  We'll discount the time spent at work, of course.  I doubt the gifts will continue every night, but last night I got a wrapped gift to begin the birthday week.  What was it?  Only a copy of the Fantasy Football Index!  Okay, it's just a magazine, but it's a great fantasy football start for me.  I got the email yesterday to join our league and this year I'm going to be prepared!  So besides studying this magazine I'm going to join the ESPN Fantasy Insiders.  I'd just like to be in the playoffs!  I don't need to win the whole thing, which would be awesome.  But being in the playoffs would be great too.

I finished up the laundry and had a pretty lazy evening, which is how I like Do-Nothing Monday to be.  I even got some knitting in, albeit with the fan blowing straight on me.  I needed to get to bed early and I had a nice night, for the most part.  It was bloody hot, but fans work well enough to let me fall asleep.

I wanted to go to the gym yesterday since I wasn't able to go even once last week.  But I had to go to Northgate because I did not want to have to go to the mall on Saturday plus I was totally out of Chanel mascara.  It took as long to go to the mall as it does to go to the gym.  Not that anybody notices anyway.  Today it's gym time.

I think we might get some more rain tomorrow.  At least it's cooling off this week and I noticed that finally my tomatoes are starting to put out some flowers.  The cherry tomatoes have fruit on them but the other two, with the exception of the 3 tomatoes on the Early Girl that were there from the beginning.  So maybe by the end of August we'll have some tomatoes.

Not what I expected

Friday was a very busy morning, plus it was Seafair weekend and the Blue Angels were flying, so I90 was closed making 520 impassible.  Therefore I was picked up very late and we didn't get to the ferry line until after two.  It was packed!  We didn't end up getting on the ferry until 5 o'clock.  No matter.  We had a vacation mindset, and cocktails.  After checking in to the hotel we went out for a meal and then walked the town.  The music ..... mmmmm, not exactly what we were expecting.  After doing a bit more research we found that this is mostly a workshop type of week culminating in various concerts around town.  This is acoustic blues, not dance music. 

We had a wonderful breakfast and then drove around, visiting the historic fort where the workshops were being held, among other things.  In the afternoon we walked around all of the galleries and shops and I fell in love with this clock.  The little swirl is blurred because it is the pendulum.  I just LOVE it and so I bought it.  A birthday present to myself, a week early.  I didn't have anything particular in mind to buy myself this year, so I am very happy I found this.

We had a little rest and then went back out for a late lunch and then, since we weren't all that enamored with the music we settled in on the balcony with snacks and lots of tequila and played cards.  I was the winner.  I cleaned everybody out!  That is the first time we've played poker and I was the big winner.  The downside is that I had to buy dinner, but it was well worth it.  And we laughed and laughed.  I was sure my stomach was going to be sore the next morning, but it wasn't.

We got up and out in plenty of time to make the ferry without having to wait in line.  We couldn't pick Tink up until 3, but that gave me time to shop for food and start laundry.  Oh it was hot.  Too hot.  The weather is supposed to cool down a bit this week and I can't wait.  Hopefully we'll get some rain as well.

Things are absolutely bizarre at work.  My sanity is hanging by a thread.

The Blues with a capital B

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

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

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

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

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

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

Caught up

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

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

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

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

Pinch me!

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

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

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

Things change

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

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

A cooler weekend

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

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

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

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

Sports talk

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

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

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

When you dream you have a bad headache

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

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

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

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

Happy hump day, world.

Haste makes waste

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

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

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

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

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

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

The mileposts

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

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

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

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

And now there are more

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

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

I could have chosen better tomatoes

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

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

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

Scary

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

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

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

Is Tuesday the most boring day of the week?

I need a rest from the weekend!

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

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

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

I almost fell for a phishing scam!

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

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

A little cloud cover

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

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

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

A cup of coffee does help

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

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

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

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

Missing my caffeine

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

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

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

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

A very hot long weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was a long day

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

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

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

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

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

A real cluster you-know-what

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

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

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

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

It's all about football

For me, anyway.  It's five weeks until the start of training camp and this is the time of year that I'm just dying for anything football related.  I listen to sports talk radio. I watch old football movies.  In fact, last night I watched North Dallas Forty.  Well, most of it.  I forgot how much I hate the female lead in that movie.  The actress was just so wooden.  I wonder how much of it was direction and how much of it was just her.  She never really did much after that either.

When I got home the workers were still swarming over the house and sanding the deck in the back, so I had a quick shower (the windows were covered in plastic so I couldn't open them) and headed outside to the front where there was some shade and I could be away from the sanding.  Hopefully they can finish up today but I suspect not because they're going to have to do the porch and deck, two coats each.  Luckily we can come and go through the garage so they can do them at the same time.  I must say, it won't take them long to dry.

Tomorrow I've got to take the bus in to work because I'm going to a cocktail party right after work.  That's going to make for a long day.  It's noon knitting though so it won't be a complete bust of a day.  Plus I'll have to hang out for a while in the evening and I can knit. 

For now I'm enjoying the cool of the morning.  It won't last long.

Heat wave for sure

Friday was just plain miserable.  One of the faculty came into my office and exclaimed that it would be illegal for her to keep animals at this temperature.  Amen sister!  It is ridiculous and only going to get worse as the week progresses. 

It was too warm to knit on Friday so I sat in the shade and read for a while and ended up going to bed early.  The heat just saps me!  Therefore I woke up super early Saturday morning, which was good.  Ben had to work so he was out of the house before 7:30.  I got up, got cleaned up, got Tinkie walked, got a bunch of chores done and the laundry going and then ... then I had three solid hours to knit in the coolness of the morning before my hair appointment.  It was wonderful!  I got the first few rows of the pattern done.  It should go pretty fast, if I can carve out quiet time for knitting when it's cool enough.  But Sunday afternoon, before we had to go to a party, I had some time again to knit and ran up against another stupid knot in this ball of yarn.  Again, totally and completely my fault.  I spent another hour re-winding that ball.  Now we're good to go though.

I am getting SO antsy for a vacation.  A proper one, not just a long weekend, which is what we'll be having at the end of July.  Kelli wants us to come down to LA for a week, so I'm going to start working on that.  She wants us to come down in August, but I don't that that'll be possible.  More likely September.  It's something to work towards anyway.  And then .... Europe in April?  I'll have to count up vacation days.

First though I have to get through this hot hot day.

It's already hot

Oh lordy, it's going to be a long, hot day.  We are having a heat wave in Seattle and it's going to be in the 90s for the next few days.  The fan in my office does pretty much nothing.  And the house now is warmed up from the week of warm weather so there's not much comfort their either.  I think we'll have to bring the fans in tonight.

To make matters worse, I can't go to the gym today because I am stuck alone in the main office!  Monika has gotten that nasty stomach bug I had earlier this week and Bill is out at a meeting all morning.  I'll have to content myself with a walk up to the Ave at lunchtime.  I need some Clinique things anyway, so I can go up to the U Bookstore.  That will save me from having to go to Macy's this weekend. 

As soon as I got my chores done last night I sat down to untangle that ball of yarn.  It took a while, but I got it done and did a few rows as well.  I am not ready for the set up row and since there's Women's World Cup on tonight I know I will have the quiet time to do it.

Poor Tinkie got another ear infection, this time the right ear.  It's the heat causing the yeast to grow, I imagine.  She spent most of the night either in the bathroom on the cool tile or under the bed, but about 4 she wanted up onto the bed.  And then she was growling and barking.  I suspect there were critters out in the garden.  All of the windows were open, but I couldn't hear anything.  I don't have her hearing, that's for sure.  The only thing I have ever heard is a deer walk past the bedroom window.  I could hear its little hooves crunching on the gravel.  Kind of creepy.

Ball winding mishap

I will admit that I was a bit careless when I wound the yarn last weekend for my current project, the Shangri-la.  Sometimes when one is cranking the ball winder a little too fast the yarn will slip off the ball and wind itself around the spindle.  I try to catch it when that happens and unwind the yarn from the spindle and get it back onto the ball.  Then there are other times when I don't catch it until the ball is complete and it's nearly impossible to unwind at that point.  In this case, I hope for the best which is that the strands are near the end of the ball.  Not so with my latest effort.  For a while at noon knitting I was unwinding the yarn carefully around the wodge of yarn that had come up through the center of the ball.  But last night it just all went to pieces and the entire ball split into two equally snarled balls.  I cut the yarn and started the second ball but tonight I'm going to have to try to sort out the mess.  I am pretty sure I'll need that yarn to complete the project and I need to tackle the problem before it gets worse.  So much for getting some good knitting done tonight.

It's already hot in the office and it's going to get hotter today and tomorrow.  I have my blinds closed against the sun and a little fan blowing but it doesn't do much of anything.  No air conditioning in our office.  If I need some cool air I have to go out into the hall.  Stupid.

I saw a deer last night, finally.  Tink and I were on are way back from our walk and there standing in front of the driveway was a big doe.  Just beautiful.  It stood there for a while and I was trying to take a picture to send to my sister, but then Tink barked and it took off.  I know they are coming around at night though because you can see where they lay down in the garden.

True Detective

Since I wasn't feeling 100% Sunday evening, I forgot all about watching the premier of True Detective.  I remembered yesterday though and set it to record, so last night we watched the first episode.  Was I confused?  Yes, yes I was.  That is the point, I guess.  All of the actors were very good.  I might have to watch it again before the next episode.

Noon knitting today and it's going to be a hot one.  It was hot yesterday and each day this week is supposed to be hotter.  And next week as well.  It even looks like we'll be getting a hot July 4th weekend, which is always unusual.  We don't have any plans though.  There is a family party on the 28th of June for a graduation, and then another family party on the 11th of July for visiting relations.  I don't think we'll be able to host a party on the 4th so maybe we'll be able to just have a quiet long weekend.  I wouldn't hate that.

Some weekends just zip by

It was a quick one.  Saturday was chores and chores and then a graduation party.  The weather was great but I wasn't in the mood for a big ol' family party with a bazillion people I didn't know, so we didn't stay very long.  Just long enough to have a bite and talk to the major players.  

On Sunday all I had to do was grocery shopping and laundry.  Which was fine because I was not feeling all that great.  I don't know if something I ate didn't agree with me or if I had a little bug.  Whatever I was down most of Sunday and yesterday as well. 

On Friday I decided that I am not going to use that linen yarn but instead found a very cool wrap to make with beads (sound familiar -- I am stuck in a rut) to use the wonderful Ancient Arts Fiber Crafts merino bamboo from one of my Yarnbox shipments.  I am going to make the Shangri-la wrap.  Now I know I have a lot of wraps but my thinking was why make something just because I should use the yarn?  I mean, I enjoy making wraps and knitting is about enjoyment.  I know what happens when I knit something I should knit.  I don't.  It languishes in my pile of WIPs.  So maybe I'll trade or sell that linen.  I do have the yarn for a nice cardigan I'm looking forward to making so I don't see any reason to force myself to make a cardigan just to use the linen.  No, I don't want a linen wrap. 

Other than that .. starting a new project .. things are pretty stale around here.  I need something to shake things up.

It's all about the US Open

Oh my goodness.  That's all you hear about ... well, that and the Seahawks mini camp.  But this US Open course is very different and yesterday was the start of the tournament.  The course is very hilly.  I'm not much of a golf fan, but the general public is really getting into this event.  And of course the sports talk guys are also all over it because the Mariners are sucking SO bad and the Seahawks just started their 6 weeks off.  Or another way to look at it -- six weeks until the start of training camp!

It stayed cloudy yesterday, most of the day, but no more rain.  This morning it is sprinkling and you can almost hear the ground sucking it up.  Again, it won't last long but I didn't have to water my tomatoes or herbs yesterday.  Back to sunshine tomorrow.

I sure love the IMA during the summer.  It is so quiet in the locker room and I don't have to fight for space.  I might run today.  My foot was a little bit tweaky though so perhaps I should stick to the bike and try running next week instead.

Last night after a little trip to Triplehorn I got the ends woven in on the blanket and popped it into the washing machine.  It came out looking super good and now it's drying on the table and pads.  I will give it to Mai tomorrow.  I still don't know what I want to start next though.  I kind of know what I want to do but I can't find a pattern that does it.  Except maybe the Breezy Cardigan.  My problem, if you can call it that, is that I have to incorporate stripes into it because I don't have enough of one color.  I have four white skeins, two of beige and one of brown.  It will be a very classic neutral piece.  I think I'll just buy it and dig in.  It seems to be a very good TV knitting piece.  While I would love to dig into a difficult project, I don't get the long amounts of peaceful knitting time I used to get when I was single so I can't be doing those types of things exclusively.  I always need to have a somewhat mindless project to hand.  And I am looking forward to my Artyarns Yarnbox in a few weeks and I am hoping that will be my tough project.

This weekend we've got a graduation party for my nephews on Saturday and Tink's vet appointment.  That's about it so I suspect there will be some chores in there as well. 

Finished!

I finished the knitting portion and started binding off at noon knitting yesterday.  And then last night I finished binding off.  It took forever!  Tonight I'll weave in the ends and pop it in the washing machine.  It's a small blanket, but it is for a new born, so I think it's perfect.  Here is a picture of it on the dining room table. I just love love LOVE it!  And I chose to bind of knit wise rather than doing it in pattern.  I like the clean look of the edge.  It looks more finished to me this way.  Such a lovely baby pink too.  I trust it is going to wash up well.  It's Berrocco superwash, so it should be fine.  I won't put it in the dryer though.  I'd love to make another one but larger.  I made this with size 9 needles and I like the fabric.  I wonder how difficult it would be to add another layer, just reversing the last fifty rows.  Hmmmmm

But that's for another time.  Now I need to think about my linen project.  Or maybe the pretty purple very lacy project from the last classic Yarnbox.  I'll check on the website and look at the pattern.  So many choices.  Oh!  Plus I'll be getting the new Yarnbox plus Artyarns in a few weeks as well!  Yips.  An embarrassment of richest.

It was sprinkling a little bit this morning and it maybe will do it some more tomorrow.  We need it.

I am getting jazzed about football.  I have finished my audiobooks for the month and now must listen to either music or sports talk podcasts until I get my next one, which will be the new Shardlake book.  But football.  The Seahawks are having their first mini camp today.  Soon soon soon

Today's the day

I'm going to finish that blanket today.  Maybe not at noon knitting, although I should get pretty close.  But tonight for sure.  I just have a few more petals to knit and then the binding off of 550 stitches.  In pattern, which is a hassle since it's seed stitch.  I did want to do it last night, but what with one thing and another - getting my hair dried, Tink walks, preparing a deeeelicious meal, cleaning up.  At that point I just wanted to watch a little TV, read and fall asleep.  Tinkerbell has a very restless night, unfortunately.  She has an ear thing going on and that might have something to do with it.  Luckily I have an appointment with the vet this coming Saturday to get her some tranquilizers for the fireworks ahead so they can take a look at it then.  She hasn't had that problem for quite a while.  Not since I've been at this house so that's at least a year.  I kept the medicine so I'm able to get the treatment started, which is good.

Since my blanket is nearly finished I've got to choose a pattern for my linen cardigan.  I've got an idea of what I want but I've got to figure out if I've got enough yarn.  This was a pretty generous Yarnbox so I'm pretty sure I've got enough for the style of cardigan I want to make - an open fronted one kind of like the Whisper, but with longer fronts.

Well Saturday is the official start of Summer and the weather is still pretty spectacular as if we've been having summer all this month.  We should by rights be experiencing June Gloom, like they are in LA.  Ah well, no complaints here.  And the critters -- I saw two raccoons "sleeping" by the side of the road this morning on the way to the Transit Center.  And a few yesterday as well.  And the rabbits .... the only thing I've haven't seen yet this year are deer.  Maybe Tink keeps them away.

Where the heck is my gray running skirt???

I am mystified.  I actually thought it was here at work in my bottom drawer, where I keep my workout clothes.  But it is not.  So that's why I bought the new black Adidas one.  However, I would really like to have that gray one so I don't have to wash my gym clothes during the week.  My second guess was one of the bottom two drawers in my chest.  I keep T-shirts and lounging pants, miscellaneous stuff in there.  I did a search and no skirt.  So while we were watching a movie Sunday I took out the two deep drawers that I use for socks and stockings and camisoles and all sorts of things and took everything out.  I ended up with a garbage bag of worn out socks, tights with holes, bras I'll never wear again, old camisoles but did I find a running skirt?  No.  No I did not.  Now my last chance is the closet.  On the top I have a couple of baskets and I can't remember exactly what's in there.  I moved to this house in August of last year and I was sure I was using my running skirt then but maybe not.  Maybe it's up there in those baskets.  I'll check tonight.

It was super hot yesterday.  I had to drop by the doctor's office to check on how my new medicine is working and then I stopped at the store to get things for a nice seafood salad.  It was much too hot to cook and I was craving a salad.  I got shrimp and crab and lots of fresh veggies and then made a nice dressing.  When we were ready we made our own salad.  Lovely.  I think we'll do it again tonight since I bought WAY too much seafood.  Or maybe I'll make some pasta.  I can't decide.

The blanket is nearly done.  I'm on the last row and then the bind off.  Unfortunately on the row before I screwed up almost an entire row of seed stitch!!!  Arghghgh!!  I can't rip it out.  There is no way.  I will have to think of some camouflage or maybe once it's bound off and washed it won't be noticeable .... except for me.  I'll know it's there.  Gah!  If I decide I can't stand it I'll have to rip out about 20 hours of work.  I would have to rip it back to before the seed stitch section starts.  I don't know.  I will have a think on it.

SO close

The weather stayed decent this weekend - as in not extremely hot - and I was able to work on the blanket Friday night and Saturday and some also yesterday.  I am 1 1/2 rows away from the bind off row.  Unfortunately the temperature is set to rise today so I very much doubt it will be cool enough to work on it tonight.  I need to get it finished so I can give it to Mai this coming weekend.  Then I can wind that beautiful linen I got from the Yarnbox Luxe and work on a light weight summer cardigan.

I was awake super early on Saturday and took advantage of it to get to Home Depot before the worst of the crowds.  I got the fence post toppers exchanged for the correct ones and then had to sit in the parking lot for a while before I could drive up to the mall.  The mall doesn't open until 10 am, so I called McG to check on his dog's operation.  Poor little thing has to wear a cone for three weeks!  Max, not McG.

Ben got in Sunday morning and I went to pick him up in the fancy car, top down.  It was a gorgeous morning and we stopped for a meal on the way home.  We sat outside and Tink was nice and content in a shady spot.  Then we stopped at the store where I had shopped for groceries on Saturday and had left the beautiful roses I bought!  The checker didn't put them into my basket and I didn't realize it until I got home.  I phoned and they put them into the cooler for me.  That was nice.  And they are gorgeous.  A really pretty coral.

I have to leave early today to get to the doctor by 3 o'clock.  I probably won't be able to get to the gym.  I still need to check the bus schedule, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to leave around 1:30 and since I don't get back from the gym until 1, I probably shouldn't go.  We'll see.