Saturday Night, and the Weekend's Flying

After a three-day weekend, two work days, and a five-day weekend, I found this very a propos today:

It's been a good-busy day, but still, I feel the pressure of time upon me. So much yet to do! Yet, while I wait for the last of the laundry to finish, I'm knitting a hat for the charity tree at the library, and watching Christmas specials. A girl can only do so much laundry, dishes, errands, and tasks in a day. Though I have a little seasonal task that I'm also working on (shh, it's a secret).

Speaking of seasonally appropriateness, I got a little tree today, a tabletop size according to Whole Foods; I'll take its picture for you tomorrow.

Later I'll be watching the Bruins game, nervously. Will they manage to win one game on their road trip? Last chance! And while I stand by my statement of the other day regarding the Bruins (i.e., you must score goals if you are to win hockey games), unfortunately the Bruins showed that it isn't always that simple, losing Thursday night 7-4. Good news: they scored four goals! Bad news: they allowed 7. Sigh. I hope they win for me tonight. Yes, for me. It is all about me.

Isn't it?

Hockey, and How?

Two thoughts for tonight.

First, here's something the Bruins need to realize, as they head into the third game of their western road trip tonight: no matter how well you play, if you do not score, you will lose. Every time.

Second ... how does this work? How?

As the Boing Boing page was headed, "Physics, or sorcery?"

Instead of Here

I've been knitting: started a new sock last night, after I got to the toe of second sock of the last pair while waiting for the doctor's appointment. Had a "good" long meeting today, plus the wait for the chiropractor, and bang!

I've been knitting: I started the cast-on for the sweater. May not even finish casting on tonight, but starting feels good.

And I'm going to be knitting: after being off the bike the last two days, it's time to get back on. Cramps are only an excuse when you have them...and I want to finish that sock, as well as the purse ones. Better get going, time passes and I need sleep tonight, too!

I Won't Let Me Get Started

If I start writing tonight, it's going to be grinchy and grouchy, what with the cold and the cramps and the late Bruins games this week (and they lost last night, to add insult to injury; it should make me feel better about not seeing it, but somehow it doesn't), so instead I'm going to do a little sharing and linking, and then go eat chocolate and knit.

First, amusing and possibly covetous for knitters, today the Yarn Harlot put up the first of her annual gift ideas post. I don't even want everything she lists, but I enjoy the opening note, which starts out, "Dear Non-knittter who loves a Knitter". I'd be lying if I said that the needle sorter/storer isn't very cool, though, and I've favorited the Etsy shop that sells the nice interchangeable cases, for future window shopping. Fun reading overall.

If you don't agree, no judging here. May I offer you some hockey amusement, specifically goalies leapfrogging? Don't mind if I do. Via Puck Daddy, of course.



You're welcome.

Finally, I saw this on Facebook tonight and just loved it (I only wish the image was more clear, but click on it to see it bigger). If only everyone would! Down with offensensitivity.

Happy merry to you!

...Oh, Monday

Last night wasn't quite as bad, in terms of end-of-weekend-regret, as the end of a regular weekend, although there was a fair amount of I-didn't, I-meant-to, oh-wait-I-have-to going on. I did two bouts on the bike instead of three, but I got the week's pills sorted out, and my lunch for today put together (I'm still at the leftovers, yum! stage), and finished the dishes--I normally run the dishwasher about once a week, and running it three times in less than that, and still having lots of hand dishes, well, enough already.

This morning was always going to be rough, the Monday morning after all that time off, but it really outdid itself. First, after I woke up around 3:30 to use the bathroom, I couldn't get back to sleep for a long time due to awful cramps*. I even got up and read for a while to try to distract myself from all the sleep I was missing. Lovely/not.
*I called the doctor's office today to make an appointment; this has to stop. Pill fail. I'm going in tomorrow. We'll see.

Then, when I did get back to sleep, I had weird, vivid dreams, like one where I was trying to see the cats because Carlos was actually standing up to Belmont's hissing, except I congratulated Pan instead, and then I saw three cats so I was trying to turn the light on to see who they were, but the lamp was a strobe instead, and finally I saw three ocelot kittens (cubs?) ... I mean, weird.

And then, while I was showering, I heard a series of thump-bang-smash noises, and the picture that had been on the wall fell into the shower (hello, adrenaline rush!), and it turned out that on the way down it had hit the wall shelf I had under it, just so, knocking it off and sending everything on it cascading onto the floor. At first glance, I didn't lose any of the important jewelry, and I think I'll be able to glue the broken pieces back on the bowl, but mercy, what a start to the day.

Mind you, someone I talked to today had an even worse Monday than I did, so, you know, everything's relative. And there were lots of pretty Christmas lights up tonight. But overall, I'm ready to crawl into bed now.

Truth.

Yes, I Have Been ... What's That Word? Knitting!

It get dark so early this time of year, which is annoying in many ways, but particularly when you think of taking pictures of something too late to get good light. It makes a good excuse, anyway, for what are pretty crappy pictures. For I have knit many things recently, and I want to tell you of them, crappy photos to the contrary notwithstanding!

Socks are a given: one in the purse, one on the bike. The bike sock is nearing the toe:

And so is the purse sock, though that one is the second of the pair, meaning that soon it will be time to choose The Next Yarn.

What will it be? Decisions, decisions.

I did get a picture in daylight of the little cashmere scarf I'm working on:

It's delightfully soft, but I have to pay just enough attention to the pattern that it doesn't make good social knitting, so it's stayed home. Where, this weekend, it got put aside for the wedding-present blanket, upon which progress is being made.

I know it doesn't look exciting yet, but I'm happy with it so far. Trust me.

I've also swatched for the sweater I want to make for myself (the I-haven't-knit-a-sweater-since-the-Bruins-won-the-Cup sweater), and I like the fabric I got, so I'm going to cast on with the same size. Some time.

Then there are the 2-in-1 socks, which are getting near the point where I have to decide when it's time to start the toe, too. I'll get more pictures of those before I cast off, since when that's done, they will transform from cool, magical knitting trick into socks that probably won't fit all that well. With this pair in particular, the magic is in the doing, not the being done. Which is okay by me.

We Agree

A quick follow-up to say that if you think I'm the only one who was bothered by the Friday Bruins game not being a matinee, Jack Edwards would like you to know that's not true (via Puck Daddy).



So there. (I'm not certain the video is going to show up; if it doesn't show for you, click the link to find it.)

The Bruins managed to win last night in overtime, but it wasn't much of a game. And now they go on the road for their west coast trip, meaning the games start so late (eastern time) that I won't see another game until next Saturday. Urgh. I hope they straighten themselves out in that time. And don't get the mumps.

No, that's not a joke, that's a real thing in the NHL lately. Three or four teams so far. Crazy, right?

Running Some Thanks By You

From Sandra Boynton's Facebook page, yesterday:

Right?

There was a moment mid-day today when I realized that I'd been off work for two and a half days, and there was another two and a half days before I have to go back to work. What a treat! Add that to the list of things to be thankful for.

And that's a long list.

• I'm thankful for "basic" things like food and a roof over my head and heat and power. 
• And speaking of food, I'm especially thankful for Thanksgiving reruns today. Turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and angel salad! (I wish I'd thought to buy cider, though. I may have to go out tomorrow for that.)
• For friends and family and no big losses this year. 
• Also for a better job than this time last year, my goodness. 
• For enough money to pay the bills and still buy some treats. Yarn and books and chocolate keep a girl sane. Or closer to sane, anyway.
• For time to knit. And read. And watch hockey.
• For two cats who aren't friends but can at least live in the same house without fur flying. And who purr, at least separately.
• For not having to do any shopping today, other than for cat food and litter (and for a PetSmart store that isn't in a crazy parking lot, so that I *could* go today without going crazy).
• Even for in-building laundry machines! (I have to go fold towels soon.)

And much more. It wouldn't be me if I didn't have some complaints, of course. Winter's barely started and I hate it so, so much. I had to clean snow off my car yesterday and again today, and I get all hot under my coat while my face flash-freezes, and wow, get ready for some complaining this winter. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

But today, that's only a passing thought. Like my bitterness at the NHL for allowing NBC to bully them out of the Bruins having their traditional day-after-Thanksgiving matinee (so that all eyes would be on the Rangers game that NBC showed this afternoon; my eyes were elsewhere, so there). They play tonight, and if they win I will forget the grave insult.

Go, Bruins! Go, thankfulness!

Bonus! "Snow" Day

At work on Tuesday, we were told that the office would close at 1:30 Wednesday for the holiday, which sounded nice to me! Last night, as I was on the exercise bike*, my phone rang, and it was the boss's exec calling to let me know that because of the incoming storm (which was forecast to be rain in the morning but turn to snow midday), the boss decided to close the office for the day. Surprise!
*I like to think it was a karmic reward for exercising.

The storm, by the way, has been mostly sleet here so far. It was rain until maybe two before switching over, but by the map I've been right on the snow-sleet line ever since. Who knows what will happen overnight.

So instead of getting to bed early, and going to work half a day, I stayed up late, slept late, and have had a pretty damn good day. I did some lazing around, some getting-things-done, and now the angel salad is done and in the fridge, most of the dishes are done, and I need to do the rest, plus more biking  (albeit gently, as I have a sore muscle in my leg that I don't want to exacerbate) and who knows what else. I watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special on the iPad while I made the angel salad, so I don't have to suffer through the commercials tonight, and it leaves me free as a bird. Off to be thankful! I've put this one up before, I know, but anyway.

(Not one of my cats, but it reminds me so much of Harold...)

A Few Notes and Videos Before I'm Biking

When I bought my little condo (back in 2006, ahem), I noticed a plaque on the front of the building announcing that it was built in 1745* and thought, "Wow, I should check with the library or historical society and see what they can tell me about it."
*Which is super-old in the US. Pre-Revolutionary War!

And, almost 8 years to the day since I moved, I finally did! Thanks, Mary Ellen! It's pretty hilarious stuff: when I tell you that the form says it's an "altered Queen Anne" style, all I want to add is, if this is altered, you could say that dynamite alters what it ignites. I look forward to studying the papers at leisure. Mum, I'll bring it along at Christmas so you can see.

In other news, someone shared this awesome story on Facebook of Neil deGrasse Tyson answering a question from a 6-year-old:



And someone posted one of those quizzes, this one what's your 70s anthem. I was a kid in the 70s, but I have some fond music memories, so I tried it. I'm not dissatisfied with my result (who could be unhappy with Bohemian Rhapsody?), but I was secretly hoping to get December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).



The video is (delightfully) campy, but for whatever reason or none at all, I love this song (be glad you can't hear me as I sing along). Do you have any songs like that, ones that aren't your style and you just can't explain your love of?

Put your head on my shoulder...

You no get up now.

Quick Words on Wegmans, the Weekend, and the Bike

Quick note: Melissa asked if Wegmans really wasn't that crowded, and I know, I'm surprised, too. But I felt that it was, although busy, not crazy-busy. I was there late morning, and wouldn't even have guessed it was the week before Thanksgiving, let alone that it was a new Wegmans. It was busy, sure, but not nuts. The cashier was ... clearly new, but it was fine. Two thumbs up. I doubt I'll go again before January, what with Christmas and all, but if I could go during the day on a weekday, I probably would. In the new year, I expect to be able to go on weekends without needing a cold compress afterward, and if that's true, it will be my regular stop for groceries.

My weekend has been a good one overall. I didn't get everything done, but I did a fair bit, plus a fair bit of sitting, reading, petting cats, and all that. Plus lots of sleep! And no big headaches either, whew. So while I'm never happy to have a weekend end, the end of a long one facing a short week is fairly painless.

I need to go get on the bike, as that's one thing I haven't done today (30 minutes Friday, 31 yesterday, must keep rolling), so I'll be off to do that. The sock that I started on the 10th is at the heel turn already.

I'm proud of that. I never, ever feel physically better after exercising, as I understand some people do, but having sock progress to look at helps. And not feeling that rush makes even more proud of myself when I do it anyway. Go, me.

Ahhh, Bonus Weekend Day

I'll have to take Fridays off once in a while: it's a great feeling, after a day of getting some extra sleep and getting a few things done, plus cat snorgling, to have another two whole days of weekend to come.

I'm making a list of things I want to get done, as if I don't write them down, they evaporate when I try to remember later. Oh, the kitchen table is messy enough to be seen from space, I'm not going to forget that! But it's good to have a list so I can assess which thing I feel like doing most, at the given moment.

One of the things I got done was a doctor's appointment, the latest follow-up on my blood pressure. Want to hear something crazy? The latest medicine seems to be helping! Isn't that nuts? Only the third one we've tried. We'll see how it is in six months; it's nice to have that long to not think about it.

Another thing I got done was grocery shopping (necessary pre-angel salad, of course), and it was only exciting because it was at Wegmans. They opened a store in Burlington about a month ago, well within the distance I'm willing to go for them*, and I'd said I would wait for the frenzy to die down before going, and go in January. But given the opportunity to go on a weekday, during the day, I decided to chance it. It was good (I mean, it's still grocery shopping, it's not like it's ever fun-fun, but everything's relative, and for grocery shopping it's great), and even better? It turns out they built a two-story parking area, meaning that in winter, one can park in the lower lever and not have to deal with the snow! This is very exciting, though today it was only cold, not precipitationing in any way, thank god. (So cold, though, around freezing and then a substantial wind chill.)
*As opposed to Northborough, which is a solid hour away plus traffic, too far for regular visits. Unfortunately.

So I got those and some other errands done, quite satisfying, even if I did strike out at LL Bean. The fleece-flannel shirts I wanted to see were nice enough, but I didn't love them enough for that price, and they do have a pajama-shirt look about them, which isn't ideal. Then the lined jeans just illustrated what's wrong with clothes sizing. I took off the pair of jeans I was wearing, size 18 in another brand, and couldn't zip the size 20 Bean jeans. So I put them back and looked around, and found a pair of cords on the clearance rack in size 22W (I'm guessing it was a mail-order return, since I didn't see plus sizes anywhere in the store). And they were much, much too big. So not only are the sizes between brands not similar, but even within Bean they vary widely. Crazy.

I got home after the doctor in plenty of time to make scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner, yum, and the Bruins game, though up and down, finally ended in a (stupid shootout) win for my guys, so it's a good end to a good day. Even if my legs and rear do hurt from half an hour on the bike. The bike sock is at the heel flap already: I'll try to think about that part instead.

There, 2000 Words

What a week! I finally made it to the end (since I worked Sunday), and am so relieved to think of sleeping in tomorrow. I have a few things I plan to get done, but sleeping is job one.

In lieu of comprehensible content, I have two pictures to share from today. The first is to show you Belmont's new hangout spot in the living room.

Guess where the heating vent in the living room is? Yes, behind the couch. You can't see it in the picture, of course. She's a small cat, but she spreads.

The funny thing is that the vent isn't even open all the way, but apparently it's warm enough to be appealing (this wasn't so amusing the other morning, when she threw up back there; that was a challenge to clean up). She isn't always back there, but frequently. In fact, I think she was there when I got home: usually she's underfoot and yowling for food as I come in, before I have the door closed behind me, but tonight it was a solid 1-2 minutes before she ambled out.

The other picture is from a book I'm reading, a lightweight but quite entertaining mystery. I generally find it super-annoying when I find someone's corrections in a library book, but this made me laugh out loud.

We all have our things, don't we, our areas where we hate to see mistakes? And someone just couldn't stand it that this "error" (which I wouldn't have known was an error, but I guess you don't nail in a bracket?) made it into print.

People are funny, aren't they? Have you ever found a funny correction in a library book? Or wanted to correct one yourself?

Not Blogging, Knitting

Tonight I did that pesky "living life before blogging about it" thing and went to my other knitting group, meaning I got in late and am trying to do All The Things before getting to bed at a decent hour. So, yeah. Bye!

Zzzz, or Brrrr, or Wait, What?

I continue to be confused about what the day of the week is; I work one Sunday and I'm all thrown off. This morning, I read about a player who would not be available for Tuesday's Bruins game, and drew a blank as to when that was going to be, before I realized, that's tonight! (Brad Marchand, who according to the coach was not injured "per se" in Saturday's game, is apparently uninjured in a way that prevents him from playing tonight. Interesting.)

Somehow it was harder to get up today than yesterday, though, and it doesn't seem like a coincidence that I saw this on Facebook this morning.

I was also more sore and achy than I was yesterday. It's not like I did a ton of standing or walking Monday, so I don't know why that got worse. Aging, man. Full of fun. Still, I wasn't quite as dead-tired at work today as I was yesterday, when I thought I would nod off mid-afternoon.

In addition to the day confusion, I have season confusion, as no matter what the calendar says, today is winter. No, fortunately not like a lot of places are getting now (wall of snow, really, Buffalo? Be sure to scroll down and look at all the pictures there), but it is C-O-L-D COLD out there, with the bitterness of wind chill factor that I haven't yet felt this season. I didn't miss it.

In other words, I may not wait for Santa: I think I'm going to need this shirt from LL Bean before then. I can't imagine why Bean is advertising a fleece-lined flannel shirt on my Facebook page, can you? I may also need some fleece-lined jeans ... time to shop, I think. Not tonight, but soon. Brrrrr.

So, so tired

I am so tired.

This has been me, all day.

I much prefer a regular schedule, finding that it is less of a rut and more of a scaffold for me in getting through life. For this reason, it is disconcerting to start Monday after having worked Sunday: it throws me off. I'm already looking forward to being off Friday, and having a long weekend to help make up for it.

(And then next week is a 3-day week before Thanksgiving. You'll never hear me complain about long weekends, for all my love of routine, but I know December will be hard to adjust to!)

I did my first bit on the bike, and am off to do the second (the seat hurts my rear so much, I can't do more than 10-15 minutes at a time, but I can do it twice with a break in between). I wish all this exercise did me some measurable good ... other than the socks. Thank god for the socks.

Never Did I Think

My day at the conference went fine, more or less; I had some camera battery issues, but overall I got what I went to get, so it will do.

And hey, I never expected my career to bring me to a point where I would be wearing something like this:

Black and gold, even! How about that? Too bad it's not to the Bruins...

I'm not quite as dead on my feet as I was after the other conference day I had, but I am tired, and I need to eat, so that's it for now. See you soon!

The Baby, and Sock Progress

"You think I don't know whose picture keeps showing up on Facebook?"

"Not mine, is it? Unless you're making fun of me. For caring."

"Fine. Whatever." Sigh...

It feels later than it is; I'm still not used to what the time change does to sunlit hours, and dwindling light before 4 PM is disconcerting. But it means I have some time left this evening, and I am done with the laundry at last (and kind of never want to walk up stairs again, but today at least, I don't have to), and the Bruins managed to win this afternoon too.

I even managed to finish the purse sock, since I realized this morning that it was close enough to make it less than helpful for tomorrow, when I'll have knitting time between sessions that I'd rather not spend trying to find a place to try on a sock and see if it's time to start the toe. This is where it was this morning:

And now that one's done and the next is started, ready for the purse. (The yarn is one of the ones I got in San Francisco, Annapurna from A Verb For Keeping Warm, and it feels very cushy; I look forward to wearing it.)

I also photographed two pairs of finished socks, as I finished the last purse socks and the last bike socks almost simultaneously. It was funny, to be feeling like I just turned a heel as I turned a heel. Mind you, I started the purse socks on September 28, and the bike socks on May 20, so it's only at the end that they synchronized. (And mind you too, the first pair of socks I knit on the bike took me 9.5 months, and the second pair, 9 months, so 7.5 is better, and I will expect pair four to be better still.)

Purse pair, in Glamour Gams from Bittersweet Woolery:

And bike pair, in Fleece Artist's Somoko:

What I found really interesting is that, although they are similarly sized, they took very different amounts of yarn. I always weigh them, to keep track of how much yarn I have left, and they took 67 and 92 grams, respectively. Big difference! Can't wait to see how differently they wear.

And, yes, I started new bike socks, since I can hardly ride the bike without knitting. As if!

The yarn is Classica, by Mad Color Fiber Arts, and it's maybe a bit darker than it looks here, black and red rather than red with darker bits. Bike knitting under the Ott light is a good way to work with dark yarns.

If I'm going to get on the bike tonight, after all those stairs, I want a little rest and stretch first, so pray excuse me. Have a happy weekend!

It Should Have Been ​Laundry Night

...but I don't feel like it. Tomorrow will have to be laundry day, though, as I am in fact going to the conference on Sunday, and as I did not get any laundry done last weekend.

The only thing I want to say about the Bruins games the last two nights is that I hope they don't play that way tomorrow. I may end up being glad to have to go downstairs on laundry duty.

I saw this on Facebook tonight:

Seriously. What?