And How Was the Knitting, You Ask?

Last night's knitting was pretty peaceful, on the couch with my sidekick purring beside me. Pictures to come, but in words:

• I picked up the rest of the gusset stitches on the purse sock, so it is ready to be good on-the-go knitting again.
• I did up the toe of the bike sock, so that pair is officially done. So many hours on the bike!
• I cast on the 2-in-1 socks again, carefully, and while I admit the yarn may not work out as perfectly in the color-change arena as one with more colors would, it felt like the best option at the time and I'm going to see how it goes. The ribbing is extra fiddly, but I'm so happy that it's working! What a neat trick.
• Finally, I got on the bike and cast on the next bike sock. Just keep swimming!

And in fact, I believe I will. I leave you with your random photo for today:

You know, I love dessert, but that last one? I pass.

A Little Bit of Other

I officially start the new job on June 2, so that's set. It would have been nice to have a little time in between, but honestly, I'm not complaining. The number of times at work recently that I have been able to take a deep breath and think, "Short-term problem" at some irritant ... it's worth it. Seven more work days.

Meanwhile, there are actually other things going on in my life. I know, I can hardly believe it either! I don't mean that anything (else) big and life-changing is happening, just that there are other things I would have blogged about recently had The Whole Job Thing not entirely taken over. (I have a list, actually.)

For instance, I'm off to do some knitting: last night I got the second bike sock done to the kitchenering, so I'm going to finish that (yay!) and start the next bike sock. Also, the current purse sock needs half its gusset stitches picked up, and then I'm going to try casting on the two-in-one socks again. I tried last night and goofed something up, but not in an "I'm never doing this!" way, just in a "go to the bathroom before you start next time, moron, so you don't put it down in the middle of something and then pick it up backwards" way. Wish me luck with take two!

In reading news, I just read the most recent of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, and quite enjoyed it. If you think the idea of a police novel with magic sounds good (CSI + Harry Potter, one of the covers calls it), I recommend that you pick up Midnight Riot (Rivers of London, if you're in the UK), in which our hero is just your average copper in London until the night he interviews a witness who turns out to be a ghost, and learns how much more there is to the world. Very entertaining.

And finally, here is your random photo of the day.

I was sure they'd correct it before I could get a photo ... but it's been up for about two months, so ... not so much.

It Ends In May, It Starts In June

The current job is letting me work out two weeks, which takes us to the end of May, so I will start at the new job in June. New job! Yay!

Yarn, and Yarn, and Yarn!

The weekend winds down, and as is so often the case, my energy levels are giving out before the tasks are done. It's not like it matters if I don't get to the vacuuming, and once the dishwasher finishes its run, I don't have to empty it tonight, but the laundry has a few more loads to go. I've been to Walgreens, Target, and Costco, got my hair cut, met Mary Ellen for coffee and knitting ... the usual mix of fun and must-get-done. Weekends. I was happy to realize that, after my little Friday off for the Knitting Lab gave me a three-day weekend, next weekend is Memorial Day, which gives me a three-day weekend! Assuming I don't go in to work tomorrow and get kicked out; we'll see how that goes. I'm quite curious.

Now, at the end of my write-up yesterday about going to the Knit Lab, I promised yarn pictures, so here we go! I'm going to put them in Ravelry at the same time (otherwise who knows when I'll get to that, and I like to be able to search the stash virtually), and kill two birds with one stone. Yarn, ho!

Well, and I am a bit of a yarn ho, honestly. In addition to the yarn, I picked up a few buttons:

And I did show you the cashmere yesterday. Moving on, almost all I bought was fingering weight, but I got another skein of lace weight. This one was from the Verdant Gryphon, called Mithri, in a rather stunning green.

Well, it stunned me, anyway! And I got a skein of Bugga from the same vendor, in a quiet tonal grey.

Actually, I see that they call it sport weight; eh. Whatever, I expect it will be socks.

There was another green skein, this one Caper Sock from String Theory (one of them, anyway, there are two dyers using the name that I know of).

And another grey, darker this time, from the Knitting Boutique, in Potomac.

Next up is a skein from Wonderland Yarns, Cheshire Cat, which is (guess what?) blue.

I saw this line at Coveted Yarn, though none of the colors they had at the time grabbed me enough that I bought. This one was, however, blue, and also "knot perfect"; you know I can't resist a sale!

I was tempted by a great many of the offerings from Dirty Water DyeWorks*, but the line I chose in the end was Lillian, and not because it was my grandmother's name (although it was). I just loved this rosy color.
*The name is a Boston thing.

 

From Swans Island, in the Pure Blends fingering, a nice squishy skein of oatmeal.

A quiet skein of lovely sort of aqua tonal, Kismet Soul.

Another tonal skein, cream to rose pink, from A Hundred Ravens in Tyche.

And finally (I know!), the brightest of the bunch, from the aptly named Decadent Fibers (whose booth I was in three times before I made up my mind), a skein of blue/purple Savory Socks.

Whew!
I did say that I got a little carried away, right? But I don't regret a single one of them. Celebrating the job! Now, time for me to finish the laundry and get to bed. We'll see what happens tomorrow; anyone want to guess?

Interweave Knitting Lab: I Liked It!

There are ways to tell when you are in the right places. Some are more overt.

Others slightly more subtle.

I say, slightly.

It amuses me greatly to think of someone who just happened to be staying at the Radisson in Manchester, NH this week, facing these things. What the...? For me, of course, they were more welcoming.

There was also a serendipitous bag sighting, for New Hampshire, whose motto is Live Free or Die:

Nice, right?

Anyway! Let's get chronological. My class (2-in-1 socks, the War and Peace method, with Kate Atherley) was Friday afternoon, but I wanted to visit the marketplace in the morning, so I took off from home after rush hour and arrived at the hotel, no problems, just before 10. Parked, registered, used the ladies, and into the market. It was neither tiny nor enormous, about two dozen vendors, and while it was a little warm in there, they had made sure the lighting was really good, which is so important in a case like this.

And from the first booth I went in, I wanted almost everything I saw! My only plan going in was to look for new things, things I couldn't get everywhere. MadelineTosh? Lovely, but available elsewhere; like that. However, there were lots and lots of new-to-me things, and oh, was it overwhelming. In a really good way, of course!

I managed to go around looking, just looking for a bit before I found the first thing I couldn't put down. There was a booth with cashmere, mmm, yes, cashmere and, if that were not enough, they also had qiviut, nope, I'm not going there! But they had small skeins of the cashmere and samples of various little scarves that you could make with one skein. So soft, so light, so warm! Just utterly lovely. And there was one skein left of this perfect sky blue.

I just had to. They throw in a pattern with the purchase, so I picked the one I liked best, and looked onward. By 11:15, I had bought a few more skeins of various sock-weight yarns, and was feeling still a bit overwhelmed, overly warm, and hungry, so I decided an early lunch was called for. I ate in the tavern that is in the hotel, the one with the signs I photo'd (above), had a good sandwich, cooled down and chilled out both. At one point I looked up, and is it just me, or does this look like they decorated with yarn?

I mean, what else could it be?

After lunch, I stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. There's a small park area in front of the hotel, with benches, and a few statues.

I'm not sure I understand why the dogs have to have their ribs showing.

I looked at this woman and thought, she seems anxious.

Then I read the plaque, and saw that it was intentionally so.

So okay then.

I was also amused to see, in the plaza, this tree disagreeing with the bricks, and winning. See the root line?

Back inside, I got a candy bar from the gift shop, not having had room for proper dessert, and noticed a good cat shirt on sale there, which I managed not to buy.

Then back into the market, shopping around more, until it was getting to be time to get ready for the class. The teacher and a few other students were in the classroom when I got there, and I found a seat and started worrying about the needles I brought.

She has you bring "medium" weight yarn and bigger needles, in order to make sample size socks and get a good way through them in the three-hour class. The night before, when I was getting my things together, I could not find five DPNs in US size 7, so I brought a circular instead, but I was worrying that I was supposed to use the method I was most comfortable with and that's DPNs. Shortly before the class started, though, I had a light-bulb moment: marketplace. One of the booths sold needles. Duh! I hustled out and bought a set of the needles I wanted (from the slowest salesperson in the room, I swear, and fumble-fingered to boot), and was back in time to start properly. Whew!

This sock method, knitting two at time one inside the other, has fascinated me since I first heard of it, and I was sure I would never be able to do it, but when I heard of the class, I thought I really should try it. And if you share my interest, and have the opportunity, I do recommend the class! Also, she says to bring two contrasting colors of yarn, and I can't second that strongly enough. You need to be able to tell them apart very, very easily, it really helps. I'd grabbed leftover skeins of pink and white, and they did nicely.

(Incidentally, you can tell the lighting wasn't great in the classroom, right? It wasn't awful, but not ideal.)

Once we got going, we were advised to check frequently for problems (aka, the "one stinking stitch" that the Yarn Harlot once wrote about [she was sure that if she tried this method, she would go to separate them and find the two socks fused together]). You could see what was going on already!

Somehow, I messed up the little heel flap the first time, lost track of where I was, but it was easy when I did it right (ha), and got to that point before the end of the class. I worked on it some more last night.

See? Simple!

Seriously, though? I think I'm going to try it for real, just to see if I can. As she said, it isn't like this is the best or easiest way to make socks. But, you know, once, to see if I can? It's a hell of a knitter's party trick.

It's getting late. I'd better leave the rest of the yarn to be revealed tomorrow. I need some sleep!

Aaaaaand, Check!

For the day after the Bruins were eliminated (in yet another game in which they played like crap, what's up with that, honestly?), I'm in a pretty good mood.

Of course, that would be related to getting the offer letter this morning, and giving notice at my job. Ahhhhhh.

To answer the first question, no, my boss was not surprised. In fact, she said that she was looking around herself but hadn't found anything yet; I wonder how things would have gone if she had found something before I did, and left? (I imagine that on the one hand, my work day would have been more tolerable, but on the other, they probably would have wanted me to take over as editorial manager, at least temporarily, and no thank you, I do not manage people. Just myself.) We talked about some of the issues we've both experienced with the company; she said that it was just between us, and she wouldn't pass on what I said to her manager, but I kept it fairly general, to frustration that they have not fixed, and do not seem interested in fixing, issues that have been ongoing since I started, two years ago. She turned the conversation onto herself more than once, what she is looking for and not finding, which was an interesting way to handle things, but anyway.

Since her boss was not in the office today, but in NY for board meetings, my boss sent an email to her and to the HR woman in the New York office, to give them the news. I talked to the HR woman this afternoon, at her request, to tell her that no, there's nothing they can do to change my mind, and the Cliffs Notes version of Why.

I don't know what will happen next, whether they will make me work through the month or walk me out the door on Monday or something in between, but today, it doesn't matter. I feel lighter. It's Thursday, but since I'm off work tomorrow for the Knitting Lab, it's the weekend. Ahhhhhh. Excuse me while I go bask in this glow.

Nothing Further Yet

Today's nerves felt different* from what I've been dealing with over the last few weeks. Less uncertainty about will-they-won't-they, since that seemed, though not guaranteed, fairly sure. A bit of excitement mixed in (I might really be getting away from this company, and boss!). Some nerves specific to giving notice and how that will go, and to starting a new job.
*Though still draining, oh, yes, very much so

The prospective job has been so much on my mind recently (you're shocked, I know), pushing other concerns aside, that I've been afraid I'll slip up at work and mention it in conversation. This morning when someone asked if I was nervous about tonight, I had an instant of almost-panic before I realized he meant the Bruins game. Oh! Yes! Game 7! I am, actually! I don't think my hesitation was even noticeable, but it says a lot that the game wasn't at the top of my mind.

For that matter, the class I'm taking at the Knitting Lab in New Hampshire is on Friday, yes, that's the day after tomorrow, and when did I last mention it here? Well, there was the day I wrote about registering for it, and the next day with a little more... but that was in January. I'm excited about it, honest I am! But, just no time. Between the job thing, headaches, and all the other Stuff of Life, I haven't even prepared for it. What's the address? How long will it take to get there, what time is the class, when does the market open, where do I park, where will I get lunch? I need answers to at least some of these before I leave.And tonight, with the hockey game, I kind of doubt it. I'm not usually so last-minute, but there we are.

I have my Bruins shirt on, and I'm about ready. As ready as I get, anyway! Oh, Bruins, go, Bruins!

Waiting Rewarded

I was thinking about the nature of waiting this morning, which should not surprise you. When one is job searching, there are two kinds of waiting: the vague, hopeful but not expectant wait after you apply, knowing you may never hear anything, and the specific waiting that is built on an actual foundation: you've heard something, you've been given some vague expectation of a timeline. Both are hard, of course, and doubtless I would say whichever kind I am in at any given moment is worse, but oh man, I've been in the second kind for two weeks now, checking my e-mail and phone again and again for some word, anything, and it has worn me down. My mind is not my friend, coming up with a multitude of reasons why this won't work out, second-guessing questions I asked or didn't ask, and I'm just tired of it. Coupled with the results of last night's Bruins game (let us not speak of that)(to quote local blog Stanley Cup of Chowder, "Here's a recap of Game 6, though you could go outside and look at an overflowing garbage can and it'd be a similar experience to reliving that debacle"), I was just feeling worn out with it all today. And with the cool, grey, cloudy weather that replaced yesterday's delightful sunny and hot, it wasn't the best day.

Things looked up at last (AT LAST!) at lunchtime, when I got an email from the recruiter asking when I could talk so that they could give me a verbal offer. At last! We talked, she made the offer, which is lower than I'd like but well above my basement, the I can't afford it level. She said that I could take time to consider it, which since my heart was pounding like a drum seemed like a better idea than yelling, "Are you kidding me? Yes!"

The when-can-you-start finally came up, which is significant since my employee agreement states I will give one month's notice instead of the more common two weeks.  The recruiter sounded a little surprised by this, and said that she would let the hiring manager know, in case it was an issue for her. Which, I implored the fates, let them be willing to wait, if the company won't let me out earlier (it's at their discretion). Technically, since Massachusetts is an at-will employment state, I guess I could just walk out in spite of the agreement, but I don't want to be that kind of person, even to this job.

Anyway, my please-please-please litany to the universe had a different tone this afternoon, and was interspersed with specific messages to the manager that I'm worth waiting for (because I am, damn it). And I guess she agreed, because although I don't have the offer letter yet (it has to come through corporate in California, hopefully tomorrow), the recruiter let me know that "While she would prefer to have you on board in two weeks, she understands."

Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to try to take care of the bare necessities before I fall insensate into bed. Whew!

Not Really, No. Not Yet

No-progress progress: more messing about with references (can't reach that manager reference? here, try this one), no actual progress made. I am going nuts with this waiting. I am about as crabby as you might imagine, yes. Maybe a smidge more.

The head of the office emailed us all on Thursday to let us know that a bigwig would be in the office today, and that we'd be getting lunch out of it. So, naturally, at 11:30 she's popping out of the conference room asking me to order the pizza, and naturally, when it arrived they were still in the conference room, so we all got to sit there, smelling the pizza, because it's impolitic to start without them. Even if it means cold* pizza for lunch an hour or more after you usually eat.
*It wasn't actually cold. Just, room temperature. Yum.

I will admit, at an hour and a half, to fantasizing about opening the conference room door and announcing, "You people are RUDE." Fortunately for me, just a few minutes later, the 2IC*, who was not in the conference room at the time, decided that it was silly for us to all be waiting, and told us to start. And, miraculously, just a few minutes later they came out of the conference room! Imagine that.
*Second in command. Pronounced "twick". I take this from Anne McCaffrey's Rowan series.

All that messing about meant I didn't eat lunch outside, on a day when it was sunny and in the 80s, which oh-by-the-way is about 30 degrees more than it will be tomorrow. When I would be able to eat lunch outside. Naturally.

The Bruins game tonight is not a literal must-win for them, not in the sense that they're out if they lose, but oh, I want them to win. Finish Montreal, move on, enough of this. Play the way they can play and they'll win ... but will they? I'm off to put dinner together, and watch. Go Bruins!

Waiting.

For a weekend of waiting, it's actually been a good weekend. The weather's been glorious, the Bruins won yesterday, I've gotten some errands and tasks done without being 100% nose to the grindstone ... it's pretty good. On the other hand, right now my head is twinge-ing again, which is hard to stand after a bloody week of headaches, plus I just balanced my checkbook, which as it so often does left me wondering when the grownup will be arriving to take things over. (Not that there's any problem, just that the task makes me wonder who on earth authorized me as competent to take care of such things.) Sigh.

In happier, knitting news, I am happy to report that the purse sock is making progress (pictures some time), and the current bike sock is into the toe decreases. This means two good things: that I will shortly have a new pair of socks (followed by another, soonish), and that it's time to start thinking about which yarn to use for the next pair for the bike. Shopping the stash! Given that the bike is a good place for knitting dark yarns, with its consistently good light (unlike the purse sock, for instance, which comes out in variable conditions), I'm leaning toward a skein of Fleece Artist Somoko (merino, kid, nylon, and silk) in a lovely chocolate brown, which has been hanging out waiting its turn for, oh, far too long. All right, it was Rhinebeck in 2010 (listing the stash in Ravelry removes some of the fuzziness of memory). Time and enough.

I may go wind it now. I may go kill Carlos, who is whining for my attention. I may just turn on the hockey game and see if the Rangers or Pittsburgh pulls off a win. Who knows. It's all about waiting for word from the job. Please let it be tomorrow!

Let me leave you with a question for the tea drinkers. Is this as gross to you as it is to me?

Chocolate I love, obviously. But with banana and tea? Really?

Nothing. Well, the Bruins Won. There's That.

If it hadn't been for the Bruins game last night, I would have been in bed much earlier than I was. The headache was less, but still present, and the energy-sapping nature of the disease was in full force. As the evening went on, and the game went on, and no one scored, I slid lower and lower on the couch, willing myself to stay awake, willing the Bruins to score.

Finally, at the last TV time-out in the third period, I went to bed, turning on the radio to listen. No one scored, so the game went to overtime. I nearly fell asleep during the intermission, but was very much awake when, just over a minute in, the Bruins scored. Yay! I leaped up to watch the replay on TV, then dropped back into bed as exhausted as if I'd been playing myself.

Incidentally, Matt Fraser had been called up from the minor leagues the day before, and by tucking that loose puck in the net when he did, he became the first player to score in the AHL and NHL playoffs in the same year. Not bad for his first NHL playoff game, eh? What a dream for the kid.

I felt better today, not 100% but close enough to bring minor euphoria. The head pain went up and down a little, but never got truly bad. My neck and shoulders feel like they're filled with cement, and I'm still ridiculously tired, but whatever, the head's not so bad.

Unfortunately, though, the euphoria was tempered by not getting any word about the job. I really, really hoped I wouldn't be spending another weekend in limbo. Shit, man. Welcome to self-pity-land, but shit. I just want to KNOW already.

No News

Head still hurts. It was worse overnight, not good today.

Also, cramps. Not a good day to be me.

Though I did have Dr. Carlos helping.

In job-op news, I gave them a former manager reference this afternoon. Maybe something good tomorrow? We can but hope.

We can also hope the Bruins manage a win tonight. No score late in the second. Fingers crossed!

Head

Hurts

More progress!

I heard from a reference this morning that she was contacted (and that the caller "sounded positive" about me), so that's great. I also heard from the recruiter again, asking if I could provide a reference that was a manager or supervisor; I hadn't even realized that my references are all people I worked WITH, not FOR. Whoops! Funny how incredibly obvious that seems, in retrospect. Anyway, I reached out to a former manager, and while waiting to hear back from her, did forward a written reference that she had provided me when I was leaving that job, which is suitably lyrical about the wonders that are me.

References are a funny thing, though, aren't they? I guess the giving of them would weed out an applicant who wasn't smart enough to select people who would speak well of them, but what else do they do?

Anyway. I missed the start of the Bruins game for one of the few reasons that would trump playoff hockey for me: meeting a friend's baby. He's so sweet! Of course I can't throw pictures of him up here, but surely the hair is worthy on its own. See?

Isn't that awesome? He is rocking it; his mother says it's natural, but they do encourage it. Wouldn't you?

A small but important step

I got a call today* from the recruiter at the company, letting me know that I'd passed the background check (which, duh, but also a little bit of whew), and that they're going to check references next (though, that they have done so is unconfirmed by any of my references as of yet). It isn't actually that much closer to resolution, but at least it's something. I mean, I know this is moving quickly overall; a month ago, I hadn't heard of this company, and now I'm waiting for the offer! It's just, waiting is so hard. This kind of waiting IS better than the waiting-and-not-knowing kind, but that doesn't make it pleasant.
*I had a bit of a headache today, so I was rubbing my head and silently imploring the universe, as I've been doing a lot lately, to please, please let something happen, please, progress today, please ... when I looked at my phone (which had the ringer off) and realized that ... there's a call coming in? Oh.

Also, funny story: when I met with the founder last week, she told me that the recruiter I'd initially spoken to was no longer with them, having found a permanent position elsewhere, but they had a new contract recruiter who I would be hearing from. Well, it turns out that she's the same person I spoke with for a phone interview last Thanksgiving, at a different company obviously, for the position that ended up being filled by an internal candidate. Isn't it a small world? She was very pleasant then, and I vastly appreciated being told so quickly what was going on (plus, let's face it, that's about the best reason to get rejected, it's so completely understandable and in no way personal), so those seem like good things. It all falls into place (knock wood).

*****
Deep thoughts from work today: Anyone can make mistakes, and after all if they didn't, I wouldn't have a job. Also, anyone can make a stupid mistake, and it does not mean they are a stupid person. However, once a person has been seen to make a stupid mistake, it's easier to believe they will make more. They start to lose the benefit of the doubt when, for instance, they speak of a market that is crowed, instead of crowded.

*****
I realized over the weekend that the recent anniversary of my dad's death passed without my noting it. It's not that I don't think of him, I think of him just about every day, but, five years on, the day he died, the memories of that day, seem to have loosened their hold. I mean, I can remember it clearly, and probably always will, but in a less constant and involuntary way. I think that's also a small but important step.

I can't believe it's been five years, though. That's way too long for a girl to be without her daddy.

Aaaaanyway, let's not end on that note. How about a gratuitous Carlos photo? After years of admiring them elsewhere, I finally caught the elusive "slurp" photo.

Slurp!

Of Tension and Control

The word tension has a knitting connotation, related to how tightly or loosely a knitter knits, which can have very direct effects on the end result, in either a good or a bad way. In order to get the desired end results, a knitter may have to use smaller or larger needles than a pattern or a yarn calls for; tension can also change with experience, so that a knitter who picks up a project that had been put aside from early days and carries on may find that the line between past and present is far too obvious.

I bring this up because it crossed my mind during yesterday's Bruins game when, late in the tense and exciting third period, I decided that I had better try on the sock I was working on, to make sure that the non-knitting-related tension I was feeling was not translating into a sock that I wouldn't be able to get on my foot. Good news:

That non-knitting tension came about because the Bruins, after scoring the first goal of the game, allowed Montreal the next three. It wasn't their best game, but then halfway through the third period, they apparently decided they'd messed around enough. They scored, and again, and again, and topped it off with an empty-netter to win 5-3. Whew!

I watched the game at Mary Ellen's, and the resident furballs welcomed me. Finn, in particular, made himself right at home.

And apparently both I and my things smelled intriguing, as Molly thought that a deep investigation of my bag was called for, and perfectly normal.

Obviously.

Finn, by the way, reacts much as Carlos does to being picked up by his mama: feeble protests that are drowned out by the purring.

Save me! (purr, purr)

The piggies, meanwhile, were the subject of many blurry photos. For little guys, they move a lot! But I got a few good ones.

The cats were only around when we were quieter, so we saw little of them for the end of the game, but it was nice to hang out with them anyway. Jasper and Oliver were less disturbed by our vehement rooting.

After the game was over, and our pulses settled, we went on with our previous plans for the afternoon, which involved a trip to Coveted Yarn to use the coupon I got during the yarn crawl, and dinner from Woodman's. Yum to both! I managed to get just one skein, tempted as I was by the 500 grams of laceweight (for $95). None of the colors were quite compelling enough for me to spend that much, with no plan in mind, even with 20% off. Pretty, though.

What I got was a skein of Knit One, Crochet Too, Crock-O-Dye, in the charmingly named colorway 977. I call it shades of granite.

Wool, nylon, and a little silk, mmm. I have lots of colorful yarn; this will make nice quiet socks, for a change.

While I had the camera out today, I took pictures of a box my mother brought me when she visited. It held tea in its past life; now, it is a nice way for me to see all the pretty stitch markers I have.

I have some lovelies, don't I? And they had been tucked here and there among the knitting supplies, not set off as they deserve. This is better.

As for the "control" mentioned in the title, I am trying to focus on what is in my control, and not obsess about what is not. Or, at least, not obsess so much! I can't make the company get their offer ready. But I can do the dishes.

And as I mentioned to someone, at least I'm not as sorry as usual to have the weekend ending. Maybe I'll hear something tomorrow! But, again: out of my control. Those dishes, on the other hand, are not. Off to get soapy! Though let me leave you with a Carlos picture, so he doesn't get jealous. Here he is yesterday, holding his paw. Being cute. As he does.

He was approximately 4% awake when this picture was taken.

Nothing

No word on the job, not even that they checked a reference. I know there was no guarantee when it would happen, but she did say she hoped by the end of the week. I hoped, too.

And the Bruins lost last night, in double overtime, so I'm dazed with sleepiness and disappointed to boot.

I'm torn between trying to do something that will cheer me up, and just going to bed. Dinner will help. After that?

Well, I may have to call in the expert.

I feel a little better already.

Still no news.

Like yesterday, today crawled. Today featured a lot of deep breathing and silent pep talks. At least tomorrow, when I'm working from home, I can grouse out loud about it. And turn the phone's ringer on, so I don't need to keep it in sight, and jump every time the "backup assistant" makes the screen come to life. Which it only does about once a day, but still.

Given that I am also not-so-patiently-waiting for the weather to improve* (being as it's MAY and all**), it's felt like a lot of waiting for things out of my control. Not a great feeling, is it? Time to reach for something that is in my control. Pick up the knitting! Back on the bike***! Watch the Bruins!
*Today was 20 degrees better than yesterday, but that was because yesterday was 45, not because today was glorious
**I want to wear sleeveless shirts, not layers! Go barefoot without feeling a chill! Eat pasta salad**** instead of warm food!
***I have been riding the bike lately, by the way. Don't want you to think I mean "back on" like it's been a while. I was on it just last night, I swear! Ask Carlos!
****When I visited a friend recently, she served a simple but delicious pasta salad made with bowties, grape tomatoes cut in half, mini balls of mozzarella, and fresh basil, with a little balsamic. Yum!

No, the outcome of the game is not in my control. I realize that. But I'm watching anyway. Go Bruins!