A Little Comic Relief

I ran across mention of these funny coasters today, and have to share my favorites.

Check them out, they have a lot of fun ones!

Thought for the Day

It is surprisingly difficult to decide what to pack for a cold-weather trip when you are in air conditioning (because it's so hot/humid out).

Long sleeves?

Full-length jeans?

Socks?

Jacket??

(I know, I am a wuss. Still, cross your fingers that I don't encounter actual bad weather up there. My friends don't want to hear me if that happens.)

Pre-Packing

While I don't leave until Friday, today I started getting serious about putting things together. Lots of piles. Trying to figure out the best ways to pack for a trip that includes planes, train, car trip, Apple Festival, Rhinebeck ... it's a bit much, though that may be the-bit-of-a-headache-I-have talking. I truly am excited for the trip! But it will be a relief to be on the way, and past the stage of trying to anticipate all possibilities. There is, after all, very little I can forget that will be catastrophic, and the odds that I will get through the whole trip without wishing I had brought X or thought of Y are vanishingly small, so I just need to embrace that and move on. (Easier said than done, of course.)

It's going to be weird not to be hot, to be honest. I just pulled up weather.com, which says that here it's 90 and feels like 100. Switch to Syracuse and it's 62, feels like 60! Which is perfectly nice October weather there, just a big change to me. I'm well aware that looking at the forecast this far ahead is a waste of time, but of course I've been doing it anyway, and next weekend has gone from highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 40s to (just now) highs in the 50-60 range and lows around 40, which is a bit brr. Fortunately I already had coat-scarf-gloves-hat on my packing list, but it will be a shock to the system.

And fun! And possibly chaos! And a nice long break from work, which I am looking forward to after all the IT chaos we've been through recently (though that has settled down somewhat).

I'm already missing Maggie, though. Can you believe that I'll be sleeping in four different places, and not one has a cat? I  expect she will be velcro-stuck to me when I get back, and I will enjoy that very much.

I do hope she doesn't drive my mother too crazy while I'm away. She doesn't approve of me leaving the house in general, and she is sure to be vocal in her disapproval when Mom fails to produce me for her highness.

Knitting (and Finishing!) This, That, and the Other

A week from now I'll be on my way to New York, before I go to Massachusetts, then NY, then MA, before returning home. Safe to say, it's going to be quite a trip! And there will be a distinct yarniness to it, I am happy to say.

For one thing, I'll be seeing my friends' baby as he turns a year old, and giving him this:

I'm quite pleased with how this sweater came out! (The pattern is Henry's Sweater.) I hope it fits him. As the knitter, I can say with confidence that it's not perfect, but as the Yarn Harlot mentions in one of her books, if it's hand-knit, it's okay if it looks like a human was involved in its making (I'm paraphrasing, of course). If I wanted to give him a machine-knit sweater, I could have, but it wouldn't have been half the fun.

I also finished the last pair of socks (pre- and post-washing photos to come), and started the next pair, because it's not like I can be without a pair in progress.

The yarn is Continuum Self Striping from String Theory Colorworks, and I'm very excited to see the wide stripes develop.

For the trip up for the funeral, I pulled the Seashell Shawl out to bring for travel knitting, since at that point the sweater was almost done (I was on the second sleeve). I had put the shawl aside to start the sweater, and was pleased to find that I still enjoy the shawl.

I mean, it's a good thing, I have quite a ways to go! But it will come with me on this next trip, and I expect to have a lot of knitting time, so we'll see how it looks when I get back.

Last night, meanwhile, I was knitting on yet another project: the blanket I've been working on for over a year! The poor thing has been put aside for project after project, but I'm going to try to make a hockey-knitting priority. It's such nice yarn (Three Irish Girls Springvale Worsted), and I want the blanket already.

We'll see how that plan goes, but it was off to a good start last night, as the Bruins began the new season at last! Go, Bruins.

Not the Usual Reasoning for an Ad

I suppose we've all done it, looked up something online and then had days or weeks of ads for that thing showing up everywhere. I already bought the car, the boots, the shirt! But the ads keep coming along.

Today, though, I got an ad that frankly shocked me. It's for something I didn't know exists (if it does, that is; but if you think I was clicking on it, you're insane), and I cannot in my wildest imaginings figure out how it showed up on a Washington Post article I was reading.

I mean, do I order from Amazon? Yes. But still, what on earth? I have a strong feeling that I don't want to know.

Spam Leads to Snow

This morning I went to an old blog post to delete a spam comment, of which I get a few now and then, and had to stop and look over the post, which was from The Winter Of Snow, aka 2015, when we had a blizzard every week for more weeks that I can remember. And while I didn't need validation of my decision to move to Florida, if I did, this would provide it. Wow. Talk about not-so-pleasant memories.

Meanwhile: I have bunches of knitting progress to update on. Soon, soon!

Thoughts From My Morning

This morning before work, I went for my annual mammogram, and I Have Some Thoughts:

• On the drive in, I turned on the radio and the next song to come on was by Depeche Mode. Instantly, my mood improved! Later I got part of a Springsteen song, one by Huey Lewis (throwback time, indeed), and an old favorite, Tainted Love by Soft Cell. Music has great powers.
• I got a lot of knitting done while I waited. The current socks are almost done; yesterday, I wound the yarn for the next pair, since I need to cast them on before I leave on my trip.
• The procedure itself was uncomfortable, as always, but far from the worst I've had. Fingers crossed it all comes out clear, and I don't have to go back before next year.
• Speaking of which, I realized after I got home that they hadn't offered to schedule my appointment for next year, so I called to do that so I could get a first-thing-in-the-morning time slot. The scheduler checked and said, "It looks like they put you down for 8:30 on October 1st; does that work, or do you want to change it?" So they ... gave me an appointment but didn't tell me about it? How well do you suppose that works for them?

In conclusion: If you are a woman of a certain age, you should be getting mammograms (doubly so if you have a family history of breast cancer). They are uncomfortable and unpleasant and generally no fun at all, and they save lives.

This endeth today's sermon.

Shaking Off September

Some good, non-stressful things must have happened in September (in fact, I know they did), but they've been swamped by all the everything else, and though part of me says that the change of the month is meaningless in terms of "luck" or anything like that, I still can't wait for it to be October.

Mom and I have had a kind of dopey, recovering weekend, getting some things done and also sitting around a fair bit. As I noted yesterday, I spent a lot of time providing a cat lap, which is good for the soul but hard on the joints. I'm trying to do a little, cautious planning for my upcoming trip (since I leave a week from Friday, aaahhhhh), and have tempered my unpacking with considerations of what I'll be bringing on the next one (put away: grown-up shoes; don't put away: suitcases).

So that's where things are here. How's with you?

Today in Lap Cat

Breaking the Really Cutting-Edge News

Since we flew different airlines up to NY and back, I can now report in on the crucial question of Biscoff cookies. (Have you had these? Quite tasty, aren't they?)

Both Delta and American Airlines have packets of the cookies with their name on the packaging, though one went for landscape orientation and the other for portrait.

However, only Delta went the extra mile (paid the extra money, I would assume), and has their name stamped on the cookies themselves.

Oddly enough, the cookies are not exactly the same shape and size. Similar, sure, but not identical.

This is exactly the sort of breaking news you come here for, right? Happy Friday.

For Halloween, or Birthday, Depending

Now that my brother's birthday is past and he's opened his presents, I can show you what Mom and I got him.

He was mightily perplexed to learn that the box was coming from Pottery Barn, which isn't his usual style, but agreed that yes, these are wonderful. There are two others in the collection, so click on over to see.

Yes, She Is

More than one person commented that after our trip, Maggie must have been glad to have us back, and you're right, she was.

Saturday night:

Sunday:

And that was just in the morning; she had plenty of afternoon and evening lap time, too.

Then there was Monday morning, when we were joined by a bird on the scaffolding, which looked around carefully before bursting into song. (I got a minute of video, but it won't load, damn it. Oh, well.)

Maggie watched intently, but not moving. At least the damned ugly scaffolding is good for something!

Not at Great Length

It is with great relief that I report a complete lack of mind-numbing roofing noises today. Apparently they need some supplies to come in, which may not be here tomorrow either. Cross your fingers for us; the reprieve has been wonderful, and I would adore another day of it.

Because, wow, am I ever still exhausted and brain-dead. The whole funeral trip went fairly smoothly*, but it was just A Lot, you know? Travel and plans and driving and directions and coordination and family and standing and remembering distant cousins and wearing grown-up clothes and trying to work when I could--just a lot.
*Other than having to make a tight connection in Detroit from gate 12 to gate 61**, the worst thing to go wrong was our suitcase not making the connection coming home--how, I don't know, since we were in Philly for over two hours--but even that was really no big deal, compared to the trouble it would have caused on the way up, and they delivered it Sunday morning while I was still in bed.
**Did you know that terminal A in Detroit is a mile long? There's a tram inside the terminal!

So I'm back, things are 'fine,' and I'm hoping to regain some energy and equilibrium soon, since in two and a half weeks, I'm traveling again, ulp. Today, no matter how much I'm looking forward to the trip, that thought is overwhelming, but hopefully balance will return to me soon. Right? It will? Just say yes.

Back Safely

We survived all the travel and all the funeral-related events, and are home again and trying to make it up to the cat (who has, I think, been on my lap for about four hours combined so far today), and we're exhausted physically, exhausted mentally, but fine.

The Time Finally Came

My grandmother died this morning. She was 105 in April, and still hanging on until just recently, when she declined fairly rapidly. She was more than ready to go, and we are sad but not shocked.

We'll be going up for the funeral and all, and I'm not sure how long it will be before I'm back and able to write here, but I wanted to let you know.

I Who What Um Brain Gone

Our neighborhood is usually a fairly quiet one, though this summer has been noisier than usual, as this neighbor replaced their carports, that neighbor put pavers down where the blacktop used to be, and another is having their roof done. But nothing has been as bad as our own roof work, and after a week of 11-12 hours a day of banging, sawing, drilling, beeping, thumping, yelling, and big-engine noise, I am considerably closer to insane than even I usually get.

They are building scaffolding up the front of the building, and reached our lanai today.

Every time I go in or out, different paths are blocked off. This morning, I had to ask someone which way I could go, since it seemed like everything was blocked. (Oh, I can duck under that caution tape? Great!)

One of them told my mother earlier this week that 'just' the roofing part would take a month. We're not sure what else there will be, beyond painting/stucco work, but the roof isn't that big, and I can't imagine why it will take a month.

Certainly one week has been more than enough, noise-wise.

And before you ask why I don't go elsewhere to work, I tried that this afternoon. The library was blissfully quiet, but for some reason the computer wouldn't log in to the back-door way we're getting our email since the cyber-attack. Since I do need to have the email, I moved to Starbucks, where the email worked fine, but it was freezing cold, and a Very Cheery Guy was Loudly and Enthusiastically Working the drive-through. Hi! Thanks for choosing Starbucks! Can I get you something to eat! At which point, I gave up and returned to the land of roofers.

At least it's Friday. Weekend good. Me need weekend.

Yes, I Know That It's September

But the Bruins opened training camp today, which makes this apt:

In the Space of Two Minutes

The zips? Who had the zips? Not Maggie, this morning. Or did she?