My last post was a recap of Southern and things. This week has been busy work wise as I'm making up some time for monday and just working hard on things. I realized I have 2 weeks of work days left for the year and that is daunting in the amount of stuff I need to do. Plus as I'm reminding people, starting in mid-late march I'm going to be gone for a few months. I don't want to leave folks in a lurch and I really need to finish a few tasks to get things rolling well. Tuesday night I ended up sitting down to put on my gym shoes and fell asleep sitting up. I realized when I woke up a bit later that just snuggling down on the couch would be good, so I did. Wednesday morning was much brighter for my mood due to lots of rest and my doc appointment went good as well.

I ended up just lifting on wednesday for work out so I would at least get an hour for knit night due to working late. That worked out well cause I was tired after my sets and sore so heading out was good. Thursday after another late day (thanks to all who forwarded messages to hubby) where I didn't see mel until he got home from practice. I ran 1.25 miles and then walked another .5. My average speed was 3.7 even with my walking cool down at the end. Not to shabby. Running was a bit more difficult due to pressure on my bladder, I'd slow to a fast walk and it wasn't too bad so I was running in .5 mile bursts. Still good though and that made me happy and I felt really good afterwards.

Mel got home just after I got out of the shower last night and I got to fall asleep all snuggled up with him. That is the nice.

On the book front I finished #38 while on travel last week which was Kim Harrison's "The Outlaw Demon Wails" and then started #39 Patricia Brigg's "Wolfsbane". The Harrison novel was good and the series hasn't lost momentum but its changed, become more mature etc. I like it and I have the next in the series to read after #39. I'm thinking I'm actually going to make my goal of 50 this year. Woot!

Now, I used the bike avatar for two reasons...1) its my generic I worked out one and 2) tomorrow is El Tour de Tucson and please be careful going around town tomorrow. Most traffic on the southside should be clear by 10am but the traffic closures elsewhere will be in effect most of the day. Watch out for traffic, bikes, people and signage and be safe.

Well, I enjoyed Dragon's Horde. The event was fun, the day was beautiful and the hafla was fun. I liked the switch to the auction and I think having it in doors was very nice. I wish there had been more folks to dance with but eh. Looks like the swap meet portion of the event went well too. We got home and I had to pack for Arkansas. I was very, very tired when I was done but I was wired in that nervous way. It was rough getting up and heading to the airport. I had hoped to sleep but I was restless and read and worked on my knitting the entire trip. Got to our hotel and I took a nap on and off until dinner time. We ate at a local diner and then it was home. I went to bed early only to get woken up by my cell phone. My mother called but I didn't realize that the buzz sound was my phone until she left a message. Eh. I slept okay and got up on Monday AM and hit the gym in the hotel. I ran about a third of my mile and speed walked the rest and then stepped down the speed to cool down over a 1/2 mile. I did some pushups and dips and then headed up to my room to shower and get ready. When I was done with the in house breakfast we headed to the supplier.

Things went really well there and we ended earlier than we expected but the flights that were earlier were already booked. So, I got home about 10pm. The flights were kinda rough and I was tired the whole time. I think sitting around the little rock airport for 3+ hours didn't help.

I finished book #35 of the year and then started and finished Masques by Patricia Briggs. It was her first novel that she went and edited quite a few books later. It was a bit cliche-y in parts but it was the perfect amount of fluff I needed. I will be picking up the sequel which is being published in November. Not sure what I'm gonna start next but its what ever is on top of the pile. I slept way in this morning. I was tired (do we see a theme?) and thought sleeping in would make it better. It kinda did. But not really. I had a lot to take care of before my 1pm meeting. My boss was uber cool and saw I was tired and said early in the day I could go home after the meeting. So I did. Got home and I slept for about 1.5 hours with the girls all snuggled up with me. I got up to hit the bathroom and mel came home. He told me I should be sleeping. Lol. I had been. So I curled up on the couch and watch Billy the Exterminator marathon. Mel left for kung fu and I got dinner and then when he got back to switch out things for practice I was working on embroidery.

I've been coughing just a bit and my chest is a bit tight and well, I'm tired and have a scratchy throat. Sighs. I hope its nothing more than just a mild cold. But I'll be heading to bed once the whiney cats get fed. They have been staring at me for the past 30 mins with hunger in their eyes and now the vocalizing has started. Eh.

Well, we shall see how I feel tomorrow. I hope better after a full nights sleep.

#30 - Patricia Briggs - Bone Crossed...so good! I'm really still impressed by how the werewolves in this series are treated and how the pack works. So neato. Wow, now I have to get the next on from the library.

#31 - A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton - Fun, campy knitting mystery.

#32 - Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton - Again good stuff and this time recipes for xmas stuff including nummy gingerbread cookies. Again, fluffy book but fun.

I'll be starting #33 which is Drop Dead Stitch..though I'm reminded of Murder, She Wrote and if Jessica Fletcher showed up people would die...same goes for Ms. Kelly Flint...fun though.

Not sure what is after that but there is a pile by the bed again.

Well, its been a really, really busy few days. Wow. Thursday and Friday I wasn't feeling well, digestion has been very icky and I was tired. So, I was a home body. I'm way behind on books. I finished #23 which was Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs, then I read #24 which was "The Riddle of St. Leonards" and I read #25 which was "Dyer's Consquences" and I'm now in #26 which is "A Gift of Sanctuary" which continues the Own Archer series. So, reading has been good I guess.

We headed to Mace and Greatsword with Storvarr and had a nice time. The weather was warm which wasn't making me feel better. I kept up on water but it was draining. I had a very nice time at the feast, though I really which the Mon's cooks guild could understand they really need to list all of the ingredients..hidden surprises are not fun for folks with food allergies. Having the wine in the pear soup did nothing for my stomach since now getting sulfited seems to make things just pass through me rapidly. Oh, well. I felt much better on Sunday (maybe getting sulfited helped, who knows) and I got to weaving on my A&S project. I'm about a foot or so from done. But was too tired to finish it after 8 hours of weaving.

Monday and Tuesday were me, a team of people being presented by 6 suppliers presentations of why they should build some hardware for us. It was a grueling 3 hour process for each vendor and then the scoring took time. I was home after 8pm both nights though they did take us to dinner on monday night and that was nice. I highly recommend the Little Mexico Steakhouse on Cardinal and Valencia (way southwest side of town). Last night was the final down select and we finished up at 8pm. So tired. Plus, I couldn't work on any of my other stuff the entire time we were sequestered so today has been pretty messy.

For those of you who haven't' RSVP'd for pampered chef, please do so today. Also, if you are out of town you can click on the link in the invite and go to the website and put an order in. If you have questions on that, email me. I or Joy can walk you through it. Orders are due by COB monday.

So, tonight I'm going to head home from work, take a nice relaxing nap and work on the house and do some shopping. I just want some me time to relax and not be working or interacting with people. I've been "on" too much in the past few days. Tomorrow, due to all of the OT I've been doing I get to leave at 11am for the weekend which will be nice. More time on the house and just getting things in order. Friday will be A&S arts push day for me. Which will also be awesome...and sleeping in. Though with the work this week I've ended up making it into work almost on time for what I used to get into. I need to keep that up. Its nice. Well, time to push some paperwork.

Well, I had a three day weekend. I spent1.25 days scrambling to get TRM clothes done and delivered and then it was fun time after that. Friday was lots of sewing and attaching of trim. I was stuck on how to put trim on her hangerrock but with a bit of help from Ari and Mel we came up with a good plan. I needed opinions and it worked out well. Game night was good. Mel didnt' kill us yet and we finished up a bit early which was okay since I still had more trim to put on the clothes. I went to bed about 1230 but was up again about 630 cause I couldn't sleep. I was in project mode and wanted to get things done and I wasn't feeling too hot either and that didn't help. If you doctor every wants to do a 24 kidney function test...say no. They are a pain to do. Bleah. Also, remember that only the main fed ex office can ship biological stuff. Just saying. I finished the clothes, had a shipping debacle (see previous sentence) and then we headed out to phx. We got to T&D's about 130pm and it was awesome to see that the clothes fit and they were happy. That was a relief. I think part of me not feeling good was the stress of them possibly not liking the clothes and they didn't fit. Well, they loved them, they looked great and they looked comfortable which is actually important I think in clothing. You want it to fit and be comfortable...if you aren't comfortable its hard to look your best. So, behind the cut are the pictures from mel's camera and one from my phone in progress. I haven't uploaded the one's from mine yet since I was lame.

( TRM Clothes )

After the delivery we headed off to Tempe Yarn and Fiber and the Fiber Factory. Had a nice time working on projects at both places. I got a lot further along on my cuff of my RH mitt and mel got further on my mittens. We then bummed over to Chandler Fashion mall for a very late lunch at BJ's Brewery and then shopping at Atomic Comics and the Lego store. Lego has these new games out and we got Wild Wool Its so cute. We then bummed around in Barnes and Noble and got a few books and then I was beat. Mel drove us home without incident and we snuggled up on the couch to watch one of our fav movies (Practical Magic) and then I went to bed at 10pm. I was so tired. Mel stayed up reading his new Honor Harrington novel. On Sunday I was feeling a bit better. We had a quiet breakfast at joe's and then it was home to lounge. Mel played borderlands and I read.

I finished #18 Cod: A Biography of a Fish that Changed the World, which I highly recommend and then I read 19, 20, 21 and started #22. I read The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings, Book of the Dead and Book of Monsters and then I started The King's Bishop by Candace Robb. In the middle of the day we headed to Matt and Jaylee's for Abigail's 1st b-day. We had a really nice time. I got to hold the birthday girl fro a while and tour her around her own party, then she got in the pool with her dad and friends. Jaylee made an awesome b-day cake and I relaxed and KIP'd while chatting with folks. Got home and continued on my reading binge and mel worked with Maryiah on her shoes and shield. I also tamed, killed and buried my laundry hydra and then it was time for bed. Nice relaxing no pressure day. I liked that.

I managed to sleep the entire night through and that was amazing. I slept so good. Though it was tough to get motivated to get to work this AM. I was only a little late. I hope I sleep as well tonight. I need that.

So, all in all, a good weekend and a good project done. Now time to work on Kingdom A&S stuff. Tonight will be experimentation with painting ATC's and relaxing with the girls. Tomorrow will hopefully start another weaving project.

The rest of sunday was productive. I got to work on the clothes and got them ready for Ari to take to battle more. I'm now happy with how they turned out. Mel got going on the wide trim and I pulled my loom out. I was not up for the brain power for him to tell me how to work Egyptian diagonals again, its been almost a year since I worked on it. So, I worked on my cowl and I have one pattern row left and then 8 rows of garter (on circular needles knit one row, purl the next) stitch to finish the edging. And then I can block it. I still need to block my scarf I made so I will do that together. All good though. I also got to play the demo for the Harry Potter Lego game. I did okay in the class room but got really stuck in the forbidden forest cause the bees kept killing me and everyone else in the party. I was happy thought that I could play it with a sinus headache and still not get motion sick. So I will be picking it up tomorrow at Game Stop. I put in a pre-order for it. Hopefully the game gives you a bit more help in the using of the spells and killing baddies.

So, as promised here are my socks all done and a picture of the cowl in progress.
( Read more... )

So, good weekend and I slept okay though we got to bed late. I did finish Unknown by Rachel Caine. Like Dresden, things go from bad to worse but there is a glimmer of hope going on. though I think I should have read Cape Storm before I read this one. They overlap in time and well, I might need to know what is going on. I'll have to see if kevin has that one next time we see him. So that is #16 for the year. Still not half way yet. Gonna have to work on that. I think JRR Tolkein's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is next on the bedside. All good though. Got lots to keep me occupied this week with projects and another long weekend ahead.

The weekend was hot...literally. I did not go out much and when I did you could tell the rest of Tucson thought it was too hot to be outside. Saturday afternoon traffic was a piece o'cake.

Mel was feeling under the weather so I managed to get us dinner and I crafted stuff while he rested on the couch on Friday evening. He was running a low grade fever. He hit bed earlyish..well, so did I after I got a bit done on the Viktor blanket. Its turning out rather nice. Saturday I slept in a bit and then got up to work on the blanket. Mel finally emerged from bed and was better than the day before. He rested a good chunk of the day while I got errands run (including a massage and lunch out with the girls). I then worked hard on the blanket until late. Luv'd the new episode of Dr. Who. Very mind trippy but fun. I finished Gale Force by Rachel Caine and liked it. It s a whirlwind of action and stuff and good fluff. Its #13 for the year. Then I started in on Nightlife by Robert Thurman. Very neat concept. People are finally realizing the elves don't have to be the LOTR variety...they can be the Rawhead and Bloodybones set. Very cool.

Sunday was breakfast out with the family. Had a really good time. Then it was home to clean up the kitchen a bit (its really needing a deep clean), make cookies and working on the blanket. I got through the second to the last disk of Sherlock Holmes and then Tati, richard and I watched the new Holmes. Mel was feeling himself and was in the shop most of the day finishing up the workbench. I made a big pasta dinner with help from Tati. We then had a good time watching a new Call of Ctuthulu and Justice League: Crisis of Two Earths. The former was a 2005 adaption of the story where they tried to make it all silent film era. The special effects were cheesy and good. Very nice. The latter was a animated telling of the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic. I think they called it two earths so we didn't get too confused by who was what on each world. It was good and it was really neat to have Mark Harmon be the voice of Superman.

By that point it was time for bed...though BBCAHD was playing Blade Runner. We own it and I really need to sit down and watch it from the beginning on the big screen. So much detail abounds in that film that you tend to loose on small screens. I know the last time I watched it it was on our old TV.

I slept good but would have loved to have slept in this am. Its monday with all that it brings. Looking forward to hitting the gym and having a good time at scribble. I have a scroll to finish sketching and I hope to get that done so I can ink it. Though I think I have one more fwippery to do for the edges. Not sure we shall see. On to the paperwork.

Friday the time just seemed to slip by me. I had big plans to get more done but I did mange to get the car detailed and the tires rotated in anticipation of the CA trip. We got to the demo on time and got things setup. It was hot and windy that day. We were pretty zapped after a few hours of chatting with kids. Got home, showered and chatted with Tati and the trickling in gaming crew. We had planned to start late and have folks bring their dinners. It worked out and we had a good game. Though I was beat by the time we finished. I stayed up reading Friday Night Knitting Club which is book 9 for the year. It was good though I don't like how some authors throw you ill managed plot devices at the end of a book. Kinda makes things a bit too real. I slept a bit fitfully and was awakened by coffee in bed. It was nice.

Saturday was busy working on the blanket of doom and hitting the library demo. This demo was fun and I finished the demo scroll (only worked on it in the last 3 demos and its pretty neato) and I worked on the other scroll that I had started at scribble the previous week. I got it closer to done as well. Though, I now have lots of scrolls stacked up and I'm going to have to do a calligraphy blitz but that is okay. Got home and we were both really tired. Mel stayed home and I went to thyra's for Frodi's graduation shindig and craft night. I crafted and that was good. Got through to the border of the blanket before I got there and just cranked on it. Though my hands hurt. Had a good time though and then headed home. I was too cranked up to sleep so I read The Graveyard Book and watched anime. Finished it (book 10 of the year) about 130am and went to bed.

Woke up on Sunday and got moving. We had breakfast at Joe's and then I worked on the blanket and talked with my mom. I watched Dr. Who, though the DVR didn't get the last 5mins of the show. Anybody want to clue me in to the ending of Weeping Angels? I have it DVR'd correctly for next week while we are out but man I hate that. Talked with Mom twice throughout the day and found out that Gretchen was having contractions at breakfast. So, hopefully a new nephew this week. Ended up watching the rest of the Eureka marathon. Man do I luv that show. Fargo really is the dammit-doll for that show. But at least he's got a girlfriend now. I finished the blanket and sewed in the last end at 5pm and then headed to the store for food supplies.

I grilled up steak and sweet potatoes for dinner. Grilled sweets is the best thing EVAH. Never doing them any other way. Also got to try the grass fed beef from Thyra. I can tell its grass fed versus corn fed but it was tasty. Then I got a bee in my bonnet and made rhubarb crumble from scratch. It got the "Its terrible, I'll need to eat it all to save you from its awfulness" from my husband. So I guess it was good. I have enough to make more too though I think I'm also gonna try a fruit upside down cake thing this week too. The Amish/Mennonite cookbook is a good thing. Was wired again before bed. I started my own Cassia Scarf like I made for Ari and I hope to finish that before we leave on Thursday. Took benedryl to help with all of the puffy allergy stuff. My nose is still dripping most of the morning and later in the evening. Bleah. Started in on another Owen Archer mystery before I settled into a drug induced slumber. I slept really well though odd dreams. I did not want to get up this AM but the DH was awesome and had packed my lunch and made coffee. Good hubby.

I need to get a hold of glen today and go in. My ribs are jacked up and you can tell when I'm wearing my 14th C that things are off. Gonna hopefully get in after work and then head home to clean up the house (bathrooms and carpets) and get my class handouts worked up for teaching at the retreat. I also need to go buy supplies for my crochet class and that will be Tuesday after I hit the gym.

So pictures from blanket so folks can see it. It took 7.25 balls of yarn total. Its really neato and completely reversible.
( blanket pictures )

Friday good..camping with Dancing goat good.
Coffee good.

Not sleeping on friday night bad.
Allergies kicking my ass bas.
Body in general kicking my ass bad.

Watching court is good.
Speaking in court for 3 awesome peeps is good.
Watching surprise the herald's with court baronies is good.
Hanging in my camp the entirety of the event sans court was good.
Body still hates me which is bad.
Drunk Bjorn (the smaller) is good.
Getting more sleep in Saturday night is good.

Packing up liesurely is good.
Taking the back way home through the countryside is good and only 15mins more travel time.
Spending afternoon reading is good.
Getting to the end of Jim Butcher's new book is good.
The ending was not an ending but another door opening...damn you Jim
Now almost time for more knitting.

Good weekend. Tired and need more Harry Dresden!

Wow, this week is flying by..though I don't get tomorrow off like mel or my co-irkers unless I want to take more vacation. Meh...I need to pack my desk and take some training which is better when there isn't lots of folks around for nice and quiet. Got home about 430pm and mel was busy working in the shop. He's been working on more stools and he was working on mine which is awesome. I made a quick dinner by repurposing leftovers and we had a nice dinner together before I headed to knit night. I was the first person to knit night and that was weird but it worked out. I relaxed into working on the second booty and enjoying folks's company. Ari arrived and moved the last of my stuff from Gulf into the car. Then I got to help her work on her heel turn of her socks. They are turning out really neato. Two at once has a lot of appeal. I'm thinking maybe a few pairs of socks down before I try that. Though if I do more booties I can practice with doing them that way. Tee hee.

Got home and mel was weaving and was a very tired and sore boy. Not sure what is up with that but we both need more sleep it seems. He went to bed early and I watched some excellent episodes of Robot Chicken. If you can spoof Ranma, the Tick, Star Trek TNG and others in the same episode...omg...it was good. I headed to bed and finished my latest reading.

Books 6 is On Her Majesties Wizardly Service by Diane Duane. Wow, what a good book. I so luv her writing and the world for this is so nice. Cats and Wizards and fun. Plus good steampunk stuff. I highly recommend this series (though these books are a shoot off of the same world). They are good reading and lots of fun. I'm gonna start either The Graveyard Book or a book on history that is never taught. We shall see. I'm way behind on the reading for 50 in 2010. I'm not sure if I will ever reach that amount but we shall see. I'm kinda on a history kick I think so that will probably be the next book. I also bought more books at war and need to finish scanning things. Some time in April we will start the bookshelf purge, clean and organize. We've decided on Library of Congress catalouging and just need to get things worked into that. Its gonna be a large task but it should be eased along by library thing, I hope. All good though.

Well, time to get off of this really dull telecon and go to work on other paperwork.