So much...

There is so much going on, but I am on vacation now. So please tune back in next week! Time for some concentrated vacation knitting! :)

Holy Shnikees!

I feel a case of mild anxiety already starting to hit me over Christmas knitting. For I have nary knit a stitch in the last week. I hope to remedy this soon, as I am taking a vacation next week and the volunteer work should slow down a bit for about a month. Thank goodness. There is nothing like starting to panic when it is only August. The main contributors, other than volunteer work is that I may be starting to work and have also signed up for those Interior Design classes, which the instructor promises will be ALOT of work. I basically get to redesign my entire house. By DECEMBER. Since I already spend most nights out doing various groups, that is alot o' extra work. But I am actually really excited by that. I would love to come up with a whole color scheme and everything for my house.

Yes, I know. I am the one that always signs up for so much craziness going on in my life at once. For once, I am actually thinking I may have overextended myself. That is very rare for me!

I did not get to take any scenics really, on my trip to NC last week. I spent almost the entire day spent in the back seat of an SUV with my two nieces, being permanently set into the shape of a semicolon. Looking at houses and the area. My two nieces, who are 5 and 8, talked or fought the entire time. Now, this is not extraordinary, as many of us know how little girls of those ages are. But it was really quite funny to see my husband be exhausted and frustrated by it. Is it because I have a mommy gene that I can handle it better? Or is it because my brother and I much more actively picked on each other growing up than my husband and his brother? Probably a bit of both.

Some of you know that I love bears. Grandfather Mountain is a privately owned mountain park. There were black bears there in a zoo where you could feed them food pellets. As much as I love bears and zoos, this felt a little degrading to me. All the bears did was sit there and wait for more food pellets. I felt so sad for the bears. Partially because there are better things they could do, and the food pellets reminded me of some sort of unhealthy dry dog food diet. Maybe because growing up in Alaska, you are taught not to feed wild animals, for they are meant to stay wild. Obviously, these are not wild bears, but it still made me feel sad.

Tiny Road Trip

My husband and I are going to go look at little mountain houses in NC because brother recently closed on one, so we are going to go check it out. It would be nice to borrow his house for skiing.

I am so busy adding stuff to Ravelry, that I have procrastinated on my volunteer work. I think my computer is just too slow. So I am keeping this short today so I can get to work. I hope to take some pics of our little road trip.

Today couldn't BE better....

I checked my email, and there it twas:

Hey there,

frecklegirl has invited you to Ravelry!

"Here you go! Thanks for your interest in our little site.Let me know if you have any questions or problems!

Jess"

Arrggh. I have so much work to do today for my volunteer work. Somehow I think that is going to get delayed a little bit. But I do need to sit down and read all about it when I have some time.

Not so great news...

I had finally headed out of the hotel room yesterday, turned circles in dowtown ATL to get to Peachtree St and on my way to Druid Hills when I get a cell phone call...my DH did not get into the conference. Can't really explain how the system works, as it is a government run thing and we all know how that goes. Even though there is space for more people, they do not let more people in. Don't ask me how that makes business sense, because it does not you see. That is the federal government in action. So, basically, I had to head back to the hotel and check out. Fortunately, I had all of my stuff packed up already since we knew not getting in was a possibility.

This news was really a let down, because I was looking forward to spending two days wandering around on my own time, with no obligations on my time. I never get to do that in Atlanta. Not even time to branch out to new LYS or to see the Aquarium. I DID spend 5 hours hitting Trader Joe's, Dekalb Farmer's Market, two yarn stores and Lennox Mall for some California Pizza Kitchen for a late lunch. I was the model of shopping efficiency. :) I did manage to head out of ATL at 4 pm, and miss the worst of rush hours there and in Greenville.

Sometimes I still wish I lived in a big city. Don't miss the traffic, just miss all the stuff to explore.

I also managed to resist buying more sock yarn. I did buy a skein of Mountain Colors Twizzle in Steelhead colorway at Why Knot Knit. I thought it would make a cute beanie to add to my beanie collection.



Today, I am picking up the house, made two batches of pesto with all of the fresh basil I have growing wild in this heat, and will go to my first interior design class. Not too bad for being home. :)

Soon, my precious...

I decided to finally check on my ravelry status, spurned on my discussion on the Clapotis Yahoo Group, instead of just being slightly sad to see all of the activity goings on without me.


Found you!
You signed up on June 13, 2007
You are #8770 on the list.
131 people are ahead of you in line. (--> Green is my happy color. And this makes me so happy.)
16104 people are behind you in line.
34% of the list has been invited so far


Woohoo woohoo woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like daffy duck when he gets all excited. So soon, my precious, you will be mine....

I think it is time to get out of my hotel room and go celebrate with some kick a** coffee, and not this hotel junk. (Thought I have to say, this Omni Hotel has some Wolfgang puck coffee, and it is the second best hotel room coffee I have had in my life. And I am a coffee connoisseur, so that is saying something. However, the upside of procrastinating on heading out is avoiding the big city rush hour traffic. Don't worry my dears, Houston has trained me for this insanity.)

I am a deliquent....

I am sorry for not posting so much. Between volunteering and having my husband drag me out to play golf in 105 degree weather, I am worn out!

But things could be alot worse. I am in the ATL today, and here is the view from the window this morning. I apologize for the cell phone pic, but I left my camera's computer cable at home! :O We are right next to the Centennial Olympic Park.

So you know what that means. Visiting some LYS, going to Trader Joe's and the Dekalb International Market, and hopefully the new Aquarium. Let's hope my husband's company gets to stay for the whole conference and we do not have to go home today. You never know with how the government runs them whether they will get to stay or not. Well, even so, I will still go shopping! There are some nice LYS here, and the food shopping and restaurants remind me of what it is like to live in a large city again. Sometimes I really miss Houston. The people were super nice, and outstanding food. So much to do. But I do not miss that concrete jungle or jobs tied to oil price cycles. :)

I start my Interior Design class tomorrow night, and I am excited. I think it is going to be alot of fun, and a different sort of creative outlet for me.

My peeps...

I am following Isis' theme for a post, since I am slow on the knitting progress lately.



I dearly miss the North West, especially my hometown. Someday I hope to move to Washington or somewhere.



Here is a picture of my hometown. And here are some others. You can see why I miss it. Don't get me wrong, this part of the country is pretty perfect when it comes to weather, but I still wish it was a bit cooler. I have to figure out somewhere cooler to live that is not a royal pain to live, because my DH cannot take alot of heat anymore. I suspect he is an undiagnosed heat casualty of some sort. Anytime he works outside in the heat, it knocks him out for at least a day.



I have not been knitting so much lately, due to HOA and block parties, volunteer work and shoulder/back pain. Mostly it is the pain that holds me back. I did weave in the ends on the first sock, and have started the second sock, but have not made much progress on it.



In great knitting news, I passed the first installment of my Basics, Basics, Basics course. Now I need to knuckle down and start the second installment here. I should set a goal to start this week. Maybe on Thursday, because today and tomorrow are CRAZY. I think I have four or more appointments tomorrow!

Yarn Harlot coming to the ATL...

You can sign up for it here. I have already reserved a ticket and a hotel room, where I will stay if I am not employed. :) Otherwise, I may either have to do a late night drive fest or just bag the whole plan.

I promise, pictures soon of the socks. I need to get to work!