Back Home

I'm back in Atlanta - arrived home safely this afternoon. The trip was fun, but exhausting. I always enjoy seeing everyone but all of the running around is not very relaxing. I now need a vacation to recover. :-)

Thanks again to DF Teresa for putting a roof over my head and a place to come home to sleep for those 6 hours every night. I had a lot of fun staying with her and catching up. It has been too long and I know that I will see her several times over the fall and we won't go 7 months again!

Thursday I drove to Middleburg, FL. That was uneventful - which is the way that I like my drives to be - except that I had an awful allergy attack and spent most of the drive sneezing and irritated. This continued after I arrived until I went to sleep. Fortunately the rest of the weekend was not like that. Friday T and I met my parents who had driven up for lunch and a quick exchange of 4 tiny chairs for my nephew, Nicholas. It was good to see them. Then T and I did a little shopping and T had her makeup session for a wedding she's in this coming weekend. We stopped by Knitwitz for a short visit before meeting a bunch of longtime friends for dinner. It was fun catching up but the mariachi band was competing with our volume. I think that we finally won.

Saturday we started early with a trip to the crack book store. I'm a collector of books as much as anything else. I love to read and I guess that I'm just uncomfortable if I don't have 100 books waiting here for me to read. This had to be the cheapest trip to Chamblin's ever for me, so maybe I'm not as sick as I thought. We went to Riverside to meet some of T's stitching friends - Melody and Carrie. I'm in such a stitching slump that I didn't even take stitching on my trip. I have to do something about that slump quickly. I knit while they stitched. It was hot, hot, hot (yes, Africa hot) that day - I even told T that my eyelids were sweating at 9:30am when we left her house. The "house" that we went to in Riverside is gorgeous and right on the river. Here's a few quick pics:


It was too hot to sit on the porch, but I would very much enjoy that!


The St Johns is very wide here, so the straight on view doesn't show much except water. This is the view to the left.
And this is to the right. You can probably tell that a storm was coming.

A side note for those of you who haven't known me for 10+ years - I grew up on the water in Florida and it is one of the things that I really miss being in Atlanta. So looking out at this view reminded me a lot of home.

We packed up in the early afternoon and headed to Knitwitz for Midnight Knit-Insanity. There are so many parts that could be considered insane - the length of time knitting (9+ hours, longer for me if you count the 2.5 hours at Melody's), the getting home at 1:00am, the amount of makeup that had run into my eyes (re: Africa hot) blurring my vision, the laughter and stories told over knitting, the fact that Jennifer produced a miniature accordion right after Tricia complained about being told she couldn't have one, or the # of projects that I thought I would get to during this long knitting day!

I did manage to accomplish some knitting and here's what I have to show for it.

I finished my 3rd medallion. Let the blocking begin!


I turned the heel on the Jill-Walkers.
Sorry about the turned pics, Blogger is not happy tonight.

I completed one more block on the Herringbone Block Shawl

T got to ring the bell for finishing her bauble socks

I had a fun, fun time Sat night - thanks Knitwitz and Co!!

Sunday (after church), I headed over to the beach area and sat on the wonderful sand and put my feet in the wonderful Atlantic for a couple of hours. I wasn't allowed to go further than the shallow part due to my ankle recovery and it was pure torture to be that close and not swim in the ocean - but at least I got what I did. Sorry Heather - no pics...I forgot my camera! Doh. I visited with my cousins and my aunt, had a nice dinner and got home late again.

Now...when is my next vacation? I'm ready....

Gone Knitting

I'm on vacation! Well, technically it starts tomorrow but I know that I won't have time to post anything as I'll be running around (carefully in ankle brace) gathering up last minute items that I was supposed to gather tonight.

I'm heading to Florida - Middleburg, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach. Yes, that's right...I said BEACH! I've been looking forward to getting out of town and relaxing and also seeing lots of old longtime friends and some family. My DF Teresa is hosting me (again). I haven't seen T since late October, so I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with her.

I'll also be attending Midnight Knit Insanity at Knitwitz. That's Saturday evening. So my expectations are high for all of the knitting that I'll be able to accomplish. I promise to have something to show for it! OK, now the pressure's really on.

Keep it real while I'm away.

Jill-Walker Progress

I've made some good progress on my Jill-Walker socks. The pattern is very easy and going much faster now. I did end up doing some additional decreases with the help of DF Heather. I'm excited about turning the heel.
The ruffle is great, but the 224 stitch cast on was painful.

A significant amount of the progress was made while watching FSU baseball over the weekend. Two of the three games played were on TV here in Atlanta, thankfully! It helped calm my nerves to keep my hands busy. The Seminoles are on their way to Omaha for the College World Series. Go 'Noles!!

On Sunday I went to the Fox Theater to see Horton Hears a Who. It was Riley and Melia's first trip to the Fox and they were mesmerized by it, and who wouldn't be? They had a lot of curious questions - how does the man play the organ with his hands and his feet? How are the keys moving on the piano when the man is playing the organ (way over there)? Why is everything gold? They especially enjoyed the "Jasmine" themed surroundings and attempted to count all 96 stars. I can't wait until they are older to take them to a live show. Riley was having difficulty picturing the orchestra pit - why would the musicians sit down there where no one could see them? We all enjoyed the movie as well. Thank goodness we don't have to go to the movies to get news - although that would make the media more discriminating in what they present.

Gratuitous Baby Pictures

My office manager, Marsha, sent this pics to me. I thought that they were cute enough to share - and they show off my handwork.


3 Day Weekend

I spent my 3 Day Weekend in a very relaxed fashion. Of course I had things that I wanted to get done and things that I needed to get done, but I didn't make myself crazy with expectations and commitments. The sleep was great!

Knitting-wise, I finished the 2nd preemie baby hat for my office manager's grandsons. I decided at the last minute (of course) to knit these for the shower but didn't quite make the deadline of last Thursday. Taylor and Mason are going to look fab sporting these:
Taylor and Mason come from a mixed-marriage - that's right a Seminole married a gator. Taylor is the Seminole, I made sure to clear that up right away...

I did knit a little on my Jill-Walkers but unfortunately there isn't much to show yet...so I'll hope (or maybe you will?) for an interesting picture in the near future.

Stitching-wise, I managed to work on my Just Cross Stitch ornament. It's over one on 32 count and it is just taking a long time. I'm under the 2 month mark til the deadline now - so I'll be giving it a full-on effort very soon.

Scrapbooking-wise, I did some organization - one of those forced organizations that the Yarn Harlot spoke of - when I was looking for my Xyron. Now I didn't need the Xyron, but I knew that I had one and I couldn't rest until it was located. I don't know why these things/moments/obsessions happen. I worked on one page for about 4 hours on Monday (after locating the Xyron). It's still not complete, yes - after 4 hours!! Sigh. Scrapbooking is not one of the more organized, neat and tidy hobbies either. Even with the forced organization, my office looks like a scrapbook store exploded. There's just no getting around that - so as long as I'm feeling creative I'm going to live with the explosion.

Monday night - Memorial Day (thanks to all of those who gave their lives protecting the rights that I enjoy today) - DF Andy and I went to the new Verizon Ampitheater in Alpharetta to see Joe Cocker and The Steve Miller Band. It was a great show, both acts, and the venue is incredibly nice. But I was not prepared for the late hour(s). We got into the car at 11:55pm - we couldn't leave before Steve Miller played The Joker (c'mon!). It was 12:55am by the time I got home. I'm still recovering, but I did enjoy.


Tag!

I was tagged today by Jennie. I met Jennie on Ravelry. Thanks to Ravelry for new friends!

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themself. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 0r 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.


1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Clear the cobwebs, here goes. I was living in Ponte Vedra Beach (FL), working in Jacksonville. Citibank Cards had just bought Universal Card from AT&T and I was part of the team working on how the two companies and cultures were going to merge. My team was also in the middle of a major system upgrade in preparation for Y2K. I was doing a lot of work travel for both of these - I spent several weeks in Utah and Kentucky. It was very stressful but exciting. My brother was living in Camarillo, CA and I visited him that summer. Took my Dad to his first pro golf tournament - TPC at Sawgrass. I spent any free time that I had on the beach.

2. What are five things on my to do list for today.
  • Shop for and attend a work baby shower
  • Work on preemie baby hats for the same shower (I like the pressure of deadlines)
  • Watch Grey's Anatomy Season Finale
  • My Cricut will be delivered - need time to play!
  • Search the web to see if Moonlight was cancelled
3. Snacks I enjoy...
  • Chex Mix
  • Cheez Its
  • Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms
  • Reese's PB Cups
  • Chips and Salsa/Guacamole (especially with an ice cold beer)
  • Taco Dip w/Frito Scoops (tailgating food)
4.Things I would do if I were a billionaire...
  • Quit my job!!
  • Buy a condo (on the beach) in St Augustine Beach, FL
  • Buy a ski chalet in Lake Tahoe or Park City
  • Buy a house in Buckhead with lots of storage and have a room for each of my crafts
  • Travel - Germany, Ireland, Australia
  • Open a trust each for Riley, Melia, Nicholas, Carrie and Danny for their educations
  • Start a charity/foundation
  • Pay off Vicki's debt
5. Places I have lived...
  • Merritt Island, FL 1967 - 1985 (18 yrs in the same house while I grew up)
  • Tallahassee, FL 1985 - 1992 (various dorms, apartments during school and 3 yrs after graduation)
  • Jacksonville/Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 1992 - 2000 (apartment and house)
  • Georgia - Sandy Springs/Smyrna/Buckhead 2000 - ? (house w/friend, house w/brother, condo by myself)
6. What jobs have I had...
  • Token fast food job - Long John Silver's
  • Token mall job - Ivey's (now Dillard's)
  • Space Camp counselor (Kennedy Space Center, FL)
  • Several software development jobs - Computer Programmer, Technical Manager, Consultant, Development Manager. My 2nd job out of college was with Interlight Productions in Tallahassee. It was a very creative company - we produced multi-media children's bible stories and we had our own art dept and digital recording studio. I loved the people that I got to interact with - and have never had another job with such creativity. I worked at AT&T Universal Card Services for 8 years and I really loved this job. I had several positions there and worked on several projects for many bosses. The company had a very progressive/modern model of the company structure (i.e. upside down pyramid) and was very successful using this model. I credit the leadership with both preparing me to move on in my career and also for giving me a standard with which to judge success. And my success can be directly traced back to those years.
7. Peeps I want to know more about...

April Recap

At the beginning of April, I listed my goals for the month. I'm almost afraid, but let's look back and see how I did.

  1. Finish Chemo Cap for Yarn Harlot (by April 6) Completed April 6
  2. Finish 2nd Medallion of Medallion Capelet Completed April 14
  3. Finish stitching Hands To Work Ornament
  4. Finish 2nd sock
  5. Complete 3 blocks on Herringbone Block Shawl Completed April 26
  6. Dust off Watergarden (Amazon project) and do something on it!
  7. Complete 2 bands on Patricia Ann
I have to admit that it was a very optimistic set of goals. Especially since I did end up having the MRI on my ankle and finding out that I was having surgery on April 28. I really lost that last week of the month, and everyone knows that I need the last week of any project/deadline to get something done.


The Herringbone Block Shawl to date

I didn't get my 2nd sock finished in April, but I can Happy Dance now!!!

I know that the stripes are not symmetrical in terms of color, but that's part of the quirkiness of these socks. Yay...my first socks are complete. I'm very, very excited about moving on to a more difficult pattern and one of the lovely yarns that I have purchased since starting these. My next pair are going to be Jill-Walkers. When DF Jean sent me the link....I knew that it had to be them!

I don't believe that I did a SINGLE stitch in April. So the rest of May and June there is going to be some serious stitching going on.

Now...do I dare try to come up with goals for the rest of May?