I've joined Saturday Sky!

I start tomorrow--and Le Tour de Fleece, too. Wonder if I can get my two bobbins of singles plied tonight?

Now I have to go put Saturday Sky on my Palm so I don't forget it every week.

Not much to talk about this weekend--

I'm taking it kinda slow. I'm have next Friday and the following Monday off, so I'll have a five-day weekend--yay for me!

It's definitely cooler this weekend, which has been really nice. It doesn't mean that I've been outside much, though. I'm just too lazy for that.

The spinning is coming along nicely. I finally finished the first half of the four ounces I have been working on for the last week and a half. I can't decide if I want to Navajo ply it or ply it with the second spool. We'll see.

I've signed up for Le Tour de Fleece 2006. My goal is to spin for at least 30 minutes each night. Since I have all this lovely stuff to spin, surely I can accomplish that much.

Pretty!

What a week

This has been one of the craziest weeks on record. I can't tell you how glad I am it's over.

My wheel finally arrived on Tuesday. I had to wait until I got home that night to put her together, but it was well worth the wait:


Isn't she beautimus? She has such a different feel than the Babe--more substantial is the only way I can put it. She spins so easy, it's amazing. I immediately started working on some of my Paradise Fiber stuff, but I was so tired and had so much to do for work the next day that I really didn't get much of a chance to do anything until last night. I'm still trying to get used to a different wheel, and I know it will take a little time, so I've resolved to try and spin a little each day insteading of waiting until the weekends. That and I need to figure out all the things that came with her--a lazy kate, a fast flyer, a plying maiden, flyer, and bobbin--so much stuff! I can't wait for spinning on Monday night!

Wednesday was insane. I spent several hours Tuesday night walking around the dining room talking to my self to prepare for my training sessions on Wednesday. Maggie thought I had lost my mind (and I wasn't far from it, let me tell you). It must have been worth it, because even though I got bumped twice on Wednesday morning, when I finally did get to do my sessions, they went really well. I've had a lot of compliments. I think many people who didn't really know me very well were surpised that I could get up and take command of a room so easily. Little do they know I used to do that all the time (ah, the good old days . . . .). Anyway, the worst thing that happened that day was that I wore a new pair of cute little shoes that proceeded to rub horrible sores on my feet. By the end of the day I could barely walk. Pair sore, aching feet up with 105-degree temps (at least that's what it said on the building next door), and I couldn't wait to get home and crash--which is exactly what I did.

These meetings on Wednesday were a part of our quarterly management meetings, where our facility administrators come "home to the mother ship" as it were to be wined and dined and wranged for a few days. This quarter's featured entertainment was the annual golf tournament on Thursday at a local country club. Between being absolutely exhausted from the day before, not wanting to spend all day out in the heat, Thursday being my birthday, and my firm belief that golf is a tool of Satan, I declined to attend, choosing to stay at the office with the other half-dozen souls who felt they had something better to do. It was a wise decision, except that I ended up having to make a trip to the airport to deliver some legal documents for one of our attorneys, but even that wasn't that bad because there was no one at the office waiting for me to show back up. I had a lovely lunch in our conference room watching Lassie save a fawn caught in a fire, and then I worked on filing until 4 pm, when I hightailed it out of there.

Yes, Thursday was my birthday. It was nothing of note. A coworker gave me a cute little gardeny knick-knack, one boss wished me happy birthday via email, and that was about it. Oh, and my ex-boss called to give me his best wishes. That was nice. So no big thing--I had Maggie, a new spining wheel, and lots of fiber waiting for me at home, what else did I need?

So when everyone appeared back in the office on Friday, they were all tired and grumpy and pissy--wonderful. However, it got immensely better when Missy called me in the afternoon to tell me the Yarn Harlot was coming to OKC in July. What a great birthday present--thanks, Stephanie! We can't wait to meet you.

The weathermen finally got it right, and we had a big 'ol storm roll through here last night--lots of lightening, thunder, wind, and rain. I was too out of it to think about the plants, and this morning this is what I found:


This poor petunia just got hammered. Hopefully it will pick back up in a while.

As for the heat--at 11 am this morning the thermometer on my walkway read:


11 am--64 DEGREES.

AAAHHHH!

PS--Missy, thanks for the best wishes, but now I want some cake!

I HATE THE FREAKING UPS!

So today's the day my Lendrum's supposed to be delivered, right? I've waited all weekend because it ended up getting here late Friday night and was stuck in the UPS warehouse until today. So midmorning I leave my desk for a while and come back to a small package that's sitting in my chair. One package, not three. It's the books and the few other small things that I had ordered, but there's nothing else in sight. The guy in charge of the mail comes by and tells me that there wasn't anything else for me. So I check online, and it shows that one package was sent out for delivery, and the other two are the same status as they were when they got here Friday night.

By 330 this afternoon I had had it. Nothing had showed up. I called and finally got hold of a live body at UPS (it's not that hard--keep hitting "0"). The guy couldn't figure out what the problem was, so he sent a message to the warehouse and promised they would call this afternoon. About 30 minutes later I get a call--"The truck hasn't been unloaded yet, so the packages will be delivered tomorrow."

THE TRUCK HASN'T BEEN UNLOADED? It's been THREE FREAKING DAYS! I can get one box but the other two are still on the truck? Can't they understand that I'm going to hurt someone if they don't get those boxes here NOW?

(deep breath)

Okay, I feel better, but I'm still freakin' mad. THREE DAYS, I tell you, THREE DAYS . . . .

I do give them props for at least calling me back. (Can't I throw the street slang around or what?)

Anyway, I have too much to do until Wednesday afternoon to give much attention to anything besides work anyway. I've been in overdrive all day getting ready for these training sessions. I think I'm going in extra early tomorrow to get some things done while no one's around. Cross your fingers for me--I'm starting to get really nervous!

And we had a nice storm come through and got a little rain and a 20-degree drop in temp--nice!!!

It's too darn hot!

What the heck happened to Spring? It's hotter than hell here, over 100 degrees yesterday and supposed to be the same today. No wonder I was so tired when this week was over--it's too hot to do anything except stay inside.

Except inside at work was FREEZING--as low as 64 degrees in my area most of last week. We can't seem to get the air adjusted so everybody isn't either freezing or burning up. It was so cold, my fingers were actually turning purple. And I'm sure it will be more of the same this week.

MY WHEEL IS HERE! Okay, not here, but in town--it's spending a lovely weekend at the UPS warehouse down on Portland. Don't these people know that I don't have a lot of patience? It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow to the office--I'm sure I'll squee like a teenager when it comes.

Meanwhile, I'm still spining the fiber I started when I went to the Log Cabin Spinning Guild meeting last Monday night. I was a little hesitant to actually do any spinning, but everyone there was so nice, and I had met many of them at the Fiber Rendezvous in May, and before I knew it I was spinning away without a worried thought at all. It was fun! I want to get this finished so I can play with the Lendrum tomorrow night, so I need to get busy today. I have a lot to do!

I ordered some beautiful rovings from Paradise Fibers this week. They are absolutely gorgeous--I can't wait to spin them. The colors are unbelievable--I've never seen anything so vibrant. I have to make sure I know how to spin them and not muddy them up in the process.

This week is our administrators/management meeting at the corporate office. I am giving two presentations on Wednesday and am really nervous. This will be my first time in front of many of them, and I need to have my act together. However, right now my biggest problem is what to wear. We are business casual at work, but should I dress up not? I probably will--I have an outfit that looks professional but is not quite so dressy. I just hate the idea of wearing it for two reasons--the weather's hot and the outfit's black, and I'll probably have to wear hose--yuck!!

Lazy Sunday posting

I'm not really in the mood to "talk" much this morning, but I thought I'd post some garden photos:


I'm not sure I've ever seen a geranium this color before:


Gallardia, "Fanfare:"


Lantana:


Delosperma, "Ice Plant:"


Every garden needs a gnome:


This one's found a shady spot under a sage plant where he can read:


A friend gave me the gnomes when I started putting the garden together.

I got out the Babe spinning wheel yesterday to see if I could still remember how to use it. I actually did pretty well. It's obvious that how you prep your fiber definitely determines what kind of results you get. Now if I can just figure out how much twist to put in, I'd be really happy. I wasn't as stiff and sore after sitting for a while like I have been in the past; however, I'm still trying to find the perfect spinning chair. Right now I'm just taking a lot of breaks.

Since it's Sunday, I'm going to confess (hanging my head in embarassment). Here's the sock yarn I ordered--curses to the Simply Sock Yarn Company--your website is just tooo tempting!


Left to right we have:

Fleece Artist 100% Washable Merino Wool, "Hercules"
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, "Fall Foliage"
Fleece Artist 100% Washable Merino Wool, "Dragonfly"
Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, "Serengeti" (actually much darker than this photo shows)

Then there's the Interlacements Tiny Toes Superwash Merino in colors "Tapestry," "Carbon Dioxide," "Mardi Gras," and "English Garden:"


The Cascade Fixation at the top left corner is "Italian Ices." I love socks made with this yarn--they're so comfortable.

Oh, and I'm still waiting on a skein of Socks That Rock.

I guess I can just consider all this (plus the Lendrum I'm waiting on) as an early birthday present. So there!