Long Weekend

This is pretty much the sum total of my entire long weekend. I hung some art (probably crookedly). I dug into storage boxes of holidays past, decorated my little tree and set out my collection of Santa figures. I also cried a lot.

Haven't done as much knitting as I wanted. My Tidal Wave sock is nearly done; maybe an hour more on it. Also nearly done is a diagonal scarf for one of my Secret Sant-ees. I might do a hat to go with it, but the way I've been feeling lately maybe not.

I meant to go to Ikea today, but the thought of swimming upstream against the holiday shoppers was overwhelming. I might go one night after work, though. We'll see.

Bought some Xmas gifts online, planned out others, ordered a grown-up coffee table for myself. I've been using an old pressboard steamer trunk and want to look less like a college student and more like a real adult. Eventually, I'll get a real TV stand, too. Much as I like the glass blocks and boards, they do look a bit more like dorm room than living room.

I picked out gifts for Dan that I know he'd like but that I won't be buying for him. I wonder if he does the same thing? Probably not. Women always seem to hold onto emotions much longer than men. This weekend was much more difficult than I expected. Just as I thought I was getting to be over things and moving on, someone made an innocent comment that made me sad and sad is where I am still.

All of the stuff we bought for Christmas last year as well as his old holiday decorations are here...can someone let him know that I'll send them to him in January, when I think I'll be able to look at them again? Thanks.

Crazy

These are my new favorite socks: Monkey, by Cookie A.

I've never really been interested in these socks, but then I bought my first Crazy Zauberball yarn and it wanted to be this pattern. It shall not be the last time I get this yarn; it feels pretty darn comfy...can't wait to wear these to work tomorrow.

Working on Rane's baby blanket has halted for a few days. I ordered a longer cable for my Knit Picks Harmony needles as the blankie is now at the limit of my 29" cable. It should get here next week. Yay!

The apartment smells nice since I baked a chocolate gingerbread cake to take to Zeb's on Thursday. I made one last Thanksgiving, too, since Dan's dad Ed loves chocolate even more than I do and he wanted chocolatey desserts. I'll miss Ed...he was pretty darn cool.

This is the kind of cake that will improve with time and will be perfect by Thursday. Provided, that is, that it turned out. It cools unmolested on the stove now. Perhaps in a bit, I shall wander in to test it. Yeah. Testing it. Uh-huh.

A Day in DC

Long day of firsts. First dim sum in Maryland. First time getting lost in Silver Spring (although quite likely not the last; that place is a Bermuda Triangle). First time on the DC Metro.

And, may I just say, that the whole DC experience is completely enhanced by a good playthrough of Fallout 3. :) I stood in happy awe that the Metro stations look just like they do in the game, except in better repair. Becca asked why there were so few trash cans, and in possibly one of my geekiest moments ever, I said that they were taken out because too many people hid their loot in them after killing Super Mutants.

Somewhere along the way, the beautiful silver bracelet Dan gave me last Christmas fell off. I noticed it was missing the Air and Space Museum, which added to the odd experience of being there.

Last time I was in DC and in that same museum, I was preggers with Phil. And still about five years away from realizing that I hated pretending to like airplanes just because my then-husband adored them. The group wanted to see this particular museum, so in I went...but within minutes realized that I didn't have to pretend any interest; I could go and do something else.

And so I did. The group had actually separated upon entering the museum, scattering off to look at different things. When I realized my bracelet was gone, I retraced some of my steps and Mike ran into me; we went to the Hirschhorn. Where, may I note, they have lovely leather couches that tired people can sit for a bit to strategize where else to go.

We spent the last hour of the day wandering through the Natural History Museum (which, again, gave me gleeful moments of Fallout 3-ness). Loved the rooms of little tiny skeletons! We were chastised for trying to head into the reptile room after the guard had given us all a two minute warning to leave.

After getting lost (again) in Silver Spring, we headed back northwards and had supper at Fazzini's, whereupon I fell into a food coma.

I hope I recover enough to get to the Irish festival and its kilt contest today.

Oh, and this...

...is Jane Grey's best feature: butt warmers!

I love you, Jane Grey!

Random

This is Nottingham, done in bulky alpaca. Mike picked out the yarn on Saturday and it was a good choice! I had an easy time knitting it and it feels sooooo soft.

...

The other day in a meeting to go over something at work, I took an opposite view to everyone. =\ Not trying to be difficult (I don't have to try; it comes easily to me), just trying to make a point. One of the artists pointed out that we could do things my way if he did X and so folks decided to do it the way I suggested. Kate, the goober, says, "Well, you are one of the most influential women in MMOs..." for which I smacked her. Heh.

...

Same sort of thing happened this morning at scrum, although I forget exactly what we were discussing, but this time it was our QA lead Jason who said it. Fortunately for him, he was standing as far away from me as possible and so I didn't get to smack him.

But maybe I will, anyway, tomorrow.

...

Chick-fil-A for dinner tonight via the drive through.

Me: May I get a number one, deluxe, with a small Peppermint Chocolate Chip shake?
C-F-A: You have to get that in large.
Me: Well. Okay. Twist my arm.
C-F-A: [laughs]

I pull around to the window and she leans out and says, "You are the nicest customer I've ever had here, and I've been here for two years."

Isn't that a shame? :( I suppose folks give her grief because they can't get a small shake or something. I tell you, if you have to take out your miserable day on Chick-fil-A's drive through peeps, you do not deserve their food, especially this Peppermint Chocolate Chip shake which is amazing.

A Grand Day Out

It was supposed to be much colder yesterday, but luck and the sun shined upon us all day. Yay!

In the "it's a small world after all" category, one of the artists where I currently work used to work with Ray, Rane's husband, back in Colorado. They didn't know that I knew each of them until I started planning this next weekend's trip to DC and included Ray in the email (handy that he works for the same company, even if in a completely different location).

I have been moping quite a bit lately, coming home from work on Fridays and hiding with cats and knitting until Monday forced me back to the office. Yeah, I know. We broke up in September; it's now November and I need to get over it. Whatever.

In any event, yesterday turned into a really awesome day, and not just because of the great weather. Mike (aforementioned artist dude from work) had been talking about a restaurant he likes in Hampden. Christina, who watched my cats for me, lives in that 'hood and has been talking about the cool yarn shop there. Since we all already had plans to meet up at the Greek Festival that afternoon, I invited myself to have brunch with Mike.

We walked up and down the street, hitting up a number of shops along the way. My favorite shop was Ma Petite Shoe, which features shoes and chocolate. How awesome is that?

The yarn shop was very bit as cool as Christina said it would be. The ladies there were very friendly, inviting me and Mike to see their restroom. :D Apparently, cool restrooms are the hallmark of local yarn shops. This one was papered with some of the most cheesy, awful pattern photos of old knitting projects. The kicker is that they keep little speech bubble sticky notes and pens handy so that folks can add captions to the photos. Hilarious!

And then we headed to the Greek festival, which was really cool. Tons of food, a glimpse into the beautiful cathedral itself and some time hanging out with Kathy, Christina and her sister. Mike and I hung around watching the impromptu dancing before heading back to the office where Jane Grey patiently waited for me.

It feels as though I'm turning a corner of sorts. It's a good feeling.

This Is It

I grew up listening to Michael Jackson. One of my favorite albums was Off the Wall as it came out during my musically formative years. How many dances did we attend back in the day where everyone got up to dance to a Michael Jackson song...I couldn't even tell.

At Polly Esther's, where one room did disco and the other side did retro-80's stuff, there was a night where we walked in and the dance floor was empty. Devin went to get our drinks and his friends and I were standing around talking. Don't Stop Til You Get Enough came on and I dragged one of the guys out to the floor...and within seconds, the whole place was dancing, too. I still love that song. It reminds me of a lot of happy, joyous moments within an otherwise dark and dismal time.

This Is It was good. They did a great job editing together various rehersal sessions into a cohesive piece. What I loved most of all, though, were the shots of the background dancers on the floor below watching Michael performing. The joy in their faces tells the whole story to me. It would have been an awesome concert experience. Whatever personal issues Michael may have had, this was all about music and movement and I'm glad they have this film to showcase it.

Another cocoon weekend for me, other than going out to the movie. I had pizza delivered last night after I came back from the show...is there anything better than a small, local pizza place that calls you to make sure you really wanted anchovies? :) Fazzini's is my Italian comfort food joint and the fact that they deliver makes it even better. Comfort straight to my home and my belly! Yay!

I'm currently on Cookie A's Monkey Socks bandwagon. It's a wagon that's over 10,000 socks deep on Ravelry. You see, I have this Crazy Zauberball yarn that went looking for a pattern and it picked the Monkey...and I'm glad it did. The pattern is really easy, quick and looks fabulous. I'm already at the heel of the first one and can't wait to finish the pair of them!