A quandry

So, back in October, Knit Wits, where my sister works had a PJ Party there at the store. Kinda like a Girls' Night Out in silly flannel pants. I was actually home for the weekend, so of course I had to go too. Best part was, that I won a door prize - free yarn! (best type of yarn!)

Net loot from the party - 2 hanks Colinette Giotto ribbon yarn in Jewel:

See! See! Isn't it purty!

That brings my to the conundrum I now face... what to do with 2 skeins bright ribbon yarn? It's pretty and fun, but certainly brighter than most things I wear. And 2 skeins isn't quite enough for some of the projects I've found so far. It's one of those yarns that calls to you, but then you're not quite sure what to use it for...

At any rate, since I Do is progressing along nicely (I'm up above the second elbow!) I figure I'll start looking for a pattern for this fun stuff. I'm thinking some sort of shrug-capelet-ponchette-wrap sort of thing, to go with my Little Black Dress. I love wearing brightly color accent wraps with that. That black dress makes colors pop so nicely!

Decisions, decisions....

Best Christmas Song EVER!

One last post before I head to bed. I checked my mail, and my sister sent me this. YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT! HYSTERICAL!

Penguin, James Penguin... he's Santa's little spy...
Like a well-dressed duck in a 3-piece tux...

I love Brad Paisley... such a great sense of humor!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, not in South Carolina, it's not. It was 80 degrees yesterday and today. Pretty much is going to stay that way for the next couple days, too. Our nice cool weather won't be coming back until the weekend. And I was so excited to bring my cute sweaters out of the cedar chest last week too... :(

But!

At least it's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas!

Tonight was the Canadian Brass Holiday concert in town. Of course I had to go. Actually, it was the third time I've seen them in concert. Always a fun show. Definitely go see them if they ever come to your town. It's not just classical pieces, too, which is what makes it fun. Tonight's show had the classical pieces, of course, but holiday pieces, Glen Miller, and some just plain ol' silliness.

And I head out of the concert into 65 degrees at 10 at night, happily humming Christmas carols.

But, it's all good! One of the guys in the office I work at grew up in South Africa, so he's been loving this weather. Says that Chirstmas time is beach time! Crazy southern hemisphere...

I'm just ready to break into my winter wardrobe. I'm tired of it being hot, wearing jeans and polos every day to work. I'm ready to wear my cords, my sweaters, not break a sweat simply walking to my car... Bring on the coat weather!

A nap, a nap...

My Kingdom for a nap...

Such as my kingdom is, at any rate.

I swear, I haven't slept well since December started, maybe 3 or 4 good nights in the past week and a half. I honestly didn't think I was that stressed about the wedding coming up, but I've been having weird, unsettling, often wedding-related dreams recently. I feel so stupid that I'm getting so stressed out about it, especially since my conscious self doesn't seem to be as stressed. I can go through the day alright, and then head to bed, and proceed to wake up 2 or 3 or 4 times in the night.

It's like in The Princess Bride:
"It was ten days 'till the wedding. The king still lived, but Buttercup's nightmares were becoming steadily worse...."

I guess everyone has pre-wedding stress, jitters, nerves, edginess, jumpiness, cold feet, anxiety, tension, whatever you want to call it...

Except I'm not marrying Humperdink, having abandoned true love! I'm just too busy and stressed to sleep well, and it's making me sick and grumpy.... Bah!

Besides, I do know better than to get involved with a Sicilian when death is on the line!

Where's my letter jacket?

Goodness, I thought I'd already graduated high school.

This evening was a celebratory happy hour for my departmental manager at work. She recently tested for a major professional certification and passed, so we're all really happy for her and wanted to go out and congratulate her. But hanging out with most of the people I work with during my off hours is just .... forced at best, painfully awkward at worst.

My office is just so clique-y! There's the 'cool kids' clique, the nerdy clique (my own social setting) .... it's like high school all over again. And it travels down department lines, pretty much. There's the 'cool kids' over in the engineering department, those that can do no wrong, or if they do, they aren't gonna get chewed out for it. Spoiled little darlings. It's like the football or basketball team, without the athletic physiques. Then there's the environmental departments (my own setting), the nerdy little bookworms who don't bother playing the politicking games. They do their work without being recognized, and get beaten up by the popular bullies at regular intervals. Then there's the social rejects, those so awkward that they don't fit into any particular setting, but make all around them uncomfortable. Yeah, we've got a few of those too (two at the moment).

I just thought that we'd outgrow these games eventually, or at least that it would be a different sort of kissing up and political games. But it really feels sometimes like it's the football team beating up on the math club. I'm the youngest in the office, and I''m mid-20s. Most of these people are 30s and 40s. Why do we still feel inclined to play these games? I wonder sometimes if those in the 'cool kids' clique realizes that they are and how they act, or if it's only something we see as a 'have-not'?

I feel like I should be heading into pep rallys sometimes...
wait, that's what the marketing meetings are, aren't they?

Go team!

Could it be any more of a Monday?

This will be quick, but it needs to be said.

I. Hate. Mondays.


And this was a Monday for the records books.

I had two reports due at work, had a jerk of a co-worker in another office to deal with, spent some time fighting with a difficult computer program we're being forced to use, and got to listen to my manager and the branch manager yelling about a difficult client who doesn't want to pay their bills. Even if the client is being difficult, it's never fun to listen to angry voices in the office. Oh, yeah, that same difficult client is the one for The Project That Will Not Die (one we've been having to deal with since last December and STILL aren't done with), so even more fun. And it was time for the techs in the concrete lab to mess with sulfur again (probably a bi-weekly smell filling out office), so the office reeked all afternoon.

And the kicker?

The office bathrooms backed up, so the bathroom smell mixed with the sulfur stench just was stomach-turning-ly fun the last 3 hours of the day....

Yeah, it's never good when we get an e-mail from Admin saying "Don't use the office bathrooms, or go down that hall."

So, now that the day is over and I've got this off my chest, I am going to take many deep breaths, pat the bunny, pick up my knitting, and try to forget that I have to head back there tomorrow.

Woohoo! Halfway!

Yay! I finished the first half of my I Do shrug! I'm on that giddy FO (or half-way FO) high right now! Whee!!

Here's how it looks at the moment. I'm very excited about this, but looking at the pictures, it seems so .... I dunno.... Unblocked lace is so unimpressive...

Still! I'm excited about it, because I can see the lace pattern when I gently pull at the fabric, so I know it'll open up like it's supposed to once it's blocked. Makes me happy. :)

So, I'm now halfway through the shrug! Yay! And it's now less than a month til the wedding! ('scuse me while I panic for a moment!!)

Only 3 weeks? Still plenty of time to finish the other half!

That's what I'm telling myself, at least. I don't have Christmas knitting this year; I've got wedding knitting instead. That gives me 3 whole more days to do it!

I just have to be very conscientious about tying myself to my needles every evening for the next three week and those miles of lace will just FLY by...

riiight....


Anyway, I was talking to my mom about wedding stuff and nerves and such, and asked her "When does the panicked feeling go away?"

Her helpful response?
"Probably January 1st" (my wedding is Dec 29th!)

But enough for now - must continue with the knitting!