Spring has truly sprung!

I cannot believe how beautiful it was outside today! It is finally spring. And the signs of it are everywhere...the sun setting later in the day, so I get to watch fantastic sunsets over the lake on my drive home, and the geese and swans flying in from the South, and people walking around without jackets on. There is something about spring that is just so full of promise and hope and rebirth. Spring and fall are my two favourite times of the year, and they never seem to last long enough.

I got my car washed on the way home and washed winter off of it. That was a good feeling, it really needed it! And I wish I could write about how I rushed home from work to enjoy the gorgeous day. But instead, I worked late when I really didn't want to be there. That's okay, the weekend is just around the corner. And it's going to be a good one.

I'm making good progress on my Fabulous Pink and Orange Felted Bag to go with my coat. In fact, I must go so I can knit....the warmer it is outside, the more I am hankering to finish this purse so I can just use it already!

Jumbled thoughts all woven together...

I had a great time at Knit Knite tonight. What a great bunch of ladies. And I bought Lamb's Pride Bulky yarn to make felted marsupial bags for Karen, Hillary and for me to match my new jacket. After much debate I settled on bring pink and orange for my purse. It will look fabulous! I just want to start knitting it right now! GAH! And it was 20% off, because I mentioned the A Knitter's Corner website. I promise I will post a picture of me modeling the purse with my jacket when it is all done.

My parents are in Mexico this week. And now I really miss them. I talk to my mom at least 2-3 times a week, and I haven't talked to them since Friday. And that didn't really count, because I called to wish them a great trip and my aunt and uncle that were travelling with them had already arrived so I was nicely blown off. Which I completely understand. But I really miss my chats with her. They get back Saturday night, and then my aunt and uncle fly out Sunday early afternoon, so I think I will accost them with a phone call on Sunday afternoon.

When I was driving back from Knit Knite tonight, it was so clear outside in the night sky. I could see so many stars. I can't wait for summer when I can sit out and watch the stars beside a nice wood fire. Those are some of my best memories as a child.

Marmelade was very happy to see me when I got home. He kept licking my face repeatedly, to the point that I had to get him off of me. He is definitely a licker! Right now he is cleaning himself on John's computer chair. That's his normal spot, when he's not sitting on me, when I am on the computer.

Well, I should go to bed. I keep hearing everyone at work sniffling and sneezing and coughing, and I think I have been just barely holding off that cold that everyone is getting.

Mysterious Ways

Today started out really crappy. I arrived at work today to find the mountain of papers on my desk that have been accumulating since Monday. I felt like I was drowning. So I started in on it as soon as I got there, hoping to make a bit of a dent. My coworker who sits across the aisle asked me if everything was okay, because I obviously wasn't my regular cheerful self) and that's when it all came out. She is a wonderful person, and patiently listened while I agonized and cried (yes, I cried at work, though not in front of everyone THANK GOODNESS) and she empathized and explained that she knew exactly how I felt and that she had been there too, feeling overwhelmed and in tears. I felt so much better knowing I wasn't the only one. Something about our conversation really helped me recover and get back on track.

As we came close to lunch time, she told me that she and one of my other coworkers are starting a bible study and plan to meet on Wednesdays on our lunch hour and she asked if I would like to join. We've talked about our faith before, and though we are both spiritual, we worship privately on our own and not in a formal church setting. I was really touched that she included me in this. We had a great time over our lunch hour, discussing the scripture and talking about the discussion questions.

I don't know how, but she really knew exactly what I needed today. I feel like I have been losing perspective due to the stress I have been feeling, but somehow by the end of the day today, even though I was completely exhausted, my desk looked a lot better and I felt a lot better.

I came home tonight and spent some time knitting, for probably the longest time on a weeknight since I started working (aside from Knit Knite). It was great, and it was exactly what I needed. I finally picked up Picovoli again (yes, I know, it is still no where near done...it's awful!) and I got past my trouble spot so now I seem to be on track. That is very VERY exciting.

So what started out as a total crap day turned out to be a good day. And tomorrow will definitely be a good day, because it's Knit Knite and I am bringing my knitting in my new bag and I will be buying yarn to make purses for me, Karen, and Hillary, and the yarn I need to buy is on sale. A YARN SALE! Life does not get better than this! ;)

Okay, bed time for me...

Pictures Galore!

So what are all of these pictures? Well, there is no better place to start than the beginning. This first pic is of the fabric my new trenchcoat is made of. I got it at the GAP on sale. I love the GAP, but can only somewhat afford their clothing when it is on sale. They had this colour as well as beige, black, and a pretty blue. They didn't have the blue in my size so I did something uncharacteristic of myself and bought this crazy patterned jacket. My husband was surprised at me. But I love this trench, and I received a lot of compliments about it on the two nice days we had around here when I wore it.

Picture Number 2: The yarn for my Parisian Knit Tote that I took a class about a week ago. The picture doesn't really do the yarn justice, because the colours are so DELICIOUS together. It would have gone perfectly with the blue trench. I'll just have to make another to go with my fabulous trench.

Picture Number 3: Marmelade with my yarn. He likes to chew on strings and therefore yarn is also an obsession for him. That is as close as I have let him come to my fibres in a long time.

Picture Number 4: My new knitting bag, courtesy of Lynne. I love it! I love just carrying it around the house. Which probably explains my lack of knitting recently.

Picture Number 5: My new glasses. Yes, they are olive green and purple. They are so cool! My other glasses were blue and I felt they were not neutral enough. When I got new glasses, I wanted some that were more neutral. We looked at a bunch that were brown and black, but these ones were just neutral enough that I hardly even notice that they are olive green. I know my mom won't like them, she hates that green colour.

I am starting to notice just how much I stand out as a Canadian down here. For starters, I can't stop spelling colour without a "U". So I just leave it. And at work this week, I presented something at our weekly staff meeting and when I was talking everyone started laughing. This totally threw me because I had no idea what was so funny! When a room full of people start laughing at you, especially when it's my team, I was thinking either they had played a practical joke or that I had something hanging out of my nose or something else equally embarassing. But what they had found so funny was the way I say "process". Apparently they say it "prawcess" and I say "proocess". I know they find it funny when I say "out and about" but I don't really notice it that much. It's so interesting how things can be so different here compared to where I came from.

My parents are going to Mexico this week. I am really jealous. In fact, I can't really talk about it much more because I am just green with envy. It's so cold here! GAH! But I'm excited for them.

So yes, there really hasn't been that much knitting recently. And there will be even less this weekend. We're getting our taxes done, and then our nephew is coming to sleep over! That should be fun. He and John are going to do boy things, and maybe then I can knit a little. Let's hope...

It is all so clear now...

For the last few weeks my eyes have really been bothering me. To the point that I have frequent headaches and that I wear my glasses all of the time that I really only used before when my eyes were tired. Mondays are the worst because we have the most mail that day and therefore the most small numbers and text to read on the mail.

So today I went to the eye doctor. He said that I definitely should be wearing glasses all of the time now for close work, especially when I am on the computer. So new glasses for me! They are slightly stronger, which will make a big difference. And of course I had to have cool frames. I don't want to tell you what they look like yet, but they are definitely cool.

Marmalade was in to be neutered and declawed this weekend. I think it was harder on me than it was for him. He seems to be almost back to his old self, though he isn't into as many things as he was before and he doesn't bat around his toys that much, probably because his paws still hurt a little. Poor little guy. Right now, he is lying on my lap and purring and doing everything in his power to make it impossible for me to blog. Oh how I love him!

Awww kitty

Knittin' Pretty has a new blog name...and a new button! So cute!