Say HI to Fromage (aka Gryffyn). He is my big orange and white kitty with a heart of gold...
OK, I am in a new city, I only know 3 people, I am getting tired of being holed up in a hotel room after work, so what is a gal to do??? How about look for another knitting group and find some local yarn stores??? Good idea!
So, at lunch, I decided to JFGI (Just freaking Google it) and find the local yarn stores in the area and stop by one to see what Phoenix had to offer in the way of yarn stores. The one I decided to go to was The Fiber Factory in Mesa, AZ. Great LYS!!! They had the class schedules out for Sept - Dec and have a LOT of classes. Well, since I brought this spinning wheel with me from ABQ and I am learning as I go, I decided to sign up for a beginning spinning class. The class starts on September 5th and meets every Tuesday in September. They teach you to spin with a drop spindle, prepare wool and spin on the wheel. I am really excited!!! I picked up a spinning book and a little bit of fiber while I was there then came back to work... Good stuff! I am really excited to start the class!
Then, I decided to continue my Google adventures and try to find a knitting group to hang out with. Now, no one will ever be able to replace my SnB Group that I just left in Albuquerque (with the greatest group of Women in the Southwest!!!) but I need to make new friends and warp new minds!!! LOL!!! Tomorrow, I am going to head over to my first SnB meeting over in Mesa, AZ. Next Tuesday, there is a knitters meet-up in Tempe that I will also head over to check out. There are a BUNCH of knitting groups down here. I hope to find one that will meet my schedule (meets on Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday when I start working nights) and has some really awesome people. I am also thinking about joining a spinning group, but I will wait until after I take my class to see if I want to spin with others or just keep it an "at home" type of activity.
Note to self: remind hubby to bring down some dye for my roving when he comes to visit September 9th...
The weather here is really weird... On Tuesday night, I hung out with my best friend from elementary school thru high school graduation, Julie. We headed over to Bed, Bath and Beyond and played with trash cans (yes, they have trash cans with remote sensors that automatically open and close). On our way back to her place, the windstorm from Hell (Think Albuquerque in the Spring) hit just before some really cool thunderstorms. Stupid me, I decided NOT to bring my camera to Phoenix (since the three options I had were leave it in a hotel room to possibly get stolen, leave it in a hot car to get ruined or carry it with me everywhere I go...) and there was the most INCREDIBLE sunset. You could see the sun setting over the mountain through the dust with a huge thunderstorm in front of it... WOW! When you have a dust storm before a thunderstorm, they call it a Haboob. Here is a picture of one:
Pretty cool, huh? Yup, it looks just like this. Wall of dust . Here is the National Weather Service Definition:Haboob. A haboob is a violent dust or sandstorm occurring on the southwest deserts of Arizona. It depicts the leading edge, or gust front, of an approaching storm, and wind speeds can exceed 60 mph!
Where do they come up with these terms??? I am thinking that some bored meteorologists had been indulging in a bunch of "adult beverages" (with high alcohol content) and thought that one up after one of them got dumped by a strong, couragous woman! (aka Babe In Total Control of Herself, put the capital letters together)
So, back to the weather story, I was driving back from Julie's place on the leading edge of this beastie (after getting gas and "college student groceries") and it was vicious! There were trees damaged all over the place. One was laying across the road blocking 2 of 3 traffic lanes. I went into work on Wed am and the trees here took a good hit too. Yesterday, it was cloudy all day. Wonderful! Maybe it won't get above 100 degrees... Man, that was an anomaly. Today, the weather is back to normal again, a million degrees with humidity... Walk outside and become an instant giant walking sweatball. Now, isn't that appealing? Welcome to Arizona... I just looked on the Weather Channel website for the forecast. It said the current conditions were 100 degrees (feels like 99 degrees). SAY WHAT??? How can it be 100 and feel like 99??? Yup, the weather people have been into the "hooch" again...
What are "college student groceries"? Stuff you can make on a stove top or in a microwave.
My boxes are in my cube! Can you tell I am procrastinating unpacking it all? The cube I was assigned (from now until December when I move to my real factory) is small. REALLY SMALL. I don't know if I can fit everything from my old cube in here. So, it sits in boxes behind me (where no one is sitting right now), mocking me. I don't see a monitor or computer stand so I need to order that stuff...
If anyone is down in Phoenix on Sept 9th, they are having a "Stitch and Pitch" at the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. They are handing out goodie bags too!!! Now, I need to convince the hubby that this is a good idea!!!
So, what are tonight's big plans? Back to the hotel room after work, get some dinner, spin some wool then go to bed. It's too freaking hot to do anything else. (and I even got a bug up my butt to update the WIPs and finished projects...)
