Ruh-Roh, there are BOXES in my cube!

I am on my way to see these guys again!

About 6 weeks ago, I had one of those last minute midnight cube moves from the building I used to work in over to my new building. I came into work this evening and there are boxes in my cube and every other cube in my row. I think I am being moved again but no one has told me. I am starting to wonder if I will ever be able to stay in one cube longer than 3 months? Since I am on my way to San Jose and Santa Clara, I guess the move will have to wait for another week since I have not been told when my move date actually is... GRRRR...

I am about to leave work, head to IHOP for a yummy pancake breakfast then head over to the airport to go on my trip! (it's 4am, I think the drunks are gone now) I am SO EXCITED! Someone on one of my lists had this brilliant idea that for each pound that we lose, we get to buy a pound of yarn (and roving, if we are spinners). I think this is a GREAT idea and will keep us motivated to keep eating healthy and exercising. This means I am coming home with a LOAD of fiber and yarn :-) I am officially down to a size 14 and they are even a bit loose on me now. (I didn't want to get size 12's for the conference since I wanted to be comfy and have clothes that fit a bit loose). I am still working out at least 2 days per week (up to 10 miles each time on the bike) and the fat is slowly coming off. The "junk in my trunk" is starting to look much better also!

Forecast for the trip: rain every day and highs in the 50's. I am glad we are supposed to be indoors all week! I have lots of my sweaters and cold weather clothes packed for this trip. I am really looking forward to seeing my old co-workers from my old site. I miss them a lot! I like my new home and my new workplace but I miss the friends that I made back in New Mexico! I am homesick for NM and don't think I will be able to make it out there for a while... :P

The Woolee Winder is so great! I spent a couple of hours on it this morning after work while watching Batman and Robin. I got so much more spinning done in the time and my singles are MUCH more consistent! So my initial reaction was right on the money. DH complained that my last blog entry made it sound like he didn't know how it worked. He knew how it worked right away, he was just having fun with the ingenuity of its design and we discussed other mechanical things during that time also! (I'm gonna miss you while I am gone, honey...) Ziggy is so cute, he hangs out on my shoulder while I am spinning on the couch and watches me spin wool. He just lays there and purrs. I stop every so often and pet him and tell him what a good kitty he is. When he was a kitten, he used to love to climb on my shoulder while I was making dinner and would just ride around the kitchen on my shoulder when I would go from task to task. If he doesn't make it until I get back, I was able to spend some good quality time with him and tell him "goodbye". I told him that he needed to keep going until I get back, but as we all know, cats never listen to a damn thing we say to them. But we have had a lot of good talks and a lot of good purrs between the two of us!

The Woolee Winder is here

My new Woolee Winder came in the mail today! So, instead of waking up and getting ready for work, I decided to be a few minutes late for work and try out the new toy. It has to be impressive if my hubby (who doesn't spin) is enamoured with it when I try it out! He had a blast figuring out how it worked and we chatted about it while I started figuring out how to use it. This first picture is my new Woolee Winder, along with Natasha lying in the sun (solar charging her little kitty batteries for a mad midnight romp through the house).


Here is a close up of the wool I am currently spinning and how it looks on the winder. I am currently working on a white/light lavender 100% merino wool roving with the winder. OK, so this was not the brightest choice on the planet for someone who has only been spinning for a few months. Next time, I'll remember that.

So, how is it working out so far? I only have about 45 minutes worth of experience on the Woolee Winder but so far it has surpassed all of my expectations. I was able to pick it up pretty quickly. Getting used to the differences between this winder and the one that came with my Lendrum was pretty easy. There is the "clicking" sound that comes up when I let the yarn go to wind around the spindle but it became a very soothing sound after I got used to it (about 15 minutes). It was REALLY hard to suppress the urge to stop the wheel and change the position of the guide that I used to use on the spindle. I LOVE the fact that once I got started and got my rhythm going with it, I was able to go A LOT faster than I had been able to go with my old winder. All in all, I give it 2 thumbs up for ease of use and what a difference it has made in my spinning. I do feel like I can be more consistent with my spinning than I was able to before with all of the starting and stopping. Nathan was GREAT to work with and I would highly recommend getting one. It is worth the cost!

OK, we had a BLAST at the Ren Fest on Monday. DH joked about how we paid $20 each just to go shopping, but it was in fun! My girlfriend Julie and her daughter Alyssa came out there with DH and I. The weather was a bit chilly (in the upper 50's) and the forecast called for 30% chance of rain. No problem. We got there and looked around for a bit. Then I found this beautiful cloak. It is made from black velvet on the outside and lavender satin lining the inside. It also has a nice hood (that you can't see from the picture) to cover your head. Well, I bought it because despite wearing a long sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt, I was still really cold. I wore it around all day and it kept me nice and warm. It was REALLY nice to have once the rain started. Alyssa bought herself a Didgeridoo and was learning to play it. It was really cool! (A didgeridoo is an instrument played by Australian Aboriginals, it kind of looks like a hollowed out log and makes a really cool sound). We had some sprinkles, which was no problem, until the thunder and lightning started and the heavens cut loose with rain and wind. BLECH! We found shelter and waited for the storm to pass. We caught one show, the singing nuns, before we left for the day. We all decided that we would head out there one more time before April 1st so we could see some of the shows this time! And so we could shop some more. I found a place that served warm Mead, yummy! It hit the spot on a chilly day. We wandered around, Julie picked up a neat beaded rose for her mom and some other goodies, Mike and Alyssa had a couple of Bloody Marys while we were there, we munched on Turkey Legs (of course), we didn't pick up any leather mugs, Mike loved hanging out at the fossil merchant, we found a cute shelf cat and a neat wooden cat for the living room. I had such a great time! We will go see The Ded Bob Show next time we are out there!

I have discovered the recipe for the ultimate Grape Martini. DH thinks it tastes like grape kool-aid with a hell of a kick. I think it tastes like the Grape Martini I had at the restaurant. Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 oz Grape Vodka (I used 3 Olives brand vodka)
1/2 oz Triple Sec
1 1/2 oz 7-Up or lemon lime soda

Mix the ingredients in a martini shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. I haven't figured out which garnish would be good with this (no, grapes would not work), maybe a lemon twist? The new martini glasses came via UPS yesterday and I was able to try them out. The work great for keeping a martini nice and cold. The glasses will probably also work for white wine and other drinks you want to keep cold but don't want to put ice into.

My guy crashed out of the Daytona 500 last weekend... DH's guy won the race (although the finish was somewhat controversial). Great race. This weekend (while I am shopping at the Stitches West Marketplace), I will be missing the CA race. I will have to record it on the DVR so I can see it when I get home next week.

I need to pack and get the needles and a "no-brainer" sock pattern in the backpack for the trip. The spinning wheel is coming with me to San Jose so I can play around with the roving I find at Stitches West. I am so excited! I can't wait to get the suitcase packed and go!!!