These are my cousins, Wolfgang and Catcher.

I like it when they can come to play, it is like puppy camp. I like going to their house too because they have kids who are great at dropping food on the floor. But right now they are at our house while their mommy and daddy take care of a family energenc… emerinc… immarganc… a family thing. I like Wolfie because he is calm and likes to lay around and take naps with me. He just likes to hang out. Also he finds my little hoofie ends and finishes them off, so mommy gives me new ones. Catcher is fun too but she is really hyper. The other night mommy could not stop laughing because Catcher was chasing a flying bug for like an hour. She would careen across the floor and jump in the air like one of the cats, and snap at the bug like a fat furry Jaws. Finally she got the bug. Then her breath smelt funny. I told her to go eat something out of the cat box to freshen her up but then mommy yelled at us both. That wasn’t fun.

Oh well I have to go now and take a nap. Waggy waggy, everyone!

Slobbery kisses,
Bridgett the dog

---

I can’t tell you all how tired I am right now. Hrm. No, “tired” isn’t the right word. “Drained” is the right word. It’s not that I want to go back to sleep; it’s that I want to curl up under the desk, rock back and forth and chew on my hand, and just think of nothing.

Working without Sharon for the last ten days has been ... not as bad as I was afraid it would be. Ginger has been coming in after she gets off work and closing the shop, so I’m only working from about 9:30 to 6:30 (not counting things I do at home, for work, which is another hour or two). And the loveliest people have dropped by the shop to see if I need anything; food, drink, bathroom break, company. So overall it hasn’t been bad. But it has been draining. Does that make sense? From the minute I open the door at 10 until I leave, I’m never not *on*. On my best behavior. On my feet. On my toes to make sure that everyone in the shop is getting service and attention. On my guard to make sure that if I’m on the phone with a vendor, that if anyone comes in the shop they still feel attended to regardless of how long it takes me on the phone. And, I’m doing it! I’m not getting cranky with people who don’t deserve my wrath. I’m not closing the store early or opening late just because I can. I’m getting things done (albeit taking me six times longer). So I’m doing it. I feel like everything is under control and that Sharon isn’t going to come home to a shitstorm at the store. Maybe a messy desk, sure; but the place hasn’t burned down and there haven’t been any customer complaints. And I even got some yarn ordered.

But here’s the thing… am I getting everything done at work, at the expense of other things? Do my friends remember what I look like? Does my husband? The best quality time that Tim and I have had in the last ten days is when he came by the shop on Saturday and replaced some light bulbs (thank you sweetie! You rock! All hail Tim the Tall, for even standing on the stool I am six inches too short to change the bulbs!). With the exception of a wonderful acupuncture appointment last Wednesday (thank you, Miss Jenn!) I haven’t seen any of my friends unless they’ve stopped by the shop. Uhm, not that that’s so unusual for me in the last six months anyway...! Is this “being squirrelly” because I’m so brain dead? Or on some level is it self-preservation, to keep me from becoming more brain-dead by giving me forced recharge time at home? Because that’s really more like what it feels like. It feels like the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas when I was managing a certain bookstore. I knew that 100% of my energy was going to be put into working 60 hour weeks, so I didn’t expend myself in other directions (hobbies, social life, etc.). It feels like when Sharon and I worked at the other bookstore, and we were all working 15 hour days during Rush and Buy-back weeks. You know you’re going to do it so you let everything else slide for a time. Laundry, cat boxes, dusting will all still be there when you get back. So devote yourself to the task at hand and when it’s done, move along back to your routine.

So I’m brain-dead. And yet, I feel good. Positive. Upbeat. Even if Tim asks me to choose a show to watch and I just stare at him and blink because all of my decision-making power has been used at work; the battery of my brain is drained down to zero.

Brindle is so cute when she plays coy.

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in “Berry”
Needles: Size 2 straights or circulars
Pattern: May is for Ari
Notes: Continuing with 2008: A Year in Scarves… we have May is for Ari. Ari is the twin sister of my now five-year-old god-daughter (who was the inspiration for last month’s scarf), and of course she is also very into pink! Although the girls are twins, they aren’t identical. So just like Ari being both skinnier and taller than her sister, the May scarf is thinner and longer than April’s scarf. They are both, however, made from the same yarn (the scarves, not the sisters) and have very similar stitch patterns. Similar, but not exactly alike.

Yarn: Yarn Pirate Merino/Tencel in “Butternut”
Needles: Size 2 DPNs
Pattern: Peaks & Valleys from the book Knit Socks
Notes: A late birthday present!

With the stuff I decided to flat out pitch, I got it down to eight bins. If anyone wants to buy any of the following grab bags, I can get it down to seven bins. Be forewarned that none of this is “the good stuff”. It’s all stuff I bought with projects in mind and then either started and gave up on, or never got around to starting, or is the extra from project over-buying, etc. Most of this would be great for charity knitting, or baby afghans, and so on. I really need to destash, and this is the easiest stuff to start with. I just couldn’t bring myself to start with the sock yarn! So, take a look if you dare. There are two prices; one if you can pick it up (I can bring it to the shop, as I am most easily found there) and a different price including postage if I’m mailing it to you. I happily take cash, PayPal, or if I know you, a check. Sorry, no bartering with pigs or chickens. 

Yarn: Noro Kureyon colorway #207
Needles: Size 7 circulars
Pattern: It’s a HAT! Cast on in the afternoon. Knit ribbing while waiting at Hops. Knit in the round until Iron Man tests his suit. Decrease the next day. Bind off.
Notes: I had to have something to knit when we went to go see Iron Man the other night, so… here it is! Future Christmas gift!