brainylady

Beans, spilling

Suddenly, secret sock swaps have been popping up in blogland! Have you seen them? There are some here, and here, and here, too. Oh, and here, too! I can't keep up. Anyway, I confess: I too am swapping socks. Secret's out. They are safely in the mail, en route to-- no way! I won't tell! But stay tuned...

It's a swap, of course, meaning that some lovely knitter made a pair of socks just for me, too. I wonder if they'll arrive before I leave for my Christmas holiday? I'm leaving soon, actually: December 21. In less than a week. I'm going to stay with my parents in the Okanagan for a whole eight days, and I'm totally excited about it. The last time I spent Xmas with my parents was in 2000. The downside is that Billy's not coming with me, and we've spent every Christmas together for the last ten years. I'll be back here for New Year's Eve, though.

I handed in my last paper last night, so my first grad-school term is officially over. I feel so relieved! It wasn't easy, and honestly, I didn't produce the best work that I could have. Next semester will be better. But I made it! Now I have loads of "real" work to catch up on -- you know, like, for money. Knitting beckons, too, of course. I'm nearly finished the violet Peace Fleece cabled pullover, a project that has been fun anyway but was pumped up to superfun levels with the addition of wee sushi stitchmarkers from amyville! (Oh, like you don't shop for yourself during the holiday season...) I've started a pair of socks for myself, too, with the purple Opal yarn that Mia sent (hi, Mia!). Plus, yarn for a scarf for Bill is on its way in the mail. He recently declared that he'd like a handknit scarf, you see. OK, no problem! What colour? Gold. Wha--? Yes, really: he wants a gold wool scarf. No, not sparkly gold lamé gold, but still. And gold wool is not that easy to find, let me tell you. But because I am a resourceful knitter and a rad girlfriend, I found some. Or at least, I think I found some; colours in eBay photos are pretty accurate, right? Hmm...

OK, enough rambling. I feel like I used up nearly every last brain cell to finish that paper last night, and I'm just running on... brain-cell fumes today. Bill's been working hard, too. We're off soon to treat ourselves to a night in a hotel -- a coping mechanism we picked up in Taipei. Sometimes (especially when you work at home, and when your apartment is... less than ideal) you just need to get away from it all for a night. Oh, I just realized that a hotel will have television! Yeehaw!

Oh, and can you believe my shameless cat (see last post)? She's such an exhibitionist! She says thanks to all the knitters' kitties who left messages and, uh, propositions for her. :) Don't forget, though: she's not always sweetness... ouch!