Today was much less insane, and that is a very good thing. There were no unexpected time-out issues with the off-site connection so things went along smoothly. I didn't have to change my schedule quickly, I didn't have to do manual entry all day, and I didn't even have all that many phone calls. I have something scanned for all of my clients, and my bins are looking less scary.

I am going to take the time now to plug (yet again) the Katie Chandler series by Shanna Swendson (shanna_s). They are good, clean fantasy fun, and reading/rereading them lately has been wonderful. My only problem is I'm loaning some of them out! So I need to get a second set, just for me. Loaner copies and personal copies, and that would be supporting the series and sharing the love.

This evening I took a walk, helped a friend with a project, and...looked up yarn stores in southern California so I could be prepared for my trip to visit adarhysenthe and sharsarannon at the end of July. Yes, I'll be going to Comic Con. Yes, I'll be doing loads of fun things. I'm just also a fiber geek, and I always do this when going to new places. Yarn shops, beading stores, cross-stitch venues. And gaming. It really is a funny mix.

My sweater bag is about 70% complete at this point. I've been making excellent progress.

Work today was...rather insane. Due to server and connection issues, our offsite people weren't able to get anything done last night, which completely changed the tenor of the day. Normally we'd do an hour or two of manual entry, then audit and scan things. Today we were doing manual entry all day, pretty much, but it wasn't the "normal" stuff we do...it was the stuff the offsite people do. Because if we hadn't done this then there would have been huge major problems. We even stayed until 5:00, when our department normally closes at 4:30. And we had one person out.

Frazzled is a good word for how I feel about this. Crazed and insane are two close runners up. I didn't really want to do anything once I got home, even though tonight is Institute night. It didn't help matters that I had to fill up my car today, which is depressing in its own right.

I did go to Institute, and I had fun. A group of us went to IHOP afterward, and that was also fun. I worked on my knitting and got stuff done, and people complimented me. I still need to take pictures of my sweater-bag.

Yesterday was Eats, Knits, and Leaves at the Toadstool Bookshop, and that was also fun. There were tasty blueberry muffins.

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Things that make me happy: knitting, cats, books, quiet time at home, talking to my friends, lingonberries, swedish crepes

Today I slept in, then ran errands. I have decided that I don't particularly like venturing into the south end of town (retail district) on a nice, sunny Saturday afternoon. The traffic is hideous and it makes everything take so much longer. I also really wish my hometown had better public transportation and was more walking-friendly. The downtown area is actually pretty good for walking, and I spent some time there today (stopping by the library and the yarn shop).

My first errand stop was the yarn shop, then the library to pick up a book I had on hold (American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I feel the need to read before I start Anansi Boys which I am borrowing from yumearashi). If I could have stayed in the downtown area I would have been quite happy, but I needed to run other errands as well.

So I went to Best Buy next, armed with my rewards coupon which was getting close to the expiration date, to pick up the second and third DVDs in the third season of Avatar. I also grabbed the One Piece movie that FUNimation released not too long ago.

My last two stops were Barnes & Noble and Borders, both of which I had coupons for, and both of which I was looking for specific things in. That's the point when the traffic got really bad and I just wanted to make everyone else disappear. But I managed to complete all my errands for the day, so I feel good about that.

By the time I got home I was rather tired and all I wanted to do was flop for a while. So I did, watching my brother play Super Smash Brothers Brawl, which has a very interesting storyline to it (one that surprised me, actually, as that isn't the sort of game I associate with any real sort of storyline). After a while he stopped playing to get ready for a dance he would be attending, and I fiddled around online for a while.

The evening was spent dozing, talking to my mom, eating dinner, watching Andromeda, and chatting online. Part of me feels I should have accomplished more today. Another part of me is very tired, and that's the part that seems to be holding sway right now.

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Things I did in which I am well pleased: Got my errands done, most noteably Mother's Day shopping.

Things that make me happy: Mirasol Miski yarn, Avatar, Andromeda, watching people play video games, sunny days, being able to relax, herbal tea, chatting with friends

I've been making an effort to make more healthy choices when it comes to what I eat and how much I eat. Since my lifestyle right now is incredibly sedintary (working on changing that too, but it will take time), I don't need to be eating like I did while in college. My metabolism has slowed down, and that means I'm storing more on my body.

Today I only had two pieces of candy (both chocolate) and a scoop of ice cream as far as dessert-type things go. I limited my snacking, and I made sure my portions at meals were reasonable. Did the same yesterday, too. I'm already feeling better about things, but I know it's going to take time to figure everything out.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Made concious food-based decisions rather than just eating whatever whenever. Worked on my cross-stitch in the morning (meditation, yay!). Got to work on time. Worked on my sweater bag. Made my student loan payments.

Things that make me happy: seeing the stimulus package money hit my bank account (need to pay tithing on that), reading good books, it being nearly the weekend, watching Everybody Loves Raymond with my family, knitting, stitching, my cat

This evening I discovered I had made an error while knitting my bag, one that I managed not to catch for a good four rounds. I started knitting back—taking out the stitches I'd just done one at a time—but that takes just as long as regular knitting. Mom looked over at me and told me to just take out my circular needle entirely and rip back to the row before the mistake.

The thought of doing that was terrifying. What if I went too far? What if I pulled too hard and my stitches got horribly tangled and messed up? What if I dropped stitches that I couldn't recover? What if I had to dismantle the whole thing and start over again?!

Thankfully my mom was tough on me and made me do it myself. She stayed there for moral support, which really helped, but she still made me do it myself. And now I know that I can frog back without losing all my stitches or ruining my project or tangling and messing up. Yarn is very forgiving.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Took a goodly length walk with my mom. Frogged back to fix my mistakes. Got to work on time.

Things that make me happy: family time, knitting, fixing mistakes, talking to friends, reading

I like having time in the mornings to really wake up and get a few things done. That has been one very good thing provided by the modified summer schedule we have at work (still trying to decide whether or not it really makes up for the smaller paycheck). I've been able to work on my cross-stitch in the mornings before I have to head out, and I am making visible progress on a project I've been working on for several years now. Knowing that I've started the day doing something I love to do for a time definitely makes everything else easier to manage, and that is a good thing.

It's been extra fun because I've been able to stitch with my mom in the mornings, and we both like being able to do that. I hope we can continue this even after my schedule goes back to normal.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Got to Institute on time. Worked on my needlework project and made good progress. Worked on my sweater bag and got to the start of the third pattern repeat (out of four). Did around 50 crunches.

Things that make me happy: warm weather, birds, squirrels, flowers, good books, knitting, needlework

I've talked a bit about the book I just finished—Don't Hex with Texas by Shanna Swendson—but I haven't really covered the other books I have read/am reading lately. The pile has become...somewhat substantial since February (which near as I can tell is the last time I made a heavily book-related post). So here's a highlights version, as much as possible. It is not necessarily in the order I read things.

( 11 books behind the cut )

Since the beginning of the year I've read and finished 30 books (one was a picture book). I've started 9 others (one that I returned to the library before finishing and another that I put back on my shelf for the time being), and I've read 55 volumes of manga/graphic novels. I've probably talked about half of the things I've read. I'll try to do better.

I have eight books checked out from the library right now, and they're currently near the top of my TBR list (along with books I'm borrowing from other people). Also right up there is The Count of Monte Cristo, which I am reading along with Cat. We both decided that we wanted to read more of the classics, especially now that we're out of school and don't have to analyze them if we don't want to.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Finally got this 'book report' written. Made out my payment to Writer's Digest. Worked on one of my long-standing needlework WIPs. Gave the lesson for FHE. Made something reasonably tasty for dinner, which I have dubbed American Curry. Took a very nice walk with my mom.

Things that make me happy: walking, reading, cross-stitch, knitting, talking with friends.

The decision to "read for just a little while" before getting ready for church is not a wise one. Particularly when you have several things that need to be done, a limited amount of time to do them in, and the book is a new one you've been waiting for, in a series that you know makes you completely lose track of time. Nevertheless, that's how I spent my morning. Happily nose-first in the newest Shanna Swendson book, which is simply delightful.

I will say it again...if you haven't read these books you really should give them a try, particularly if you like light, modern-setting fantasy with a nice dash of romance. As I love those sorts of stories (provided that they are well written, which these most definitely are!), it's understandable that I have fallen in love with these books. I realize they probably aren't for everybody, but that's the nature of anything.

Of course, you might want to start reading them when you can be sure you don't have any pressing commitments (like going to church or making dinner or going to work).

A very happy birthday to my little brother Pipper! (who is no longer particularly little; he's taller than me)

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Went to church with parsnips. Worked on my sweater bag.

Things that make me happy: good food, talking to friends, reading good books, celebrating birthdays

This weekend was the annual Celebration of Needlework convention. I go with my mom, and it's something I look forward to every year. Frustratingly, I couldn't go during the day on Friday because of work, but I headed down there as soon as I got out of work, bag of projects in hand. The night before I took the time to repack and semi-organize my needlework...what I could find of it, that is. I was unable to locate some of it, which means there's a box (or bag) in my closet or the attic that I somehow overlooked.

Mom and I had dinner at the hotel with a group of our friends, then we went up to the Stitcher's Lounge for a few hours to stitch and talk and look at the projects of everyone else there. Lots of fun. In other years we've taken the Friday night Round Robin class, but this year mom and I both decided that we'd rather just stitch and work on the things we have. So of course, the first thing we did this Saturday was to look at the kits for the Round Robins and buy a few that we liked (they're more expensive individually than the class, but you get to see what you're getting beforehand, and you can mix and match between the session kits).

Then it was on to the merchandise mall! They modified the way it was set up this year, and I think it worked better than in past years. The flow of traffic was certainly better, and it didn't feel crowded and packed like it has in previous years. I tried to make a complete circuit before I bought anything, but there were a couple of charts and/or kits I bought the first time I saw them because there was only one copy left of the chart.

I did have one thing I knew I would be picking up this year: a Doodler Lap Frame from Images Stitchery Design. They've been coming to Celebration for two or three years now, and each year I would look at their lap frames and tell myself "maybe someday" or "next year". The frames aren't exactly cheap, but they are very much worth the price. I decided that this year would be the mythical "next year" from previous years, and I am now the pleased owner of a gorgeous lap frame suitable for most of the projects I am most likely to be doing (read: large and rather unwieldy to work on in hand). It's more piece-friendly and posture-friendly than the Q-Snaps I've been using for years, and I'm very excited.

In addition to the lap frame I picked up several kits and charts, spending overall somewhat more money than I had originally intended to (but not by a huge amount). I shall have to be very good about spending money until my trip to CA in July (and continue to be good after said trip, but not quite as strenuously perhaps), but that shouldn't be too difficult as I have plenty of things to keep me occupied in all of my various hobbies!

Shopping was broken up by a lunch break, and after we'd finished shopping mom and I settled down in a couple of the nice chairs in the hotel lobby. There was, sadly, no stitcher's lounge during the day, but the lobby afforded us excellent light and good company. It was full of stitchers, and that was a lot of fun. I am so glad they went back to the Marriott this year. The Sheraton Tera/Radisson we were in last year had horrible light for stitching, and it lacked the comfortable closeness of the Marriott.

Mom and I packed up around 18:00 to do some grocery shopping and see about dinner. We had every intention of going back for a few hours after our errands were completed, but it got later and she and I both thought that stitching in a warm room with a fire in the fireplace (yeah, I know it's May and it shouldn't be this cold, but it is so the fire sounded lovely) while drinking herbal tea and watching a comfortably familiar movie/show sounded absolutely wonderful. So we had dinner at Panera (one last little treat for Celebration), stopped by Barnes & Noble so I could pick up a book that had come in for me (Don't Hex With Texas, the fourth Katie Chandler novel by Shanna Swendson, which I have been excited about for a year), then headed home for needlework and herbal tea.

While at the bookstore I realized that you know you might be going there a lot when the clerk 1) knows your name, 2) knows your purchasing habits, and 3) ends the transaction with a cheerful "see you next week."

I don't know whether or not I will actually be into the bookstore next week. But it is very likely that I will be back there before too long, and I'll probably be greeted with the same cheerful remembrance.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Stayed mostly within my budget at Celebration. Got close to finishing one of my older Round Robin pieces. Planned what I'm going to bring to Break the Fast tomorrow. Spent less than $20 in B&N.

Things that make me happy: needlework, knitting, temari, books, friends, Celebration, sleep

A new month, and another chance to do better at writing here. Lately I've been busy with real life things. I've also been working to reduce the overall amount of time I spend sitting in front of the computer. My typical daily routine takes no more than an hour to complete, but I often spend many hours sitting there just...waiting for something to happen. Not a good use of time. Also not particularly healthy physically or emotionally.

So, a quick rundown of the past little while...Saturday we had a Relief Society Service Day. I got up early-ish to help my mom set up, then I was able to knit and work on things for Warm Up America, one of several different service projects we did. I brought home yarn to do more afghan squares. I was also able to help a few people with their knitting, which brought home to me the fact that I have been knitting for four or five years, and I really don't qualify as a "beginning knitter" anymore.

I am about a fifth of the way through knitting my bag, and it's going quite well. I like the pattern, and it will look absolutely gorgeous when I'm finished. I will most likely be lining it, even though the pattern doesn't require lining. I don't want things to get snagged. Pictures will be forthcoming.

On Tuesday my computer computer stayed off the entire day. After I got off work I did a few quick things with my laundry, then Cat came over and we went to Panera for dinner. While there I dropped off my Runaway Ewe (a skein of yarn with a tag on it from the LYS here, to be left at a place where a knitter is likely to find it. Panera seemed promising, plus they do things with Book-Crossing, so I figured they'd probably be amenable to it). Dinner was very tasty, and we followed it up with a few side trips to stores in the area before we went to see The Forbidden Kingdom.

I greatly enjoyed the movie, and I want to see it again. Lots of fun kung-fu action, and just the right blend of silly and serious. I will likely purchase the movie when it comes out on DVD. It's actually one of those movies that bears repeated watching just to catch all the little side elements.

I got ten hours of sleep last night, and it was simply wonderful. It was also desperately needed, and I really need to work on my bedtimes (more than I already have been) so I don't end up feeling quite so tired all the time. Part of the problem is psychological--I stay up late because I don't want to "miss" anything. Even when what I would miss ends up being absolutely nothing important (and thus all I end up missing is sleep). I'm getting marginally better, but there's still a long way to go yet.

The long stretch of good weather we've had ended somewhat today, as it has been overcast and periodically rainy all day. It's still nice weather (in my mind, anyway), but I did like the sunny days. Tomorrow is supposed to be equally wet, but I'm really hoping it will clear out before too long. Really don't need a repeat of the last two springs, even if they did allow me to wear some of my favorite clothing items longer than I otherwise would be able to.

On Thursday I went to my LYS (local yarn shop) to pick up some Jojoland cashmere (gorgeous stuff) and a 24" size 8 circular needle (addi Turbo). The cashmere is for a scarf (though I got the 2-ply lace weight instead of 4-ply fingering weight, so I'm going to do a shawl instead and get the correct weight for the scarf), and the circular needle was so I could get started on my sweater bag. I've had the yarn and pattern for at least a year, and I started swatching shortly after I got it, but I had to switch needles to get the proper gauge. After casting on I discovered that the needle I was using was too long. But all that has been rectified, and I am making good progress on my bag!

This past Friday was the monthly Friday Night Knitting group down at the LYS here, and I had a lot of fun there! I picked up a book on knitting mittens and gloves that I'd been eyeing (the model on the cover is wearing the most gorgeous lacy red fingerless gloves, which I have to make), and a lace shawl pattern from Jojoland. One of the ladies there brought the shawl so I got to see it in person, and I just fell in love (Incidentally, this shawl uses the same weight cashmere I bought the other day, so that's what it's going toward). This same lady also taught me how to purl continental-style! I already knit that way, but I was throwing my purl stitches, and it was slower than I would have liked. Now I do about half and half.... ^_^

I also got my Ravelry invite on Friday! I've been waiting for about two weeks for it to come, so I was very excited about it. I've been adding yarn and projects and needles ever since, and it's been so much fun!

Will talk about Saturday things tomorrow, hopefully.

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Things I've done in which I am well pleased: Lots of knitting. Taught people how to knit at the RS Service Day (more on this later). Spent time with family.

Things that make me happy: learning new things, gorgeous yarn, new books, family

The beautiful weather continues essentially unabated, and this has made me incredibly happy. It also makes me less likely to want to spend time as a troll in my basement. Basement time is for when things get disgusting and muggy later in the summer, or for nights after the sun has gone down.

My weekend went well. Church was awesome, and we finally got to celebrate my sister's birthday on Sunday evening. I gave her a box of jelly beans to unwrap, with a certificate for a Barnes & Noble trip. Most of the books she wants right now were either just published or will be published in the next few months. Hence the trip for book and treat.

At work we've been cross-training on accounts, which is important, but frustrating. It makes me feel like I'm not accomplishing much, and like I have to justify my lower numbers (which is frustrating since my reasons, while valid, seem very thin). Still, I'd much rather be working on this now than trying to figure everything out in July/August when people are gone on vacation.

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Things I've done in which I am well pleased: Taught my family how to play Carcassonne. Went to Institute.

Things that make me happy: new books, new skirts, warm days, knitting, Final Fantasy

Today has been simply gorgeous. I got to sleep in, which I love being able to do (though it would probably be even better if I had gone to bed earlier the night before, but that is neither here nor there at this juncture). When I opened the curtains in my room it was to look out on a beautiful, sunny day. Puffy white clouds dotting the sky, warm breezes, and a high temperature of 83 degrees Fahrenheit. Beautiful days like this (and the several previous) make me want to be outside, or at least upstairs where I can take advantage of the light. They make me feel active and happy. Creative and inspired. Days like today make me feel like I can do anything I want and it will work out the way it should.

I did some yard work today, though not as much as I would have liked. It would have been wiser of me to start earlier or later than I did, since noon is not the best time of day to be doing outdoor activity when one is a pale creature to whom the sun is most unkind. Even with my frequent dashes back to the safety of the house I probably spent more time outside today than I have on any other day so far this year.

My other major activity for the day that kept me out of the house was running some errands. I probably could have planned a little bit better than I did--going to two stores on opposite ends of town in one trip isn't necessarily the wisest thing to do given current gas prices--but the sense of accomplishment outweighs the monetary cost for me.

The first store I went to was the craft store where I picked up...more beads. Given the sheer number of beads I own that I haven't used, this may seem somewhat frivolous and unnecessary. However, I determined about a week ago that the first step in getting one of my dreams off the ground is knowing the cost of my beading materials. That and having a dedicated supply for this particular project. Pulling from my personal stash will happen (and I fully expect the two stashes to become integrated again), but not until I've established a cost baseline to work from.

My second stop was Barnes & Noble, to pick up a book that I had ordered a little while ago. I have one more book waiting for me, but it won't be released until the end of the month, so it isn't really waiting for me yet.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Spent most of my time away from the computer. Made tasty dinner for my family and the missionaries. Cleaned up my room.

Things that make me happy: beautiful days, new Red River volumes, reading, relaxing, sleeping in

I have 929 books catalogued on LibraryThing, and I have no clue how I still have left to catalogue. My current estimate is that I'm probably near the halfway point in my initial cataloguing efforts.

Since the beginning of the year, I have read 24 books and 51 manga/graphic novels. I am in the middle of reading an additional eight books, two of them non-fiction. This does not include my eternal scripture reading. It also does not include magazines.

The last time I really reviewed a book here (to the best of my knowledge) was sometime in February. I have mentioned books since then, but have not gone into detail.

I have purchased eleven books this month. I currently have two books on order from Barnes & Noble.

At present, I have six books checked out from the library.

...So I was going to do some reviewing today, but time ran away from me and I want to make it a good post rather than a rushed job. Which means it probably won't show up until the weekend.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Went to Institute. Stayed focused at work.

Things that make me happy: books, reading books, getting new books, talking to friends and family, having a schedule and plan, sticking to said schedule and plan

A good night's sleep definitely helped with the brain-fried aspect of Friday (which was bad enough that I had to duck out of gaming early since I just couldn't parse the conversations properly and kept losing events during the session). I didn't get to sleep in particularly late on Saturday because everybody here went over to help my brother move to his new apartment. That was good for the brain-fried stuff too since it got me out of the house and out of myself. It's been a while since I saw my brother, too.

I had a good time at church yesterday. It felt like it had been ages since I'd seen anyone from the ward. Last week was General Conference, so we didn't have our regular meetings, then I didn't go to Institute because I was busy being the responsible adult in charge at home, and Institute is not condusive to my getting home and in bed early. So it had been a while since I'd hung out with my church friends. I'm getting better at the whole socializing thing, but there are definitely areas where I can improve.

We've had a stretch of warmer weather, which has been very nice. Not too hot, breezy, sunny...perfect weather in my mind. The sort of weather that actually makes me want to forsake my troll/vampire ways and be outside. In short, the weather lately has been good for me on a number of levels.

This evening I went to Eats, Knits, and Leaves at the Toadstool Bookshop, and that was very enjoyable. I got to have tasty herbal tea and cookies, and I got to knit and look at books.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: made tasty soup for dinner, returned four library books, mailed off my tax forms (yay for refunds), spent time outside, cleaned up the kitchen

Things that make me happy: going to the library, knitting, sunshine, friends, good books

Work today fried my brain. I am exceedingly glad that it's the weekend, and I hope to get lots of rest. We'll see how that goes.

Today has been...interesting. My sister woke up really early and was sick (she made it to the bathroom on time, which was a blessing), so I called in to work and then called her school so that everybody knew what was going on. After that I puttered around the house and got things done like emptying the dishwasher and feeding the cat. I also did a lot of reading until my sister woke up.

She was feeling a lot better, which made the whole staying home thing seem just a little silly, but I am not one to mess around with things like throwing up. It's one of four things I know mean I'm sick (the other three being a complete inability to move, a horrid fever, or breaking out in spots, which is why I will often be mobile when I really probably shouldn't be), so it's one of the few things I will refuse to go out when I experience it. This, of course, extends to other people as well.

The rest of the day was spent playing Pokemon with my sister, cleaning the house, knitting, napping, and generally trying to stay in charge. I made pork stirfry for dinner--no recipe--and it turned out quite nice. I figure that price-wise it worked out to be around a dollar a plate, which is pretty darn good in my book given the overall cost of food these days.

As of right now, though, I am no longer in charge. I picked up my parents at the airport and brought them back home, and it feels really good to have everybody home again. I also have to say that I agree with Beka Valentine's assessment of leadership...it's easier when you're not the ultimate authority because then it isn't your fault if things go screwy. You can get your stuff done and someone else can worry about any problems that crop up.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Delivered the papers on time. Handled the situation with my sister being sick quickly and efficiently. Made a tasty dinner. Knit two headbands (yes, two projects in one day!).

Things that make me happy: having my parents home, knowing I can "sleep in" tomorrow, knitting, tasty food, reading

This morning was both harder and easier than the previous two. Harder because I was waking up two hours earlier than I am used to doing (while I was waking up early over the weekend, it was essentially the same time I always wake up to go to work, so the change wasn't as drastic). Harder because I had to be walking around in the dark to deliver the newspapers. Harder because I wasn't responsible for just myself. But easier because it was closer to normal routine. Easier because the routine is very structured. Easier because I didn't have to come up with things to keep people occupied for most of the day.

We had piano lessons this afternoon. Well, Pipper did, at least (he missed last week because he was sick). It made scheduling a little bit tight--I had to book it from work--and I ended up a bit stressed. I still don't know how my mom does it...she's awesome and amazing.

Tomorrow I won't have to rush quite as much, which should help with the stress level. It will be more "normal" and I will have some quiet time in the evening. Hopefully I will get to bed early again. Earlier than tonight, which will be earlier than last night.

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Things I did in which I am well pleased: Stayed mostly calm and focused at work. Got the newspapers delivered on time. Got my sister off to school and my brother off to Seminary (reverse the order, though). Got to work on time. Had dinner at a reasonable hour. Kept from screaming and/or crying.

Things that make me happy: Andromeda, reading, quiet time, herbal tea, sleep, stir fry

General Conference was awesome, and I really enjoyed it. However, at the moment that's about all the summary I can give, as my brain is feeling somewhat...fried.

I honestly don't know how my mom does everything. I've been trying to do a limited version of what she does while she and my dad are in Utah and I'm already starting to fray at the edges. I'm sure practice helps make that feeling go away. At least, I sure hope it does...or I'm in big trouble once I get married and have a family of my own.

Tomorrow may be better. The routine will be more "normal" with school and work and things like that. On the other hand...I have to wake up two hours earlier than I normally would. It might not be easier after all, and I don't have the luxury of naps. I also didn't have any real prep time to get my schedule turned around somewhat. We'll see what this does to me.

I predict that by Wednesday I will either be exhausted and half crazy, or I will be starting to settle in to a new routine that may or may not continue after I pick my parents up from the airport. I suppose there's the possibility of both things happening.

Just gotta take it one day at a time. And one thing at a time in each of those days.

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Things I've done in which I am well pleased: finished my kitty hat. Made parsnips for dinner between Conference sessions. Finished my soy shawl. Cleaned the kitchen. Delivered the papers on time.

Things that make me happy: knitting, cats, fun hats, books, sleep

Happy Birthday to my wonderful little sister!

Yesterday just sort of disappeared on me, and today seems to be pulling a similar stunt. Not entirely sure why this is exactly, though on a guess I'd have to say it's probably due to the somewhat unexpected travel plans my parents have had to make.

My paternal grandfather passed away yesterday, and my parents are going out to Utah for the funeral. I will be responsible for managing things here at home. My brother is at All State for choir, General Conference is this weekend, and I have to get up early enough to manage the paper route for five days. Plus get people off to school and myself off to work. Should be interesting.

I'll miss my grandpa, but I do have to say that I'm glad he went peacefully, without a long and agonizing decline. I'm sad that I didn't make the chance to get to know him better. Yeah, it's harder to connect with people when you're on opposite sides of the country, but it isn't impossible. Now I can read his personal history (which only goes to 1991) and talk to other people, but it isn't the same as talking to him directly.

Time is a precious thing, and I need to learn to spend mine more wisely than I have been. I'm getting there, slowly but surely. I just hope it will be enough in the end.

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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Helped my mom find Fruit Gems at BJs. Alerted people at work to a rather large potential problem with our new system. Stayed caught up at work. Wrote up procedure documentation for use with the new system at work. Spent time with my sister on her birthday.

Things that make me happy: tapenade (tasty tasty olives), books, Andromeda, birthdays, family, friends