It was supposed to be one...

I spent two hours trying to choose a project to take on vacation with me. Two hours. The equivalent of watching Star Wars, credits included. Anyway, I was supposed to choose one. Two, tops - because you know, I could finish the first one too early and have nothing to do on the way home. Highly unlikely, but I like having a plan in place.

I ended up starting a completely new thing last night, bringing an extra project in my bag to work - just in case - and have two additional projects packed in my carry-on bag. What the hell is wrong with me?

In other news, I finished the kimono socks. I heart them so much, I feel like knitting a pair for myself in every color. Did someone mention a trip to the yarn store?

Other than that, had a setback with some not-entirely-fabulous news yesterday. I'm picking myself up, dusting myself off, and looking at Plan B. I allowed myself to mope this morning and not work out (I did, however, watch an episode of Doctor Who and knit more on the project I started last night) - but then again, I didn't go on a junk food binge last night or this morning, and I not only walked to the extra train station in Forest Hills, but I got off a stop early and walked from the West side to the East side. I'm hanging in, trying to keep developing the good habits that served me so well the last time.

Cannot wait to tear into (heh heh) World War Z - I started it a couple of days ago, and it's so good; I can't believe I didn't make the time to read this earlier. I expect I'll get some reading done on the plane, and in the evenings when we're hanging out at Dad's.

Since this is the last time I'll have computer access for the next few days, let me mention that Cutie Pie is turning the big five tomorrow. Five! That's not fair. I wasn't done with his being a baby. Pictures of the big fifth birthday extravaganza to come.

The Countdown Continues.

Two more days. Actually, more like one and a half because two days from now, I'll be sitting in Florida, most likely at brunch with the family. I can't wait.

Damn, but the summer went fast. I was supposed to clean my apartment and lose 20 pounds. I was supposed to knit up all the Christmas presents I had planned. Guess how much of that was accomplished?

But I'm tired of looking back and being disappointed in myself, because that just leads to really self-destructive behavior on my part. So I'm going to shrug and say, well - I got the middle closet and the dining room done. I did knit up a few things. And while I haven't lost 20 pounds, I've gotten into a pretty firm workout routine and upped the fruit and veggie intake. So I've made steps, and that's something to be proud of.

Some nitwit at work ate my yogurt. Grr.

Holla At Cha Boy

This one's for Piera. ;-) Classic moment in Project Runway history.

Joy!

After what seems like forever, I am finally reconnected this week - Mike just got my cell phone fixed and, earlier this week, dealt with Best Buy in a way that my temper would never allow and got my camera replaced. Huzzah!

Counting the days 'til Florida - less than 7 full days now (it's actually 7 days, but at this time, we'll be in Florida, relaxing by the pool)! I think it may be safe enough for me to pack, at least some stuff. I get antsy when I can't pack early. Packing makes me feel that much closer to leaving.

I've got serious knitting ADD lately - I finished the first Kimono sock last night (and it is adorable), but felt the need to cast on something entirely different to head off second sock syndrome. So I decided to start up a little sweater for Mike's cousin, whose baby shower is in early October. I still have the ever-going stockinette stitched French Market bag sitting in my stash bag. And I finished the Celtic Cable neckwarmer, but haven't gotten the buttons for it. Don't ask me about the Tree of Life afghan. We do not speak of such things.

Finally finished the Torchwood novel, Slow Decay and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's written very much in the vein of the show, which I've come to love and I definitely want to check out more of the novels. I still have three Doctor Who novels to get to, and I just saw a Primeval book in Border's, and since I like that show, I'm sure I'll be getting that book. Yup - too many books, too little time.

I'm still working my way through Twilight. Not sure if it's my speed or not. I know it's really become very popular outside of the 'teen and 'tween market, but I think I need to finish it before I make a decision on how I feel about it. I've got World War Z finally on my nightstand, which has been one of those books I've sworn I was going to read for about a year now. It's in the on-deck circle, finally.

Sigh... then I still have the rest of the Dresden Files.

So, I've been working on my vacation reading. I'm hoping to have Twilight done, so I'll be toting World War Z in my carry-on bag. I always like to have a back-up, so I'll probably bring a Doctor Who novel with me. Or maybe a couple of magazines, this way I can lighten my load and dump them when I'm done.

Vacation knitting - I'll probably just bring the second kimono sock and be done with it. And maybe some baby hat goodness for the shower. Or a baby sweater. Something small and portable.

Must mull this over.

Catching Up

I've been remiss - my podcasts have been languishing! Having Will with me on my daily commute put a big dent in my podcast listening time, so I'm catching up this week. I want to give a shout-out to Bren over at one of my fave podcasts, Mail Order Zombie, who has given me a shout-out on several of the episodes - I'm back!

It's been such a busy summer that so much has gotten away from me without my realizing it. Between shuttling the kids to and from camp every day, working on the NYCTF application, and dealing with the little things that come up constantly, I feel like I missed a chunk of the summer. Jeez, remember how much fun we had as kids? Summer was all about sleeping late and then going out to play all day long. I could use a summer like that!

Now I'm counting down the days 'til we leave for Florida (T-minus 9 days). Looking forward to seeing my dad and having some downtime.

After the NYCTF teaching event on Saturday, I met Mike and the boys at Madison Square Garden (after a stop at Borders - three new Torchwood novels, whoo hoo!), where we surprised them with tickets to Walking With Dinosaurs - courtesy of Carol, who rocks. You see, getting tickets to this show was a bear of immense proportions - it was only in town for a short time, and weekend tickets were akin to World Series tickets in their difficulty. But Carol pulled a lot of stops out and got us four tickets - and the seats were amazing.

After it sunk in that we were going to see the show, the kids were pulling us through Madison Square Garden. Along the way, we somehow managed to pick up a dinosaur spinning light and a 3-D poster. We were initially shown to the luxury boxes, where Heartbreaker was thrilled with the cinema seating and free sodas; I was grateful for the private bathrooms (am I getting old?). Turns out that the view was obscured, so we were moved down to the floor.

The stage was actually the entire floor of the Garden, so the seats actually began in the dark purple section here:

See dead in the center? Yep - that was us. Get your dino freak on, baby. I called Carol to thank her profusely, and the boys basically screamed "Thank YOU!" into the phone. The red and yellow section comprised the stage, so you can see how close we were.

The show was great. There was an actor/paleontologist who took the audience on a tour of the evolution of the dinosaurs, with the dinos lumbering out to eat, fight, and take care of their young. There was an Icthyosaurus that dropped down from the scaffolding to 'fly' against a moving background; there was a Stegosaurus, an Ankylosaurus, an Allosaurus (T-Rex's smaller cousin), and Velociraptors for all. The boys were thrilled; Alex really thinks the dinosaurs were real. When the Brachiosaurus came out and stuck his giant neck over the audience, he was right over our heads.

The crowd went wild when the Momma T-Rex made her appearance at the end, defending her baby. She proceeded to roar at each section of the crowd, with her baby letting a cute squeak follow her up. And when the paleontologist took his bow at the end, Baby T-Rex was there, stealing the show, even refusing to end the curtain call.

If Walking With Dinosaurs comes back - and man, I hope it does - you have to go. It's worth every cent. And in the meantime, check it out on DVD if dinosaurs are your thing - it's that good.

Quick Updates

I'm in the throes of the Summer KAL-CAL, but the endless stockinette stitch of the French Market Bag from Knitty is killing me slowly. So I decided to keep my brain alive and cast on for the Kimono Socks from Knitscene's Fall 2008 issue - so. cute.

Now my cell phone AND my camera are dead - am I Magneto? Or Harry Dresden? Jeez. This is killing me, because I can't take pictures of my bag-in-progress of my adorable sockies. Dammit.

I did get my Saucy Knitters Hot Sauce Swap goodness from my pal AJ over at (Not So) Cynical Knitting Gal - and I swear to you, I will post a photo soon. In fact, I had Mike shoot the swappy awesomeness with his camera phone this morning, and as soon as he can e-mail the picture to me, I'll put it up. Two words - sock yarn. Three more - three hot sauces. One of which is my Tex-Mex restaurant face, Cholula Hot Sauce. The raspberry chipotle salsa may have to be busted out tonight, since I think we may be eating quesadillas. And the Tiger Hot Sauce. Oh my. More swappy discussions once I get the pic up. But suffice to say, AJ is awesomeness. And her doggie, Gracie, now graces a special spot on my wall o'photos. Because she's smooshy cute.

More on the teaching demo and Walking With Dinosaurs later - I've got a rumbly in my tumbly that tells me it's time to forage for lunch.