Friday, April 27, 2007

and she's back...

So it's been a while, but now I'm back to the world of blogging. In the past few weeks, I've finally gotten over my bronchitis/laryngitis, and we've started the house buying process. We found a great house in Narberth, and had our inspection last week. Assuming all continues to go smoothly, we'll be moving in mid-June.
Not too much knitting lately, but I've finished Leo's blanket and its off to Ginny and Oren tomorrow (provided it's done drying!). And I'm also almost done with the fingerless gloves for my Secret Pal. Her first goody bag is ready to go, although i accidentally left some chocolate I got her in my car, and well, it ended up as a big blob of melted goo. So, no chocolate this time - perhaps in the next package...
Today, I made a little trip to String and got some really cool unplied cashmere, and a new tabletop swift. No pictures cause I'm feeling way lazy right now, but maybe later...
Perhaps I'm feeling lazy because I did two days of Bikram Yoga this week, after not having been to Bikram in over three years. Yoga is one thing, but 90 minutes of intense sweating yoga is another. And its not like I've been working out lately. But the Bikram place is about 5 minutes from my new office, so there is no excuse not to go. There is something really perverse about enjoying the bikram experience - but thankfully I recognize that - and the end result is totally worth it. The last time I was really into this, my now "skinny jeans" were too big. Lets see how quickly I can get back there...

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Enough Already

I'm ready for this damn bronchitis to go away. Nothing like spending an entire night hacking up a lung, when you'd rather be sleeping.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Stitch Markers!

I got the most fabulous stitch markers as part of the Get Stitchy swap from Sparrow in the mail the other day. And cool packaging to boot!


I am so loving these, and I realized that my stitch markers need a bit more polish! My jewerly making skills are a bit rusty. So I took apart the ones I made for Sparrow and for my SP and started again.
And speaking of my SP, she mentioned that she would really like some fingerless gloves. And while she specified a pattern from Knitty, I really wanted to try the Dragon Scale Mitts from PurlBee. While they suggested Blue Sky Alpaca's Sport Weight 100% Alpaca, I went with the Alpaca Silk Blend. So yummy.



Perhaps I will make a pair for myself as well...

Mis-Adventures in Customer Service

The state of customer service in this country, or at least in central Jersey, is truly appalling. In the past week, I've had three not so good experiences, and I've become a complainer. Just not going to tolerate it anymore.
For the past few days, I've had a miserable cough and a fever. Yesterday, I made a doctors appointment for today so I could get this thing under control and kick it. And the timing is unfortunate because I was looking forward to my mom's and Marsha's shower at The American Girl Store in NYC this afternoon.
When I got to the appointment (admittedly, 10 minutes late) I was told by the receptionist that since I was tardy, I couldn't see the doctor, and would have to go the emergency room. Now, I associate the emergency room with oozing cuts in need of stitches, limbs in need of casts and heart attacks, not a fever and a cough. I tried to explain to this woman that this was not an acceptable solution, and that perhaps if they had taken the person who had the appointment after me, couldn't I have that person's appointment? No dice. Anyway, I was explaining the situation to Scott in the elevator, and a woman who worked elsewhere in the hospital said "That isn't right - you should call the office manager." Good suggestion - I did, and was in to see a doctor within 10 minutes, and greeted by the office manager at the front desk. The receptionist gave me the evil eye when I came back into the office.
Part two of my misadventures occurred when I went to drop off my prescriptions. I was told that they'd be ready in 30 minutes, and we went home, and I came back about an hour and a half later. Now, when I arrived, the prescriptions were not ready, and I stood there for about 20 minutes until anyone explained what was going on (and not unprompted) and then another 25 minutes until I got my prescriptions. Apparently, they needed some info on my prescription plan, but instead of calling me to get an answer, they just waited for me to return. And then when expressed my displeasure, all I got was a mumbled "sorry". So I went to the store manager and explained the saga (nicely), and informed her that I'd be transferring all my prescriptions to another pharmacy.
Not every place of business can be like Nordstroms but I would be happier if they were.
Oh, and it turns out the cough and fever are viral bronchitis. Ugh.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Nut Ball?

Scott thinks my picasa stash organization a bit over the top. In fact, he just called me a nut ball. Yes, its a bit strange, but nut ball? Maybe I won't share this stuff in the future for fear of being involuntarily committed.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Very Productive Weekend

Well, maybe not by all accounts, but I would say that a mani/pedi, facial, and various other spa treatments is a lot to get accomplished over the course of two and a half days, as well as making a few stitch markers for the stitch marker swap.

sewing in the seams for Leo's blanket and blocking it

and photographing my entire stash and uploading it on Picasa

Yarn Stash

and then organizing it and storing it in a Max-proof fashion. So, now I can just look up on Picasa and find out how much I have of different yarns. Next, its time for needle inventory, but that's pretty boring...

Monday, April 02, 2007

Happy Mazto!

This afternoon, Scott said something to me I can't say I ever expected to hear. Really. Never expected. Absolutely shocking. And those words were "Would you just go watch some Oprah and relax?" He actually requested that I go watch Oprah. Possibly because I was frantically preparing for tonight's seder and doing things like filling the ice bucket three hours before anyone was supposed to show up. Admittedly, it didn't make a whole lot of sense, because the ice probably would have melted before anyone got here.
So we had all this ready before Oprah

And somehow it was relaxing to watch 30 minutes of Oprah, even though I was sure it would stress me out even more...
Holiday dinners are nice, because they are a good excuse to use some of those nice wedding gifts...

We had a great menu, which included homemade gefilte fish, hard boiled egg, Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls (seen here in progress)

Traditional Haroset

and a yemenite haroset made with figs and dates, and flavored with ginger and cayenne pepper.

For the main course, we had braised lamb shoulder, asparagus and roasted root vegetables. And the dessert consisted of homemade macaroons

and matzo crunch, which is possibly one of the easiest recipes ever, but oh so decadent.
So it was a very nice seder, with a small crowd of six, including us, my mom and Marsha, Sam and my Aunt Angela. And even though the final NCAA game was poorly scheduled to coincide, we're now watching instead of contending with this mess...

Oh, and if Florida wins (and it seems to be looking that way!) I move up to 4th place in the office pool. Fourth place! Sure its out of the money, but certainly good enough for bragging rights. And a nice comeback, I might add, from the start of the tourney!