Tis the Season

This weekend has been full of seasonal happenings.

Friday I ran hither and yon while prepping for a Christmas party given by the agency that I intern with. I was out early in the morning to visit clients, then to the office, then out for the party, back to the office, and, finally, back out for several hours to visit clients again.

I thought about wearing my newly finished Christmas socks and my clear clogs to the party but the dress was semi-professional so I decided against it.

Saturday I went shopping for Christmas presents. I hadn't done any shopping until then. I managed to get all but 3 presents (and 2 are small and easy to obtain). I had planned to finish some paperwork for work/internship but I took a nap instead. Much better choice.

Sunday we went out to dinner at Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta for my aunt's birthday.

The food was good but I spent the night having one of those moments where I thought my dinner might be trying to kill me. I don't know if it was the shear volume of food (though I've done worse in recent memory), the richness of it, or if there was something that didn't agree with me. Whatever it was it caused me to go to bed at 9:45 and sleep until 8:15 this morning. Nearly 11 hours of sleep. Except for the hour between 2:30 and 3:30 when I woke from a dream concerned that I had to be at work at 8:15 in the morning (I don't) and that I'd double booked clients (I didn't). I then stayed awake trying to find a position where my stomach didn't feel like it was being wrung out and contemplating whether I should all the CDC and report a possible food poisoning or not. I'm feeling a bit better this morning but still not 100%.

This week I've got to get paperwork for tax-exempt status submitted to the IRS for the Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project and also finish that paperwork for my internship that I keep putting off. Oh, yeah, and finish getting/making Christmas gifts.

SAFF Confessional

So, I have to confess something...until yesterday I wasn't really looking forward to SAFF.

I know, I know...sacrilege! Before you string me up by my toes let me explain.

1. I'm going this year as a vendor. This means I won't have as much time for perusing wares. And everyone knows I love a good fiber festival. But me in a room full of yarn and I'm like an alcoholic in a brewery, I just have to have some.
2. I'm not a salesperson. This sorta hurts the whole vendor thing. It's not like I won't tell you everything you want to know about my yarn but you have to ask first. I'm not about to hard sell you as soon as you come within shouting distance of my booth.
3. I'm not competitive. At least not in the sense that I'm looking to be the next Sanguine Griffin or Holiday Yarns or Miss Babs or any of a dozen other indie dyers. I work an 8-4 job everyday. I'm starting a non-profit. I'm involved in my church. I go to knit nights. I'm a full time grad student. Oh, and one day I'd like to have a social life.
4. I'm a Knitter. With a capital K. Not a Dyer. Dyeing is my hobby. I just happen to dye a lot so I have extra to sell. Not as much as someone who spends hours a week dyeing, week in and week out. But more than a healthy hobby should accumulate. And I'm ok with that. But see #3 above.

So basically I was feeling all uninspired about going to sell my yarn and feeling like everything I dye is sub-par and just being super critical of myself. This, of course, did nothing to help my enthusiasm for heading to a major fiber festival.

And then I booked my room.

And I starting thinking about the North Carolina mountains in the fall.

See more breathtaking photos here.
And I remembered the alpacas.

And the llamas.

I love this picture so much.
And the bunnies.

And the market.

And then I remembered the best part of all...

the fair food.

Suddenly I'm ready to go.

Sometimes...

Sometimes I come home really late from work.
Yes, that is p.m.

Sometimes, even though I'm not coming home until late, I stop at the grocery store just to pick up my cats favorite cat food.

She loves salmon.

Sometimes making taco salad helps you relax.

Notice there is nothing remotely green in my taco "salad."

Sometimes eating a cookie or two helps.

I hear a good stiff drink works too. Or both.

And knitting...well, knitting always makes you feel better.

Super secret Mother's Day knitting.