Sunday morning I leave for Max 2004. I am so excited that I can barely sit here. I've printed out all my materials, I've got the hotel, the plane, the airport shuttle. I don't think I've missed a step. EXCEPT I forgot to ask if anyone wanted a postcard. Now, I have some of the usual postcard wanters addresses already in my gmail... But if you want a postcard from the big easy, simply send an email to daisydo at gmail dot com. I leave New Orleans on November 5, so let me know early so I have time to mail it.

Tonight I felted the three other bags... I felted the Noro first. It took almost an hour. I was shocked! I expected 20 minutes. But everytime I looked, nothing was happening. Finally, I boiled some water, pulled the purse out of the washer, poured in the boiling water, let things agitate, and put the purse back in. Finally, it began to shrink. FINALLY. It's still not quite as small as I'd like, but I think it came out ok. I forgot to take a pre-felting picture. That made me irritated. The Manos felted within 13 minutes. That was what I was expecting. I'm thinking that the handles I have aren't going to work because they are too wide. I'm going to see if I can exchange them at the yarn store. They fit in the bag, and they look great, but you can't open the bag with the handles in there. That's no good. The Goddess yarn felted like a dream! The purse is beautiful. It took about 20 minutes. I was a bit worried because I used the same water for all three bags. I thought things might be too cold in the washer. Nope. It is perfect. I'm very glad I took the chance. Today I got some more hand spun yarn from Uraguay. The color is Oceana. It's blues, light, dark, almost white, almost black. I couldn't wait to start knitting with it, so I've done about 5 rows of the next purse. I bought it on eBay. There is no maker. The only description they gave was that it was good for felting. All the feedback said good things, so I went for it. I'm also making a purse in Knitability Bulky Sagacity that I bought at the knitting convention last February. It's a light heather gray. It's not going to have a flap, but I'm going to give it a snap or button or something. I'm such a knitting fiend lately. Don't want to date so I'm knitting. Makes sense to me.

Things at work are getting a bit weird. My boss is going to retire in June (unless something else happens before that). One of my co-workers is also thinking of retiring. She is out on vacation for the next 5 weeks. Can you imagine, 5 weeks vacation, all at once? I can't. My boss and I have been having interesting conversations about my future in the department, and where she sees me going. I never thought I would want to get into management at the university level, but it seems that may be in my future. So, I've been convinced. I'm enrolling in the Spring for my masters in Instructional Technology. I've applied, I've turned in my paperwork, and I have my letters of recommendation. I'm not really sure I'm excited to lose my personal time, but I think it is the smart thing to do. Besides, you can't be management without it. And just think, next time I'll get to have a thingie on my gown when I graduate.

I realized that my pilot light had gone out last night. I turned the heater up to 74 and nothing happened. I was really upset. I was cold. I hate being cold. I'm cold all day at work, the last thing I want is to be cold at home. I called PG&E, and the first appointment they had was on November 4. You know how bad that is? My mom comes home on the 1st for a week. She hates being cold more than I do. So, I did the only thing I could think of... I went over and asked my neighbour if he would light my pilot. And he did. Just like that. The last time I tried to light my own pilot light, I burned my hair. Not a lot, but I never want to have that happen again. My sisters ex-husband got burned too... Worse than I did. My neighbour just did it. He just lit it. No big deal. No fire ball, no insane flames, just an easy light. Why can't I do that?

So, I've rented a laptop from the student union. I insisted that it had a wireless card. I'm sitting here tonight steeling one of my neighbours wireless connection. I'm such a bad neighbour. I think it is the doctor on the one side of me. But it could be the kids on the other side... Maybe it is my neighbour in the back whom I share movies with. Who knows. I think I might be feeling bad. Nah.

So we all know that I was sick for the past two weeks. While I was sick, I decided that I should start getting ready for Christmas. I know, it's not even halloween, but hell, I was laying on the couch, wanting to be busy, but unable to do much. So, I picked up my knitting needles and started by finishing things that I needed to finish. I finished that green cable knit turtle neck sweater I was working on. Then I finished this uber cute poncho (a gift for my friend Anne's child Emily). Isn't it cute. I used Lorna's Laces Worsted Super Wool in ChildsPlay. It's machine washable, which is very good for a toddler. I'm really pleased with it, even though I needed another skein to make the fringe really fluffy. After finishing all my projects that I really wanted to finish (there is a baby blanket that I need to finish that I hate working on, but that is another story), I started working on purses. I figured that I would felt purses for my friends for Christmas. I mean really, I like knitting, I love purses, and if I like one I make, I don't have to give it away, right? So, lets start with this one. I meant to bring the yarn labels so I would remember what I used, but oh well. This one was done in Lambs Pride, I used some novelty yarn in just the flap. This purse was kinda a experiment. I wanted to see how my seams would turn out, if I finished them normally. Well, I know now not to finish them normally. But, I still think the purse came out beautifully. I could have made it a bit smaller, but I don't want the strap to get any shorter, so I'm keeping it like this. I think it's lovely, even though the bottom seam is a bit bulky.

I'm writing this, hoping Cindy will leave what really happened in the comments. What I know is this... I let Cindy borrow one of my most favorite shirts after the R.E.M. concert because she was going to Vegas and had nothing sexy to wear. I told her she could borrow the shirt I had worn to work that day. It's a wrap style shirt with lots of rushing in the front. It's got a cream background with peach and brown flowers all over. It covers a multitude of sins, and with a push-up bra, you are set. I did however make her promise to return it, as it is one of my favorites. I got a call from her tonight saying that my shirt had quite an adventure! Some Chippendales dancers had molested the shirt... A cute guy in a bar gropped the shirt... And she had such a good time in the shirt the first night, she wore it the second. Now, I know, and you know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... But Cindy, all of us lonely single girls would love it if you would guest post or at least post in the comments about your adventure! Or at least, tell us what the shirt did! It's had more action than I've had in a long time!