Well, my traveling for work has ramped up this month and I’m traveling one or two days a week for 5 out of 6 weeks.  Wow!  A little tiring but so far I’m still enjoying the job.  Just got back from Buffalo, a fun 4 1/2-hour drive. Luckily things slow down around the holidays and I can re-charge a little.

Speaking of traveling, Paul and I were able to get away for a weekend to Ogunquit, Maine a few weeks ago.  Aside from being surprised there were So. Many. People. we had a nice time.  Somehow, we assumed in September, no one would go there anymore.  Ha!

Lots of time sitting by the water….

And a trip to L.L. Bean to spend our credit card points on some Adirondack chairs.

I’ve also been trying to figure out some good hotel knitting.  I’ve settled on starting the Ribbon Wrap since it is easy knitting (so far anyway) and I don’t need too many brain cells at the end of a long travel/training day:

And I’ve got my Fish Lips Kiss Heel sock, left over from the class I taught, to keep working on when I get tired of the wrap:

My at-home knitting is getting to work on Sam the Ram which I’m knitting along with some friends:

Plus I have become re-obsessed with the Spice Pumpkin, since I gave all the ones I made away!:

They really do make a cute little gift.

Ooh! And I finally finished the college blanket for my nephew Matthew!

University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, CT and he is playing soccer there and is doing great!

P.S. If you know him, it’s not a secret anymore because I sent it to him. 🙂

I’m also all into the pumpkin spice, as you know, so I made these totally-super-yummy-you-have-to-make-them Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins from Martha:

My knitting class / knit shop peeps loved them!

And finally, some Smudge pics, because I can’t not….

How have YOU been?

I love Swedish Fish.  They are awesome and tasty.

I don’t get them often but on my stroll at lunch today, I went to CVS.  After asking Paul if he wanted anything and getting his usual request of Raisinettes, I saw the Swedish Fish on the shelf. I am trying to eat healthy but I didn’t eat my lunch yet (mistake number one) and I was hungry and they just seemed like the best thing in the world to get and they don’t have any fat in them, right?  I then proceeded to eat 3/4 of the bag while watching/supporting a web-based training my co-worker was doing.  Then I was in a sugar coma and had a headache.

So I texted Paul this picture and told him what I did and how I was feeling…

I texted him for two reasons.  One, I was feeling guilty because I’m supposed to be eating healthier and that is just NOT healthy eating and so I felt like I had to come clean to someone.  Two, if I told him I had them, I knew he might like some and seeing how I already ate 3/4 of them, I would then feel obligated to not eat any more so I could bring him some. It worked.  He will have 1/4 bag to eat for dessert tonight.

Other things going on around here involve a lot of knitting!

I taught the beginning of the Fish Lips Kiss Heel sock class recently:

And here is my progress so far for the next class which is in a week or so…

I need about 5 more inches before I’m ready to teach the heel.  And in the meantime, I’ve got other things happening…

Me and a few knitting friends are doing a casual knit-a-long to make the adorable Sam the Ram:

That is my progress so far in the bottom of the picture. Ha! 11 rows.  But I can’t really get going until I’m done with this:

I’ve been going full tilt to get it done before it gets cold.  It was supposed to be done before the start of the first year of college for this guy:

(#12 in the white)… so I’m really late at this point.  It still needs another foot in length and then some colorful border-y parts. If you know him, don’t show this to him.  He basically knows he’s getting it and knows the colors but he doesn’t know what it looks like.  I think he’ll like it! (Those are his school colors.)

Smudge has been trying to help with it:

And THEN, these adorable things totally distracted my knit-a-long group:

So we are already planning another one.  SO. CUTE!

I think that’s it for knitting.

BUT THEN…. this is also all-things-pumpkin-all-the-time season you know, and I always jump in full throttle.  I have found a couple of new pumpkin-y things to obsess over.

Pumpkin Joe-Joe’s from Trader Joe’s!  OMG. Don’t get these unless you want to go back and get three more boxes.

Pumpkin soup – a yummy recipe my friend Pam devised, trying to replicate the one she loves at Panera.  It is excellent!

And I’ve had a million iced pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks.  And once it’s chilly out (some day) I will get the hot ones. I love them so much. Pumpkin bread is in the very near future as well.

And lastly, another picture of Smudge because he is so stinkin’ cute sitting next to my new books:

And here is his cousin Nikki because she is stinkin’ cute too:

That’s all. Stay tuned for more knitting adventures and some traveling adventures too!

Well then.  That was a long break from the blog.  But, there is a reason.  There is a really good reason.

There is a reason why you haven’t seen these finished knitting projects:

Jadis Shawl

Winterlong Cowl

Buds & Bumbles Shawl

(Thanks to Mari at The Spinning Room who came to my rescue to send me pictures of my projects because my brain is a little fried due to The Reason!)

There is a reason you haven’t seen pictures of this guy:

There is a reason there have been no book recommendations like:

The Great Alone: A Novel by Kristin Hannah
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrick Backman (love, Love, LOVED this one especially!!!)
Summerland: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand
Badlands: A Novel (Highway Quartet) by C.J. Box

There is a reason there have been no garden updates (and still no garden pictures to show you).

There is a reason you haven’t seen the picture of the Frank Pepe’s pizza we got as we passed through New Haven in a roundabout way to get to our vacation in Cape Cod:

There is a reason you didn’t see my yarn-purchases-in-a-garbage-bag-because-I-went-a-little-nuts-at-the-sale from WEBS:

There is a reason you haven’t see any food pictures like my recent so-happy-to-find-it-in-August pumpkin spice finds:

And here is The Reason:

I got a job.

An honest-to-goodness-five-days-a-week-Monday-to-Friday-get-a-paycheck-like-clockwork-full-time job.  I haven’t had one of those in ten years.  TEN! YEARS!

Since 2008 I have owned a yarn shop, sold a yarn shop, became a part-time nanny to my niece and nephew along with teaching knitting classes, then added proofreading on the side to those two jobs, then they went to school so I had proofreading, knitting classes, selling on eBay and being an office manager for my friend’s business.  Aside from the nannying, none of the jobs had a regular, predictable paycheck.  And it finally wore me down.  So, I looked for a job.

Now, I’m an Education Specialist at the Professional Development Program at The Research Foundation for SUNY.  I teach the NY State child welfare workers how to use their case management computer system.  The great part is that I LOVE IT!  It’s right up my new-in-the-past-ten-years-loving-to-teach alley and I can still use my social work skills without being out in the trenches. It will soon involve travel so hopefully I will still love it once that ramps up.

Needless to say, no longer having an incredibly flexible schedule seriously put a cramp in my lifestyle.  Oh my gosh, the things I’ve had to adjust to:

1) Waking up at the same time every day.

2) Leaving the house at the same time every day.

3) Getting home at the same time every day.

4) Having to schedule any kind of appointment for the hours that I’m not at work (at the same times every day).

5) Doing every kind of errand on the weekend.

6) Not having vacation whenever I want. That one is seriously a bummer.  I have to accrue time.  I have to wait until November to take it since I just started.  And I can’t have as much vacation as I want. Unlike my husband who has been at his job for almost 20 years and the company now has a permissive time off policy where they just take all the time they want.

I totally realize that these are things that most people go through, and I even went through them myself for many years, a very long time ago.  It just took some adjusting.  Just ask Paul…. he’s trying really hard not to roll his eyes every time I say something like, “Well, I would do that for you on Tuesday at noon, but I can’t because now I have A JOB.”  Or, “I’d love to take a couple days off with you to go away for a long weekend but I can’t because now I have A JOB.”

And it truly is fine.  I feel very lucky to have a job that I like, with a like-clockwork paycheck and good benefits. (And I do still have a second job – my knitting classes!  The Jadis Shawl and Winterlong Cowl are both upcoming classes at The Spinning Room.)

So, hopefully I’ll be back to somewhat regular blogging for those of you who have missed reading about my adventures.

What’s new with YOU? : )

Wow, fall is in full swing around here.  Colder weather, leaves are gone from the trees, leaf raking has happened, and lots of cooking going on.  And a little knitting.

I told you a couple of posts ago, that I received the Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites cookbook for my birthday.  I love this book!!

I made the Sausage, Kale and Crouton Saute:

So delicious!

And then I did a holiday test run of the Bakery-Style Butter Cookies:

Boy, did they pass the test!  I will definitely be making these again and again and again.  Butter cookies with jam in between, dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. So YUMMY!

And tonight I am trying the Chicken Marsala Meatballs with Egg Noodles.   Stay tuned…

In knitting news, I taught two oldies but goodies recently…

The two socks on one circular needle class:

And the Noro Striped Scarf:

I love my Noro striped scarf – it is my go-to scarf for those really cold days because I can wrap it around my neck a few times.

I got a few rows done on my 21 Color Slouch hat and started my second commissioned Amy shawl.  Not much progress on those so I didn’t take a picture.  Hopefully I’ll have a finished hat to show you next time….

In kitten news…

I realized I didn’t tell you how old Smudge was in my last post.  The picture of him makes him look grown up.  But he’s just a baby! 12 weeks or so.  He has come out from under the bed and hasn’t stayed still too often for pictures…

And we made the big splurge:

HOWEVER, he now has a virus/cold that he apparently obtained from the shelter where we adopted him.  Poor guy has the sneezes and the sniffles and the runny eyes.  An early trip to the vet this fine Monday morning resulted in eye ointment and medicinal treats and the vet saying he will be ok in several days!

So I definitely needed my tea and cookie treat and knitting and subtle daily reminders today…