Saturday, June 11, 2011

Busy week about to get busier


This has been a busy week by my standards. Wednesday I met my youngest brother and his family (except for Maddie who couldn't make it) for lunch at Flat Top Grill. We had a nice visit. They will be moving to Alaska in the next few weeks so I was very glad we could arrange a time to meet.
Then on Friday Oscar and I met his family at the Flat Top Grill. It had been months since we had seen his Mom, Fred and Brian and a long time since we had seen Lynnie, too. Again we had a lovely time :-}
Then Oscar got a phone call late last evening. My niece Liz and her brand new husband Tucker were ready to leave for their honeymoon early this morning but the person who had agreed to care for their dogs had backed out of helping the first few days. Of course Oscar immediately agreed that we would make sure the dogs were ok, to feed and let them out a few times a day. (They only live a few blocks away from us after all).
Monday Oscar has a meeting around noon, Tuesday around 10:30 a.m., Wednesday we both have a meeting in the afternoon, AND Oscar begins classes on Monday (two weeks of 9-5 classes. ( He can arrange to do mentored study in the evening on Monday and Wednesday to cover the first 3 days he must miss because of the appointments) Then another week of mentored studying and taking practice tests before taking his first certification test (for A+ certification).
So life got REALLY busy all of a sudden. (As it tends to do :-} )
Today Lynnie is on her way to TNNA and will be meeting Deb Robson. She offered to take along my copy of Deb and Carole Ekarius' new book to get Deb's signature (and perhaps Carole's as well if she is there).
I finished the last stitch of my large Kaleidoscope shawl (photo above just before the last round of border stitches.) I plan to make one more small size using a hand dyed worsted weight to show how other yarns will work with the triangles.
The other photo is the rose bush in Liz and Tucker's back yard. Tomorrow I'll try and get a few shots of their Bull Terriers Zoe and Fenny (short for Fenris :-} ). The roses are glorious this week all over.
Back to Otterwise designs, I have a brand new beaded lace shawl pattern almost ready. I have begun to add a lot of my own adaptations to the lace patterns and I am really enjoying finding out how my sketched graphs look when knitted up. I have yet another lace pattern that looks like growing flowers that I hope to use soon, too.
I will be shouldering more of the Ebay stuff, which means it will be going a bit more slowly. But we found a really reasonably priced camera that has more umph than our old camera which means I can take photos more easily. Oscar will still need to help with the packaging, but he will probably be able to fit that in during the evenings. Family has been very generous giving us some things they no longer need or want to list on our ebay site. Every little bit helps!
We haven't yet heard if the state of Michigan will be helping with Oscar's certification classes (the Tuesday meeting is about going further down that path) but family again is helping us, making sure he is able to begin now to gain the certification to match his experience and help him get a great job asap.

4 comments:

AlisonH said...

Reunions with loved ones are just the best.

And I was about to say, hey, you've got our rose bush variety! But not quite. Still--aren't they gorgeous.

Crossing my fingers for you two.

Anonymous said...

It sounds like all good things are happening! I can't wait 'til that shawl pattern is released -- it is seriously SO pretty!

Don Meyer said...

The Flat Top Grill must love you and your family!

The Kaleidoscope shawl is gorgeous. Between you and Alison, I'm buried in knitting I don't understand.

Good luck to you and Oscar with your very busy schedule.

Kym said...

Sounds like the best kinds of busy, Diana. (Well, for the most part.) Take care of yourself during this busy time. Hugs.