Alive with Tales to Tell (Part 1)

My apologies for not posting in my usual schedule, but I have been too tired to type. The past four days have been filled with some pretty neat events, so here are the first two days — coincidentally the weekend — for you to read scan over…

Saturday was the typical “some chores, lots of knitting” kind of day. Because I do not have any recent FO’s in the house, I really wanted to either get Andrea’s kimono out of the way, or finish Rasha’s Namaste. Seaming stresses me out; I have no clue why. I actually get nervous and have visions of the garment falling apart on the recipient. Blankets are MUCH less stressful in that sense! Speaking of which, I need to get cracking on Simon’s Christening blanket. I guess it would be nice if get his sweater done too. Anyway, I ended up working on the yoga mat bag. The fabric just begs to be touched with all that cabling. No, I did not finish it, but I was getting close!

A really nice package appeared at my house that early afternoon. Barbara from Acornbud’s Yarns had sent over these AWESOME bunny stitch markers, and I was looking forward to seeing them. What a surprise to see a neatly handmade “Happy Easter” card, a carefully wrapped bundle, and prettily boxed gift! Click on the photos to see the “opening” of the bundle and box…

I have been wanting a case for my double point needles! Barbara not only sent me a case including size 1 and 2 sets, but the colors and pattern totally fits me!! Barb, thank you SOOOO much for making this for me! I know, I am going overboard with the exclamation points, but I really love this case. You can tell by the amount of needles sets I have added. 😉
UPDATE: I was so excited about the needle case that I forgot to mention the stitch markers and cell phone charm. I love them too! The Sidekick phone that I use and my work mobile phone do not have a place to put the charm, so it shares space on my keyring with my wedding/Busch Gardens photo frame. I originally was going to attach it to my employee badge, but I would have been shot at work. Maybe if I do, I will get an office from being too noisy? 🙂

That night, we went to dinner with Jeff “The Best Man” at our “as of late” usual eatery, Uncle Sushi. The sushi there is pretty good, and prices are not bad either. One reason for going there is the lack of folks who know about the place. Unfortunately, the staff gets a little inattentive to regulars when a crowd does come in, especially new folks they want to “wine and dine” for repeat business. For some odd reason, they seem to know Rich’s usual dinner order, but they often forget his additional unagi with cucumber sushi pieces. I think it is kind of weird that one detail is missed. Rich and Jeff think nothing of it, and say that I sweat over the small stuff way too much. I attribute that from being in QA and working in fiber. 😉

After a filling dinner of sashimi and sushi, we met up with Helene and Mikkel at the Showcase’s Warwick Mall movie theater to see Ice Age 2. From what I understand, Mikkel is on a 2-year assignment from Denmark. His wife Helene is a quiet balance to my talkative self. She worked in the purchasing department of our Danish office for the larger product projects, and knows a lot about the Big Viking setups that were sold to The Bank. Currently she has a required 2-month waiting period and also needs her US government paperwork to clear before working in our local office. I have no idea how it could be like living in a totally different country for 2-years, but seeing their experience tells me what to expect if I ever had to do that for Denmark.

Notice I am dodging Ice Age 2? The reasoning behind that is because it is hilarious and good. Go see it with your family and your kids. Kids will love the characters, and the adults will love seeing Scrat chasing his acorn.

Shopping on Sunday was a nice walk and good introduction into comparing Denmark and the States. I picked up Cathy and we had a nice breakfast at Denny’s. I was surprised it was busy, but we were able to slide into a couple of seats at the counter. We then picked up Helene and off we drove to the Wrentham Village Premier Outlets in Wrentham, MA in search of certain items. Cathy needed work slacks, and I needed running shoes. While driving the three of us discussed learning how to drive in New England, government documentation, and where to live in the state. Cathy had the name of a real estate agent for Helene to use for house hunting. Hopefully all will be good for Mikkel and her soon.

Ironically most of the stores were not filled with “craze-filled” shoppers as expected with the exception of the GAP and Coach stores. Can you say MADHOUSE!? GAP was not a surprise, but I never saw Coach packed like that before. The store was disappointing with so-called sale prices that were only 10% off. To me, that is not a sale, that is a tax-discount.

My search for running shoes was starting to wear thin. Adidas was busy, Reebok and Easy Spirit did not appeal to me, and Nike was out of the question. Of course it was when we visited the last store of the day, Saucony, we found a runners’ haven. The staff was not only knowledgeable, but helpful with our (okay, really MY) many questions. I ended up with a great pair that has heavier tread for cross-country running, and Cathy found a pair ideal for her treadmill. Yeah!! Now if I can get myself to bed early enough to run at dawn… =:8