They Call Me Mum

Wow, it’s been since early November since I’ve updated.

Work has been utterly insane.  For most of this year, I have been doing the jobs of 3 and 4 people by myself.  I finally get to hire my assistant, and replace the staff member who retired at the end of December.   That will take a great deal of stress off of me.  It comes with its own new set of stress, of course, but at least it will be different.

The New Year’s Debauchery at Stupid Big House went well.   Nothing broken, no major injuries, no serious drama.

On my daily commute, I’ve been reading a lot.  I decided to re-read all of the Wheel of Time series before I started on the latest book, The Gathering Storm.  I think Brandon Sanderson did a good job with Jordan’s “voice”.  There were differences, but nothing so outrageous that it pulled me out of the story.  Now that I’ve finished that, I plan to re-read the Shanara books, and add in all the ones I haven’t read yet.  Or, I could go with Stephen R. Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant books.  I may have to flip a coin.

Sewing hasn’t been happening much.  Sven needs a serious tune up, and the embroidery portion is just not happening.  I have a winter coat to finish, but all I have left is the fiddly bits, and I hate working on the fiddly bits.

I have been knitting a little more.  And I even crocheted the other day!  I am working on the “Spanish Armada” shawl, the “Irish Diamond” shawl, the “Spanish Christening Shawl”, several pairs of socks, a blanket, and I need to make a new pair of convertible mittens for myself. 

I’ve been staying away from the computer at home for the last several days, so I’m getting much more yarn stuff done.

In December, I had to travel to Iowa for my older brother Tom’s memorial service.  It was sudden and unexpected and I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it.  There was much drama with my mother and her trip to Iowa.  She ended up missing the service because she became ill on the train she was taking from Pittsburgh.  She wound up in a hospital near Chicago while the rest of us who could make it went to Iowa.  I’m sure my sister could say a few things about getting Mom back home, but we’ll try to keep it clean here. 

So, that’s pretty much everything that’s new.  Not a lot to say.