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.

Faire season has come and gone, with the major high point being TOH’s and Silver’s job sharing.  It was really nice to be able to spend time with my husband.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but one of these days, I’ll put up the ones that I did take.  And maybe last year’s.  And maybe the 2009 cruise pictures, too.

Silver’s new garb turned out wonderfully, and eventually I’ll have pictures up.  We’re already thinking that for next year, we need to create something outrageously ostentatious.

The winter blahs seem to be setting in early this year, though.  All I want to do is sleep.  And then sleep some more.  And have a nap when I wake up.

Work is still quite insane.  I finally have a list of candidates for my assistant position.  But, the list presents new problems of its own.   I need to pick and choose between candidates, set up interviews, check references, etc.  But I have all of these other tasks to work on as well.  There’s too much to do, and never enough time to get it all done.

The commute is still meh.  Normally the trains run great, and it takes me about 3 hours round trip to get to work and back.  Lately, though, the traffic on the roads between the house and the train station has been ridiculous.  It has been taking me an average of 40 minutes to drive the 6.7 miles.  To add insult to injury, Tuesday night’s train home broke down, and it took me 3 hours to get home.  I spent about 5 hours in transit that day.

I want to get back to sewing, but motivation has been lacking.  Klumpen says I ought to make a list of all the things I need/want to work on, so maybe I’ll tackle that sometime soon.  Sven still needs to go in for servicing, and the laptop we were using to run the pattern making and embroidery software has kicked the bucket.  My personal laptop has also died.  Apparently, laptops do not like me right now.

Music-wise, there have been a couple concerts since I’ve posted.  Back in August, we went to see Carbon Leaf and Great Big Sea at Wolf Trap.  We had fantastic seats, in row 2 of the orchestra pit.  Which can be a liability when the kids say something to make me laugh hysterically during one of the quieter songs.  (Sorry, Bob.)  Then last month, the kids and I went to see Guster at the 9:30 Club.  It was a great show, as always.  They played all of “Lost and Gone Forever”, in order, as well as a bunch of other stuff and 2 new songs.  They did a few songs that they rarely play, had a guest string section, horn section and children’s choir.  And, of course, Scooter with Cowbell.

I have been reading voraciously lately.  In the past month or so, I’ve read Company of Liars, Elantris, Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and Warbreaker.  I’m currently working on The Hero of the Ages and after that will either read The Gathering Storm (which is a continuation of the Wheel of Time (WoT) series, written by the author of most of the other books I’ve read lately), or The Autobiography of Henry VIII, or maybe even go back and reread some of the later books in the WoT series before I start on the newest one.

So, that’s what’s new here.

Seriously. It feels like it was just a couple weeks ago that we threw the NYE party at the stupid big house and were packing for the February cruise.

But, here it is, September, and tomorrow is TSM’s 13th birthday. Yes, why yes I am having a bit of a freak-out about that, thank you. My baby is turning 13. I will officially have two teenagers living in my house. The “good” news is that Klumpen won’t be a teen for much longer, since she’ll be turning 20 in nine months.

But, back to TSM. He’s not quite so “Short Man” anymore. In fact, he’s nearly as tall as I am, and I expect him to be even taller by the end of this school year. He’s a good kid, and is turning into a fantastic person. We like hanging out with him, and he seems not too terribly embarrassed by us as well.

So, tomorrow, in all the remembrances of 9/11, remember that it was a great kid’s birthday first.

In work news, I still do not have an assistant. I keep hoping the job posting goes out soon, but there are other issues that keep jumping in line ahead of mine. And then I have to hope that I actually find someone in the pool of qualified candidates that I think will work well with A) me, B) my team and C) the Division. Add in interviews, background checks, and all the other bureaucratic red tape, and it will be December at least before I have anyone here.

In the meantime, the stress of not having enough time to do what needs to get done is causing the “tension-related migraines” to reoccur (not that I think it ever really went away in the first place, but, whatever…). So I took yesterday off, and now the headache is even worse because I have to try to catch up from yesterday.

I have been trying to knit a little more often again. I finished the Mystery Shawl that I started in June of last year, but still haven’t blocked it. I also finished the Seascape Shawl that I’d started back in March of 2008. I also still haven’t blocked it out, but Klumpen did dye it from a boring vanilla to an interesting green for me. I also found the pair of socks I thought I’d lost, and have been working on them. I finished the first, and am now at the heel flap of the second.

Sewing wise, I’ve been working on Silver’s garb first (he is paying me after all!) before I work on my own. I did help Klumpen finish a shirt for TSM, but he hasn’t worn it once. He’ll probably grow out of it before he gets around to wearing it. I have yet to make anything for myself. Hopefully I can work on something soon. I still need to either adjust or remake my Italian gown, and I still want to make the red velvet Italian with the crazy cutwork sleeves. But, being so tired I can’t see when I get home tends to put a dent in those plans. I do need to make a new pair of velvet tights, though, to replace the ones I ripped when I fell this past Saturday. My knees hate me right now, but they seem to be healing well enough.

Speaking of garb, Faire has started again. We’re already two weeks into the season. TOH and Silver are trading days at the booth, so I actually get to spend time with my husband! And it tickles me immensely. But, I do miss having my brute squad – with Deuce in Wichita through this week, and then working weekends now through the end of season, as well as Spyke working at Faire, I’m left to my own devices. Not that that’s a bad thing all the time. I still wander around and greet everyone I know, and a few I don’t. (“Honey, honey, come meet my new toy!”) I’ve met a few new people this year, and spent a little more time with people I met last year. I probably still spend the most time with the DoRTs, though, since they’re my some of my favorite people.

So, I think that’s all the news so far. At some point, I’ll put up last year’s faire pictures, and the few I’ve taken this week. Most pictures of me are over on Facebook in other people’s albums, which is ok by me. I’m more often the one taking the pictures anyway.

For now, it’s back to work.

I forgot to mention TSM’s adventures on the cruise.  Apparently he was quite the hit at karaoke.  And then there’s the picture of him taken by one of the official photographers, hanging out in the hot tub with a bunch of people.  He spent a lot of time wandering on his own, watching different shows than the rest of us did.  And he had a great time.

And these days, he’s probably more “The Not So Short Short Man” or TNS³M, instead of just TSM.  Before you know it, he’ll have caught up to me in height, and then I’ll start feeling short.  But I’ll still call him TSM.

The cruise was a lot of fun.  On Sunday the 1st, we barely made our plane to Miami, and I do believe we were the last people onto the plane.  When trying to use the self check in, we should remember that automated systems do not like the space in the last name, and we should always just head straight for the counter.  Or use our passport to check in.

Once in Miami, after a cab ride that felt like rush-hour on the Beltway - rather than a Sunday drive, we arrived at the port, and the check-in process for Norwegian was much smoother than at the airport.  I’d say we were through and on the ship in less than 45 minutes.  Once on the ship, we were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine (orange juice for TSM) and left to wander until our cabin was ready.

While I liked the speed with which Norwegian gets you on the ship, I did not like having to wander around aimlessly while waiting for them to make up the cabins.

So, it was killing time until the mandatory lifeboat drill, and then off to the first show of the cruise – BNL‘s sail away set on the pool deck.  After that, it was a stop at the Superbowl Viewing Party, where we stayed until about the 3rd quarter.  By then it was time for Gaelic Storm on the pool deck again.

Have I said how much I love this band?  I probably shouldn’t say how much I love this band, as it usually leads to bad things.  Anyway, they always, always, always put on a fantastic show.  For their final song, one by one the band members left the stage (via crowdsurfing) and went into the deck pool – fully clothed.  Somehow, Klumpen ended up in with them.  (She’s “fallen in with a bad crowd”.  Her quote, not mine.)

Monday’s shows were:  a very brief stop by the BNL Snacktime show, a walk-through of Mike Evin‘s show in the Atrium, and another Gaelic Storm show on the Pool Deck.

Tuesday was our shore day in Cozumel.  We didn’t opt for any shore excursions this year, which was probably a good thing, as the weather was quite chilly.  (I was more comfortable in pants than in shorts, and at night on the open decks, it was downright cold.)  Anyway, we just wandered around the kitsch shops just off the docks, and bought cheap t-shirts.  Oh, we stopped at Starbucks for coffee for TOH and Klumpen, and then we all had ice cream at Baskin Robbins.  (I know, we go to Cozumel to do things we could do at home, but honestly we weren’t there for the shore days as much as we were for the music.)  Oh again, and we met a cute little monkey named Pasqual, who had sweaty paws.  The vendors in Cozumel were extremely aggressive, which was a drag.  And we need to post a picture of the “Drougs” sign.

Tuesday night’s music was the Great Big Sea sail away set and then a Gaelic Storm show in “Bar City”, the area of the ship where most of the bars were located.  Not an ideal location for a show, but still fun.

Side note – speaking of locations of the shows – none of the locations where I saw shows, with the exception of the main theater, were any good for seeing anything.  The stages were maybe a foot off the floor, and the areas were not designed for large standing crowds.  I think Carnival’s pool deck is more suited to concerts, and their main theater was fine.

On Wednesday, we attended both Songwriter’s Panels (one hosted by Steven Page and one by Ed Robertson).  This year the format was different.  Rather than the crowd being able to ask questions, each panel member said a little about how/why they wrote a song, and then performed the song.  On the one hand, it gave us a taste of each artist, but on the other, I missed the more interactive style of previous years’ panels.  (Although now, I can sort of see why they didn’t want to open the floor to questions.)  The next show on Wednesday was the “Covers Set”, which was BNL doing covers of other artists’ songs – stuff they normally do for their sound-check, etc.  Sean Cullen’s wife, Kim Temple, did a version of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”, and Sean Hearn (Kevin’s brother) did a version of BNL’s “What a Good Boy”.  I thought Sean H. did a great job with it.  The kids and I then went to see The Weakerthans and a Great Big Sea main show.

Thursday was another shore day.  We were supposed to go to Great Stirrup Cay, but due to the weather, we were diverted to Key West.  Where it was 48 degrees.  We decided it was too cold to do much of anything, so stayed on board and had a nap.  Our music that evening was the Gaelic Storm sail away set, where Patrick’s voice was absolutely shot to hell, and the BNL main show.

So, the BNL show.  In the years where we’ve had to decide which show to attend, I’ve always picked the last night’s main show, since that’s where they tended to make the announcement that there would be a cruise the next year.  This year, there was no announcement.  And none of the “standard” songs.  No “One Week”, no “If I Had $1,000,000″.  Odd, but then I figured that even they might get tired of those songs, and when you’re performing for fans who know all the songs from all the albums, and the variations on nearly live performance, why do the easy applause ones?

Fast forward to the 24th, when the announcement that Steven Page was leaving BNL, and it all made sense.  There was speculation on the message boards, and apparently some on the ship, that his recent drug troubles and his new girlfriend were reflections of his wanting to go in a different direction than the rest of the band. 

All this to say, I can say that I saw the last live performance (until a reunion tour) of Steven Page as a member of BNL.  Which makes me sad that I didn’t feel like dragging the video camera with me.  But, we got some good photos, I think.  (I still haven’t weeded out all the crap ones from last year’s album!)

And then, finally, after the main BNL show, I watched part of the Acid Wish All Star Jam, where anyone from the performers who feels like it will jump into the show, and it perpetually revolves around to a chorus of “Hey Jude”.  That show was moved inside (away from the pool deck because of the cold weather) into Bar City, and it was way too packed for me to put up with it for very long.

Other highlights/lowlights:

Highlights

• TSM managed to get pictures of himself with all the band members of BNL.
• Andy Creeggan passed us in the hallway, and then turned around and came back to show TSM that he was wearing the same Guster shirt as TSM.
• More new music to like!  Especially The Weakerthans (One Great City, Relative Surplus Value, The Reasons, Tournament of Hearts, Plea from a Cat Named Virtute), Mike Evin (Stripper In My Car, Danish Bullies).

Lowlights

• Kevin McDonald’s (of Kids In The Hall) stand up act.  As the gentleman in the elevator said, it was like sitting in on someone’s painful therapy session.   TOH and I actually got up and left.
• Not seeing the various band members out and about as much this year as in past years.  I never even saw Sarah McLachlan.
• The lack of late night dining choices.  The late night buffet was actually just left overs from the lunch/dinner buffet.  Ick.

Overall, we had a great time, again.  I think we got a better value for money spent on Carnival.  I wasn’t overly impressed with Norwegian’s food, or “Freestyle Dining” – I didn’t go on the cruise to pay extra money for the “nicer” restaurants. 

Since we’ve been back, work has been insane.  The office moves are rapidly approaching, and we’re in the midst of trying to hire to fill all the various vacancies.  Add to that the yearly budget cycle, and I’m here from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm most days.

So, that’s my latest rambling update.  I hope to post more frequently, but I’m a realist and know that never works out.