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.

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.

It’s bad when you can’t even come up with a title for a blog post.

That’s how wiped I am these days.   I’m currently sitting in my new office, surrounded by blue packing crates.  I can’t unpack my crates until the facilities staff come up to rearrange my file cabinets.  And I haven’t been in my office long enough for them to do that today.  Everytime I left my desk today, I’d come back to find I’d missed a phone call.

June 29th

Wow. I started this nearly a month ago. I guess that just proves how insanely busy I am these days. I’m still glad I took the new job, but it’s wearing me out unbelievably.

When I first started this position (back in August 2008), I kept saying, “When XYZ is over, maybe I’ll have a little more time to think.” Well, several “XYZ” things have come and gone, and I still have no time to think. I still spend most of my time reacting to things. Planning is just an item on my wish list.

I’ve been staying away from the computer a little more when I’m at home, though, and spending more time knitting. I’ve finally finished my “Goddess Knits Mystery Shawl” (except for blocking) and my Seascape Shawl (also except for blocking), and I’ve been working steadily on the “Rosy Fingered Dawn”. I’m up to Row 74 or so, and making good progress.

I started to sew a couple weekends ago, but then Sven decided to be a bitch and jam at the slightest provocation, so I ended up walking away in frustration. I was trying to take in some of my suits for work, because the stress of the new job has resulted in a drop in weight. Not that I’m complaining that I’ve lost weight! Yay weight loss! It’s just the method of weight loss that’s a problem. And the fact that I don’t really have the disposable income to go out and buy a new wardrobe for work. So, I need to take in my clothes. Which is almost as time consuming as starting from scratch.

Music wise, we’ve been to a few concerts since the last time I posted. We saw Gaelic Storm in early April. It was a great show. There was a kitchen fire. At the end of May, the kids and I went to see Carbon Leaf. It was also a great show. There was also a kitchen fire. (Are you sensing a trend here?) In mid-June, TOH and I went to see Cowboy Mouth. It was another great show. Luckily, there was no kitchen fire. (I was getting a little worried.)

House wise, we threw a big party at the end of May for Klumpen’s birthday/start of summer/whatever. It went well. No one died. Nothing was broken. No horrible messes to clean up.

So, I guess that’s everything. Or at least the bullet points.

And, I really don’t have time to update now, but I just upgraded the software here, so I thought I’d take a minute to babble semi-coherently.

The new job is good.  It makes me absolutely crazy, although generally in a good way.  Today is a “snow day” in the DC area, and I am the only person of my staff to actually make it into the office.  Three people are teleworking, and one is just “not in”.  And I’m the one who lives farthest away.  Getting out of the driveway was interesting.  I made TOH get the car out of the garage and down to the street.  Once I was on the road, though, everything was fine.

I think I’ve found the candidate for my assistant.  I need to check references and then have OHR make the actual offer, but if everything works, that’s one less stress on my plate.

The good news is that our vacation is now less than a week away.  We set sail on Sunday for 6 days on the Norwegian Jewel for Ships & Dip V.  And believe me, it’s a well deserved vacation.  We’ll be sailing with roughly 2 dozen musical and comedy acts, with port stops in Cozumel and Great Stirrup Cay.  Bring on the fruity boat drinks!

We threw another New Year’s Eve party, and I believe it was a success.  We ended up with about 55 people (including the 4 of us who live at the Stupid Big House) in attendance.  Nothing was broken, and most of the messes were minor.  I think everyone had a good time.  I know I did.

I’ve been knitting a little here and there.  For a while, I was working on something nearly every day on the train ride home, but lately, it’s been hit or miss.  I’m trying to finish up the projects I’ve got going already before I start on something new.  And, unfortunately for my fabric stash, that means no starting sewing projects either.

So, that’s the last 4 or so months in a nutshell.  And the daughter can hush. 

As I’ve been hinting here, I applied for a new job here at MSGA (Mid-size Government Agency).  A friend of mine had the job before me, and when he moved on to a better job, he called and told me I needed to apply for his old job.  And spent some time telling his former bosses what a great fit I’d be for the job.

I was keeping it mostly quiet for a couple of reasons.  When the application period was open, I still didn’t really have a supervisor, and I wasn’t sure how the two co-acting supervisors would react to finding out I was on the job hunt.  I also didn’t want to jinx myself by talking about it.  (Yeah, I’m paranoid that way.) 

Our new office director was announced about 2 weeks before I found out that I’d made the short list of qualified candidates, which was about a month after the announcement closed.  So, I let my boss know that I was looking at this position and that I’d made the short list.  Fast forward to 2 weeks ago, when the SO (selecting official) called and asked if I would like to interview as soon as possible.  (As someone once said, “Well, DUH!”)

Last Tuesday was my interview with the SO.  It went well.  We spent about 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes talking about the various things I’ve done here, and at my previous agency.  I left that interview feeling pretty good about my chances.  He’d asked if he could call my boss, and since I’d brought her up to date with what I was doing, I told him he could.  We scheduled a second interview with one of the deputy directors of the division for the next day.

I got back to my office (the interview was downtown, and I had to take the shuttle back and forth), and my boss told me that the SO had called her, but she’d missed the call.  She asked if I wanted the position and I said, “Yes”.  So, she called him back, and they apparently had a lengthy conversation that afternoon.

On Wednesday, I get on the shuttle again to go to the interview with the deputy director, and traffic is stopped DEAD at the Pentagon.  There was no way I was going to make the meeting on time!  I called the SO, but got the Director’s secretary, and let her know what was going on.  Thankfully, the shuttle driver believed in creative driving and found alternate routes, so I was only 10 minutes late.  But, being 10 minutes late definitely left me off balance for the whole interview.  I walked away from that meeting feeling terrible.

However, the SO had already scheduled me to interview with the other deputy and the Director on Thursday, so I hadn’t lost all hope.  But Wednesday’s interview was with the person who would be my supervisor if I got the job, so I was feeling rather bleak about my prospects.

Thursday afternoon rolls around, and I’m back on the shuttle for my third interview.  I was feeling more nervous than I had on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I took an earlier shuttle to make sure I wasn’t late.  (It also gave me some time to get stuff done for my current job while I was there.)  The interview with the deputy was first, and went very well.  I felt much better about that meeting than I did about the previous one. 

Next it was on to meet with the Director.  He reminds me of someone, but I just can’t place who it is.  Anyway, another more relaxing interview.  Very casual, very relaxed.  During that interview, I discovered that Thursday’s deputy would actually be the supervisor of the position, due to a recent (as in that afternoon, they’d sat down and drawn up the plans) reorganization of the division’s structure.  So, the whole thing lasted about 25 minutes, and I was back on the shuttle to my office by 4:30.  I was feeling a lot better about my chances, too.

By the time I got back to my office, there was already a message on my phone from the SO.  He wanted me to call him right away, and if I missed him then, to call him first thing the next morning.  By 5:01 I had a job offer and accepted!

Let me repeat:  I GOT THE JOB!

So, yeah, I’m thrilled.  I’ve been feeling stagnant in my current position, and this will definitely be a change of pace.  It is also a promotion, with the potential for more advancement.  It does mean I have to go back to commuting downtown, but the transit subsidy will help with the cost of that.  And just think how much knitting time I’ll have on the train.

TOH was the first person I called to squeal at, then I sent a message to another friend, and when I got home, I called the person who recommended that I apply for the position in the first place.  He told me that I can’t “mess this up”, or he’ll have to kill me.  We talked about my interviews, and when I told him how badly I felt I’d done on Wednesday, he let me know that that particular deputy is impossible to read.  And, he told me that I hadn’t been the only candidate they’d interviewed.

So, I’m feeling pretty darn happy right now.  I start my new position on August 18th.  I’m making sure my office is clean, and working on setting things up for the whoever takes over once I leave.  Monday I’m meeting with the SO to start going over things I’ll be doing. 

While I was back and forth on the shuttle all week, I managed to finish the first sock and start the second one of a pair in Opal yarn.  I’ve been dragging this pair around forever, keeping it for when I’m on the shuttle or waiting somewhere for something.

I’m on the final 5 or so rows of my QAL, then it will be time to wash and block it out to decide if I like the color, or if I need to over-dye it.

I’m making slow but steady progress on my Mystery Shawl KAL.  I can knit one patterned and one plain row during my lunch hour.

I’ve also restarted the Rosy Fingered Dawn shawl (for the third time).  This time I’m using Kauni in natural/beige/rose shades.  We’ll see how it goes.  If I screw it up again, I may just give up on it.

So, that’s about all that’s new with me.  What’s new with those few of you who read here?