What I did on my vacation

Heh. I wonder if teachers still make school children write compositions on that topic? My vacation was a week off at home, spent with my dog and my parent's dog. My parents were vacationing in Mexico, so that's why their dog was with me. Perhaps they could write a more interesting post on the vacation topic, but afterall, it's my blog!

Ok. Here's what I did:

1. Finished the Old Navy Socks. This is an 1870 Pearl design. I knit them on size US 1 double points, using a mystery yarn from my stash. I think it was Opal sock yarn thought.

2. Completed most of the first Sea Mineral Mitten, all except for the thumb. I looks a little lumpy, but it will block out nice and flat. I like knitting with the Knitpick's Palatte yarn. The colors photographed nicely. This design is by Spilly Jane.

4. Lots of dog walking. No surpise there!
5. Joined Curves and did the workout 5 times that week! I'm still being very faithful about going 3-4 times a week. I'm definitely stronger, though I can't see any body changes yet (too soon for that).
6. Went to my weekly Weight Watcher Meeting. Lost 1.8 pounds that week. My goal is NOT to gain anything this holiday season. I've been going to Weight Watchers since May 2007 and have lost a total of 32 lbs. For me, it's a slow process, but I'll get there eventually. I am very lucky, my employer, the Cleveland Clinic, pays for Weight Watchers and now Curves as part of our Employee Health Plan. There are some strings attached, of course, but it's really a great benefit. They expect it will pay off down the road, as less medical costs for treatment of chronic medical conditions caused/exacerbated by obesity, smoking, and inactivity. They also pay for Smoking Cessation Programs, but I never smoked so don't need that.
7. Had a manicure and pedicure. Such luxury!
8. Lots of reading. I finished several books from the library.
9. Went out to lunch with a girlfriend and we had fun catching up on each others lives.
10. Church on Sunday, and then coffee and dessert with friends on Sunday evening.

And that was the vacation week. I'm back to work now!

Relief

I woke up feeling much better about the world this morning, knowing that Barack Obama is our President-Elect. George Bush and the republican party have left this country in a terrible state. This isn't a political blog, so that's all I'll say about this. I'm also relieved that all the campaigning is over! Living in a "battle ground" state is not a lot fun. I am sick of negative ads or even more positive ones, and getting robocalls up to ten times a day. Just sayin.

I'm almost done with the Old Navy socks. I'm working on the toe of the second sock. Here is a picture of the first one.

I did some stash diving to see what colors I had in Knitpicks Pallette and came up with this.

It's the yarn needed for the next project, the Sea Mineral Mittens. I've actually started the first mitten, but haven't got around to taking a picture yet.

I'll be dog sitting for my Mom and Dad's dog, Chelsea, next week while they are vacationing in Mexico. I'm going to take the week off work, and just be home with my dog and Chelsea, so hopefully I'll post more often next week. It will be a good chance to get some chores done at home. I really should do some silver polishing before Thanksgiving comes too. I'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my parents, my son, my brother, and probably a few more relatives. And I need to plan a Holiday Party with a friend for our Gourmet Group. It should be a busy week and a good change from work.