Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Whatever You Gotta Tell Yourself To Sleep At Night

I spent today at our Tampa office. It was a frustrating morning - the Google Maps directions were wrong, I couldn't find parking, I forgot my government ID at home, I didn't take the Swiss Army knife out of my little notions bag and was running too late to dash the several blocks back to my car, so since I couldn't prove I was an employee and not a murderous litigious nutjob, I was forced to throw away the knife (which my dad gave me when I was twelve - but don't worry, a Tampa-based coworker took me down to the lobby later and we both used puppy dog eyes to get my knife back. I'm grateful to security for guarding our safety so diligently - and more grateful to them for letting me fish through the rubbish bin for my knife.) And since I had to get up at 5:45 and be on the road by 6:45, but I didn't get my Starbucks until about 6:20 (p.m.), I only just woke up a few minutes ago.

The trip to the post office was a nice one today! First we'll cover the stuff that I knew was coming - sort of.

Roving goodies

Michelle had a sale for her birthday (yay for other people's birthdays!) and so I bought me stuff for MY birthday! I have Spritely Goods batt in Larkspur (a merino-firestar blend that I've spun before and am just completely nuts about); Funky Carolina merino/tencel roving in Bohemian Love; and Mama E merino/tencel roving in Garden Path. (I was all about the merino/tencel in this order, apparently.)

And then there's this. I'm not sure how this happened:

One of these things is a lot like the other....

Uhhhhhhhh. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... So, on the left, we have Mama E merino/tencel in Mermaids, and on the right, we have Funky Carolina merino/tencel in Tangerine Dreams. The astute among you will notice that the Funky roving is the perfect roving for Project Spectrum and is completely different from the Mama roving because it has yellow in it (although when I made that observation to Travis, well, it was his quip that provided today's title.) Frankly, I had no idea I ordered two rovings that were so closely matched. (Michelle: do me a favor, if you catch me doing that again, just toss something else in the box instead; I assure you I won't even notice anything changed.)

The other goodies were unexpected!

Better at wrapping stuff than me...

My Secret Pal sent me a wonderful package! (She's better at wrapping stuff than I am, too.)

Rockin' Secret Pal

Look at all the great stuff! She sent some delicious chocolate (which I should not have eaten - notice the careful way that's worded), some beautiful lavender bamboo yarn (shawl?), some notecards that I absolutely LOVE and adorable pins, a plum-scented soap, and a couple of wonderful little bags!

Notes and Pins

The pins are adorable; I love the sheep with the handlebar mustache - see him? The pins have all been jabbed into my Namaste messenger bag (which I have decided to never go anywhere without), and the notecards are sitting right in front of me while I decide whether to frame them or share them with the world by way of correspondence. (I may have to frame one, though...)

Supercute bags

Aren't these bags GREAT? The one with the Spanish word fabrics (hee - who WOULDN'T love fabric that included a skull en Espanol??!!) is a DPN case that my pal sewed herself (I'm humbled, as I can't even cut in a straight line). I have already stuffed it with my 0, 1, 1 1/2, and 2 Crystal Palace DPNs and stuffed that in my Namaste too, so that I'll always have the needles I need on hand. And the little sushi bag has been packed with all the notions I had in my bag's front pockets, so now they won't fall out every time my bag tips over. (And the fabric reminds me of the "yummy sushi jammies" that Sarah Michelle Gellar wore in an episode of Buffy - I always wanted those jammies, but when I found them, they turned out to be like ninety dollars, and I don't find ninety dollars to be a reasonable expense for jammies. This bag is a perfect substitute!)

Thank you my pal!! This was a wonderful treat to come home to after such a long drive and a day spent doing things that had nothing to do with knitting!! (I must find a job that involves knitting for a respectable income and great benefits and plenty of vacation time. Anybody know of any openings?)