Sally needs your help

Instead of just worrying about what to do with Sally girl while I'm in Thailand I'm going to ask for a little help from you & the universe & the powers of the Internet. Sally needs a new permanent home, and I hope you will help me find one for her.
For the record, Sally is a high maintenance cat, and I don't want anyone to take her in if they can't deal with that, although I don't really expect anyone to be quite as much of a slave to her as I have been. So I'll give the pros & cons and if you or anyone you know in the greater Portland / SW Washington area sounds like a good match for her, please let me know.


I'll give the cons first:

Sally has some health issues. Most obvious is that she is a chubba chubba hunk o'chubby cat.
Which means she has, at times, difficulty cleaning herself. She's not a smelly cat or anything, but she gets dandruff, and I do try to give her a bath a couple times a year. She likes to be brushed, especially around her face... she really gets into it.

Sally has an ongoing skin condition - she gets lesions that lead to scabs. I've taken her to the vet for this and a cortisone shot usually gets rid of them for a few months, but they always come back, and cortisone is not a great long-term treatment option. I've also gotten a steroid spray to use on her spots (twice a day for five days) - but as you might imagine, she's not fond of being sprayed with a liquid that is cold from being kept in the fridge.

Finally, when diagnosing her skin condition, we discovered that she is allergic to a whole host of things, most notably: beef, chicken, pork, and corn (also sisal - the stuff they make scratching posts from - who knew?). All grocery-store cat food is off the menu. I've found a few acceptable alternatives at Western Pet Supply (Duck & Green Pea, Herring & Sweet Potato work well, she really loves Rad Cat raw food - Turkey or Lamb).

Personality wise, she's the queen of her castle.
She fights with other cats & dogs and would really do best being the only cat in the home. She's very affectionate, but only on her own terms. If you pick her up, or get 'in her face' when she's not in the mood, she *will* scratch you. She wants her breakfast at the crack of dawn. She will be a furry and insistent alarm clock.


Oh, and she HATES the vet. She hates the vet with a blinding fury and channels the strength of ten cats when they attempt to take her temperature. It's an awesome sight...to see chubby ol' Sally scratching the tar out of two or three full grown humans. When you take her to the vet, make sure they know she's a fighter & that they'll need the Kevlar gloves. Honestly - I'm not even sure that's a con... she's just really good at defending herself.



And if you've read that far, here are the pros:

Sally can be the sweetest most affectionate kitty ever. She loves to be around people, her favorite place to be is on your lap (or book, or computer). Wherever I go, she wants to be in the same room as I am. When I go outside to take out the trash, do laundry or get the mail, she follows me. I've never had a cat who did anything like this. She is very much a people-cat, and a complete attention whore. She will walk up to strangers on the sidewalk and flirt for some pets. She even tolerates kids, as long as they don't pick her up.


Sally is 90% indoors / 10% outdoors. When she is outside she generally stays close to home, watching the birds & squirrels and basking in the sunshine. She hunts a little, I've gotten mice, birds, and even a couple of (still living) baby bunnies on my doorstep. She's only caught one bird in the past few years though... her physique these days is built for comfort not for speed. I think she could be happy 100% indoors, as long as there was a sunny spot near a window where she could watch everything going on outside, but a balcony or deck would be even better. She's not going to roam or get into trouble, and is smart enough to stay off the street... but she, like any of us, likes to take some fresh air from time to time.

Sally supports arts & crafts! At this moment she's sleeping on a quilt in progress. She also likes to sit with me when I knit. She is an excellent knitting cat as she generally avoids getting into my yarn. I can knit right next to her and she doesn't swat the yarn... she only ever gets interested in yarn if I'm using it as an actual toy - or using my ball winder (what red-blooded cat resist that??).

Best of all - Sally does not scratch the furniture!

She's very good about using her turbo scratcher. So good, in fact, that the cardboard center will need to be replaced regularly.

Finally - just some general information:

Sally's somewhere between 11 -12 years old. I got her from the Thurston County Humane society in 1998? and she was about a year or two old then. So she's getting up there, but has quite a few good years left. And really, all she wants in the world is a cozy warm place to sleep (your lap will do nicely) and someone to keep the food dish full. If you, or anyone you know in the area would love to have a big-ol pile of fur to cuddle up with... Sally's your girl.

Attitude Adjustment

I've been watching Oprah again.... watch out! She's talking about the law of attraction, and it's really speaking to me.

Lately I've been pretty focused on all the things I need to do before I get to Thailand, and I've been pretty overhelmed & worried... people ask me if I'm excited and I reply that I'm terrified. What's up with that? That's no way to live. This is supposed to be a good move for me. I got out of my soul sucking job, how can I not be thrilled? So rather than spending the rest of my time here all stressed out, I'm going to give myself a little attitude adjustment and start expressing a little more gratitude.

So here goes:

I have everything I need.
I have enough money.
I'm smart enough to succeed in this course.
I'm going to learn to be a good teacher.
I will learn enough Thai to communicate.
I will make good friends.
I will stay healthy.
Sally will be well cared for.
I'm going to have a fantastic time in Thailand.

So... there goes.... no more panic, no more terror, no more worrying. Whatever happens, I can deal with it, I can learn from it, and I can grow from it.

"Does that bother you?"

I just got back from getting my travel vaccinations (oowie btw)... which was a really strange experience. First off the nurse described the various health risks for the areas where I'll be traveling (mosquito borne infections & diseases spread by poor sanitation mostly) and which vaccinations were recommended. Hepatitis A & B were an easy "yes" so was Typhoid, the risks are real, the vaccines effective and affordable. Rabies and Japanese Encephalitis were tougher calls. On the one hand, I'll be near high-risk areas for both, on the other hand the vaccines are REALLY expensive. For J.E. I would need a series of 3 shots at $125 each... and they come with a risk of severe allergic reaction for people like me who have allergies. I declined. I also declined the rabies vaccination. I've heard that there are a ton of stray dogs in Thailand and you can't tell an infected dog from an uninfected one, but at least with Rabies - if I can get to a hospital within 24 hours, I should be okay. Of course if I can't get to a hospital - I'll die. Hmmm... I intend to stay far away from any dogs I see there! And maybe I'll look for a clinic in Chiang Mai when I get there - if they've got the same vaccinations for cheaper, I'll get them. It's so strange to be making potentially life & death decisions based largely on cost and blind hope.

We talked a fair amount about "dysentery" and how to tell between what to treat with Immodium AD and what to treat with antibiotics. Considering how sick I got from eating unpasteurized cheese in France, I had her write me a prescription for the antibiotics!

Anyway the weirdest part was talking to the nurse about my plans. I told her where I was going and that I planned to stay for at least a year. Then she asked me "Are you going alone?" and I said "Yup!" and then she asked "Does that bother you?" I had to think for a minute. I mean, that's not the kind of question I was expecting - especially after our lengthy discussion of diarrhea. So I just said "Well, I'm on my own here... and I'll be on my own there, I don't really see the difference."

While I would love to have a companion to go with me... I don't have one...and that's not likely to change any time soon. I decided a while ago that I wasn't going to put off doing the things I wanted to do just because I didn't have someone to do them with me. I also decided, more recently, that I wasn't going to spend any more of my time or energy "looking for someone." But rather I was going to focus on living the kind of life I want to have regardless of who's along for the ride. And if, some day, there ends up being someone right next to me enjoying life with me - well then that's fantastic. But if it doesn't happen, I don't see the point in letting that 'bother me'.

Tangentially - this is why I've totally gotten into the new Doctor Who (well that plus David Tennant is one hot little Scot!). The Doctor travels through time & space, people come and people go, and he just keeps on traveling. C'est la vie, allons-y!

SCRAP

I'm slowly but surely going through all my stuff deciding what to keep, what to store, and what to give away. Today was the yarn stash. I made some decent progress.

I've got a big pile of yarn I need to give away:

A small pile of yarn I'm going to store:

And only a tiny bit to take with me.:
Hmmm.... looking at the ratio of keep to give away is making me sad. But it's just yarn (I know I know) and I can get more when I come back. Still... I might need to move a little of the Lambs Pride into the 'store' pile.


I also organized all my partial skeins, feltable wool, washable wool, cotton, and 'other'. I was thinking about giving them to the Goodwill, but then I remembered there was a place in Portland where they recycle craft stuff. I actually couldn't find the one I was thinking of (off Sandy Blvd - named cat-something, kitty-something?), but I did find SCRAP, the School & Community Resource Action Project. I just went and dropped off a big bag of yarny bits, and OMG - if I weren't leaving the country, that would be my new favorite store.

It's small and a bit rough around the edges, but it is packed to the gills with potential craft projects - for cheap! There were maps of Portland 2 for a quarter (would make awesome wrapping paper... or wall paper!), boxes of teacher chalk, markers, paints, magazines (decoupage-o-rama!), wrapping paper, ribbon, trims, yarn & fabric - also officey type stuff like paperclips, index cards, folders etc. TONS of stuff... for CHEAP! Now I know most of the people who read my little blog probably already have well established stashes - at least for their craft of choice, but if you ever wanted to cross-craft or just play - this would be the place to get some inspiration. If you're in the Portland area you should check them out - they're in North Portland on the Williams Rd. near Failing. If you're not in the Portland area - you should see if there's something similar where you are.

The Longest Mile

I've been plugging along getting ready for Thailand. Yesterday afternoon, I faxed the authorization form to pay my course fees. This morning I got up and did a little phone & internet work. I bought my ticket to Thailand, made an appointment to get my vaccinations, ordered the recommended pre-course books, and called my bank. Actually, this is funny. I was going to call my bank to make sure I could use my ATM card in Thailand (I found out the hard way that it didn't work in England!) and to see if I could/should add my sister to my account so she could take care of bills while I was gone. But at spot-on 9am, my phone rang and it was the fraud protection department of my bank notifying me of some "unusual charges" I was like "You mean a $1,600 charge from Thailand?" and of course - that was it. So they put a note in my file that I was traveling.

After doing a few things from home I went and got some MORE passport-type pictures (these are slightly, only just slightly, better than the first ones) - this time for my Visa application. Instead of going home, I hoped on the freeway going east. I thought I'd spend some time oooohing and aaaahhing at the fabric store. But I talked myself out of that since, well there's no way for me to bring all my existing fabric to Thailand, there's no reason to torture myself looking at fabric.

ANYWAY since I was already heading east, I decided to go out to Multnomah Falls.... one of the most beautiful places in Oregon.
There are a bunch of hiking trails, but despite visiting several times, I've never hiked much farther than the bridge. There's a sign right near where this picture was taken listing the heights of the waterfalls, the top one is about 600 ft. high, and the trail is only 1 mile. Just a mile to the very top.... it seems like it should be easy. Even though I wasn't exactly prepared for it (no water, wearing flats not sneakers) I decided to give it a go. I mean, I know I'm out of shape... I'm overweight and I have a bad knee that's kept me from doing much hiking the past several years. But it's just a mile, and the day I can't hike a mile is the day I need someone to shoot me!

So I start out, and it's not good. By the time I get to the bridge - only .2 of a mile, my calves were burning... not just like working hard, but like "Good God what are you doing to me??" hurting. Nevertheless I figured I was already a fifth of the way there, and it's ONLY a mile so I kept going. Oh My Lord! That was a STEEP mile. After hiking switch-back after switch-back I finally made it to a view point with a bench. I plopped my aching legs down and rested for a bit.

Two women and a couple kids showed up a minute behind me, one woman crashed onto the bench panting and said "Whoooo! That is INTENSE!" to which her all to chipper buddy replies "You're the one who wanted to go on a hike!" For some unknown reason I figured the bench was at the half-way point... but that was clearly not the case. I kept hiking and hiking, legs burning and resting every 10 yards or so. I know it's not possible, but it felt like it was a constant 45 degree angle. What I couldn't believe were the people coming back down - old ladies, moms carrying babies, and even a few couples with strollers! My only comfort was the people who passed me on the way up who seemed to be in as much agony as I was. One dad talking to his kids said "Man - who made this hill so tall?" and a couple of frat boys (beer in hand mind you) complained about the steepness too. It would have been amusing had I not been in physical pain and emotional turmoil. I let a few F-bombs drop at one point when I thought it was about to level off but around the corner it just went up up up some more. I wanted to turn back, I was sure that no matter how great the view it wouldn't be worth it. I mean, I already had a great view of the Columbia and had seen as many moss-covered trees, chipmunks, and ferns as I could stand. But I kept going... I simple could not wimp out on such a 'short' walk. I didn't check the time before I left, but I'm sure it took me an hour to walk that mile up.

When I got to the top, it was really beautiful. I sat on a rock right near the water and washed my face - the water was so icy and clear. But really all I felt was relief that the rest of the way was (mostly) all downhill. And my mood going down was dramatically better. Not only was going down much faster and less painful. But I had the joy of seeing other folks painfully slogging their way up. A couple of people asked me how much farther it was, and the first one was better than half-way there, so I tried to give her a little encouragement. "If I can make it - you can make it!" But there was one family towards the bottom - they hadn't even gotten to the bench yet- I advised to just stop at the bench view point for their picnic and call it good. Because seriously - it may just be a mile to the top, but that was the longest dang mile I've ever walked!

Rechargeable my foot!

Yesterday was the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene. I met up with the Portland knitties for breakfast at the butt-crack of dawn and we carpooled down. M's DH (also an M now that I think of it!) drove us down so we could all knit & chat in the car. I wore my newly finished Montego Bay - which was fitting since I started it on the trip down last year. And in a complete cycle of knitting - one of the other gals cast on for Montego Bay on the way home with some yarn she picked up there.

It was a lot of fun, lots of yarn, lots of sheep (noisy noisy sheep), and some very cute alpacas. Unfortunately, I have no photographic evidence of the fun because my rechargeable batteries are no longer recharging. I keep taking my camera out and trying to get pictures... but I only get about one good one before the batteries die. I made sure to charge them all night before Black Sheep, and while it had enough power to turn on, it refused to actually take any pictures. I want to do my part to save the planet, but dude! Hold a charge!

Now I'm home with batteries but no one to take my picture,...Montego Bay (pattern by Amy Singer - Interweave Knits Summer 2007)

Yarn: Art Yarns Regal Silk, about 2 skeins.
Modifications: I didn't do the fringe, the scarf is quite long as is.
Comments: It's an easy pattern, but I still managed to make quite a few mistakes by not paying attention. I had it down pat by the last foot or so, though. =P

And here is my current knitting WIP, Soleil. I had set it aside back in October and only picked it up again a few weeks ago. I really hope to finish it up before I go to Thailand.

In theory I should be able to get it done, but I've got a lot of work to do in the next month & a half... and I've been far less productive than I thought I'd be. It seems my batteries don't hold much of a charge either.

$23 well spent!

Yesterday I had my phone interview with the CELTA program in Thailand (who knew it would cost that much???). I've been accepted to the program!! I guess there wasn't much of a chance that I wouldn't get accepted, but still... it's good to have that part done. I still need to actually pay for the course... then there's the pre-course assignment, and all the recommended reading. It's just one more step in the path to "This is really happening!"

Of course, now that I've been accepted into the Thailand CELTA , I just got a call to interview for the CELTA program in San Francisco. I applied to that one like three weeks ago and they never got back to me.... in fact when I called to ask when I would hear from them about the interview they just gave me a non-answer. So it's funny how things work out.

You know, I had all these plans for how I was going to spend my time unemployed. I really tried to get into the mindset of "New Rebel" vs. "Old Rebel". But so far the only difference is that New Rebel makes the bed in the morning. New Rebel has also become a major night-owl. I've been staying up until around 2pm or later... which was unheard of when I was employed. My bedtime should be closer to 11pm.... or at the latest midnight. It's not that I'm actually doing anything, I just watch TV until midnight, then take my time getting ready for bed, and then I pick up a book. Part of me feels that this is a real problem... you know since it means I don't actually get up and out of the house until the next afternoon. But then, Thailand's time zone is about 14 hours ahead, so I guess it couldn't hurt to start resetting my internal clock.

Not to much else going on right now. I'm working on some crafty projects right now... but nothing I can photograph right now.

Solar Panels Charged and Ready

Ahhhhhh... now that's a beautiful sight!


The sun came out Thursday afternoon, so on Friday I went to the Portland Japanese Garden. I'd never been, and it was really relaxing. I didn't get any good pictures, too busy actually enjoying everything. Then I walked down to the rose garden which was another treat - the air was filled with their fragrance. Mmmmmmm. I just plopped down and soaked up the rays... and the roses for a while.

I feel human again!

Hair Trauma & Unemployement

(No I didn't cut it... but probably should)

So it's been a solid week that I've been officially unemployed. It's been weird. On Wednesday after my going-away party I went bowling... then stayed up until 2am... and proceeded to sleep in until 2 PM. I woke up in time to shower, get dressed & go to knitting night... then stayed up late again (getting caught up on Battlestar Gallactica), got up late again and went directly to Happy Hour with the x-coworkers. I've actually had some activity or other planned every single day since Wednesday, and will have something planned every day until Monday. This is just bizarre. For the past month or so I've been feeling like I have no life, and all of a sudden - all kinds of stuff is going on. It's good... I've had less time to dwell on the fact that I'm unemployed. Or worse... dwell on the fact that I'm planning to move to a country where I don't speak the language to do a job I've got about zero experience doing.

I have been somewhat productive though. I finished up Thailand CELTA application #1, and got most of CELTA application #2 done. But for application #1 I needed to include a passport type photo. Ugh. I hate HATE getting my picture taken. I'm seriously the least photogenic person I know. I mean, I'm no supermodel to start with... but I almost always look worse in pictures. At least I hope I do... because my Driver's license picture makes me look like a zombie, and if I really look like that... good lord, how can you people stand to be around me??

One thing that always trips me up is my hair. Like many women I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. I mostly like it.... it's the only thing I ever get even remotely vain about. It's healthy, right now it's at a good length, it's pretty curly, and 99% not grey (although they're coming!). My hair looks best when I condition it, comb it, pin it up and let it be. If I don't touch my hair and just let it air dry before letting it down, it gets wavy but not too frizzy - like this...

(This was my trolling for boys on the interwebs picture from last summer)

So today I went to get a professional picture taken so I could have half a chance of looking good on my resume. I showered, got dressed, put on make up (!), and then all I had to do was not futz with my hair until it was dry. But with you know it's Oregon, so that could take decades. I hung out at home for a while, and didn't futz. Then I went to the mall, to shop for a while basically killing time until my hair dried. I tried not to futz but I couldn't resist. My hair was still damp and I kept walking past mirrors. I'd finger comb this part, and untangle that part, unpin, repin... all kinds of nonsense, and each time I did something it just got worse. Then I went to the bathroom and combed it all out. I thought seriously about going home and trying again tomorrow, but I really wanted to finish up my application. I seriously considered dropping into a salon to get it styled but in a rare display of fiscal responsibility I resisted. I don't even want to show you what it looks like but in the interest of full-disclosure...

No curl... no wave, plenty of frizz, and um... triangular in a way that hair should not be. Ugh! (and if you look really closely - I've got lipstick on my teeth... great =/ )

But I console myself with the fact that I actually look like a living human being in this one. Seriously the only thing to do with my driver's license photo is take a nice sharp stake to the heart... or a shovel to the head - what is it you're supposed to do with zombies?

Brains.... brains....waaaant... eaaaaat .... braaaaaiiiiiiinnnnnsssss

NW Quilters show - lots of pictures

Today was the local guild's annual quilt show, and although it's a relatively small show, the quality of the quilts was impressive. Here are some of my favorites:A nice traditional wedding-ring quilt. I liked this one because the colors were bright and it was almost an eye-spy quilt with lots of little critters hiding in the 2" blocks. This is the kind of quilt I'd love to own.

Let Sleeping Cats Lie
This one was just cute - major 'Awwwww' factor from me. The little stitched-on kitty faces are adorable, and you've got to love the little mousies curled up with the kitties. Very cute. Good choice of fabrics for the cat fur too.

Monkeys!

I took this picture just for T-money. I mean, check out all the monkeys!!!!Who knew there were that many monkey fabrics out there?


Trick or Treat
What I loved about this one was the incredible amount of detail. The trick or treaters are carrying actual paper bags, the fireman has a shoe-lace hose, the trim & detail just put this one over the top. Plus, I love the nod to Sun Bonnet Sue. This is not the kind of quilt I would ever want to have... or to make, but I can really appreciate it on both creative and cuteness levels.

Beaded Fairy
I don't usually like beading, but this was spectacular. The black & beads really stand out against the dyed fabric... and the simplicity of the silhouette let the subtle colors of the fabric stand out. It just works.


Hawaiian style:
I love Hawaiian style quilts, the symmetry, the shapes, and the colors just get me. I especially like the reversed colors on the border.



Bugs
Ok - how can I not love this one with all the bugs... I mean, they're each so detailed.


Concentric frills:
The colors and fabrics used on this one really grabbed me, but what impressed me most was the long-arm quilting. I love the spirals and circles.



And let's hear it for the boys!

Here is M5K's Labyrinth. I love this quilt!
Something you can't quite get from this picture is the way the colors move - there are hots spots and cool spots and they all just kinda blend.
The grey blocks aren't really greys either, they're all different lightly colored tints that balance and contrast with the brighter background colors. It's really impressive.


Ben's amazing Spiderman quilt.
I love this one - I mean, it's spiderman, so what's not to love, but here's the story "I started this quilt last year when I was 8. I've wanted to sew for a long time but my grandmother finally started teaching me last year. I picked out all the fabrics and did all the sewing. I also learned how to use Jack the Ripper (and I like it!). I did all the ironing until I burned my hand so now my grandmother does that. Next I'm going to make a quilt for my little sister."

OMG - do you not love little Ben????


Now, I don't want to make a bunch of sexist generalizations, but it does seem that guys who quilt bring a different set of themes & styles to their quilting that really stand out against the more traditional & traditionally feminine patterns used in quilting. I say the quilting world could use more boy quilters. So I applaud Ben's grandma getting him hooked nice and young.

But here is my favorite quilt of the show... and a boy quilt to boot!

Neo Gothic:
Yet another quilt that is just impossible to do justice to in pictures. It is *very* three-dimensional. The gargoyles in particular stand out quite a bit.

I'm not sure what techniques were used for the stained glass sections. I can't tell if it's pieced or painted. And I can't tell if the stitching between the panes is a trim or a machine stitch. However it was done, it was just amazing (and huge!).


You can see a bit more of the stained glass sections here... as well as more detail on the gargoyles. I was seriously impressed. To be completely honest I kept checking to see if I could find cheats. I mean, this is soooooo good I couldn't believe it was all for real... but the proof is in the quilting... like all the stipple quilting around the gargoyles. Really amazing. I might go back again tomorrow just to see this one again.

So Long & Thanks for All the Fish

That's what I should have said anyway.

Today was my last day at work, and of course there was a party. Actually there were two parties a small get together with the office staff and then a big one with the whole department. The little party was nice... I had thought about something nice to say to each of them, and had some goodbye gifts for them - they got me a really nice messenger bag. We chatted and it was nice.

But the big party, well it was overwhelming. I very quickly got cornered... by people I didn't know very well actually. But then they called me up to the front of the room and my closest co-worker said some nice things and gave me a scrap book they'd put together, everyone contributed something... it was really touching, I totally burst into tears - I really wasn't expecting to be emotional. But the scrap book was really the best kind of gift for me. People drew pictures and wrote nice things... it really blew me away how much work had gone into it. Which was all great.

The rat is saying "You're rat-tastic!"

Except that they then expected me to say something.

It's times like that when I wish I were a better liar. Seriously I tried to come up with something nice and generic and authentic to say. I came up with "Well ... it's been interesting." I think I said I would miss people and that it was just time to move on. I managed not to say "God I hated this job." which is probably as much as I could expect for myself. And it was hard to hear people say how great I'd been when I knew how much I slacked off. I'm not good with the polite fictions.

And now it's all over. I don't think it's quite sunk in yet. Tomorrow will be a very interesting day.

Solar Power

I'm solar powered. There's no other way to explain it. The cold, grey, drizzly weather kills my motivation to do anything other than lay on the couch under a quilt with an over sized cat on my stomach. I remember a day in June, several years ago actually. I was working outside and the weather was miserable... well, not so much miserable as typical - grey, cold, damp Oregon weather. I was grumbling and complaining, I hated everything. As we were walking, the clouds parted and the sun came out, it warmed up a bit and before I knew it I was chipper again - literally skipping through the lawn singing. Solar powered I tell you.

This is perhaps the best explanation (excuse?) for why I did absolutely nothing productive this weekend. I had a big long to-do list planned out, it involved finishing up a CELTA application, studying some Thai, and cleaning out a couple of my closets. What I actually did on Saturday was spend about an hour on my application and hung out reading "Culture Shock! Thailand" on Council Crest - making the most of the 'sun breaks' and wishing I'd brought a warmer sweater. Sunday however, started out cold and rainy and never got much better. I barely made it off the couch. I knit a couple rounds on pink socks #2, and sewed borders onto a secret quilt top.

I probably spent about 10 (20? 30? one loses count) hours playing Tetris Worlds this weekend. And I still haven't beaten level 15 of Fusion Tetris... I've gotten close, but I always run out of time. Somehow I feel like if I can just beat this level, I'll be able to move on. As any addict will tell you - just one more game.

The good news is, it's supposed to get sunny... well, "partly sunny" here, so I might actually get a bit more work done. Wednesday will be my last day of work. I'm giving myself the month of June off. Well, I need to finish up my CELTA applications (at least two more after the one I'm working on), and continue reading up on Thailand, teaching, grammar etc.... but beyond that I'm not going to look for paid employment until I've gone through what I have in my checking account (well, plus my last paycheck & vacation pay). When I start dipping into my savings I'll start looking for some part time work. And when that runs out... if I'm still here... expect a plaintive knock at your door.