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Friday, September 13, 2024

Are We There Yet?

Happy Friday, friends. It's been a long week, so I'm happy to see it come to an end. The Mister had to do a bunch of work travel this week, and it got complicated by a diversion and landing due to a medical emergency on board yesterday (he's fine, and the passenger with the issue was being cared for by a nurse on board). Last night was also curriculum night at Molly's school, so I spent the evening meeting all her teachers and hearing about her classes for the year. On top of all this, the heat has come back and we haven't had rain in a while, so everything feels completely dried out.

On the plus side, I did get some good news from work this week: My job classification change has officially gone through! The change is effective at the end of the month, so I'll still have to submit weekly time sheets for a few more weeks and it will take about a month for my paychecks to catch up, but at long last this major headache is over. I'll also add that, thanks to the Mister's encouragement to ask for it, I am going to be getting an additional payment to make up for the increased pay I would have received if they'd put in this change months ago. It's not a huge amount, but it was bumped up a bit by my office to a nice even number (I suspect to placate me after all my complaining). It's really nice to be relieved of this extra stress after nearly a year.

I have been focusing mainly on two projects this week. The first is the baby blanket, which I think is in the home stretch. I finished the sixth main pattern repeat (of eight total) last night and slipped half of the stitches onto a spare needle to get a better sense of the size:

My 9.75 in. foot for scale

The body repeats are 10 rounds each, and the border is another 14 rounds, so combined with a good hard block to open up the lace, I think this will be a nice size for a baby blanket. I still have a little more than a third of the first skein of yarn left, and I'm hoping it will be enough (though I've got that second skein in reserve if needed).

I've also been spinning away at those Charollais singles:

I'm hoping to finish them today, if I can. Woolen-spun singles spin up a lot faster than worsted-spun singles, but the difference is that I need to keep an eye on them as I spin, which means it's not feasible for me to read while I spin. I know that I'm very spoiled in being able to spin or knit and read at the same time, but I've gotten so used to doing it that doing just one leisure activity at a time without doing something else has started to feel unproductive to me (yes, I know that's entirely ridiculous). I can, however, listen to something while spinning these singles, so that's mainly what I've been doing. And once I'm ready to ply, I'll be back to spinning and reading again.

We've got a fun weekend coming up -- Molly and I are going to see Hamilton tomorrow! This will be my second time (I saw it the first time in January of 2019, when she was a bit young for it). Sunday we'll both be tuning in to the Makers for Kamala livestream. And I'm hoping to take care of the laundry and cleaning today so that the rest of my weekend can be cleared for the stuff I want to do rather than the stuff I have to do.

Here's hoping your weekend is full of the stuff you want to do!

11 comments:

  1. Back-to-school night always wore me out and gave me a new appreciation for what the kids went through every day. They attended a large high school with a big campus, and getting from one class to another on time was an accomplishment. I'm glad work has agreed to your new classification and backed it up with some money. I do not think you were complaining; you were just asking them to recognize and value your worth. Have a terrific weekend!

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  2. Oh, I remember those back to school nights... and having 3 kids was extra challenging! What I am really happy for is to read about your work resolution! (and I would not say you were complaining... I'd say you were advocating for yourself, which is never easy! so BRAVA to you!!)

    Enjoy Hamilton this weekend!

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  3. Such good news on the work front and so happy for you! The lace baby blanket is looking beautiful and the color of the fiber you are spinning is scrumptious. Have a great weekend.

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  4. That baby blanket is looking great!

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  5. What great news about your re-classified role - congratulations! Your crafting is looking great and I hope you had time to work on your spinning. Enjoy Hamilton!

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  6. Good stuff to celebrate here! I could not be happier about your work news. Finally! And Hooray. (And I'm so glad your husband encouraged you to continue with self-advocacy. And I'm even more glad that they responded with clear appreciation and respect for the work you do. Whew.)
    I hear you on the d-r-y. I've been leaving the hose on my impatiens, b/c I know they can continue to look gorgeous through the fall if only they don't wither.
    Have a great time at Hamilton!! Definitely a fave in our house.

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  7. Yay for your job change being official AND the extra $. Freeing up that brain space must feel so good! The lace blanket is really pretty - and thank you for including foot for size comparison. Have fun at Hamilton and enjoy your Sunday ... I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Makers for Kamala event. Really curious to see how it goes.

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  8. Congratulations on the job change and the back pay. I admire you for risking advocating for yourself. It's also been hot and dry dry here. Today the humidity is up so I am hoping we'll get some rain next week. I saw the IG photo of Molly at Hamilton. How fun. My daughter treated me to the performance several years ago for Mother's Day. It's quite a production.

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  9. Oh, Sarah. I am so happy for you. BRAVO to you (and to the mister for his encouragement and support) for following through and speaking up and sticking with it. What a burden you've been carrying! Here's to a good week (and a little rain would be nice. . . ). XO

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  10. Congrats on the job classification finally getting approved and YAY for extra compensation, too. I know it's very hard for women to ask for money and I applaud you for doing that. I hope Hamilton was as terrific as ever!

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