Last day of vacation

I go back to work tomorrow. I've spent this last week the way I would have spent the one before it if I hadn't stepped on that emotional land mine on the 29th. Sleeping in, staying up late, watching movies, wandering around town, browsing through stores that I never get to go to 'cause their hours are the same as mine, doing crafts, cooking.

My knitting project accidentally went home with my Mom after Christmas. While digging around in my craft room looking for something to do I found a half-done project I set aside years ago in favor of something else (can't remember what that was any more) and decided to drag it out and finish it. Click here to see what it'll look like when it's done.

Yeah, it's a cat. What are the odds? The colors don't look nearly that bright in person, though they are very cheerful. The directions on this thing instruct you to work left to right, top to bottom. I got as far as the red corner behind the cat's head before I set it aside a few years ago. This past week I've done the variegated purple-red rectangle, the green one, the other red corner, the purple body section, and right now I'm working on the variegated blue-green chest. I'd show you how it looks right now, but my camera bag was packed with my knitting, so it's up in the mountains as well. I probably won't get anything back until Easter. Mom offered to send things down to me, but I really don't like the idea of my camera bouncing around in the mail.

I made stock yesterday from the carcass of the Thanksgiving bird. Today I make soup. Which means that I'll have lunches for this week. I'm going to be using some of the CSA veggies that I blanched and froze this past summer, along with a can of creamed corn (my Mom says she always uses a can of creamed corn in her soup. As a thickener, maybe?) and some of the stewed tomatoes that I also made this summer using my crock pot. Did I mention those before? I can't remember, and I'm too lazy to go look through past posts.

I got Delilah's ashes back from the vet on Tuesday. When my other cat died, his ashes were returned to me in a decorative tin, and that's what I was expecting this time too. Instead, they came back in a little wooden box with a carved top. There's an engraved brass nameplate as well, with stickum on the back of it so that I can affix it anywhere I want on the box. I was so surprised at how nice it was that I burst into tears again. It's a good thing I decided not to inspect the package I was handed until I got home.

And then tomorrow it's back to the daily grind. I'm dreading the first opening of email. That'll take up a large chunk of the morning. And I'm also dreading the recitation of how things went over the holiday. I only told two people about Lolly's illness, but by the time I left the whole freakin' department knew about it. I should make sure I put it out there that anyone who offers me a pet right now might leave my cubicle with hurt feelings. I could probably just tell those same two people.

Off to make some soup!