Me & Mac (Poor grammar...I know)

The Mac in my life is my new Mac Pro. Lovely, exciting, and making me slightly crazy. I am the last person who would ever put my name and the term techie together. All that I know of computers has come to me with lots of sweat and tears. On Sunday I was ready to throw this computer out my window into a snow bank. For all of Monday I "taught it a lesson" by ignoring it completely! Our poor dog, Jesse, a 5 year old British Lab, spent the day keeping a wary eye on me. Poor thing. I hate to see the dogs worry when my mood hits the skids.

I've been having troubles moving my files form one computer to another - and I need to get them moved over quickly. There are patterns waiting to be written, photos to be uploaded, and some darn good tunes to be played. So, this morning I went trudging over the hill for my personal lesson where I was greeted by the calmest, most relaxed teacher I have ever come across. Bless her for patiently listening to my ranting, addressing my concerns, and then miraculously realizing that I had missed their offering of setting up this computer and transferring my files. I hope the store asks me to rate my experience this morning, for I will give her the kudos she deserves!

Suddenly the sun beamed brighter, food tasted better, and the birds sang sweeter. There is a light shining at the end of this technological tunnel. In 48 hours I'll be stumbling along, but at least I'll be moving forward.

For now I'll continue contentedly with my ancient craft of knitting. The familiarity of the yarn slipping between my fingers and the gentle sound of needle hitting needle will soothe my soul. My 2010 Olympic Knitting Challenge is moving along nicely...and it's a good night to cheer on Apolo Ohno on the Short Track!

Events

I have always loved parties and events. Birthday parties were always great as I was growing up. Our family was small-ish, and we all lived in or around New Jersey. Birthdays were family gatherings. The birthday "child" of any age would get to choose the meal, flavor of the home-made layer cake, blow out the candles after the traditional "Happy Birthday" song was sung (my father has always loved coconut cake and I have fond memories of the grown-ups picking coconut out of their coffee cups after the candles were blown out), and then, finally, the presents could be opened.

January 1, 2000? Oh, boy. We were all gathered at my parents home (now in North Carolina) were we had spent the last day of the previous millennium watching the festivities as they progressed around the world.

For the majority of my adult life we have lived too far away from family to continue with the "all-relative" gatherings, and I miss that deeply. My friends, in person and over the web, have taken up much of that slack. So, it stands to reason that I would get drawn to the 2010 Knitting Olympics organized by Stephanie Pearl-McFee, The Yarn Harlot. I was involved with this 4 years ago, when I was working at Twisted Yarns. I knit Judy Sumner's "Wave Lace Tunic" with Lorna's Laces "Helen's Lace", casting on during the opening ceremony and binding off before the flame was extinguished. I still love that top and wear it often.

Now comes the dilemma. What will I knit? It should be a challenge in keeping with all the athletes striving for gold. And I understand that even if I am a raving lunatic for 17 days, there will be an end. It's just that I have an unusually massive amount of UFOs.

There is a sweater:

"Starlight Baby" from Arnhild's Knitting Studio for this little girl:

my grand-daughter, Audrey;

a baby blanket I'm designing for her baby brother, due to be born in April:

and an EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket for the same baby:

It's not that 3 unfinished projects is a record breaking amount. After all, there are dozens of other UFOs stashed in every corner of this house. It's more that I have deadlines for these projects.

I was thinking of knitting, for me, another Norwegian sweater for the Knitting Olympics, but started tossing and turning in bed last night just thinking of the hours and hours of semi-manic knitting that would need to be done in 17 days.

So...I've had an afghan's worth of this

for a couple of years, plus some design ideas rattling around in my head. I think this might be a little more manageable. An afghan is still a handful (okay, lapful) but it doesn't have sleeves. Sleeves...now there's a whole other topic! I need to decide today since the Opening Ceremonies are tomorrow night.

But first...I need to make a cake for my husband's birthday!