Working stiff

The books are in, and in order (a week and a half of shelf reading and book shifting is an excellent exercise plan. Step on the ladder, reach up to move books, put books in new location, step off the ladder. Why, it's almost aerobic!)
The air conditioning works and thank heavens because it is hot here. When summer finally arrived, it really arrived.
We're still in a construction zone with temporary walls and plastic sheeting, but things are getting more and more settled every day.

So work is fine, and if nothing else, it hasn't been boring.

But I was very happy to see the weekend finally get here. I need some time to recover.

I'm home in my comfy chair, relaxing between half-hearted bouts of housekeeping and trying to achieve an ideal air circulation scheme between my three open windows and two fans. The cat is also trying to stay cool, which means we're both vying for the same prime location in the room. She doesn't seem to mind sitting on top of me, but hot + sweaty + cat on the lap is not really a recipe for comfort as far as I'm concerned. With the air on me, and with judicious application of popsicles, it's actually not too bad in here. Unless you have to exert yourself, that is, which is why the housekeeping is being punctuated by a series of breaks.

I've been knitting merrily along on socks, a sweater for a knitalong (you can see a photo there), a knitted tank, and a blanket. I was making good progress on all of them, but the blanket's about to go on hiatus until it cools down a bit. Some photos:

The bottom section of a Lotus Blossom Tank:


The Girasole blanket:


Jaywalker socks:


And now I guess I should get back to work. The vacuum isn't going to run itself.

If it isn't one thing, it's another

The past 6 weeks or so have been a little crazy for me, and as I often do when things get nuts, I coped by withdrawing from people, and from this blog. Sorry about that.
I'm feeling a little better now, and though I can't really say that things are settling down, at least I feel like I'm coping a little better than I have been.
When last I wrote, I was getting ready to go to my aunt's 75th birthday party. It was a family reunion, with all my aunts and uncles on my mother's side as well as many of my cousins. I hadn't seen my parents since Christmas and hadn't seen most of the rest of my family since my uncle's funeral last March, so it was really nice to get to reconnect with them. The weekend went by much too quickly. I finished my aunt's scarf a few days before I left, and I'm pleased to report that she loved it. (And everyone else was really impressed, too.)
I'm glad I got to see my dad, because the week after the party, he had to go into the hospital for surgery. He came through with flying colors, and seems to be almost back to normal.
I wasn't able to go home and see him, which really sucked, and which was one of the reasons I am so grateful I got to see him at the reunion. I couldn't go home because the next week was when I started my new job. (See what I meant when I said things were going a little crazy?)
The job is great. I really like my coworkers, and I'm very excited for the semester to get started. The job's also a little hectic right now (but what isn't?) We're finally geared up for the big library move, which is taking place on Monday. We're getting a whole new building, and it's mostly done. It's the mostly part that's a little worrisome. I'm really not sure what we'll be moving into. Given the weather this week, I'm just hoping that the a/c will be on.
So that's more or less what I've been up to the last month or so. There's also been some reading (romance novels and sci fi), some tv (I finally got cable again, and I love it) and some knitting, which I'll try to get posted up as soon as I get a few photographs taken. I can't believe that it's August already.