A birthday and other various things...

So it's my birthday today and I'm back from my trips. Well actually, I got back a few days ago and tomorrow I'm off again. I love all the visiting I've done and am about to do, but the driving is killing me! When what is supposed to be a 7 hour trip turns into a 9 hour construction-fest of fun, you know you've been driving through Pennsylvania. I don't know, this could just be me, but when I have to turn off my vehicle because traffic is stopped on a four-lane highway, I'm just not a happy camper. Ah well.

As for the birthday, I turned 26. To be honest, it feels just like any other day. (And I'm perfectly OK with that!) I'm not feeling all retrospective or future oriented today. I'm not contemplating where I thought my life would be at this age. I'm just enjoying the life I have at the moment.

And as for my first trips, they were great. Very relaxing. Basically I didn't do a whole lot of anything except visit with family and friends. When I wasn't hanging out, I was sitting on my butt reading or knitting. It was fantastic. By the way, has anyone read Marley and Me? I started and finished it in one day during vacation. It was a great book and it made me want a dog despite my current living situation! In truth, there's no way I could have a dog at this point in my life, but I know I'll have a dog in my future somewhere. By the way, if you haven't read it and are going to, be sure to have a box of tissue with you for the end. It's so bittersweet.

Anyway, on to the knitting. I'm visiting my sister this upcoming week. Her birthday was in July and since I didn't have a present for her when I saw her, I decided to make her a pair of socks.This was some Knitpicks sock yarn I had in my stash and I really like how they knit up. I'm usually not a huge fan of the "magic stripe" sort of sock yarn, but I'm pleased with how these turned out. I even got the stripes to match up so the socks matched each other! (Was that slightly anal on my part?)

The socks didn't take me very long at all. I did have a week and a half of no obligation, 'do whatever I want to' time, so much knitting was had over the break. I've been working on something I hadn't really mentioned before too. Do you remember this sweater?Well, I hate to admit it, but it's now this...This was some alpaca yarn Jill gave me and unfortunately, it made the sweater just a bit too stiff. The collar was supposed to be sort of droopy. Instead it stuck out in front of me like a shelf. I think it just was not the right yarn for the pattern. So..... I went digging through my stash and I found some yarn that worked a bit better.This is the back made out of some thick/thin mercerized cotton. Oh and did I mention there are 375 yards to one skein??? I made this entire back without finishing the ball! Now that's impressive! Anyway, I like the drape of this fabric a lot more than the last one. I'm thinking it'll turn into a much better looking sweater this time.

That's all the news I have for you. Oh wait... I forgot. I have a job lined up already for when I get back from my sister's! It's not a zoo-related job. It's just waitressing again, but I'm all about that at the moment. I'm not ready to move again and getting a zoo job would probably require me to do that. I'm pretty excited actually because it's at the same restaurant I worked at before, just a different location. I won't be stressed learning a new system and I can actually enjoy myself!

So I'll leave you with a picture of the sunset we had this past weekend. It totally took my breath away.