Let the dust settle already

My word, it has been crazy around here.  Deadlines, projects, things I can't tell you about yet, family, illness and unexpected surprises have been running rampant around here.  What to share first, oh, I know...

My assistant, hard at work today.

Allow me to introduce you to Butch.  He is a 6-year-old Bagle Hound... Beagle and Basset Hound mix... and the newest member of our family.  You see, our dog sitter called to take me up on an offer I made about a year ago.  Butch's original owner was in poor health, in and out of hospital care, which resulted in Butch being at our sitter's a great deal.  I had said last year that if he ever needed a home, to please give me a call.

Last week, his owner passed away.  That fact is sad enough but the heartbreaking part is that Butch was left with the body for several days before anyone bothered to check on him.  It breaks my heart on so many levels.  Our sitter received the call and she went to get him, with the next of kin's permission, so Animal Control would not put him down.  When she had him, she called me to let me know what happened and asked if the offer still held true.  After hearing the story, there was no way we could refuse to let Butch into our home.  We all agreed that since he knew our dog sitter fairly well that it would be best if he grieved for a few days at her place before transitioning him again.

We picked him up on Saturday night after I got off work.  He smelled like death, literally, but he got along well with Buddy and Hobbit.  He let me take him out in the yard on his lead and he even wagged his tail by the end of our visit.  When we went to get in the car, he jumped right in and sat down with his head on Pokey's lap.  We gave him an oatmeal bath straight away to help with the smell and he's been settling in nicely.

Now, I had a severe allergic reaction to supper on Sunday night, early Monday morning, which has had me down for the count for the past few days.  Today is the first day where I can be vertical and not feel like I'm going to toss my cookies.  Me being me, I went in to work because I felt bad for not making it in on Tuesday.  Thankfully, my days off this month are Sunday and Monday so I only missed one day.  I'm doing all I can to make it through today.  I have managed to eat 3/4 of a Cinnamon and Sugar pop tart.  Granted, it's taken me the better part of two hours to get to this point but the fact still remains, I'm doing it.

Sneak peek at the color scheme on my shawl

I'm on the final rows of a shawl that I started on the 6th for Quidditch.  I am crossing my fingers that I have enough yarn to do all her repeats for the edge but either way, I've managed to pull out about 1.100 yards when it's all said and done.  I really love how it's coming along.  The colors are just so happy.  Initially I wasn't sure if I would like it but now that it's about done, I really do.  I hope that I will be done with it by tonight but those are some super long rows I'm working with now so we'll see how it goes.  I think I will make it but thankfully the edging is set so that you can stop wherever you need to and it will still look wonderful.  I would love to have the full ten rows but I'm on row four now and just connected my fifth and final skein of Rose Garden.  I have enough of the green left to do a final row so wherever I get with this last skein, that's where the end will be before I do the last row in green.  I'll share it with you when I'm all done.  I promise.

I ordered some yarn from the UK to make myself a sweater.  I hope it arrives in time so I can get the sweater done to wear to Pokey's annual Christmas party that his company throws.  It was a nice enough event last year and this year it will be early in the season instead of on my birthday.  I can wear the cute dress that I wore last year but I need a new top/sweater to wear over it.  Everyone there was so intoxicated that they will never know it's the same dress.  Needless to say, we didn't stay long after supper was over.

There are other things bubbling in the background that I wish I could share with you but I just can't at the moment.  I will soon though, I'm sure.  Okay, it's time to get back to the grind, though I am surely feeling a lot worse for wear the longer I am upright.  Fingers crossed that I can make it through today... that's my goal, anyway.  How about a song to get things in a good direction for the rest of the day...