Austin state of mind

All hail the Annual Austin Trip. This year's is already especially chaotic, but good nonetheless (though driving was a workout due to 25-mile-an-hour winds). Pretty skies, good Starbucks, tasty dinner with good company, and a few other very nice touches that are making me smile more than I have in a while. So in my few first-night moments of peace in a nice, cushy hotel room that I didn't have to pay for or share with anyone, I wanted to stop by and say that I'm here, and I'm OK. Not great, but OK.

I'm still having Moments pretty much every day...we all miss our guy terribly. Many, many thanks to all of you for your thoughts and wishes. Everyone in my family was truly touched...and I was overwhelmed, and very grateful.

Most of you may not even know that two of my co-workers - one a good friend - got laid off January 16 (five days after our director took a new job), and the department has been reorganized. And my issues only scratch the surface. March 2006 was pretty ass, but in my cosmic web of friends, family, and co-workers, January 2008 is on record as the Worst Month Ever.

But I promise you - this post is not all about the griping! I'm working on several sorts of self-improvement and having a bit of success. Bryan and I spent last weekend in Fort Worth with Caety, who lost her grandfather last week. It's truly stunning what beautiful 60-degree weather, adorable kids, and time with your best friend will do for a grieving heart (and it's safe to say I'm speaking for both of us).

And I'm preparing to start a new lace project. I say preparing, because three hours of hand-winding does not a complete ball of laceweight silk make, apparently. But it's really hard to complain when it's the Claudia silk in Ocean Depth...a colorway that puts most everything else to shame, and y'all know how I feel about Sea Silk.

So while I think I'll finish the winding before I go home, I probably won't cast on until next week; there are too many distractions here. Too many, at least, to think that I can start a lace shawl with a 32-ROW PATTERNED-BOTH-SIDES lace repeat. It's the Fiber Trends Baltic Sea Stole (mine will be the San Diego Stole), and it's gorgeous, and I've lost my mind.

There were a lot of things I'd planned to say before my last post, and never quite had the heart to finish. That's happened a lot these past couple of years. Not to mention all the promises for interesting content to come. It doesn't mean I won't keep trying, mind you - just that I'm aiming to start under-promising and over-delivering, instead of the other way around.

There's a certain line from Wayne's World running through my head as I say that. I'm sure at least one of you knows which one I mean...but no matter. For this weekend, at least in my world, it's party time. Excellent. For this weekend, if you're not in Austin yourself, you can envy my upcoming visit to the LYSes I can't go to just anytime.

For this weekend, despite all the changes here and without, life is somewhat normal in the place that likes to keep itself weird. I'll take it. I could really use the break.