Procrastinating

I really need to go clean the kitchen after dinner (Thomas made Salmon with quinoa and broccoli - very good), but it's more fun to finally get a new post under way! It's been a while - again - but now I'm finally back!

I had my birthday on Monday, but since I was going to work the entire day we decided to celebrate on Sunday instead. I got some good food and some nice presents, and I got to sit outside in the sun for a while too. We were planning to go to the cabin, but after doing some grocery shopping and realizing that I had a ton of laundry to take care of (and don't give me any feminist remarks saying that Thomas could have done it. We do equal stuff around the house, I think he even does a bit more than me, and laundry is my chore. Plus, that way I get it done the way I want to!), we decided against it. Thomas put some meat on the grill here at home instead, and we had a very nice dinner, with rhubarb pie for desert.

Thomas got me a bunch of comics, which was an awesome present!

And my sister had made me a new needle roll, that I had been asking her for for a while:

I love it! And she made me a matching project bag too:

Also, the project bag was filled with this:

Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate! I got seriously addicted to this stuff when we were in the States, but there are only a few stores that sell them in Sweden so it's kind of hard to get. Sanna got her hands on some of it when she was in Gothenburg the other weekend, and I'm so pleased! It won't last long, I tell you!

My parents were talking about coming to visit, but we finally agreed that this weekend wasn't very good for either of us. I'll see them later this summer, so it's ok. I turned 31, so it's not that it's a huge day to celebrate! I was just happy to get to spend the day with Thomas and just relax (even though the laundry did get done too).

Oh, this week we're having one of our bathrooms re-done! Finally! When we moved in three years ago we noticed that the floor in the downstairs shower had sort of sunken around the shower drain. The plastic mat was whole, so there wasn't any leakage, but it was pretty uncomfortable to stand on, plus it meant that the concrete underneath was crumbling. Now, finally, we convinced the landlord that there was a lot of water damage under the shower, as it has only gotten worse with time, so we get a whole new bathroom. Yay! Unfortunately, this means that I'm without a washer and dryer for about a month, but we'll just have to use the neighbourhood common laundry room. We'll survive. We have a smaller bathroom with a bath tub upstairs, so those things we won't have to go without. I of course forgot to take any before-photos, so you'll have to wait about a month to see the finished result.

Oh, and knitting? Actually, I've been slacking a bit the past few days. I've knitted mostly on the wedding shawl, and I'm done with five charts (out of 12) so almost half done. It's going faster and faster too, which is nice, and I've actually been able to knit a bit on it at work too. I  haven't gotten around to taking any new photos yet, so you'll have to wait. Hopefully the next time I get back to you I've finished the first half at least.

I've also knitted a bit on the St James top (I think it felt a bit neglected after I mentioned it the last time), and I'm almost half done with that one too:

I still haven't decided on the colour, if I like it or not, but it doesn't look as bad on me as I had feared. I'm pondering whether to put a black bow and black ribbing on it, to sort of mute it down a bit. I'll see what I decide. I think once this one is done I'l probably try and finish my Hokie socks, I really miss those!

Oh, that's right: I also got some birthday money from my grandmother, so I ordered myself some books! When we were visiting Sarah and Chris in the States, Chris bought us a book that he said we ought to read, and I've just finished it. It's Skystone, by Jack Whyte, and it's the first in a series of seven or eight books. I LOVED it! So I've ordered the rest of them (in paperback, I'm not made of money), along with some more knitting books. I think I'll wait to tell you about those until they actually arrive.

Oh, and Sarah: We finally tried the Astronaut Ice Cream. And we both loved it! So you can tell Chris we can still be friends :)

/ Jenny