Missed another one, oops

I successfully donated whole blood on the 15th. Yay me. Whole blood is a little easier than platelets for me; only 1 stick. After that, I had an interview with a grad student for their research project. The project is about people and roles they play.

I made RG an ice drop pendant. I got it done just in time for her birthday supper on Saturday. We had a lovely time. JJ had not gotten CD's email about the supper but I had left him a voicemail, asking if he wanted to carpool. He showed up just in time for us to leave and make it to the restaurant.

I've started learning how to loom knit cables. I knitted, I ripped, I knitted, I ripped, and I knitted. And ripped and knitted. They aren't great, but they are discernibly cables.

I found out the power had never been turned off in Mom's apartment. She was paying someone else's power bill, essentially. I had sent the company my POA and told them to discontinue her account but apparently they never got it. I called them on Friday (when I found out she was still getting billed) and that's when I found out the POA wasn't in her file. Grrrrr.

The tatters' meeting on Saturday was lovely. We didn't get our usual time, so we had it 10-3 instead. I tatted around a wood key and made a heart and started a bracelet. However, the beads and thread color didn't work out so I cut it apart before I was quite finished.

We also had two new tatters. Anitra helped one and I helped the other. Both had mastered flowers (1 ring with lots of picots) and were learning chains and bigger rings.

Leigh from Somthingunderthebed.com brought some books and I now have a few more to add to my wishlist.

She had brought this old, early 20th century German tatting book with her. She also talked about having an early 20th century German book without publisher or designer name. She's been trying to identify the designer by finding (probably) her designs in a magazine. Magazine publication was more common than book publication and sometimes have the designer's name; although not always.

Leigh's been looking for German magazines of the same era. However, she doesn't know the names of any applicable ones and neither do any of her contacts. I posted something in social media and someone in my circles pulled up a German catalog. I don't know if it will pan out but hopefully Leigh will find something helpful.

After the bracelet didn't work out, I made some hearts from the thread (and I've been having fun with my coloring page of the day calendar - I work on them whenever, so I'm nowhere near close to today).

The weather has been absurdly warm for this time of year. Not just the Bradford pears have been blooming but so have the star magnolias, tulip poplars, and other trees I don't know the name of.

I went to visit RG and her dog, Dez, recently. Her dog is almost a year old and up to fourteen pounds. Here's a still from a short video of her chewing on one of her favorite things, an antler.

US politics ahead:
When a white supremacist is a trusted advisor in the White House, with an admitted goal (in 2014) of destroying the US government, is it any wonder I'm depressed.

Something is wrong with my office temperature setting
It should not be 78F in my office in the middle of winter. Meanwhile, a co-worker down the hall opens his door to a freezing office every morning. He has to run a heater half the morning just to get it comfortable.

The tree by my front door has relieved my mind. I saw buds on it this evening. I was getting worried because my neighbor's tree has blooms and there was nothing on mine. Since a large branch broke off last year, it was a possibility that something had killed the tree.

My knees really hurt today. I have no idea why. My knees have hurt before, so this is nothing new. Usually though I can blame conditions like, driving for hours, walking in bad shoes, etc.

I've started typing my game notes for my LFR blog. Whenever possible, I type my notes into my laptop but sometimes that is not, so I'm left trying to translate my scrawl. I'm trying to keep them in order. Yesterday, I started the blog by introducing my characters.

The days have really gotten longer. I can walk home without turning on my safety lights.

I am going to look for my Lindsay Rogers book. I think it will really help with my wreath.

Last night was the New Year/Christmas party. We exchanged gifts and watched Hogfather. It was fun. I think that I could do a Susan costume, in her governess aspect anyway.

My namesake had a playmate; another little girl, daughter of two other guests. At one point, they were playing together in her bedroom when the other girl's mother stopped by to check on them. She asked a few questions (what are the fish's names, etc) when my namesake popped up with 'you're interrupting our game. Can we go back to it now', or words to that effect. Everyone agrees; she's her father's daughter.

Liz gave me a wonderful scarf that she wove. It feels and looks fabulous. Poor Alisa, she left my present at home. She plans to mail it to me later. A present that is kind of an extra gift; a jar of apple sauce. It's made from the apples from the trees that I gave Liz & James about eight to ten years ago. It's the first year that they've gotten a decent crop. Last year's crop was destroyed by a frost. It probably would have been a good year if it weren't for that.

If it had not rained so much this morning, I'd want to go take a look. But it's a bit muddy and I'm wearing loafers.

James introduced us to a new show; Rough Science. It's vastly entertaining. Every high school, and some elementary & some college, science class should watch this show.

I started AnneB's dragon, with just text directions. That didn't work, as I realized when I opened my laptop to check the PDF with pictures. So I cut it off the shuttle, gave it to namesake, and started again. I've had to stop because I'm using my 2008 wood Palmetto shuttle & I need a better hook to make the upcoming join.

I've decided, emergencies permitting, that my next big purchase is a portable harddrive. I was looking at them last week and that really is the best way to store and protect my data vs hard drive crash. I can get one for about $80 that should be big enough.

By the way, Americanas lay green eggs. Tasty eggs.