I’m finding myself with less and less free time that I can devote to the things I love best, things that up until two weeks ago I considered absolute musts for each and every day - blogging and knitting. I’ve hardly touched the needles in the last week, and my blog-read list is piling up faster than a bunch of feral cats on a can of tuna. I’ve been marking the blogs I have less interest in reading as already read so that only the most interesting blogs are still in queue, but there’s still 70 entries unread in the knitting category alone! Abby, Adrian, Wendy, Franklin, Stephanie… forgive me for my tardiness! And to the readers of Manning Knits (as few of you as there), I apologize for my posting absence.

So what have I been working on lately that’s kept me away from both blogs and needles? Work stuff. Lots and lots of work stuff. It’s busy as hell, but I’m really loving my new job. In a nutshell, most of my time during the week has been spent working out details for this tradeshow we’re going to in Chicago in September - I’m handing registrations, hotel arrangements, the customer events, maintaining lists of booth assignments, etc. I’m excited about it - I’ll probably be in the Windy City for a little more than a week. I’ll actually be working Fri-Wed, but if I can arrange time off, I’m hoping to stay the following Thurs-Sun on vacation. I love Chicago, and I would love to actually visit the city again. I may even be able to convince Mom and Dad to come join me for those days. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out!

Meanwhile, my knitting sits neglected and sad in its little corner of the loft upstairs. And there’s so much to do. Like I’ve said, I’ve started planning my Christmas knits already, and I’ve gone so far as to create a spreadsheet to keep it all scheduled and organized, to make sure I can get it all done before gift-giving day arrives. I’m itching to start it all, but I’ve still got to do my Sockapalooza socks, which I’ve neglected up until now. I kept telling myself I had plenty of time, but now I’ve only got about 3 weeks… I hate deadlines sometimes. Oh well.

I promise I’ll try to have a little more presence online in the future, though. Pictures, stories, etc. There’s so much to share! Now, though, I have to get back to work on a few things before I head out this evening to the theater - it’s Harry Potter night #1 tonight, and I’m going with a bunch of friends to go see the new movie. Then Friday night is the book release for Book 7. Fun fun! Maybe I can take some knitting with me and be productive while I wait for midnight to approach. (Owls don’t go after yarn like cats do, right?)