Second Day

My second day back at work...I came home with a splitting headache. I mean a headache like I haven't had in a long, long time. My head hurt so bad that I was actually nauseated from the pain. Heck, I even took my temperature--just to be sure. A couple of acetaminophen tablets, a hot bath, and a couple of hours laying down, and I'm right as rain now. I didn't actually sleep--my head hurt too bad, but I did lay in the bed for a while. I got up around 6 PM, thinking that if I fell asleep that late, I'd never get to sleep tonight.

Ok, I've realized that I'm starting to sound like an old lady regaling all my aches and pains, so I'll stop now.

After I got up, I felt well enough to do my KAL rows and a pattern is beginning to emerge:

I washed the alpaca blend scarf I knitted, and it is a lot softer. I didn't block it, though. I just laid it flat to dry. I really do need to block it, but putting all those pins in gets rather tedious.

And now, the fourth try at sketching this rooster.

If I were going to do a detailed drawing of him, I'd do a grid and get all the proportions right and everything, but my purpose here is to try to improve my freehand sketching skills, that's why I do them on my lunch break at work. Depending on how fast I eat, I have between 10 and 15 minutes to sketch. The end of lunch buzzer imposes a deadline that cannot be fudged or pushed back. It provides the ideal opportunity to practice sketching quickly. My biggest problem with it is that I have to have a reference. I am not to the point where I can draw/sketch accurately from memory or imagination. Maybe one day I'll get to that point. Maybe I won't. But I'll keep working on it.

You know, I usually take my Christmas decorations down on New Year's Day. This year, I just wasn't ready to. Sitting there looking at the lights, with the lighted garland and wreath (which I got on clearance for $5) on the door beyond it, I wanted to leave them up just a little bit longer. Add to that the excuse that I want to buy some new storage bins, as the ones I currently have are some 11 years old and getting pretty battered...

Cody said we should leave the Christmas decor up all year long. No, that won't do. I don't want to get to the point where the tree blends in with the background.

Now I am sort of watching the Sugar Bowl. This presents me with a dilemma. My dear friend Buck is a Notre Dame fan, but my beloved son Cody is a big LSU fan, and...well, you know what they say: blood is thicker than water. Sorry Buck.

GO LSU!!!