Gasping for Breath

Listening to: Do That To Me One More Time Captain & Tennille

What a difference a few weeks can make. The new boss officially took over August 1, and the changes have been drastic and fantastic! All old junk is gone, things I've been trying to get rid of for years but was prevented by the old boss who was afraid someone would ask for a pulldown map of the world from 1956. Or an odd microphone stand hidden in a box that nobody knew we had. Mismatched hand-me-down furniture is gone or going (we're getting brandspankin' new stuff). Yes, change can be a good thing. Classes begin Monday, and I have 3 this semester - all of them I'm looking forward to. I'm also very ready for my student workers to come back!

On the knitting front, despite not posting for ages, I have finished some things. No pics today though. Ron's grey socks are done, and I've cast on a pair for myself (maybe) in pink/peach/ivory space-dyed. In lace knitting, Rosy-Fingered Dawn is nearly through the second color band and looking very lovely. I was concerned there was not enough of a color difference between the first two bands - the skeins were so close - but once knitted there is a definite shade change. There is really very little repeating on this, so it's difficult to take along - works better to keep it next to the sofa for longer segments of knitting time. The black wool shawl is also coming along, just very slowly.

My summer student worker is an international student from Ivory Coast (his sister works for me during the regular school year). Some of his family came to visit for a couple of weeks, and we had them out to our house for a Sunday afternoon. Jean came along as translator though I was able to understand some of what they were saying - amazing how 3 years of high school French come back to haunt a person. They wanted to see a small American farm, and voila! here we are. See? French... heheh. They took lots of pictures, chased the chickens, ate fresh blackberries and cherry tomatoes from the garden, and got to watch Ron bottle-feed the orphan calf Patty (sorry sis, I didn't name her!).

Let's see... other news... OH yeah, I bought a motorcycle. It's an old one, but in fairly good condition. Dad heard it advertised on the local radio 'trading post' and gave me a call, then went with me to look at it. The bike is a 76 Hondamatic 750cc, 4,600 miles on it. The front brakes need to be fixed as it has sat in a garage and the brake fluid gummed up on them. The right mirror and turn signal are cracked, but easily replaced. Gas tank is clean as a whistle - the original owner last had it licensed in 84, and he drained the tank before storing it. The new owner (the nephew) took me for a spin, and it starts right up, runs like a dream. Oh, and it's a lovely shade of Shrek!