I'm going to be going away for a couple of weeks, so there won't be much going on for a while! Off to Florida to warm up and sleep lots. The project I don't want to jinx will be taking another step forward when I get back, so I'll be able to write everything down about it by the end of next month! Hopefully with a successful conclusion, but that's still up in the air. I'm working on it.

The coving finally got painted this weekend. Yay! So I can take the ladder back to my parents, and put the paint up in the loft out of the way. Unfortunately it didn't get painted until Sunday, and people came to look round on Saturday. Actually, still waiting to hear from the agent about that! Need to phone him. I was out all day Saturday. Cricket training with Redoubtables in Saarf London, followed by a team-run quiz night. We didn't get back home until gone 1.30, so Sunday was a day for moving very slowly. And climbing ladders whilst wielding paintbrushes, apparently!

I've also started knitting a lace scarf with some knitpicks shimmer I got at Christmas. It's very much at the bucket of boiled arse stage (to quote Rabbitch). I dunno. Hopefully the magic of blocking will sort it all out! I'm surprised how unwieldy my long straight needles feel after knitting with dpns or circular, but I don't have any circular in 3.75mm yet. I was thinking this could be a travel project for the 8 hour flight, but I'm worried about the long needles. Might have to rethink.

Not finished the red jumper yet. But I've got to the yoke stage, and it's definitely too bulky to travel with! I'm getting some more knitpicks wool too, for my latest challenge - a bulky, striped, fleece-lined jumper. Well, two of them. One for me, one for GG. Same design, different colours and stripe patterns, so it shouldn't look like we're in hers and hers matching too much! I'm planning to keep it a simple, drop-shoulder jumper, so it should be fine.

It's Friday! Woohoo!

Cycling in from my parents' house yesterday morning was so much easier than driving. And I got to work loads earlier than I ever seem to manage from home. So that's good, because that meant I could rack up enough extra time yesterday to go get a haircut this lunchtime and still get home at a reasonable hour, even though I didn't get in until 10 again.

Bit nervous about the haircut - it's the first time I've been to a hairdresser rather than a barber in... oh... about 5 years I think! It's going to cost me an arm and a leg, but I got bored of short hair and I need some help with the styling for the growing out period. And I'm going on holiday for 2 weeks next Wednesday, so if it ends up looking bad at least I've got 2 weeks to let it soften!

Yesterday was traffic hell around here. It took me an hour each way to get to work and back. It's 12.5 miles. I can cycle it faster than that. I wasn't even in rush hour. I left home at 9.20, and left work at 6.

As a result, I was tired, pissed off, and generally unhappy last night. No, the hoovering did not get done. And I didn't pack my bag for today, so no, I didn't manage to cycle this morning and avoid the traffic.

Tonight I'm going to see my parents to pick up some keys before GG and I go on holiday. They will feed me, and I am going to stay there all evening. I will use Rusty to get there, so the traffic will not matter. Tomorrow morning I will use Rusty to get back into work. A nice leisurely 6 mile ride. Again, the traffic will not affect me. I will go to bed early, and get up relatively late.

And hopefully I will feel better for it.

Well, I made it down to see GG. Glad I wasn't driving. I spent most of the train trip asleep! Which meant that the sleeve didn't get as much work on it as I was hoping. (I was also beginning to believe I'd got the shape of it wrong, and it was going to need more wool than I wanted. But more on that in a mo!)

Saturday afternoon we were going to look at the house we've offered on near Brighton. I hadn't seen it yet! Naturally, it was tipping down, which does put a bit of a dampener on seeing houses, because a big thing for me is having lots of light, and when the weather's that bad it's very hard to judge. But I think it will do very nicely. The rooms are a good size, and it was easy to imagine living there. Just got to sell mine now!

Then we had about 6 hours to kill before going on to a birthday party the other side of Brighton. It just didn't make sense to go back to GG's house, so we went for lunch at the Marina, a bit of a wander round, sat and flaked for a bit in the car in front of Rodean, then went and parked in Brighton and did a little, tinsy bit of shopping before getting tea (well, hot chocolate and a chai tea latte) in Borders. Yummy. I really enjoyed it, but it'll be better when we live a bit nearer.

The party was good too - although I still don't sing in public. Kareoke isn't my cup of tea.

Sunday the weather was foul. GG managed an 80 minute run, with me cycling next to her. Best one yet I think! Much better than the last one we did. Just a bit of a shame that my lungs have been hit by this cold thing again, so I couldn't join her other than on the bike. If I'm not careful, it's going to be really really hard to complete the half marathon we're doing in April. But there's no point pushing it, I've been ill enough this winter already! As it was I got a bit cold. Waterproof gloves would have helped.

I was extremely tired yesterday. Really. Got some simple house-keeping things done, and a bit more knitting. I managed to work out that I hadn't got the shaping wrong on the sleeves I was knitting, and each one is taking just one ball of wool. Which is good, because that leaves me 2.5 for the yoke, which should be more than enough. It's good to have a safety margin!

Tonight I need to hoover. Maybe do some dusting... Gosh, a really exciting night in!

No really. I mean, I made it into work, so I must be, right?

That's what I'm telling myself, anyway. Definitely not sick. Feel top of the world. Really. Gotta cycle to the station yet today... Don't want to drive feeling this spaced when I can be knitting... Or sleeping.

House was in the local paper last night. Fingers crossed they have some viewings this weekend... I dropped off a set of keys yesterday, got it all almost tidy this morning, so it's as ready as I could get it while feeling lousy this week. Going to see the other house tomorrow for the first time, so let's hope I like it and it's not quite as pink as it looks in the photos...