This weekend was a busy one. I was hit with a case of insomnia not able to sleep on Friday night (I think it was a combination of adrenaline and knowing that I needed to sleep in order to get out of bed by 4 a.m.) We dropped off the newlyweds at the airport before 6 a.m. on Saturday morning. They made it safely to Chicago. Since we were already halfway there, my husband just proceeded to head into work for his Saturday job. He cannot get into the building until 7 a.m., so we stopped at Starbucks for coffee. We were still early, so we had egg souffles at St. Louis Bread Co. (That’s Panera Bread to those of you outside the St. Louis area.) I did some Christmas shopping and puttered around a few knitting shops while Benjamin worked. I was looking for the perfect yarn for some Christmas knitting and found it after a couple of false attempts. After my hubby finished working, we finally made our way home. I arrived feeling exhausted but jittery from too much adrenaline and caffeine from the craziness of the past 24 hours. After a refreshing shower, I crashed and slept hard until time to get up for church on Sunday morning. After church and a birthday lunch for my husband’s aunt, we even managed to not only get a new tree this year, but to decorate it as well.

Last night we picked up the new Mr. & Mrs. Smith from the airport at about 10:45 p.m. They came out of the terminal looking like the blissful newlyweds that they are. They said they had a great time in Chicago. They did a lot of walking and managed to visit Navy Pier, the magnificent mile, the John Hancock Building, and several malls. I probably managed to leave out some of the other things they told us.

Prior to all of these crazy goings on, I had other news to share: I both got a new job and consequently gave my two weeks notice for my current position!!!!!! I have been having shoulder problems for about six months now. I have seen doctors, done physical therapy, and had steroid injections. The only options my doctor can suggest for me are to either have surgery or quit my job (typing for hours on end). I definitely would prefer to avoid surgery at all costs. I had been approached several months ago when purchasing fabric in a local fabric/yarn shop. I was wearing one of my hand knitted shawls when one of the ladies in the shop approached me. She asked if I had knitted my shawl, and I replied that I had. She then asked if I would be interested in teaching knitting! Of course I replied that I would love to teach knitting! Long story short, life was busy and I had not been in to the shop in a while. When I went in a couple of weeks ago, I was instantly greeted and told they had been waiting for me to come in. They took down my contact information and I soon got a call from the owner. I had an interview last week and was subsequently offered a part time job teaching knitting classes and working in the shop! I promptly accepted the offer and gave notice to my current employer. One of the best perks of the new job: discounts on yarn and fabric!

I also received some of Heather Bailey’s beautiful Freshcut fabric in the mail today! They will be making their way into my shop shortly. I have a very limited quantity of each of these fabrics, so I am thinking of offering a special limited edition of my bags with slightly different proportions to make the best use of the fabric.