Catching up on a boring week...

So I do actually have everything unpacked, and after about ten days, Teddie decided he had moved in, too:

He spent the first week or so under the bed, although he did come out to eat and use the litterbox. He was REALLY not happy with me, though - first, we're at a new place with that smells like another kitty, with weird sounds and smells and things aren't in the right place and where ARE we?! and THEN it becomes 100+ degrees all week with no air conditioning in the apartment. Yeah, I was definitely NOT voted #1 Kitty Mama last week (although I did brush him every day and make sure he had cold water and shade in several places throughout the apt). Apparently, he's gotten over it, for the most part. I did get totally dumped for Cute Guy the other night, though. He came over Monday night after class to watch a movie, and as we were sitting on the couch, Teddie comes out, looks at me, looks at Cute Guy, looks at me again, and promptly jumps up onto Cute Guy's chest, curls up, and falls asleep. I guess I know where I stand now, geez! (Btw, if you ever get a chance to watch a BBC documentary called Shakespeare Behind Bars, I highly recommend it. It's really fascinating to see how classical theater affects even convicts.)

Anyway, other than the unfaithfulness of my cat, not much has been going on. After three or four days of The Most Boring Bind-Off Ever (aka an applied I-cord bind-off), I have the baby blanket done:

I had big hopes of getting a picture with it all layed out nicely, the colors and shape displayed to the fullest advantage...and then realized that I have absolutely no idea where my blocking pins are! I think they're the same place ether region as my oven mitt and my "I solemnly swear" t-shirt. Sigh. Plus, it's too big to fit on my blocking board. So this is just a picture of a clean, finished blanket. Baby blanket #6, I might add. No more babies for a while, okay people?

On that note, I counted up all the projects I've completed since I started knitting about four years ago now. 6 baby blankets, 3 full-sized afghans, 11 pairs of socks, 2 hedge hogs, 3 pairs of felted clogs, 1 pair of fingerless gloves, 2 pairs of mittens, 4 sweaters/shirts, 6 scarves, 2 Christmas stockings, 2 bags, and a hat, for a total of 43 FOs. Wow! On top of this are 3 more scarves, 1 more pair of socks, another sweater, and another hat (I finally started my beret for Solvang yesterday) all otn right now. I knit to keep myself sane, apparently.

I still have not gotten an official testing date for my black belt test yet, although that should come out next week. Most likely, I will be testing on Saturday, July 26th, and getting the results on Monday, July 28th, but that isn't confirmed. Yikes, only four weeks away! I'm pretty confident, though. I can do all of the PT consistently except for the pushups, which tend to hurt my elbow after the first two sets. I'll suck it up for the test, though, because I know I can. I know my form inside and out. I blew through both of my board breaks the other night after class (I'm doing a reverse side kick - my absolute favorite kick - for my kick and a palm heel strike for my hand break). I know all of the self-defenses that are taught to tkd students, thanks to Haganah and instructor class. I don't think my sparring is quite up to par, but Sir said we'd start working on it in regular adult class, so that will be good. It will be the first time in a long time that I've tested in front of a crowd, though, so I'm a little nervous about that. I am volunteering to help out with a kids' day camp at the local Y next month, though, which I think will be fun and will be a good opportunity to get used to working in front of the kids again. I don't think I'll be doing my instructor test with the black belt test, as I'm still kind of shaky on three forms, but the camp should be a good time to work with the other instructing staff and get to watch them, too!

Work is going okay - Godspell is going strong in Solvang (we need bigger houses, though, bring your friends!), The Heart's Desire will join us there soon (a beautiful show, I highly recommend it!), Ragtime opens two weeks from Saturday and is just jaw-droppingly amazing, even in the rehearsal room, and The Imaginary Invalid and Hot Mikado both start rehearsals in the next three weeks. I'm going home to Illinios next week while Desire techs in Solvang, so look forward to pics from my crazy family's Fourth of July chicken fry and the Cubs/Cards game at Busch Stadium on July 5th!

Gotta get going...got a little skit to do in Solvang tonight, and then I think Cute Guy is coming over afterwards!