A bit of color on a not-so-great day

Yay...finally got a picture of the scarf I just finished. It was hard actually having enough sun to take it. Not that it's been cloudy but the sun comes up so late that by the time it gets over the neighbors' trees, I'm on the way to work. And by the time I get home it's too dark. It was almost there this morning so I took this on the way out the door. The wheel in the upper left hand corner is an artistic statement *L*. The person who will receive this lives in a place with a lot of snow so I figure if she gets lost in it, they'll be able to find her by looking for her almost day glo scarf. In a way, I hope she hates it and sends it back because I've become attached to it.

Pattern: None. 9 inch seed stitch followed by 3 inch garter stitch bands.
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Color Spun 75% Acrylic, 25% wool. I've used this on several projects including my first socks...well not these colors. And it's definitely a good workhorse yarn. I like it for things that really need to be wash and wear.

And that's where my good day came to a halt. Updating of software at work just made my work much...not harder...just inconvenient. For no apparent reason. Previously, I could work for a long time and move around in the program using either the enter button or the escape button. But now, for some unknown reason, I have to keep stopping and using the mouse to get from one place to the other. Sucks.

Then, I'd gotten up really early this morning and made 2 big batches of my infamous cranberry salad. One for the dinner tomorrow and one to trade. One of the members of my family of choice makes these scrumptious sweet potatoes. I love them, and usually have seconds for dessert. And she loves the cranberry salad. So a couple of years ago we started trading. I'd make an extra salad and she'd make an extra batch of sweet potatoes for me. It's great fun and good eating for both of us. So anyway, I get home and decided to have a couple of bites of the salad (I always put some in a little sandwich box for me). Ewwww...it was so runny. Nothing jelled. How weird. But maybe the big ones were ok since the proportions in the sandwich box aren't quite right. Nope....like cranberry/vegie slush. SDF! I have NO idea what happened. I even checked the trash to see if I'd used the right amount of jello etc.

I'd blame it on Mel...or Kramer (Did he lose it big time or what?) but I think I'll blame it on Christmas advertising. I really enjoy the holiday season; the lights, the hustle and bustle, the baking and wrapping, and even trying to come up with good gifts on a small budget. But never ever ever, even when I was 'partnered' did anyone ever awaken me by putting a diamond pendant on my throat. Or gave me a Forever anything in a box that had the lid wrapped separate so that you didn't rip the paper and ribbons off. There is a really good reason for this. First of all, nobody close to me ever had enough money to buy diamond pendants. And second, I really don't wear much jewelry and would probably strangle myself. And thirdly, never ever did my wish list have diamonds on it, and I was gifted with a lot of nice things. But after awhile, those commercials kinda get to me. Between them and the 'lovey' Christmas songs, I start feeling all whiny and pitiful and have not-really-serious thoughts about eating worms ;-0.
I'm thinking that perhaps I shall wrap one of the nice envelope boxes from work..with the lid separate of course. And buy myself a skein of Socks That Rock or Lorna's Laces since, like diamonds, I've never had any. And after I open it and ohhh and ahhhh over this gift to myself, I shall untwist the skein and wear it around my neck. Maybe?