I'm all antsy today. It rainy and gross outside and what I would really like to do is take myself out for coffee or maybe a burger and then to a movie. However, I spent a bunch of money over Christmas, am considering more travel, and have the opportunity to buy a high-quality secondhand loom from a friend. I already own a small table-top loom, but it's a pain to warp and wastes a lot of fiber in the process. However, Bonnie wants to ditch her triangle loom, which warps itself as you weave and collapses nicely for storage. The only downside being you can only make triangles, but they are a pretty versatile shape.

So I should probably stay here and scrounge up something to eat and maybe check some thing my off to-do list, but I'll probably check the showtimes in a few minutes anyway.

I'm conceding defeat to insomnia. I went to bed at twelve, woke up before two, and haven't been able to fall back to sleep. I've been all uncomfortable with something flu-like for a week now but when I went to the doctor last Monday he assured me that it wasn't H1N1, probably wasn't the flu, and that I'd get over it soon. If he was so off before do I really want to make another appointment?

I had my tea party today and I would call it a success. In the end the total head count was seven plus a little girl named Elli who, it turns out, really enjoys a crustless cucumber and hummus sandwich. We all talked, had tea, and played with the wee one and had a very pleasant afternoon. I got rather dressed up and looked not entirely unlike a extra from 'Mad Men' and made a pile of dress-up beads available for all my guests. Julie brought cinnamon buns and actually finished baking them at my place, so it smelled wonderful and they were served hot and gooey, straight from the oven. My old roommate, Tiffany, brought a fancy pumpkin pie candle as a hostess gift, Sarah brought some fancy lemonade, and it was all very lovely and I am pained by the fact that I am about to throw a 'but' into this, but it's going to happen.

I was kind of surprised that a few people didn't show up, people who I'd both talked to in the last week about the party today and who told me that they were coming. I mean, whatever, stuff happens, but Mary had offered to bake scones for my party and I had accepted and probably would have made something else to eat if I'd known she wasn't coming. It was fine without scones though, tea sandwiches and cinnamon buns seemed to be plenty of food.

I suspect Mary may be avoiding me, as part of a very complicated issue where I had some awkwardness with a mutal friend and now it appears that entire friend group is ignoring me. I could be, and probably am, over-reacting about that whole thing. For now, I'm just going to enjoy my party success and wash out teapots.

I was woken up a few minutes ago by something that sounded like gunfire. Even though I sleep through a lot of loud noises(like thunderstorms and fire alarms) now and again I will startle myself awake with dreams of sudden sounds. However, I'm fairly sure this was not a dream since my ninth floor perch is now revealing at least three cop cars on my block. It looks like something happened at the club down the street.

I am eagerly anticipating my upcoming tea party on the seventeenth of this month. I wanted to have people over to see my new apartment and had a desire to wear fake pearls and make tiny sandwiches. Seriously though, I adored having tea parties when I was a kid and now would like to experience one that involves actual tea and guests that are neither plush nor imaginary. I'm a little anxious over the guest list though. Originally I wanted to invite some work friends and some other friends but I work with a pretty tight-knit group of techs and I didn't want anyone to feel excluded so I invited my current tech team and several emeritus team members, thinking that not everyone would come. Then I added 2 husbands, one boyfriend, and one baby to the list because babies are cute and boys make us not talk about work.

This does mean that I have invited eleven people to my apartment. That's kind of a lot. If everyone comes I'm not sure we can all sit down at the same time. This is one of those things that I should have probably thought of in advance. But what's the likelihood that everyone will come? I do wish people would RSVP though, so I'd know what to plan for. I sent out an evite on the 21st of September and know that there will be definitely 5, maybe 6 people plus me. I don't know if the vegan is coming or not. If she was coming I would try and make some things that she can eat, but otherwise I won't bother trying my hand at egg-free, milk-less cupcake recipes.

I'm thinking all finger foods, best not to get forks. One of my guests is making scones so I'm thinking I'll make cupcakes and tea sandwiches and maybe something else that I haven't decided on yet. The "table for tea" diagram in my 1973 Betty Crocker cookbook shows a spread of sandwiches, cookies, nuts, and mints as well as tea and coffee(at opposite ends of the table), milk and sugar for both, a floral centerpiece, and two bowls of fruit. I think Betty's view is a bit more grand than what I had in mind, although I might get a tablecloth for the occasion. I have a charming hodgepodge of teacups(some even have saucers) and I might acquire another teapot or borrow one for the occasion since mine only holds about three cuppas. Lets hope I can pull this off.

Today I learned that the Poison Control Center must capture phone numbers because they called back to check-up on me, which made me feel very safe and cared for.

Despite a New Year's resolution to avoid involuntary slapstick, yesterday I nicked to myself while cutting a green chili and without thinking, put my injured thumb in my mouth. In the process of sorting those two issues out, I must have smeared chilie evils on both my hands because in a short amount of time I was in a rather significant amount of pain. In hindsight, I'm not sure what possessed me to buy and chop a chili pepper when before I have always used chili powder to make aloo gobi. Especially since I know that I have sensitive skin - I get rashes handling raw tomatoes, so obviously I should go live in a bubble and touch as few irritants as possible.

WebMd suggests calling Poison control in these kinds of situations so thats what I did and the very kindly call center lady ran through treatment ideas until she came up with ones that I had in the house. I got to wash my hands with rubbing alcohol (no help), coat them in vegetable oil (still no help), and finally soak them in milk (helpful!). I'm fine today, but I did lose several productive hours yesterday to sitting on the couch with both hands in a mixing bowl. But the aloo gobi did turn out marvelously.

Last Monday I arrived home from visiting my parents in New Hampshire and checked my e-mail only to discover that my Local Yarn Store was having a surprise blow-out sale that was ending in ninety minutes! I got there with time to pick up a few deals and have a fascinating interlude with the shopkeeper.

I mentioned that I was stocking up on yarn for baby hats, because everyone I know seems to be having a baby. She looked at me and said "Ah, well you're at that age where that's true. Wait until you hit your mid-thirties; then everyone will be getting divorced." I pondered aloud, "Hmm, I wonder what you knit for people who are getting divorced. Comfy socks?" To which she replied, "Oh no, when people get divorced you teach them HOW to knit socks. It's a good coping mechanism."

I paid for my yarn, left, and spent a few minutes pondering how badly a marriage has to end for someone to buy yarn boutique.

A few days ago I went into the kitchen and discovered an intriguing quantity of ketchup on the counter,a three-pack of 44 oz bottles. It seemed strangely out of place in an apartment of merely three single people and I had to wonder if there were an interesting use for ketchup that I was not yet aware of. Turns out, Tiff just really loves both name brand ketchup and her Sam's Club Membership.

Dear Roommate,

I understand that we are both looking forward to moving out, but posting bitchy away messages on Google chat regarding the situation does not help.

Thank you.

- The Etch-A-Sketch I ordered arrived yesterday. It seems smaller than my childhood model and lighter as well, although this may just be my taller and mightier adult perspective. It's still awesome though - I can almost draw a circle, or at the very least, a square with round corners. I am resisting the urge to scratch all the silver dust off the screen so I can get a better look at its innards; I did that to my last one and it messed it up a little.

- Is it me or does it seem like pre-jumpsuit Elvis suffered from TSP (Too Short Pants)syndrome? Or have pants just gotten longer through the decades? I wonder, because I've had to hem the last three pairs of pants I've bought, something I haven't had to do before. I mostly blame that on buying clothes intended for 'office attire', they are probably cut to be worn with heels.

- My new vegan co-worker asked me about some of the basic tools we use regularly in the lab, and was surprised but not upset when I showed her the bone folders. Still,I think I'll wait a few days before I introduce her to the hake brushes, which are made out of sheep hair.

- Loved Nancy Pelosi's outfit tonight, but I didn't listen to much of the Address to Congress.

- I haven't been paying attention to much of the economic crises news, mostly because it just winds me up about things that I can do very little about. I live well within my means and am putting away money for retirement and emergencies/dream-vacation-in-Paris. I can't do much more than that.

- I have decided that my dream vacation would be to rent a flat in Paris for a month. I'm sure people would come stay with me and and hang out for a week or two and the rest of the time I would take long walks around the city and eat pan au chocolat and unpasteurized cheeses. There would also be a week where I would go to the Louvre for a few hours every day and then afterwords go sit in a cafe and have a glass of wine. It would be relaxing and contemplative and I think that I could really absorb the city this way.