Oh my is it good to be home for the evening.

The Science Fair was good - it pretty much always is - in the high-school group we had a hard time picking a "top three" because there were a lot of good projects (one of which - a SOPHOMORE in high school did it - and I would be all excited if one of my college SENIORS managed a project like that).

Getting home was not fun - torrential rain, horribly bad drivers, someone riding my tail for miles and miles (hint: if I don't speed up when you first get right behind me, it's not gonna happen).

I am teetering on the edge of declaring this a Weekend of Slackdom. It's supposed to be cold and nasty tomorrow (they have snow up in western Oklahoma and it sounds as if OKC is getting sleet), my two exams for the start of next week are done and ready to go, my grading is all done. I have one more exam to write (for Friday), but I could do that DURING the week next week.

And it would be nice to be able to sit at home this Saturday and:

1. do some work on the quilt-in-the-frame
2. make a batch of honey-baked lentils (I had wanted to do that earlier this week but Tuesday night - the best night for it - I just didn't feel up to it)
3. maybe, make a batch of bread
4. get caught up on reading the several issues of Trends in Ecology and Evolution that have stacked up (I took out a subscription with the promise to myself that I need to keep up with AT LEAST ONE journal in my field, instead of just reading articles as I need to for research projects)
5. not have to go out. (I am so glad I did my grocery shopping yesterday afternoon).
6. work more on either the Bird's Nest Shawl or my newest socks.
7. start reading the book on crow behavior I bought recently

(Oh - my "newest" socks. Here's a not-very-exciting progress shot:



This is the "Rib Fantastic" pattern from the new "Socks from Handpainted Yarns" book. The yarn is from Rock Creek Yarns , one of many of the "small" dyers out there. The color is called Kilauea (like the volcano, get it?) and the challenge is to make something out of such a contrasty yarn. While the pattern's not working out QUITE as I expected, I still like the effect. And it's a nice yarn to work with.

I'm thinking I might also use this same pattern for a skein of Bearfoot that Anne, my "sock book winner" decided to send to me as thanks for the book - it's called Mystic River and is mostly dark blues and purples with little flashes of amber in it and I think it would look nice in this pattern. (Even though I don't often use the same pattern more than once, I do think in this case I will - it's a fun pattern and I think it will look very different in a short-repeat variegated versus the stripey yarn I have here.)

I DO think I am going to end the evening tonight with a hot bath and my current mystery novel (#2 in the William Monk series, and no, I don't remember the title right now). I'm kind of tense and stiff from the bad drive, and it's cold out - this may be the last good opportunity for a real hot bath before the weather gets too hot to make it seem worthwhile.