little more progress

 I got the current simple socks up past the gusset decreases. Now the colors look more "totally '80s" to me than "Easter egg," maybe I should have made the socks bigger and scrunchier with looser cuffs

 I also started the shortrowing on the chicken (this is the one I am giving to a colleague with multiple grad students and a hellish overload, so she's stressed and needs an emotional support chicken). You can see the diagonal on the right side; once I finish that side I go over to the other side and repeat it there. Then there's a different set of short rows to shape the "breast." It's a pretty clever pattern but I may be tired of it by the time I get the one I'm making for my niece's birthday done.

 I sent off a sympathy card to my uncle (and said "And family" because I know at least one of their grown kids came in). It's a little trickier to know what to write when someone isn't a person of faith (of any kind; I can look up what someone of a faith different to mine would consider good). I went with "my deepest condolences" which isn't much, but it's something. I figured it was better to write the quick thing and get the card in the mail instead of having it sitting on my desk at home for a week or two while I tried to think of what to write. 

I spoke to my mom last night and she just said "he's taking it pretty hard," which maybe isn't surprising (given knowing people in my family). I hope having his kids around will help. I know he has plans to move closer to one of them now.  

I had a bad pain day today. I don't know if it was the weather (hot and humid, and we're supposed to get rain tonight but not yet), or that I hadn't done my PT stretches in a few days (I did them this evening even though I'd rather spend that half-hour knitting), or if it's just stress and sadness over a lot of things. Or maybe even allergies; I sorted through three more (of the 36) samples today, and while I wear an N95 mask while doing it, I think I'm still getting exposure to mold spores. 

Anyway, I HURT today, and it was kind of miserable. I took a tylenol with dinner (I do that only rarely) and like I said, I did the stretches, which seemed to help. If it were less than 95 degrees out I'd consider a heating pad, but I think that would just make me crankier given how hot it is. 

At least I managed to get my "reserved parking" sticker today - we have free access to parking in many lots, a few lots are "reserved for permitted faculty" and you can buy a faculty permit (if you are faculty) for $50 for a full year, which is cheap enough. And one of the lots is the one next to my building, meaning I have guaranteed close parking (the front lot is the reserved lot; there are a few unreserved spaces in the back lot but students can use those too, and while I could get one coming in at or before 8 am, I couldn't run home for lunch on days I don't have an afternoon class and get a spot there when I came back. So the reserved spot is worth it to me)

 Wednesday is our day of all-meetings, Thursday is departmental meeting, Friday I have my annual mammogram in the afternoon so the rest of the week is going to be busy