That's it, I'm getting a cabin in the woods...

Not really :) But sometimes technology is frustrating. Like the internet connection that broke yesterday. I spent an hour resetting, unplugging, and restarting things to be sure it wasn't on my end, because calling the ISP is a huge pain and I'd rather not. It wasn't. It was the delightful ISP, whose phone was busy for four hours as either a) everyone else in town called to find out why the internet was broken, or b) they unplugged the phone so as to avoid irate customers needing an email or stock quote fix. It was working again this morning, at least!

But wait, there's more! In the middle of the heat wave that started over the weekend, our air conditioning started to falter. I don't really feel like we're challenging it that much since we keep the thermostat on an energy-conserving 78 degrees, but it was only managing to keep the apartment at a sultry 84. Ugh. The maintenance guy is coming back today to do something to it, presumably with the filter, which our landlord has never had cleaned in the four years we've lived here.

But it's not all whining and complaining here. There's good stuff, too. We took refuge from the heat at a Sunday matinee of Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Arrrh! I've heard some criticism that it's too long, not as good as the first, blah, blah, but for my money, it was two and a half hours of swashbuckling fun! The Hourglass Sweater was perfect movie theater knitting (after we'd finished the popcorn, of course). And I can't wait to see the third one next May. Sure, there were some slightly cheesy villains (Hammerhead Guy, anyone?) and what is possibly one of the most un-PC portrayals of native islanders in history, but we didn't care. In other good news, I think the kitty acne is getting better, though catching Geronimo for twice-daily application of calendula is getting more challenging. He's too smart and quite good at hiding. And Geronimo has accepted the new water bowl, which makes us very happy.

Knitting: I finished another pattern repeat on the Candle Flame Shawl, which brings the length to 10" without any stretching. At this rate, I'll need 12 more repeats to make the 70" length, which seems very do-able. The lace pattern is very nice--interesting but not frustrating. It's pretty easy to read, which means I don't have to concentrate as hard. I also am up to the increases on Hourglass Sweater. When I got tired of knitting last night, I also (gulp) sewed down the hem. I hope I don't regret that later, but I really hate finishing, and if I can do some as I go along, I'm a much happier knitter. The curling edge was also getting on my nerves as I knit. The Jo Sharp DK wool is not the softest yarn around (though it softens with washing), but I think this will be a nice all-purpose kind of sweater.

Writing: 28,000 words. I finished introducing the new guy. I have a couple of brief scenes to add to carry the new subplots up to where I currently am in the book. Then, we're back to adding material.

Reading: Goblet of Fire.

Cooking: The mint chip ice cream has been very nice. I've also been on a smoothie kick (probably related to the a/c not working properly).

Berry Banana Smoothie

1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup frozen berries
1 banana
1 TBL honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

Chuck everything in the blender and puree!

This morning, I made one using orange juice and blueberries. It was thinner, more like slightly thickened juice. A little weird.