Why I Think ...

... that Beach Knitting rocks: As I mentioned yesterday, I was a victim of the amazing separating Destiny Circular needles. I left the office at an "I have a chance" time to get to BK before they closed, but traffic wasn't friendly. I called about 30 minutes before closing time, talked to Joan, and she said if I didn't make it, she'd leave a replacement pair between the front door and screen door in front of the shop. How's that for service?!!! Curious what a busted pair of expensive circs look like?

Tah-Dah! The scary part was that I was knitting away on my cable sweater (oops! Forgot to take a pic. Sorry!), put my knitting down in my lap for a minute, looked back down and I had two loose stitches in the middle of my knitting. YIKES! Fortunately, I got everything back on the needles fairly easily. Unfortunately, I didn't even think about getting a blog pic, I just wanted those stitches safely back on a needle!

... that I hate where I live: Among other reasons, traffic in Los Angeles county sucks. And local authorities do things that let it slide deeper into Hades. For example ... Why couldn't I make it to BK before closing last night? Well, I'll tell you!

Just off of "my" freeway exit on the 405 southbound is a major traffic light. Left-hand turn arrows (these are way too rare out here, but that's another story). FOUR lanes approaching the intersection in every direction -- a left-hand turn lane, a right-hand turn lane and two straight lanes of traffic.

Last night (and this morning), the intersection was just a blinking red light. With the left turn lanes blocked off with traffic sawhorses with big Ghostbuster-type NO LEFT TURN signs. And stop signs on more traffic sawhorses. This created so much of a back-up that the freeway was backed up more than two exits. People approaching the intersection from the west were backed up for almost two miles. This morning at 6:30 am, it was a 10-minute back-up.

Would it kill these people to station a traffic cop at an intersection like this? Even for rush hour? I guess so.

... that living here doesn't completely suck: Um .... uh ... We get some pretty cool sunrises? And I have some pretty amazing friends, at work, at Beach Knitting and at Bearly Stitchin' even if I don't see them nearly enough around my work schedule.

... I can't wait to fly home tonight: Well, I'm excited to see my parents and their shiny new digs. The last time I saw the condo, it was just a shell. Totally under construction. Now it's shiny and awesome and they have been living there for almost a month. Plus, tomorrow is my dad's birthday and I have a haircut at 12:30. Yay!

Plus, there will be plenty of reading/knitting/movie-watching/family time. Gotta love that.

... I need to start my day: I haven't worked out in almost two weeks and that's first on the agenda. Plus, I want to leave the office for a week with a clear conscience and mostly clear desk, so I'd better get moving.

... I enjoy holiday music so much: A lot of it is just plain fun. The religious Christmas music is so familiar that it's really enjoyable. Then there are fun remixes from favorite bands ... Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to name one. And don't forget music from the other tribe. My favorite? Check out The LeeVees! I saw them at the Barenaked Ladies holiday concert last year and they were FANTASTIC.

I'll do my best to check in from Pittsburgh. Happy Holidays!