Too hot to knit?!?!?!

Beth mentioned having only 1 room with a/c. That's now one more than us Beth!! Our a/c (heat pump) died Thursday. We don't even have our first 'consult' until 6pm Monday and who knows how far out they are scheduling installs. We have 3 floors with almost no air circulation, and we sit facing the sun with basically no shade. There is 1 ceiling fan in the stairwell. The fan on the interior part of the system does not appear to be working either (we were hoping to at least be able to circulate some cooler basement air). Not sure if we have to replace only the unit outside or whether the unit in the basement will need to go, too. Record and near-record heat, oppressive humitidy, 'heat emergencies,' etc. I guess we'll just be sittin' and sweatin'...

I ran some errands yesterday, did a little shopping, and enjoyed others' a/c! Went up to Lambikins in Hamilton for their end of season sale and ended up not buying any sale items. I did get some 'Bengals' Opal sock yarn, a few Cascade Fixation to mix with some I already have so I can use it up (and make a few more pairs of cotton instead of wool socks for wearing to work), and Cool Socks, Warm Feet by Lucy Neatby. Beth's been working the Mermaid socks from it and has mentioned some other techniques I have not tried yet so my interest was piqued.

I also went looking for a button for the Pink Lady Bag and fell in love with a beaded tassel instead. It was absolutely perfect color-wise and everything. Till I tried to put it on. 2 of the tassels broke, spilling beads everywhere! One was while I was trying to loop it through itself, the other simply bounced against the bag and broke!! Not good. Back to square one...
I have finished the first Simply Lovely Lace Sock and have 2-3" done on the 2nd. I took care of the ends on the Rippling Waves dishcloth, and I finished the Socks Mark The Page bookmark I started a couple of weeks back.

On the homefront, football started this week so Brian was off doing that a couple of nights. They ended up cancelling a couple of nights because of the heat. This coming week, practice is 8-10 am. How is that supposed to happen when parents work??? I just love the schedules educators come up with - don't they know the rest of the world can't just drop everything and leave work at their bidding??
Brian's schedule pick up was this week also. Which really means 'come pay your fees.' $320 later and I was out the door. $45 for school supply fees and the balance of the fees to go to DC. And I still have quite the list of supplies to buy just for him!
Another thing I don't understand is why they can't publish the supply list earlier in the summer so we can catch sales and such. School starts 8/21 so we pretty much have to buy what we can find at this point. Zack's schedule pickup is not until the middle of this week. Less than a week to find his supplies (after I have the priveledge of paying $115 worth of his supply fees).

Zack got another 'tip' in karate so he is that much closer to being able to test for his 2nd degree black belt. Both boys have had their 1st degrees for a while now but progress has been slowed by other sports, school activities, travel, etc. Tough when you miss class and Mom gets on you about havng to pay even when you don't go!

Steve is travelling again this week, Rochester NY this time. Last week it was Greensboro, I think. I know he got to swing by and have dinner with his parents so it was somewhere in the Carolinas! In effect, I get to be a single parent for a few months while he gets a new project to market.

Angel is still slowly progressing though she is still in the 'birdie rehab hospital.' She is walking better and can almost lay down and relax. She is eating on her own from a shallow gecko bowl that has been repurposed. She prefers to stand in her food when she eats apparently and she is able to get in and out of this bowl without falling. I still take her out to let her drink as I don't feel comfortable leaving her with a shallow bowl to fall into and I'm not sure she can drink from a deeper bowl on her own yet. She has been grooming more but since she still can't reach all areas, it has been concentrated on her upper right chest. How can I tell?? The bald spot kind of gives it away. From what I can tell from watching her, grooming throws her off balance and that is when she occassionally flips onto her back. I suspect it is also, at least partially, why she's not grooming her wings and tail yet. She a bit rumpled looking but we still love this fiesty little girl. She will survive!