Puppy Remains Unnamed

He will have to pick his own name from the short list. Right now, Girl wants to name him Lenny.

Work: Uninspiring, but the suckage meter is reading fairly low right now. Job prospects: Also uninspiring.

Right now I'm just focusing on the upcoming weekend, and good times with KR friends. I share a bit o' Bess's ambivalence, though for totally different reasons: I'm leaving a newly returned daughter and a new puppy, and I'm having major angst at leaving them. Right now bonding with my granddog sounds really, really nice, and I'll be bugging out leaving Girl with baby dog, Murphy, three no doubt disgruntled cats and a pond full of fish.

I'm also leaving a Boss in distress over a very major mediation that was on, then off, then on again, and who the hell knows what it will be tomorrow. He knew I was going out of town this weekend, but as I had predicted, late last week I started getting the "Don't you want to come to Miami?" stuff. We were at lunch with our homies from the Mothership. "Wouldn't you really rather be there?" "No, and I made hotel reservations. Prepaid." "But you'll miss the whole thing." "You'll call me from the caucus and tell me what happens." "But that's not like being there...." It's a very delicate guilt trip, he's so good at it. It's not Boss talking to Underling, we are partners, he's not threatening to "punish" me for not being there. It's a sort of wistful, "But I don't want to do this without you..." and that's way worse - that tugs at my guiltstrings very effectively. Then he denies that he's trying to guilt trip me. That's also true, he's not trying, it's a gift.

He's right, hearing about it later isn't like being there and this case is fascinating, but the mediation, if it even happens and right now I'm betting it won't, will be over by the time I get to my destination and I can chime in by phone as needed. Actually, I shouldn't say that it will be over for sure, the last case we mediated together wrapped up after 11 p.m. That led to the delightful return from Jacksonville at 1:30 in the morning, we are too old for this shit night.

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think this one has that tendency, and he can tell me about it on the phone. It'll either settle or impasse, whatever, I'd miss two days of fiber-y fun for nothing. My cellphone will be on the entire time I am on the road, he can call me if he needs to pick my brain about some arcane detail. Last year I ducked the KR retreat because we had FOUR REALLY BIG (we define big as at least seven figures) CASES GOING TO TRIAL during that fall period. Know how many we actually tried? Uh, that would be Zero. These things have a way of piddling out via some pre-trial settlement, especially when we scare the crap out of them before trial and they decide to settle. We're good at that, if I do say so myself. And I'm not going to miss a long weekend away for a thing that may or may not happen and which he will handle quite fine without me. But I hope it craters for good tomorrow so I don't have that particular guiltstring tying me to Florida. The Girl and the puppy and Murphy will be enough. But yes, my name is Catherine, and I Am a Workaholic. Give me a case I can sink my teeth into and that's more fun than a vacation for me.

Knitting: Second Vintage Bubble Bag - just need to attach the straps and send it for the Magic Kenmore Ride. Small Dulaan Sweater: almost to dividing for the underarms.
Dulaan scarf: Sidetracked by the above, but tonight it gets its turn in the rotation.

And I'm focusing on what I have to spend and what I want to hunt at MDS&W. I wear a lot of blacks, blues, rich reds - sufficient quantity of something very soft (that does not shed) for a Pi Are Square Shawl would be lovely. Sock yarn, because it's small and doesn't look like serious stash enhancement. Yarn for a knitted coat if I find something appropriate (soft over yoga pants for morning dog walkies, not prone to shedding, bulky). I do not want anything I can buy either locally or on the Internet, I want to look for unique things. That's it for yarn, and I don't expect to score ALL of the above.

Otherwise, it's tools and gifts. I'm going to be the KR-er looking at pottery and jewelry and everything. An inkle loom would be great, and if I can bring Boss and friends some funky foodstuff, my room has a fridge and I'll have a cooler in the trunk anyway. I may wander off on my own at times, seeking That Which Is Not Yarn. But I promise to show up for the KR lunch as long as my phone has service at the fairground, because I may not get a new battery in my watch in time for this (my phone IS my watch right now.)

Yes, I am psyched, and Boss is 45 years old and he will live. Girl I have less qualms about, she can handle a few days in charge of the homestead. When I was her age....her brother was in diapers.