Hey- don't I know you?

My word- what a week! Thank you all for being so patient & dropping by, despite there being no new entries; I think this is the longest I’ve ever gone without posting something.
As I said in my last post, I knew it was going to be a hectic couple of weeks for me at work; I just didn’t expect it to become as bad as it did. In addition to trying to do my regular month-end duties, there are year-end tax filings that need to be completed by the 31st, which I was expecting. What I didn’t count on was the complications that arose when we opened our new branch on Monday- transactions weren’t posting to the general ledger accounts & were being thrown into exceptions, which means lots of research time. Throw in training the new branch supervisor on balancing the ATM machine deposits (yippee-hooray; it’s going away from my desk!), who then decided that along with the 9 hours of personal training from me, she needed a written procedure manual. I completed the 24-page manual (with graphics!) at 5:30 last night, sealed it with a kiss, & placed on her desk on the way out; it was back on my desk this morning, with a thank you note & red pen revisions :( Some people just have too much time on their hands. Needless to say, my regular work has piled up, even with the valiant attempts by my department co-workers to back me up, so I will be putting in at least 3 hours on Saturday, so we can close the books next week.
Home life has been almost as busy. I’ve been getting back into the habit of walking in the evening; so as soon as I get home, I throw on my sweats & shoes, & head out for 30-40 minutes. When I get home, we fix dinner, I go through the mail, read the paper, & check my email. Normally, I would sit down to blog walk & maybe write an entry, but along with completing the procedure manual for work, I have a couple of knitting deadlines coming up. I’m doing my first online knitting swap (Thanks, Charity for the tip!); it’s called “Knit Mitt Kit Swap” & we are due to mail out on Tuesday. I finished the bag last week & felted it Monday (I’ll post before & after pictures this weekend); I already found the yarn, pattern, & a couple of notions, but I still need to pick up some treats & maybe some good circular needles. The girl I’m send to is used to being on a budget, so I’d like to send her some nice bamboo needles (which is all I use) since they feel so nice in your hand.
I’m also 2/3 of the way through an Irish Hiking Scarf, using Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk; this started out as a gift for Chris, but after about 12 inches, I decided it was too delicate & feminine looking for a macho guy like him. I bought some different yarn to make another for Chris, thinking I would finish the first one for myself; but while we were at my sister Crystal’s house last month, she couldn’t seem to keep her hands off of the scarf as I was working on it, so I’m going to send it for her birthday on February 16th. Don’t feel too bad for me, though; while in Albuquerque, Chris bought me some lovely Red Tweed Katmandu, which I plan to knit for myself (eventually!)
So, that’s pretty much been the extent of our week, aside from a Costco run, a trip to the library, Chris’ eye doctor appointment (blog rant forthcoming!), knitting group Wednesday, & choir practice Thursday. Tonight, we’re planning on heading back to our Scottish country dancing class, since the season is looming- our first scheduled performance is April 7th, at Ardenwood Farms in Fremont, in honor of National Tartan Day- so we need to get back into shape & learn our new dances for the year. I am thoroughly looking forward to my 3-day weekend; sleeping in is at the top of the list, right after complete laziness!