Hoarding and Lots of Bites

I realize it has been a while since I last updated, and I apologize! A few posts ago, I wrote about my crazy summer schedule. While I haven't yet hit the worst of it (when my class starts in 2 weeks), I'm still busier than I was prepared for!

Unfortunately, my life is so scattered right now that I can't form a complete, cohesive, and thoughtful blog post. Instead, check out what I've been occupied with lately:

Working at the yarn store and public library, I am beginning to hoard things like pretty yarn and books. I discovered this tendency when my purse no longer held the stuff I carried around with me. Each time I work at West Regional (the public library in Morrisville), I come home with a new book. It's quite exciting - especially since I don't accrue overdue fines as an employee. My newest acquisition is When you are engulfed in flames, the new David Sedaris book. So far, it is up to par with the others of his that I've read. I couldn't help but laugh out loud several times during only the first chapter. I also have Eats, shoots and leaves by Lynne Truss and Manners by Kate Spade. Working at Yarns Etc every Friday is also hazardous to my wallet and much-needed purse space. So because of this, I have switched to a tote bag as a purse. I do really like the one I use. It was my grandmother's, so it is special to me. However, I've had my eye on the knitting librarian tote from Cafe Press for a while now. The only problem is that the quality of the bag is kind of crappy. It's like the canvas bags I use for grocery shopping, not the kind I'd want to carry with me all the time. I found some nice totes at Zazzle though, so I'm currently working on a design for one of those! Something that has to do with knitting and librarians. I might stick with the Dewey number. We'll see.

Speaking of knitting, wow - look at this! Knit marzipan cupcakes!

On a completely unrelated note, I stepped on Lucifer last night. Good thing cats have rubber for bones because he's fine. However, my right leg is not. One second, I'm walking out my front door with Allison's birthday present in one hand and Mad Gab in the other, and the next second, some wild animal attaches itself to my leg and decides to make dinner out of my calf muscle. It scared the shit out of me and I screamed bloody murder while trying to shake the bloody thing off my leg. I think it probably traumatized me more than Lucifer. Matt found him a couple minutes later hiding under my car. When he brought him inside, he accepted my profuse apologizes.

On Saturday this last weekend, Matt and I went to Duke Gardens and played Petanque (or Bocce Ball) with Bronwyn. It was a lot of fun. I completely see why old French guys sit around and drink and play this game to all hours. Matt stepped in an ant nest and got a bunch of ant bites. When we got too hot and tired, we headed over to Piedmond Biofuels in Pittsboro for TRKfest some local music festival to raise money for an indie record label. I really liked the Bowerbirds. When we first got there, we took a tour of the facilities. It was interesting to see how they make biodiesel out of chicken fat and vegetable oil. If I had been drinking, it would have been a lot like a brewery tour. The atmosphere was pretty similar. It definitely didn't smell like a brewery, but it really didn't smell bad at all. While we were watching some music, a tick decided to jump onto my hand and bite my knuckle. I've been bit by ticks many times, but usually in less sensitive places (like my scalp and legs). Strangely, it actually felt like a bee sting, so I knew right away that I was bit. I swatted him off pretty fast before he could really get his drink on. I mean really fast. I've got lightening fast reflexes! Anyway, the bite site is actually swollen and red today. The hypochondriac in me keeps checking for a white center to the bite. I don't have Lyme Disease, right? Right??

But I might have to be worried about turning into a Vampcat. Do you think it is contagious? Tell me if I start to look like this: