Party, Party, and Photos, Photos - So, when we last left off, I was having a phone interview last Wednesday that was really just a set-up for the Friday interview. I had a *great* interview on Friday with the head of the Tech Writers in the Atlanta, GA office. Then Monday I got a call that the Engineering Lead in Los Angeles wanted to do a phone interview with me on Tuesday. Today I did the 2nd phone interview, and I felt pretty good about it. I still haven't heard anything, and so I wait another day to see if this one comes through or not. The job would be a one-month (or slightly longer) contract just 20 minutes drive north of me, but it's money (and it's a slight raise) and it's piece of mind while I keep job-hunting.... that is, if I get the contract. We'll see.

Thursday afternoon I went over to Bjo's house for another round of dyestuffs with Theresa. My indigo bath was horribly expired, so we whipped up some fresh Kamala for bright gold and some fresh Indigo Crystals for deep dark blue. We dyed several scarves, skeins of yarn, and even scraps of cloth and a linen shirt to use up as much of the blue dye as possible, then we finally had a gorgeous indigo exhaust bath. We took my failed medium brown yarn and some fresh yellow yarn, and got two wonderful greens (a dark olive and a bright mid-tone green) from the exhaust bath. Ah! Success! Just like spinning is all about the fiber prep, now I know that dyeing is all about having fresh (well cared for) dyestuffs in the pot.

Friday night I was feeling lonely for some friends I hadn't seen in a while, so during lunch with Adrienne, we began planning a little family Shabbat dinner. Bruce was actually home and not working, so both Bruce and Ellen were free to come down. Nate and Nathan were working downtown, so I drove through traffic, picked them up, and we all landed at Jeff and Adrienne's for the impromptu dinner party we jokingly said I was throwing. Dinner was lovely, as always, and the seven of us had some great time catching up on everything in life. Ellen moved to CA just last year, and I share several interests with her. It was nice to finally chat about spinning and music and the art of henna and projects we have going. Bruce (her significant other) is a master of gaming and philosophy, and we had a fantastic conversation.

I was recently feeling doubtful about my ability to judge a person's character. I'd run across an uncomfortable moment finding out that someone I thought was an okay guy turned out to have behaved poorly to some friends of mine. In the process, several people were dragged through some uncomfortable drama (both publicly and privately), leading to the details being shared with me (since I had witnessed the fallout of one incident). But Bruce had some comforting things to say about being the kind of person (me) who others don't seem to misbehave in front of. (Sorry about the dangling participle.) So, feeling more secure in my relationships with various acquaintances, we ended the dinner around midnight. I crashed on Jeff and Adrienne's couch (since I was enjoying wine over dinner and discussions and will *not* drive at all if I've had alcohol), and since Bruce and Ellen could drive Nate and Nathan back home.

Saturday the local SCA tournament had been cancelled (for the air quality, or lack thereof), so I enjoyed my time at home, getting the house clean for our party on Sunday. Then my roomie and I drove up to my old shire, where we celebrated Halloween with friends, returning home again just after midnight. Sunday morning, lots of shopping for our party, followed by a jaunt over to a Tea Party 50th Birthday. Then back home in time to finish getting set up and changed into costume for the Halloween party we were hosting Sunday evening.

Our party invitations said "If you don't wear a costume, we'll dress you up!" So as friends started phoning in the afternoon, two friends called to say "I don't have a costume." We were prepared. We dressed one friend in a tank top, sarong, and straw hat. The next friend was dressed in a toga, which later was accessorized with a halo and briefly some wings. In all, lots of friends showed up, and much fun was had by all.

Then Monday and today, I was finally motivated not only to load the new Halloween photos from both parties this year, but to find and load the Halloween pictures from 2006, 2005, and 2004. So here's the fun I've been having at Halloween for the past four years (click on any photo to jump to the photo album):



Halloween at our house this year


Halloween at my shire this year


Halloween Tacky Garb at our house, 2006


Gothic High Tea in my shire, 2005


Come as Your Inner Goth in my shire, 2004


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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: A very aggressive and talented recruiter