I woke up this morning with a huge man in my bed.

Me and Arnold

I had to take pictures because it might never happen again.

HEAVY Kitty

Arnold is the loudest purrer I have ever heard. Waking up with all like 20 pounds of him on my chest, purring like a motor boat, I thought I might have somehow been run over by a car in my sleep, only to wake up with it still running and on top of me. But, it was just Arnold, looking for a morning cuddle, which I was more than happy to return. I miss my babies.

Biggby

So here I am at Biggby Coffee, which, after having been sitting here for two hours, is a lot bigger than it needs to be.

Two Dudes, One Fireplace, and Fox News!

It was me and these dudes when I got here at about 8:30. Now there are two other people here with computers, one guy with a broken arm, and two old women drinking mochas. The internet is fast (maybe relatively, everything moves kinda slow up here), and they have six different kinds of self serve coffee. 16 oz for $1.90 and all the internet I could ever want? I’ll take it! I’ve been uploading pictures with reckless abandon all morning.

Breakfast of Nappers

I kinda took yesterday off. I woke up early because it is freaking cold here and the tent was not warm. I moved to the living room with a blanket, a cup of tea, and Chocolat, which I’m loving. But, again, we picked a book for Knitting Book Club that everyone will agree is excellent! I can’t imagine anyone not liking it, it is just universally appealing. I read half the book yesterday, between naps, the Tigers game (on real TV! It was awesome), more naps, and eating. Breakfast was lemon yogurt with fresh raspberries and raisin bran, with an English muffin with peanut butter. I love that my mom has yogurt around all the time! It is nice to mix up oats now and then.

VERY Good Sandwich

I couldn’t have been more excited to see some pumpernickel bread in the bread basket, and I quickly decided on a Swiss, (Mommy) cucumber, and roasted red pepper hummus sandwich on toasted pumpernickel. Amazing! The Swiss and the pumpernickel should be best friends forever.

Matthew's Sandwich

Ok, Look Closely!

My baby brother Matthew and I were watching the Tigers game, and I must have dozed off, because when I looked over at him he was eating this sandwich.

“Shit, dude, when did you make that sandwich?”

“Just now.”

“What’s in it?”

“Two eggs, ham, cheese, and spicy Doritos.”

I love him.

Asparagus Strudel

ASPARAGUS! And Corn

My mom picked up this asparagus strudel  on her road trip around Lake Michigan with my dad last week (yeah, it’s weird), and it was awesome! PT and I had a savory strudel in the winter that his mom gave us, so I was all about it. The asparagus was tender and very juicy and the herb-cheese was perfect. I biked over and picked up some fresh corn sometime when I wasn’t sleeping, and it was a perfect accompaniment.

I also, over the course of the day, had three pieces of cherry pie with ice cream. 4-7 pounds, y’all!

Socks Finished!

Next Sweater!

I also finished my socks yesterday. I guess I wasn’t as big of a bum as I thought I was. They turned out so cute! I even got my mom to start her first pair of toe up socks! She is using size threes instead of size 2s, so I’ll have to keep an eye on her. I would hate for them to be too big when I’m sitting right next to her and could stop them from being too big.

AND I was glancing through my new Vogue Knitting Magazine and found this sweater. How cute is that?! I need to knit it. Yes, I see the seed stitch front, and the seed stitch edging. I’m pretending I don’t. It can’t be that much, right? I don’t care. I must knit this jacket.

I’m going to go buy a cookie, because I’m on vacation. I’m going to chill here at my new favorite coffee shop in Allendale for a couple more hours, then I’m headed over to the g-rents to make some peanut butter pies for the week.

Oh. Oh yes. More about those later.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• September 8, 2009 -- Hella Detox
• August 13, 2009 -- Wrapping Up
• August 9, 2009 -- ‘Sunday’ Dinner
• May 20, 2009 -- Officing Outside

While I’m coughing a lot still and can’t quite muster up my regular energy, I’m feeling much better. I went for an afternoon walk with my friend Rachel yesterday and by the end of it I was wiped. What normally would be an easy 2 hour stroll around the boulevards felt like a half marathon. I hate it. Of course I get sick four days into my gym membership! I haven’t been in a week.

Sick Person Food?

More like cold person food. It is 57 and rainy and all I wanted was soup when I clomped my way home from work in my rain boots. I stole a can of PT’s Progresso lentil soup, which was pretty good. I made an amazing grilled cheese to go with it, and have been drinking chamomile tea all afternoon.

Egg Sandwich and Potatoes

For dinner last night mixed four eggs, a couple spoonfuls of chunky salsa, some onion and a splash of milk together and poured it into two big muffin cups. I baked them, sliced them, melted some cheddar on them, and ate them as a sandwich with potatoes. This little improvised egg sandwich was great! So tasty with the salsa and cheddar. And you see how beautiful my bread looks? This was a really good batch.

Toe Up Sock

Tuesday was part one of my Toe Up Sock Class, so I got to start my next pair! Last night after dinner PT and I walked over to Streetside to watch the Tigers Sox game and I worked on this the whole time. I’m about an inch away from where I need to be for Toe Up Sock Class Part Two – The Heel.

Tonight is Sweater Club. I just ordered more yarn for my Summer Sweater, and a couple skeins of sock yarn, so I’ll be working on my sweater pattern tonight. I’ve gotten a few calls for sweater help, so I’m not expecting much knitting time for myself, however. I’ve got to make sure my ladies are on the right track!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• August 7, 2009 -- Biggby, You Are Alright
• May 15, 2009 -- Things Move Pretty Fast Around Here
• April 29, 2009 -- The History of Love
• February 16, 2009 -- Valentine’s Day Food Baby