Learning a new trick...

Another weekend has come and gone - can't believe it's Sunday already. This was a pretty quiet weekend for me. I'm really glad that by living by myself for the last 4+ years, I've become ok with alone time. Granted, we all seem to need our alone time to recharge, but this weekend, I went from Friday night to Sunday morning without seeing anyone I know... So yah, nothing like 48+ hours to make a person a little stir crazy.

After staying in to wtach a movie on Friday night, I decided I needed to be around people, even if I didn't know them... So I headed to Mass at Holy Family and then over to Eden Prairie Center. They have a big B&N in that mall. I wandered around for quite a while. You know how some people have a dream that they'll be in the produce section one day & will reach to grab a cantaloupe (or something) and at that very moment, a person of the opposite sex grabs the same cantaloupe - their hands touch, and the rest, as they say, is history? I have the same dream/vision, but instead of reaching for a cantaloupe, we are both reaching for the same book. Yah, that didn't happen on Saturday night... oh well!! So after buying a couple books that I didn't need (but are on my goodreads.com to-read list) and a knitting pattern book, I went to see a movie.

This is not my first time going to a movie alone. I've been to probably 1/2 a dozen, maybe more. When I tell people that I went to a movie alone, many people stop me and say, 'what? You went to a movie alone?' I also wonder why this provokes such surprise - since when did going to a theater require company? It's not like conversation is part of going to a movie. Granted, I miss having company during the trailers - it's not as much fun doing the thumbs up/thumbs down game alone... but aside from that, it doesn't matter if you are there on your own or with 10 people. I digress...

Anywho, I went to see the latest Nicholas Sparks novel that has been made into a film, 'Nights in Rodanthe'. Even though Richard Gere is old enough to my father, I still think he's pretty hot. Gray hair and all, I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers... back to the film, though. Richard Gere and Diane Lane acted together in the movie "Unfaithful" and had great on-screen chemistry in that movie. I was a little disappointed in their performance in this film, though. But maybe part of my disappointment had to do with how different their relationship was compared to the relationship in the book. The central theme of the relationship was different, but they way they interacted with each other during their time at the Inn was completely different. Not that this is surprising - the movie is never better than the book, but unfortunately the acting wasn't stellar enough to overcome the difference between the book and screenplay. It was entertaining enough though, but a bit of a downer... which I knew since I'd read the book and thus knew how it ended... Suffice it to say there was a whole lot of sniffling echoing through the theater. And I wasn't one of them! I cry pretty easily, but this film just didn't do it for me.

This morning my friend Amanda had a few of us over for brunch. Amanda & her husband have a little boy that will be 2 at the end of the month and another friend, Leslie, and her husband have a little girl that is around 3 months. It was great seeing both kids and getting caught up on what everyone's been up to. I have quite a few college friends in the MSP area, but we just don't see each other as often as we'd like due to everyone's busy schedules.

I spent the rest of my afternoon doing homework and watching 'Sex and the City: The movie'. Which is awesome, by the way. I saw it in the theater when it came out in June, but it was great re-watching it. Fashion, drama, and sassiness, all balled up into one film - who wouldn't love it! After that, I got down to business... and pulled out my new knitting pattern book that I purchased on Saturday night. I've knit four scarves now and am ready to learn some new tricks - CABLES! I love cable knit sweaters so was so so excited to start knitting some scarves that feature the cable knit. This of course requires some new tools (a row counter and cable turner).

Knitting cables is relatively easy... but requires counting stitches, so no more mindless knitting or multi-tasking (knitting while chatting on the phone or watching a movie). I started my first project which features a single cable through the center of the scarf. It's in the early stages, but here it is!!

Stay tuned to see how it turns out!!!