Author J. A. Konrath from Chicago stopped in the store today to sign books. I chatted with him a while and he gave me a free autographed hardcover copy of his new book Rusty Nail. I am eager to read it.I am 800 pages into the 1,000+ page Gone With The Wind. I am enjoying it. It portrays the south right before the Civil War started, through the Civil War and the post-civil war period. There is a lot of bigotry and prejudice in the novel. It has been criticized for romanticizing the relationship between slave and master. Mitchell is a wonderful storyteller and keeps you turning page after page. It is a great summer read. The Big News is I have a new full time job I start July 31st. I will be a Mental Health Worker at Glade Run Lutheran Services here in Zelienople. Glade Run has a residential treatment facility for kids in foster care. I plan to keep my Barnes & Noble job as well but cut back on the hours.
I have three repeats to knit before the Branching Out will be finished. Mom is eager for the project to be completed. She loves the scarf. I know many people dislike the pattern, but I like the finished product and don't mind the pattern, so I am thinking about knitting another one with lace weight yarn I bought in Salem, Ohio on the 4th of July with Nora and Connie when we went to visit Ember.
I started a new project. A Baby Blanket for a manager at Barnes & Noble. I had to rip it out twice before I got the pattern correct. Now I use a lifeline every once in a while.
Molly and I were camping again in Cook Forest last Wednesday through Friday. It sprinkled for a hour half Wednesday and Thursday nights. Not enough to ruin the trip. Molly and I did not do much. We just lazed around. I do a lot of thinking while camping. I am a thinker. My best friend in high school always called me the Thinker. We went for a Bisson Burger off the main road but found a closed up shack. I like trying new and different foods. Bisson were in the field grazing. I do not have my next camping trip planned yet. I will need to ask off work for three days in a row and in the middle of the week as to avoid the weekend crowd. If you have a favorite camping area and campground that is dog-friendly please let me know. I am new to PA and don't know where else to go camping. I like rustic, secluded campsites.
Saturday I saw a great documentary at The Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill called WordPlay. It was about Will Shortz the New York Times Crossword puzzle editor and the Annual Crossword Puzzle tournament held in Stamford, CT. Afterwords you felt like running out and buying The NYTimes to work the crossword puzzle. Which I did not do, but I did work a few Sudoku puzzles in my Will Shortz's Sudoku book.My knitting goal is to finish the Branching Out Scarf. Mom will be thrilled. She tells everyone about it. She thinks it is so pretty. I do not think it is a difficult pattern, but sometimes I forget to do a YO and then my stitch count is off and hence the pattern and I have to rip out. I experience a fair amount of anxiety while working on the project because I am afraid I am going to make a mistake. I will be glad when the scarf is done. I will feel a great deal of accomplishment.I am a little over a third of the way through Gone With The Wind. I am enjoying it. Scarlet and Rhett are two of a kind. Their interactions are entertaining. I'm going to have to put it down for a little while to read my Classic's Book Group book for this month A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
