So, the first exciting event of birthdayness happened the evening before my birthday, when I went to go see the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra playing music from Final Fantasy. It was marvellous. There is something breathtaking about being in the same room as a full orchestra, listening to the varied sounds produced by each instrument that blend together to create a cohesive whole. They closed with a rendition of the opera from FFVI, which was amazing. And then they did 3 encores. Bliss! My roommate joined me and though she's never played a FF game in her life, she really enjoyed the concert.
On the actual day of my birthday, I made a cake to bring in and eat with my coworkers. Yes, I reserve the right to make my own birthday cake, because I wanted to make my favourite kind of cake (carrot pineapple, yum!) and share the awesomeness of it with everyone else in the lab. The German guys from the lab next to mine even sang me 'Happy Birthday' in German. Overall, a very satisfactory day UNTIL I receive an email in my inbox that afternoon.
"Dear Ms. M.,
Congratulations on being a successful applicant from the 2009 Research Trainee Competition and on receiving a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Trainee Award."
WOW! Best birthday present ever!!! Basically, my salary just incresed by about 50%. And my day got even better because that evening we had a special impartation service at church to hear stories from our team that had just returned from a conference in Brazil and get prayed for by them. SO good! Seriously, I'm soooo blessed, and I know that this year is just going to get better and better!
Oh, and my small group from church also surprised me with a birthday cake (this was a couple days previous) so I was well celebrated all in all.
Now, in knitting news, I finished my sweater, but haven't yet decided on what sort of geeky embellishment to put on it. So I've just been wearing it as-is for the moment while I ponder. I'd say it's a pretty solid first official sweater. I'm now encouraged and feel brave enough to start on a cardigan. After Christmas knitting of course, since it's getting to be that time of year again.
I started and almost finished a head wrap for my aunt who is currently undergoing chemo for breast cancer. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn and my attempt is 3 inches shorter than the pattern calls for. I started grafting it together to see if it would still work, but I think this one is not going to function. I have it sitting in a corner while I ponder trying to salvage it as a scarf, or attempting to re-knit it into a more traditional hat.
While I was pondering the head wrap, I began knitting a headband (Calorimetry from Knitty), from a project I'd frogged last year. I love the yarn, but the previous headband had been much too loose. This new one has some freestyle cables (I didn't have a cable needle on hand when I started it, so I've been cabling with my crochet hook) and is a much tighter knit which in turn means warmer ears and head. Pictures to come when I actually find my camera.
Also, if you're not tired of me talking about Darker than Black, let me tell you about how awesome the second season is. First of all, the first episode of this season was released on my birthday, and the first episode does not disappoint. This season takes place in Russia, and it seems as though a few years have passed since the incident that ended season 1. There are some new characters, but many old faces and like we saw in the first season, the writers of this show have no compunction about killing people off. I love the new main character they've introduced, a spunky girl named Suou, who looks like she'll provide enough optimism and energy to contrast with the grim contractors who work as assassins for various groups (and from the scenes in the OP, it looks as though she'll be sporting a hunting rifle as her weapon of choice). I made a new forum signature in honour of the beginning of this promising second season. Credit goes to the helpful guys at Gotwoot who provided suggestions for polishing this up into a very classy sig.
I'll post again soon when my camera is found, and I have pictures to share. Catch ya later!
