It isn't technically summer here until this coming Saturday but you couldn't prove that by walking outside today.  The air is so thick that you have to think about breathing.  On the train in the morning you can't see the tops of the buildings in Philadelphia.  They are all hiding their heads in the clouds.

And speaking of trains, my morning commute has gotten somewhat earlier due to much needed track repair for the PATCO train.  They've closed one half of the bridge so all the train traffic moves on the same track.  It means that the trains are fewer and further between.  This means I have to get up earlier and catch an earlier train and then catch an earlier one home in the afternoon.  There are later trains but they become so crowded and full of people breathing all the air.....

On the unemployment front, Peter Kevin had two interviews last week (one of which was an adventure involving a train ride into NY City) and now is the hard part.  He felt really good about both of the interviews and now has to wait to see if they felt really good about him. 

Kylie is here and we have spent some enjoyable time together showing her life in our area.  We went for a walk around the Berlin Farmer's Market on Friday (only one store sells produce of any kind, the rest are filled with tchatchkes) and then had pizza and wings.  And on Sunday, we took advantage of the nice weather and had a picnic on the Delaware River.  The nice part is that we were able to sit and talk about what makes our countries different and how we're the same.  We have a tentative trip to Atlantic City planned for next week. 

Work has been steadily busy.  We're doing research data collecting on adults with autism for a study and our part involves paperwork (it's always paperwork).  I don't mind because we get paid as an agency to participate and since we're running in the red, money is good.  Our part is just a bit boring as I fill out autism screening tools for all my clients (we're talking over a hundred individuals for just me).  I'm trying to do one or two a day.

My fir cone shawl is coming along beautifully.  It's going to be huge and lovely and soft and warm.  I like the way it's constructed and occasionally think it would make a gorgeous baby blanket-until the first time the baby threw up on it and it had to be washed and blocked.  Softly spun merino and silk are not what I would choose for a baby.

I took a pair of socks with me to a conference last week and knit a bit during one of the talks.  Of course the woman in front of me turned around and said "I want to learn to do that.  One day I'll have a chunk of time....."  you know how that goes.  I started to try to explain that it didn't take a lot of time but I could see right away that she was not really interested or she would know how already.  But such is life.