Maternity Leave catch-up posting

So, I'm finally on Maternity Leave (technically called "Waiting Period" since I haven't had the kid yet). I thought it would make sense to do a couple of posts during this exciting time to catch up. There are definitely things that I've missed out on blogging, and there are probably things that I won't get to even now......but at least I can try. 

First off - my parents came to work in May for take your parents to work day. Featured at the side here is me and my mom on a tour bus around the work campus. You can really see the resemblance. Same smile. 

 Second, here is a pic of my mom and step-dad at the end of the day. I'm pretty sure that they had a great time - not the least of which was the free lunch, beers, and snacks. One thing you can say about my parents is that they know how to have a good time and will definitely enjoy it when given half the chance.

What have I been working on lately? Well, there's this beauty. Of course, now that I'm blogging it (I just finished it on Sunday night), I can't find the magazine it is out of to credit the designer. I remember that it was a knitscene pattern. I loooooooooooooove knit scene. I love that this looks woven. It's full knit the entire way, and the pattern is made from dropping certain stitches when you're done with the knitting. I chose this yarn because it is a sparkly acrylic that was a gift at my wedding. It's blue with blue and brown sparkles. Looks fantastic!

 Here is the the shopping bag that I finished last week. The pattern is the Bag Ban Grocery Bag by Erica Hernandez. She's a really great designer, and also a friend. The fun meta part of this is that she gave me the cotton yarn that I used to make this bag. When she sent me the pattern (it is very economical and I do recommend it), I thought it would be funny to make it out of the yarn that she had given me.

So here it is in all it's glory.....after I emptied it from my grocery store run. Since it's knit, there's a little bit of stretch, even though it is in cotton. It's surprising how much I've been able to put into it. So I'm already mostly done making a second one. Fun story - at the grocery store, the bagger grabs it and says "this is a cool bag!" I thanked him and was pretty happy since he was so excited about the bag given how many he probably sees every day.

Last thing's last. Here's the first harvest of tomatoes off my volunteer vines this year. Not bad! The ones that look green/black are actually heirlooms, so they are supposed to be that color.  I believe they are called Black Prince. It's been a fairly chill summer for this area, so the tomatoes aren't doing nearly as well as one would expect/hope. Certainly way behind from last year. But that's fine. I am pregnant enough by now that having to bend down and harvest the vines has to be a short task.