Where's Waldo?

Good evening, everyone...I did not fall off the face of the planet.  I was just busy this week, planning stuff I did not expect to have plan.  So here we are.

I am heading out of (well, into, depending on your perspective) town in the morning.  Knitting-wise, this is my plan:

1.  Finish the store sample.  The greatest moment EVER when you're knitting a scarf is hitting the halfway point, decrease point, or "neck" point, and knowing you're halfway done!  It will hopefully be knitted, bound off, and blocked by the time I return to Texas.
2.  Finish the garment pattern.  Yes, I'm breaking down and trying out a garment.  If it works, I'll write it up and prove to the world that I'm not JUST a one-ball knitter.  I have, however, made several one-ball and three-ball jokes that have gotten me into trouble with the locals.
3.  Start the Regia scarf.  I have about sixty ideas in my head...including that stunning ball of Schaefer that I put as my banner...but I can knit only so quickly.  If anyone wants to be a test-knitter, I'm contemplating writing patterns and have other people knit them for credit of some sort.  Anyway, the reason the Schaefer is getting put on hold is because the needles for the store sample are the same as for the Regia.  I like to pack efficiently.
4.  Drop by a few people I said I would meet, including the String Theory Yarn Company and Children's Memorial Hospital...more on that later.
5.  Try not to buy more yarn.  And that's all I'll say on that topic.
6.  Write a few of the patterns in my head, so I don't forget them before I actually get to the yarn I'm picturing for them.  KNITTING IS TIME CONSUMING AND MY BRAIN IS LIKE A RACECAR ENGINE!!!  However, I'm thankful I have a brain like that instead of one that's in Park, or Neutral, or worst...like someone with A.D.D.  I can control my focus and I'd be a mess without it.

Might be a bit ambitious for four days' time, but at least I can shoot for the whole plan and miss with half of it.  Let me know if anyone has free time this week in Chicago.