One Girl Show

new blog...:)

2010-05-17T10:03:00.001-04:00

Hi all - just a quick announcement in case anyone stops back in here from time to time to check on me. I've started a new blog about my cooking adventures, which can be found at: http://onegirlcooks.blogspot.com

Thanks!

relief

2009-09-11T09:34:00.001-04:00

Relief is getting a call at 6am from the man that you love, telling you that his visa application has been approved and that we in fact WILL be able to get married in a month like we'd been planning.

Whew. Just...whew.

mondays are always hard

2009-08-03T15:32:00.002-04:00

So here it is, another Monday. I have rather a low tolerance of humanity in general on most days anyway, but Mondays are always the hardest.

My weekend was productive, (which is not something I can often claim). I did things sort of backward on Saturday, though. I cleaned my kitchen and made everything nice and tidy, then decided that since it was so hot it would be a good day to give Buttons a bath. Then, while Buttons was in the sink all wet, lathered and hating my guts, I decided it would be a great time to trim the hair out of his eyes. So not only did I end up with enough water on my kitchen floor to mop it, but I also ended up with little bits of dog hair all over the kitchen counter and sink. Thus, I cleaned the kitchen AGAIN on Saturday afternoon. See? Productive! Sort of.

Sunday was spent shopping with Beck. We mostly ooh'ed and aah'ed over baby clothes and bought a bunch of really cute stuff for Ollie, but I also managed to find a nice skirt and shirt for myself. The zipper on said skirt broke this morning about an hour after I got to work, which made me tense...but I managed to fix it after about 10 minutes of tugging and swearing in the bathroom.

Hmm...that didn't sound good.

Anyway...the other event of the weekend came last night as I was laying in bed. It was torrentially raining outside, and suddenly I heard a distinct "plop" beside me. Several seconds later, another "plop". As I was reaching over to turn the light on and see what the plopping noise WAS, several drops of water hit my arm all at once. Sure enough, when I turned the light on and looked up, there was a nice little stream of water running down from the join between two of the roof boards, eventually pooling and dripping directly down onto me. In bed. At 10 oclock last night. Thankfully the rain let up and I didn't have to sit there for very long with a plastic dish next to me to catch the drips...but the landlady is going to start getting poked about the roof on a weekly basis until she does something about it. The leaks around the chimney were irritating, but tolerable...but getting rained on whilst lying in bed is not something I'm ok with. Frankly, I'd really love to move out of the barn before winter hits, but I know that with Mark coming over, my money is going to have to stretch even farther until he can find a job....so enduring some of the more craptastic features of the barn is going to have to continue for a while yet. *sigh*

holy mother of...

2009-07-30T21:46:00.002-04:00

SERIOUSLY? I haven't blogged for 7 months? Well apparently nobody missed me much. I didn't have any pleadings from adoring fans, begging for my return...

What's been going on? Let's see. There's the whole wedding thing that's taken over my life. I seem to eat, breathe and sleep wedding details lately. Which is understandable, since it's in a little more than...2 months...

I gotta say, that just freaked me out. The idea of getting married itself doesn't bother me a bit...it's all the stuff I still don't have done that scares me. I don't even HAVE a DJ yet, people. OMG. Panic.

Work is busy and mostly good. I'm down about 90lbs, with that magical number floating just 15 or so pounds out of reach. I gave up on tai chi for the summer because there was too much other stuff going on, but I'm going to start going again in the fall when the new round of classes start. Knitting is going on pretty much constantly. My laptop croaked on me, but I got a new desktop computer, so I can still access crack...I mean, Ravelry...on a regular basis. Buttons is well, but needs a haircut, as ever!

It's late and I should get to bed...but for the 47 millionth time, I'll see what I can do about maybe...yanno...posting more...:)

she's blogging...must be the cable is out...

2008-12-29T18:27:00.002-05:00

...or the Dish, anyway. A whole big load of wet heavy snow came sliding off the roof the other night and sheared my Dish right off the side of my house. I've been without TV ever since. Oh, the humanity!!

Actually, it hasn't been that bad. I have Season 3 of Lost that I've reacquainted myself with and become hopelessly addicted to again. There's knitting to be done. There are games to be played on the computer. Clearly, one CAN live without TV.

One just...doesn't really want to. I had a lot of stuff saved up on the DVR that I was really looking forward to watching, and a lot more stuff scheduled to record that now isn't being recorded. I hope I don't lose everything I had on there. That would really yank my angry-chain.

Know what else yanks the angry-chain? I started getting these mystery texts this morning on the way to work. Someone was trying to carry on a convo with me via text, but I had no clue who they were. It became evident as the day wore on that it was a teenager. Let's just say there were a lot of extraneous "LOLz" and bad grammar skills that tipped me off. Anyway, so I kept replying to this person, telling her (I didn't learn it was a her until later) that I was NOT who ever she thought I was. It stopped for a while, so I figured I was in the clear. Then out of the blue this evening, she starts hitting me again. "Oh come on, Kyle...it's Summer! You know me! LOLz!" That's how I figured out she was a she. I wrote back a very terse reply of "For the 14th time, I am not Kyle and I don't know who you are but if you text me again, I'm calling the police and telling them you're harassing me. Get it?"

It's been blisfully quiet ever since. I think she got it.

silent night

2008-12-19T22:07:00.002-05:00

"Silent night,
Holy night,
All is calm,
All is bright..."

Falling snow has a wonderful way of dampening out noise and putting me in a peaceful, contemplative mood. Standing out in the swirling, sparkling white, all the little things that have bothered me this week just seem to have dried up and blown off with the wind. I'm left with a cold white emptiness in my soul. Not loneliness, but silence. Peace.

A snowstorm like this and what it does for me spiritually seems fitting so close to Yule. The winter solstice is about rebirth and planning for the future. In most Wiccan traditions, some variation of a story is told of the Sun god being born again to begin to warm Mother Earth, bringing her out of the torpor of winter so that she can flourish once more. The peacefulness that I feel tonight after watching the snow fall around me and feeling the deep silence of the Earth welcoming her clean white blanket brings me hope for a happy and prosperous new year.

So, whether you're celebrating the solstice, Christmas, or Hannukah, I wish you health, happiness, and the opporunity to find your own moments of blessed silence and pure, unadulterated peace.

peeves

2008-12-15T16:54:00.003-05:00

Because I'm somewhat grumpy and have had a day full of eye-twitch-inducing moments, I feel like listing some pet peeves. If you don't like it, don't read it...problem solved.

- When I tell someone "Oh, that's alright" after they apologize for screwing something up, and they come back with "No, it's not. I need to do better!" Ok, well...beat yourself up about it, then. I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.

- People who spend all kinds of time and energy constructing signatures for their work emails that have catchy corporate slogans, italic text, multiple colors of text and different font sizes...and yet have misspelled or misused words in them. No, I'm not always Captain Grammer, but when I send work emails I make sure they're at least spelled correctly.

- Close talkers. I like my space. I can hear you just fine from over here. I don't need you to be 2 inches from my face. It's not going to make your conversation seem any more witty.

- Having to bitch and whine and beg to get someone to do something they said they were going to do anyway. If you have no intention of doing it, don't say you're going to do it, and I won't ride you relentlessly about it for days on end.

- People who never grew out of bad middle-school habits, like "Will you tell so-and-so that I (fill in the blank)? I'm too shy / embarassed / angry / whatever to tell them myself." Are you fucking kidding me? You're middle-aged. If you can't tell another adult that you have a problem with whatever it is they're doing that bothers you, then obviously it doesn't bother you ALL that much.

- Fly-by farters. I'm sitting here minding my own business, working away, when there's a sudden stench all around me. This happens to be in conjunction with a certain person retreating out the door quickly. Oh, hai...you couldn't clench for just 10 seconds more to take two steps across the room and cut the cheese out THERE? Thanks for that. I'll just sit here and suffer in the wake of your ass-wind for the next 10 minutes until it finally dissipates. What the hell did you eat that makes you smell like that, by the way? You might want to get that checked before your sphincter rots out.

busy busy

2008-12-11T20:53:00.002-05:00

Work has been super busy lately. Tons going on...some exciting, some just annoying.

I've been knitting and knitting and knitting, every chance I get. I have Christmas knitting all over the place. I made a hat for Mark's step-dad, some mittens for his mom, a pair of socks for my mom and a pair of socks for my dad...and probably more that I'm forgetting. Plus, I have co-workers asking me to knit them stuff once Christmas is over!! I'm going to start charging for special orders if they keep up!

Which, speaking of knitting, I need to get back to it. Pictures coming soon, I promise!

shopping expedition

2008-12-05T16:41:00.003-05:00

I went to Concord to shop with my mom today. We called it Christmas shopping, but it was pretty one-sided. In my favor. Normally, my mom buys me gift certificates at the mall at a couple stores I like, and that's the bulk of my Christmas presents, which is totally fine with me. This year rather than give me the gift cards, we just went to the stores and I picked stuff out, tried it on and she bought it. I don't get to have it till Christmas, but two weeks isn't too long to wait for new clothes, really.

So that's basically what we did all day today. We tried on clothes. And more clothes. Aaaaand more clothes. I learned several valuable lessons during this shopping trip:

1. My mom is incapable of not flinching and cringing approximately every 45 seconds when we are on the interstate and I'm driving. It's not even that I'm a bad driver. I'm not. I've only ever had fender-benders, and those have all been when I was trying to park. My actual driving skills are much better than my parking skills. But anyway, my point is that my mom has this huge irrational fear of riding with me when we're on the interstate, and it gets old about...oh...30 minutes into the ride.

2. I went down not one pant size, but in fact two. Yee haw, bitches! I was pretty psyched about that.

3. Getting measured for bra sizing is the best thing ever. Ok, that sounded bad, but really it is. I tried on 4 different sizes of bras before I finally gave up and asked for help. Turns out that my band size went down and my cup size went up...at the same time. The funny part was, the sales lady swore up and down that I was probably "barely a C" before she measured me...and found out I was actually a DDD...hah! Apparently I was quite a bit smaller in the ribs than she was giving me credit for.

4. The ahi tuna chopped salad at The Outback is not as good as it sounds. I thought the seared ahi would be hot on top of the salad...but it was definitely not. I'm not a fan of cold fish, unless it's wrapped up in rice and nori, and even then it's iffy.

5. When my mom says she wants to stop at Dunkin Donuts for a coffee on the way home, what she really means is that she wants donuts. She'll forget all about the coffee once you get to the drive-thru speaker.

6. I still hate my legs and can't bring myself to buy and wear skirts, even though I really WANT to. I just...can't. My legs are a lot smaller than they used to be, but still. No. No can do on the skirts, unless they're full length...and then I look like some sort of weird amalgamation of hippy and goth and that's...well. It's just not a good idea.

7. Old Navy sizes run on the redonkulous side of small. We're talking...smiz-all. At least for their fat-girl clothes. They call something a 2X and it's skin-tight on me. Anywhere else, a 2x fits just fine. I dunno. Weird.

there's something missing...

2008-11-29T12:28:00.002-05:00

So, today is my family's Thanksgiving dinner. My parents had stuff going on Thursday and Friday, so we're having it today. I was informed on Monday that my contribution is supposed to be pie.

"Ok, pie. I can do pie," I thought.

True to form, I then spent the next three days pouring over every cookbook, recipe website, and magazine I could find, agonizing over what kind of pie to make. This is what I do. I make simple things much harder than they need to be. It's a God-given talent...what can I say?

Last night I finally caved and said "Fine! I'll just do a cherry pie and have it over with!", and that was that. This morning whilst grocery shopping with my mom, I pick up the pie crust, (I'm perfectly willing to invest the time and effort to make MANY things from scratch, because I believe it yields a superior product...but pie crust? No fucking way. Not worth it.), I pick up the cherry filling, I pick up the eggs I'll need for the egg-wash for the crust. I go blissfully about my shopping, and eventually come home to put my purchases away. I can't help but have this nagging feeling that I've forgotten something. I poke around the house a little, do some stuff, then decide to get the pie in the oven so it's ready in plenty of time for this evening. I get everything all assembled and ready to go on the counter, and then I realize exactly what I'm missing:

pie plate.

That's right. I don't have a friggin' PIE PLATE. I have muffin tins, I have cake pans, I have cookie sheets, I even have a god damned Bundt pan...but a pie plate? Nope. No dice. Nothing even remotely deep and round except my cake pans, and those have straight sides so I can't use those.

So now, my friends, I'm off to try and find foil pie plates. So annoying.

oh hai, hallo!

2008-11-22T21:51:00.002-05:00

Well, then. Apparently I haven't blogged in 3 months. How lame of me! And yet...it doesn't FEEL like it's been that long, honestly. I'm afraid to report that not a WHOLE lot has happened in 3 entire months. The key points have basically been:

- I started taking a tai chi class, and I love love love it. It's fun and challenging and interesting, and it makes me feel really good. It's something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.

- Mark was here for a week at the end of October, which was great. We had a nice relaxed week, and managed to decide on a venue for the wedding. YAY! Now to pay for it...eep. ;)

- I finally had my gallbladder removed on Nov 6th. Surgery wasn't nearly as bad as I'd thought it would be. In fact, I was pretty impressed with my not-freaking-out-ishness over the whole thing. I feel much better without the gallbladder, and I just got cleared to go back to tai chi class yesterday. So, yay!

Other than that, I've just been working, knitting, and planning a wedding. Oh, and trying to eat well and exercise more, of course. I'm down 70lbs from what I was at my heaviest in January. I feel like a totally different person. I have loads more energy and I'm less depressed. I've still got a long way to go, but I've come this far and I'm not going back. One day at a time...I know I can do it!

Now that I have internets at home, I want to try and be better about blogging again, especially since it's so freaking cold and dark by the time I get home now...boo.

new toy

2008-08-24T19:57:00.002-04:00

Looky...new toy!

My aunt Colleen gave it to me. It came from her aunt, who we think used it a lot. I'm really excited to learn how to spin. I don't know how adept at it I'll be, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

In other news...there isn't really any other news. I've been basically laying low most of the weekend because every time I eat anything, the gallbladder kicks my ass. I can't NOT eat...so I have to just kind of suck it up. It's not excruciating, but it's enough to make me feel icky and blah and like not wanting to go out and do any more than I have to. So that's basically what I've been doing.

I didn't sleep very much at all last night...that's not helping, either. I went from anxiety-ridden about not feeling good to finally falling asleep and having awful dreams about fighting with Mark (which never happens in real life so it's all the more disturbing when I dream about it). I woke up to the phone ringing at 6:30...mom waking me up to go grocery shopping. I put the phone back down and proceeded to sit and bawl my eyes out for a good 10 minutes, still overwhelmed by the bad dreams and just generally being over-tired. Tonight is an in-bed-by-9 night, I do believe. Not that I think I'll need it, but I'm going to take a half dose of sleeping pill momentarily, just to ensure that I don't have another night like last night.

rock-a-bye

2008-08-21T22:26:00.003-04:00

I can't sleep lately. I'm tired...for sure. But I can't seem to fall asleep at night. I'm sure it's probably just a side effect of the Wellbutrin...I had trouble sleeping when I was on it before, too. I hate taking sleeping pills, though. They make me feel hung over the next day.

Work has been busy. We're headed into the busy season, and I need to make sure I stay on top of stuff as much as possible because Mark will be here Oct 23rd - 30th, and I want to be able to have that week off to spend with him.

Weight loss has been going well, though I have to admit that there's been a complete lack of exercise lately. I've just been eating a lot less. The gallstones have been acting up the past week or so, which means I can't really eat anything fatty anyway. That means: no cheese, no mayo, no full-fat dairy, no oil-based dressings or sauces, not a whole lot of meat other than skinless baked chicken. Also, I've discovered (the hard way) that pita chips, which I totally love, bother me even though they're baked, which really bummed me out. Basically all I can eat is the aforementioned chicken, vegetables (which I prefer raw anyway), fruit and fat-free yogurt. Sounds boring? That's because it is. Sigh.

finito

2008-08-17T20:44:00.003-04:00

Whew! It took me until just after midnight on Saturday night, but I finished the back-zip hoodie in time for the baby shower, which was this morning! Here is the final product:

Pattern: Fiber Trends Back Zip Hoodie
Yarn: Plymouth Encore in two greens
Needles: I used US 6's on the body because I didn't like the way it was coming out on 8's. Too loose! The pattern calls for going down 2 sizes for the shawl collar, so I used a US 4 circ. I went to do the sleeves and realized that I didn't have / couldn't find size 6 DPNs or a circ, so I had to use 7's. I think it came out fine, though. I just tried to keep the yarn tight so that it wouldn't be too floppy.

I didn't take a picture of the back zipper, but I did get it in there. I ended up just pinning the hell out of it and hand-basting it in, then hand-stitching over the basting. It wasn't so much hard as just a pain in the ass. The rest of the pattern was quiet clever though, and I'll most likely be making it again.

Also, big excitement - I got internet at home again! Woo! I've been having some sporadic problems with connectivity over the weekend - not sure if it's the DSL itself or the wireless. I don't know enough about either one to make a guess. I just know that it kept dropping me all afternoon / evening today and it was SUPER frustrating...but it appears to have resolved itself now. So...yay! And thank you to Alex for the laptop!

yay and stuff

2008-08-13T13:53:00.003-04:00

Things are going better today. I went back to the doctor this morning to have blood drawn. I had to wait a little while, but I found out later on that the LPN that I really like and trust had seen me waiting and told the other LPN on duty to let her take me, which was really nice of her. She's so funny and she keeps me so preoccupied with gossiping that I don't even realize what she's doing till it's over. I didn't even get dizzy this time! She also brought me juice and crackers and sat and chatted with me for a while to make sure I was ok to drive. She spoils me...it's worth waiting a little longer for her.

I had my blood pressure checked again while I was there, as it was running fairly high when I was in on Monday afternoon. It's amazing what using the correct size cuff will do. My BP was 124/82, which is not too shabby at all. When my LPN realized that the other lady had been using the wrong sized cuff right along, she was livid, and she made a point of telling the RN on duty that ALL the LPN's need to be reminded to use the right size cuff. So, that made me feel better, that things were actually well under control BP-wise when Monday I had been told maybe they weren't.

Been working on a Back-zip baby hoodie for my soon-to-be-born nephew, Oliver. Pictures forthcoming, of course. It's coming out really well so far, except I think I might need to rip the shawl collar part out and re-do it on bigger needles. The pattern said to go down 2 needle sizes for it, but it's looking a little constrictive. We'll see.

Also - got a laptop for home...w00t! Now I just have to get DSL hooked up so that I have no excuse for not blogging my little brain out from home. Yay!

fear and loathing in Vermont

2008-08-11T15:30:00.000-04:00

I seriously hate myself today. I woke up late. None of my laundry was dry. I put on something that I realized, on the way out of the house, looked horrible...then realized that I'd worn it in two very public places in the past month, probably looking just as horrible. I went back in and changed clothes again to something equally as hideous but at least slightly less offensive. I was about 40 minutes late to work. Once at work, I spent most of the morning antagonizing someone on a message board who, granted, has been a dick to me in the past but who didn't really deserve my lashing out. It made me feel temporarily better but then I realized what an asshole I was being. I then proceeded to sit here and basically sulk and not get much work done for a few hours. I had a doctor's appointment at 2, which I went to. They checked my blood pressure and it was high. Then the doctor told me she wants me to come in and have blood drawn this week. She took my blood pressure again after that, and as you can imagine, it was even HIGHER (I don't do blood draws). So that was fun. Then I came back to work and have been watching the clock, just waiting for five to strike so I can run, not walk, out of here.

And what waits for me at home? A sink full of dishes that I've been avoiding for a lot longer than what's considered safe and sanitary, I'm sure. A dark, damp house full of clutter and shit. Unpaid bills. Possibly messages on the answering machine ABOUT unpaid bills. Vegetables, because apparently I can't eat anything else ever again. Knitting and my dog...those are good things...but they can only do so much for me. At least Mark's phone got fixed, so I can talk to him for more than 5 minutes tonight. That's a good thing.

I just plain hate today. I know, I know...it's a complete waste of energy. I hear you. I keep trying to tell myself that, but even the voice inside my head hates me today. I think the best thing I can do is just go home, get to bed early, and hope to hell tomorrow goes better.

haunted by dreams

2008-08-08T14:53:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning with the strangest sensation: as if something warm had just been lifted from my shoulders, a cool void left by the reluctant break of an embrace.

We were younger. Ten years so, or maybe more. His smile shone brilliantly in the fleeting glimpses of his face. Dark hair. Tall. Laughter in his eyes. I played hard-to-get, but he knew it was a front. He made me smile so wide I thought my face would burst. I followed him when I could, and looked for him everywhere when I couldn't. It was so comfortable there. I belonged to him, absolutely entranced. Bewitched.

He was gone with the buzz of the alarm clock. In those first few moments before the world came into focus, I swore I could still feel him there. Who was he? Where did he come from? While beautiful, he wasn't someone I recognized from my past. Did my brain complete fabricate him, or was he a great love from a past (or future) life?

All I can do is grasp desperately at the smokey whisps of his memory...

...and be haunted by dreams...

what I did on the hottest Saturday ever

2008-06-08T19:20:00.002-04:00

I got the brilliant idea to take this:

Remove all of this:

and, after 3 grueling (for everyone), hot, sweaty hours, end up with this:

He has an appointment to go to the groomer - they'll fix up his feet and his face because he won't let me do much with them - but it's not until July 2nd, and there was no way I could let him go shaggy with it being 90 degrees and jungle-humid here, and me with no A/C! So, I dropped $25 on a new set of clippers, we set up my mom's grooming table on the front porch, and went to town! We had both more than had our fill by the end of things, but he was such a little trooper and it came out way better that I had figured it would. Sharp blades make a world of difference! You can't really tell from the picture, but he's down to a very tight buzz-cut now. We're talking like...Marines style. He's much more comfortable, and it was well worth the time and money to get him there! Also, I'm figuring I lost at least 8 lbs in sweat alone...hah!

a wake up call

2008-06-05T15:03:00.000-04:00

I went for an ultrasound on Monday. The main reason was to peer into my annoying-ass gall bladder and see what was going on. Turns out there's two good-sized stones in there. My PA seemed to think they weren't blocking anything and would probably be fine, but she wants me to meet with a surgeon just to make sure. That's all well and good...I can do that. So long as the threat of surgery is not imminent, I can deal.

What took me aback when talking to the PA this morning was the fact that she said you can see in the ultrasound where there are fatty deposits in my liver. That, as you may or may not know, isn't a great thing. The more fatty your liver gets, the more it gets scarred and messed up until you end up with cirrohsis or cancer or any number of other not so fun things. The GOOD news is, it's reversible. I can still turn this train around. I have to be diligent with my diet and I MUST start being more active. Not half-assed more active...I mean, REALLY more active.

I think this was just the kick in the pants I needed. If you've been following Maggie's and my posts on Two Fat Friends, you know that I've probably not been putting as much dedication into the weight loss thing as I could be...but I'm galvanized, now. No more excuses. No more screwing around. I want to live a long, happy life, and not be sick for it. I can do so much better than I've been doing, and now is the time. If I don't do it now, it's going to be too late, and I refuse to let that happen.

a me-me...for you!

2008-05-30T13:50:00.002-04:00

Jenn the Ready-To-Pop Production Maven tagged me, so I shall oblidge!

The rules: Post these at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer. Play nice, children.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Ten years ago this month, I was worrying about whether I was going to graduate from high school, believe it or not. I had screwed off for...oh...the last 3 years, basically...and I was several credits short as of mid-year my senior year. I had to make up an English class after school 3 days a week AND pull an independant study out of my ass (I taught poetry-writing to 6th graders. Total stroke of genius on my part...easiest thing ever!) to make up the credits I needed. Even then, it was literally down to the wire as to whether I would pass Spanish (which I loved, but never did the homework in) and be able to march with my class. I made it in the end...but this time 10 years ago, I was NOT a happy bunny...*laughs*

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today? Well, one was a doctor's appointment, which I have already been to. It was basically a big fat waste of time, but that's another rant entirely. Also, I have to do some work at some point, I guess. I need to walk the dog when I get home. What am I up to? Three. Hmm. Ok, I wanted to exercise today, and I did that this morning, so that counts. At some point I also need to wash some dishes. There. That was hard.

3. Snacks I enjoy: I love whole wheat crackers (the new All-Bran ones are my current obsession), plain popcorn, nuts, yogurt, pretzels, Cheetos (although I don't have them often...just say no!), and I love cookies of all makes and models, unfortunately...hah!

4. Places I've lived: Fairlee, VT, Thetford, VT, Johnson, VT, Norwich, VT, andddddd...that's actually it, if you can believe it!

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: travel, travel, travel. Pay off all my parents' and Mark's parents' bills and buy them nice houses. Buy my Nana something fabulous, although I'm not sure what. Go back to college. Set up a foundation to fund music education in public schools. Help fundraise for local humane socities. Hire a bunch of people to try and figure out how to save the world. Possibly run for President so that I could clean out all the fucking crooks in there now. Have a farm and facility for wildlife rehabilitation.

6. Peeps I want to know more about:

Vermontgirl
Bapple

I can't think of anyone else with a blog right now. It's Friday afternoon...gimme a break! :)

while you wait...

2008-05-21T10:39:00.003-04:00

Hey! While you wait for me to come up with something semi-interesting to post here (it's coming, I promise...things have been hectic lately), why don't you surf on over to my other blog that I just started with my best friend, Maggie: Two Fat Friends . We're attempting to chronicle our weightloss efforts and help motivate each other. We could also both do with whatever outside motivation we can get, I'm sure...;)

blog fodder

2008-04-29T13:03:00.002-04:00

I lifted this from Chaotic Crafter's blog...:) I'm not really in the frame of mind to write a coherent post lately...so you get blog fodder.

1. How old will you be in 3 years?31

2. Do you think you'll be married by then?Yesh!

3. What do you look forward to most in the next 2 months?Mark visiting in July! It's ALMOST 2 months...cut me some slack.

4. Who was the last person you called?myself...I called home to check my messages. There weren't any.

5. Have you ever played a team sport?Yep...played basketball in middle school, even though I usually satthe bench. Also played baseball all through elementary school andmiddle school. Didn't play sports in high school because I was prettysure I wasn't good enough and I wasn't interested in everyone knowingjust how not good I was. I now wish I'd have played softball...but,meh.

6. Who was the last person to text you?no one texts me. I don't have a cell phone! :)

7. Who was the last person you hugged?My Nana on her birthday.

8. What were you doing at midnight last night?probably sleeping, since I don't remember it.

9. Parents separated/divorced/married?still married, through some miracle of the universe....lol They're notalways happy, but they're together, DAMN IT! ;)

10. Last time you saw your dad?yesterday. I drove by and he was working in the yard...I tossed himthe devil horns.

11. What happened at 9:00 a.m. today?work stuff. I was only semi-concious at that point so I can't give youspecifics.

12. How many states have you visited?VT, NH, ME, MA, NY, KY, PA (airport only, but still counts), FL(airport), TX (airport)...I think that's it. That's...9? Sweet!

13. If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?At home, watching a movie with Mark and Buttons.

14. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?bare feet. I get grumpy if I have to wear shoes for too long.

15. Are you a social person?social with people I know and like...anti anti anti with people Idon't know. New people skeer me.

16. What was the last thing you drank?water. Lots of it. I'm about due for some more.

17. Favorite ice cream?never met an ice cream I didn't like, honestly. I'm a huge fan of justplain old-skool ice cream sandwiches. Mmm!

18. What is your favorite dessert?I love love tiramisu. Or any type of chocolate cake. The darker anddenser, the better.

19. Whats your favorite color?I'm drawn to anything bright and saturated...and I also love grey. Nota huge fan of teal, though.

20. What Jelly do you put on your PBJ?raspberry is best.

21. Do you like coffee?I don't like it...I LOVE it! And...I need it.

22. How many glasses of water a day do you drink on average? I try to get in 2 liters, minimum. Ideally I should be doing 3...butthat's a lot of trips to the bathroom and I can't always make myselfdo it. Drink, that is...not get to the bathroom.

23. What do you drink in the morning?20 oz coffee with milk, then water water water all day long.

24. Would you rather kiss someone with or without a tongue ring?never kissed anyone with one, but I don't think I'd like it.

25. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?left if you're standing at the end of the bed. Always have...not surewhy. And I always wake up curled on my right side, right on the veryedge of the bed.

26. Do you know how to play poker?I know texas hold 'em but I have NO talent for it.

27. Whats so good about Fridays?payday, last day of having to work before 2 days off, that's about it...

28. Any plans to visit the green monkeys on GoofyAuctions.com?none whatsoever...

29. Do you eat out or at home more often?home.

30. How big is your TV?I have no clue...27", maybe? It's not big, but it's not tiny.

31. Ever stolen a street sign?not street signs, technically. campaign signs, yes. lawn ornaments, yes.

32. Do you keep a piggy bank?I did until I busted it a few weeks ago, trying to get the plug out ofit. Stupid pig.

34. Have you ever been in an ambulance?thankfully, no.

35. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?pool for swimming in, ocean for looking at / being at / wading in.

36. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat?Window when there's stuff to see. Aisle if it's just going to be oceanthe whole time.

38. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?yarn, good food, alcohol, pretty things, stuff for Mark

39. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?engagement ring on my left hand, silver band on my right hand, my "S"necklace.

40. Do you speak any other language?Spanish

41. Can you roll your tongue?yes.

42. Who is the funniest person you know?My mom and dad both can be pretty funny when they want to be.

43. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?no. I used to have a Cookie Monster that played music that I sleptwith from when I was a baby until it literally fell to pieces when Iwas like 12 or 13. That was a sad, sad day...*sniff*

44. What is the main ring tone on your phone?don't have a cell phone. My house phone just rings...like a normalphone. Wouldn't it be cool if they made landline phones you couldprogram with ring tones, though?! ROCK!

45. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?No. I have my blankie, still...that's it.

46. What is the color of your bedroom wall?wood colored. My whole house is barn boards.

47. Do you shut off the water when you brush your teeth?Yes...although I never even thought about that until just now!

48. Are you crushing on someone right now?No...I have a fiance...I think I can finally be out of crush mode for good...

49. Do you currently hate someone?Nah. Life's too short.

50. Why do you take surveys?Because sometimes I'm JUST THAT BORED.

drama, drama, everywhere!

2008-04-09T12:45:00.001-04:00

What is it about the last few weeks?! Have you noticed that everything has been like drama-central lately?! Or is it just me and all the people in my general vicinity? It's amazing. There are people in bad relationships having guns waved at them, people going VERY MUCH bonkers in front of little kids, unfortunate examples of the "what goes around comes around" principle catching up to people, people who can't just say NO to other people and end up getting dragged through all kinds of mud because of it, computer systems breaking / not functioning correctly and sending everyone into a tizzy, and of course, the clincher:

I haven't been able to knit hardly at all lately because my shoulder / arm on my left side is all screwed up. Of course, given my issues and my propensity to think that I'm about to drop dead of something (anything?!) at any given moment, I took the left arm pain & weakness to be obvious signs of a heart attack. I mean, of course it would be! Because I'm 28 years old and mostly pretty healthy, aside from being too fat. So I went to the doctor yesterday, she poked me all over, told me it's all muscular, and is sending me to physical therapy. Crisis averted, as usual. The up-side is that while I didn't get any fun prescriptions like Flexaril or anything, she said there's a good chance the physical therapist will prescribe some massage sessions. Woo hoo! Insurance-covered massage! Well, my not being in any danger of croaking is good too, I guess.

Add to all these scenarios the fact that the MDC (Mouse Death Count - for those new to my blog: I live in an old barn and have a seasonal issue of being over-run with mice. I can't figure out where they get in, so the humane traps unfortunately don't do me any good. I have to use snap traps, and it breaks my heart. Seriously.) is up to 7 just this week alone...and yeah. It's been a long week already, and it's only Wednesday!

lies

2008-04-02T13:43:00.001-04:00

I'm supposed to be able to get a free credit report / see my score for free online from the "big 3" - TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, once a year. It's a law. So how come they all want my credit card information in order to give me this "free" information? And why do I then have to watch my bank account like a hawk for months to make sure I don't keep getting charged for "credit monitoring" services from the site I have to go through to get the "free" reports to begin with? I've got one that charges me $9.99 a month for this service. I have called them, I have emailed them, I have asked the bank to deny the charges...but they just keep hitting my card. It's not like it's a service that doesn't exist...I can get on their website, log in, and see credit alerts and whatever...but my point is that I never asked for it and I don't want it, and they won't let me cancel. It's frigging annoying.

You know what else annoys me? The weather. 60 degrees yesterday. Howling tundra winds of icy pain today. This has been the longest winter ever and I am SO ready for it to be over.

I opened a savings account last week. I'm having $25 per paycheck dumped into it automatically. My hope is that I'll forget about it. It's an online account (INGdirect.com) with a really good interest rate. I'd highly recommend this bank if you're interested in setting up a savings account. It was quick and super-easy in addition to having the great interest rate. If I was more in tune with my finances, I'd have my whole checking account balance transferred into the account to make the interest off it, and just transfer money out for payments as necessary. That's not something I can currently handle, though.

I haven't been knitting much lately, mostly because a friend of mine got me hooked on Lost. She lent me the first 2 seasons on DVD and I can't stop watching it. It's insane. I love it and I can't stand to be without it. I never thought a TV show would do this to me...but it has. Also, on the knitting front, I've basically had to re-learn everything because it was pointed out to me that I was doing everything ass-backwards. That's been fun...not. My way was actually mostly fine...just sometimes my decreases came out looking different than everyone else's. But...since I eventually want to be able to knit lace, I suppose it's best to re-learn things the right way now.

The weather and general goings-on at both jobs have kind of got me grumpy / fed up this week. A lack of proper sleep hasn't been helping, either. I have mice in my house and I've been trying to be humane and catch the mice in little hav-a-heart type traps so I can release them far away from home. Trouble is, the mice get in the traps shortly after I go to bed, and then spend all night scuffing and bumping around in them, trying to get out...and I can hear it because my house isn't very big. It's either a) get up in the middle of the night, get dressed, hike across a field in the snow and cold and release a mouse, or b) wait till morning and do it when I'm walking the dog. I vote for B...hence the noise of the mouse keeping me up all fricking night long. I'm going to enact a new plan this weekend, though. I'm going to get a little plastic box and put some shavings in it. Then, when the mouse gets into the trap at stupid-o-clock at night, I'll just go downstairs, empty the mouse from the trap into the plastic mouse holding-pen, and go back to bed. No noise, no dead mice, and no hiking across the field in the middle of the night. Everybody wins!

funny

2008-03-28T16:58:00.001-04:00

It's funny how our brain compartmentalizes things. Past traumas, even random junk we don't necessarily "need" anymore. That stuff doesn't actually go away...it just sort of gets compressed and stuffed away somewhere...and sometimes an event, a thought, something will trigger the memory of said past stuff and it will all come flooding back.

I don't consider myself a very good writer, at least in a blogging sense. I can write well when I'm telling stories from my imagination, but not so much with putting actual events down in a compelling, interesting, or even entertaining way. I was reading through some old posts this afternoon, mostly for lack of anything better to do, and I came upon the post I wrote the afternoon that my mom had a stroke. Except...at the time, I didn't know that's what was going on. I only knew that no one was telling me anything. The post I wrote that day, to anyone else, is probably just another pile of rambling rubbish and grammatical atrocities...but to me, it was a snapshot. It instantly ripped me back to that afternoon almost 2 years ago.

I didn't even actual realize as I read it that it was nearly 2 years to the day since it had happened. It seems like it was eons ago, now...and yet, to read that post, it was all I could do not to freak right out again. I was back there at my old job, waiting for a phone call. I was in the hospital room, watching the specialist do an ultrasound on the arteries in the back of mom's neck. I was standing in the hallway next to the bed where my mom was getting sick in a spare bedpan, waiting to have the nurse wheel her in to the MRI. I was crouched next to a payphone in the waiting room in the ED, trying to keep it together when I heard Mark's voice answering the phone, and not entirely succeeding. I was going home with my dad that first night and seeing him just sit, dazed and exhausted on the couch with a dog on each knee, for once not able to tell me that everything was going to be alright.

These are things I hadn't thought about in months. Even when my mom was in the hospital this past summer (which, honestly, was actually more traumatic...for everyone), none of the past experiences of those terrible few days ever really bubbled up at the time. I think I just had it all so nicely and neatly folded and put away somewhere safe that it never even registered with me until I read that post this afternoon.

Sorry to have been away so long, and I also apologize for starting the weekend with what could well be a "downer" for some. I hope to be back soon with something a little lighter.

finish line

2008-01-31T12:41:00.000-05:00

Well...I finished my monsterous Clapotis last night. Pictures of the final product are coming...but let me just say...it's enormous. The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, and that's what I knit it in. I kept thinking as I was knitting along that it was going to be quite a head-swallowing scarf, but I was too far in and had gone through too much trouble securing more of the yarn I picked to back out at that point. When I finished it, I shook it out and wrapped it around my neck. No way. I have what I think are average-to-wide shoulders and a normal-length neck, and the thing seriously wanted to swallow my whole head. It looks absolutely lovely worn as a shawl / stole, though...so all is definitely not lost. I definitely enjoyed the pattern, even though it was starting to seem really endless about 3/4 of the way through. I want to try another one eventually in a fingering-weight yarn...I think it would make the width and weight of the finished product much more scarf-like. I think even sport-weight would really make it too huge for scarfiness...but that's just me. Anyway...the Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripe yarn (wool / acrylic blend) is very soft and cuddly, and the self-striping looks fantastic. There were no knots in any of the balls I had, and it's pretty easy on the hands to knit with. The only thing that I didn't like is that it didn't have a whole lot of twist to it, so when I went to unravel a ladder from a purposely-dropped stitch, it tended to get kind of tangled up in itself and was fussy to un-do. The softness of the finished product is worth the extra work though, I think.

Also - I now feel it's safe to post pictures of the SSP (Super Secret Project). As you will recall, this is a scarf that Mark asked me to make for his friend Neil to commemorate the last match of a card game that they play (Raw Deal - it's a CCG, if that means anything to you).

I went through a big process with designing the One Last Match logo. I tried it 4-5 different ways before I hit on the final product, which I really like a lot.

The other logo, I did free-hand from a T-shirt that Mark had with the logo printed on it. It's Neil's logo from his website, so don't worry...I shouldn't get sued.

I charted both logos out by hand on graph paper because I couldn't find a free version of charting software that I could be arsed to figure out...*laughs* Plus, I like scribbling and sketching things out...it shows the evolution of how something comes to be. The scarf is knit out of black Lion Brand Wool-Ease and white Vanna's Choice. I HATE VANNA'S CHOICE!! It's the most plasticy-feeling excuse for a yarn I've ever used and I'll never use it again. Sorry, Vanna. Maybe it works better for you than it did for me.

Also, is this technically intarsia? I didn't break the yarn...I just followed the chart forward on the knit rows and backwards on the purl ones (that wasn't exactly what I'd call fun...but what can ya do, right?), and when each logo was done I weaved in the ends. The back of the piece was a little messy. I neatened it up as best I could, but if I had it to do over again I'd design it so that the ends doubled back and covered up the back sides of the color work parts.

tundra rage

2008-01-23T12:03:00.001-05:00

Look, I know everyone else is probably as sick of the cold as I am...I get that. But I'm going to bitch about it anyway, because I can. I am SO over this not-getting-above-20-degrees shit. Honestly. I think it wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't had that really warm period back a couple weeks ago. It was downright spring-ish there for a few days, and man I was LOVING it. Now we're back to howling wind, leaving the faucets running at night so the pipes don't freeze, and living bag-of-pellets to bag-of-pellets. And the end is nowhere in SIGHT! Ugh! Stick a fork in me.

Aside from hunching next to the stove and complaining bitterly, I've been knitting a lot. I finished the Special Secret Project that is going into the mail today. I can't post any pictures up until after Feb 2nd, as that's when it will be given to the recipient (lucky, lucky chap that he is). I tried something new on it, though. I had been reading on Wendy's blog about blocking knitted pieces with a steam iron. Specifically, she had been saying she did it on color work and it worked really well to get out all the lumps and bumps. My SSP was sort of lumpy and bumpy, so I gave it a whirl. I filled up the iron with water, put it on the lowest-temperature steaming setting it had, and I went to town. At first, I was just hovering the iron over the piece and hitting the steam button repeatedly. That worked ok...but then I decided to try just lightly running the iron on the actual piece...and WHA-BAM! Perfectly perfect perfection! I was really happy with the result. The piece had been curling in on itself a lot and would have required some pretty aggressive wet-blocking to correct that...but the iron was way quicker, easier, and actually fun! Where as crawling around on hands and knees pinning stuff down on the floor is not so fun to me, personally. So...yes. I will be trying the steam / iron blocking again the next time it's applicable.

With the SSP being done, I've gone back to plugging away at Clapotis. I don't think I mentioned it on here, but I found a lovely chick on Ravelry who had a bunch of the exact color of Gedifra stripe that I needed. I have way too much now, actually...but that's just fine. I'll figure out something to do with the rest. Possibly a baby sweater and hat set...for new babies that are on the way to various sets of new parents that I'm friends with...:)

That brings me to the other secret I was talking about last time. My dear bestest one in the whole world, Becky, is preggers. I'm completely overjoyed, myself...but then again I'm not the one feeling like tossing my cookies every morning, either. Hah! She and her husband are actually really excited, too. They had been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for a while. Once they stopped trying with that in mind...well...there you go! Funny how that works, sometimes. Anyway, I'm super excited to have someone so close to me be pregnant, because pregnant women fascinate me. A lot more than actual babies interest me, to be honest. I don't know what that's about...but oh well. I'm super excited to be an auntie!

hey, remember me?!

2008-01-18T15:51:00.000-05:00

Sorry for my extended absence. I've been super busy at work and the whole dark-cold-tundra-all-the-time thing hasn't been doing wonders for my disposition, either. I'm back now, though! With extra added...ummm...knitting! Because that's what I do.

I have the Clapotis still going, and a lacy scarf in a pretty sock yarn I found...but I've been preoccupied the last couple weeks with the SUPER SECRET PROJECT (heretofore known as the SSP) that I'm working on for one of Mark's and my mates. I'm 99% sure he wouldn't come visit my blog anyway, but just to cover that niggling 1% doubt, I'm not going to post details or pictures of the SSP until it's been given to him. Suffice it to say that it has gone through several iterations and I've finally found a design I'm happy with. It is a custom-designed-by-me thing...and trust me, that's not nearly as awe-inspiring as it sounds. I'm happy with it, though...and I hope he will be, too.

Also...happy news on the Stash Enhancement front: I won some yarn from Wendy! I am the eager recipient of a skein of Wollmeise laceweight in "Pfefferminz Prinz", which, if you click through to Wendy's blog and scroll down a bit, you'll see is a gorgeous peacocky greeny-bluey bit of lovliness that I can't wait to do something with. Any suggestions as to what I should try?

Finally, I have one other bit of secrety goodness...but I won't say any more about it until it has been confirmed. Right now, it's just happy being a secret.

you remind me who I am

2007-11-20T16:24:00.000-05:00

Six years ago today, I got an email. I didn't realize it at the time, but that email would change my life. It was an email from a man that has since made me laugh, made me cry, soothed the hurts that life inevitably inflicts, made me look at things from different perspectives, and taught me more about living than I ever imagined possible. He has been patient with me when The Crazy has taken over, and also The Knitting and The Acquisition of Yarn. He's encouraged me when I've felt completely out of my league, he has calmed me down when I've been ready to act rashly (hi, pretty much all the time!), and he has gently brought me down a peg or three when I've needed it. I feel a deep peace when I'm with him. When he's by my side, all is right with the world...or, if not right, then at least surmountable. We can talk for hours about nothing, or say nothing for hours. He doesn't mind that I get lost all the time when driving, and I don't mind that he constantly switches the radio stations when he's the passenger. Well, as long as he stops when I say that I like the song that's on...*grins*

There are a thousand and one ways that he and I complete and complement each other. He is not my opposite but very truly my other half, whether he's 3000 miles away or right here giving me one of his big bear hugs. I thank the stars and all the spirits in the heavens for him every single day. I have adored this man and stood by him through better and through worse, and I will happily continue to do so for as long as he'll have me.

Happy Anniversary, Mark. I love you...plain and simple.

"tenacious" is a nice way of saying "stubborn"

2007-11-19T13:26:00.000-05:00

I had a teacher tell me that once in high school. Coming from her, it was a gentle reminder to ease up because I was being a little too hard-headed about something...but often I think she knew me a lot better than I ever caught on at the time. I am voraciously stubborn when I really want to be. Often to the point of utter ridiculousness...or, as some more perceptive and possibly not as nice people have pointed out, insanity. It is said that the simple definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

That meditation brings us to my weekend's knitting. Unfortunately, I don't yet have pictures because the batteries in the camera finally quit completely on me last night. However, here's the set-up:

A couple weeks ago I went to Webs. I found this yarn...it's Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripe. It's lovely and soft and has a really nice Noro-esque striping pattern to it. I bought 4 balls in a pretty medium blue / light blue / dark grey kind of colorway. There was scads of it on the shelf when I was there. Seriously - at least 4 bags, and there's 10 balls to a bag. I didn't have any clue what I was going to do with it...I just really liked it (you'll find that many of my purchases of yarn start this way). I got the yarn home, and I remembered a mitre-square blanket I'd seen at the LYS several weeks before. I knew full well that I didn't have enough of this yarn for that, but I started fiddling around making squares for it anyway. The mechanics of the squares kept me amused enough that I used 90% of the yarn up doing this before something else inevitably caught my attenion.

The "something else" that caught my attention was Clapotis (damn you, Ravelry! I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship). Why hadn't I ever made a Clapotis? It looked so EASY...and yet, interesting enough knitting that I wouldn't get bored. I printed the pattern off and trundled home from my parents' house, all sound and fury. I considered the stash on the way home. Nothing really suitable...but I was broke and couldn't really make a trip to the LYS. I burst into the house and was on my way over to the stash pile, when the pretty but ill-fated mitre-square blanket caught my eye. Self-striping...soft...worsted-weight...and 4 balls should be more than enough! SOLD!

I spent about an hour frogging and re-winding all the Gedifra. I very enthusiastically cast on for Clapotis, and worked like a dog on it all weekend long. It's a really nice pattern...simple, but just when you're starting to maybe get slightly bored, there's another column of stitches to unzip, like magic! Pretty! Fun! I was highly entertained right up until 11pm Saturday night, when "it" happened.

What is "it", you dare ask?

"It" is the first sneaking and then stunning realization that...you stupid git...there's not enough of this yarn to finish THIS project, either!

Insert defeated wimper here.

The problem is not so much that I have this thing halfway done and I'm almost out of yarn, but that I really, REALLY like it in the yarn that it's in. I don't want to rip it out. I actually want to finish it with the yarn I started it with. Webs doesn't have the blue / grey colorway on their website anymore, though. I could call them...but in a stunning lack of foresight early on, I threw away the ball bands as I was using the yarn, so I don't know what the actual colorway name / number is, either.

Insert long line of swearing and obscenities, ending with another defeated wimper.

I really love...

2007-11-09T15:47:00.000-05:00

...this sweater: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall07/PATToblique.html

But dare I? That's a hell of a lot of yarn to buy, only to then possibly give up and/or just not finish.

It's so cute, though...and it's exactly what I want in a sweater for work. Cozy and comfy, but not sloppy (like most of the rest of my clothes...lol).

What do you think? In a nice soft light heathery grey?

bad juju

2007-11-08T11:40:00.001-05:00

Wow, remember when I used to post here more than once every 3 weeks? Sheesh.

Let's see...what have you missed?

I finished a sock and promptly went on to another project entirely...but it's OK! Because you see, I did this once before, so I have another mateless sock...and I am the type of gal who doesn't mind wearing mis-matched socks...so voila! Finished pair of socks. Kind of. *grins*

I started a mitre-square blanket with only a rough approximation of a pattern in my head, with yarn that I have nowhere near enough of (because, you know, I don't know better), and so far it looks really good. That means I'll promptly be setting it aside in favor of something shiny and new soon. Because that's what I do. And lest you think me inconsistent, the lack of attention span I display whilst knitting does indeed carry over to many other areas of my life.

Mark's Nanna got quite ill the day after I put a package in the mail for her. I'm hoping that A) it gets to her in time, and b) that my mailing packages to people is not bad juju for them, as I mailed some other things that same day.

It sleeted here yesterday for about 25 minutes. I thought that was terrible until a customer came in the store last night and talked about how he was working on a roof in Vershire while it snowed over an inch in an hour and a half. Lady Winter, she draws nigh.

I attempted to trim the scruff around Buttons' eyes the other night and ended up giving him an all-over scissors-trim, much to his chargrin. He now looks like Swiss cheese, because I can't seem to control the depth at which I snip with the scissors. I tried to even him out with the clippers after that, but they're so dull that it's not worth the electricity it costs to turn them on. Then I decided that since Buttons and I were both covered in stray dog hair, he should have a bath. I made it up to him by re-authorizing his sleeping on the bed with me. I should have maybe stipulated that he's only allowed half the blankets, pillows, and space, though. It never ceases to amaze me how a 30 lb dog can take up more room and make it harder to sleep than a full-grown Welshman. It boggles the mind.

And now...since it's lunch time and it's not raining out, I'm going outside for a walk.

any time now

2007-10-31T16:23:00.001-04:00

Only 6000 more people to go until I get a Ravelry account!!!

*squeeeeeeee!!*

It was over 15,000 people ahead of me when I first signed up...thus you can somewhat better understand my joy...:)

the book that took over my life

2007-10-18T15:44:00.000-04:00

I'm reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

I am here to fully admit to one and all that it has taken over my life.

The book came to me via Mark, as most of the good and great books that I've read in the past 6-odd years have. He ranted and raved about it when he was reading it himself, so I was expecting to get my hands on it at some point. He brought it with him when he was here and left it for me. We also bought some other books at Borders while he was here (because no visit of his is complete without a Borders shopping spree. Part of his endless charm.) and I had started on those as soon as I got them, so I was trying to finish them up before I started Lies. Finally, I was faced with a night at work with no knitting, so I took Lies along, figuring I'd give it a try and then go back to my other book-in-progress in a day or two.

I have not knit since I started this book. That should tell you something right there. I haven't gotten back to my other book. I haven't washed the dishes. I haven't watched any television at all. I've eaten, slept and drank The Lies of Locke Lamora. I have picked it up as soon as the dog is walked, fed and content every night, and I have had to FORCE myself to put it down at 11:30 or midnight every night because I know that if I don't sleep, I'll be in big trouble. Last night I got to a part that was so intense that I couldn't sleep once I had put it down, anyway. This morning, I seriously considered calling in sick so that I could stay home and read more.

I'm about 3/5 of the way through the book at this point. I want to read and read and read and yet, I REALLY don't want it to be over. Thankfully, there's a second book. Mark says it's just as good. There's also a third book coming out next year, as well as a movie, apparently. I think I might be one of those rabid fans of a book that has nothing good to say about the subsequent movie...but we'll see.

Must...go home...and read...before second job...*twitches*

Oct 24th, 2009

2007-10-08T13:05:00.000-04:00

Mark is gone again. Two weeks sounds like such a long time but feels so increadibly short, especially when I know that I'm not going to see him again until January. It was a long ride home from Boston on Friday night without him...and I have to admit that I killed the better part of a bottle of wine before I could get to sleep once I was home. He left things behind this time...which is nice in a way, because parts of him (not bodily parts, don't worry) are here all the time now...but it's harder in a way, too. It reminds me even more of exactly who I'm missing. Ah, well...the sad-sack mood will wear off eventually. January's not really as far away as it sounds. Neither is Christmas...which is frightening, because I have no money...but that's usually the case anyway.

We finally picked a date - Oct 24th, 2009. Please mark your calendars. We would love to get married sooner, but money-wise it just isn't feasible right now. I had a hard time coming to grips with that but now that we've talked about it, I can see how it will be a lot less stress to work on the immigration paperwork this winter and then start actually planning / paying for wedding stuff next summer/fall, rather than trying to do it all at once. It's going to cost upwards of $1000 just to file the paperwork Mark needs for the K-1 visa. Blergh.

Also...I picked out (and Mark bought) an engagement ring last weekend. It's a silver band with an opal in a kind of swirly setting...it's hard to explain, but it's pretty. It was inexpensive...it cost more to send it out to get sized than the ring itself did. We got it at Cloverleaf in White River Jct. I was not overly impressed with their customer service to begin with...and then when the ring came back from getting sized and I noticed the band was all discolored (presumably from them heating it up to size it), I was even less impressed. I'm not going to take it back and complain because a) it's the ring we picked out and I don't want a different one, and b) I know that the lady who runs Cloverleaf is notoriously not nice. Instead, I'm going to take it to a local jeweler and see if he can polish the silver back up to its normal shine or refinish the messed up parts or something.

Oh, I almost forgot: Mark is trying to get picked to be on Deal or No Deal (in the UK)! We figure if he can get on there and win even just a couple grand, we could pay off some stuff and get married sooner. Then again, if he won a lot, we could have a really swish wedding at somewhere ridiculous like Fenway or something. Anyway, if you feel like nominating him, here is the link.

http://www.channel4.com/money/ontv/deal_or_no_deal/christmas.html

All nominations have to be in by midnight on the 12th to count.

stuff I learned on my trip to Logan Airport

2007-09-25T16:57:00.000-04:00

- if you're headed for the tunnel and the sign above the lane you're in is PURPLE...and you don't have an EZ-Pass...you're fucked. You will have to back up in the middle of Boston traffic and switch to a cash-only lane. You will look very foolish, and you might also possibly get killed.

- it costs $6.00 AN HOUR to park in the main Terminal E parking lot.

- DO NOT lose the ticket that the little machine at the entrance to the parking lot gives you, or you will get charged an additional $5.00 for a "lost ticket surcharge" ON TOP of the completely insane $6.00 AN HOUR parking rate. $6.00 an hour!! Inconceivable.

- If you miss the turn into the parking lot multiple times and you keep circling around and around the terminal, tense-looking men with badges will start to take notice about the 3rd pass by.

- In Massachusetts, what we in NH / VT know as the "break-down lane" is actually fair game for driving. People will pass you on the right, in the breakdown lane, going 75 mph, and glare at you for doing 70 in the "slow" lane. I'm sorry...here I was thinking I was OBSERVING THE SPEED LIMIT!! Silly silly me.

- Most people hanging out in the waiting area of Terminal E do not want to be friends with you. Even if they have something in common, like knitting...or a foreign fiance.

- Similarly, people in airports don't take kindly to you smiling at / talking to / entertaining their children. It doesn't matter that THEY don't want to pay one iota of attention to the kid and therefore the kid is running around screaming / singing / asking about what you're knitting. Do not pay the child any attention or you will be the subject of cold glares and the eventual picking up and moving of said child / children.

- When in line at Hudson News with a soda and a pack of crackers, you must yield to any and all airport employees that come through. They go first, regardless of how many of them there are and how long you may have been waiting in line beforehand.

friday un-load

2007-09-21T15:04:00.001-04:00

There are also approximately 47.68 MILLION things I need to get done before I drive to Boston on Monday afternoon to pick Mark up at the airport. I need to:

-clean the bathroom, which is easy enough because it's a tiny bathroom...it's just one of those annoying chores that I just sort of keep putting off and putting off.

-hang a new shower curtain - I don't really NEED to do this before he gets here, but I've had the new shower curtain hanging around since he was here back in February so I suppose I really ought to do it this time.

- clean my room - this is huge and it's going to take a friggin' ice-age to do. Cleaning my room is something that I have been sadly deficient in for months now. I just...don't do it. Mostly it's clothes strewn everywhere. I spent part of last weekend cleaning out my closet and bagging up clothes to donate to goodwill. Those are all bagged up and out of the way. The issue is really the clothes on the floor that aren't necessarily anything I want to wear anytime soon...but I don't want to get rid of them...so they sort of stay on the floor in limbo. One pile, which has migrated to live beneath my desk, is starting to scare me. It doesn't glow at night or talk to me or anything...but it's just...got this look. This look like it might house spiders, among other things. So...yeah. Those piles need to be rectified. My room is also in desperate need of a dusting. Yes, you're reading the real and total truth here. I'm a loser when it comes to housekeeping. It's totally shameful. I'm not even going to get into the glass sitting on my bedside table that has something the color and texture of 70's shag carpet growing in it. Ugh. ONWARD!

- there's also another pile of crap in a corner up on my balcony (it's not a room...but it's not a hallway...it's hard to explain. It's kind of...a balcony!) that really needs exorcising. What is it with me and corners? Gad. You have no idea, seriously. There are corner issues I'm not even getting into here. I'm too ashamed.

- Buttons needs a b-a-t-h (I'm spelling it because it seems like he can really hear that word from miles away), because Mark will invariably have him up on the bed at every opportunity. Given that I will be working for the whole 2 weeks Mark is here, he and Buttons will have lots of together time without me around. That's a lot of dog-on-the-bed time.

- There are dishes to wash and kitchen surfaces to wipe down.

That's pretty much it. The list doesn't LOOK long...but the depth of those few tasks is quite daunting, in a way you couldn't really appreciate unless you'd seen the dreaded piles.

Why do I pile things? I have no storage space in my house (like...none. My "closet" is a bar hung between two beams), but I have plenty of organizationalish plastic bins and such. They're all full of stuff, of course...but even when they're not, I still pile things around them rather than put things in them. I wonder why that is. My dad is the same way. His shop is just...scary. Honestly, his mom is also a reknowned packrat. I wonder if maybe it's hereditary?

Have a good weekend, all!

Things I Do Not Want At My Wedding

2007-09-17T16:55:00.000-04:00

(first draft of several, I'm sure)

- Costumes: this stems from the probabilty of having a late-autumn wedding. My mom thinks that any event in October is a good excuse to make people wear costumes and also to display pumpkins en masse. The scary thing is that she finds nothing wrong with the idea of a Halloween-themed costume wedding. Complete with candy corn and bobbing for apples. Help me....please.

- My Mom's Dogs: My dog, yes...not only because I love him but because he doesn't bark. My mom's dogs....no. She has 4 shih tzus, and she seems to think that they'd make wonderful additions to the proceedings. They're yappers. And runners. And also...they're not mine.

- The Chicken Dance: Thankfully this one has nothing to do with my mom. It's just pure evil.

- The Bouquet Toss: I can get away without doing this...all my friends are either married or happily commited.

- A Cheezy DJ: You know the one. The one that tells jokes in between songs. The one that has to have a running commentary instead of just making simple announcements. The one that plays the Chicken Dance and YMCA and To Sir With Love.

well then

2007-09-05T16:18:00.001-04:00

Seems I don't have much to say for myself. I've just been working, knitting, and chilling out with Buttons and my family. Mark arrives in...18 days. Wahay! Very excited.
I've taken a slight hiatus from knitting the kiri shawl, in favor of making a bag. I finished it last night and I'll take some before-and-after pics of the felting. It's kinda cute...but I'm not sure how secure the strap is. I need to find a cute little toggle button for the front of it, too. I'm thinking I'll sew that on after it's felted because otherwise, I'll never get it in the right place if I try to do it before. I know the yarn will felt ok because I did a test swatch, but I hand-felted the tester and I'm going to just toss the bag itself into the washing machine. I think if anything, it will take longer in the washer because I'm a pretty aggressive hand-felter. Plus I may have also had a couple beers at the time. *hic* ;)

The weather has been ridiculously beautiful the last few days...highs in the lower 80's, lows in the low 50's...so perfect! But it's supposed to be hotter than Hades this weekend while I'm home, of course. I have some more cleaning projects to get done before Mark shows up...that should be fun when it's 900 degrees on Saturday.

Anyway...that's my boring life right now. Basically just trying to get stuff done and out of the way so that I can spend time with Mark while he's here.

oh, hai hallo!

2007-08-24T16:03:00.000-04:00

Invisible Sammich! (if you've never seen LOLCats.com, go there immediately. Not only will you laugh, but you will then understand this joke, as well).

Remember me? I used to blog here. What I initially planned as a couple weeks off in order to get aclimated to my new job has turned into like 2 months of hiatus. HIATUS, I SAY! That all comes to a screeching halt right....now.

So, let's see. We need to get you caught up on the latest happenings. Here is a brief-ish list of things that have been going on while I've been gone:

- I started the Kiri shawl over again in the same yarn but on smaller needles. Also, I learned how to read the chart so that it doesn't feel like my frontal lobes are exploding every time I knit a row. Charts GOOD. The shawl is looking much better now.

- Mark agreed to wear a kilt for the wedding. It wasn't my idea...it's actually something my mom started picking on him about before we were even engaged. She is of the opinion that all male inhabitants of the British Isles wear kilts at all times. She's a little behind, I know. Regardless, he's agreed to it...and I'm interested to see what it will look like.

- My mom spent a week in the hospital. She had an emergency bypass on the artery around her kidney. It wasn't a good scene at all. There were some complications and stuff, but since it's all over and done with, I don't really need or want to re-live any of that again. Suffice it to say that she's been home about 2 weeks and is doing better, although they still aren't sure when she's going to be well enough to go back to work.

- I found wedding bands that we really like. They are, of course, like $700 bazillion dollars and so we won't be getting them...but still. If you're interested, they're "Sparta" by Scott Kay. With the black viney things. Way cool.

- Stopped taking the Effexor the week my mom was in the hospital, mostly because I ran out and my insurance doesn't kick in until Sept 1st and I didn't want to shell out $124 again for something that mostly makes me feel like crap. So...I just didn't get it refilled. I think that being so worried about my mom that first week kept my mind off the fact that I wasn't on the med...and I have actually felt REALLY good since it has gotten out of my system. I actually get out and DO stuff more...I don't just go from couch to car to chair to car to couch. So far, I haven't had any panic twinges and I feel almost like I've kind of been allowed back into my own head, if that makes sense. I was just sort of on autopilot with the Effexor. I wasn't flipping out, but I wasn't doing anything to help myself or really much of anything else, either. I was numb. Not a fun happy numb (hello, Valium!)...just an empty fuzzy apathetic numb. I don't need that shit.

- I made 7 loaves of zucchini bread...out of 2 ENORMOUS zucchini from the garden. These suckers were epic. I didn't get pictures of them, but I wish I had. Seriously...they were bigger than my mom's shih tzus.

- Speaking of which - mom and dad got two new babies (BEFORE my mom went into the hospital. That wasn't really the original plan...hah!). Petey and Bandit are two 1 1/2 year old littermates. They are shih tzu, and they're kind of creamy white with brindle patches. Pete was the runt of the litter...he weighs MAYBE 8 lbs. I call him Mini-Pete. Bandit is about the size of our other boys. They were being given away by their family (we're honestly not sure why because they're angels) so my mom and dad took them. Then they promptly had to lay out like $750 to have them both neutered and have some major arthritis treatments for Pete because he has degenerative hip dysplasia. The x-rays show that he has almost no hip sockets at all, and he's only a year and a half old. So, we're going to do the best we can for him and give him a good life for as long as we're able. The prognosis wasn't particularly GRIM, per se...it was just a matter of "this isn't going to get any better, ever".

- Also in the dog section of life, I have to report a VERY sad loss: Beck's black lab Oscar was hit and killed by a log truck about a week ago. He wasn't even 9 months old. He never played near the road (they live on a back dirt road anyway) but he happened to that night. Everyone was, of course, quite heartbroken. He was a lovely dog. Becky and Shannon are slowly beginning to heal, though.

- I found THE wedding cake. I am in love with it. I saved the picture on the computer and I look at it every day. It's beautiful. It also probably costs $974 million dollars and so I probably won't be having that either...but it's still fun to look at.
I think that about covers everything, honestly. New job is still going well. There's some BS, of course...but I've never heard of anyone working anywhere where there's no BS at all...so I'm ok with that. I do my job well...that's what matters most to me right now.

So, yeah. I'll be back around regularly now and will try to keep everyone more updated on wedding stuff, knitting stuff, and just plain stuff in general.

You are now free to roam about the cabin.

brief intermission

2007-07-06T13:41:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to say that I am still here and alive...I've just been busy busy busy with the work and the knitting and the whole deal, yada yada yada.

Normal service will resume soon, I promise!

stuff and things

2007-06-16T11:03:00.000-04:00

New job is going well. Lots of stuff to learn...lots of personalities to feel out. So far, so good! The 12-minute commute is AWESOME. I get to come home at lunch and hang out with the dogs (mine and my mom's), or get an ice cream (shouldn't get used to that, I guess), or call Mark to say hi. Also, I get home close to 40 minutes earlier than I used to, so I have plenty of time to chill out, walk Mr. B and feed him, and change my clothes before heading off to second job.

Knitting news: Nanna's shawl is done and blocked...I just need to take some pics of it and then post it off to her Monday. I've started a lace scarf in some bamboo yarn that I thought I needed last weekend. It's beautiful...but it was $6.99 a ball...and they're LITTLE balls. Oh well...it's pretty, at least!

JennB tagged me on a meme, so I must oblidge.

The Rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

And so we begin:

1. I like sleep. Not so much because I'm lazy (although that's sometimes the case, for sure), but because I just really enjoy stuff like...the smell of clean sheets, the comfy warm curled-up feeling, pillows in general, and being relaxed. Sleep good.

2. There is a nest of phoebes on my porch again this summer, and I check it about 3 times a day to see if the eggs have hatched yet. Baby birds are kind of weird and ugly, but anything alive fascinates me and I can't wait to have chicks to observe!

3. I play with the lobsters in the tanks at my second job when no one is around. I take them out and look at them...how they're put together, how they move and act. Mark picks on me about it. He says I should paint numbers on the backs of them and race them around the store for entertainment. ;)

4. I secretly (not so secret now I guess...Hi internets!) swing back and forth between wanting to elope and wanting a wedding. Eloping would be cheap and easy but it would really disappoint my family and ultimately I know I would probably be bummed out about it. A wedding is neither cheap nor easy, but my family knows how to party and I know that a good time would be had by all. I think my main deal with not wanting a wedding is that I don't want everyone looking at me. I think that's what it really comes down to.

5. I feel like crap physically because I havent been taking care of myself. I've gained back like 50 of the 80 lbs I lost last year. I don't exercise and I don't drink enough water. I really need to get on that.

6. Sometimes I catch myself with this "my way or the highway" mentality, and it really bugs me. I don't want to be that person. Whenever I catch myself doing that, I try to tell myself "to each their own" and leave it at that. It drives me nuts to see friends put themselves in stupid situations that only end up hurting them when I saw it coming a mile away and tried to warn them...but I have gotten a lot better at keeping the "I told you so" to myself. Usually. *grins*

7. I hate how I smell when I get done a shift at the store. Fryolator oil (from being around the kitchen) and dirt (from having to sweep and mop and beat the dirt out of the rugs every night when I close). Such a gross combination. I come home and go straight to the bathroom to wash my face after I've been there. It's like I can feel the grease sinking into my skin. Blech.

8. I want to learn how to be a smart business-woman. I know there are plenty of ways to invest and move money around to make the most of interest rates, tax laws, etc. I want someone to teach me that kind of stuff. I am a firm believer in the concept of letting your money do most of the work for you. I'm just not sure that I have the discipline to stash enough cash to get started.

And now, for the tagging portion of our program. I don't have 8 blogging friends, so I'll tag the few I have and call it good.

Prata
Amy
Angela

also...

2007-06-07T10:21:00.000-04:00

...this just in...

I GOT A JOB!!

*busts into the happiest happy dance you ever done seen*

It's 10 minutes from home AND they're starting me out at a dollar more an hour than I was getting at my old job. Plus the benefits are AWESOME.

Eeeeeeeeeee! :)

nanna's shawl

2007-06-07T09:07:00.000-04:00

This is the shawl I'm making for Mark's nanna, who is in hospital with complications arising from bone cancer and a heart condition. Mark's mom said Nanna's favorite color was blue, so I pulled out all the chunky blue yarn from my stash to see what I could do. I actually started this shawl two other times - once in a baby blue alpaca that I ran out of and thought I could get some more but then couldn't...and once in a semi-solid handspun blue cormo that I KNEW I couldn't get any more of but I thought I had enough...and I was sadly mistaken.

This incarnation of the shawl is in Lionbrand Wool-Ease chunky weight in "Bluebell". I picked chunky so that it would work up faster, as we're not sure how much longer she really has.

I like the Wool-Ease chunky...my only complaint is that my wrists are taking it hard now that the garment is getting big because it's getting heavy. If I had time for a do-over, I'd still do it on the same size needles (10's) but use regular worsted weight Wool-Ease, I think. The pattern is, as mentioned, the Lacey Prairie Shawl from Folk Shawls. Super easy pattern to memorize and knit as long as you pay attention at the beginning and the end of the row where it switches from pattern to border. That was my problem before...I'd cruise across a row and get into a rhythm and then forget that I had to do something different for the border and lose my place.

The lace pattern is somewhat hard to see in the pictures, but it looks really nice on the real deal and I know that a good wet blocking will stretch it out so that it's a little more open and airy. I can't wait to get my hands on enough of a nice soft alpaca yarn and knit this shawl again for myself!

hmph

2007-05-30T12:48:00.000-04:00

So...I got fired last Thursday.

Yep. Fired. I'd been there nearly 4 years. I stood up for myself exactly once in those entire 4 years...and I got fired for it. Granted, it probably didn't help that I called in sick the day after I had the row with my boss, but I needed another day away to calm down. Going into work wouldn't have helped anything anyway...so I called in. The next day, I drove all the way to Lebanon with Buttons in tow, got halfway across the parking lot at work, and was met by K, the human resources manager, who told me to load the dog back up because she was letting me go. It wasn't even her I had stood up to...I never had much of an issue with her. The row had been with J, my immediate supervisor. Guess who wasn't even there when I got fired on Thursday morning? Yep. Him. That in and of itself ought to give you some inkling of the type of person I had been dealing with for 4 years. Well, no...actually, it doesn't even begin to show you because that right there was a piece of cake compared to some of the other things I've seen him pull since I've been there. To ice the proverbial cake, J tried to get a co-worker friend of mine fired the very next day because he knew we were friends and that we occassionally discussed our mutual...erm...lack of affection...for him. She didn't end up getting canned. She got a stern lecture and got told not to associate with me, and then she gave her notice the next day. I would point out that any real bitching we ever did about the company or J himself was done on personal email and personal time...but J decided that her and my notes back and forth of "Thank god it's friday!" and "I cant wait for vacation!" and things of that nature were all somehow direct assaults on HIM. He went into my email after I was fired, printed off everything he thought was applicable, and brought it all to HR in the main office, trying to get my friend fired. There. THAT should give you an inkling!

This is the only time I'm going to post anything about the situation, because just my luck they're all sitting around reading this right now and figuring out how to sue me for something or other even though I don't even work there anymore (no, seriously). Let it just be known that the situation had been deteriorating for quite some time, and I had been actively looking for other employment for a while. Now I'm free to pursue every lead, rather than have to work my interviews in around lunch breaks.

I went for a 2nd interview at the hospital yesterday for a clinical secretary position that I'm very hopeful about and I'm going to keep looking around for other stuff as well. In the meantime, I am working nearly full-time at what used to be my "second" job, at the store. 8 hours at a convenience store all in one go might not sound too bad in theory, but in practice, it ought to be nominated for Circle of Hell status. It's not just a convenience store...it's a fish market too. I'm just sayin'. *grins*

I haven't worked on Kiri since knitting night last Thursday because I've been diligently knitting away on a shawl for Mark's Nanna instead. It's a Lacy Prairie Shawl from Folk Shawls (who was it that commented a while ago that Folk Shawls patterns are way easier to follow? You were so right! Victorian Lace Today is a stunning book but once you start reading the patterns, it's like "EHN? You want me to WHAT?" lol). It's a fairly simple pattern and yet I still managed to mess it up somewhere...but it's also very forgiving, which is great. I'm very happy with it. I'm just hoping against hope that I have enough yarn to finish it, as it's hand-dyed in small lots and I got it ages ago and I don't think I could get my hands on any that matches at this point. Will post pictures when it's done, for sure.

I will also say this: the weather here has been freaking fantastic lately, and I couldn't really have hand-picked a better time of year to have lots of free time!! ;)

kiri progress

2007-05-22T09:03:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post with some pictures of my Kiri progress! It's not quite as neon in real life as it's showing up in these pictures...my lighting was a little sketchy last night and I was tired so I didn't really fuss around with it much.

And another...

You can see the pictures bigger, along with a couple of Wee Sock photos if you go to my Flickr page (link in the sidebar). Kiri is actually going on hold for a week or so now while I work on some turbo-knitting for Mark's nanna. I am making a simple rectangular shawl for her in light blue alpaca. She's in her 80's and has cancer...we recently found out that the cancer is into her bones and a lot more extensive than first thought. She doesn't have long, and it breaks my heart that I'll never get to meet her, so I'm going to do my best to knit her a shawl to give her in place of a hug! :)

looped

2007-05-18T16:06:00.000-04:00

My previously mentioned affection for Wendy's Alpine Lace shawl recently prompted the purchase of two new knitting books: Folk Shawls and Victorian Lace Today. I got the books Wednesday night when I got home from work...did you hear my squeals of glee? Yes, THAT'S what those high-pitched ringings in your ear were. Sorry about that!

Anyway - Victorian Lace Today is a gorgeous, gorgeous book. It has so much history and information in it, not to mention the beautiful photographs and patterns. I just drooled over it for like an hour. Folk Shawls is nice too...lovely photos and nice anecdotes, but I'm a little skeptical about the patterns because a lot of the charts seem to be kind of chopped up with lots of "Repeat this block X number of times". I understand WHY the charts are like that...but I tend to have trouble following them...so we'll see.

After all the drooling over the books, I started a shawl! But...it ended up being Kiri, which is free on the web! I found some stunning pictures of Kiri on Flickr that just sucked me in. I had to try it! I'm using the Maisy Day Handspun lace weight that I got from Adrian @ Hello Yarn a while ago. Here it is, in all its Poppy glory:

I'm only about 3-4 inches into it, but so far I've found the pattern pleasantly mellow. So far it consists only of knits, purls, yarn-overs, k2tog's and skp's. Easy-peasey-japanesey. It makes me very happy that it actually LOOKS like something already, too. In the past when I've embarked on lace patterns I've been frustrated right off the bat by the general lack of definition. I know, I KNOW...it all looks much better when it's blocked, and that's all well and good...but I am an impatient person and I like to be able to see that I'm actually making something pretty! So, yeah...I'm pretty happy with the project so far. I DID miss a yarn-over at one point (damn you, Scrubs season finale!!) and I noticed it about two rows up from that so I had to tink back stitch by bloody stitch to where the mistake was in order to fix it. I almost went out of my mind doing that and I was only up to 50-something stitches. I can't even imagine what it's going to do to me if I'm having to tink back 2 or 3 rows when the $*%&-ing thing is 3 feet wide...*laughs*.

holy crap

2007-05-11T16:21:00.000-04:00

Some little girls dream about getting married. They plot and plan, they dream about what their dress, their cake, their invitations, their flowers look like. They have a perfect image of exactly what they want the details to be, and they keep that image tucked away in the back of their mind until they meet a boy, fall in love, and eventually...get engaged. All the details then spring forth. Forsythia and pink roses! Grandma's pearls! Chocolate cake with raspberry filling and lime-green butterflies appliqued with fondant! Chapel-length train and ivory opera gloves! They even have their vows all written out in their heads and when the time comes, it's all there, tucked away neatly and nicely and ready to go.

I was not one of those little girls. I never thought much about getting married until my friends started to get hitched, and even then it was just like "Meh...whatever floats your boat." Now, I am the one that has to hash out all these details...and I'll be damned, I have NO frigging CLUE what I want.

Amusingly enough, looking up wedding-planning stuff online is very much akin to looking up medical conditions (a previous...uhhh...passtime of mine, if you will). You type in something vague and you come up with entirely too many options for your perusal. Worse...go to Flickr and type in "Wedding Invitations"...5000 images. I clicked through at least half, I swear.

The thing is, I know what I DON'T want. I don't want fussy...I don't want overly cutesy...I don't want sappy. But...I don't want minimalist, either. I want something that reflects my personality. I want flowers and a dress and decorations that are ME. My trouble seems to be that I am so indecisive. There are so many facets OF me that I am becoming overwhelmed with all the options. Between my vascilating nature and my deep desire to not do something that's "been done", I am managing to drive myself bonkers. I can't even pick a color scheme, let alone flowers or a cake or an invitation design.

I should have been thinking about this crap when I was like 12....*shakes her head*

still here

2007-05-04T10:10:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm still here...sorry! Life has sort of been kicking me in the head lately but things are starting to calm down a little now. I will be back with pictures of knitting , tales of drinking too much, and nervous ramblings about my impending nuptials in the near future...don't you worry!

In the meantime, go to Hello Yarn and check out the lovely hand-dyed yarns. Adrian recently sent me a wonderful gift of a bag full of mini-yarn cakes...odds and ends of just enough sock-yarn left over that she didn't really have any use for. I have been using my odds and ends (mostly of stuff I buy from Adrian anyway...hah!) lately to knit wee bitty socks, mitts and caps for babies that I will be donating to the local hospital. She sent me some really pretty colors and I'm busily knitting away every night on them after work. Pictures coming soon! Also, if you're interested in starting some kind of knitting group that does donation projects like this or you know of any yarn producers that are willing to donate their odds and ends like Adrian did, please let me know! I'd love to find some like-minded people and start making stuff for local shelters, hospitals, and whatever else we can think of. I love to knit...but I love it even more when it can make a difference in other peoples' lives...:)

details

2007-04-11T14:48:00.000-04:00

There aren't exactly a lot of details right now. Mark and I have been talking a lot about him moving here so we can be together...and the least complicated (and yet still REALLY freaking complicated...) way for that to happen is to get married. Neither of us is a marriage type person at all...so I was really stunned on Saturday night when I was chatting to him on the phone and he asked me to marry him. Stunned and very happy! Even though it annoys me that in the eyes of the government it's not good enough for us to just love each other...the idea of getting married is exciting none the less.

So...yeah. There are debts to be cleared on both ends, TONS of paperwork to do, money to be saved up to PAY for said paperwork...and that's all just for the visa so that he can move here. Once the visa is granted, we have 90 days to get married. YIKES!! It's going to be very small and quiet, as that's what would suit us even if we had all the time and money in the world. The idea of having to play the waiting game for his visa to come through and then having to plan a wedding in less than 3 months terrifies me quite thoroughly...I'm not going to lie. But the good thing is, I have as long as it takes to get our debts cleared (and the paperwork filed) to do my PRE-planning stuff...ie: getting an idea of what I like, what I can afford, etc.

And...there you go. The girl who said she'd never get married is now technically engaged. Hold on to your hats, folks...*grins*

oooh....

2007-04-10T10:23:00.000-04:00

...I want to make this:

(Picture lifted from WendyKnits, which is one of my favorite knitting blogs).

It looks like a lot, but I've read the pattern and it's actually not too complicated. It would be a really nice wrap to wear when I get married.

Because...ummm....I'm getting married.

:)

oh crap

2007-03-30T16:34:00.000-04:00

I just found out how much yarn I can buy on the cheap on eBay.

No good can come of this. You mark my words!!

weakness

2007-03-28T14:38:00.000-04:00

I have a weakness for pretty things. Especially pretty things that I envision I can make into OTHER pretty things. Even if that vision may be somewhat unrealistic.

I bought this yesterday. It was pretty and I wanted it, and after all...it was only $19.00 plus shipping. How can you go wrong?

Thing is...I don't know what I'm going to do with it. The initial reaction when I saw it was "Ohh! Pretty blue! Mom's birthday coming up...Mom loves blue...will make something for her with it. MUST BUY!" But...what I'm going to make, I don't know. And given that it's lace weight, it should probably be used for something lacey...which I already know is a losing battle because she doesn't wear stuff like that. So...I'm thinking maybe if I can find a long rectangle pattern I like that she can use for a runner on the table or something, possibly. Or I might just buy some other blue yarn and make her some more socks and keep this for myself...:)

what was I thinking?

2007-03-25T12:44:00.000-04:00

Have you ever found yourself out and about on the town, maybe on a saturday morning, doing your errands and you think to yourself "Geez...I wish that I could take my trombone with me. Why doesn't anyone ever make a totebag that a trombone fits into?!?"

Well...I'm here today to ease your mind. I, Shelby, have created the world's first wool trombone tote...just for people like you. For only $29.95 plus shipping and handling, this gorgeous one of a kind piece can be ALL YOURS. Not only will it keep your trombone safely by your side when ever you want to take it out somewhere, but the wool will gently and continuously polish your trombone and keep it gleaming.

Yes, for JUST $29.95 plus shipping and handling, you can be the proud owner of Shelby's first (and hopefully only) Really Long And Strangely Shaped Felted Bag Made Out Of Noro Kureyon. All quality fiber and hand craftmanship, ladies and gentlemen. One knitter's mistake could be another's treasure! Get it while it's still damp from the washing machine!

I'll even include the newspaper that it's stuffed with. AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE!!

This one of a kind bag, knit completely in garter stitch of Noro Kureyon in an undetermined colorway, could be yours for just $29.95. The strap is knit in garter stitch as well of a locally produced, spun and dyed wool. The creator of this bag didn't stop to think that her stroke of genius seaming the bag along the long edge of the piece might actually screw it up because the piece wouldn't shrink proportionally. She should have known better, but hey, lesson learned!

This could all be yours! Act now!!!

(Buttons says: Mama, that bag is hella-fugly...but this sunny spot on Nana's floor ain't half shabby! And also, yes...she's always this insane. She thinks I'm deaf, but really, I've just learned to ignore her unless she mentions "food", "walkies" or "bedtime". I suggest you do the same.)

sleeping dogs lie

2007-03-12T12:06:00.000-04:00

(warning: this is not a happy post, an entertaining post, anything to do with knitting. happiness, being silly and making pretty things are the real me...but this is very much another part of the real me, too).

I am a study in paradox. When it comes to things I should be working on and trying to improve for myself, I am the queen of avoidance, the master of blocking stuff out. However, I also have a tendancy to constantly want to meddle with things in my life that are stable, if not good for me. I don't understand why I do this. I am not, for all my excitable nature, a person who enjoys drama. I am closely acquainted with several people who are never happy unless there is drama going on in their lives. If there is none to speak of, they will (on purpose) plant their own seeds to drama to nurture into full-grown issues that then require MORE drama and attention to be resolved. I recognize this behavior and I try to stay away from it as much as possible, because it makes me uncomfortable. So why, when it comes to my own life, do I have so much trouble just doing things the right / easy way? Why do I continue to INADVERTANTLY create so much bullshit for myself? Life could be so good...it could be so much easier if I just made the choices that I know damn well need to be made. And yet...I keep finding myself entirely incapable of making said choices. Why is this? Does it come down to a fear of being happy? A fear of succeeding? That seems fairly ridiculous to me. Why would I be scared of being happy or of being successful? I don't understand if it's a chemical thing in my brain, if it's something that I somehow picked up as a kid, or if it's just my imagination doing what it seems to do so very well.
What frustrates me the most is that I'm not an unintelligent person. So why do I live like one? Why do I make these stupid life choices that set me back so far? It's just that. It's stupid. And the more I do it, the more stupid I feel, and the less confidence I have in myself...the less I trust myself to make a good decision the next time...and the more apt I am to make another stupid decision. It seems to be the definition of a downward spiral. The more people try to help me, the more I just want them to leave me alone. Once I'm alone, I can at least make my stupid decisions in peace and not have to think about anyone judging me or telling me how harmful those decisions really are.

I constantly catch myself saying "This is stupid. Why am I doing this? I know this is wrong. I don't want to be this person", but I continue whatever behavior I'm involved in anyway. I don't understand why. There is so much resentment that wells up in me every time someone points out to me (even in a sensitive and gentle manner) that maybe some of the stuff I'm doing is very self-destructive. I know they're right. Why can't I just listen to them?

There is not one single aspect of my life that I'm happy with right now. My physical health has deteriorated drastically in the last 6-8 months. My mental well-being, while certainly in a different state than a year ago (when I was suffering massive panic attacks), has obviously only moved laterally, not improved any. I'm not happy with the place I live, I hate my main job, I avoid most of my family because I'm ashamed of myself and I don't want them to see what I've become...it's just not a good place to be.

Writing things like this make me feel better in one respect because it gets a load off my chest...but on the other hand, it makes me that much more unhappy with myself because I feel like I sound very "poor me" to the outside world...when really, that's the exact opposite of how I feel. I view the "poor me" mentally as people seeking attention or pity. I'm the opposite. I stuff everything down and try my best to be "normal" in front of everyone because I so badly do NOT want to attract any more attention than is absolutely necessary. I don't want people to pity me...and I don't want them to know that I'm weak, that I can't handle my issues. But the more I pretend to be ok, the less ok I really feel.

progress

2007-03-09T08:58:00.000-05:00

Being brief because work is still taking over my life...but wanted you to see the sock progress. This is from Saturday, before I turned the heel. It's actually about 3 inches from being done now, but I haven't had any good light to take any more pictures lately. Plus, the aforementioned work taking over my life, etc.

Hopefully things will return to normal next week. I have pictures of another project to show you, too! OOooooOOooo...;)

see?

2007-03-05T16:46:00.000-05:00

I DO still knit...and post pictures of it...:)

Sorry for the absence, all. Many things going on lately, the least of which is not work. I have many pictures of what this wee bit of sockage has become...and I will be sharing them soon! Thanks for bearing with me!

2007-02-26T12:26:00.000-05:00

This is the first poem I've written in almost a year. It annoys me, because I used to write constantly but now the only thing that moves me to write is my stupid fucking overwhelming anxiety. Ugh.

*********
it's happening again...
that creeping
crawling
bit by bit insistance
that something
anything
is wrong.
Broken.
Awful.

That sinister whisper
back behind my ear:
"it's not just coincidence..."
"it's even worse than you think..."

Don't trust.
Don't believe.
Don't move.
Don't change.
Don't
blink.

You might miss
a clue
a sign
a warning...
a reason to reason to really
be afraid...

i swear....

2007-02-26T11:01:00.000-05:00

...I really AM here. Work is just killing me right now. We're in the middle of Town Report season...it's like very tenuously controlled chaos. And sometimes...it's just all-out no-control chaos. I also still have no computer at home (How's that power supply coming along, Prata my dear? lol) and it wouldn't matter even if I did because I just go home, drop the dog off, and go to another job every night anyway. I have been reading...I have been knitting...I have been working...and that's mostly it. I will eventuallly tell you about my vacation and my flying trip to Boston the day after the blizzard to get Mark onto a plane back to England after CRAPPY CRAPPY DELTA AIRLINES screwed us, lied to us, screwed us some more, and just generally ticked us off for like a day and a half...but that's something I don't want to get into right now, obviously...*laughs*

Feel free to click over to my Flickr page (link in the sidebar) and peruse a few new pics I've put up...and visit www.uvScene.com for stuff going on in the area (and to read the drink recipe I posted on Thursday...whee!).

Back soon!

here I am

2007-02-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to let you know that I have not, infact, fallen off the face of the planet. I am here...I had a lovely vacation with Mark, which I will tell you all about eventually...and now I'm back at work in the middle of Town Report season, which is hands-down our busiest and craziest time of year. So...yeah. I'm here...just kinda busy. Be patient with me. There are many pictures of vacation and knitting and lots of other good things to come, I promise.

decisions, decisions

2007-02-02T13:54:00.000-05:00

This should be coming in the mail soon...maybe even tomorrow.

Isn't it yummy? I'm so excited to see it...I can't wait! It's from Hello Yarn, which I've mentioned before as one of my favorite places to get lovely hand-dyed yarn. I also have a huge crush on her dog, Shambles...but that's really neither here nor there...*grins*

I think that I want to make this with it:

...but I'm semi-worried that the pattern might be obscured by the varigation of the yarn. What do you think? I guess I really won't know until I try it. I got kind of a ton of the yarn, so I'll have more than enough to make something else with it too. I wanted to start my foray into lace with scarves rather than a shawl. Baby steps, right? :)

Speaking of baby-steps, I started this last night at work:

This is Hello Yarn too, actually...it's colorway "Flurry" fingering-weight superwash merino sock yarn that I bought a couple months ago. I found the pattern on Knitty somewhere...not in the patterns section but in an article. It's super easy - just (k2tog, yo) over and over on the right side and purl across the wrong side...and the edging is K3 / K4. I'm doing it on #8 needles. The pattern called for #9's, but it also said the gauge was irrelevant, so I figured going down a size wouldn't hurt things any. This is my first actual openwork/lace project. I'm pretty happy with it so far, and it seems to be going pretty quickly. I had a lady come into the store last night and see me knitting it and ask me if I was going to sell it after it was done. WOO HOO! If she still likes it when it's done and she's willing to shell out some cash for it, I might just be in business...:)

see these?

2007-01-30T16:10:00.000-05:00

I haven't had any, I swear! I've been really, REALLY good for...*calculates*...2 entire days. Like...5 servings of veggies a day...no store-bought baked goods (I REALLY miss you, brownies from The Fort!)...no chips, no cookies, no candy, no junk food of any kind. I even scaled back on the coffee this morning...I went down from the 20oz to the 16oz, granted...but, you know...baby steps, right?

Anyway...my point is...I have to go to 2nd job tonight. You know...the job that's at a convenience store. Full of convenience food. AKA - junk food. Those donuts up there? Live at the store. So do KitKats, Doritos, and Slim Jims. Cadbury Eggs live at the store...and those kettle-cooked potato chips that are so crunchy and salty and good. All the crappy, calorie-salt-and-fat-laden junk food that tastes sofuckinggood and is sofuckingbad happens to surround me every time I walk into the store to work a 4.5 hour shift.

Do you know how hard it is to stand at the counter and stare at the basket of Cadbury Eggs for 4.5 hours and NOT EAT ONE?

I will tell you. It's very, very hard. For me, anyway.

I don't know if I can do it. But I'm going to try. I've told myself that I'm allowed to have hot chocolate while at the store...but I have a feeling that 4.5 hours of hot chocolate might not do my system any favors in the long run...*giggles*

Speaking of the store, here is another picture of something I found there. It tickled me to death and I had to take a picture of it.

Yes, I brought my camera to the convenience store because I get THAT bored!! The camera kept me entertained for a good 40 minutes, once I found the cheap sunglasses rack...

Other tidbits: I've been knitting crazily but I keep running the batteries out on the camera...presumably whilst taking cheap sunglass portraits of myself...so I can't take pictures of much of it right now. That will be rectified soon.

I just finished Wicked by Gregory Maguire and it was FANTASTIC. Highly recommended. I will be getting more of his books soon.

My taxes are done and everyone should cross their fingers that I get my money SOON (like...by the end of this week), as part of it is going toward a plane ticket for my honey to come visit the week of Valentine's day. w00t!

I bought this today. I couldn't help myself. It's so beautiful and I just want to wrap it around myself and giggle like an idiot. It has all my favorite colors in it. I had to have it. What I'm going to MAKE with it, I'm not entirely sure yet. It's lace-weight, so I should probably get over my being-scared-of-knitting-lace thing and just make a nice scarf or something. Anybody have any good patterns for a first stab at real lace-knitting?

shawl

2007-01-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

So, I knit a shawl, way back in the day. I worked on it sporadicly all summer, it kind of got exiled to the UFO Pile Of Doom for a while, and then I rescued it and finally finished it around the end of November. Then it sat around in the living room for another month and a half before I finally decided to block it over the weekend. This may have partially been due to the fact that for a while there during the holidays I didn't my house and couldn't actually find a big enough space on the floor to pin out the shawl properly...*ahem*

Anyway, moving swiftly on! Here is a pre-blocking picture. The shawl is approx 4.5 feet wide by 4ish feet long, pre-blocking:

And, by way of some AGGRESSIVE blocking, I was able to coax about a foot of length and width out of the piece. I also got bored while pinning and made a snazzy little scallop to the edge:

This is the final product, poised on the arm of my chair:

Vital Stats:

Garter-stitch shawl knit from the point up w/ a yarn-over increase at the end of every row to create an eyelet edging. Knit with a locally raised and processed worsted-weight wool. Color is listed as "Mountain Purple" on the label. It's hard to see in the pics, but the yarn has a lovely silvery heather that runs through it in addition to the purple color. I used approx 2 1/2 skeins of yarn and a #10 circular needle. Even though it took me about 5 months from start to finish, actual KNITTING time was probably only about two weeks' worth, total. It's quite itchy but it's also SUPER warm, and I'm very happy with the end result.

The one thing I'm not entirely happy with (but I can certainly live with) is the distinct sheepy smell that the wool still has, even after rinsing. It's less potent than it was when I was knitting...but it's still definitely there. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of it? Will rinsing it with Woolite help, maybe? Or a few spritzes of Febreeze? *grins*

what weekend?

2007-01-19T16:55:00.000-05:00

I have to work all weekend. As in...tonight, tomorrow night, Sunday night...AND Monday night. Not thrilled about this...but sucking it up. I traded a shift with Laurie @ the store so that I could go to knitting night last night...which was well worth it. It was a good time and I got about halfway through my 2nd Pirate mitt. Yarrrr!

In other news...I'm waiting patiently (jumping on the mail box every night on my way home) for my W2's to come so that I can do my taxes. Taxes means tax return. Tax return means extra money. Extra money means plane ticket for Mark (yes, AFTER I pay my bills, Alex...I know!). Mark coming over is a very, VERY good thing. I shall be doing a dance to the IRS gods every night until I get my tax stuff, in hopes that it improves the expediancy (is that a word?) and overall amount of my return.

Have you read Wicked by Gregory Maguire? If you haven't, you should. There's not much else to say about it. That's the highest praise I can issue. Just go read it. It's wonderful.

Right...I'm off to the land of 2nd jobs now. Have a lovely weekend, all...be safe and have fun!

yarrrrrr!

2007-01-16T16:42:00.000-05:00

Here there be the port side view of a pirate mitty, Matey!

And here there be the starboard side view! Yarr!

This be the 2nd mitty I've knit in this pattern. The first one was a bit (ok, very) tight for my somewhat mannish (pirately?) hands. I worked so hard on it that I didn't have the heart to frog it all, so I left it intact and cast on for another. I finished this yesterday afternoon. It only took probably 6-7 hours total...and I'm a slow knitter. It's a lot of fun to knit, and I can't wait to get home and cast on for the other one tonight.

For those who are curious - the yarn I'm using is Red Heart Acrylic sport-weight in yellow and black. The yarn? SUCKS. Well, the black does, anyway. It's like...fuzzy. And splitty as the day is long. I had a weak moment of cheapness and also impatience. I didn't want to wait for the weekend and good yarn. I cast on with the Red Heart and instantly regretted it. I am going to finish this pair with the crappy yarn and then get some good yarn to do another pair. Even those these ones (just barely) fit me, I'd like to do another pair in worsted weight, as that should bump the size up a little and probably make the mitts more functional for me.

oooh, looky!

2007-01-12T10:03:00.000-05:00

My first knit-along!!!

I started the mittens last night and got the cuff completely done on the first one. Even though the picture looks daunting, the pattern is actually really easy so far and I'm very pleased with my progress. I'm using crappy yarn...Red Heart sport-weight acrylic...because I wanted to get started and didn't have time to go in search of quality yarn in the colors I wanted...but I'm still pretty happy with the results. Pictures will be coming this weekend!

no-brainer

2007-01-10T12:34:00.000-05:00

Who wants to hear about knitting when there are pictures like this to drool over?! This is Oscar the Puppy. Becky and Shannon picked him up Monday night. He's 6 weeks old and has skunky puppy breath and he's small enough to climb completely into the food bowl that they got for him and I LOVE HIM, damn it! I love him I love him I love him. :)

There are other Oscar pics on my flickr page, if you just can't get enough of his puppiness. Because I, for one, can not.

disappointed

2007-01-05T15:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I have to admit...I'm slightly disappointed.

After the great experience I had with the blue Plymouth Baby Alpaca yarn that I made Maggie's wristies out of, I went and bought some lovely smokey charcoal in the same yarn to make some wristies of my own. It's so soft and squishy and I just want to make a nest of it and curl up and sleep the rest of the winter. It's brushed, so it's got more halo to it than the blue stuff I used before. It's very lovely to look at and I could stroke it all day long.

Knitting with it, however, is another matter entirely.

I can not knit with this yarn. I just can't. I love how it looks...I love how it feels...I just can't make it work with anything I've tried. It's too fuzzy for the cabled wristies I wanted to do, so I figured I'd do a simple ribbed scarf. I did about 4 inches and was so unhappy that I frogged it. It's like it doesn't tighten up and do the scrunch-together thing that ribbing normally does (I know, that made NFSWSE (no fucking sense what so ever)...get over it, non-knitters!). I tried smaller needles...bigger needles...tighter knitting...looser knitting...nothing has worked. It breaks my heart. Thankfully I only bought 2 skeins of it (at $5.99 a pop...ouch!) so it's not like I'm going to have a CRATE of it sitting around that I can't use...but still. It's just so...kitteny. And the other stuff worked SO well and was such a joy to knit. I just really want to make it work.

Any suggestions? Am I just no good at knitting with fuzzy yarn? I'm starting to think that might be the crux of the issue, as I bought some lovely fuzzy acrylic stuff back in the day from JoAnn's and I can't make that do anything for me, either....*le sigh*

ps: today is my birthday. Wahoonies! 27 doesn't feel any different than 26. At least, not yet...:)

tomorrow, tomorrow

2007-01-04T08:53:00.000-05:00

Sorry for my absence. No computer at home makes posting time somewhat limited. Hopefully that will be rectified soon, though (Hi Alex! Sent that power supply yet? Love ya!).

Have been knitting, but haven't been taking pictures of it. I'll get on that, I promise. I want to show you what I'm working on before I felt it, which will hopefully be this weekend.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years Eve. I went to Beck's house and ate / drank / made merry with a bunch of friends. It was a good time. We played some card games and a game called Mad Gab, which was AWESOME. There was knitting and drinking and laughing and lots of hugs and kisses all around when the ball dropped. Then I went home (I hadn't had that much to drink, so don't worry) and the roads were so atrocious that it took me nearly half an hour to go 7 miles. Very scary. I was in an almost constant state of skid the whole time. Bad roads don't usually freak me out too much, but I was definitely white-knuckling it going home Sunday night!

I managed to get my lazy ass out of bed both Tuesday morning and this morning to go to the gym with Beck, too. It's only like 3 miles from my house so I really have no excuse. She goes every other day pretty religiously, so I asked for a gift certificate for a month's membership for Christmas so that I could start going with her. I figure it will be easier to get in the habit if I know she's going to be there, too. So...I walked on the treadmill both Tuesday and today. It was hard on Tuesday and I felt like crap the whole time...but it was good today. I felt really good afterward and it seems to help me wake up, which is a good thing, trust me. *grins*

In other news...tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 27. I don't THINK the world is going to end...but if it does, you'll now know why...;) I don't have any big plans...I think I'm just going out to dinner with some friends and possibly going to the movies after. I'm bummed that Mark can't be here to spend my birthday with me...but I know he'll more than make up for it the next time he's here. Looks like he can't come until April because of work scheduling...but that gives me time to save up money so that we can do fun stuff while he's here, so even though it sucks to wait that long, it will be a good thing in the long run.

I will be back this weekend with knitting pictures, I promise!

Polar Bear Jump!

2006-12-29T09:04:00.000-05:00

Below is a cut-and-paste of an email I got from my best friend Maggie this morning. Please read below and if can find it in your checkbook to donate even a small amount (tax deductible! You'll get it all back in a few weeks!), please click on her link below. It's for a great cause, and I'm so proud of her!! :)
- Shelby

Hello Everyone!

On January 20th, I will be plunging into the icy waters of Seward's Boat Harbor in Resurrection Bay, Seward Alaska. You may be asking yourself, now why would she go and do such a thing? Well if you think it is because I desperately crave a dose of excitment during a long, cold and dark winter...well, you may be partially correct, but in all honesty, I grew out of those thrill-seeking antics long ago; and it isn't the result of a lost dare. No folks, this is something much different. I will be facing my fear of deep dark waters because the American Cancer Society needs me. I will be joining a group of my friends and former colleagues from the Alaska SeaLife Center in raising money to fund research to fight cancer. It's a pretty big event here in Seward! Here is a paragraph taken from the ACS website:

Since 1986, Polar Bear Jump-Off has been raising money for the American Cancer Society, aiding in the mission to eliminate cancer. Pledges raised through the Polar Bear Jump-Off help provide cancer patients and their families with information and support, fund research that leads to improved treatments, educate the public about cancer prevention and early detection, and help ensure that everyone has access to lifesaving cancer screenings.

I realize this is an extremely tight time of year for everyone financially but, if you have the means, I am asking you to consider donating. No donation is too small and every penny is tax-deductible. Above all, this is a remarkable cause that I am extremely proud to be a part of. I am dedicating the jump to my grandfather who's life was cut short by Throat Cancer. Advances are being made everyday and I believe an end is in sight.

Please visit my page on the American Cancer Society's website to learn more and/or to donate:

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=1841305&pg=personal&fr_id=1510&s_tafId=11410

Everyone will get the priviledge of receiving what I'm sure will be extremely flattering pictures of me jumping into the drink. So please respond with mailing addresses.

If you know of anyone else who might be interested in donating on my behalf or in general please feel free to forward this email on. I am desperately hoping to surpass the $750 minimum needed just to jump so if there is anyone out there who is able...PLEASE HELP!

I hope this finds you all healthy and happy. Please drop me a line and let me know what's new. Thank you all so much! Have a wonderful New Year!

Gratefully,

Maggie Wilkins

knit and rip...knit and rip...

2006-12-28T13:54:00.000-05:00

I've been knitting...but I haven't bothered to take any pictures of any of it because it's mostly just been messing around w/ patterns, etc. This is partially because I've kind of had Holiday Hangover all week and partially because I haven't recently found any patterns and/or yarn that I'm really in love with. The cabled wristies I made for Maggie out of baby-blue Plymouth Alpaca were the last real project I finished. I was in a hurry to get them into the mail so I didn't take a picture of them. Maybe I can get Maggs to do a self-portrait with them on to post up here. :) They came out quite nice...I made a couple mistakes, but in all I was quite happy with them, and they were a fast knit. I need to practice cabling in the round, though. Both pairs of wristies I've done have been all as one flat piece and then I seam it up at the end...but I suck at the seaming and I'd love to not have to do it.

I'm sick of fiddling with cotton and dishcloth patterns...socks in fine yarn with tiny needles seem so endless right now...scarves just go on and on forever...I don't know. I'm thinking it might be time to head to the yarn shop and see what I can find that will knit up quickly and felt into nice little bags. There were a couple young ladies whose mother asked me to knit them up some felted handbags for Christmas if I had time. I didn't really have the time to do it before the holiday, but I'm thinking late is better than never. One likes anything pink, and the other likes blues and greens...and I think it would be cool to get some black and embroider their initials on them after felting, as well.

So there you go...I just now talked myself right into a shopping trip and two new knitting projects. Magic right before your eyes, people! *giggles*

Christmas 2006 shall henceforth be known as...

2006-12-26T10:13:00.001-05:00

...The Year That All Gifts Were Teal.

Yes...teal. As in the color, not the duck variety.

Where my mother ever got the notion that I was fond of teal, I will never know. Her intentions were good, as always. I got lots of lovely clothing for Christmas...but it was all, and I mean ALL, in various shades of teal. I didn't think much of it at first. I just smiled and said thanks and left it at that...but after the 4th teal top that I unwrapped, I finally asked:

"Did you buy everything in the same color scheme on purpose or was it just coincidence?"

"No, no...I did it on purpose! That way, everything is coordinated, so you don't really have to be awake when you get dressed because you know that everything basically matches!!" She beamed happily. I just nodded and smiled.

So...I am now the proud owner of 4 new shirts and sweaters in various shades of teal, as well as a rockin' new black down vest, which I didn't ask for but was totally psyched to get. I had asked for a digital camera, which I got...and a new little microwave to replace the one that got fried in the Great Tree Fall Incident. I got a bunch of other little stuff which I didn't need but which is all pretty cool...and we had a good time on Christmas Eve watching movies and getting tipsy and eating good food...so we can count this Christmas as another success. :)

I also got some lovely cards from Mark, one of which I wasn't supposed to open until my birthday. Ooops. BUT...in my defense, it WAS NOT MARKED with specific opening instructions...so I can't be entirely blamed. Can I? *grins*

Buttons got a raincoat from my mom and dad...but Mark scolds me when I play dress-up with the dog, so we will save it for only very inclement conditions! And we will NOT be buying any matching booties to go with. Honest. It's red, by the way...with a little hood and a reflective stripe. He looks quite dashing in it. Not that I had it on him for very long at all...I swear. *ahem* :)

And now, I need to go wash my hands because I have been eating an orange this whole time and my fingers are all sticky now. Hope you all had a lovely long weekend and holiday!

santa baby - revisited

2006-12-21T09:10:00.000-05:00

I wrote this a couple years ago...but it still makes me smile and since it's the season, I thought I would re-post it for those who maybe don't have the time / wearwithall to delve into my vast and seemingly bottomless archives to find it. Feedback, as always, is welcome. Enjoy! :)

Have you ever seen a REALLY bad Santa? There are times when I've been near Santa...at the mall, at a store he's visiting, or at a school function, and I've just known it wasn't really Santa. I mean...I AM a grown woman, and I do understand that Santa can't be everywhere all at once, so he needs people to help him out lots of times...but come on. Sometimes it's just so bad that you want to run over and knock the hat right off the guys' head and yell "You are SO not Santa!!" Other times, you come across a Santa so realistic...so filled with joy and happiness and true Christmas Spirit, that you just can't help but believe...whether you're 3 or 30. You instantly turn into a little kid again, and you want to just cut to the front of the line, dive onto his lap, give him a big hug around the neck and ask for a train set.

When I was in elementary school, there used to be a Christmas concert every year. Each class would have one or two songs that they'd learned in music class, and we'd all have to get up and sing, class by class. None of the kids really cared a whole lot about the music part of the concert, because the big deal was at the end. At the end, Santa came. You'd all be sitting there quietly, listening to the closing remarks from Mrs. Sylvester, the principal...and someone would lean over and whisper in your ear.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The teacher would lean over to give you a dirty look and hold her fingers to her lips. You'd sigh and look back up at Mrs. Sylvester, pretending to listen to her. Your best friend sitting beside you (because when you're 9, you NEVER sit next to anyone but your BEST friend at the Christmas concert) nudges you in the side, and you look at her, and she's all excited.

"I heard it again! It's bells! It's Santa! " she hisses.

"Bells? I didn't hear anything..."

"Shhhh!!" the teacher glares at you, and you know you're about 2 seconds away from being taken out into the hall, but then suddenly it doesn't matter...because you hear it. Bells. Jingle bells! Out in the hallway! Just then, Mrs. Sylvester stops talking and leans way over, a hand to her ear, totally over-acting.

"Did anyone else hear that? I think I just heard...YES I DID!! I just heard SLEIGH BELLS!!"

The gym errupts into cheers as all the kids look toward the door that leads out into the hallway. The bells get louder, and the door flies open...and there stands Santa, big as life. He's got an "elf" from the volunteer fire department on either side of him, and they're carrying a big box full of little individual boxes of candy. He makes his way through the gym, ho-ho-ho'ing and shaking those bells for all he's worth, stopping to say hello to this person or that person as he goes along. After what seems like an eternity, he gets to the stage and settles down in the chair that has appeared for him. The "elves" set up their boxes of goodies, and Mrs. Sylvester announces that each class may come up, one at a time, starting with the kindergartners, to say hello to Santa. You're 9 years old...you're in the 4th grade...and there's only 12 kids or less per class...but that just seems like an eternity. You can hear the little kindergartners each rambling off their list of what they want for Christmas, and Santa dutifully repeating the items, so as to help him better remember them in a few nights' time. Finally the 4th grade gets called up, and you scuff forward with your class, trying not to look as excited as you really are. You inch closer and closer to the Big Man as the line slowly progresses. Finally, you're at the edge of the stage and your best friend is up there with him, taking her box of candy. She smiles and tells Santa she really wants some new skis for Christmas. He tells her he'll work on that for her, and sends her on her way. He turns and nods to you, beckoning you forward. As you come up to him, he looks into your eyes and smiles, and your heart soars. This is not some part-time WalMart or street-corner Santa. This is the real deal. Look at those round cheeks and that long white beard. Look at his gloves and the way his gold-rimmed glasses perch right at the end of his turned up nose. No, this is no fake. You can practically SMELL the reindeer on him, for goodness sake! He holds out a box of candy to you, and you smile shyly.

"Hi Shelby!" he says happily, and your breath catches in your throat. Santa knows your name! You stutter a little as you reply.

"H-h-hi Santa. Thank you for the candy." You clutch the small white paperboard box to you and stand there in awe of The Real Santa.

"You're welcome. Have you been a good girl this year?" You nod vigerously and Santa smiles wide, his perfectly straight white teeth gleaming behind his red lips and his white beard and mustache. He wants you to talk, you can feel it...but you can't seem to do it. You open your mouth but nothing comes out. He laughs.

"What would you like for Christmas this year, Shelby?" He said your name again! Oh man...you're in big with Santa if he says your name TWICE! Your stomach is filled with butterflies as you stutter once more.

"I...I would like a bike...a-a-and...and a tape player, Santa. Please. Can you do that?" He looks pensive for a moment and then nods.

"I think I can, yes...but I'll need you to be extra good this next few days, ok?" You nod again fervently, your eyes wide and earnest. You peer at Santa's face and there's something so comforting and familiar about him...but you're just a little kid and you can't quite place what it is...other than that, well...he's Santa. He reaches over and pats your back, and you thank him again quietly, and then shuffle off to the knot of children and parents standing beside the stage. Your mom is there, with her fluffy bleach-blonde hair and her bright green eyes. She hands you your coat and you wave goodbye to your friends before trudging off into the cold darkness of the parking lot. Your mom asks you all about your conversation with Santa, and you breathlessly tell her every detail over and over...not just about how he said you'd get a bike, but also his face and how his teeth were so pefect, like dad's...and the corners of his eyes were crinkly when he smiled, but that he didn't really look old to you, except for the beard. She listens and laughs and takes you home, where you change into your pajamas and watch a little TV while you sneak pieces of the candy Santa gave you, and dream about what color your new bike will be.

An hour or so later, your dad comes home. He couldn't go to the concert because he had a meeting for the fire department that he really couldn't miss. You shuffle out to the kitchen behind him, telling him all about everything that happened and how it was the REAL Santa, not like that silly fake Santa you saw last weekend at the mall, and how he knew your name, and all about the bike, and...and...and...

Soon it's getting late, and your mom tells you it's bedtime. You're still excited and wired from the candy, but you oblidge, since you DID tell Santa you'd be good. You follow your mother up the stairs and she watches you get into bed, then shuts out the light. You hug your stuffed Cookie Monster to you and think briefly about how Santa's teeth were so perfect and straight, just like dad's...and how his cheeks were so round that they squinched up his eyes when he smiled, just like dad's, and the end of his nose tipped up just a little bit...kind of like dad's...as you drift off to sleep.

My dad still does the best Santa I've ever seen. It's not the suit or the big fake white beard. It's not his Ho-ho-ho's, although those are pretty good. It's not the glasses or the sleigh bells or the sack that he stuffs with empty boxes to make it look really full of toys. It's all in his eyes. It's the pure joy that Christmas always brings him, no matter how old he gets. He still believes, even after 50 years...and to him, there's nothing more appropriate during Christmas than reveling in that belief and sharing it with others.

I got tagged

2006-12-18T10:59:00.000-05:00

Seth tagged me...so I must oblidge. Here are 6 weirdnesses that I have:

1. I am kind of OCD about really dumb stuff....like hairbrushes. I have a "dirty only" hairbrush...and the rest of my hairbrushes are "clean only". I have no idea how I got into the habit, but it REALLY bugs me if someone comes into my house and uses one of my "clean only" brushes on their greasy unclean hair...or worse, hair that's got tons of product in it. The really funny thing is, I'm lucky if I brush my hair twice a day...once before I get in the shower in the morning (with the "dirty" brush!) and once before I go to bed at night (with the "clean" brush). I'm so NOT the hair-doing type, so it shouldn't even matter to me...but it does.

2. I swear a LOT. I often catch myself right before I spit out the F-word in the midst of conversations where it would be highly inappropriate, at best. My favorite adjective is "fuckin'". It's a terrible habit. I must sound like such white trash.

3. I worry a lot about whether or not I come off as weird / insane to people. I know I shouldn't care because I just am who I am...but I hate the idea that people might think I'm crazy...which in turn, I think, tips the scale a little more to the crazy side...*laughs* My biggest fear is to have someone think I'm creepy-weird. Funny-weird is ok with me...artsy-weird or smart-weird are even ok...but the day I find out that the way I act or talk creeps someone out, I'll probably jump off a cliff.

4. I'm very self-concious. When I'm nervous around someone, I rake my hand through my hair a lot, or I push my sleeves down over my hands and then push them back up to my elbows a lot. No one else has ever called me out on it...but I notice it myself. When I just straight don't like someone, I avoid eye contact like it's the plague. Also, there are very few people in my life that I can have such a thing as "comfortable" silences with. Even if the other person is comfortable being silent around me, I am usually mentally running down the list of what I've talked about, what I can still talk about, how stupid I sounded saying X, Y or Z....etc etc.

5. When I can't sleep, I count. I start at 299 and count backwards to zero. I'm usually asleep before I hit 50. If it doesn't work, then I start again, sometimes at 399. If it doesn't work the second time through, I turn on the light and do a Sudoku puzzle.

6. I dwell in the past a lot. It annoys me, but I don't know how to not do it. I'm hoping I'll grow out of it...but seeing as how I'm almost 27, I figure if I haven't grown out of it yet, chances are I'm not going to.

And now, I get to tag people. I tag:

Production Maven & Prata (aka: the entirety of my readership? Hah!)

festivus

2006-12-18T09:27:00.000-05:00

We busted out the doggie adornments and had a little photo shoot yesterday morning...

eeeee!!

2006-12-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

I can't tell you what that's for yet...but just take it for given that my
exclaiming in high-pitched mono-syllables is the sign of the possibility of
Very Good Things!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

things I did this weekend (not an all-inclusive list, but close!)

2006-12-11T12:51:00.000-05:00

went grocery shopping - bought stuff for the massive batches of Christmas cookies that will start being produced this week.

went to the yarn store - I know, I KNOW!!! I only went in for some beads...and I came out with beads, 2 skeins of Galway (one white and one in a really pretty dark blue / light blue / lavender barbershop pole twisty pattern), 2 skeins of baby blue Plymouth brushed Suri alpaca, and a new set of bamboo DPN's.

saw Blood Diamond - it was very good, but sad and depressing. Made me not want to ever buy a diamond, though.

had my first pakoras - chicken pakora and veggie pakora. YUM!

tried a mango rum lahsi - tastes almost like melted mango sherbet. Creamy and mango-y and you can't even taste the rum. Lord, give me strength. If I ever figure out how to make those at home, I will NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE AGAIN.

knit - I am making a scarf w/ the Galway I bought...2X2 rib and stripes of 6 rows white, 6 rows blue, etc. This plus a big container of my super awesome good christmas cookies will be my Yankee Swap gift next weekend. I hope. :)

cleaned house - but it still needs more cleaning. And I need to finish putting up my christmas decorations.

20 Q, Christmas style

2006-12-08T13:38:00.000-05:00

Sorry...I know I've been gone for a while. I'll tell you that story some day.

Anyway...until then...here you go! :)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I like the nog because it has booze in it...*hic* Hot chocolate spiked w/ Buttershots or Baileys or peppermint schnapps is tasty, too.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? I don't want to see unwrapped presents unless they're too big to feasibly wrap. In that case, bring them on!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Ugh...white, please. Anything else makes me feel a seizure coming on.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nyet.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I got a new little tree this year, so I was all enthused and put it up maybe a little bit early (read: Dec 3rd)....but in general, a couple weeks before is more than enough.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? uhhh...fudge? Fudge is totally a food group, right? Nah, I don't know...we don't do a big christmas dinner, usually.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: My dad playing Santa at my elementary school Christmas concerts. I never knew it was him until I was like 12...I think that made it even better.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth? I kick people that say Santa isn't real.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I always try to get my parents to let me, but they seldom cave. Yes, I AM about to turn 27...why? *grins*

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights, frosty blue glass ornaments with sparkly silver snowflakes on them, and a silver bow on the top because I haven't found a star that I like yet.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it...bring it! Hurry!

12. Can you ice skate? Haven't in about 20 years. Used to love it when I was a little kid, though.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My dad always finds some pretty little glass trinket box or picture frame or something for me every year. I have a couple little things like that from him that I still treasure.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family family family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Erm...see above re: fudge? :)

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? The big whole-family shindig with all my crazy aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

17. What tops your tree? a little silver bow right now. I'm still star-hunting.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? I like both, of course...but I love the feeling I get when I see someone's eyes light up as they open a gift from me.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? White Christmas, Silent Night

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum for the first two or three, then kinda bleh...

whew

2006-11-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

Hi - yes, I'm still here...just been super busy all around and kind of climbing the walls because I still don't have a computer at home, etc. Will be back w/ more knitting madness soon.

one of these socks is not like the other....

2006-11-20T11:03:00.000-05:00

...even though it was meant to be...*laughs*

This, my children, is what happens when you decide to throw an extra repeat of the pattern into a sock to make it a little bit bigger (because my mom has one foot that's bigger than the other. Everyone does, I guess...but one of hers is like a whole SIZE bigger than the other, which I pick on her about mercilessly). Anyway...6 addtional stitches throws the way the yarn stripes WAY off, as you can see. They're both pretty, which is a plus...it's just kind of funny to see her walking around with two similar and yet really not similar socks on.

So, yeah...that's my first toe-up short row heel pair of patterened socks done. Here are the specs, for the other knitting geeks in the crowd (yay knitting geeks!):

Yarn: Socks That Rock in "Lapis"
Needles: Bamboo and aluminum #2's (I broke one bamboo needle from my set doing something else with it and had to mix and match)
Pattern: Beaded Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks
Elapsed time: First one was started in July and finished in August, then I got sidetracked and didn't start the second one until about 2 weeks ago. There is definitely something to be said for the "cast on for the second sock immediately!" rule that others have tried to pass on to me and which I shall now follow!

In other, much sadder and stranger news - my dear friend Sarah's husband passed away over the weekend. They had been married about 14 months, and she just found out a few weeks ago that she's 15 weeks pregnant. He was 32 years old. He was out hunting with his dad and brother and suffered a massive heart attack. Very stunning news, for sure. The funeral is tomorrow. I still don't really know what to think. He was a good guy. Tomorrow is going to be difficult for everyone, I think.

It makes you wonder sometimes...the way life works...the reason things happen. I don't think it's always a good IDEA to wonder...but sometimes you do none the less. It also makes you realize what you take for granted in life...and hopefully it makes you change those habits for the better.

excitement

2006-11-16T10:19:00.000-05:00

Big things afoot in my lil world! Can't divulge publicly just yet...but very excited! More to come, I promise.

Knitting night @ Salt Hill tonight...I get to meet a bunch of ladies that I only know from the Internets. Should be fun. There will be beer involved, which is always a plus...*grins*

More later...must work now...blergh...

first felt

2006-11-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

Preface: I didn't take any "before" pictures of this, which I didn't realize until it was too late. This is me kicking myself...OUCH!

Ok, moving on...

I did my first felting this weekend.

I'm really quite happy with it, given that I was just kind of shooting in the dark. I didn't do a test swatch, so I had no clue how much it would shrink. I was washing other stuff at the time that needed warm water, so I just tossed it in. I think the fact that it was warm water and not hot water probably saved me from a first-felt disaster.

Here it is stuck over one of my mom's kitchen canisters (she wasn't home, otherwise this probably wouldn't have been happening at all...she doesn't like me touching the laundry equipment. I don't know WHY...I've never actually BROKEN anything...that I'm aware of...hehehe). It shrunk about 30% from what it originally was, I'd say. That's just a guess because I didn't actually measure it, either. I was really happy with the color and how it all kind of melded together but didn't get really muddy-looking. I knit it as a flat piece and then decided that I wanted to fold it in half and seam it along the side and across the bottom to make a little pouch. I figured that, worst case scenario, I could string a little ribbon through the top and use it for some kind of funky little gift package. It's actually big enough to fit keys, checkbook and some other essentials in, though...so I'm going to fashion some kind of handles for it and use it as a little handbag, I think. I used Lion Brand wool...it says on the label that it's specifically for felting, so I thought it was a good place to start. I have another skein in the same colorway that I haven't cracked open yet. I want to try something a little more structured and purposeful w/ that skein.

In non-crafting news, the weekend was fairly uneventful. I worked on Saturday, then went to the first (of hopefully many!) Single Girl Saturday Night Supper Club dinners @ my aunt's house. None of us are actually single (my aunt is divorced, I am involved, Beck and Heather are both married), but every other weekend Beck and Heather are husbandless (Dave and Shannon work at the same place) on Saturday night. We came up with the idea of the Supper Club after spending too much money on margaritas at a bar one of those said husbandless nights. So...we pick something we want to make for dinner, everyone brings either part of the fixings for the meal, the drinks, or desert, we all help cook and drink and eat and talk...and it was really a lot of fun. Like I said, I hope it was the first of many!

My sunday consisted of dog-sitting my mom's dogs while she was at work and my dad was out hunting. He got an 8-pointer...he was so excited! I hung out with the dogs, felted / did laundry, and knit on the seemingly never-ending second beaded-rib sock for my mom. I got the short-row heel done last night, and that's the hardest part (for me, anyway), so it's all smooth (and hopefully fast!) sailing from here on out. I have to start a pair for my dad for Christmas as soon as mom's are done, and I have several dishcloths in progress for various christmas giftings, as well.

Right...work now...ugh.

bring on the beers

2006-11-10T13:23:00.000-05:00

I couldn't even begin to express to you how happy I am that it's Friday, even if I wanted to try. Which I don't. Because it's Friday, and frankly, I don't give a sweet god damn.

I have to work tomorrow, and STILL I am overjoyed that it's Friday. Working on a saturday isn't that sucky really, because Buttons and I get the whole place to ourselves. Holler! No bitching and whining, no politics and worrying about what everyone else is up to...just peace, quiet and being able to listen to the radio.

There is also knitting to be done this weekend, but I won't be doing it tonight. My cousin finally got her wedding pics back, so there will be a meeting of the minds at her house to review said pics and possibly also drink many beers. Bring on the beers!

weekend update

2006-11-06T14:18:00.000-05:00

Things I did over the weekend, in no particular order:

- went grocery shopping w/ my mom at WalMart and bought not only Pomegranates but also Asian Pears, among other things.

- learned how to "shuck" a pomegranate. That's not the technical term, but it's all I could think of while I was doing it. It was actually really fun, except that I had a new light-colored sweater on while I was doing it and I got squirted a couple times. Hopefully it won't ruin the sweater.

- filled and hung all my bird feeders. I now have 3 of the silo-type ones and two suet cages. I filled one of the suet cages w/ unshelled peanuts to see if it would deter the very cute but very evil squirrels from emptying out 5lbs of birdseed a week from my feeders.

- went non-grocery-shopping w/ my mom in West Leb. She bought me a new cordless phone / answering machine and a new alarm clock to replace the ones that got fried in the great Tree Fall Incident of last weekend.

- bought some light blue and some white cotton yarn to knit some dishcloths with for Christmas presents.

- worked diligently on the 2nd sock of the pair I'm making for my mom. If I continue at this rate, I'll be done with it in about a week. The short-row heel will foul me up, though...always does. I like how it looks, I just wish it was easier to do. Pictures will be posted once the pair is done (I can't model them because they don't fit me...hah!).

- took out screens and installed storm windows.

- drank lots of wine (Yay, merlot!) and made an Asian Pear...pie? tart? It was more of a pie, I guess. I was pretty tipsy, but it came out really well...did the lattice top on it and everything. I like the texture of the pears....they keep their shape well. They'd work nicely for an actual tart some day. Drunken cooking is fun, by the way.

- took Buttons for a nice long 2.5 mile trek over hill and dale through the back pastures atop the ridge behind my house. He was all gung-ho in the beginning but his enthusiasm was starting to wane about halfway through and he was certifiably dragging ass by the time we got back to the house. It was a gorgeous fall day and a lovely walk, though. We didn't see any deer, which was a bummer...but I found a cool turkey feather.

- had many weird and undetailable dreams, several of which left me feeling rather odd and unsettled...hmph.

- chatted with Mark lots, but not nearly enough. I miss him and I want him to come home. To stay. Le sigh...

thursday thirteen

2006-11-02T10:27:00.000-05:00

1. I finally got to sleep in my own bed again last night. Had been camping on an air mattress on my mom's livingroom floor since the Great Tree Fall on Saturday.

2. I slept soooooo freaking good. I was already pretty convinced that I have the comfiest bed EVER...and last night just made me appreciate it all over again.

3. Although the power surge (or brown-out, or whatever it really was) blew my computer, TV, answering machine, microwave, and pellet stove, all is not lost. Turns out it was a fuse that blew in the pellet stove...to the tune of $1.19. That I can handle. Alex seems to think the computer might be fixable for about $30, and I have high hopes that the TV is salvagable as well.

4. I feel 947% better today, knowing that I am not going to have to figure out a way to cough up hundreds of dollars to repair my stove. I was so miserable yesterday, worrying about it all day long. Sorry to anyone reading this that I was bitchy to...it wasn't you, it was me!

5. I have a new friend (named Bob), but I think he thinks I'm insane...which wouldn't be far off, I guess...*laughs*

6. Too. Much. Halloween. Candy.

7. We got our first real snow last night / this morning. Just enough to outline things in white and make it necessary to clean off the cars. It was very pretty.

8. I have english muffins and tuna fish for lunch today. This makes me giggle, for some reason. Tuna muffin. It just sounds BAD.

9. Finally got my mom to try on the first sock of the pair that I'm making for her (I finished it in...uhh...July?). It fits fine, which is good. I originally wanted the socks to be a surprise, but then I realized that a surprise is no good if it doesn't fit...so I made her try it on.

10. I then cast on for the second sock and managed to not pay attention to what I was doing at all and royally fuck it up (damn you, Criminal Minds...you distracted me!), so now I have to do it over tonight. Sans T.V. distractions!

11. I also knit a little bag w/ Lion Wool in a pretty colorway that I want to try as a felting experiment. I have no idea how much it will shrink...should probably do a swatch test first...but where's the adventure in that?!

12. I have several other knitting projects all on the verge of completetion. This weekend w/ no TV at my house might be an opportune time to finish some of them up.

13. Submitted resumes for several positions in the area recently...keep yo' fingers crossed-ed for me!

livin' like a refugee

2006-10-31T10:19:00.000-05:00

What a weekend. We had rain and wind on par with a mini-hurricane. The heavy rains just basically sat on top of the already over-saturated ground and made for not only terrible getting around, but also downed trees everywhere.

Including my front yard.

I went to my mom's house to do a load of laundry around noon on Saturday. I packed Buttons into the Jeep and we trekked across the road through the gale. No sooner had the washing machine finished filling with water, then the power went out. I decided I'd better go back over to my house to check on the stove (it's a pellet stove...the auger that feeds the pellets into the burn pot runs on electricity) and shut it down so that it wouldn't short out if there was a power surge when it came back on. The rain had let up some, so I figured I'd just walk over to my place.

I got about halfway up the driveway before it became entirely evident that something was amiss. There are twin 60-foot spruce trees right in front of my landlady's house, in the middle of the little round-about her part of the driveway makes. Well...there were. The one closer to her house had tipped over, landing neatly between her house and mine, missing both structures by mere inches. The trunk...nearly 2 1/2 feet thick...landed right where the tenents in the small apartment attached to the main house normally park their car. Thankfully, they were out at the time. The only damage the tree caused was that it took out the power and phone lines that ran between the two buildings...between the landlady's house and mine.

My parents' power was restored around 6pm Saturday, and my landlady says hers came back on shortly there-after...which is good because she lives alone and she's nearly 84 years old...but it is now 10am on Tuesday and I still have neither power nor phone. No power at my house means no heat, no hot water, not a whole lot of RUNNING water, and of course everything in my fridge and freezer is ruined. The phone guy came out yesterday to survey the situation and said that the line is still hot, so he can't do anything until CVPS (the power company) does THEIR thing.

I've been living w/ my parents since Saturday afternoon...which has its perks (they have GREAT water pressure, for one thing! YAY, shower!) but it's also starting to get old....

yet another cop out

2006-10-26T09:13:00.000-04:00

...because that's what I'm ALL ABOUT, people. ALL about.

Quick sidenote - vacation was great! Work is insane! So busy! So much to do! Exclaimation points all around!

I am now off to the wonderful world of book-keeping (gag-a-mule) but here is something to make you roll your eyes until I can get back and post properly.

1. FIRST NAME? Shelby

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I'm aware of. My dad supposedly wanted to name me after one of his ex girlfriends but my mother wasn't so hot on that idea.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Friday afternoon when I had to let Mark go get in line to board his plane. I tried not to...I really did...but I couldn't quite suck it up.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yeah I guess. I've had people tell me it's "neat" in an artistic sense, not in an actual tidy sense. Sometimes it just looks like cracked-out chicken-scratch.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Welp...I figure...if you're going to have a deli sammich, you might as well go whole hog...so I am a big fan of things like pastrami, corned beef, roast beef...you know. Stuff that was once moo'ing and heavily marbled with fat. Mmmm, cholesterol!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I'd probably try...but knowing me, I'd be somewhat of a hard nut to crack...which might be why I don't have more close friends and spend my free time filling out meme's like this...*laughs*

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I do, but I am SHIT at writing in it. Mostly I purge onto my blog.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? I do! And every time a doctor or nurse looks down my throat, they say "those are monsterous tonsils!!! Why do you still have them?? We should take those out!!" And that's usually when I run...

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? If it was somewhere with no obstacles around anywhere, then sure. I think it would be fun.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cocoa Krispies every once in a great while when I have a craving. I like the Kashi shredded wheat for every-day consumption. Or oatmeal.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No...bad habit. I usually wear clogs, so it's not an issue...but I've ruined plenty of perfectly good pairs of sneakers by just kicking them off and not untying them.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I am capable of great bursts of strength, but I'm not usually able to sustain it for very long. Ask me to put my hair in rollers and watch as I whine and eventually give up because I have no upper body stamina...and yet I can help my dad grunt a 400lb water softener half full of salt and water up a set of stairs and out to the garage. Go figure.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia. Any Ben & Jerry's, to be fair...but I'm a big Cherry Garcia fan. Or Heath Bar Crunch.

14. SHOE SIZE? 10 1/2 or 11, depending. And wide width. I have gigantic feet. They run in the family.

15. RED OR PINK? Red. A little pink once in a great while is ok, but I will never be a big pink fan.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Laziness. I have a lot of potential...but for some reason, I can't make myself get off my dead ass and make things happen.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Mark & Maggie

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Post a comment if you'd like, but I'm not sending it out to people.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? blue jeans, black leather clogs and a chocolate brown shirt that makes me look 14 shades of pastey. YEAH, BABY! ;)

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? a pair of blueberry pop tarts and a dose of Effexor.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The relative calm before the storm. In other words - the office, which is quiet right now but only because my boss hasn't gotten here yet.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? bright sunny yellow.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? clean sheets right out of the dryer.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? the garage where we got our van "fixed" last week while I was gone. They put on 2 new tires...one of which is now flatter than a flounder.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? voice, eyes and smile.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? I do. I haven't been reading her blog long, but she makes me laugh!

27. FAVORITE DRINK? coffee, water, red wine. Not much else.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? American football, baseball, ice hockey

29. EYE COLOR? yellowy olivey green...kind of.

30. HAT SIZE? No clue. Very seldom wear hats of a non-knitted construction.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, but I want them.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Uhhh...the edible kind? *laughs* I'm not that picky...and I like to eat...so you do the math. Actually no, don't...;)

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings, please. Scary bad. I'm scared enough in general as it is.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer. Even though it's hot, at least you can get out and do stuff. Winter around here, you're pretty much stuck inside unless you like frostbite.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Both! In quantity!

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? anything chocolatey or that involves whipped cream and/or ice cream. So basically anything, really. Again, see #32...lol

38&39 deleted because they were stupid and irrelevant (this is from the person that posted this before me...I have no clue what these two questions were, but I believe her!)

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Everyday Mutts, the newest Mutts treasury, which Mark brought me as a gift when he was here. I'm meant to be picking up a copy of Neverwhere, too.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? a coffee stain...*laughs* Other than that, nothing...it's just green, with a little built-in wrist rest.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? some documentary about the elections in Iraq. I wasn't actually watching it...I just had it on for noise value while I was working.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? rain on the roof, wind rustling leaves, Mark's voice, Buttons snoring softly (so cute!).

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Stones.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Belize.

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Procrastinating? *giggles* I am good at being goofy and making people laugh, and I make the Best Carrot Cake Ever In The World. AND...I'm good at reading people when I meet them in person. I dont know how or where it came from...but I have really good intuition, apparently.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Hanover, NH.

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I lifted it off Marsye at Monster Yarn. :)

cop out

2006-10-10T09:49:00.000-04:00

Here is a meme that I stole from Alex's MySpace, because I have to do bindery work all day today and won't have time to finish the really funny Cow Story post that I'm writing. Stick around for the Cow Story, though...it's a classic...*grins*

Until then...I give you this...with all apologies.

11 layers.

LAYER ONE - ON THE OUTSIDE:
Name: Shelby Lee (I used to spell it Leigh but technically it's Lee)
Birthday: 1/5/80
Eye Color: pea soup (yellowy-grayish-green)
Hair Color: maple syrup (golden-brown and sometimes a little red)
Righty or Lefty: Righty

LAYER TWO - ON THE INSIDE:
Your fears: big spiders, things jumping out of the dark, dying or getting sick
Your perfect pizza: any, as long as it doesn't have weird crap like pinapple or anchovies.

LAYER THREE: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW:
Your thoughts when you first wake up: comfy and warm. alarm clock bad.
Your best physical feature: errr...? My face, I guess?
Your bedtime: 9-10pm
Your most missed memory: My Bampa. Wish I'd gotten to know him as an adult. He was a neat guy.

LAYER FOUR: YOUR PICK:
Pepsi or Coke: diet coke w/ lime
McDonld's or Burger King: BK
Single or group dates: neither? I don't date...lol
Adidas or Nike: uhhh...clogs! :)
Lipton Tea or Nestea: doesn't matter as long as it's unsweetened
Chocolate or vanilla: *slaps you for even asking*
Cappuccino or coffee: coffee

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?
Take a shower: every day, thank you. What are you implying?!
Believe in yourself: sometimes...other times, not so much.

LAYER SIX: IN THE PAST MONTH
Drank alcohol: Err...uhh...YES.
Been on stage: Actually...yes. We danced on a stage @ Beck's wedding.
Eaten Sushi: Not in the past month, but I do like non-fish sushi.
Been dumped: No...going on 5 years...thankfully!
Been ice skating: Dude, it's October. Don't put the horse before the cart.
Dyed your hair: Nah. Waste of time and money. I like it the way it is.

LAYER SEVEN: HAVE YOU EVER:
Played a stripping game: hell no
Gotten beaten up: Not as such.
Changed who you were to fit in: on several occassions, all of which went badly anyway...*laughs*

LAYER EIGHT: GETTING OLD:
Do you want to grow old? Yes...very...but only if I'm going to be self-reliant. I don't want to be old and a burden to people.
You're hoping to be married?: Eh...I can live without it...but yeah, it would be nice, I think.

LAYER NINE: IN A GIRL/GUY:
Best eye color: not important.
Best hair color: I like red, personally...*grins*...but it doesn't really matter.
Clothing style: nothing too far out. Whatever is comfortable. I hate pants so big they fall off, though.

LAYER TEN: TIME:
1 MINUTE AGO: typing this thing
1 HOUR AGO: just getting to work
1 DAY AGO: working a 12-hour day

LAYER 11: FINISH THE SENTENCE:
I FEEL: excited that I have next week off.
I HATE: people who take stuff for granted.
I LOVE: my family and friends.
I LIKE: finding beauty in simple things and wild places.
I HIDE: my fears as best I can.
I MISS: having money.
I WANT: to be able to provide for and take care of everyone that I love most.

friday 13

2006-10-06T15:09:00.000-04:00

Because I've ducked out the last couple thursdays...I figure I'll make it up to you now. Brace yo'selves...*grins*

1. This week flew by...and yet each day itself I remember as dragging so pathetically that I just wanted to pull out a shotgun and end its misery. Weird paradox there.

2. The trees have officially changed color and foliage season is upon us here in lovely Vermont. Canadians and Massholes driving 20mph down main roads while they exclaim with joy over the quaintness that is my Jeep driving right up their tailpipe...I mean...the pretty leaves and nice white churches.

3. The north wind is starting to get that bite to it that I'll be crying about come January, but for right now, it's refreshing and exciting and makes me feel a little bit wild.

4. Geese flying south give me a similar wild thrill. I love their honking and flapping...it always makes me smile.

5. I have yet to start up my stove or turn up the heat, even though it was just 50 degrees in my kitchen this morning. Brrr!

6. Mark got his ticket...I pick him up the 13th in Burlington. I'm excited, but at the same time, I'm already kind of bummed because I know it's just going to end with him going away again. I know that's the wrong way to look at it...but sometimes I can't help it.

7. I'm planning on taking him to one of the local apple orchards while he's here. Not so much because I think he'd like the experience of picking apples (he could probably care less), but more because they have a farm-animal petting zoo...and I REALLY want to pet some goats. *giggles*

8. I took Buttons to see the cows last night. They were eating, so they didn't pay much attention to us...but we got to walk around the far side of the corn field and we saw all kinds of deer tracks...everything from great big deep ones to wee little dainty ones. So cute!

9. I look horrible today. Honestly. I slept late and didn't get a chance to take a shower...I had only one pair of clean jeans and they're sort of too tight...and I was FREEZING, so I grabbed a sweatshirt that's...unflattering, to say the least.

10. I am currently negative 4 vacation hours at work. Yes, that's right...if I was fired today, I would actually owe the company 4 hours of time. I'm still taking the week of the 16th off...hah!

11. I didn't remember to take my socks off before I put my shoes on this morning and now my feet are all sweaty, but I know that if I take my socks off now, my sweaty feet will freeze for the rest of the day. I know that doesn't make any sense to you...but it makes perfect sense to me.

12. A recruiter called me at work yesterday. Not a military recruiter...like a head-hunter recruiter for a job. It was weird. I can't imagine where they would have gotten my name.

13. Hopefully it will be nice this weekend. I want to do a little leaf-peeping and picture-taking and yard-sale-ing with Beck. Mostly I'm just along for the ride...but that's usually good enough for me.

Have a good weekend, all!

gah!

2006-09-29T10:53:00.000-04:00

Regarding yesterday's whine-fest...yeah. Sorry about that. I just had to get it off my chest, basically. Thank you to everyone who sent me nice emails saying they'd give me the money if they had it...those made me smile like you wouldn't believe. I'd never take anyone's money anyway...but it still made me feel really good to know that there are a bunch of people out there who would help me out if they could. You guys rule!

Now...back to bidness! ;) Here are some pics of last weekend's festivities for you. I have more, and I'll post them as I can, but I have to go to my parents house, burn them onto a CD from my dad's computer, then upload them to photobucket, then post them here, yada yada yada you don't care, I know...*laughs* I'm just sayin'. Anyway, here we go:

This is a shot from one side of the venue we were at, across to the other. That will make more sense when I get other pictures uploaded for you to see. We were at a summer camp on Lake Fairlee. The two buildings have big wrap-around porches and they're connected by a little walkway-bridge type thing. SO CUTE! I could totally live there. Notice the strings of lights and all the lanterns. We strung what seemed like a MILE of lights inside and out, and hung about 2 dozen lanterns of all different types on the porches. It was really pretty.

Self-portrait of me, in the Hairdresser's Chair Of DOOOOOOM! It wasn't that bad, actually...my 'do took like 10 minutes, I think. Notice the rosy cheeks? We started in w/ the Boonesfarm (oh god, I KNOW...but it was cheap!) wine around 11am...on mostly empty stomachs!

The Hummer limo. It's actually quite a bit smaller inside than you would think...but it was still pretty friggin' cool. We had it for 3 hours, so we got to all pile back into it after the ceremony and pictures and take a little joy-ride. We went to the store to get beer, of course. *laughs*

The girls, waiting to go in. There are other, better shots...but they all show peoples' faces pretty clearly and I didn't want to post them w/o permission...so those will be on Flickr later on.

So there you go! I don't have any wild party-shots, myself...but I'm sure I'll be able to get some from somebody. I only had 2-3 drinks at the party itself...but it was one of those parties that's so good that you don't even need to have a buzz on to have a blast! Good music, good friends, lots of people laughing and dancing...doesn't get much better than that.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend! Mine's going to be spent figuring out what I can sell on eBay to make some money. Anybody want an only-worn-once light-green bridesmaids dress?! *grins*

bummed

2006-09-28T10:21:00.000-04:00

Mark and I have been planning for him to come over the week of October 15th for a couple months now. Originally we had been shooting for January...for my birthday...but 6 months was just way too far away...neither of us could really deal with the thought of waiting that long. So, we moved the date up by a few months.

Here's the thing. Transatlantic flights just plain aren't cheap. There's no getting around that. We thought we'd be able to work something out between the two of us to get the money for his ticket...but due mostly to stupidity and fiscal irresponsibility on my part...the one thing that I was looking forward to all summer long is now starting to look less and less likely to happen. Saying I'm bummed out doesn't really even begin to touch the depth or breadth of utter suckitude that this entails. Mark keeps saying he'll work something out...but he's just starting to get caught up on his own bills as it is...I don't want him to have to borrow money from someone in order to come over here.

I dunno...I'm just kind of thinking out loud, I guess. This morning was the first time I really stopped and thought to myself that this trip might not actually happen...and I don't know what to do about it. I can't get a bank loan...I'm already paying one off. I have one credit card and it's pretty much maxed out with stuff I had to pay for during various wedding-related functions this summer. My family already thinks it's absolutely ridiculous that I'm even involved with someone who lives so far away...so it's not like there's much sympathy to be had there....ugh. It all just sucks a big rotten giraffe nut and I needed to get it off my chest, I guess...that's all. It's nobody's fault but my own.

Blerg.

Anybody know of anyone who has like $500 burning a hole in their pocket that they're just dying to get rid of? Yeah, me neither. Oh well.

i do

2006-09-26T13:31:00.000-04:00

The wedding went off with only a minimum of glitches, which was a relief. The only real problem we had was that the caterer's grill didn't work and he spent like 45 minutes trying to figure out why, rather than just using the big industrial summer-camp kitchen that he was set up in. Brainiac, that one! He eventually figured out that he was going to have to suck it up and use the kitchen, and then we were good to go. The food was tasty, the bride was radiant, and a good time was had by all. I will post pictures when I get them. The wedding cake was done as cupcakes with flowers and little heart-shaped sugar cookies tucked into the spaces...SO CUTE. I hope my dad took lots of pictures of it, because I want everyone to see it! And we had a Hummer limo, which was REALLY cool and fun.

So...yeah. The aforementioned hair-do was somewhat modified but came out pretty good none the less. I actually had my hair cut pretty drastically on a whim Friday afternoon while I was tooling around West Lebanon doing errands. I knew that my hair the way it was wouldn't work for the style I was going for, so I had about 3 inches cut off it and some layers put into it. It's actually really cute...or it would be if I could be bothered to do a little flipping with the blowdryer and round brush in the morning. *laughs* The bride and the two younger girls (17 and 15) in the wedding had half-up do's with lots of long princess-y curls...and the other three older girls (21, 23 and 24) all had really structured up-do's with lots of swoopy curls on top and tons of bobby pinning and stuff...so my hair was probably the easiest and quickest of all of them. I think I was in the chair all of 10 minutes, tops.

I got home around 2:30 Sunday morning, slept for a few hours, then went back to help clean up the mess at the camp where the wedding was held. We did a lot of tear-down work during the party itself so it wasn't actually too bad the next day. I do wish that I'd have taken Friday and Monday off rather than Thursday and Friday...but oh well. I'm finally starting to feel almost human again. I was a complete zombie yesterday...it was REALLY bad...*giggles*

I'm still of the opinion that if I were to ever get married, I wouldn't do it the traditional way. The one this past weekend was only traditional in certain aspects and very UN-traditional in others (the ceremony itself topped out at about 5 minutes, I think. It took us longer to walk down the aisle than it took the justice of the peace to actually marry them. It was literally a case of "do you? I do. Ok, do you? Yes, I do. Ok, put this ring on her finger and repeat after me..." there was no pre-amble or religious anything at all...which was refreshing!)...but still. I'm just not into the big dress big hair big cake big crowd thing. I would rather have a very small, very simple ceremony and then a party later on to celebrate. I don't think that everyone and their brother needs to bear witness to the actual ceremony. Half of them probably don't care anyway, you know? I mean...they CARE...but they could probably think of other things they'd like to spend their time doing.
All in all, I think that everyone had a really good time and things went very well. Now the big thing I get to look forward to is Mark's visit in...2 1/2 weeks! WHEEEEEEE! We have the lake house again (rent-free, I might add...SCORE!), and I'm really excited. It's so quiet and peaceful there. Being at the lake is just sort of icing on the cake though, really...*grins* I'll be bouncing off the walls the whole week before he flies in. I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait! :)

wedding hair

2006-09-19T11:46:00.000-04:00

So...I've looked long and hard...and I think that, given the general theme of the wedding I'm in, I'm going to go with this type of a 'do for my hair.

I originally had some low ponytail type thing picked out, with all kinds of curls and stuff, but first of all...my hair doesn't hold curl. It has a little bit of a natural wave to it, but you try and curl that shit and it lasts for about 2.2 seconds. Second, the whole wedding is outdoorsy and country and laid-back and I think a really drastic up-do or a bunch of complicated curls would look really out of place. Also...I'm just not really a fussy-hair-do kind of girl, so any time I've ever had big piles of curls and bobby pins and all that bullshit (like for prom...ugh), it's always looked kind of off because it's just completely not me. So...I'm going with what will hopefully be a more glorified version of what my hair likes to do anyway...and I think everyone will be happier in the long run. Plus, I'm going to look for some sparkly little clippy do-dads to maybe add in on the side. I wish I could find dragonflies. The wedding is on the lake...dragonflies would be perfect! :)

We set up all the tables and chairs and got all the tablecloths on, all the candles set up and the beginnings of the decorations in the dining room done last night. It's going to be SO pretty when we're done. Many pictures will be posted on my Flickr for your perusing enjoyment. I can't wait! I'm getting really excited! Not about the dressing up part, but about the everything-looking-pretty part...because that's fun to me...*grins*

tired

2006-09-18T10:20:00.000-04:00

I am tired.

Not like yawning constantly and gritty-eyed or bleary and fumbling and sleepy tired.

No...I'm weary tired.

Fed-up tired.

Wanting to run away tired.

Everything about the outside world gets under my skin lately, makes me angry, makes me short with the people I care about.

I'm tired of politics. I'm sick of watching the news and seeing people be indecent and inhumane. I'm sick of people killing each other for stupid reasons, and sick of other people harping about what's right or wrong and why. Why can't we just leave each other well enough alone? We're all so worried about what everyone else is doing all the time...why not tend to our own lives and work on making those better?

I'm tired of being hounded. Hounded by creditors (somehow I let myself get behind, stupidly, and now I feel so increadibly overwhelmed with debt...it scares me), hounded by society (I will never meet the media's idea of beauty, and I'm sick of being reminded of it over and over), hounded by people that I know just have my best interest in mind (Mom, I know you love me. Just tell me you do and leave it at that. Don't sit there and tell me how to live my life so that I don't repeat your mistakes. It doesn't work like that)...and hounded by memories of what was and regrets about not being able to capture what could have been.

I'm tired of worrying. I have to wear a dress this weekend, have my hair done, carry flowers and have people stare at me for hours. I'm tired of caring what those people think about what I look like. I'd like to not care at all...but of course I do. I'd like to be comfortable enough in my own skin (and substantial subcutaneous padding!) to be able to strut my stuff this weekend...but I know that instead, I will be the quiet girl once more, shrinking back away from the crowd as much as possible so as not to be noticed. If they don't notice me, then they can't judge me, right?

I'm tired of doing the same thing over and over and over again at work. The monotony makes me so distractable that I have a hard time getting things done. My mind wanders onto subjects that are best left in the dark, and suddenly I'm doing everything BUT what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel stupid for not being able to concentrate and get my work done and just be adult about it but it's a vicious cycle.

I'm tired of being away from the man that I love. I'm tired of hanging up the phone and feeling the lonliness wash over me like a tidal wave. I'm tired of doing everything alone...eating alone, sleeping alone, watching TV alone, going grocery shopping alone, watching movies alone, walking the dog alone. Yes, the dog is company in and of himself and I wouldn't give him up for the world...but it's not the same as human company.

I'm just tired. Weary.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself...

alpaca mama?

2006-09-13T09:52:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about farming the last few years. I've always wanted a little farm...I think it's in my blood. My dad grew up on farms and worked on them when I was little, and I've always loved the sights and smells of the farm, the hard work and the opportunity to be around living things.

Having grown up in rural Vermont and New Hampshire, I've seen many family farms struggle to make it because of falling milk prices (our area is primarily a dairy farming one). This has made me reconsider my little farm-ish dreams and look for something more financially promising to get involved with than dairy cows. When I started knitting and learning all the different things one can do with wool, I of course leaned toward raising sheep some day...and I'd still like to do that...but lately I've been reading about alpacas. Though the initial output of money seems to be quite high for alpacas (females run about $10k each...yikes!), the return over the life of the animal seems to be quite promising.

I'm wondering if any of the knit-bloggers that visit me have any views on knitting / spinning with alpaca fiber that they'd be willing to share? Ie: do you like it more than wool, is it easy to work with / dye, how much do you normally pay for it, etc. Just out of curiousity...:)

flickr

2006-09-11T14:13:00.000-04:00

I have fallen in love with flickr. It appeals to my most basic and deep-rooted desires to tag and group, group and tag. I get way too much pleasure out of sorting and filing and naming and captioning my pictures. Here is the start - some of the less flattering pics from the Jack and Jill party this weekend. Have a little look...a little see...*giggles*

walking for ilaria

2006-09-08T12:32:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, my dear friend Colin's 3-year old daughter Ilaria was diagnosed with cancer this spring. She had a very scary operation several weeks ago - the tumor she had in her chest cavity was compromising her airway and vocal chords and also was partially attached to her aorta! The surgery was a success and Ilaria's blood levels have been really great since the tumor was removed...but the chemotherapy that she received during treatment has left her with a severe hearing loss in both ears that will require her to wear hearing aids for the rest of her life.

Ilaria's family and friends have organized a sponsored walk to help raise money for the ongoing costs of her treatments. Since they live out in Arizona and I can't be there to participate myself, I'm sending out this email with a link to the website they've made for the Walk, in the hopes that if anyone out there has the means, they might consider making a donation or sponsoring someone who IS able to be there.

If you have the time, please check out the links below - Ilaria's whole story can be found at her Caring Bridge website, and the Walk website has info about sponsoring / contributing to the cause. Please feel free to forward this email or these links to anyone who you think would be interested in participating / donating.

Ilaria's Caring Bridge Site

Ilaria's WalkNLemonade

I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to read this, and for keeping this special little girl in your thoughts and prayers.

thursday thirteen

2006-09-07T13:54:00.000-04:00

In which we (meaning I, basically) discuss the holiday weekend...finally.

1. The weather was crappy. I hate when holiday weekends get washed out. Thankfully we only got the pissy cold rain part of the hurricane, though.

2. Finished sock #1 of the Socks That Rock Lapis. I did it toe-up with a short-row heel and beaded-rib up the top of the foot and all the way up the leg. Will take a picture eventually. It's purty. It fits me just barely, so I'm pretty sure it will fit my mom, who it is meant for.

3. Was burnt-out on socks after finishing the above-mentioned and so I fiddled around with some other yarn and eventually ended up casting on for a scarf that I've been promising my best friend for ages. I'm using Lion Brand Kool Wool (why it's called that, I have no idea) in a kind of mocha brown color, and a weird JoAnn Fabrics no-name fuzzy yarn that varigates softly in kind of a relish green color. It sounds worse than it looks, I promise...*giggles* Anyway - I started it in stockinette stitch, doing 2 rows of brown, 2 of green, 2 of brown, yada yada, for about 8 or 9 inches, then I did a couple inches of just brown, then I got a little wild and took the green and knit her initials into it, about 2 inches tall, which came out a lot better than I thought it would. I think I'm going to do some more stripes intermittantly through the body of the scarf, then do her initials again on the other end and a matching chunk of stripes at the other end to finish. It's really thick yarn so it knits up super fast, which I love. If I have enough left over, I'm going to make her a pair of mittens with matching stripes, too. Or a hat...haven't decided yet. She lives in Alaska, so anything warm would be a hit, I'm sure.

4. I did no dishes over the weekend. Bad, bad, bad. I picked up the living room, put new slipcovers on my 2 chairs (Hi, slipcovers? TOTAL ass-ache to put on, and not really worth the effort, in my mind). Then I knit some more.

5. Inclement weather allowed me to watch lots of movies over the weekend as well. I watched: Brokeback Mountain (not bad, but not as good as I was hoping after all the hype that went along with it. It's hard to go wrong with Ang Lee in general, though), Pride and Predjudice (thought I'd sleep through it but found it surprisingly engaging. Didn't hurt that the love interest was a hottie), Failure To Launch (I don't care of Matthew McConaughey doesn't wear deodorant...that man is GORGEOUS and what I wouldn't give to...yeah. Anyway - it was a silly movie but funny and cute and did I mention Matthew McConaughey?), and TransAmerica (Felicity Huffman is wonderful...SUCH a good movie).

6. Took my mom to Ocean State Job Lots up in Haverhill. What a weird, weird place. It's like Big Lots. Sometimes there's really good deals on really nice stuff (like a set of JCPennys queen-sized sheets for like $8.99. HOLLER!) but most of it is just straight JUNK. Like...weird junk. That's kind of why it's addictive and fun, I think...because you can be laughing at the ridiculousness of something one minute and finding a really sweet deal the next. The evil evil slipcovers that I mentioned before were $19.99 each...and they're really nice canvas ones. They just don't happen to actually fit my weird-ass chairs very well.

7. non-weekend-related: Work is CAH-razy lately. Bad crazy...not good crazy.

8. Speaking of crazies....I am sick of planning stuff with people who don't know how to plan things. Going into the details would just bore you, but suffice it to say that it's wedding-related and it's really, REALLY irritating.

9. Speaking also of crazies...I had not a lot of sleep and very much a lot of coffee and I might maybe be just slightly off my rocker right now. I just ate a bunch of chinese food for lunch though, so I'll be crashing shortly. That's always a bummer.

10. Notice I ran out of weekend-related things to write about? that's because I literally did nothing but sit on the couch and knit / watch movies ALL weekend long. Want to hear something even worse? I wore the same sloppy weekend jeans and sweatshirt the ENTIRE time!!! ;)

11. The Crocodile Hunter getting killed really bummed me out. Crikey! I loved that guy! Talk about bad luck, though...sheesh.

12. I think Buttons' weird hotspot thing is finally starting to clear up. As well it should, after paying $108 to have him poked, prodded, and prescribed with all kinds of ointments, sprays and pills!

13. Not looking forward to something that I have to do after work tonight. Have to basically tell someone that something they want to do isn't going to happen...it's going to piss her off...she's probably going to get upset and cause a scene...and she might even quit the wedding that we're all in because of it. BUT...can't be helped. I just happen to be the designated authority figure...and that's how the bridesmaid cookie crumbles.

foiled again!

2006-09-01T13:45:00.000-04:00

I really, really (really?) want to knit this blanket.

And that pisses me off.

And I'll tell you why.

The last time I was at the bookstore, I found Mason-Dixon Knitting, I flipped through it, ooh'ed and aah'ed a little, and then decided I could live without it for the time being. EVER SINCE THEN...everything I want to freaking knit seems to be IN THAT BOOK! Why? WHY?!

Because Ann and Kay make REALLY cool stuff...that's why.

Time to pony up the cash, ladies and gents. I pay Borders a visit TONIGHT, and that's all there is to it.

Have a great holiday weekend, all. Mind your P's and Q's! Or don't...but don't get in a car and go driving around if you've P'd and Q'd yourself into an oblivion, because I have stuff to knit and I can't do that when I'm dead. A'ight?
Peace out.

thursday thirteen

2006-08-31T16:01:00.000-04:00

Because some habits are just plain fun.

1. I have a new addiction, and it's name is Cute Overload. Oh. My. Gods. I got into the Bunny section and I just wanted to die. Is there seriously ANYTHING cuter than a baby bunny? I think not.

2. I have ANOTHER new addiction, and it's called Trying To Knit Lace. It seems so easy...a yarn-over here...a k2tog there...back and forth back and forth, and voila! Cobwebby masterpiece of ethereal beauty! Except...not. Because someone(namely, me) neglected to really get the grasp of a basic knitting function (namely, keeping an even tension on the yarn). Anyway, because I'm stubborn (and also maybe slightly OCD), I've spent the last few nights staying up until 11pm fiddling with my two pointy sticks and bits of string, trying to make them look pretty and cobwebby and ethereal. And failing miserably. I know I'll get it eventually...but I'm afraid I might lapse into a sleeping disorder before then.

3. I maybe also refuse to stop drinking wine whilst knitting and thus make the lace-knitting efforts more complicated than they need to be (reference previous post for more evidence there-of). I DID manage to turn the volume almost all the way down on the TV last night while knitting so that it didn't distract me, though! But only because there wasn't really anything good on. Some silliness about Judy Garland.

4. 6 weeks until Mark comes back! EEEEEEEEE!!! (that's my most happiest happy sound of utmost happiness and glee. GLEE!).

5. 3 weeks until Beck's wedding. UUUUUGGGGHHHH!!! (that's my oh god three more weeks to diet and then a whole day of being frou-frou in a green dress and pretending to like people and oh balls I'm going to have to get my eyebrows done AND wear a strapless bra and I really hate dressing up I wish I could just go in my jeans and also I feel SO OLD because my baby sister (really cousin but still) is getting married sound).

6. I might also be addicted to diet Cherry Coke. I despise all things fake-cherry-flavored...except, strangely, diet Cherry Coke. It simply defies reason.

7. Buttons has what his vet has determined to be hotspots, and it's very worrisome. His whole rump is all scaly under his fur and flakey and he grunts and humps his butt up against something if it touches his rear. His fur and skin back there feels all greasy and sticky, but there are no actual open wounds that I can see. The vet has me giving him Benedryl (which HAS cut down on him chewing at himself) and he gave me some kind of topical spray stuff to put on it to keep it from getting infected, but I don't think it's really doing anything to make it go away. He seems to act fine otherwise...he eats fine, goes out for walks as normal, goes potty as normal...so I guess I'm just over-reacting...but still.

8. My mom keeps harping on me about putting curtains up in my living room. I've lived in my house for like 4 years now. I'm not a curtain-person...never have been...and my windows are small, old and there's a lot going on in the room to begin with (everything has a different pattern and/or color...not by choice). I just think that curtains would add another layer to the frenzy. My frenzy is fine just the way it is, thank you. And besides...I LIKE it the way it is. It drives me bonkers that she can't just HEAR that and be DONE with it.

9. The A/C in our shop was broken for close to a week...and it was SO NICE to sit here and not freeze...but it's fixed again now, and I have goosebumps on my arms right now as I type. Brrr.

10. I have enough random bits of things in my kitchen to make a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, but I couldn't make anything for dinner (besides said cookies) if you asked me to. I spend $40 a week on groceries and yet somehow all I ever end up with are yogurts and pita breads.

11. Ooooh, speaking of pita breads - we had these AMAZING pita chip things at the wedding I worked a couple weekends ago...SO garlicky and good...and I tried to make some of my own, but I failed miserably. I don't know if it was because I went with whole-wheat instead of white pitas or if I just need a sturdier pita or what...but it just wasn't the same and it saddened me.

12. I need to stop talking about getting a second job and actually get one. Rent is coming up again and I'm still a payment behind on my car...ugh. I hate the feeling.

13. I'd like everyone to please pray to whatever various God, gods, Buddhas, entities, furry critters (and/or rocks / butterflies / passing clouds) that suit you for NO RAIN on Saturday, Sept 9th. The dreaded Jack & Jill party for Beck and Shannon is that evening, and if it rains, it's just going to make it unbearable. There won't be enough wine in the county to cheer me up if it rains on our little parade. So please...commence with the praying and the chanting and such, well in advance.