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Wednesday, January 31, 2007

final post (for a while)

To say I'm a little overwhelmed right now would be a terrible understatement. I'm not going to have time to say much for a while, unless something drastic happens, so here's the condensed version of what's up. I'll be checking back in a few weeks maybe.

Work is kicking my ass, and the company isn't interested in paying me more, though weekly they add to my duties and now they want me to do the same amount of work at another site (thus literally quadrupling my work load since they took over). I'm officially the best at my job in my region, according to my regional manager. But even after I've met all the 'obligations' to earn more, they still won't pony up. Wonder if they'll miss me when I quit? If it weren't for my bills, it would be a done deal already.

School is fun and interesting, but it's about to get exponentially harder with papers and projects due in about three weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to get it all done with a minimum of stress. Ha.

I've almost met my exercise goal for this month. I'm up to 30 miles!! I had intended 33 miles, but tonight I went to a karate class instead. Have I ever mentioned how ridiculously cute I am in a Gi? Well I am. I'm also pretty quick on the uptake with the skillz. I got to fend off an attacker and I won! Well ok, they let me win. But in reality, I would have run and dropped my keys along the way. And probably had an asthma attack while inconveniently inhaler free.

Speaking of the asthma, for the month of February, I'm focusing on controlling my asthma through dietary means. I'm cutting out all sugar and sodas, and increasing my intake of omega 3 & 6 in an effort to control the inflammation that damn near kills me every day. At this point I've been able to eliminate my emergency inhaler, but only with a twice daily dosage of Advair. And thank the gods for that shit. Before I was using the Advair I was hitting my regular inhaler an average of 10 times a day. Recommended usage is twice a day, people. I should be dead. Now I can cycle for 45 minutes and not be gasping for air. And I can run in cold air. These things have never been possible before. It is truly amazing. But it's also artificial, and I want to be the one in control, not some drug.

And last but not least, my Central Park Hoodie is finished except for the button bands and collar. I'm not really a hoodie kind of girl, so I have to figure out some sort of collar fix for it. I'm thinking of just continuing the cable around the neck, instead of casting on for the hood, and adding some ribbing along with it.

Also, thank you old fart winter for killing my tulips. Much appreciated. Now go away and bring on the spring, cause I got stuff to plant.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Yardwork Saturday

Every weekend I have this insanely long list of things I'd like to accomplish. It usually includes cleaning, laundry, moving things around, running errands, and the like.

This weekend was no different. And I did get to most of my list items. But yard work wasn't on it.

After the cable guys ripped up our yard while installing our line, I got to thinking. Our yard wasn't great to begin with, but now it looks worse.

Case in point:



We used to have grass here. Not much, thanks in part to the ever famous Georgia red clay, but still.

So we went to Lowe's and bought lawn fertilizer and grass seed. While there, I saw some pretty tulips and snagged those too.

We came home, did up the 'yard' and started working on the tulips. I ended up going back to Lowe's for some real dirt (read: topsoil), and real mulch instead of pine straw.

Nate and I turned this:




Into this:




We added some gravel around the drain, topsoil, chipped wood mulch, and the tulips to the nandina bushes and daylilies (who obviously think it's spring).

It's not a lot of change and there's a lot more to be done, but it looks better than it did. I want to add a row of something under the window, but I have no idea what it would be.

Thoughts?

Oh! And I already have one bloomer!



I'm also learning more about my camera and photo editing software. Whee.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

standing on the rooftop

We. Have. Cable.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And internet!!!!!!!!!!
(or as we southerners say 'the innernet')

This is the best day ever. Like someone invented the wheel right in the middle of my living room.

Exciting.

Revolutionary.

Cable.

(hey! i could write ads!)



This means so many things. Not only can I flip the channels while I knit (vital aspect of the knitting process), but I can watch NEW stuff from the Tivo and not miss shows anymore. And do my homework/research at home instead of at work (right).

WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

how have i missed out on this man?

In the absence of cable, we've been renting shows that we kept saying we wanted to watch, but somehow failed to TiVo. I'm currently catching up on Season 1 of Prison Break, and I'm ready for the next set of DVDs already. Right now, please Netflix. Do you hear me? I said NOW!

Folks, meet the new love of my life, Wentworth Miller.



Not only is he extraordinarily hot, but his acting is superb too. Oh, and the show is pretty good. I highly recommend it.

I won't be giving up Nate for him or anything, but if we had a Celebrity Clause in our marriage (i.e. sex with a celebrity doesn't count as cheating), this guy would definitely be on my list.

Along with Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Nikki Sixx (rawr), The Rock (holy god), Mark Wahlberg, and Karl Urban. Ahem.


Pardon me, I have to mop up the drool.

Monday, January 22, 2007

5 weird things about me

I've no time for quality posting, and no pictures to show you. It makes me very sad.

However, I give you weird stuff about me:


1. My eyelashes are so super long they collide with my sunglasses. I would trim them, but it looks weird. Ask me how I know.

2. I used to be a hardcore vegan. Now I'm working back toward that some, because it's healthier for me.

3. I'm an obsessive hand washer. Which explains why my hands are always dry and icky. And also why I always have lotion with me, though it doesn't last very long.

4. I eat my meals one side at a time. All the broccoli, then the rice, then the meat. I never let my food touch, unless it's something that's meant to be mixed together. Like putting chili on my baked potato. Still, it freaks me out.

5. I'm terrified of heights, but only under certain circumstances. I don't do theme park rides that drop you, but I can ride rollercoasters all day long.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Happy Hump Day ya'll!

This week is much better so far. School is picking up, and by that I mean I have a lot of reading and writing to do. And somehow I have to log a few miles in my running goal. I'm up to 13 so far. Must get moving.

Quickie Update (cause I specialize in quickies, you know):

1. Almost finished with sleeve #2 on the CPH. Then I'll block all the pieces and do some seaming. Still gottta do the hoodie, button bands, and pick some buttons.

2. Robin did my astrological chart for me this week, and damn does she rock. Some parts were so dead on balls accurate that it was stunning. We must all bow down to her now, in extreme reverence.

3. Still no cable. Maybe never. We might be throwing in the towel and going with Dish and Bellsouth (sorry, the "new AT&T"...eww), even though it costs twice as much. Girl needs her internets.

4. I'm such a moron. I got a gift card for Title9, which is my absolute favorite place to shop online, and I ordered this kick ass bag (imagine pink and brown for me) for school, cause I love school and so I have to buy all new school supplies and office products and various other things that make me feel "prepared". I'm a geek, this is not news. However, I've put this bag on my back for three whole days....BACKWARDS. I was leaving for class yesterday and I mentioned to Nate that my new bag would be so very killer if only the shoulder strap was comfortable. He very sensitively replied, "um...honey? you have the thing on backwards". Huh? See, I'm a backpack-over-the-right-shoulder kinda girl. Bags with two straps make this easy. This bag is supposed to hang on your LEFT shoulder. Once on, it's perfect and wonderful and even snugs up close so that if you were riding a bike it wouldn't go flying off behind you. I have to look at it for a few minutes and work the logic of putting it on for a good 60 seconds before I can actually put it on. Sorta like a 5 year old learning to tie shoes. And it humbles me. I'm 30. I ought to have the keys to the whole universe by now, and a silly bag is kicking my ass. Jeez.

That is all. Carry on.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

shit, meet fan

I've just had a really horrible day as the creamy white non-dairy topping to my incredibly stale crusty donut of a week. My first graduate classes have actually been the warm gooey filling, which is not what I was expecting.

But this song is going a long way toward making me feel better. The ending is a little....psychotic, but the song totally rocks. I give you 'Le Disko' by Shiny Toy Guns:





After class tonight I'm going to get the ingredients for these cookies, which also make me feel tons better.



Yummy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies. And I'll even be so kind as to post the recipe for you guys. They are seriously the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet. Even if you don't normally eat tofu, and think its squishy weirdness is just too hippy for you...shut up and make them, you can thank me later.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 ¼ c. unsifted all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. Earth Balance margarine (or other soy margarine, NOT regular butter, unless you like your cookies very large and baking sheet shaped)
1 ¼ c. Sucanat
¼ c. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. tofu (silken firm)
1 12 oz. package of nondairy chocolate chips (Tropical Source is the best or if you wanna be decadent use Ghirardelli….yum)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, molasses, and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Beat in tofu. Gradually add flour mixture. Mix well; then stir in chips.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. Eat and slip into yumminess induced coma.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Finally!

Here are the progress shots of my Central Park Hoodie in KP's Swish. The light in my house is far far better than any aparment I've ever lived in, yet my pics still look like poo. Must be operator malfunction.

This has been a very fast knit and I knit the front panels at the same time on circular needles (thumbs up for the new pink Denise cables). A cable close up so you can drool over the yumminess of Swish. I just wanna roll around naked in it.



The back wishes it was seamed to the fronts already. It practically begs me to wear it daily.



The beginnings of sleeve #1. I'll finish it and the sleeve cap tonight and then cast on for #2.



P.S. Sleeves bore me to tears. Second sleeve syndrome HAS to be worse than second sock syndrome. I'm only powering through because I want to wear it so badly.

Also, we still do NOT have cable!! Charter has STILL not dug up our yard to lay the lines. We have run out of all our Tivo'd shows, and we now rely on Netflix to send us entertainment. Since we go through movies so fast, they're starting to stall our deliveries. Bastards.

So when times are really tough, we play this:



We managed to get the only one at Fry's in Atlanta on a Friday night because they are almost impossible to get in Athens at this point. Nate had been routinely (read: several times a day) checking every possible sales outlet in town, only to miss two by a few minutes. Fry's made us buy some stupid games as a bundle, but we just exchanged them for better ones elsewhere.

Thank god for Zelda.

Friday, January 05, 2007

i still knit! and now i run too!

I can't find my camera's power adapter to show you progress on my Central Park Hoodie, (I've finished the fronts and back, and cast on for the sleeves last night) but I was smart enough to download the pics I took of my niece Adreana's Drive-Thru sweater that I knit her for Christmas. Yeah I know it's practically the same colors as the one in the pattern, but I knew she'd like it cause she's two years old and she loves pink. She's soooo super cute in this sweater. Hopefully her mom will send me a picture of her in it so I can show you guys how adorable she is.



Drive-Thru, meet the Fabulous Mr. Clean.



The KP Swish is just wonderful. It washed, dried and blocked beautifully. I accidentally ordered one ball short of the dark green, so I did the colorwork on the sleeves too in hopes that I could make up for it, and it worked out very well. In fact, I prefer this version to the original, but I'm biased about that.

In other news, my running is off to a good start. I'm up to 3.35 miles from my walk on Wednesday night and my run on Thursday. Ya'll I have to wear so much gear it's ridiculous. I've got on my watch, my mp3 player (sometimes), my cell phone, my bike lights - one in my hand and one attached to my shorts (shaddup), and my inhaler (stuck between my boobs in my sports bra, real classy like). My neighborhood is kind of dark in places and very wooded so I prefer to be cautious and make sure cars can see me. Let's hope they ignore the total dork parts and just see some chick running...yeah right.

I've also been trying to do some yoga stretches every morning, at least the sun salutation, which is a tremendous help in waking me up. I'm so not a morning person. I'd rather snuggle in the warm covers than eat chocolate. And ya'll know how much I love chocolate. It's damn near shameful. Hence the running of the shame-induced ass.

I need to decide what my reward is going to be for completing the 100 miles. Probably some yarn. And then some Ben & Jerry's.

Have a great weekend folks. My first grad school class starts Tuesday. Advanced Grammar. Yes, I'm clinically and quantifiably insane. Especially when just typing it out makes me giddy. Cross you fingers that my brain doesn't become mush over the weekend and I forget everything I've ever been taught.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Evolver

I'm all about evolving as a person, becoming better by mastering skills, finding new passions, learning more, and generally creating ways to be the best version of me that I can imagine. At the end of the year, like a lot of people, I evaluate what's working and what isn't, then do a little housecleaning and try to pick up some new habits or ditch old ones.

I also use this time for some emotional cleaning too. I make the conscious choice to let go of things that have held me back, or that I continue to think about even though the events are long past. It's not always easy to say "see ya stupid events and so long memories of idiotic choices, thanks for kicking my ass and making me stronger, now get the hell out cause I'm making room for new and exciting things", but it does help in the moving-on process sometimes. I love the feeling of getting rid of old stuff. It makes me lighter and happier to deliberately let go of the burdensome thoughts of the past.

I do this with the junk in my basement too and it drives Nate crazy. I throw out everything I don't use after a year or two. Mostly because I hate lugging shit around and seeing boxes that never got opened from the last time three times we've moved. Probably the oldest things I have are my letterman's jacket from high school (soccer, academics, volleyball, and theater if you're curious), my old volleyball uniform, my class ring, and some awards from my senior year. And I've considered throwing those things out this week.

So in honor of the Fresh New Startiness of the season, I give to you (well myself really) these resolutions.


1. Stop letting my fear of failure hold me back. I have let this control me to the point of not even trying things I think I might fail at. It's the curse of being a smart kid sometimes...you find the things you're good at and stick with them so you continue to look smart. But that's not what life is about, and if I continue down this road, I'll never have the things I really want.

The best way out is always through. ~ Robert Frost

2. I’m really proud of myself for having worn sunscreen on my face for 15 years, and I’m appreciative that the result is that I look several years younger than my age. I often have people come into work and ask what year I am in college, and most people are shocked when I tell them I'm 30. Maybe they’re just dumb or being polite, but I’m taking it as a compliment. This year I’m going to work toward making changes I’ll appreciate in the next 30 years. That includes: losing 15-20 lbs, making exercise a daily habit, eating healthier, drinking more water (and less diet soda), meditating, keeping an eye on my posture, and generally taking better care of myself. I’d like to run a few 5ks this year too.

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. ~ Albert Schweitzer


3. I’ve bought many knitting books over the last two years, and while I bought most of them for the patterns they contain, I have several that are absolutely indispensable and must be read and absorbed. My goal is to read as many of my technique books as possible and incorporate more mastery into my knitting. I’m going to start with EZ’s Knitting without Tears, and Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks. I’d like to get better at making socks, venture into fair isle, work on developing prettier cast on and bind off methods, learn to like seaming, and maybe try my hand at a lace shawl.

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. ~ Pearl S. Buck


I'm getting started on numbers 1&2 by joining up with Rachael and many others in this:




Here's wishing everyone a productive and plentiful New Year!!