incoming: long post

i feel like i've been away forever, and i have a ton to talk about! so i'm just going to spill it and not edit, cause really, who has time?

when i'm not reading for classes, writing papers (although my writing here constitutes far more than i've written on my paper due next week...oops), or working and being stressed about work, i'm doing a lot of thinking.

thinking about everything. my finances and paying off my sizeable debt; my student teaching next year, which is not a paid gig; my current job situation and how to rectify it; how to shave off 15 lbs; how to focus on class better and think more critically about what i'm learning and what it means (cause it matters for my dissertation); how to keep my marriage from imploding thanks to all the stress i'm under; how to fit in time to knit and work out and run errands and afford to eat...want more?

in thinking about all my thinking (metacognitive much?), i'm realizing that if i don't put some organization and order into all the things manifesting themselves right now, i could easily quit my job, leave school, and find myself naked in the street insisting that the light poles are lying sons of bitches. so, i'm seeking balance, structure, contentedness, sanity, and far less stressful environments. the libra in me demands serenity now!

so i've added a few blogs to my bloglines account: zen habits and ririan project. they are both inspiring me to get things done, focus intently, and most importantly...breathe. i hear this breathing thing is good. gonna keep doing it.

to get better organized i've been reading Getting Things Done vicariously through nate (can you read vicariously?), and i'm trying out a system called tracks, which is based on the GTD system. so far i find it very useful not to have all these things on my brain, but rather stored somewhere that i can come back to them later and focus on what needs to be done right this moment. doesn't keep me from being distracted by the hot & spicy cheezits calling my name, but that's another problem altogether.

i also picked up you: on a diet. honestly, i never would have read this book if it weren't for laurie's recommendation. and what an awesome book it is, once you get past the silly similes and metaphors. it provides incredible insight into how our bodies work, in lay terms, so that we can really get a good idea of how our food affects us. and the chapters about the psychology behind 'going on a diet' is so dead on for me. i'm definitely an all-or-nothing kind of girl, so when i sabatoge a diet it is dead to me, in a mafia sort of way. but i'm really starting to embody the u-turn idea, so that when i make a mistake, it's no big, and i'll just eat an apple and call it even. me and apples are going to be bff, ya'll. i also love the idea about automating meals. i love oatmeal with some walnuts, half a banana and maple syrup, so that's been my breakfast for the last few days. yum. i'm also walking every day too. i'm up to 40 miles on my trek to 100 by april 1. i feel behind for about two weeks, but i'm picking up the slack now. i average two miles a day, so i'm not worried about making the goal.

i introduced my mom to the book as well, and ya'll...i'm soooo proud of her. she's always struggled with her weight and never done well with diets, and this book has made such a huge difference for her. just understanding why she has high blood pressure and what it's doing to her body has completely changed her way of thinking, and she's eating better than she ever has. i got all weepy in the grocery store while talking to her on the phone about it. it means so much to me for her to succeed, because my 'why' for working hard and dieting has always been 'i don't want to look like my mom'. i know that's kinda sad, but it's true.

and in honor of her success (i hope she lets me post before and after pics, cause she's rocking the hell out of this 'no diet' thing), i'm bringing sexy back. next week i'm cancelling my gym membership, since it's too far away now, and buying a weight rack and a bench to add some definition to this formerly hot frame. i have had literally zero interest in sex for at least the last two months (longer to be really honest, and that is a scary amount of time for this formerly sex-crazed chick), and i realized today that it's because i don't think i'm sexy anymore. and that's a damn damn shame. so i'm going to put in some work and get my groove back. and it will be awesome stress relief from all this other crap.

wow, that was a lot of typing. if you made it this far, bless your heart, you deserve a lie down. and now, back to my paper and being scholarly and junk.

love, peace and harmony.

<3

Happy V-Day to all of you! If you don't have a valentine, consider me your surrogate. But the job description includes flowers and jewelry, and also cookies, so come prepared.

Nate and I don't do the whole card/flowers/chocolate thing at all. Last year we went to Zaxby's for dinner...because we were hungry, not because of what day it was. (And also because everywhere else was totally packed.) The way we figure, people are grossed out by our mushiness 364 other days of the year, so we don't have to rub it in their faces on what can be a painful day for some. Tonight we'll go to our favorite restaurant (Thai, of course) for dinner, and then find some dessert. No cards, no gifts, no contributing to the corporate sponsored you-must-show-someone-you-love-them-or-else day. Regardless, I hope all of you have a great day!

And thanks for all the nice comments about my version of Central Park! I wear it almost every day, and it is so warm and snuggly!

Central Park...Cardi

Central Park Hoodie, sans hood.
Began: 12/24/06
Finished: 2/3/07
Yarn: Knitpicks' Swish
Needles: Denise size 8



Didn't notice until I posted this pic that the sweater is laid out crooked. It's actually very symmetrical and perfect.



Leather buttons by Joann's. It's almost comical that I chose a washable yarn, and dry clean only buttons.



The collar works very well. I just picked up the stitches all the way around, knit in 2x2 rib for four inches and blocked.

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.

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.

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!!!!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

wrap-up

Wow. You guys are so awesome!! I was having a gloomy Christmas (not for any particular reason, just not in the spirit), and next thing I know everyone is calling, sending texts, and emailing. I hope everyone had a great holiday...you sure made mine.

Our move has been great, minus the king size mattress and washer/dryer mishaps. Turns out those things don't really like a tight stairwell. Nothing is broken (that we can tell), but the banister and walls sure got a few scars. Sadly, the builder didn't have cable lines run when the power and water were done, so it's going to be a while before I have TV or internet service. This means I can only blog from work (ugh) and I can't go randomly look up all the things that I think of at night. Very frustrating. Oh, and my digital camera is somewhere in a box with lots of good pics on it. I'll get to those....eventually. And will someone Tivo Heros, Gray's, The Office, Earl, Buffy, and Mythbusters for me? I'm gonna be soooo bored.



I've been thinking a lot about this year and the direction(s) I led myself in and what sort of things I accomplished (or didn't). So I looked back at my goals from earlier this year to see how I did.

1 & 2: I chose not to compete after all. It was a lot more stress and work than I was willing to handle. I still have some exercise goals, but being on stage isn't one of them any more.

3: I did reign in my yarn buying (ok, just in the last month), and now I only buy for specific projects instead of being tempted by gorgeous stuff just for the hell of it. I also have focused my attention on learning and perfecting some new skills, including Fair Isle, and mastering socks.

4: I did not set up a meditation ritual, but I have a plan for that in the new house.

5: We moved, got new jobs and bought a house. And grad school awaits in just two (!!) weeks. Mission accomplished.

Overall, this was a year of change, which is exactly what I was after. Some changes were very hard but necessary (giving up gaming), and some were easy (getting jobs and moving back home).

I'm going to spend the next few days outlining a list of goals for 2007, including knitting plans, running routes, school insanity, and job hunting.

truthiness

so i am incommunicato for 4 whole days and i come back to the very condensed version of some very old events courtesy of stacy, who was just supposed to say hi ya'll, etc.

this is what i get for granting creative license.

since stace gave the short-and-dirty version of events (all true), allow me to elaborate.

i did graduate high school with a 4.2 gpa. this is due mostly to taking all AP classes my senior year, followed by failing all the exams that would have let me exempt those classes in college. smart when required, not so good at the cumulative stuff. there is only so much room in my brain.

the ex-best friend story is all true, though i did try in vain to make amends. sometimes i say i'm sorry when it's not my fault, and i shouldn't have bothered, but we had been friends all through hs and at the time it seemed right. now i realize we had a very one-way friendship and i lost absolutely nothing except the cost of a dress. hands washed clean.

all the nicknames are right but she did miss one (or probably several). i earned 'hoover' my junior year of high school. there was more myth behind it than truth, and it actually came about during an acting class, but it kinda stuck among a certain crowd of guys. (don't they wish.)

and yes, i did 'dance' for about a year. i ran out of scholarship money the last semester of my senior year of college, and my dad encouraged me to go wait tables at a local club. that lasted all of about one shift and smart me realized that keeping the clothes on was not the fastest way to pay my very due bills. i talked to some of the girls, had a drink (or five), and went for it. the first club i worked at was one of the most fun times of my life. i made a metric shit ton of money, met a lot of fun (if slightly insane) people, indulged in my most favorite pasttimes (flirting with reckless abandon), and discovered that i could be really comfortable with my body and my sexuality while on display for drooling men who dig the girl next door. i worked at a few clubs after that while looking for a 'real job' once i graduated. my dad knew the whole time, but i only told my mom after i stopped dancing. she only had a minor coronary.

maybe someday i'll post a big long story about my experience. god knows there a lot to tell! drugs, wrongful attacks of fake boobs and the nipples trying to escape them, crazy clients, indecent proposals (ya'll know), etc.

i'm not sure what the pinata bashing incident is about, but i was probably drunk. i did get married on my lunch hour, to my current husband. we had a civil marriage at the court house a month before our wedding. it was a 'just us' sort of thing since weddings are really for everyone else.

p.s. we're almost totally moved in, and we LOVE the house. pics and final xmas knitting coming soon!

We interrupt this blog for a hostile takeover.

Sorry to disappoint Mel's meager little readership, but she's currently indisposed and won't be writing any time soon. She's asked me to check in and do some updating for her, and I've gained creative license to blab all her dirty little secrets, or whatever I might decide to make up. Oh, and hi! I'm Stacy, longtime friend and chief secret-keeper.

I've also posted all the yarn she wanted to sell over at the Destash blog. If you like yarn, and I bet most of you do, go take a peek. The girl is not halting her knitting processes, but she is now on the verge of broke, what with the house buying and all, and wants to buy more yarn so she's selling stash that she won't be using. There's a lot up for sale. I think she might have some sort of yarn-buying disorder. Ya'll should make sure she's not sick or something. She's also real bad about making everyone around her learn to knit. She tried to teach me in March when we went to NYC, but it didn't really stick.

So, I bet you guys would just love some little secrets about our dear Mel. Let's see. In high school our girl was a bit of an overachiever. I think she graduated with a 4.2 or something close if I remember right. But she wasn't valedictorian. That prize went to her insanely bitchy ex-friend Melissa, who was not near as smart but she definitely worked hard I guess. Melissa showed her true colors when Mel got married the first time. Melissa was the maid-of-honor and threw an all out temper tantrum when Mel wanted to have actual living, breathing fun for her bachelorette party. She quit the wedding and I don't think they ever spoke again. In the meantime, I took her to an awesome male revue and we drooled over penises all night. Can I say penises here? Oh well.

In college, Mel's nicknames ran the gamut from Daley to Habib and Blueberry Muffin. One of her roommates gave her the Habib name when they were at a bar and she danced on a table to some song. Not long after that Mel did a little exotic dancing for real. I think her drinking had finally made her broke. She worked at the college during the day between classes and danced at night. And I'm not a lesbian or anything, but damn she could work it! And she has no shame whatsoever. All her roommates and everyone from her day job would come to see her. Ok I'm going to shut up about all that. Sorry Mel, don't kill me!

Oh yeah! The real reason I'm blogging for her is because she's moving into her house this week. It's really cute! But I'm pretty sure after this I won't be invited into the house or even to blog for her again. I'm sure she says hi to all you imaginary people. If you have her number, don't call or she might drop heavy furniture to answer. She's crazy like that.

Ok, now to find a way to dig myself out of this hole I've just created. Hey Mel, at least I didn't tell them about the pinata bashing, and that time you got married on your lunch hour!

Bye!!

S

i think i smell brains....

Wow so many things are happening at once right now that I can barely focus on any of it. I'm just head down, powering through and hoping there's some light when I look up again.

1. We close on the house tomorrow. I'm nervous, and giddy, and ready for it to be over already. Yes, the painters hate me. No, I don't care because they know I'm right. Yard work is done. Only some minor things remain (aside from the driveway) so we're closing anyway and holding money in escrow for those things.

2. I'm being advised next week for my first classes in grad school, and then I have to apply for loans. It's so bizarre because buying a house makes me feel all grown up, and going back to school makes me feel like a teenager again. I haven't done homework in eight years. I might hurt my cranium or something. Also, being this much in debt makes me feel like I might suffocate. Welcome to the American Dream.

3. Work is trying to dominate me in ways I'm not appreciating. Never really got into that whole S&M thing. But I can put on a good show. Ahem.

4. Knitting is my savior, my sanity, my freedom. I'm finishing the last hat tonight, along with finally finishing the first sleeve of the SKB. I just got so sick of that sweater and the sleeve's lace panels almost broke me, so I put it down for a while. Now I just want it off my needles. I've also started on Wendy's Drive Thru pattern as an 'extra' Christmas gift for my niece. She's tiny and the sweater is fast. I'm using KP's Swish, and it is so super soft that I don't even want to pick up anything else. There's definitely a sweater for myself in the works out of this stuff soon.

5. In my need to occasionally divert my thoughts (read: avoid some responsibility) I've found this game. I ditched gaming cold turkey about 6 months ago and I'm all the better for it (other than some wonderful people I miss). But, as a recovering addict, I know that the itch I feel to start spelling new words out of any text I'm given is just a thin layer of vaseline down that slippery slope. It's shocking that defeating an opponent with 'exacerbate' provides such a rush!! I'm a big fat nerd, and I'm ok. (And no, I'm not going back to any other kinds of gaming.)

Whew. Ok, I'm done. You may now return to your regularly scheduled life.

p.s. i'm a picky picky bitch

the builder asked us last week to go in and mark all the places that need paint touch ups or sanding down/repainting.

here's all i have to say about that.




don't send a perfectionist to stare at the walls for a few hours, mkay?

we have a knitter down

i repeat, we have a knitter down.

it was a torturous struggle, lasting several miserable hours. lunch and dinner were witnesses, as well as a few beers, a lousy football game, and lots of curse words in front of little children. oh, the horror.

the lace panels on the skb's sleeves have sealed a decisive victory. a mandate, you might even say. i have conceded to their uberness and my total lack of knitting prowess.

i appear to have suffered a repetitive stress injury and i can not knit. thank you, oh fair cursed lace panel. the intense physical pain of knitting the lace has made me not even WANT to knit. (this is the real tragedy, of course).

so i'm saying fuck it. i ripped out what lace i had managed to endure, and we're going with plain sleeves. i'm happy, the sweater is relieved at not being completely ripped or worse, tossed into the Basket of Doom, never to be seen again. once i'm able to knit again, i will pick it back up and finish my hats too.

it's really a shame that i can still type and have zero pain at the keyboard. i'd kill for another day off.

sigh.

i might be kinda cool

cause i got into grad school, ya'll.

and my jaywalkers? yeah, they're going with scout to the knitty gritty filming in december. cool by proxy at least.

yesterday we walked through the house with the builder and detailed out all the nit-picky things that need to be finished before closing. we are thisclose and i couldn't be more excited. granted i may starve in january, but, (cue scarlett) i'll worry about that later. the last major thing to be done is the landscape junk - retaining walls, drainage, and driveway stuff. yay.

i'm really thankful for a few days away from work. i'm going to knock out the purple sweater and get some finished photos up next week.

after my turkey/sweet potato souffle/pecan pie coma.

have a warm and fuzzy turkey day, ya'll!