Hmm, Looks Like I Waited Too Long...

So this is the new Blogger...hmm. I had no choice in the matter...I waited too long to upgrade... are others running into that now or am I just a "lucky" one?

Anyhow, I didn't come here to complain, I know, SHOCKING...instead, as I was cleaning up my desktop I ran across a button I thought I'd already posted about. Talk about short-term memory loss! Knitheimers? I dunno...

Anyhow, over at Random Meanderings, Bezzie's been cooking up a scheme to try to open our eyes to taking care of ourselves, so that we're there to take care of/knit for others. It's called the Kootchie Awareness Yarn Extravaganza. Really, go look! She's hoping it'll turn in to a Breck commercial, you know, I tell the two people who read my blog, they tell the 20 people who read theirs, they tell the 20 who read theirs....and so on and so on until we're all aware that we gotta take care of the "whole" us. We're good at sending our moms, dads, kids, and friends off to the doctor and/or giving them rides to get their check-ups, but we can't forgo our own. You know, that happy one we always look forward to. I just dealt with mine in November. Fun times! Join me in the extravaganza! I can't participate for another, what, 11 months? But maybe you can! Don't be shy! There's yarn involved!

Dramarama Dreams

So my allergies have been my constant companions these last few days. You know, the type of friend you'd like to throw off the nearest bridge? Yes, love them allergies IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER. My best friend, SUDAFED, works wonders for my sinuses, but like any friendship, has some negative bits I ignore because the love outweighs such trivialities....until the night they come to a head, of course.

So, do you all remember Dramarama?

The soundtrack of last night's nightmares could easily have been danced to the tune of "Anything." Seriously. At 4:30 AM I woke myself up crying. It was all so very bad. The kicker was the "Armageddon" dream. Maybe more end of the world...with mermaids walking on land (well, I think they were mermaids...definite fishy-ness about the loins, except they had legs and feet...but they were grayish with seaweed-y hair) and a leviathon breaking through the Senior Lawn of my high school and tromping about snapping at things (me) and quoting...scripture? Definite Old Testament litany. I'd recognize the Book of Revelations, having had a fascination beyond reason with it during my high school years, and this I had no clue about.

The crying? It came from the frustration of trying to get my mom to leave with me. In the dream I've gotten my dad, my niece (who was like 9), I think my nephew, an a slew of tiny itty bitty baby-looking things into my car, but my niece can't get my mom to leave! She tells me my mom won't leave Sister Charles (who has recently passed on). And I'm yelling and screaming at her to come with me and to get out of the convent's kitchen, and pointing out the window at the huge monster coming toward us...did I mention this dream was taking place at my old Alma Mater high school? She would not come with me! She kept saying there were things she had to do for Sr. Charles...

Can we say not a restful night?

Can we say it's rather disturbing?

Can we say my niece won't be 9 until 2012...you know, when the Mayan calendar ends?

Weirdness.

You're Here for the Pictures, Right?

FO #1, as I did finish this little guy before my mom's socks. I am a bad daughter, yes, but US 8 needles are SOOOOO much easier to maneuver when your wrist is incapacitated.

Let's call it:

Oops, I Did it Again Scarf--the Louis Armstrong version

(That's right, I am super ultra mega lame for not even knowing what the Britney Spears version sounds like, but I'm not crying my eyes out about it.)

Here's another view...with mom's socks waiting patiently for me to weave in all the scarf ends...yes, I wove in scarf ends before dealing with the socks...
Okay, can I find the link to the Yarn Harlot's post....Here it is: One Row (NOT) Handspun Scarf. I cast on 34 stitches to make it nice and wide. I am a convert, all scarves with be knit using this stitch pattern until I find another as entertaining. Seriously, 4 stitches, over and over and I don't get bored...US 8's! 3 skeins Cashsoft Aran (ON SALE at the LYS!!!) in um grey. It's going to Andy. He's taken to wearing this burnt sienna/orange shirt that he loves loves loves, but clashes horrendously with the green tweed scarf I knit him years ago, so yep, something had to be done about it.

Without further ado:
Before:

I have no excuse people. I even have a "Did It Myself" laminated card showing me step by step how to kitchener. I am just lazy...and maybe the thought of the working with the little needles didn't make my wrist feel any better...but I did it!

FO#2

OCD Striped Socks For Mom

Yes, fuzzy picture. After all that weaving and grafting my hands were not very steady. They still need a washing, so I might be able to take a better picture this weekend or something. But look at those stripes!!! I could not have planned it better! Well, the fact is I did plan it. I sat there and unwound nearly half the skein looking for enough matching colors to happen the way I needed them to. Self-striping sock yarn is not my friend, I need the pair to match, EXACTLY.

US2's to cast on (72 stitches) and start the 1X1 ribbing, then switching to metal US1s.
Ummm, it's a simple rib pattern, k3, p1, all the way down the to the toes.
I guess this is one I winged as I really didn't rely on any pattern but did use Knitting Rules! to make sure I was on the right path.

Hmm, two knits alluding to Ms. Pearl-McPhee...coincidence? I dunno, I'm using what works.

No anklet update, not much to show, besides my batteries ran out after I downloaded the fuzzy picture, and we all know how good I am at dealing with dead batteries. Happily these are my rechargeables, so guilt will win out and they'll at least be getting juiced up before bedtime. Speaking of which...g'night.

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY MIJA!

Okay, I know, she doesn't read the blog, but she's /learning/ to read, and her dad does(both, read, and read the blog :)), so it counts, right?

 

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, ABBY!

 

Casa De Damage

You know I toyed with the idea of using my title as my blog's name. With such a name, though, either I'd find myself recounting far too many "accident" stories (i.e. I am clumsy and will some day get myself killed thanks to my lack of grace) or be stuck in the land of psychosis due to all the damage that was about me, mentally, when I first began this joyride of public journaling.

It's amazing how a title shapes your blog, eh? 's why this isn't called "Tactless Knits" either, tee hee....though I do, every chance I get...but actually posting about it? {{cricket}} {{cricket}}

Instead of finishing my mom's sock, I knit a scarf. Really. It's blocking upstairs right now. I also cast-on another pair of socks. I'm doing the pair 2 at a time, as the gods intended. They're for me, a revamping of the black/grey footies I'd started and started and started and just finished rewinding into center-pull balls this weekend. Apparently they want to be "anklets" now. Sure, why not. I'll go upstairs and document all of my progress right after this, promise.

Happy Tuesday!

Joining Up

Nope, the toe of my mom's sock is still unjoined.

But if you glance over at the sidebar, I've updated the Project Spectrum button (as well as some others). Yup, a sucker for color. Or maybe it's that "balance" thing. I'll be balancing out my use of color for the year. Yes, that's it. Sure, why not!

Besides, thanks to being a part of Yarn Aboard II, I've got colors that simply must be used! Otherwise my tendency to stick to grays and blacks becomes rather boring.

Again, the pictures are lacking...sorry. I'm just a bit tired after ripping half-started projects and winding up the balls, by hand you see. Winding yarn with the wrist brace was a hassle, to say the least, and maybe I over did it a little...so I'm keeping this update short and heading for the advil.

M-Words

From Aloha & Oreos:

Your Name: Mary

Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. Actor: Marlon Brando ("Stella!")
2. 4 letter word: more!
3. Street name: Main St.
4. Color: Maroon
5. Gift/present: money? (oh, hee hee, how about) Malabrigo Yarn, anyone?
6. Vehicle: MUSTANG! '66, oh yeah.
7. Tropical Location: Maui
8. College Major: Medieval Folklore (I went to UCSC, we could make up our majors there...)
9. Dairy Product: (got) milk :)
10. Thing in a Souvenir Shop: magnet
11. Boy Name: Maurice
12. Girl Name: Molly
13. Movie Title: Monster's Inc.
14. Beer: Miller (Genuine Draft, cuz weeze high class here baybee)
15. Occupation: Mortician
16. Flower: Morning Glory
17. Celebrity: Marilyn Monroe
18. Magazine: Ms.
19. U.S. City: Martinez, CA

That was fun, you try!

Wrapping My Brain Around it All

Is that the idiom I'm looking for?
There are days when those three or so years of not knowing any English start catching up to me.

A work update.
Anything to avoid kitchnering, I guess, cuz that's all that's needed (aside from dreaded end-weaving-in stuff) to finish up my mom's socks, FINALLY. Slowly but surely, broken wrist and all...okay, strained muscle, ripped tendon, and all, little by little, I finally got 'em done. Almost. But you won't believe me until the picture is posted...so instead I'll update you on the "haps" at the big-time property leasing accounting thing I'm doing.

Cuz I am doing that now, not just assisting assistants or data-entry monkey business. I got a promotion. With little to no accounting experience (there was that bit of Accounts Receivable-A/R for Bookshop Santa Cruz back about a million years ago), I've been promoted to taking care of the invoice paying for a group of buildings. We're seeing about the wage increase bit, cuz right now I seem to be a rather underpaid accounting-type person. Until I'm paid more than the lady they just took on...more about her in a bit...I'll not be too happy a camper, you know?

Right, so I'm trying really hard to do that whole "benefit of the doubt" thing at work. Maybe I catch on faster than others in certain areas. Yes, that's it, because I can easily see where I am super slow to catch on in the more "social" aspects at work.

See, I'm not the "cool" person on the job. I'm not a former "anything exciting" like the other temps. Former school teacher? Former library page? Yep, life in the fast lane for me. I don't watch a zillion hours of TV that I can chit-chat about. I don't live in a cool neighborhood. I'm not in the midst of adopting a kid...so yeah, I'm not in that circle of 'peeps' at the office. I grow on people...you know, like a mold :). Hey, 7th graders thought I was the coolest...I'm not too sure that helps my reputation here...

But I am a very quick learner. So quick that in less than 4 weeks they moved me up from assistant paper pusher to Paper Pusher with Capital Letters... And they brought in a new person to do the filing and data entry and stuff. She is from the same agency as the others, who are from an accounting-based agency. They get paid accounting-type wages, because they supposedly already know what they're doing.

So she must be playing dumb. Really. Please? Because after this week one of the more competent people is going off to play dad and she's staying. It hurts. She failed a "monkey test" the other day. It's what the guy who trained me to do A/R called the more tedious but necessary parts of the job, like putting together a banker's box to store the older files in. She couldn't do just that. The instructions are ON the box...all the edges are LABELED...and yet, right. I had to stop what I was doing and show her how to do it, three times...and then gave up and made up four as she was still working on the first...and doing it backward. I am trying to let it all go, really, but it's hard. A list is accumulating that I'm hoping will iron itself out as she gets used to what she's doing.

We all have learning curves, right? Some are just more or less slopey than others? Yes? Please? Aaaauuuuummmmm....

I really should actually thank her. Maybe. I can't be too sure until they release the details. Thanks to taking time to help her out, I was late leaving work. I missed my bus. When I finally got one going my way, we were stuck in horrible traffic. There was an accident, involving a bus and a vehicle. They'd turned off the LED bus numbers, but it looked suspiciously like the one I took to get home yesterday (it had the same ads on the side I saw). It might just be a coincidence, but nonetheless it made me feel a bit weirded out, to say the least.

Shall We Talk About the Weather...

...Shall we talk about the government
-R.E.M. "Pop Song 89"

Hmmm, either topic of conversation isn't all that great right now. On a side note, about the time of this song's height of popularity? I hated R.E.M. due to the unbelievable amount airplay they were having in LA. Color me silly, but I tend to get sick of hearing overplayed radio songs. We were all INUNDATED with this one to the point of switching to the Muzak station, seriously. Ah memories.

So yesterday as I went along my blog-stalking way Beth asked us all what our word for the year was. It was almost like magic. As I read, but before the question really settled in, balanced came to mind.

I need to be more balanced this year in so many ways.
* Yes, eating a balanced diet is included.
* So is learning to be more balanced physically so I don't fall in the 3 NEW inches of snow we have outside (this is Seattle I moved to, right? 70 degrees in Boston and we're freezing our nether-regions off...not to mention the ice storm raging across the middle of the country...hmmm I guess I talked about the weather anyway.)
* Balancing work and play is big this year. My XMIL is helping in a HUGE way. I didn't want to say anything until the tickets were in my hands...I'm going on a trip to Southern Italy in the Spring (or maybe I should say April/May as who knows WHAT season we'll be experiencing then) with her. Yes, very excited. Yes, X MIL. WE didn't' divorce :).
* Checkbook? Check. I'm actually pretty on top of that one.
* A more balanced sense of self? That'd be nice. We'll see.

The list is unfinished, but more than started. Not so much a resolution, but definitely something to keep in mind and focus on. I'm not even hoping for achievement, just working toward it will be good enough for me, at least this round.

What Show Is That Quote From...

My brain is bleary this morning.
I think I'm on the winning edge of fighting off some sickness or another.

Aside from all the coughing, hacking, and sneezing everywhere I turn, (but not coming form me, mind) I'm told I flirt with infection daily by going out in 25 degree weather with wet hair. Really, didn't you know? When I told my mom I was feeling a little under the weather, her first response was that it's because I run out of the house with wet hair!!! It's one of the worst things I can do! Forget not taking vitamins! Forget not eating right or sleeping enough! It's all about th hair. Was it the Facts of Life where Mrs. Garret went off on the girls for going outside with wet hair?

Because wet hair is FULL of evil cold-causing cretins!

Or something.

Personally? I think maybe the fact that I work in a climate controlled office where someone is always sick. Just last week I thought one of the AA's was going to cough up a lung in her cube. I know she must have lost some brain matter with all the sneezing and the extended blowing of nose she was doing. I'm sorry, but if you're THAT sick? GO HOME. No one wants you sneezing or coughing on them. Stop touching things that I need to touch! Pull out the hospital-disinfecting lysol! Pull out the antibacterial Pure stuff! Pull out the flu masks!

Does it surprise me that the APC in the cube adjoining her was out for 3 days with a fever?

Should it then surprise me that I started feeling kinda weird on Friday myself?

I know, just what you all wanted to read about. This is why I've been lax on the writing. Foremost in my head is the fact that when I get kinda feverish, I should not be allowed to write anything down that others might be able to read. Seriously, I had this whole blog idea in my head on Friday (when I first realized I might be more than "just a little tired"), but upon reflection (and after a couple advil) felt it might be a) a Tangent Queen Original, as well as b) offensive to a great deal of people.

Then yesterday I had another brilliant idea! But it was an "angry" post. So instead when my poor, unsuspecting, hana'i mom called, I went off about it with her. I'm glad she loves me, cuz otherwise she'd have thought I was a little crazy.

This morning I am so thirsty I could drain Lake Tahoe. And I hate drinking water. I think it comes from growing up in LA. You try filling a glass from a tap in El Sereno and then I dare you to drink it. Yeah, that swirling white mess? It settles down to the bottom. If you let it sit for a bit it'll clear right up. Sure it's safe to drink! This isn't Mexico! Some days you can even SMELL it. YUM!

I really should delete the above paragraph, but it's a great example of my state of being right now. We'll keep it around for posterity's sake, or something.

Now, what I wanted to share this morning was that we have freezing fog out! It might as well be flesh eating fog. No one in their right minds should be out in it as the roads are ice rinks. 24 degrees and an "Air Stagnation" advisory.

I have been stuck in the house all weekend for fear of being run down/over/crashed into by the wonderful residents of Seattle who have no business driving out in this kind of weather. I'm especially looking in the direction of the dumb asses who INSIST on driving 40 MPH in the residential zones! We have about 2cms of snow and ice left...You know how they say children can drown in that much water? Well hello city-dwellers! You can easily die with that much ice on the road.

Tahoe taught me great snow/ice driving skills...but I readily admit to being rusty. I will also admit that as I've never driven my brand new car in this kind of weather, 2 payments in, is NOT the right time to go experimenting. Call me overly cautious. So along with the almost gone fever, I'm getting a bit of cabin fever.

What fun!
And tomorrow when most of you will have your day off...yup, no rest for the wicked...my office is open and in full swing. I feel like taking bets as to how many people will show up.

All Quiet on the Western Front

All of the lights were off when I got to work here this morning.

I have been at work for almost 1/2 hour. 

No one else in my department has shown up.

I was just told I might be the only one who does.

Joyous day, caloo calay...everyone gets to come bug me about their accounting woes...well, if THEY show up.

 

Right.  Snow.  It DEBILITATES Seattle to the Nth degree.

What did we get? 2, 3 inches?

 

Am I sounding a bit bitter this morning?  Yes.  Is it because I fell on some black ice on my way to the bus stop only to find out that the previous bus hadn't been seen, nor for that matter any buses going in any direction and had to stand there, ice and snow on my pants, leg throbbing, trying to fish out quarters with my braced up hand, as my "good" hand balanced my bag and held onto the slippery bus stop pole so I could take in all this news?  I'll let you guess that answer.

 

Auuuummmmmm.

The bus was late, but it got there, and it got me here.

I did not smash my knee this time, only the bone just below the knee.

Since I started writing this, people are starting to drift in.  Even (thank the gods of Cobal) someone from my department to whom I will happily defer any and all power of responsibility. 

And the sun is coming out!  (I'm trying to ignore the fact that anything the sun "melts" will freeze into ice tonight as freezing temperatures are being predicted. Aaauuuummmm.)

 

Happy Snow Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Balmy 36 Degrees

Good morning...We shall not speak of the weather, except to say that it's probably going to freeze the African Violets I'm taking to work (if I'm going to be there 6 months, I'm gonna make it pretty).

This morning, before I go dope dose up on anti-inflammatories, I'd like to embarrass a couple folks:

Happy Birthday Phil!

Happy Birthday Jen!

Kisses to you both!

OF COURSE, your cards are in the mail...Really :). Or at least they will be later this morning :)

Two Days In a Row!?!

Hey all.

I know, I know, I should be finishing up my ummm, pre Valentine's Day Cards (sorry. Yes, they really are rather late now), icing my wrist, or knitting on mom's socks (yup, missed that deadline as well). Instead I wanted to tell you about a movie I saw today, Children of Men (just FYI the site has audio playing. in case you're not supposed to be surfing right now).

I've never read anything by P. D. James, but I'm going to have to look this one up...Children of Men, the movie, was based on the book by the same title.

So the premise is that in 20 years humans are infertile. What are all the implications to that one? Well, I'd recommend seeing the movie. I purposefully didn't link to a preview as I really think that they give too much away in any and all of those. It was very thought provoking, and I thought Michael Caine's performance marvelous. It's not at all a Rain Without Thunder or The Handmaid's Tail variant, which I could easily see it sliding into.


If the theme of a world with no future is too heavy for you, I also recommend Happy Feet. Except I'd wait for video as the chances of small children screaming all around you would be far less. Especially when the kids got a bit bored as it seemed a bit too long for them. Some of the topics were definitely adult-oriented. No, not in that way, get your mind out of the gutter, I'm talking about over-fishing and pollution here. I love Robbin Williams' character. It's what Antonio Banderas would be like if he were funny.

Okay, back to what I should be doing.

Feliz Noche Buena!/Dia De Los Reyes!

I think it was actually last night that the 3 Kings should have visited, but I was too tired and (yes, I'm about to say it again) my wrist hurt too much to deal with shoes (for the presents), hay or a bucket of water (for the camels, you know.) But I feel a bit more mobile today, so we're still in time for a "Rosca de Reyes" and some Mexican hot chocolate this evening.

Now I just have to dig out the recipe and hope that 10 years of NOT making it won't mar the occasion :). I do, at least, remember how to make hot chocolate.

Today the holiday season pretty much ends. I won't be baking a baby Jesus in the bread, as we don't do Candle Mass/Dia de los Innocentes on February 2nd. Yes, in Mexico it's still xmas through February.

Happy Saturday!

A Little Bit of Cleaning

No, my room is still rather messy. I am hoping to do a bit of clean-up and updating to my blog, though. Nothing fancy, just taking down some old links and updating others. This will be a S-L-O-W process as I seem to be typing at snail speed right now.

This is me being whiney(sp?):

My wrist hurts!

So, if you're someone who I'd linked to in the past (Richard, I'm thinking of you), you're not gone forever, I'm just in the middle of reorganizing.

In the good news corner:
My brother writes that with wear, his beanie is finally starting to cover his ears! He sent some pictures as proof that I do not have to make him a new one, yet. (I will post "hat modeling" pics at a time when the though of scanning and editing pictures for blog-readiness does not make me want to cry as such action will make my wrist hurt even more. Must learn to avoid using my thumb...)

Tactless: 1 Champagne Headache: 0

I am not a drinker, just ask anyone who tries to get me to have more than a couple ciders or a glass of wine, of late. (Now if it's an ooey-gooey-syrupy-raspberry-lemon-drop...lord help me.)

Apparently, moderately priced Champagne and I get along rather well. Expensive stuff even better. This is still good news for the measuring tape and pocket book as I am not about to run out and spend perfectly good yarn/travel money on booze. I do have my priorities! Sort of.

Andy, James, Laura, and I had a mini-Santa Cruz reunion for New Year's Eve and all went fabulously. We think Tim was in Canada, they have New Year's Eve there too, you know. I'm beginning to formulate a theory as to why Tim is always absent when James and Laura present... and yet he is always "just getting here" or present whenever Andy's real estate guy is around... Again with the odd coincidences. I think a goal for '07 is to get the whole of the "Santa Cruz Ex Pats" together in one room for a gathering. Not a resolution, mind, just a goal.

I don't do resolutions. I'm not sure why either. I do come to realizations a lot lately. Such as this mornings:
- This May will mark 10 years since I graduated from my last educational institution.
- This is the second January that is an "official" start of a new year for me. When you're a teacher? January is at most "mid-way" through your year. When you're sailing around unemployed? It's just another month. Every day is Tuesday when there are no deadlines or plans.

These realizations get thought about and considered. Maybe some decisions get made, but I don't go promising myself I'll do something about anything just because it's January. I do that daily/weekly/monthly if at all. I do hope I'm not obliterating anyone's resolution framework; I don't mean to at all. I'm just saying what I do. Really? I think it's a diction and a timing issue. I make resolutions all the time, in that sense, just not necessarily to start January 1st :). It seems too much like a "deadline" or "due date." I hate those.

As I'm not sleeping off a hang over today, I guess I should go enjoy the rest of the first day of the year.

The Icy Cold is NOT My Friend

Do you ever get to the point in where maybe you've gotten too used to writing for an audience?

I was writing an email last night when I realized, as I was hitting send, that I used a bit of my "blogger voice" in it. You know, where you start relating a story and you just GO with it in the style of your blogging persona? This isn't such a big deal with me as I have no "blogging persona" per se, but like a good student of writing, I always keep my audience foremost in my thoughts as I write. An audience of one friend of 10 years is a little different that the invisible internet friends of a few months/a little over a year are.

I don't know if I'm going anywhere with the above, but I just thought I'd share. It's New Year's Eve after all! Like xmas I'm sure my "audience" will have dwindled significantly. And no, I don't want a "Mouseketeer Roll Call" to find out the exact numbers...I know this isn't a popularity contest or anything, but I know I'm not all that popular.

Anyhow, I have been sorely remiss in my blogging duties as I had a bit of a Carpal Tunnel scare. I awoke the other night, in the middle of the night, to pains like you wouldn't believe along the inside of my forearm. I was in the middle of pulling blankets over me in my sleep. This happened ALL NIGHT LONG, as I am quite a fidgetty sleeper, it would seem.

So I kinda slowed down on everything I do that involves my thumb and repetitive motions...blogging and emailing are pretty high up on that list. As well as all the data entry I've been doing at my recent assignment...I chose a mountain of filing instead. Everyone was happy.

After doing far too much internet reading and speaking with my Hana'i mom in Hawai'i I realized it just isn't following the usual CT agenda. So it must have a WHOLE lot to do with the fact the I fall, A LOT. I mean it. Just the other day I got to fall downhill on a rather icky sidewalk in downtown Seattle. Fun times. I smashed both my knees and my left hand, but my right one was holing a tall mocha and somehow I saved it. I think I know how, now. I think I may have "bounced" on my wrist and torn my already iffy tendon, again.

I'm used to having a little pain in my wrist since I was involved in a pretty bad bicycle accident back in Hilo, HI when I was on my way to sign my divorce papers. (Coincidence? Yes, completely.) The wrist and a bump on my hip that makes its presence known whenever I try to buy pants (urgh), are what keep the bitter high in my tactless heart.

Anyway, so the other morning the whole "old hurts + icy cold weather DO NOT MIX" mantra/jokes that I'd heard in old cartoons and stories growing up truly hit home. I did not fall as I "skated" to the bus stop, but by end of my wait for the bus...say 10 minutes, my shin (busted after river rafting 15 years ago), my knees (thank you 6 years of fencing and a lifetime of smashing them on concrete), ankle (strained to within snapping distance, but saved by a birkenstock 9 years ago), the aforementioned hip and wrist were BOTHERING me to the point of my limping to the happy warmth of the office.

The warmth and multiple applications of my hot tea mug on the joints in question made the bad pains go away...except for that buggy wrist/tendon electric shock feeling every time I try to do anything beyond the stiff-wristed norm. So I've gone out and bought the big guns:

No more simple ace bandages for me! urgh. But I can't complain, much. It really is working. I hate getting old...I've done far too much damage to myself for this to be a pleasant experience from here on out. My last tendon escapade lasted about 4 months before I could pretend to be semi-kinda-okay...Who knows how long this one will take.

Okay, I've exceeded my comfortable typing experience.

Happy New Year everyone!

Let's all be safe out there tonight. I'm planning on plopping myself down on my friends' couch and eating Pozole and sipping Champagne, cuz that's how we roll at casa de Tactless.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Glasses...

So if there are way too many funky errors in this post, it's because my "eyes," that wonderful combination of plastic and metal, are somewhere else, and it's too early for me to go turning on all the lights and doing a thorough search.

It is simply amazing how much I can do without my eyes. Training for later life? Let's not go there.


So Xmas...spent the eve in Kent. Had yummy tamales and champurado (think an uber-thick hot chocolate...made thick from the corn masa you mix with the milk).

I have been inundated with Hello Kitty this year! I don't think I've ever owned this much pink as an adult! I'm not complaining. Badtz Maru might be a wee bit jealous that he has to share space with the kitty, but yeah, they don't make Badtz slippers, mugs, license plate covers, note pads, magnets...I'm missing stuff but yeah, I mentioned the early thing.

I'm not linking this morning either, sorry, it's all the squinting, but maybe you remember me hoping my brother's MONSTRO hat would be big enough?

It's not.

Disappointed is an understatement.

I'm either waiting for the hat to come back, or the measurements my mom said she would take and I'll have another stab at it with the leftover yarn. I'm hoping the original comes back...I don't have enough to make a whole new one in the same color scheme, and I don't really have the gumption to travel up to the yarn store where I first found the Dalegarn as it is no longer all that close to me...it used to be on my way to/from my receptionist assignment...that would be completely opposite of where I travel now.

Complain, complain, complain, sorry.

Here, I'll leave you with this little bit of "6 degrees of separation." Well, more like 39 or so as my Best Friend From High School (the acronym made it look like "boyfriend") has dropped off the face of the earth again...she tends to do this every once in a while...ANYHOW, her husband/his company does the sound/score for Battlestar Galactica. No lie. It gives me goosehives :).

My Gift to You, Merry Xmas!

May I have a small container of coffee?

I'm "it." Beth tagged me:

THE RULES:
Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog...

hmmm 6 weird things!?! Hmmm well, I'm sure people who know me would agree that there are far more than 6 that I could share...but what HAVEN'T I shared already?

I joke a lot about my "OCD" behaviors...but if I were much worse, I'd be on medication, seriously. As I haven't gone into much detail about such issues, I'll start there and see what other weird things come up to the forefront:
1. I don't have to have anything super neat or anything, Andy can attest first hand about that one, but numbers are very important to me. Today's blog title is a mnemonic for pi (3.1415926).

2. 5s are my favorite. I spread my hat decreases over 5 rows, I stretch out my fingers and make sure I can "feel" all five digits, I set my alarm in 5 minute increments. 4's are okay as long as they are easily divisible by 6...just ask my mom's latest socks. Multiples of 3 I don't like so much, especially after 15. I avoid them as much as possible.

3. I can make most numbers "work" for me, as long as they live somewhere on the 1-12 pee-chee-multiplication-table-world that I've constructed in my head. I might not like certain areas of the table, but the numbers therein don't stop my daily existence or anything. Once outside off that box though...uhhh, it's hard.

Enough about the numbers...they're making me antsy now.
4. I am the great "locator of things" in the house. Ask me where anything is, AS LONG AS IT'S NOT MINE, I can tell you. I have absolutely NO CLUE where my keys are most of the time. Or my wallet, checkbook, passport, cell phone...head.

5. When frustrated or far too excited, I "lose" the language I'm speaking in and fill in the blank with my "second." Sometimes it's just a word; others, and this is bad, the ENTIRE phrase I'm aiming for. (i.e. when conversing with my mother the other night, in Spanish, I could not for the life of me remember how to say "package," in Spanish. You know, like, "has the package I sent down for your grandchildren arrived?" (Ha llegado el um, aahhh, package para tus nietos?) Or at work, um, today? Computer = blank. But computadora was right there to take it's place. As in, "The ummm computadora won't load lotus notes." ) This has always been the case, but I was much better at catching myself before inserting the odd word out---at least in English--when I was younger. Sometimes it sounded like I was getting my "latina" on as a heavily accented word might slip out. Now? Umm, no se. Either I just don't care anymore, or I just assume everyone will catch what I mean in context.

6. I have to know "why." If something is broken, the bus is late, dinner is burned, I'm bugging someone, someone is bugging me, a dog is howling, the mail didn't show up, someone who said they would call didn't, etc, and so forth, I must know WHY. There has to be a reason, even if I have to come up with something myself. Most of the time I tend to share these theories out loud, "Maybe he got stuck in traffic." Especially the ones I have absolutely no control over, "Mother nature hates me!" Or the now ubiquitous, "You don't like me!" being bantered about Casa de Tactless for every little thing. Yes, I am annoying and I don't know why people put up with me...but I'll come up with a reason if they don't tell me.

I am very bad at tagging for an infinite number of reasons. But right now, at this time of year when everyone will be busy with family and craziness? I say if you had time to read this entry, then you're "it!" (Well, only if you want to be.) Leave a comment or email me if you do post a "weirdness" post so I can go stalk you :).

I am the Midnight Blogger What Posts at Midnight!

With apologies to super evil villans out there, you know who you are :).

I might be on a T.S. Elliot kick...behold, my latest find to share with the world:

:) Do I Dare to Eat a Peach*, Baby?

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"I dunno, press the button and find out."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

* The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T. S. Elliot.

Reprieve! And Storm News

Okay, so my mom is happy to get her gift by the Epiphany/Noche Buena/
12th Night, or January 6th for those whose xmases end with the 25th
of December.

I am not a fast knitter. Nope, no way, no how. I planned on only
one knitted item this winter, socks for mom. Then some hats for
others, a scarf or three, and a couple of stockings kinda fell into
the lineup...Oopsie?

Well, I do have one finished sock. As soon as my grocery store
regains power (maybe you all read/heard about the massive wind/rain
storm we just had?) I'm off to find the tea part of her gift. There
must always be tea in my mom's gift. This is now a given.

So, yeah, the storm.
I hear there was much damage and much loss of electricity. During
the massive part of the wind storm, our plastic shed-where the
lawnmower lives-discombubilated, but Andy has since fixed it. No
trees fell, and we only lost power for a couple hours, maybe between
2 and 4 AM. I know, I was woken by the plastic shed at 2 AM. Then
when all was settling back down we all heard these immense popping
noises and it got really dark outside. REALLY dark outside.

By 5 AM, however, the power was back on and I didn't really think
much of anything...I was too much of a zombie girl for the first half
of the day, except for the quiet. The wind had been buffeting
Seattle for about three days prior to all hell breaking loose, so the
quiet was a little weird. Almost, but not quite like pulling into a
quiet anchorage after 10 days of rough weather and big slaloming
waves on the way to Hawai'i from Mexico (the first 19 days were a snap).

Downtown had all it's lights on, and I figured all went well. By
9:30 I was amazed my mom hadn't left 10,000 messages, what with the
death and destruction that had been reported! Mostly by car radio, I
heard, seeing as most people didn't have power for their TVs and the
paper did not get printed since they had no power there either.
People wandered in far more dazed and confused than I was as they had
to battle trees to get to their smashed vehicles and wade through
ginormous puddles to get to taxis or busses.

Andy and I made the big mistake of going out to try to get food, or
at least groceries last night. That's when we saw just how many
parts of our area were still quite dark and spooky. Not to mention
where all the nice houses with the really nice decorations are!
Let's just say there was a bit of traffic and 1.5 hour waits at every
restaurant we tried. Frozen pizza and netflix to the rescue!

Some Stuff

Done!

Hats for the hat wearers of the OB clan.
Specs:
Made from Dalegarn Falk Using wild and varied combinations of "farges" 0020, 4203, 5224, 4246, 4516, 0090, and 00007
Needles: US 3 DPNs
Pattern: Clubbed together after finding out my brother's head is ginormous! (He now reads my blog every once in a while, hey Alfred, how's it?!?) So I cast on enough on the "Monstro" hat to go around his 25"s of circumference...I hope it fits, I really do. Then I did some ribbing for about 5 or 6 rounds and went plain stockingette for the boy hats with the color changes.

I really like my the way my nephew's hat came out and was wondering why I liked it so much, then I went to slip my vans on and I swear I did not plan it. Now if my bro and SIL were to get little B a pair of vans to match his hat? Well, that would be too cool for school, I think. But what do I know, I went into Hot Topic yesterday for some exploratory gift idea-gathering for my lil' bro's gift and could not get over the fact that A) The whole store is an homage to "The Nightmare Before Xmas" and "Pirates" and B) Tinkerbell is a goth!

My niece's hat was very experimental. I think I've blogged enough about the pain and suffering I went through to get the colors and slipped stitches in just the right places. Following Murphy's Knitting Laws, of course it will be too small for her and/or she will hate it. Whatever, it's out of my hands, la la la. I'll have them bribe her with candy so they take ONE picture with the thing on and I will be happy.

So this year, instead of trying to make some fabric stockings to stuff the little hats in (sorry Alfred, I don't have the time or patience to make one big enough for YOUR hat), I knitted something up:

I wish I'd thought to double up the yarn, or make them bigger...but then I'd probably still be knitting them instead of trying to figure out the hows and whens of packaging and mailing these things off before the children outgrow the hats and the stocking season is over :).

How Can I Stalk You If You Won't Cooperate!

People, people, people! Update your websites and live journals! Come ooon! (okay, maybe a bit too whiney, but I'm exhausted....rum dummy even.) How else can I fulfill my need to know all about you and your daily doings, if you don't write anything anymore!

So hard to be a stalker lately, sheesh.

To all my blogging family and friends out there who do post more than monthly, thank you. I have no life and must find a way to live vicariously through you. Yarn only goes so far, you know? What's really sad is, well, I really and truly doubt that I'll get any response from those I'm trying to stalk...I mean, well, unless they're stalking me back :).

***

I was supposed to be hangin' with Tim and Andy and waiting for 10 PM to go see "The Fountain," but that's not gonna happen. I was falling asleep into my Palak Paneer Masala... It's not even 8 PM and all I can think about is how much I desperately need to, um, inspect the insides of my eyelids, you know, for holes, yes, that's it. I can not believe how exhausted I feel. My goal is to stay up as long as possible so I don't go waking up at 3 AM, you know, ready for the day to begin and all. That's what comes of doing that work thing, bleh.

Speaking of work, I have so little to complain about, truly. My commute is so easy! One bus, no more than 15 minutes worth of commuting, thus far, even in traffic. The hard part is waiting for it to show up...it's cold, damp, and dark out--both morning and evening. The assignment has lots of tedious, repetitive work, but it's MUCH better than sitting there and doing nothing/answering telemarketing calls/same difference. I'm learning loads. It's all very boring unless you're into accounting and stuff, which I kinda was, once upon a time. It's experience, that's for sure. Though it's not too stable. The company is transnational and moving all financial stuff to the head office (out of state) sometime next year. That's okay, I don't know if I want to make AP a career...

I can feel the building move though...I've invested in some ginger candy, from the Ginger People. 40 floors...and I'm only part-way up. I've been told I just have to go up to the 70th and check out the observation deck. Heh, um, no, thank you. Really. Eep. I get quite enough of a view from two of the three desks I work from...I'm the um, modular helper, or something.

Okay, must go pass out.

OH! Hey you blogger folks, before forget, anyone tried the "new" blogger? I want to know if it really is as "ready for me" as they're saying on the sign-in page. Thanks!

The Unfriendly Side of 5 AM

Aside from traveling to far off exotic places, the only thing that gets me out of bed so early now-a-days is, yes, you guessed it, MONEY. I start a new temp. gig today. Waiting was a good thing, I guess. (I hope.)

I'll be some assistant's assistant...I actually am not sure what all my assignment entails until I get there, but it takes place in the accounting dept. of "big corporation." I'll be on the 40th floor of some huge building downtown. Yes, that's right, 40th. Have I ever mentioned I'm not all that good with heights? Fun times, oh yeah.

Anyhow, I've been super bad about embarrassing friends and family with this lately, but I actually remembered this one...it's cuz of little xmas, and he knows it:

Happy Birthday Thane!

St Nick's Day!

As others have adopted Wednesdays for posts of the "random/WTwhatever/and such" variety I thought I'd post about a random holiday... or at least not too well known.

HAPPY St. Nicholas Day!

Maybe better known as "Little Christmas," or celebrated on the 7th instead, this is one of my favorite days in the whole xmas cycle because boys and girls? It really is all about the gifts today/tonight/whenever. Seriously, you can't have a tree and decorations being put up all the way back in November and NOT have some reward for the kids for not whining too much and trying their Calvin & Hobbes best to be oh so good for Santie Clause (it's the way I always thought it should be spelled) without a break! So bust out the stocking, treats and/or healthy snacks for the kids and pat them on the head to tell 'em they're doing well...

For those determined to educate themselves about said random holiday, go here.

Tuesday Already?

I feel like I've misplaced a day somewhere. Maybe I dropped it on the way in with the groceries. Maybe it was the wretched night of sleep I had... When too many things are rolling around in your brain, how are we expected to turn it all off to get some sleep? I could have easily stayed up all night and been zombie girl this morning...but I had some stuff to deal with that needed my undivided attention.

Remember my brand new car?
The one I've only made ONE payment on?
The one that HAD NOT NEEDED a trip to the body shop before last night?

Tim, this is how I vent, I'm sorry. I promise I'll be the old me when next you see me...that is, if you even bother to read my blog anymore...just in case :).

So last night I think Andy's realtor-guy cursed me. If I was my dad, I'd totally go on and on about this because he is a believer, I seem to be agnostic in all things... But the guy kept going on and on about my new car and how fancy, and it's a "Matrix," did you watch the movies... Oh, on the gold team, are you having this tag laminated...etc, and so forth.

So it was bound to happen. The gods heard him, or something. So when Tim came by later to pick up some stuff from the garage... BAM! CRUNCH! (or so I'm imagining, I was upstairs dealing with dishes) His subaru's door decided to rework the lines of my passenger-side door...

Yep. I have a picture on the fischer price cam, but that's still in the back seat of the car...it's not like it's gonna go away before I can snap some more...I got the estimate this morning and my still unnamed car is going in next monday at ohmygodit'searly AM so that it can be a one-day job. I'm actually hoping it will be Tim and Andy delivering .... (need a name) as hopefully I'll have something like, oh I dunno, a JOB to go to...more on that later.

UGH! SO FRUSTRATING!
Andy told me of how he felt when an ex of his crashed his then 3-yr old car...god, if (insert name here) was 3 years old I would not have felt as angry. DID I MENTION I HAVEN'T EVEN MAILED IN THE SECOND PAYMENT! It was a total Homer Simpson, DON'T KILL THE BOY moment! ARGH! Okay, calming down...you really don't want to see me angry. I segregated myself into my little office until everyone left last night... I had hats to work on.

Speaking of which, let me distract everyone with some knitting:
Niece's hat. All done. Blocked. BILLIONS of ends all woven in. Yes, that would be my head. Yes, I hope it fits her too. I finished, but only have a progress picture of my OB's hat:
My SIL and I have the same comment on this one, "boy, this better fit your head, sheesh!"
It still needs blocking, where I will make it come down to my chin, if necessary...we're going for a 9" length, minimum. I'm calling it the "Monstro" hat...you know, from Pinochio?

Okay, the job thing...
They offered me a 90 day gig for not enough money manning the switchboard and "breaking" the receptionist...yes, for less money than I got for the last "90 day" gig as a receptionist that lasted 6 months...This time downtown Seattle, no parking/40 minute bus ride/more than an hour's salary if i pay to park. Can we way urgh again? Am I that desperate for cash? Well, not really, but kinda yes. She said she'd call me back if she couldn't find someone in the next few hours...urgh. What gets me most is that I need to move UP in the experience levels, not down. This is definitely a DOWN...but it's a paycheck...urgh.

I have another hat to deal with, 'scuse me.

Keeping Strangers Warm

So I have this habit of knitting on things while waiting for the computer. I've mentioned this before. Well, I have two FOs to show for my patience:

In one of the many visits to my parents' house (in Southern Cali/East LA) since the knitting bug infected me, I came home with "A Jo-Ann Exclusive!" Sensations Angel Hair. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. Images of Dr. Zhivago did dance in my head for the longest time. Then I read, on Beth's blog, about this:

I hope I linked the button above correctly, if not, go here.
In one of those treks through LA I got lost, and ended up on skid row. My friend Richard has this entry about his experience down there. I've got to say I was kinda scared myself.

Well, see, I think I was more afraid of being lost in my mom's car in the city I grew up in than of being in skid row proper. I get lost a whole lot, but for some reason if I'm driving someone else's car? I flip out...really. Otherwise, pre cell phone days, I'd gotten some helpful advice from people of all sorts in the worst of locations in LA when first exploring my confines at the ripe ol' age of 17. That was when I was a kid, usually with a carload of friends, and puttering around in a 66 Mustang that had seen better days. Not only did friends make you brave, and youth invulnerable, but the situation down in skid row really had deteriorated from any of memories, good and bad, of my (ahem) colorful youth.

With that in mind I knit up a scarf (pattern) and hat (pattern) to add to the project above. It might be "muppet" fur, but I was so surprised as to how warm and comfy both the hat and scarf are. I find it fitting that I took their picture in the snow. I can still see Laura wearing that hat through the Russian Tundra...or something. (Dr. Z is one we gave my mom eons ago, back when vhs tapes were the rage, and I think she and I watched it maybe 5 or 10 times too many?)

So then I heard about this...almost a little too late if you look at the time frame and all:
Again, here if I've messed up.
So I signed up...if you've been knitting for others and didn't know about them, go there, now! The end date is this Sunday when we will let them know what we've been up to. Obviously, this is the entry I'll be sending them to.

Now, back to working on those hats...

ETA at noonish....it seems bloglines isn't my friend either. I join the masses that have not been picked up by the rss/atomfeed/etc/et al feeder. le sigh.

Taking My Mind Off it all With a Challenge

I'm so cutting and pasting this one cuz well, I felt like it:

Can you measure the speed of a meme?

Somebody out there is trying.

Scott Eric Kauffman is a grad student working on a project for presentation at an MLA panel, and he needs YOUR help. I've read about this on at least a dozen knitblogs today, and find it fascinating. I am intrigued by the fact that we knitbloggers stymie those who study blogging...let's all participate and blow them away! Plus, you know you wanna help a poor, downtrodden grad student.

All you have to do is:

1. Create a post with a link to the project.

2. Ask your blog readers to participate, please everyone, participate.

3. Ping Technocrati

Stolen from Not Scarlett. As I am such a guilt trip sufferer, I'm about to go let her know I stole her post.

Going About this Whole Life Thing...

BACKWARDS.

I think I've spoken about the whole "changing careers" thing already, right? I'm too agitated to look. Let's just pretend I've linked to something and nod in agreement.

I had a short conversation with the head of HR for the library job I applied to. You know, the one where I bombed the interview far worse than even I feared? Right, that one. There was a mistake in the FORM letter they sent. I get to apply again after November 8th of 2007. How nice. After today's telephone call, however, I'm sure I've been tagged as a "DO NOT HIRE, EVER" or something.

See, I asked what I did wrong. I had to. How does someone like me, with 12 or so years of library experience NOT get into a Library Assistant pool. What more do I have to do? Her response was that it was felt (by the first interviewer, I think) that I get "frustrated" in multi-tasking and fast-paced work environments.

I laughed so hard into the receiver that I think she thought I was a bit insane. (Yes, I am going to say what I think she was thinking, why not, I mean they obviously they feel free to state what I must be feeling (frustrated), so touche', bastards.) I went on to say that I must be some kind of masochist then as certain jobs I've held (Hi, MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER jumps to the forefront) were filled with multi-tasking and making fast-paced decisions that are 10xs as difficult as what I experienced working at any library on my list! In fact that as one of the reasons I felt I could do the job of a library assistant so well!

But no, they didn't think so, thank you very much, enjoy your snow day!
(insert plural expletive of choice here)

I've been on the verge of a migraine all day. This kind of news is not helpful. I spent a few hours sitting in the dark (yey winter with your 2.374 hours of sunlight a day) reflecting on what it is I'm trying to do with my life. And why I am so not wanted in the job market right now.

Then I laughed some more.

You know I'm one of the few number of people I know who became a teacher right out of college? Most of the teachers I know and love and have adopted (or adopted me) were once high level accountants, Longs Managers, SAHMs, Computer Techs/geeks, Novelists, fish packers, factory workers, you name it...they went from a lifetime's career of that to teaching and no one raised an eyebrow! In fact they received accolades and laurel leaves...or something.

All I get are sideways looks and questions up the wazoo. Why don't you want to continue teaching? Why the big career move? What is wrong with you???

Cuz you know, it's okay to do "something else" for lifetime and then become a teacher, but woe and sorrow unto you, teacher, if you decide otherwise. And that just bites, people.

So I'm living my life backwards...why all the flak? So what if I did spend all that time and energy on a degree and credential I no longer wish to use, why do I get persecuted for it?

Please, do not tell me to go look into teaching night school, or adults, or becoming a teaching assistant, or a tutor...what part of the "I don't think I want to be a teacher anymore" do people not understand? Please oh please stop giving me the names and numbers of the private schools in the area as you ignore me when I say, "I'm thinking of looking into something else."

I blew it the other day when I said it was too stressful to teach. I was told that being an executive assistant was VERY stressful, in one of those defensive tones. Not when compared to teaching. The telling pause (I was on the phone), I was about to get it. I had to justify what I had just said. "Dealing with the lives of 160 12 and 13 year olds on a daily basis with the drama and the hormones always on the edge, and then trying to teach them grammar? You've got to be kidding me. How will assisting one executive be worse than 160 drama queens AND their parents?" Laugh, laugh a lot. Laugh it off. Did it break the tension? A little. What it tells people is that I'm a failure. I couldn't make it in the classroom so now I'm looking into trying something else that I will probably fail at as well. Again, my thoughts.

But really, why else would I not be teaching? Not be pursuing my career? Not be wading through the mounds of paperwork in order to get that Washington State teaching credential and going back into that classroom! Come on! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!

If I can't even land a job as a receptionist, what makes anyone think I will land a teaching gig when HI, I don't think I can do it right now? I have said this before, countless times I think, I don't have it in me. If that makes me a loser, so be it. If I've disappointed you, find someone else to live your life through. This has not been an easy "throw away" decision. I'm not sure why I'm being made to feel like it is. Like I'm wrong, wrong, so terribly wrong.

I never promised anyone I would be anything other than myself. Label me what you will, just don't expect me to live up to who you think I should be.

So Many Finished Items...

...but not for me. See this hat? This is what I've been working on for the last...forever.

Like the background? No, that is not a pin for scale, that would be one strong blade of grass that is fighting the good fight against the SNOW. We got dumped on. Did I mention I live in Seattle now? Did the snow gods get lost? Tahoe is 800 miles SE or so, people....

But where was I? Ah yes, the hat. Or the Barbie dream debutante skirt...or the Hello Kitty Hell Bonnet...which name is actually growing on me. (Whose name is actually growing on me?) I am too OCD for this hat. Really. I have ripped it apart almost as many times as my failed attempts on my older brother's (OB) hat. Not for size issues, either. I thought matching hand-painted/striped socks was bad enough for me...but no, not only do I rip back when I make the stripes too narrow (to my eyes, anyway), I must have the colors in a certain order and the placement of the slipped stitch "dots" has got me drinking chamomile tea and thinking calming thoughts.

I'm not using a pattern, I think this might be my main problem, it's totally on the fly "grab a ball o'yarn" and go for it....well, hi, this is me we're talking about...I don't "fly" that way AT ALL, it seems.

I was about 10 rounds shy of finishing the (insert unseemly word here) thing when I thought that there were too many decreases in the wrong places and really, NO REALLY! that third row of (what used to be) burgandy slipped stitches between the white and the pink should be purple (as you can see, three rings of purple, yes, much much better, make the voices stop!)...that's what I ripped back to this morning.

As for the size? It fits my noggin a little on the tight side, so it should fit my niece's 3 yr old head, I hope.


IN OTHER NEWS:

A finished object.
I finished it a WHILE ago now, but today was the first time I saw my camera in a while...must clean my desk off, soon. The details:
Noro Silk Garden 217 A, X 2 minus 18". I only had to do minor surgery to make sure the colors did what I wanted them to do...I'm not sure if that's OCD or anal retentiveness...either way, it's done.
US size 10 needles.
Pattern: The same one as my dad's scarf...One Row (not) Handspun Scarf

After washing it a second time, this stuff is SOFT. Happy Dance for me...It's been a really really really long time since I had/used a new scarf...we're talking 6th grade here. It's such an easy pattern I might have to make more...but first...Must finish those hats....Urgh.

Kiwi Animated Video

I was shown this a while ago and would like to share it.


But I'm not all that good at embedding YouTube videos so it's here in case all you see is a blank spot up above :).

***
And it's snowing. It's 80-cajillion degrees in Los Angeles, according to my father, but it's snowing in Seattle. Well, people from the Great White North would laugh at what I'm calling "snowing" and "snow." Heck, had I lived longer in Tahoe, I too would be scoffing. But I'm cold and there's crunchy white stuff on the ground that looks kinda like the fake snow on the xmas tree at the mall, and more is falling...well in fits and starts.

Fancy Cooking, Tactless Style...

So you know we're cooking fancy when one of the directions call for "deglazing." I think I pretty much scared Andy out of the kitchen with that one. It also convinced me that any meal that involves such an act should be part of a PBS cooking show. I could host it! I have the perfect chicken apron and matching timer! It could be my trademark, you know like that Sally Jessie lady with the red glasses?

Though before I go planning shows I should make sure I can do other fancy things the, um, right way. So carmelized? That doesn't mean carbonized, right? Didn't think so.
Next year I'll have to cut the onions thicker.

Aside from that, I think things went well.

So it's officially Fat Man season. As Nordstrom has put up their decorations, I guess I should start thinking about what I'm going to do this year. I'm very low key, if last year is any example of it.

Bezzie from Random Meanderings reminded me of xmas music I thought I might not have anymore. A few years ago I put together a CD or two for a friend of mine who was pretty much sick of all the xmas music she owned. She owned a fair amount. But she absolutely could not stand Handel's Messiah/Hallelujah/etc. et. al., so I went and spent far too much time wading through the internet until I'd collected as many alternative xmas hits to fill her days. You know, things like: David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing The Little Drummer Boy, or Frank Sinatra and Cindy Lauper singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town as well as things like Dave Matthews' Christmas Song (love the Spanish guitar) or Sound Garden singing Ave Maria (oh that one makes me cry).

So I went "hard drive diving" and I think I may have found them all. Well, at least a hour's worth. Maybe I'll burn that collection up and spread it around this year? It's a thought.

1 Year + 1 Day, and a Turkey

Hi.

So it seems yesterday was my 1 year bloggiversary. See how bad I am
with the dates? Even I didn't remember. Good one, me.

Anywho, today is Turkey day. I'm supposed to whip up dinner so I
best get at it. I'm making green beans for the first time in my
life. Yes, I do this, I experiment with cooking on big occasions.
No biggie, if I flop there's always a plan B. Just what that would
be tonight, I'm not at all sure. I got desert covered...there was
some punk-in pie bakery happening last night. You know, to celebrate
the bloggiversary, yes, that's it. See, I didn't forget, nope, not
me :).

Thanks for reading! Happy T-Day to everyone.

25.5 Inches Around...

Mutant hats.

Yep, that's what I'm gonna have to make.

Does anyone know how often one can rip Dalegan Falk yarn before it just hates you and won't play anymore? I think I might be at that point.

Remember back when I said I had an almost completed hat for my older brother? Ah yes, ancient history that I'm too saddened to link back to. Best forget. Yes.

Did I ever mention that my older brother and I are about the same height? But he takes after my mom's side of the family with the delicate looking ears and high cheekbones I could have killed for as a teenager. The skinny cutely crooked nose I could ignore...at least until I got my first pair of glasses that outlined the honker on my face enough to be yet more proof that I was not the favorite in the house of the almighty.

Anyway, when I went about trying to make my older brother a hat, given his height, delicate-looking features, etc., et. al., what-have-you, I felt rather secure in the knowledge that a hat a smidge bigger than mine would be fine. In the end the Camo-hat I made him last year was a smidge too big for Andy, so yeah, no problem-o! Right?

I've already posted my thoughts about those hats, we shall not speak of them again, we're working on the idea of MOVING ON after all so THIS time, when the call came for some bonnets for the family I decided to make something that would at least LOOK warmer so that they might actually be used. Okay, I'm hard at the "letting go" bit, I think we all realized this a LONG time ago.

So I got the Dalegan Falk and started trying to figure out the best way to fulfill the, "long enough to cover the ears and the back of the neck" request. After some test knitting and lots of ripping I came up with a 4 X 2 rib that I thought would be great! Only it really was looking kinda skinny. Upon closer inspection it turned out that I'd be able to get my head, 22" around, in and it fit me great, but we were looking for a little bigger. Yes, I ripped back. No, I'm not one of those people who believe "it'll fit someone" and just keep knitting on. I don't have the funds to play that game. Especially right now so close to the holidays and being "between assignments" (read as "between paychecks"). So rip back with impunity I say.

I dug around some more (the internet is my best friend) and found a pattern that might work super-well. I cast on to aim for a 23" head...That seemed like a good number... That's when I remembered the Rules. Wasn't there something in there about measuring hands for head sizes? So I emailed my brother and asked for the "palm to tip of middle finger" measurement so I could get an idea how "deep" to make the hat. 7.5 inches. Wow, that'd make it about 9" deep, give or take. That seemed rather deep. So I asked for the "width across" measurement...8.5". Which gives us the 25.5" around. Which makes his head almost 65 cm around...which gives him a US size 8+ head. If I poof up my hair I can fit a 7 1/4 hat. Did I mention we're almost the same height? (My mom insists he's taller, my little brother confirms I am--he should know, he's taller than both of us and can easily eyeball it...)

Where did that head come from??? That was my first thought. My second was: I'll start on my niece's hat. She is only about 4, yet I'm told she's outgrown all the "little kid" hats...I guess she's taking after her dad.

Mutant hats, I tell you.

You'd Think I'd Blog More...

With all this time off, I mean.

It was actually SUNNY today, but I'm starting to feel under the weather, so I hid until almost nightfall.

So what comes first?  Feeling down cuz you're sick, or feeling sick cuz you're down?  I think I might need to dwell on this a little more.

I have two Finished Objects to show...but that would require taking pictures and the like.  I can't get motivated to take pictures with a camera that is well, actually, buried somewhere under all the junk I picked up off the floor and TEMPORARILY placed on my desk (that's cleaning for you).  I feel terribly disorganized right now.  I think it's the upcoming holiday trauma.  Even if it isn't, I feel like blaming it rather than no one, or worse, me.  I tend NOT take it out on my friends that way.  Combine that noise with feeling pathetic and underemployed and we have such a recipe for disaster.  Good thing there's knitting to keep me away from all the ingredients to make high explosives.

Yes, I've been watching MacGyver DVDs again.  I swear, that man loves blowing things up!  All you need is a little solvent and talcum powder, or something.  Which is truly funny, who keeps that stuff around anymore?  I'm getting feelings of inadequacy in the carcinogenic household items department.  If that show happened today all he'd have to work with would be biodegradable cleaners and water.  Oh, and maybe Desitin.  I wonder how flammable baby butt cream is, really?

I need to go lie down now.

Pissed.

No, not in the good drunk way either.
Observe:

This would be the Yarn Aboard box I mailed off last Thursday. Seeing as it's heading out of country I thought I'd get right on it. Proof of mail date:
And yes, that's what it cost to mail the sucker out.
Yet behold, it was returned for one very important reason:
I know, it's fuzzy, I'll reprint it:

We regret that your mail is being returned to you because of heightened security measures. All domestic mail weighing 16 oz or over, that bears stamps and all international military APO/FPO mail weighing 16 oz or over MUST be presented to a retail clerk at a post office. Postage that is affixed to the returned mail may be used for remailing the items.

Urg. Heightened security? I mailed it off through work and filled out all the required paperwork, but nope, no dice. The lovely lady behind the counter said it wouldn't have mattered what paperwork I filled out (I had to fill 2 different customs forms for her), it still required her taking it. Her magic hands were the special security needed to fulfill the box's trip, or something. I got to spend some fun time at the ole P.O. In line. JOY! Great use of my time since it's not like I'm updating my resume or applying for jobs or anything. Urg.

So THAT's Why They Fit Wrong

Ahem, yes, I am a dumb ass. I am a big enough person to admit it, this time :).

So, um yeah, remember those footies I was working on for forever that became my CWP (Computer Waiting Project)??? Well, I'd been wondering why, if I just lost 7 lbs, they seemed to be awfully tight little socks. (Well, one awfully tight sock, another 3/4ths tight.) I thought maybe they'd loosen up with the blocking magic or something...

Tonight, as I finished my Noro scarf as well as the muppet experiment (okay, there's still some weaving/blocking/trimming of muppet fur to go, but the needles are put away so I consider it almost picture-ready) I took out my Trekking XXL and decided to try starting a pair of socks for me again. Believe it or not, I swatched this time! I know, shocking! In perusing which needles to try next, I noticed that my US 00s were not in their pocket. I looked ALL OVER. How could I misplace a whole set? It was bad enough when I couldn't find one missing needle, but 5? That's just wrong.

I found them, they were hiding in plain sight...in my 3/4's done footies. My best guess is that at some point I must have needed my US 0s and used the smaller needles as "place-holders." I think I can almost make out where the finished footie starts looking a bit thinner than normal. What really stands out is how the second footie is just that much smaller than its brother, as I apparently used the 00s from the start. Urgh. Why didn't I notice this earlier???

I guess it's a good thing I'm more interested in winter socks right now. I have months to go before I will want footies. Yet, the idea of ripping out what I have done makes me sad, but it's not like I'm the first to have to deal with such trauma. It was bound to happen. A sign really. Time, maybe, to change the CWP, or something. Sigh.

Progress...

When did I become such a multi-project knitter???

I think this coming week of under-employment should, maybe, possibly, force me to work on started and semi-abandoned projects:
My brother's hat. Yes, it looks REALLY long, but it's ribbing (4X2), so it's not. I'm working in colors from his kid's hats. It was rather hard to figure out how to NOT use pink or purple to represent my niece's hat, so I threw in some cream and dark/Burgundy-esque red instead. I just have to remember to work in the same red in the kiddie hats.

Then there's this guy:
Mom's stripy socks. As she really liked the cotton/wool socks gifted to her earlier, I went with more cotton. I have come to the realization that I can't stand cotton. But forge ahead I will if my mom likes them. Hmm, more ribbing...3X1 I think, maybe I'm into ribbing right now. I just LOVE the way the socks are striping though. Easily amused? OH YEAH.

I wanted to include a few more "on the needles" pics, but it is dark and dreary...just know that my scarf is a little longer now. I'm on the second skein of the Noro silk garden...it's not going to be a long scarf, I see that now. There are also bits and pieces of other projects that I should buckle down and finish...like the basketweave black scarf I started FAR TOO LONG ago...or a muppet-fur scarf I was fiddling with. You really can't rip that stuff back very well...so I should finish or burn it...ick, the thought of burning muppet doesn't appeal. Then there's that sweater I started last winter, for Andy. I stopped as it just got too hot...well, hello 45 degrees...I guess I can start it up again, eh?

Yep...stuff...

*****
So I did blow that first interview enough to not get selected for the Library Pool. I don't know how much of a form letter I got, but they did say I could re-apply for the next pool. I just have to start ALL OVER again. Fun times. Good thing I kept a copy of the original application. Now I just have to suck it up and do it again.

Changing careers is not for the meek, okay people? My xMIL and I were talking about this last night; really, most people don't know what they want to be "when they grow up." You fall into something when you're young enough and BAM, 30 years later you're retired and was it really what you wanted?

My mom cleaned toilets, emptied trash cans, and vacuumed millions of miles of carpet for 27 years. I honestly don't think she did it cuz she wanted to, you know? I highly doubt her little girl dreams were to become a janitor at a ritzy high school...I don't think my mom thought of her job as anything else but a way to earn enough money to buy a house (or two) and see that her kids got everything they could get. We weren't exactly rolling in the dough on maintenance and janitor salaries, people, but I was fed, housed, and educated.

I think I've been pretty lucky. I went to school and then went on to use my education for what it was originally intended. I went to school to become a teacher. I was a teacher.

But I don't want to be a teacher anymore. At least not right now. I don't have it in me. I have no patience for departments of education and their little dramas and inner politics.

I think I've said this before, several dozen times maybe, but you really DO NOT want to be teaching if you DO NOT WANT TO BE TEACHING. You will suck. The kids will know. Hell, the kids could easily tell when I was teaching something I felt so-so about or just didn't like. "A Raisin In The Sun" comes to mind. Or the dumb ass "Peer Pressure" Life Skills lessons that had NO basis on reality. Or anything to do with Social Studies. I love history, I really do, but past students will tell you that I have ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS trying to teach it. Facts, dates, and important figures get jumbled in my head. And that jumbled mass of chaos gets passed on to the kids...it's a bad scene, man, really bad.

Moving on?

I'll probably go back to teaching when I can have an ESL classroom or three where I teach both Language Arts and Literature, and the goal is, GASP, for the kids to LEARN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE! Not take a stupid federal test where they fail and fail and fail because, HELLO? They don't know the language??? I think Special Ed teachers would back me up on this one. They are running into the same brick wall. How do you expect a "Special Needs" kid to compete with Joe-average student? Or to be judged by the same ratings category? You don't! Yet they have to take the same federal required tests and "pass"/improve buy the same number of points, learning disabilities be damned!

Cleaning toilets sounds like a less frustrating and more satisfying job at that point.

FO: Dad's Scarf

My father's birthday is coming up. I think I may have mentioned that a few-many posts ago. As he is still a "workin' man" (my mami has been retired for a about, wow, going on 4 years now I think...) I decided he should have something for the nippy LA mornings on his way to work. Go ahead, laugh. Their blood is thin, living in the global warming cesspool that is LA, I know, I know, 90 degrees in November, but still, it's chilly in the early AM, what, about 65? 70? So I present you:

Dad's Scarf

I shamelessly stole it from the Yarn Harlot. One Row (NOT HANDSPUN) Scarf in Cascade 220. I used US 10 straights. Here's a close-up:
I liked the pattern so much, I'm making one for myself:
It's being made from my very last purchase at Jimmy Bean's Wool in Truckee, CA before I moved from that neck of the woods to this one... It's true what they say, you know, yarn bought as a souvenir does hold that memory, much more than I thought it would. Noro Silk Garden.

I'm a little further along as I took these pictures, and others for future posts, on the last sunny day before the flooding started. Yes, yes, I'm fine. I live in the city. That I know of there are no creeks, streams, or rivers nearby. As I'm posting I'm obviously still alive.

And for those who have been on the edge of their seats?
No word from the library, but word from the place where I'm temping...they found their Receptionist, and it's not me. My last day? Friday. So much for the two weeks notice the one HR person promised...as she's on extended leave it's a bit hard to hold her to her word. All of my virtues were "recognized" at a meeting I had this afternoon. Thanks. Really. No, really. I'm just finally glad to finish the assignment at this point. Maybe, gasp! I'll take a week off??? What a trip and a half that'll be.

To celebrate? Sushi!

CAR!

Great time to move here, eh?
Yet, yesterday the sun actually shown for a little bit:


Now we just need a name...

But first I must see how well I can drive through the "urban flood plains!" Ah weather is such a fantastic phenomena.

YARN ABOARD 2 POST!

Guess who showed up at my doorstep late Friday night?

All the way from Portland, Oregon! Wow Deb! I'm, I'm, wow...WOW! Interjections! Thank you!
I wish I had been more patient when I opened the box...I started looking immediately and then when I remembered, OH YEAH, TAKE PICTURES...it was all out of the box and um, yeah, how did she fit it all in??? Magic! Elves! Yarn gnomes!

So in the box:
Wildfoote in Tom Cat! Which I love working with...NEW yarn: Dicentra Designs in Mazarbul as well as Crown Mountain Yarns in Opal. So cool.

YUMMY chocolate from Vivani...never had, can't wait to rip into them. A matching Lady and the Chocolate magnet...so cute!

Here Be Dragons Sock pattern!!! So fun! Yes!

And tea for both the brain and the body! Foxfire Tea and "A Warming Bath" Tea Bag.

You have no idea how spoiled I feel.

Okay, now I have to figure out the magic used to fill the box beyond capacity for Chris's next stop!

My Mother? I'll Tell Ya About My Mother...

-Leon, Blade Runner

 

The interview yesterday went about as well as that one...well, the first one anyway. 

 

Well, okay, I didn't blow her away from under the desk with my hand laser revolver or anything, nor am I a replicant, that I know of, but I might as well have been as aware of what was going on with the interviewer as ol' Leon.

 

She "broke the ice" by talking about sailing.  However, it wasn't until she was pointedly ready to move on to the real questions that I realized she was not on the same side as I on the whole sailing/motoring fence.  Oops.

 

Then there were the questions, where the goal was to only speak about my current position.  That was distressing.  I mean, really when I'm trying to answer something about the "most fulfilling thing" I've done here?  Ummmm, I'm a temporary receptionist. (Sigh.)

 

Interviewer #2 just jumped into the questions and I was happy to oblige with answers.  After realizing I had more library experience than the two listed in front, he was happy to hear about all of them.  Our connection/ice breaker happened sometime during the questions when he realized I went to high school across the street from his university.  Small town feeling even in the megalopolis I grew up in.

 

~~~~~

 

It's about as rainy and dreary as the setting for Blade Runner so I've opted to wait on pictures until it's not so wet that my camera will drown.  And it really is such a lovely feeling to turn the key in the ignition and not have the "will it start today" feeling.  Or rev the engine on the freeway and not wonder if the timing chain will decide now is the time to kill all the humans...

 

Ah the little things.

 

Happy Friday!

Have Car, Will Travel

So, super-fast no picture post cuz not only do I have to get ready
for work...I'm prepping for an interview...

But no worries about driving out to Outer-Mongolia for that interview
today, as I picked up my BRAND NEW CAR on Halloween night!

No kids, none. Our street must be full of evil old men like in
"Monster House" or something (fun movie by the way.)

Okay, gotta run, more later, promise.