Progress on Multiple Fronts and Recent Happenings

It's been a few days since I wrote, other than a quick note about posting Mya's Jacket pattern. I have news about that, but first I want to catch up on a few other things. Last Sunday, we went to meet Chris and Kristie at Chris's parents new place in Washington, NH. It has a very small lake which is apparently man made from three different streams. Apparently it's only about 5-6 feet deep in the deepest parts. We got to see Zack, who I had not seen since he was much much littler. When I last saw him, he looked a lot more like Chris, but now he looks much more like Kristie. Except for his ears. His ears are all Chris. He seems to be a very mellow kiddo for his age.










Chris made some brats from Wisconsin, boiled in beer and then grilled, and we had a salad. Except Chris dropped the lettuce head in the dirt, so we rinsed it off, but you had to beware of sand for the rest of the afternoon. I figure I got a good share of my peck of dirt in that salad.

This picture of Zach cracks me up. I'm not sure what he was so disgusted about, but I think that was about the only time all day the kiddo didn't have a smile on his face.

Shawn and Chris went for a canoe ride, and then Chris came back alone saying that one life jacket per person was being enforced so he had to dump Shawn out. Apparently he had put Shawn out on one of the rocks, and left him there to try to freak us out. Knowing the pair of them, Kristie and I were not freaked. For those of you from Maine and/or who knew me growing up, take a look a Chris's shirt. My father was a John Deere fanatic, and for some reason this shirt sent me into hysterics.












On other fronts, it was a really freaking busy week. Work was crazy because Rich was out, there was a board meeting I had to help with the catering for, and there was a barbecue for the office I had to make arrangements for. With Rich out, I had to put some extra hours in. Also, we got a call that the apartment was going to be inspected and possibly sprayed, since a surrounding apartment had called in a complaint about pests. (We've seen nothing.) Since Kiwi is technically not supposed to exist in my apartment, everything had to get cleaned and put up in the attic storage area in totes. She then had to go to work with me Thursday for a while in travel cage until her dad could take her to get boarded. After the inspection we were told we were clear, but since everything was completely picked up and clear, we decided to leave her at Bird Supply until Saturday morning so that we could clean the carpets. So Friday night we cleaned the bedrooms completely and steam cleaned the carpets, and Saturday morning I cleaned the living room and steam cleaned that carpet, while Shawn ran down to Bird Supply to pick up the Princess of Destruction. After that, we went to lunch at Hot Stone Pizza and went to see the new Harry Potter movie. It's been a really long time since we went to a movie. For some reason, I conked out for two hour nap when we got home. Shawn had to really fight with me to get me to wake up at 9:00 pm. I'm claiming it was the carpet cleaning detergent fumes...that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

In non chronological news, I posted Mya's Jacket pattern Wednesday night on Ravelry.com. As of two minutes ago, 92 people had favorite-d the pattern, and 5 people have bought it. Yay! Two more purchases, and I'll have paid for the yarn. It's gratifying to see that people who purchased and have favorite-d the pattern are all over the place, and aren't just people I know.

Thursday night I spent at Paula and Fred's knitting. Donna brought the two bottles of Gosling's Black Seal Dark Rum that she picked up for me in Bermuda, which I love, love, love. Yay!! Paula supplied us with some lovely pate, and cheeses. There was a banana apricot bread which I'm told was delicious, but I really hate bananas so I didn't try it.

Also this week, I believe that I might have started my mid life crisis. Or I'm just aggravated and annoyed as usual, I'm not really sure. I'm turning 38 in February, and while I'm aware that it's just a number, the bigger issue for me is that it's been a year and half since I retired from being a lawyer, and I really haven't done much of what I said I was going to do. I've designed two patterns, and I've written maybe 10-20 pages of fiction. For my type A self, that's not a lot of freaking progress. Now I am considering that I did need some down time after 10 years of doing work that made me unhappy, and working crazy hours, and that I've been spending time doing a lot of things that I didn't have time to do before, more cooking, bicycling, doing more social things, traveling, camping, etc., but come on! I guess I'm thinking it's time to get with the program, if I really do want to do this stuff.

And that leads me to the next question. Do I really want to do this stuff if I'm not doing it? My mother thinks that I might be afraid to really write, because what if I'm not good at it. I don't really think that's the issue, because I read an awful lot of crap, so it's not like I'm thinking the bar is set really high. And I'm not thinking that I have to write high literature, I just want to write a story and have a good time doing it, and maybe if I'm lucky, people might be able to read it, and get a laugh out of it.

Shawn thinks that I must not really want to write, because if I did, I would. But I'm not sure that's really it either. I think that unless I have structure, it's not going to happen. Writing and designing are not easy. They are fun, but they require a lot of brain power and work. When you're tired from work, and it's hot, it's easier to read a book than work on writing one, and it's easier to knit something from someone else's pattern than write your own. So unless I have a defined schedule or goal, it's a hell of a lot easier for me to come home and say, oh, I'm beat, I'll just read or knit for while. To determine where the truth is, my thought is that I have to have a plan and schedule and stick to it for a while to see what the deal is.

I made a schedule this morning and cleaned my desk. Wish me luck. I'll let you know how it goes.

Done - Finally Done!!

I finally finished Mya's Jacket pattern and posted it for sale on Ravelry.com. I posted it, and within 20 minutes it had been marked as a favorite several times. Woo hoo!! Of course it'd be nice if it sold too, but first things first.

The link is Arachne's Daughters Creations - I'm not sure if you can use the link if you're not a Ravelry member, but what the heck.

Incommudicado Post 2 (Gina's wedding)

(Continued from my last post)
(I'm using asterisks for paragraph spacing again, not sure why spacing continues to flip out)
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This is my friend Lora who is from Kentucky, and who has, annoyingly for those of us who love her, been in Kentucky for a month. That's great for her and for those in Kentucky, but those of us in NH, not so much. Just before she left, she finished (other than the buttons and sewing on one sleeve) the sweater she was test knitting for me, Mya's Jacket. We went button shopping at Jo-Ann's Fabrics in Hooksett and found the perfect button, but they only had 6 and the sweater calls for 8. I looked later at the Jo-Ann's in Concord, but they didn't have them either. I got a call from Lora after she got to Kentucky that she'd found them in a Jo-Ann's in Louisville. That knitterly tenacity thing is hilarious. Lora left about a month ago (I've been caring for her betta/siamese fighting fish Zeke), and she's due home tomorrow if all goes well. YAY!!

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About a month ago, I also finished the scarf I started during the Relay for Life. It was a quick and easy project, and good for travel. I took it with me to Maine for the July 4th festivities, and worked on it there. I like the diagonal effect, with the Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn. I may have to play with that again.

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For the 4th of July weekend, we went to Maine. I'm not sure why because it was in that spell where it was raining every single day for like a month. I was so concerned about the weather, although our tent usually handles rain pretty well, that I went out and blew $50 on heavy duty tarps at Lowe's the night before. We were supposed to leave at 7:00 a.m. that morning and I got a call from Mom that my grandmother's road was washed out in three places. Now, gram's road is a two mile dirt road in the middle of freaking nowhere. Her farm is a 300 acre piece on the shore line of a small lake/pond (about a mile wide). The road routinely washes out in one place during heavy rains, but not usually in three places. The only problem with this is that there's no other way to get there. And of course, she was scheduled for surgery that morning, in addition to the various family members showing up for the 4th. They did manage to get her out, the surgery was relatively painless and she's doing a lot better.

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However, where we normally camp down by the lake was so swamped that when we took the bikes down (I wasn't bringing the Sante Fe down there just to get it stuck in the mud) the ground was so wet and muddy you could barely pedal through it. So we ended up camping at Gram's up above on the hill. I had decided to forgo the whole cooking out part of the cook out. Every year, we get about 100 lbs of lobster, and every year, it seems like if I'm there I get sucked into cooking most of it with my mom, because people are not paying attention, or doing what needs to be done so people can eat on a timely basis, and my type A goes into overdrive and takes over and gets it done. Which drives me nuts, stresses me out, and is not fun. Plus, I have to buy all the cookout stuff, haul it to Maine, and it's a pain in the ass. So this year, I decided we would utilize the going out to eat method of camping out. Shawn and I bought some snacks, and then we went out to eat for all our meals. And it cost us just about the same as it does to buy all the crap for the cookout. And I didn't have to cook it, or be aggravated, or clean it up, and I still got to visit with family. I was informed that I had a bad attitude, but since when is that news?

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I wish I'd used the camera more, but it was raining a lot, and it's new and I didn't want to risk it. We went on a paddle boat ride at the lake (my mother bought a paddle boat last summer) with my youngest nephew Noah. That kid is hilarious. We were informed that his brother, Wren, was a sack of potatoes and knives. I said what? and Noah said, he's painful, and he doesn't do anything. You can tell they don't really get along. Later when the thunderstorm hit, and most of us moved back up to the house, Wren decided that he needed to make a potion to induce super powers in humans, so we had numerous small children asking for organic materials including a cup so they could use urine in the potion. I have no idea where they get this stuff. Then they wanted to use the stove to boil it, but my brother in law headed that off by saying they would need to use a wood fire or it wouldn't be organic, and that they'd have to wait until he'd cleaned out the fire pit at home. The last I heard, that fire pit had still not been cleaned out.

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On our way home from Maine, I got a call from my friend Gina. She and her husband wanted to renew their vows on the Windham Bike trail and wanted to know if I could do it that day. I couldn't, but we scheduled it for the next night. I'm still a Justice of the Peace from my prior life, and I've done a few weddings now. I hadn't done a renewal of vows, so I rewrote my wedding ceremony during my lunch at work the next day. When I got there, Jackie was there as Gina's maid of honor, and Ian's friend couldn't come at the last minute, so Shawn got impressed into service as Ian's best man. We had to bike 2-3 miles to get to the spot where Gina wanted to have it, which was hilarious to watch Gina try to balance a vase with her bouquet in her bike basket. Jackie had her roller blades and skated with us while we rode. I think they really liked the ceremony and I was so pleased to be included. Gina was so sweet and gave me framed pictures of the wedding, and a gift certificate, which was so nice of her, but I was just happy to do it for her.

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On the ride back while doing my nature girl thing, I saw some indian ghost pipes which I have not seen in a hundred years. Okay, probably like 20, but same thing. I wish I'd gotten a better picture, but we can't have everything.

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The next weekend, we had the nephews down to visit. I had promised them that they could come down in July and this was the only time I could it. I wish I'd been thinking and took pictures. Mostly the only reason they wanted to visit me was to play Spore. I, being in arrested development, have the game, and the last time they came to visit me they got hooked on it. So this time, there was apparently negotiations and some coin flipping and discussion of terms to determine who got to play first and what the time limits would be. Last time, I had set a kitchen timer and given them 20 minute terms.

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We did take them to Mel's Funway park and played mini golf. At the end they were getting pretty bored with it, and we were just trying to get through the 18 holes, so it really became more like mini golf hockey as Shawn was trying to help them get the ball in the hole. We rode on the go carts which was really fun, and then Noah and Shawn did the batting cages because Wren hates baseball. This was what I was told when I asked him if he wanted to do it. I also took them swimming at the pool at our complex. They are great kids, but it was a long, long weekend.


Stay tuned for Incommudicado Post 3.

Done!

Mya’s Jacket is done!! Now I just need to wash and block it, and down and upsize the pattern, and round up my test knitter volunteers.

Last week, Cortland, NY, and the Webs Trip

It was another crazed week. I really didn't get much done. Monday, I worked on Mya's sweater, I've finished a sleeve and I am halfway through the second. Tuesday I went to Paula and Fred's. They had a very nice Petit Syrah that they shared along with some fabulous strawberries, cheese and sushi. I love going to Paula and Fred's. There was much, much screaming laughter, to the point that my throat was actually sore the next day. I wonder what their neighbors think... I truly thought Alison was going to have a stroke at one point. Donna had been cleaning her yarn room (you should see her stash) and had some stuff she was willing to give away. I acquired 3 balls of Cascade Fixation, which is cool because I always wanted to try it.

Wednesday was pretty much a wash (literally). I did five loads of laundry getting ready for the trip to Cortland, NY for Shawn's brother's graduation from SUNY Cortland. I packed Thursday night. We left Friday morning. Shawn had told me it was a five hour drive. Try six and half. I realize that we stopped several times (I wasn't feeling well and the Sante Fe guzzles gas) and I got bagged for doing 81 in a 65 by a NY State Trooper, but still. We arrived in Cortland somewhere around 3:30pm and checked into the hotel, and met up with Shawn's parents and his uncle Scott. We went and got a tour of the campus and then had dinner. The graduation was at 9:30 am on Saturday morning. There were 600 kids in the morning ceremony and apparently 600 or so in the afternoon ceremony. The speaker was General Dunwoody, the first woman to become a 3 and 4 star general, which was cool. However, Senator Schumer showed up as a "surprise" in the middle of them awarding individual diplomas because he got the Jets to use the facilities to practice over the summer (I will not get on my soapbox about this country's moronic obsession and misplaced priorites concerning sports, but you all probably know how I felt about this b.s.) and delayed the ceremony further. I like Senator Schumer, but you'd think he'd have other things to do besides congratulating himself over having an overpaid pro sports team practice at a campus in his state...like I don't know...fixing the economic crisis, making everyone has access to health care, making sure everyone has access to education, you know things that matter in the grand scheme of things. Oops...apparently that soapbox jumped right under my feet without me noticing.... Anyway, my camera really wasn't up to the distances involved, so I have one picture of the crowd, and one picture that was almost black that I manipulated to death in Adobe Photoshop to get anything. Unfortuately, I didn't get any pictures with Corey in them, but Brian and Joanne took a lot, so I know she'll share when she gets a chance. After the ceremony, I drove six and half hours home. Granted a half an hour of it was being delayed by a train crossing when leaving Cortland, but I had to sit in the car for it. We got home about 7:30pm Saturday night. I drove all of it because we know how I feel about Shawn's driving. I've told him that he owes me two poems for this weekend.

This weekend was the Webs tent sale. For knitters this is like a holy pilgrimage. I had to miss the best day (Saturday they also have a fleece sale) because of the graduation, but I did get to go today. I went with Donna, Tracy and Nancy. I picked up Donna (she lives down the street from me) and we met Tracy and Nancy at the 89 Exit 2 Park and Ride. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to. I really wanted to convey how huge Webs is, but I was seduced away from blogging activities by shopping. I did manage to take a picture of the tent outside. They had some good deals outside, but nothing that really grabbed me. They had some Noro on sale, but the colors were so-so, and nothing my speed. As you will see, apparently my speed was all purple, all the time today. I know some of you are snickering to yourselves, saying what else is new, but I do actually buy other colors of yarn. Just not today apparently. I also took some pictures of the back room. There's a normalish looking yarn shop in the front area, and then there's the back room which is the warehouse, that you are allowed to shop in as well. The row in the warehouse I have pictured is just one of about 8-10. They have grocery carts you can use, which tells you the scale of purchasing.

Here's some assorted pics of the yarn I bought. I did buy whole bags of some of them, but the knitter readers can check the stats out on Ravelry.

I got some really spectacular yarn and some really good deals. But it was another 2 hours there and 2 hours back today. So I drove 17 hours over the course of the last 3 days and put a thousand miles on my car. I'm a tad fried.