CMYK(nitter)

didn't this already happen?

2012-02-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

I've been getting a lot of feelings of dejà vu lately. Just now, I looked over at the desk calendar, which is behind our unplugged night light, which is behind a half-full Nalgene of water, which is behind an empty mug of tea and I thought, "I've seen this before." Clearly, I need to tidy the desk, but that's beside the point. I've been viewing things lately and having that feeling that I'm seeing it not for the first time. Am I stuck in some sort of temporal loop? Bill Murray? Are you there?

Today was pretty much a wash. I spent most of the morning putting together a presentation on some of my design clips with a whole lotta explanation per clip for a job. I made the first round of cuts for a mid-level design job, and they want more portfolio items for the next cut. Intimidating, yet badass. It's kind of awesome that I'm even making it off someone's pile of resumes. After the job hunt I had in Boston, I've become acutely aware of how special I'm not on paper. Just the fact that they want to see more of me has given my self-confidence a boost. I'm STILL waiting for this mythical offer letter from the other job, but it's nice knowing that I'm still alive in other circles. Who knows? Maybe the competition will help in salary negotiations (I hope I hope).

Beyond that, I've been obsessively checking the bank account to make sure that some checks I mailed in were deposited. There are no US Bank branches in Virginia, so when we want to do a deposit, we have to mail it to the center in Minnesota. Ugh. Theoretically, the app I have on my phone allows me to make deposits by taking a picture of the check with my phone's camera, but after two tries, the deposits never make it to the main system. We'll have to eventually get a local bank, but a lot of our credit is deep within US Bank, and we probably don't want to fiddle with our finances too much as we start saving up for a house.

I got to have lunch with a new friend, which was awesome! She's another professor's wife, who moved here about six months before we did. Our husbands are friends, and it's nice having someone who can sympathize with the crazy stress the guys are under now. We've really lucked out with the group that Ben works with over there...all of the newbies are great people and brought along awesome spouses.

I only did about two hours of official work today, but I am spent. I think it's going to be an early night for sure.

Knitting update:
I've gotten past the halfway point on the afghan square. I like these little, easy projects. Makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something!

knitting crabs...

2012-02-06T05:22:00.000-08:00

That does sound like an awful hand STD, no? I'm working on square No. 7 of the Great American Afghan. It's the one that looks like sand and seaweed with a crab, a snail and some fish appliqued upon it. It'll be adorable! I'm slightly worried I don't have enough yarn to do all the appliques in the same color after I get the base block finished, but if I need to make Mr. Crab in a red, I totally will. I've hibernated the fair isle vest again. I've gotten to a really complicated point, and I'm not sure if I'm in the mood for complicated. I don't mind cables or colorwork, but when there's a heavy amount of shaping involved for an adult-sized garment, I get wickedly intimidated. So, that's put away for a bit while I work on the afghans. I need to buy more gray and black Lions Brand to finish the granny squares I started the other day, so a trip to Jo-Ann is in the near future. After that, I'm trying to decide what to make next. I have a long queue on Ravelry, and a good chunk of the ones in the queue have yarn to go with them from my stash. I think I'll do some stash busting and crank out a few small projects.

three days late...

2012-02-03T13:50:00.000-08:00

But it's done! I didn't meet my January goal of finishing the scarf and doing another row of the granny square afghan. Sigh. But at least I finally got this awesome, team-spirit-filled scarf done for my awesome sister...a loyal Broncos fan through thick and thin. Sarah, be expecting a package next week!

oyster crackers...

2012-02-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

That's my breakfast. Oyster crackers, graham crackers and ginger ale. Ben and I both have a minor case of food poisoning (his is slightly worse than mine). We made falafel and hummus last night for dinner, and we're trying to figure out what is causing the assplosions. I'm pretty sure it's the dolmas that we opened four weeks ago that have been in the fridge since. Ben thinks it was the falafels themselves because he didn't wash the beans properly before soaking them (and our oil was too hot, so they looked great on the outside but were gooshy in the middle). We still have a bunch of leftover falafel in the freezer, so when we bust those out for a quick dinner, I'll bake them up for reheating to get the middles cooked better. But I thank the Lord that we have two bathrooms now. Ben and I have never been sick at the same time (except for that night in California where we each had 1-1/2 bottles of cheap wine), and I'm glad we can have our own space. He's passed out on the couch right now. I hope he feels better soon. I think I'm over the worst of it. Now I just have to deal with an iffy tummy all day — something I'm oh-so used to.

So, I've already failed on my January knitting goals. The granny squares didn't get touched and the scarf is almost done. I could have finished it yesterday, but cooking our ill-fated feast was labor intensive took a long time. Wasn't in the mood.

I should get to work. Theoretically, there's a big quarterly catalog due tomorrow. Pretty sure that ain't happening. I enjoy this working from home thing, even if I'm still doing the same ol' crap from my old job. At least I don't have to physically see or hear anyone freaking out about some stupid thing. That helps.

trying to be healthy...

2012-01-30T07:18:00.000-08:00

I'm still having issues with my acid reflux. I was hoping that removing the stress of my old job would help it to heal, but about one week a month, almost everything I eat ends up killing my stomach. I don't know if it's my own doing...I start feeling better, so I get a little lax about watching what I eat and drink until I start hurting again, and then I am a good girl who avoids coffee and wine because IT BURNS US!

I've decided to give up caffeine, alcohol and Facebook for Lent. I took a Lent-oriented Facebook hiatus last year, and it was kind of great. I don't know if I'll ever totally get rid of it, but not logging on for a couple of months was nice. When I came back on, I found myself wasting less time on it overall, and I started figuring out what stuff I cared about and what I didn't. I even went through a friend-purge, getting rid of 100 people who I didn't keep in touch with.

In the past, I've given up caffeine because of a need to detox. I was drinking A LOT of coffee post-college, and it got to the point where I would drink coffee all day and it wouldn't keep me awake. My coworkers always hated the first two weeks of my detox (I became a little bitchy, and I had frequent headaches), but I drank a lot more herbal tea and a ton more water. Overall, I ended up feeling better at the end.

I've never given up alcohol, though, for Lent. Maybe it's because I'm pushing 30, but I feel alright with the idea of not having a celebratory glass of wine for my birthday (always in the middle of Lent). Beer and wine certainly aggravate the reflux (especially my true love, Pinot Noir), so if I want to feel better, it would be best if I abstain.

I think Lent is more than 40 days this year...it seems like it keeps getting longer! I know Methodists don't require the sacrifice, but I never usually put myself through a battle of wills. I love love love coffee and I really enjoy beer. I waste time on Facebook. It'll be a good challenge for me, and I think I can do it. I'll probably save money, too.

Lent doesn't start until February 22, but I've already started cutting back on the coffee. Ben still makes it in the morning to take with him to work, but bless him, he doesn't make a little extra for me. I would definitely be too tempted to have a cup in the morning.

To help with the reflux, though, I've been really good with the diet. I still eat pizza, which is my one bad thing I should really not eat (stupid tomato sauce), but I'm being careful about what and how much I'm eating as to not hurt the stomach.

This morning, I made a blueberry smoothie with greek yogurt, soy milk, oatmeal, honey and frozen blueberries. I went a little too heavy on the honey, unfortunately, but it still settled well in my tummy. With that, I had a whole-wheat bagel with crunchy peanut butter and sliced bananas on top. Now, I'm having a cup of chamomile tea. As long as I'm careful with what I eat the rest of the day and drink lots of water, I shouldn't have heart burn (or it should be minimal and fleeting).

I'd like to get to the point where I don't have to take my prescription Prilosec anymore. I once tried to stop it on my own and the next day was incredibly painful. I don't know if I just have permanent damage that might eventually require surgery, but I can do all I can to make sure I'm giving my stomach a chance to heal on its own.

Freecycle and demographics...

2012-01-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

I used Freecycle a lot in Somerville. I was able to give away a lot of things before we moved, and over the two years we lived there, I was able to get some of the things we needed for the house for free. I decided to sign back up again once we moved. It's an amazing contrast between the group up north and the one down south.

Up north, people would ask for things to help with fundraisers, projects, home improvement, and the like. Sometimes they'd ask for replacement items. The messages were straightforward, stating what the person wanted or was giving away, and that was it.

Down here, though, Freecycle seems to be used more for people who are desperately poor. I've gotten messages through the list asking for things like food for a single mom and her children. Clothes for a disabled person. Working cell phones because the person's second-hand one finally gave out. And each of them are written in a begging or pleading manner. Some of them end with a "God bless" like the signs homeless people hold. I almost find Freecycling down here pretty depressing, as opposed to up north where it was more amusing as to what people were trading.

I put up a listing for a bunch of random things that I think would be good prizes for a school or church carnival. I heard back from one person with Big Brothers Big Sisters and another from a local elementary school. The items were collected, but those were the only two responses. In Somerville, I would have gotten a boat-load of responses from people who get frothy about repurposing things.

I almost feel bad giving away more frivolous things on Freecycle down here. Up north, it was the culture of reuse/recycle/make no impact. It goes along with why Freecycle was started in the first place. Down here, it's charity. I'm having a hard time reconciling the two.

I dropped off a bunch of clothes at the Goodwill, and I think I may just use the Goodwill to make donations instead of using Freecycle as much for the meantime. Maybe it'll become a better resource for me when we buy a house and need to find inexpensive ways to fix up things or decorate. I know it sounds bad, but I'd almost be more willing to give away something I'm not using if the requester doesn't give the whole sad story along with it. If the posts down here were more straightforward without a back story, I think I'd be more likely to give. I don't know what that says about me, other than maybe I get resentful when people try to guilt me into doing things (I blame Sara McLaughlin and her ASPCA ads).

evolution of song...

2012-01-24T14:04:00.000-08:00

One major perk of working from home is that I can play music. I listened to music at the newspaper on my iPod or through the computer with headphones. At my last job, music was verboten. Now that I work at Casa de Gill, I can do what I want! I've noticed a pattern about myself:

Morning: NPR or Indie Rock
Late morning/early afternoon: High-energy alt rock or dance music (mostly Lady Gaga)
Afternoon/late afternoon: Country or Bluegrass

It's a pretty solid pattern. My best guess is the quirky Indie Rock wakes me up and the more rocking music keeps me awake as the day goes on. The easy rhythms of country or bluegrass chills me out as the sun is going down. I like it.

I've been working more. The invoice I'm going to submit soon will have more hours on it than the last two. I'm glad I'm able to make money while trying to get full-time work, but I'm starting to get a little stir-crazy. On my break today, I went to Wendy's and sat down inside instead of going through the drive-thru...just to be out of the house longer. I'd love to take every afternoon and go to the coffee shop with a book or the local yarn store with my knitting, but there's enough contract work for me to fill the day a decent amount. I'm not totally killing myself, though. I'm logging on to work usually around 9:30 and I'm off between 4 and 5. I take a lunch break and make sure I get out of the house at least once a day (forces me to wear real pants and to shower). I'm talking to a former coworker about redesigning some of her company's catalogs, so hopefully I can get that going and add another regular client to my list. One of the perks is that I may get paid in vacations (totally okay with that — no estimated taxes required on comped trips to the Caribbean).

Knitting update: The scarf has stalled...er, actually my motivation has stalled. I plowed through it this weekend, leaving me four stripes to go before I sew up the ends and declare it DONE. That's 80 rounds. Almost there. I have to do my granny squares, too, if I'm going to stay on schedule. Scarf tonight and tomorrow night, then granny squares this weekend. One week until January is done and I must move onto my February goals! Eeeeek!

officially a resident...

2012-01-21T12:27:00.000-08:00

I got our VA plates today and cancelled our MA plates online. Ben still needs to get his drivers license, but other than that, we're residents! I think we did pretty darn good...we've been here a little more than a month. I've been spending the afternoon hanging stuff on the walls. Our cuckoo clock is up, as is our mail sorter/keyboard. We have pictures on the walls, and I'm formulating a plan involving two oversized posters. There's an art shop with poster frames downtown, so I'm hoping to find something with matting. The smaller of the two posters is Dali's Paysage aux Papillons, and the larger one is Kandinsky's Concentric Circles. Once these are framed, they'll look awesome in the bedroom, which is the last room to have anything on the walls. We weren't really planning on hanging much, but there were already a ton of random nail holes in the walls, and we're not planning on getting much if any of our deposit back when we move out, so what the hell? I have a plan at some point to make large prints of landscape photos we've taken and do a large art display on a wall. The other idea was to get prints from art.com on stretched canvas of all the places we've lived. There's a nice selection on there, so I'm sure we could find some complimentary photos or paintings.

I've been getting really inspired by Apartment Therapy when it comes to decorating. I'm also trying to pare down the amount of non-wall photo frames we have. I have a lot of nice pictures of family and friends, and we have a lot of wedding photos in frames, but they're all different and don't go together. I think I'll try to find some collage photo frames and Freecycle the standing frames. There's also a couple of enormous boxes of old photos that need to be sorted. I might just get a bunch of large matching albums and get rid of the mishmash of smaller ones that I collected over the years. Lots of projects for sure!

I think it's going to be a quiet weekend around here. The weather is pretty crappy...we're getting the rainy edge of the big storm that's dumping snow in DC up to New England. Gotta say, I miss snow for sure, but after last winter's dump in Boston, I'm kind of glad I don't have to contend with it right now.

Ben is playing Civ5, so I think I'm going to find some trashy TV to watch and do some knitting. I'm getting really close to the end of the scarf! Hopefully I can send it off to its recipient soon :).

distractions...

2012-01-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

I'm having a hard time staying focused on one thing this morning. It might be because I haven't exactly had a daily routine. The closest I get is that every morning during the week, I walk the dog. But at what time I walk her varies. This morning was an earlier walk than usual, mainly because I wanted to run some errands before settling in for work at home. I brought some things over to Ben's office to help him decorate (he has a new plant), and I dropped some things off at the Goodwill. The students are back, and it took longer getting around than I'm used to, but I'm sure it'll be worse when the weather is nicer (it was 16º when I woke up this morning). I took my time heading back home, made some tea in my big teapot, and settled down at the computer. I keep thinking about all the other stuff I want to do today...mainly read and knit (and possibly nap).

Sigh...if there's not much to do with work, then I should probably be a good girl and do some web design tutorials. Yup yup.

we're adults now...

2012-01-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

Click to embiggen and read

My poor husband has been run ragged the past couple of weeks working on grant proposals. He's getting very little sleep, and when he does sleep, it's fitful. He pulled an all-nighter last night to get everything submitted by the deadline this morning and is now passed out on the couch (it's 8:30 a.m.). When I dove into my adult working life after graduation, I had a little bit of a softer transition. I was a lower level cog, paid minimally, and received overtime. My stress came in gradually as I gained more responsibility. Ben, though, got to go from Post-Doc doing his own thing to Professor with a ton of responsibilities. WHAM. I know he'll get used to the new role and will be able to find some balance, but it's rough seeing him so fried. I'm the one in the relationship that's supposed to be delirious with crazy, and he's the one who's supposed to be even-keel. We've definitely had a switch. I'm certainly not even-keel, but I'm getting there, thanks to the unemployment. I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I pretty much spent half the day plastered to the couch with the TV and some new books (Serenity Vols 1-3). I got the truck inspected yesterday, so we're one step closer to getting it registered. That's the other thing that sucks about being an adult. Blessedly, it's a lot cheaper to get oneself established as a resident in Virginia, but I'm so tired of moving and having to go through this. I also need to change our address with the IRS and Verizon, but I have to do the estimated tax payment first and Verizon locked us out of the account online because we couldn't remember the stupid password. Hate hate hate. I got my new drivers license in the mail yesterday, which means I can get my library card (I'm bona fide!). I just know that (hopefully) in a couple of years, I'll have to do this again when we buy a house and need to get our address changed on everything.

I have first-world problems.

******

Q1 Knitting update: I've been plowing through the rugby scarf. I had a momentary panic when I finished off the first two skeins because I couldn't find the second two. I was afraid they got lost in the move (it would be a random thing to lose, but ya know, I'm not rational), but they were just hiding in the yarn dresser. I haven't picked up the granny squares to crank those out because I've actually been inspired to work on the scarf. I'm actually planning on getting the scarf done by the end of the long weekend!

churched...

2012-01-08T07:27:00.000-08:00

I didn't go to church when I was living in Massachusetts. I wasn't overly inspired to go, and when I did visit a church nearby, I wasn't inspired to go back.

This morning, I decided to visit the Methodist church at my new home. I ended up going to the 8:45 service because I was awake early enough, and it reminded me so much of the church from my hometown. The early service was full of little old gray-haired ladies and a few families. I'll probably visit the 11:00 service next time to see what the crowd is like. The most familiar, comforting thing about the service was the hymns. The first one was "Lord of the Dance," a favorite of mine, both to sing and to play on the piano or clarinet. I took it as a good sign :).

I don't know if I'll make it every week, but I'm happy that I found a place that can help me become more a part of the community.

knitting projects: 2012 Q1 goals...

2012-01-04T07:01:00.000-08:00

I'm putting it out there for you interweb readers to hold me a little more accountable with the knitting. I pulled a couple of epic projects out of hibernation on my Ravelry page (please see the sidebar -->).

Here are my goals:

By the end of January: Finish the rugby striped scarf for Sarah & crochet one more row of granny squares for the afghan

By the end of February: Do another Great American Afghan square & get the sweater vest up to the steeking stage**

By the end of March: Finish the sweater vest & make a damned shawl finally

**I'm scared about steeking. I already let one of the co-owners of the LYS that I'll be coming in for some hair stroking when I get ready to cut.**

funemployment...

2012-01-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

What it looks like when I work from home

No word yet on either of my interviews from before Christmas. Staff at Virginia Tech just got back to work yesterday after the holiday, so I'm not totally expecting to hear anything until the end of the week at the soonest. But that doesn't stop me from being ancy-pantsy.

In the meantime, I've been a good housewife. I haven't been as hardcore as I was the first couple of months in Boston. Part of it is that we had family here for Christmas and the other part is that I've been working most days for a few hours doing contract design work. It's made it so that I can't plow through the chores quickly, and I'm not plopped on my butt in front of the TV with knitting by 11 a.m. (I miss watching Ellen and the Food Network). Oh yeah, and I have a dog this time who requires exercise. It's good for me, though.

Yesterday, I had my first adventure taking the Blacksburg Transit buses. It's really great that there's a bus system in town. I don't have a pass or a university ID, so I have to pay when I ride it (50 cents). When the windchill was hanging around 0º, nothing felt more awesome than having the bus give me a ride to the public library. I needed to use a scanner, so it seemed like a good excuse to check it out. It seems like a good library, and it has a TON of teen/kid books. I'm going to get my library card once I get my VA drivers license to prove that I'm a resident.

The scanner wasn't available for 45 minutes, so I walked to the Town Hall to get April licensed. She only costs $3 here, versus $15 in Somerville. I guess she's legal now, which means when she viciously bullies another dog at the dog park, I can now be tracked down and held accountable. Great. We took her to the park on New Year's Day, and she was doing great with the bigger dogs (a couple of huskies, a lab, and a wire-hair pointer). A little pomeranian came in, and she pounced. She's going to get us sued one of these days. Sigh.

April is still having some adjustment issues. She's become incredibly fearful. She'll lay on her bed in the living room and give a low warning growl in the general direction of the front door. When she stops growling, she'll immediately look at Ben or me with her ears low, like she wants us to check it out. We've decided to take the "ignoring and acting nonchalant" route. The scolding or comforting only reinforced her fear, so we're hoping eventually she'll realize that we're not concerned, so she shouldn't be. It doesn't help that we live in an apartment complex with lots of new noises and smells. I'm again thinking of getting her into agility training to help her self-confidence.

On my downtown adventure yesterday, I popped into a kitchen supply store. That place was amazing! Not only do they have really NICE, expensive cookware, they also have artisan and local wine, cheese, spreads, chutneys, dressings, antipastas, etc. They also offer cooking skills classes. That may have to happen. My last stop was to the comic book store WAAAAY on the end of the main street (it was a haul, especially in the temperatures — I was wearing my giant parka, but the air in my lungs stung). I'd rather buy graphic novels from the local guy instead of buying online, but you're pretty much beholden to their inventory. Thankfully, they do special orders for stuff they don't have in stock, but it takes at least 2 weeks. I guess I can wait to read volume 3 of Buffy and volume 2 of Northlanders.

The afternoon ended with a pint or two at a restaurant off campus. This place is in the running for our favorite spot in town, but that's going there when the students are out of town. We'll see how it is once classes are back in session. Theoretically, it's more of a grad student bar than an undergrad bar. Fingers crossed!

It was nice exploring my new town yesterday. I need to do a few more administrative things (drivers license, passport renewal, car registration), but that's all away from the historic area. I wouldn't mind spending more time in town instead of the house, once it gets a tad warmer.

The unpacking is going well. There's only one more packed box to open up (I'm hoping my clarinet is in there because I haven't found it yet), then I'm going to sort through our storage boxes. We have a bunch of clothes in various tubs that can be sorted/given away. I also need to buy new box lids for the ones that cracked in the move (PSA: Buy Rubbermaid instead of Sterilite. The Sterilite ones broke in the move; the Rubbermaid ones aren't even scratched). After that comes the task of going through the boxes my parents brought out from Missouri — the last of my "stuff" from their house. I think a lot of it is going to go to Goodwill or a church garage sale, but I'm looking forward to taking the trip down memory lane. I already saw that there are a ton of pictures in there. At some point, we're going to get a scanner, and I'll have to sort through the important ones to put them in albums.

So yeah, lots to do. I feel like I'm pacing myself pretty well. I might even take a nap today :).

starting anew...

2011-12-31T07:30:00.000-08:00

A week and a day after we arrived in our new home, my parents came out to visit us for Christmas. It was a really wonderful visit! Unfortunately, my mom was sick for most of it with a cold, but we kept it low-key and my parents were able to get some rest. It was a warm Christmas in SW VA, but we did have a little spitting of snow this week. It got to almost 60º yesterday, and I think it's going to be about that warm for tonight's New Year's Eve festivities. I miss snow for sure, but I know it'll be coming in the next couple of months. Helloooo, Global Warming!

Time has been flying since we got here, but it also feels like we've been here forever. I think part of it is that Blacksburg is so small that it feels like we've seen most of the things to see already. The other part is that we have a lot of the house unpacked already. It's very liveable, comfortable and functional, like we've been here for a year.

Now that we're in the eve of 2012, I'll do my obligatory reflection on the past year. It was kind of a rough year for me, and I'm having a hard time remembering things, but I think overall, it was a good year. I'll start off with the top 5 tough/rough things of the year, and end on a positive note with the top 5 awesome/great things of the year:

Top 5 things that made Susan sad face :(
5. More long hours at work for little to no compensation
4. Increased panic attacks
3. 72" of snow that didn't melt until April
2. Continued struggle getting the dog to respect me
1. Random health issues with no real explanation other than "stress"

Top 5 things that made Susan smiley face :)
5. Making lifelong friends from unexpected places
4. Visiting NYC for my sister's birthday
3. Finding new ways to manage my stress, which led to a renewed love of yoga
2. Quitting my job
1. Getting great news that Ben got a faculty position

I really want to expand and reflect on all the stuff that happened with my job over the past couple of years, but I'm doing a few hours of freelance work with them, and I don't want to burn that bridge yet. Let's just say that facing a really tough situation forced me to address issues that I didn't know I had. It made me evaluate what I want, who I am, and how I can be. I grew a spine and stopped compromising with my mental health. I'm getting better, but I still have a long way to go.

Resolutions for 2012:

Get my GERD under control and healed
Go camping more — Ben and I didn't use a tent ONCE in 2011! Eeek!
Continue working on my mental health, which includes stepping up my physical health
Travel more, especially to places I haven't been before (I'm renewing my passport for a wedding in Denmark in the spring!)

And, not so much a resolution as a hope, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get a job offer next week. This job in particular seems incredibly interesting and I can learn a lot from it. Plus, a job equals paying off the credit card and saving up for a house. My house lust has gotten out of control since moving here (I'm tired of renting). It helps that there's a lot of really interesting architecture in Blacksburg, and there are a lot of properties with space around them. Ben and I want more property than house, and I think we'll be able to find something that we'll be super happy with.

I'm excited for 2012. There's going to be a lot of new things happening, and I'm looking forward to see how the year shapes up.

Happy New Year!

jobs jobs jobs...

2011-12-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

The job hunt is going better now than it was 3 years ago when I started applying in the Boston area. I think in total, I applied for more than 60 jobs and got just two interviews (the bakery and the travel agency). I've applied to maybe two jobs down here and have had two interviews. That's a good ratio for sure. Both jobs use my design skills, plus the other random stuff I know how to do. One is part time, the other full time. I'm a little torn about what to do if I get offered both. Part time would allow me to do more freelance and contract work, but full time has benefits and a bigger paycheck — saving up for a house has become a big priority of mine lately.

Speaking of contract work, I've been doing some for my old company. I get paid more and get to work with a kitty on my lap. Awesome. The downside is that I'll have to pay my own taxes. Oh well...

On with work, then more unpacking!

what just happened?

2011-12-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

Hooray! I have the interwebs again, so I can blog!

I'm sitting in our office, which is slightly set up. It's at least the least-junked room in the house at the moment. The bedroom is a close second, with the junk being unfolded/unhung clothes piled on top of the dressers (I have to buy more hangers). I'm contemplating rearranging the office, though, to use the space better. The room is a bit small, and it's more long and narrow than square. I want to be able to use it as a guest room for my parents when they come visit for Christmas.

Ben has been plowing through the kitchen/dining room and the living room. We still have a ton of book boxes to open, but he got our Christmas tree assembled. It's just awaiting the ornaments :).

So far, it's been going really well at our new home. Blacksburg is a much smaller community than where we've lived the past 6 years. It's also not walkable like Boston, so we're getting used to driving the car again. Our townhouse is okay...it's not in awful shape, but we're finding little things here and there that are broken or partially fixed. Being in another rental is just making me want to buy a house even more. I'm so ready for my own space!

I have two interviews this week for jobs, so hopefully one will pan out. The faster I get a job, the faster we can buy a house of our own. There's certainly a lot of options for buying out here, and there is a big range of prices. I'm sure we'll be able to find something that we'll love and can afford.

I'll take pictures of the place once it's all put together. But in the meantime, I'll leave you with this. It's a picture of the back of our truck as it looked leaving Boston and arriving in Blacksburg. The black panel that has the lock fell off as we were packing up the truck to leave town, and Ben got creative with packing tape.

Packing day...

2011-12-12T05:48:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting in the living room, trying to stay out of the way while two very efficient guys put our bedroom and kitchen stuff into boxes for us. They're not as anal as I am when it comes to wrapping glassware, but they're certainly more generous with the paper. I think the stuff will be fine. If not, its not a huge deal. We have plenty of glasses.
I feel slightly useless, though. I feel like I should jump in and help or something. They should be finished long before noon, though, so I'll take a celebratory nap.

4 days...

2011-12-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday in MA. We've been getting stuff as ready as possible for the movers. It's freaking us out that stuff isn't packed yet. I know that there will be a team here on Monday to throw things into boxes for us, but still. It's unnerving to see all of our stuff still out.

We're going to treat ourselves to dinner in the North End tonight. There's a restaurant there that Ben took me to for my birthday a couple of years ago. Sooo delicious. Then we're going to gorge on cannoli. There are definitely things I'm going to miss a lot about living out here...the Italian district being one.

Getting sad :(.

harpoon...

2011-12-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Patrick came with me to the Harpoon Brewery for a tasting yesterday afternoon. We were a little early, so we killed time with fried meat at a nearby restaurant that overlooked the harbor. Man, I'm going to miss living so close to the water. Blacksburg is near a big river, but I've thoroughly enjoyed being able to walk to the Boston Harbor on lunch breaks.

Anyway, we tasted a bunch of beer (not as much as I would have liked...I got so fuuuuullll), filled up our growlers, bought t-shirts, and headed back to Cambridge for dinner at a pub next door to his apartment. The awesome 3rd-floor housemate of ours is a chef/menu planner at the pub, and he invited Ben and I to in so he could feed us. The food was delicious, and we were super happy to hang out with Pep outside of the house.

Needless to say, this morning was a little rough after half a day of beer drinking. I didn't even get drunk yesterday (see above about the fullness), but I had enough spread out over the hours that my body was mad. I still managed to be productive today. It's quite nasty out...lots of rain, which is supposedly changing to snow later this evening. Good times. I hope the really bad weather will stay away until after the move.

My to-do list is getting shorter, thankfully! My big project today was to get some loose items in the basement put into a storage container. I also repacked our holiday items from the big, beat up Dell box they'd been living in. I had wanted to do some shredding/filing in the office, but I got a later start than I wanted. It can wait until tomorrow :).

I also made my (probably) final trip to Trader Joe's. The closest one to Blacksburg is in Charlotte, NC, so if we're lucky, we'll be able to go once a month with our cooler to stock up. To tie us over, I got three cans of whole-bean coffee and various baking mixes. I got a little misty in the store...there are so many amazing, delicious things at TJ's, and I'm going to miss the unique fare.

you'd think i'd be blogging more now...

2011-12-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of unemployment...

Last-day cake

It's starting to hit me that I have time during the day that normal, working people do not. I've been super productive getting things ready for the move. I have a long to-do list that I've been able to spread out over the next week with relative ease. And I've napped every day since Saturday.

Today, I haven't been feeling all that great — somewhat harkening back to some of my health issues that were plaguing me a couple of months ago. My stomach was giving me fits yesterday (heartburn and indigestion), and I think it threw the whole system off. I can't blame stress, coffee or booze on this one. I've been a good girl, drinking water (and the aforementioned napping). I did have some black tea yesterday that may have been the culprit. I just need to remind myself that recovery doesn't happen immediately, but it's a process. I think I should take another nap.

It's been nice being at home. I've been able to spend more time with the dog (who continues to act like an ass-hat 50% of the time), and the house is tidier than usual. I've gotten to see the other members of the household, including little 5-month-old Nadav, a ton more. I've also enjoyed seeing the sun more often as well, seeing as how it sets by 3:30 these days.

I had a really nice send-off from work. The night before my last day, I invited my coworkers to come out to Beerworks for a farewell brew. It seemed like an awesome excuse for people who don't normally go out after work to enjoy themselves a little before running for the train. Lots of beer. It was tasty. The next day (my last), they got me a delicious chocolate cake with strawberries and gave me a $100 gift card. The notes on the card were really sweet, and I'm for sure going to miss my department. It was really taking a turn for the better toward the end, and I hope it continues on an upward momentum!

It's been really tough saying goodbye to people. We've been out here just long enough that we're feeling like we're becoming a part of the community. We're making really great friends. One more year out here, and we'd probably have to be blasted out with dynamite. At least we know that Ben will continue to do work up here, meaning that we'll have an excuse to visit for many years to come.

I'm spending the afternoon hanging out with my dear friend Patrick. I wanted to visit the Harpoon Brewery one last time before leaving town, and he graciously (eagerly) said he'd come with me. We're having dinner tonight at People's Republick in Cambridge, where we know the menu planner (he just happens to live on the 3rd floor of our house). Should be a great night, and I'm going to take a ton of pictures!

my evening...

2011-11-26T07:37:00.000-08:00

It took several hours to do the top 2 inches last night. I watched a few movies and documentaries while plowing through the sweater vest.

This is a SLOG. Thankfully, I've gotten inspired to work on it lately. I've decided that my favorite type of knitting is cables. Colorwork is sloooooooow and plain stockinette is boring. Cables give me the best of both worlds...it's simple enough that I can move quickly, but it's interesting enough that I can move faster with the needles. I'm enjoying the pattern and colors, though, of this vest. I just hope to God it's not too small or anything when I finally get done with it. Wouldn't that be a bitch?

I'm listening to Wait...Wait on NPR this morning with some coffee before snuggling back onto the couch with the vest. I have some cleaning to do today, but it can wait until after lunch. Plus, Ben's still asleep, and I think he'd probably be a bit irritated if I come into the bedroom with the vacuum.

nostalgia...

2011-11-25T14:39:00.000-08:00

We saw The Muppets this afternoon. Holy crap, it was awesome. I grew up with the Muppets, mostly in movie form, but I watched a few episodes of The Muppet Show with my parents when it was in reruns.

A few times, I started crying a bit during the movie. Getting to see the characters was like having a visit from old friends. It was really nice to leave a theater with a giant smile on my face!

We're having another low-key day around here. We slept in and met my friend Patrick for brunch at a coffee shop near his apartment before going to the movies (we didn't have to try too hard to convince Patrick to see the movie with us). Now, we're home and contemplating an early Thai dinner. This has been an amazing weekend so far, and it's only halfway over!

I think tomorrow will be spent cleaning/organizing. Having four days definitely takes the pressure off of the usual weekend cleaning that needs to get done. There's a pile of laundry, a pile of papers/mail to sort and shred, and a pile of dust bunnies created by pet fur that need to be taken care of. But I'm feeling rested. So rested, in fact, that my back has been hurting. I think I've been spending too much time asleep?

Knitting update: I've reached an intimidating part of the fair isle sweater. I have to maintain the pattern, follow increase rounds, and prepare neck steeks and armscythes, all at the same time. I had to write out instructions for myself on each round because I'm starting to lose track just following the pattern chart. I could just keep working on the rugby scarf, but after getting the newest Interweave Knits in the mail, I've been feeling up for a challenge. Hopefully I can crank out a few more rounds tonight!

Thanks...

2011-11-24T19:44:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We just finished our meal and are getting ready to have dessert with the other occupants of our house. I'm thankful for a 4-day weekend, followed by my last 5 days of work. Home stretch. Some days, I didn't think I'd make it here.

We took a hike to Middlesex Fells today with April. It was nice getting out into the woods, especially when I've been at a desk pretty much non-stop for the past 2 years.

I miss my friends and family today, but I'm thankful that Ben and I are together. With the furbabies. Even Cali :).

2 weeks...

2011-11-21T17:31:00.000-08:00

Today was my second-to-last Monday at my job. I will do a rundown of the past two years, but I'm certainly going to make sure it's after I'm all done :). It's a short week, too, which is awesome. I have both Thanksgiving and the day after off. Ben and I don't have plans again this year...we were hoping to go see my sister and brother-in-law, but somehow OKC is the most expensive place to fly from Boston. So, I bought frozen turkey breast with stuffing, a can of jellied cranberries and two potatoes. We're also going to be celebrating the holiday with the Muppets — the new movie opens on Thanksgiving! Very VERY excited about it!

Dave Grohl playing the encore. Nov 16, 2011. TD Garden.

Ben and I went to a Foo Fighters concert on the spur of the moment last week. I had wanted to go to their big show at the Garden, but it sold out in 5 minutes on the day tickets went up (stupid StubHub). More tickets were released the day before the show, and a coworker of mine hollered loudly that we needed to go. So, I got tickets. They weren't great — behind the stage — but there were big screens above the back of the open stage. We got to see Dave Grohl running all over like the badass he is, and they put on an amazing show. Boston was their last stop on their year-long "Wasting Light" tour, and they went on 45 minutes longer than they were supposed to because of a 6-song encore. I totally started crying during the last song, "Everlong." I was menstrual, but I was also overtaken with so many things...being there with Ben (I consider it one of our songs), being at a show in Boston, getting ready to move away, reflecting on the great couple of years we've had out here, etc. It was overwhelming in a good way. I'm so glad we got to go! The Foo Fighters have been in the top-3 of my favorite bands since I was in Jr High, and I never got to see them live before. I found myself screaming like a crazed fan: "OMG IT'S DAVE!!!" Yeah, I was that girl.

Time is getting short. In reflection, I've done a lot that I wanted to while living out here. I've been able to see all three major sports teams (Bruins and Celtics for free, even). I've done the whole Freedom Trail. I've seen the USS Constitution do it's July 4th turnaround and cannon firing in the harbor. I've made grape jam using the Concord grapes in the back yard. I've started working "wicked" into my vocabulary (but I refuse to say "wicked pissah"). I've perfected my Dunkin Donuts coffee order (medium hot with skim and one sugar). I can give tourists directions around the North End and Harvard Square. I've become a regular at a pub (or two). I've learned to appreciate the "Guinness jacket" in the dead of winter, and I know how real, authentic fish and chips are supposed to taste. I freaking love this city.

I'm trying to not be sad. I'm sure I'll be a basket case as we drive out of town. Hopefully the tears will dry somewhere in Connecticut. The move is going to be great, but I wish I had one more year out here. I'm glad we'll be able to visit, and we will definitely make that happen.

"Oh I love that dirty water. Oh, Boston you're my home!"

Hokie Hokie Hokie Hy...

2011-11-12T06:11:00.000-08:00

Ben and I on the VT Drill Field, with Burrus Hall in the background.

Homecoming Cadet Drill

Virginia Tech Shooting Memorial on the Drill Field

Dr. Gill

Ben examines the Hokiestone, of which all buildings on campus are built.

Local microbrew, The River Company

I finally uploaded the photos I took from the trip down to Blacksburg. One of the most awesome things was seeing Ben's name all over the Geosciences department. I had to make my own name plate at my current job, and he's all set up at his new one! We walked through the Drill Field a lot while exploring campus, since it's right in the middle. It's like a combination of Mizzou's Quad and Stankowski Field. Sooo many pickup football games going on. It's a really nice focal point of campus!

I got a lot of sleep last night. It was awesome. I feel like I'm starting to get exhausted again after two long long weeks of work. I wasn't sleeping well, and it started catching up with me. My work-day count is down to 13 days, though! I get a 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving, which will probably be spent mostly getting closets/storage cleaned out in anticipation of the move.

Cali is doing okay. She seems to be back to her old self. She's using a pan litter box again, which is awesome, but it makes her poop way more accessible to the dog. April likes to sneak into the office when we're not looking to go digging for treasure. So gross. The reason we got the top-entry box for the cats is that April can't get her head in there. Too bad Cali is too freaked out to be confined while doing her business. I've decided to talk with a coworker on Monday about the possibility of her adopting Cali. This coworker would take really good care of her, and is a huge cat lover. I don't know if she's in the market for a new cat...I don't think she's gotten once since hers had to be put down almost a year ago. But it never hurts asking. I'd love the idea that Cali could go to a person that I know so I could keep in touch to see how she's doing. If my coworker doesn't want to take Cali, though, then we'll probably start doing what we can to make the move as stress-free as possible for Cali. I'm not going to surrender her to a shelter...she's either going directly to a good home or she's staying with us. A shelter really would break her.

I'm going to finish my coffee, then start tackling the office closet. I'm hoping I can thin the crap out long before the movers get here to start packing!

Cali saga: making progress...

2011-11-06T06:22:00.001-08:00

After spending a night in the bathroom (if she were to flip out and start pooping everywhere again, that room has the easiest clean up), getting 4 doses of Rescue Remedy, and being tiptoed around by us, Cali seems to be calming down. I anticipate maybe 2-3 more panic attacks before she's back to her normal fraidy-cat self, but at least she's hanging out with the family again. She had a panic attack where she pooped under the bed yesterday evening, got some of it smeared on her back, tried to run away from it, and tried to squat on our chair in the living room before I wrangled her into the bathroom. The sad thing is, I kinda know how she feels with the anxiety. One minute, you're relaxed and fine...not worried about anything. Then the next, your heart starts to race, you get short of breath, and you have this intense feeling to run away. The difference is that I don't poop/pee inappropriately. I just do yoga breathing instead. Too bad you can't teach meditation to a cat :).

oh boy, ball rolling...

2011-11-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

We decided to go with the town house. And we're in the process of getting quotes from the movers. I'm obsessing about what stuff can be given away/sold. Didn't I just do this 2-1/2 years ago?

On top of the regular moving stress, we're dealing with more pet drama. Cali (the crazy orange cat) had to get her teeth cleaned on Monday. They were really bad (apparently gum disease can be a recessive trait of orange tabbies), and the way to clean a cat's teeth is by putting it completely under. So, she had the trauma of going to the vet (we walk there), followed by the trauma of surgery, followed by a day of not feeling normal, followed by twice-a-day liquid antibiotics being squirted into her mouth. Mind you, she's already a spastic cat anyway, but the week's events has made her so traumatized, we're having flashbacks to when we moved her out here. I started her back on the Rescue Remedy to help her calm down, and we've stopped giving her the antibiotics. I know we probably shouldn't just stop, but at this point, her mental health is so fragile, I'm afraid she'll start pooping while running again. Already, we've found a couple of things in the bedroom that she's peed on, presumably because she was too scared to walk into the next room to use her litter box. I'm going to give her small bits of tuna spiked with the Rescue Remedy drops over the next week to see how she does. I may have to keep her on it through the move. The vet recommended giving her baby Benedryl when we're on the move itself, since she didn't do so well with the regular tranquilizers on the way out here. I just want her to sleep and not know what's going on. Seriously, Ben and I have NEVER had a cat in our entire lives who act as freaked out and spastic as Cali. She's very sweet when she's not flipping out. In all seriousness, we're really worried about how she's going to react to this move. I'm hoping by keeping her on the Rescue Remedy and trying to minimize her stress during the move and the weeks after, she'll make a smoother transition. I hope :-S.

It's been a nice weekend overall, though. We got to go to a wedding this afternoon for my dear friend Kristen to her awesome beau David. It was a very sweet wedding, followed by an amazing mac & cheese bar (I know, right?), followed by a lot of dancing (and wine). It's 9 p.m., and I'm in my PJs. We're waiting for a pizza to be delivered.

Hey, how about I mention some knitting? I'm making progress on the rugby striped scarf I'm making my sister for a Christmas present. Don't think I'll have it done by Christmas, though (sorry, Sarah). I'll be able to do a lot of knitting in the car on the drive to VA, I think? The other projects have been on hold. I'm getting close to a really complicated part of the sweater vest, so I need to be in a much more focused mindset to work on that. Not only do I need to maintain the fair isle pattern, but I need to keep track of waist-shaping increase rounds and neck steek stitches at the same time. A little freaked out by the prospect.

a big change...

2011-10-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

Fall colors north of Blacksburg, VA

I'm back in New England, and Ben is finishing up his part of the trip to our new home in VA. We have a short list of potential rentals, and I'm already formulating how to get ready for the move. To figure out where we want to live, we need to decide on which lifestyle we want — country or town. Ben saw two more properties today, and he's seeing the last one tomorrow morning, but these are the two we're considering:

Choice A: 901 Clover Hollow Road (pronounced Holler, not Hollow) http://g.co/maps/drhcp

3 bd / 1 ba, new carpet, hardwood laminate and linoleum floors
All 3 pets permitted with a $200 deposit (no pet rent)
Rent: $750/mo
Pros: Up in the mountains, surrounded by pastures and woods, very dog-friendly
Cons: 15-minute drive to VT, twisty farm road to get to the highway

Choice B: 438 Marlington Street http://g.co/maps/gsd9a

3 bd / 2 ba, townhouse
All 3 pets permitted with $600 deposit ($200/pet)
Rent: $800/mo
Pros: In town, near a bus stop and family-friendly park, community pool & tennis courts
Cons: No yard, apartment living, some students in neighborhood

It's a tough choice. On the one hand, I'm apprehensive about living so far away from town while job-hunting. On the other hand, I don't have a job to which I commute, so I can't get hung up on the "what if" when trying to decide where to live. I'm also not too wild about the idea of living in a townhouse, which is essentially apartment living that we're doing now, minus the fenced-in driveway for April. Either way, we'll be able to start saving for a house down payment (probably after buying a second car and paying off the credit card, but y'know...).

The trip was amazing, though. It was really hard to leave Ben behind and come back here by myself. I missed the animal menagerie, though, and I got the business from Dodger when I came in the door (lots of purring, writhing, rubbing, etc). April came home from PetSmart this morning after I dropped big bucks. We got a call from PetSmart on Monday that there was some blood in April's urine. About a week before, April peed in the kitchen early in the morning. She rarely ever does that...only when it's a dire emergency. She peed in the kitchen the next day, too, even after I'd taken her out an hour before. Turns out, she most likely has a UTI, and with the vet visit, the PetHotel stay got SUPER expensive. She's on antibiotics now and certainly isn't acting sick. We really should have taken out pet insurance on her. Sigh.

Some of my favorite things about the trip:

Cheap food: we ate at a couple of decently priced restaurants, but for the most part, it was super cheap to eat down there. The beer especially — a microbrew draft up here would run you $5.50-$6. In western VA, $2-$3.
Familiar eats: Jimmy John's, Buffalo Wild Wings and Panera. God bless the college town.
Very friendly people: everywhere we went, strangers would wave, smile, or say howdy. If we mentioned that we were down visiting before we moved there, people would light up and start chatting up how great the town is, how much fun it is to see VT football, and how beautiful it is to live there.
The view: just driving around town (it was very hilly), we'd crest a hill to see a vast valley covered with a mix of cow pastures and hillsides covered with fall foliage. In the mornings, the valley is foggy in parts, and the sunsets are incredible at night. Plus, you can see a whole lot of stars.
Nice VT faculty: Ben and I have felt incredibly welcomed by the current and new faculty in the geosciences department. There are five new faculty members, all around the same age, so it's like an incoming freshman class. It's nice having others going through what we are to offer support and advice. I feel like we have a few friends already! It's just weird being a professor's wife after years of being the grad student wife. Pressure!

I'm still working on a job for myself. I talked with my supervisor today about the possibility of doing some telecommuting contract work after I get down there. I know the job very well, and I work fast. Plus, if I contract, I'll get paid a lot more, and I won't have to be in the hostile office every day. I could design in my PJs with a kitty on my lap, overlooking the mountains in our country home! The contracting would be temporary, of course, until I would find something full time. I'd love to just sever the cord completely with my current job, but it might take me awhile to get something down there. At least I'd be making money in the meantime.

So, once we sign a lease, I feel like I can get the ball rolling on the move. I'm definitely ready for it after experiencing a slower paced life again.

falling in love...

2011-10-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

We are in our hotel room in Christiansburg, sleeping off an evening of dinner with faculty members from Virginia Tech. This was the first social academic gathering where I haven't been a grad student or post-doc wife, but instead among the ranks of the professor wives. Kinda awesome. There are five new, young assistant professors starting at VT, so it's like we're a part of an incoming freshman class. It's great that we have other newbies with whom to commiserate as we're getting settled :).

We've seen one house for rent so far, and we have a few more appointments before I head home. It's tough not knowing our budget, since I don't have a job down here yet. So we're looking at a range of places. I'm pretty confident we'll leave with an address, though!

Aside from the appointments, Ben has been driving me around, exploring the area. This is really an amazing time to visit this area. The trees have all changed color, so going up and down the valley is spectacular! The weather has been chilly, but it's been sunny, which helps with the overall impression. Also, we got to experience the madness of Hokie Nation — it's Homecoming weekend. I felt out of place not having maroon and orange from head to toe while we were walking around campus. The town is small, but it's very nice and seems to have nice people. I'm definitely excited about settling down here.

Now, just gotta find a job!

house hunting...

2011-10-16T06:12:00.000-07:00

We spent a bit of the evening last night looking up places to rent in Blacksburg. What we're finding, searching for rentals in a much smaller community, is that many of the rentals are aimed at students or have "no pet" policies. Sigh. The ones that do allow pets usually say a "maximum of 2." Who wants a free cat? ;) There are a few promising places. One even has a dog door that leads out to a fenced-in back yard (hallelujah). It's hard to work on our budget right now, though, because I don't have a job down there yet. I'm hoping to stay on the cheaper side, but to get a house that allows pets, it might not be so easy.

Ben and I have been getting over colds this weekend. He brought back a bug from a recent trip, and it took 2 days for it to hit me. We've been snotty/coughing messes all weekend. I'm starting to feel better, but I have a feeling this dry cough is going to be lingering. I don't know if I can stand one more cup of chamomile tea...I'm pretty saturated with the stuff.

Otherwise, I've been feeling much better these days. My doctor put me on high-dose B12 supplements, in addition to the multivitamin I'm already taking. My stress levels have gotten lower, mainly because I'm making a conscious effort to not get too worked up while at work. We once again had a dramatic end to a big catalog, and I only flipped out a little on a few people.

I've started becoming more vocal instead of cramming everything down inside if something is pissing me off. For instance, I sent a reminder email to my department regarding erroneous edits we were receiving from the outside proofers (the outside proofers like to change placement of things on the template without asking). The senior copywriter decided to just forward my email to the outside proofers, causing a lot of feather ruffling and teeth gnashing. If I had intended for the email to go to them, I would have written it much more diplomatically. Instead, he threw me into conflict that I didn't want. Normally, I'd bitch about it to myself and stew for awhile (casting evil eye glances his way for good measure). Instead, I told him why he shouldn't have done that. He got defensive and huffed off, but he eventually apologized for being rash. I may complain about my job a lot, but it's certainly forced me to grow a spine and to not let people walk all over me as much as I used to. More control over one's job = less stress.

Knitting update: I've been PLOWING through the fair isle sweater vest lately. I'm working on the waist part now and will soon start the increasing rounds for the bust line. I'm getting a little nervous because I'm getting close to the complicated "neckline steek setup while preparing the armscythes" part. It's bad enough that I have to keep track of a fair isle pattern with increases, but now I have to focus on the construction. Eeek!

preparing...

2011-10-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

This has been an amazing three-day weekend, only made not spectacular by the absence of the dear husband. I feel like I've gotten some rest, been able to enjoy the beautiful weather, and been productive. I decided to tackle the office this weekend to sort through the bookshelf covered with stuff that hasn't been touched since we moved into our apartment two years ago. I wish I had a before picture to compare with an after, but let's just say that the sorting and organizing was cathartic. I feel like the office is a useable workspace. I still need to go through the random box of electronic stuff and the office closet-o-horror, but it's getting there. I'm trying to start the process now so that when the time comes to start packing, there won't be much of "do we keep or toss?" happening.

The weather has been fantastic. After a swift cool down, the temps this weekend have been in the 80s with low humidity. It's like summer's last gasp before the chill of fall settles in. I'm currently simmering the last of the apples from our apple-picking adventure to make applesauce. The apples were starting to get a bit old, and I didn't want to attract (more) flies. I'm debating whether to can the sauce or just put in a few ziploc containers and freeze them. It's been fun having so many apples to cook/eat. I have a sugar pumpkin from the farmers market and a butternut squash from the backyard garden ready to go for baking too. I might do a soup with the squash, but the pumpkin is probably destined for some sweet bread. I love fall!

It's gonna be a rough day at work tomorrow, with a potentially long day. The good news is that before going to sleep, Ben will return from his conference! I'm glad it's a short week, and at the end of it, we'll get to celebrate Mizzou's 100th Homecoming. Then, a week later, we'll be in Blacksburg, hopefully finding a place to live. We're getting close to the big move for sure. I'm excited, but I'm definitely getting sad about leaving New England. It's been too short for sure, and I've enjoyed my time out here. I might be ready to skedaddle once the first snow hits though :).

taking a break...

2011-10-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

I have a 3-day weekend, yet I can't seem to calm down and not try to cram everything into my Saturdays like I usually do.

The dog woke me up at 6:30 this morning, which sucks because I wanted to sleep in a little. But I was taking her to day camp at PetSmart anyway, so early start = getting her there earlier. She's been driving me a little more nuts lately. Her energy has been insatiable, and she's gotten a bit more out of control while on walks. She was getting a lot better for awhile, and it feels like she's regressing when it comes to managing her excitement. I would say that it's just her feeding off my instability that I've been dealing with the past two months, but she's been worse with Ben, too. He's a very stable, even-keel person, and she's been acting worse when it's just the two of them, too. Maybe it's the season changes? Maybe it's an upcoming full moon? She's two years old now, so she's getting into the "adult dog" age, but she's still so much of a frustrating adolescent. I'm just trying to be consistent with her in everything, and I try to keep my emotions in check when taking her outside. If I remain positive and calm while she's reacting poorly to another dog while on leash, it usually helps diffuse her faster. It's tough to stay calm, though. I've been on edge for so long with my own anxiety that it's a struggle to keep it together. Doing so for her, though, is helping me in the long run (I think). In any case, she gets to play with other dogs all day, and I get a bit of a break from single-dog parenting (Ben's at a conference in MN for 5 days). The kitties appreciate it, too, because they can move as they please without April coming over to play with them every 5 minutes.

With my own mental drama, I'm getting much better. I've had a few tests done to see why I've been feeling lightheaded and fatigued with tingly extremities for awhile. I had an MRI this week to rule out multiple sclerosis (and ruled out it was...praise Jesus), and an initial blood test came back showing me with very low levels of vitamin B12. A deficiency of B12 can cause neurological symptoms and can eventually lead to the breakdown of nerve synapses, much like MS. I had more blood drawn to check further into the B12 thing, and I'm waiting to hear back the results of that. The good news is that if I'm indeed deficient, I can take B12 injections to get my levels back up to normal and then take an oral supplement to maintain the levels. It's a relatively easy fix, and I could start to feel like my old self quickly.

The main cause of my symptoms, though, is most likely stress. When my doctor asked me how my work-stress situation was, I burst into tears. He referred me to the counseling service in the same building, and I'm going to see a therapist on Tuesday to talk about tools I can use for managing my stress and anxiety. Even though I'm quitting my job soon, he pointed out that if I don't prepare myself for dealing with workplace stress, I'm just going to be in the same boat at my next job. The man has a point, so I'm going to work hard on myself and embrace therapy to get me into a better place. I probably should have gone to see someone a long time ago, but it's hard to admit that you can't deal with something yourself that others can handle easily. It feels like failure to admit that you're not equipped.

Since talking to my doctor and admitting I need help, I've been feeling more and more like myself. I get lightheaded less, and the knots in my back aren't constant. I've been doing weekly yoga at work (the building started offering a free 45-minute class once a week), and I'm not volunteering above and beyond at work anymore. It pains me, though, because a big part of who I am is helping others and being an eager team player. For my sanity, though, I need to back off with that. I have 7 weeks to go, and in two Mondays, I'll start training my replacement. Then I'll be in the home stretch.

Because the move is coming soon, I'm going to be devoting much of my long holiday weekend to sorting through stuff to figure out what to get rid of before having a mover's assessment of our stuff. There are some closets in need of sorting, but the storage room in the basement will be the biggest beast. I think I'll do that tomorrow. The great news is that, even though we're plunging into fall, it's supposed to be a beautiful weekend with temperatures getting into the low 80s. Windows open!

I've applied to one job so far at my new home. I'm keeping my eyes open for more, but it's a much smaller area with a smaller job market. The good news, though, is that I'm moving to an area populated with engineers and scientists. I shouldn't have too much competition with other graphic designers (I hope I hope!) while applying for jobs. I'm still holding out hope that the local yarn shop will need a part timer :).

public transportation...

2011-10-06T14:45:00.001-07:00

Being a bus/train/walk commuter for the past two years has exposed me to so many types of people. The bus is cheap and convenient, so every day has at least one interesting person for me to observe.
Take today for example. While waiting at the bus stop, I could hear a mom struggling with her child. I didn't see them for the longest time, but I could hear, "Giada no! Giada, why can't you carry your own bag? I have to carry my own bag, you should too! Giada, don't swallow the gum. Giada, don't swallow the gum. Giada, did you swallow the gum?" All this time, I didn't hear a peep from the apparently misbehaving child.
It was getting obnoxious enough that I moved down a bit to read my book in peace. Then, when the bus pulled up, I got to see Giada as she moved toward the bus. She can't be more than 2 years old. I might even peg her at 18 months old. The little girl was not really doing anything outrageous or dangerous, but the way her mother was scolding her, you'd think she was running into traffic or cussing out her mom.
I don't want to totally judge because the mom might have had a bad day or something, but chick needs to calm down. (I sat in the back of the bus and they on the front, but I could still hear "GIADA!" The headphones went on.)
That's a pretty tame people-watching story on average, but it's a good example of what I see on my way to or from work. I might actually miss the colorful people when I move south.

more design updates...

2011-10-03T05:41:00.001-07:00

I spent a good chunk of last night redesigning my resume and cover letter template. Looking at my old one, I wasn't happy about how I might be perceived to a perspective employer. It certainly wasn't as funky as some that I've seen, but I felt like it needed an update. Playing off my new website design, the construction and content of my new layout is similar to the old one, but in simplifying the color palette and font styling, I was able to make a much cleaner design. My only fear is that it looks almost TOO simple. There's a fine balance between making a graphic design resume interesting but still useable. It needs to stand out, but it can't be so overdesigned that one loses the pertinent information. It's tough. I found a website of different design resumes, and it seems as though many people us the opportunity to create another portfolio piece. I wonder how successful these people are in finding work. Should I be going all-out on textures, graphics, angles and the like?

All I want in Blacksburg is a job that will be less stressful than the current one. I'd love to do something creative, but I'll settle for something that allows me to get off the Prilosec. I can always do creative design on my own, for myself.

Speaking of my current job, 8 weeks left (or sooner). I'm actually hoping now to be done the Friday before Thanksgiving so that I can visit my sister and see her in action as a grad student :).

getting behind....

2011-10-01T05:38:00.000-07:00

October is kicking off with a lot of rain. I had big plans today to go to the farmers market and hit up Honk!fest to see my friend's band play. I'm still going to go, but it'll be a lot more sopping than I'd like. It's supposed to rain all weekend, so getting out and about in it is unavoidable. I predict a bubble bath in my future...

I haven't really been able to knit much these days, which makes me sad. I've been dealing with painful knots in my shoulders, which make my arms feel tired or tingly/numb. My right arm feels like it gets overused quickly (as my dominant arm), and my left fingers get the tingles. It really sucks because I have things I want to finish and start. I might try to work on the project that has big needles because I think that won't aggravate my arms and hands too much. I need a massage or seven. After 6 years of working in front of a computer, mousing as I design and typing typing typing, my back is revolting. I'm hopeful I might be able to find a non-computer job, at least for awhile, when we get to VA. I might have to stalk the yarn store in town to see if they have any positions available. Yes yes, that's like a person with "food issues" going to work in a candy store, but I can behave, I swear!

Speaking of the move, we're starting to get the ball rolling with that. I started making contact with moving companies to get quotes on how much it would cost to move us (VT is paying for it, but we need to stay within the assigned budget). Ben booked our plane tickets for our visit down there at the end of the month. And I'm going to start sending out my resume. I wouldn't mind a bit of a break between jobs, but I will need to get something relatively quickly once we get down there. We're getting very excited about the move, though. I think this will be an awesome step for us, and I look forward to seeing what our new home holds for us!

Counting down...

2011-09-26T10:33:00.001-07:00

I've already been keeping a countdown of my weeks left at work, but lately I've started keeping a list of things I'm going to miss about living in New England. For instance, as I write this, I'm sitting on a bench near the harbor while on my lunch break. In front of me are the masts of the USS Constitution and the upper 3/4 of the Bunker Hill monument. To my left is the beautiful Zakim Bridge. I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to work downtown so that I could see things everyday that tourists will travel across the world for and just get a glimpse. I also love how close to the water I am. I'm not a huge watersports person, nor do I sail, but there's something calming about being by the water, smelling the brine and feeling the soft, cool breezes. It's heavenly.
I'm going to miss the small, walkable city of Boston. It's felt like home.

pare, core and slice...

2011-09-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

We checked another item off our Boston Bucket List...apple picking! There are a ton of orchards in New England, so we went off a friend's suggestion to Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, MA. We filled a large bag with Macintosh, Spartan, Cortland and Ginger Gold apples. We also grabbed three Bosc pears that are ripening in our fruit bowl. It was a gorgeous day out in western MA...high 60s and mostly sunny. It was nice getting out of the city, and you can't beat the flavor of a just-picked local apple. Ben and I split a Macintosh while we were eating our picnic lunch, tailgate style in the parking lot post-picking. The apple tasted so much better than anything you get at the store (those tend to be on the flavorless, mealy side because they have to be sturdy enough for transport from way far away). I need to look into what grows around Blacksburg because I'd like to participate in the seasonal harvests down there.

Ben was the picker because I was wearing a skirt

I held the bag

Only about a third of our haul — Ben was sorting

We bought local honey from the store...should have gotten more. We're almost out!

There were sheep! (and other farm animals)

Now, we have a ton of apples with which we can bake and eat! I made an apple crisp last night, and it came out heavenly. The Cortlands are a tart cooking apple, and the crisp had a zing to it. I'm also looking into the possibility of making apple sauce and apple butter (my friend, Beth, shared a recipe for crockpot apple butter). Ben's also going to whip out one of his awesome pies.

Cortland apple crisp

The apple picking comes on the heels of last weekend when we made grape jam using the Concord grapes from the arbor in the back. We canned 6 pints off two large bowls of grapes. We've almost plowed through one of the pints. Must buy more peanut butter.

Grapes before

Grape jam after

Yeah, totally enjoying the homesteading.

I'm starting to feel better these days. I'm experimenting to see if my lightheadedness is being caused by my glasses prescription. I got new glasses about six months ago, and they hadn't been giving me much issue. However, the disorientation, headaches and stomachaches I've been feeling the past month could be explained by my vision if the prescription is off. I dug out my old glasses with the 3-year-out-of-date prescription to see if it makes a difference backing off on the strength. It would be slightly embarrassing if my symptoms were a result of my glasses, but at least it would be better news than "you have something incurable." And since I'm stressed/anxious already, a daily joggle of my eyeballs can feel way bigger than it actually is. Anyway, the experimenting continues.

To help with the other issues, I've taken to pampering myself and taking the time to relax. I took a bath tonight, had a manicure and a hair trim on Saturday, and got a shoulder massage on Friday. I'm drinking more chamomile tea and making sure that I get the most snuggling with my husband in that I can. And I'm continuing the countdown: 9 weeks, 3 days.

Knitting update: I cast on my dear sister's Christmas present this weekend. I'll say no more since she's one of my most vigilant readers, but I know she'll love it :). Still working on the lace shawl, but it's going to be scarf-sized instead of full shawl sized. I think I'll get a lot more use out of it as a scarf. The sweater vest continues, but I'm not hopeful I'll be wearing it this fall/winter. Sigh.

Things I'll miss...

2011-09-17T14:10:00.001-07:00

I'm waiting to go into Aveda for a hair cut and manicure, and I'm enjoying a musician singing Dylan, Chicago, and Hendrix songs. I love living by Harvard Square.

the chill in the air...

2011-09-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

Middlesex Fells, Oct 24, 2010

We are officially into fall! A massive cold front rolled through on Thursday, dropping overnight lows into the 40s and daytime highs into the low 60s. This means I need to dig out the sweaters and darn my socks with holes. I love fall, although I kind of feel like the summer-to-fall transition was almost non-existant. We had a lot of rain and a small heatwave. It was mostly hot and humid at night, and we had very few days where we could have all the windows open in the house. I think we had one night where we had the windows open when we slept where it felt super comfortable. Oh well. Colder temperatures mean more blankets and snuggling up with my hubby.

I also need to get a sweater shaver of some sort. Last year, I bought two awesome shawl-collar merino wool sweaters and wore the hell out of them. The pills under the arms and along the cables make the sweaters look much older than they are. I think I'm just going to invest in a sweater stone instead of a full-on shaver (I hear that the stone works just fine for most fibers).

Another thing I love about fall is that I'm more inspired to knit. It's not looking good for me to get the sweater vest done before next spring (I'm lucky if I can do 5 rounds in one night), but I have patterns and wool for mittens, hats and scarves to keep me sated. Plus, I have some friends with kids who are getting to the age where the knits are more fun to make...I might have to whip out a silly hat or a 4-year-old's dinosaur sweater or something soon.

I'm sorry my blog has been sounding more depressing lately. I really am trying hard to maintain my sanity, and I've decided to take more control of my moods and health. I had a bad headache all day yesterday, both from my sinuses (see above about the cold front) and my neck (tension headache). I scheduled a 15-minute massage last night to work out the increasingly painful knots in my shoulder and the stiffness in my neck. The masseuse worked my left shoulder knot HARD (this is a knot I've had since playing clarinet in high school band for all those years — it's the first to tighten when I sit in one position for too long or have a lot of stress). I'm pretty sure at one point, he stuck his elbow right on it and put all his weight on me. I have a high pain tolerance, but it started to hurt. It was a good hurt, though, because after the massage, the knot was still there, but it was much looser than normal. He also got the knots between my left shoulder blade and my spine, which I think have been causing me weird nerve sensations down my arm for a couple of weeks. The knots aren't gone, but it felt good getting them worked out. I might need to go for another massage sometime soon to get them worked out more. In the meantime, he suggested using tennis balls to work on them at home and getting a Thermacare heatwrap for them when I'm at work. Stupid desk job.

We had a great visit with my dad on Thursday night. He was in town for a meeting near Boston, so he popped in that night. I feel bad because I was so exhausted, but we had a nice dinner before heading back to our house to watch a movie. I fell asleep just before the end of Ghostbusters, but it was fun watching it with Dad (he saw it with my mom and another couple in the theater when it first came out). I'm really glad that my dad's job brings him near my home, wherever that may be!

We're starting to hammer out moving plans to get ready to go to VA. The first step is getting plane tickets to visit Blacksburg and find an apartment. Then, it's to book a moving company and sort through stuff before packers come. And I need to start my job hunt. Eeek!

How to deal...

2011-09-14T15:33:00.001-07:00

I'm in a bit of a paradox. I used to get upset at things at work and cry. Then I decided that they don't deserve my tears and that it wasn't worth getting upset at things I couldn't control. The problem, though, is that I would get angry instead of upset. It's still a negative emotion, but it doesn't make me cry. I ended up with no outlet to release my stress (other than venting to friends and family and having beer). Clearly, that doesn't cut it because I now have to deal with physical symptoms of anxiety and exhaustion that I think have been made worse because I haven't had a good cry. Hardening myself and becoming cynical to idiots apparently isn't working for me. Time to tap into emotional, yet strong Susan and leave hard, yet fragile Susan behind. I might have to watch "Up" tonight to get the waterworks going. I'm tired of feeling sick and on the verge of a panic attack every day. I've never been this unstable, and it sucks. It can be better, and it will.

Plus, I only have 10-1/2 weeks to go before I quit. People are starting to apply for my position, so I'd like to be able to train him or her before I go. I'm nice like that ;).

experiencing competency...

2011-09-12T15:52:00.001-07:00

I'm blogging from my once broken, newly restored phone on a proper Blogger app! My Droid went through a software update this weekend, resulting in constant "low on memory" prompts and the disabling of standard apps that worked before. So, after uploading all the photos from my phone to Flickr, I put my phone through a factory reset. I was worried that I lost all my contacts, but my synched Gmail account kept all my numbers and my customization. I'm kind of loving integrated technology now. At least until Skynet becomes self-aware.

In other competencies, Ben and I made grape jam yesterday using the grapes from the arbor in the back. I can't wait to have a PB&J tomorrow for lunch!

where I was...

2011-09-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

At the start of my freshman year at Mizzou, Stephanie Thies and I were walking back from our 8:15 a.m. English 20 class when we passed our RA on the sidewalk. Erin was smoking furiously, which I hadn't seen her do before. She's the one who told us that planes had hit the WTC towers. We walked back to our dorm floor, which at the time had a giant projection TV set up in the lounge, in time to see the first tower fall. Then, I heard that a plane had hit the Pentagon, where my dad had been for meetings a couple of days before. I called my mom's classroom to see if she knew if dad was okay, and she didn't know. I heard from him that afternoon that he was okay and on his way home from D.C. I continued going to my classes that day out if they were still being held because I was going nuts just sitting and watching TV coverage.

********

The biggest effect on me from that day involved air travel. I also noticed a greater increase in background checks while working in retail, thanks to the Patriot Act. My personal liberties didn't get as affected, but then again, I don't wear a hijab. One thing I've learned since the attacks is how hurtful people can be against those of another religion. My sophomore year of college, I was in a biology class with one of my residents (I was an RA) and her friend from high school, Rehab. Rehab was a remarkable young woman who chose to wear her hijab when she was a teenager. Her parents raised her Muslim and were Islamic activists, but they never forced her to cover herself up. After the 9/11 attacks, she became a vocal advocate for her faith to show that the fanatics do not represent Islam and that the religion stressed peace above all. In the face of ignorance, she chose to become a visible spokesperson for her beliefs. Rehab passed away this year, but she made a profound impression on me as a very young person with an amazing strength. I sometimes get shy or embarrassed when I'm around my atheist friends, that they'll judge me for having faith. I don't know if I'd be as strong as she was in her convictions.

********

In the years following, I got to experience a war beginning on my birthday (thanks, GWB, for invading Iraq on my 19th), stories of politicians breaking the law in the name of "national security," friends going off to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, becoming more actively aware of the faults and missteps of my country among our great history, beginning to identify as a political liberal because of this awareness, and continuing to evaluate how I fit into this world.

As I said in my last post, I'm somewhat avoiding the remembrance coverage today. I don't feel like I need to make myself relive that awful day to remember what happened. In fact, it seems a little sadistic to put yourself through that. For most everyone, we have moved on, and as a country, I think we're still gaining strength. If someone loses a child and has been going through the healing process, that person would not subject themselves to a blow-by-blow account of how that child died on each anniversary, would they? That just stunts the healing process. We still have a long way to go, 10 years after the fact.

reflecting...

2011-09-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to make this a "where I was 10 years ago on 9/11" post because that's for tomorrow. But I've been trying really hard not to get sucked into the "remembrance" stories that have been airing for at least a week now. It's not that I don't want to remember how we were attacked, but the stories are so emotionally disturbing to me, and I'm already vulnerable because of longtime stress and anxiety with my job. It affects me deeply, and I get a little mad thinking that the stories have crossed the line from remembrance to exploitation.

I'm currently listening to a This American Life episode, and the opening act featured a woman who lost her husband in the attacks. She said that she really wishes there wasn't such a big deal made out of the 10th anniversary because for the survivors, it's an in-your-face reminder of the worst day of their lives. Many of them are still struggling with depression and PTSD, and weeks-long coverage of the anniversary makes it harder for them to heal.

I was debating whether to go to one of the events in Boston tomorrow. The city, after all, suffered a major loss because the two planes that hit the WTC originated at Logan Airport. I can't imagine how awful it was to be here that day. I think, though, I will spend tomorrow having a quiet day with my husband. We're talking about making grape jam again this year with the grapes from the arbor (I bought an Italian hand mill to process the grapes and a canning funnel). I feel like it would be appropriate to remember the past 10 years doing something that's entirely normal. So much of "normal" life has been altered since the attacks, and I wish to embrace the simple pleasures.

I hope it doesn't sound callous. It was a huge tragedy that day, and it happened at a formative time of my life. It gave me a new perspective on my place in the world.

**********

Knitting update: The weather is starting to take a fall-ish turn, which is ramping up my desire to knit smooshy woolens. I think I need to make Ben a new stocking cap. That'll sate me :). In the meantime, I'm going to try to do another pattern repeat on the prairie shawl and maybe do another few rows on the sweater vest.

no explanation necessary...

2011-09-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

I got to recently spend a solid 4 days hanging out with my dear friend Vanessa. She and I worked together at the paper in California, and she was out on the East Coast for her BFF's wedding. She stayed with us, which was awesome because she's a super easy house guest. I was a ton more social with her out here as I accompanied her to gatherings with her college friends (she's a BU alumna) and with wedding-related events. It's the most social I've been in awhile, and I'm exhausted but happy! It was really wonderful to hang out with a friend who knows me on a deeper level — it takes the pressure off that one gets with a newer friend. It reminded me how much I miss and how grateful I am for the group of friends I had in California. I hope I can make friends like that again, which I know gets harder as you get older.

Aside from the awesome visitor, it's been another few weeks of working longer hours and trying to not have panic attacks. I really have been conscious of my moods and how my empathetic ability can end up negatively affecting me (if two people are having a heated argument near my desk, I tend to feel more stressed out and have physical symptoms related to their stress). I think I've been dealing with stress for so long that my tolerance is incredibly broken down. I'm a bit overly sensitive to things these days, which makes me even more happy to come home to my non-stressful household. In fact, spending time with my husband has become even more of my "happy place," which is great for him because he gets the happiest version of me! He's a great support for me, lets me ventilate, gives me hugs, and spoons with me on the couch. He rocks.

This coming week, I get to look forward to a visit from my dad and the change of the season. It's gotten chilly here with rain, and the leaves are starting to change. As long as we get a respite from the wet weather, the fall colors should be amazing this year. It makes me sad, though, because I know that we have a short time left in New England before our move. There's still a lot I want to do before we leave!

I'm gonna pass out now. It's an hour and a half before my bedtime, but whatever. Cozy :).

waiting for Irene...

2011-08-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

There have been some preparations for the storm coming. Hurricane Irene is chugging through North Carolina at the moment, and my area of Massachusetts has been downgraded to a tropical storm warning. It sounds way less sexy to say, "I've been through a tropical storm" than "I've been through a hurricane." It's sad that I'm disappointed at this, when we're still going to be hit with 70+ mph winds sustained for hours. We get gusts that fast here during a Nor'eastah, but they last for seconds, not hours. Oy, I'm not looking forward to picking my way through debris as I walk down the sidewalk on Monday to head to work. But, in the meantime, we have food and beer, I've moved the outdoor plants up onto the porch, which is covered, and we're going to assess the basement storage area to see if anything needs to be rearranged to minimize flooding damage (our basement is prone to getting water in it in a normal, heavy rain). Our rain will start this afternoon with a pre-storm ahead of the main event, which will peak tomorrow around 4 p.m.

Storm provisions, the essentials

I'm taking a break, though, and have been really enjoying some other blog posts. Ysolda is giving tips on giving your stored sweaters new life (I need to get a sweater shaver for two of my Merino ones), The Purl Bee has an adorable tutorial on making felt apple coasters, the Yarn Harlot finished an amazing lace baby blanket, my friend Marie has more pictures from her new sexy life in South Africa, and my friend Erin made me crave Korean BBQ.

The knitting posts have inspired me to work more on my projects. I'm trying to not get discouraged when working on the lace shawl. I think lace might be my Achilles heel. I just feel like I screw it up a lot, get frustrated easily, and give up too fast. I'm gonna do it. Yes yes. It's a SIMPLE lace pattern, but I can't seem to wrap my head around it. This is what it's going to look like when it's done (only in a dusty cornflower blue color and without the hardened farm woman look):

Lace Prairie Shawl from Folk Shawls

Fingers crossed I will be able to do a few more rows without losing stitches!

Off to find more hatches to battan.

the man in black...

2011-08-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

I downloaded some Johnny Cash tonight. Not the Folsom Prison Blues Johnny Cash, but the "I've done a lot of bad stuff in my life to myself and those I love so I'm going to record some tortured albums that include some badass covers of popular songs to make amends for those bad things" Johnny Cash. I grabbed a couple of songs off American III (iTunes didn't have the whole album for sale) and all of American IV. The songs sound so much more tortured in Cash's voice (the haunting "Hurt" and sad "One" stand out, but covers of the Eagles, Simon and Garfunkel, Depeche Mode and Hank Williams round out the playlist.

I'm not feeling particularly depressed or anything. But I'm also not really in a "dance around the room" mood. I'm starting to feel a lot better after more than a week of ICK, but I'm still getting fatigued pretty easily. I made it through the day with only three times of feeling a little more lightheaded than not. I'm taking Claritin (until I run out, then switching to Allegra) and Flonase in the morning and using the neti pot at night. Hopefully, the combo of that will knock out whatever is affecting my middle ears and making me feel ICK.

I haven't been knitting the past few nights because I'm starting to feel that bad tingly feeling in my left pinky and along the outside of my arm. Taking a break keeps me from getting carpal tunnel. Yay?

I've started the countdown...14 weeks until my end date at my job (or sooner, if I get a job in VA that wants me to start before December). Can't wait. I've not said much about my job on this blog because it's public, and I probably won't bitch too much post-mortem, but let's just say that the majority of the health problems I've had in the past two years has been directly related to my job and the stress it has given me.

wobbly...

2011-08-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

I think I have an inner ear blockage of some kind. For the past week, I've had bouts of lightheaded/dizziness while walking around (kind of like being in a Benedryl haze), coupled by an occasional headache or pressure in my ear canals. After ruling out that I'm dehydrated (drinking a ton of water), over-caffeinated (cut out my beloved coffee), sleep-deprived (lots of naps), or pregnant (took a test...just in case), this is the conclusion to which I've arrived. Now comes the step of going to the doctor to have a professional check my blood pressure and look inside my ears. I still have a nagging concern that my blood pressure may be the culprit for being easily tired or getting lightheaded while walking around. I haven't had blood pressure issues for much of my life, but the stress of my job the past couple of years has started making me acutely aware of its ups and downs. A few months ago, I experienced a spike while working. My left eye got a little blurry, I had a head ache, and I felt like I might literally explode. It was really unnerving, and I was able to step away from my desk for a short while to calm down. Thankfully, I haven't experienced a spike like that since, but I've had to take relaxation measures to keep myself calm. My dad has hypertension (non-smoker who exercises regularly), so I know that it's best for me to keep an eye on it as prevention of future problems. I checked my blood pressure on Saturday at CVS, and it was 148/89, which is probably the highest it's ever been recorded (I usually come in at 115/72 or thereabouts at the doctor's office — it's been called "disgustingly low" by the nurse). The good news is that my usually fast pulse and annoying PVCs have been quiet through all this. Anyway, today is much better with the blurry feeling, but I'm having much more acute pressure in my sinuses and inner ears. And I can actually feel the fluid moving around in my ears. I hope that it's not an infection (I'd have secondary symptoms, right?), and that they can just be irrigated. Because, if I wanted to feel drunk or high on antihistamines, I'd take something :).

Knitting update: Picked up the sweater vest and completed another couple of sections on the fair isle. I'm starting to find the fair isle soothing. What's wrong with me? I'm enjoying the colorwork a lot better than the lacework. I think I start getting intimidated when I have to keep track of a pattern that involves holes and open stitches. I prefer the stockinette for my OCD.

500...

2011-08-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

This is my 500th post of this blog. Clearly, that means I need to blog more because I've had this for much longer than 500 days. Lately, I don't feel like I have a whole lot of interesting to talk about, so I wouldn't want to bore you with the mundane. Plus, I think my mundane stories are spiced up when I tell them instead of write them. The "Kermit-flail" helps :).

So, for the 500th post, I'll talk about a popular topic of the blog: my dog.

April and I have had our ups and downs. She's made me cry out of frustration at times. She's made me so angry that I could envision physically harming her (which scared me because I know I could never do that to an animal). She's greeted me happily each and every time I come home. She likes to play with me. She is my buddy when Ben's gone.

Ben had a last-minute trip this week, so April and I got to go through our "Ben's gone so we need to get along" adjustment. We're starting to hit our stride, and I mostly just feel guilty that she's home alone for most of the day. If I were single and living on my own, I don't think I would have a dog. I don't feel guilty about leaving the cats because, well, they're cats and they're independent. April, though...I don't know how she deals with being alone all day. I know she sleeps a lot and destroys the occasional paper object (or flip flop, if one or two are left unattended in the kitchen with her). But I see how happy she is when I pick her up from an all-day doggie day camp. She'd definitely be happier with another dog or with a human who works from home.*

One day, April. One day. I'm working on that work-from-home freelance gig, I promise.

I've started getting back into yoga, thanks to another semi-panic attack. I've found that yoga gives me the best tools for dealing with stress — mainly the breathing and relaxation techniques. I find that the physical expense is more of a bonus to the whole experience. A studio near our house had an unlimited pass for 2 weeks for $25, so I'm on class 3 of the week. I'm still a tad sore, but my mental attitude has gotten a boost.

I started off with Moderate Vinyasa, because why the hell not? I know all the poses. I've been doing yoga off and on since college. I can do this!

Right.

The class damn near killed me. I might know how to hold the poses, but my body doesn't know how to deal physically with them. I had a wicked bad case of the jimmy legs and almost fell a few times. The next class was a Beginner Vinyasa, which worked out my incredible soreness (my ass hurt, as did my calves, traps, abs, etc.) and slowed me down. Tonight, I went to a Yin (relaxation) class, which is meant to be a complimentary counterpart to the Yang (active) classes I had been attending. I think this class might have been the hardest of them all. You hold a long stretch pose a REALLY long time, all the while, "giving yourself completely to the pose." Gravity is a bitch, and holding a low pose close to the ground pulled a few things, like my groin. The class wasn't terrible, though. I got to stretch out my sore muscles, and I dozed off during the Savasana at the end of class. Relaxation accomplished!

I need to look at the schedule and see when the next class is that I can attend. It might not be until Saturday, seeing how things go the rest of the week. It's nice being back into it, and I'm hoping I can get Ben to go to a class with me (he's been getting back into running, and the yoga would be a good way to stretch out and treat his plantar fascitis).

*I take that back. I could have a dog if I were single, but I'd definitely pay for a dog walker.

some "me" time...

2011-08-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Ben is away for a few days, and I took the dog to day camp, even though it's not a work day and I'm pretty much going to be home for the whole day (it's raining). It'll be good for April to play with other dogs and get exhausted because she hates getting wet and would drive me nuts today without proper exercise. I'm kind of excited. I have a few movies I want to watch, and I'm going to do a few more rounds on my fair isle sweater vest. I probably won't make it too far because it's super humid today, and my hands get sweaty touching the wool. Then, I'll have to switch to a cottony project (I got some awesome cotton to make ball-band dish cloths).

Most importantly, though, I whipped out this:

It's smaller than I was expecting, but the pattern's picture didn't really have anything for scale. The pattern also called for fuzzy alpaca and angora, which I didn't think would be appropriate for an infant. It's super cute, though, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease for the body and had some pink wool for the ears. Even if the bunny gets washed and the wool felts a little, I think it will add to the texture.

Now I just have to send it off to its recipient. I think I'm going to wind some more of my hanks into balls of yarn, too. There's a few projects that needed to get started that were waiting on this step.

Ah, I love quiet Sundays. There may be a nap in store, too :).

some observations...

2011-08-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

I was standing next to a man and a woman on the train platform today on my way home for work. I wasn't really paying attention to what they were speaking about, but suddenly, I heard the man say, "Well hi! How are you? How's your son?" A second woman had walked by, and she answered, "He's blessed. He has many great choices ahead of him."

I paused at this choice of words from the woman. I'm used to hearing things like, "Oh, he's fine." Or something to that effect. I guess I don't immediately reach for the word "blessed."

It almost conjures up a vision of not having control over your own destiny. I don't really know if I believe in fate or God's will and whatnot because of the whole concept that God gave us free will. I do like to think about what little choices affected the great path my life has taken, like what alternate-universe Susan is doing right now. Having "what ifs" helps me appreciate more what's happening in my life.

I guess I feel blessed...I have an awesome husband, who still makes me smile involuntarily when I see him from far away. I have a very supportive, loving family who recharges my optimism. I have a dog who has taught me patience and helped me exercise. I have two kitties who follow me around and make me feel wanted. I have a bitchin' computer on which is bitchin' design software. I live in a fantastic area and have been able to live in a few awesome places and meet a lot of awesome people.

But how much of that has happened by chance and how much of it was a conscious decision? Can one really call that "blessed"? Ben chose to follow his adviser to UCR instead of staying at Missouri to finish out his Master's. I chose to marry Ben and follow him to California. We chose together to move to Boston, a tough choice because we'd made so many wonderful friends and a good life in California. Yes, I agree that we've might have been blessed in some areas: Ben getting the Agouron Fellowship that allowed him to work at Harvard and the faculty position becoming available at Virginia Tech (but those both happened because he worked hard, made supportive colleagues, and earned it).

I guess I have a hard time with the concept because it seems to take out personal responsibility and action toward your future. It's like when someone says, "It's in God's hands." or "It's a part of God's plan." I think that allows the person to check out and not actively try to deal with a situation. It's kind of a cop-out.

I think I would consider being blessed as having the ability to recognize and work with finding the best path possible toward a better life or the life you want.

I have no idea what alternate-reality Susan is up to. I can't imagine my life going any other way. If I had to pick one big defining event in my life, it would be marrying Ben. If I hadn't, I literally have no idea where I would be now. I probably would have stayed in MO, and tried to work for a local publication. I guess. I know my life has been a great adventure because of the paths I've been on.

Sorry to get all philosophical. I think about stuff when I'm commuting :).

recovering...

2011-08-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

Editor's note: Forgive the vignette-style posting. I can't seem to muster up the ability to string a narrative together this morning.

I slept in until 7:30 yesterday morning and took a 45-minute nap in the afternoon. If it weren't for Die Hard on TV last night, I would have been asleep before midnight. Oh well. I feel like I'm getting rest, finally. I could really use one more day, though. Next week at work won't be any less crazy. In fact, tomorrow will probably be the worst thus far. Ugh ugh ugh.

To try not to think about it, I'm going to do a bit more cleaning today (office), knit some more and watch stuff on Netflix. I might even do some laundry if I'm so inspired (I really should...no way I can do it during the week).

••••••••••

Got some great news that Katie and Joe are going to be headed to their home with the baby in the next couple of days. I'm sure they'll be super happy to be at their own home after being in a hospital for a week in a foreign country. I've been getting snippets from other people about how it all went down, but it'll be nice to hear the recounting from the people themselves.

••••••••••

I found a house yesterday on Realtor.com that I fell in love with down in Blacksburg. It's a fair bit away from Virginia Tech out in the country, but it has everything Ben and I want — large amount of property, multiple bathrooms, a basement, and old architecture. It was built in 1891 and sits on 1.71 acres. There's no fence, but the yard is big enough that April could romp to her heart's desire without annoying the neighbors (right, girl?). There's a big area for a garden, too, and Ben is currently looking to see how well berry bushes grow down there (we love blackberries and blueberries). The only major drawback is the horrid teal carpet throughout the house, but with the age of the house, I'd venture to guess that there's hardwood flooring under it. The kitchen also needs a facelift, but some new hardware and a paint job would probably go a long way with that.

Unless this house takes 2 years to sell, though, it's probably not going to be ours. We're going to have to rent for a year or two while we save up for a down payment. It's fantastic, though, that when I showed it to Ben, he agreed that it's the sort of thing he wants to go for, too. I'm glad we have similar tastes in such things :).

It's just one more thing to get me excited about moving!

••••••••••

Knitting update: I'm starting on the second leg of the bunny, which will quickly lead to the body. I'm definitely going to use the Magic Loop method on this one, so I need to make sure I brush up on the proper technique. It's not hard, but it's not overly intuitive.

drooling...

2011-08-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today was the fourth in a row of a 10-hour work day. You might be like, "Yay! Susan't getting PAID!" But no, I don't get paid overtime. Massachusetts is a jerk that lets businesses decide their own criteria for what constitutes an exempt employee versus an hourly. I, like everyone else at my company, are designated as "exempt" so we don't get paid for overtime hours. I miss working in California. Yeah, the taxes were insane and mismanaged, but after 8 hours, I made time and a half. After 12, I made double time. If I worked on a holiday, I got double time and got a comp day. In MA, I'm lucky if I can knock off an hour early every now and then to make up for the OT. I'm so tired. The worst part is that when there are long stretches of OT, I don't get to see Ben very much. He's been so awesome being my support and happy place when I come home. The couple of hours we get to see each other are short because I am passing out early from exhaustion. Four more months...

It was an alright day, though, aside from the long hours. I picked up a couple of CDs (The White Stripes and Spoon) at Newbury Comics, where I also found an XKCD book for Ben. It was a great find.

Now I pass out...

good things ahappenin'...

2011-08-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Katie had her baby. After a bit of a dramatic entrance, Maddalyn came into the world at a more-than-respectable 4 lbs, 4 (or 5?) oz. Pretty damn good for an 8-weeks-early preemie! Mama Katie, you rest up and heal quickly so you can bring your Mexican baby back across the border to GA. Can't wait to meet her!

Other good things happening include me giving my end date to my boss. In an effort to make my work life slightly better, I let my boss know that I would be leaving December 2 or sooner, if I get a job down in Virginia that wants me to start in November. Another coworker is going on maternity leave at the end of October, so while looking for someone to cover her work, they'll be looking for my replacement. There's no excuse for not having someone hired and trained in 4 months. No no. Lots of people need work, especially graphic designers. It's been rough working there, but I want to make sure I'm leaving my position in good, trained hands as to not screw over others in my department. It's the least I could do.

The other fun thing that happened today was that I got the official word at an annual physical that I'm back down to 131 lbs. When I graduated college, I was about 125 (which is amazing because I was eating Chipotle three times a week and having a 20 oz Coke plus a 6-pack of chocolate frosted donettes every night and rarely going to the gym). After two months of starting my first desk job, I jumped up to 140. At my heaviest (the last year in Riverside and the first year in Boston), I was hanging around 148. I didn't really care about the number as much as how my clothes were fitting (or not) and how I was feeling and sleeping (not good on both).

Cue the acid reflux diagnosis and the acquiring of a dog. Treating the acid reflux with dietary changes (and not being able to eat much because my guts hurt so bad) coupled with the forced walking exercise regimen that comes with a dog leads to gradual weight loss. The acid reflux has been much better lately, so I'm back to eating normally (although I've cut out a lot of dairy because of the growing intolerance), and my activity level has stayed steady (light to moderate with occasional long bike rides thrown in). I'm a little concerned that I'll get more sedentary moving to a place where I'll be driving more, but I'll try to maintain if I can. The clothes are fitting much better.

Knitting update: Making the legs of a bunny now. I only have one 24" US6 circular needle, and the pattern calls for two, so I'll need to bust out the magic-loop method again. It's been awhile, so I'll need to consult the YouTube for a reminder.

FO and worry...

2011-07-31T17:12:00.001-07:00

Untitled, a photo by j-chick on Flickr.

I finished the sock yarn hat yesterday. I really love how it turned out, even if I did want to murder it a few times. It was hard to model it in 86 degrees on the patio, though. Still, it'll be great to throw in my purse this fall when it starts getting chilly!

After completing the hat, I did a few more rows on the fair isle sweater vest. It's a little difficult to knit on it at the moment, though, because the wool is absorbing my hand sweat. It'll have to wait until the humidity kicks down a touch.

In the meantime, I'm busying myself with a new project. When my dear Katie was out visiting this spring, I had her pick out a pattern for me to knit for her growing fetus. She picked the rabbit version of Loveable Toys in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I decided not to start on it until the month before the baby was due.

So, yeah, got word today that the baby couldn't wait and is making an early appearance, effectively crashing a destination wedding in Mexico. This, of course, has led to a lot of nervousness and worry up here in Boston. I'd love nothing more to be with my friend, offering her support through all this. Instead, I have to challenge my energy into something constructive or else I'll drive my husband insane. I cast on one little arm and I'm working on the next one while I await word on how mama and baby are doing.

Via Flickr:
Sockhead Hat in Ranco Multi

nostalgia...

2011-07-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

Touring the KY3 studios in Springfield. I think we missed our broadcast calling.

Ben and I had a great trip back to MO to visit family and attend my 10-year HS reunion. The reunion itself was okay...there were a lot of people I wasn't expecting to see and a few people I was hoping would attend but didn't. We stayed a couple of hours, chatting with people, before heading to the brewhouse to meet up with our buddy Justin. I'm glad I went, but I'm also glad the reunions are only ever 10 years. With things like Facebook, I pretty much knew what everyone was up to, so conversations to "catch up" were a bit moot. It'll probably be an entirely different reunion in 2021.

It was fantastic, though, being back in MO during the summer. The trip at Christmas was great, but summers always bring me back to my childhood. The air stays really warm after the sun goes down, so it's really nice to sit outside and watch the fireflies. Or, one thing I loved when I was of driving age was to drive around after dark with all the windows rolled down. The air is incredibly soft, and the smells of the Ozarks are comforting. I also enjoyed being out of the city for a bit. As much as I love Boston, I certainly feel less stressed when I'm in a more rural setting. On the way home, I started getting back into "city aggressive" mode when I was hauling ass through O'Hare in Chicago to make my connection. I've adapted well to living in a city, but I'm happy that my pace of life will slow down a tad when we move away from here.

We went to Springfield to visit Cliff and Katie, who just had a baby two months ago. We hadn't seen them since our move almost 2 years ago, and since then, they'd bought a house, got a dog, and had a baby. I'm always so happy to see my friends doing well, and they certainly are! Their house is great (something I totally would buy for myself), their dog is awesome (Izzy and April would be BFFs...very similar play styles), and their parenting skills are inspirational. I told Ben that I want us to be parents like them...calm with a lot of common sense. Their kiddo is pretty chill and only fusses a reasonable amount, and I think a lot of that comes from his parents. I hope we can see them sooner than later. I hate it when I go such long stretches between seeing our friends' kids that they've grown by years in between visits.

When I got back home, though, I was exhausted. I flew out of KC on Tuesday morning, connected through Chicago, then went straight to work after landing in Boston. I picked up April that night from PetSmart and had to stay awake for my luggage to be delivered (yeah, it never made it on my plane in Chicago). Cue the next day of "show up early and work late" followed by a book club meeting (I'm glad I went...I needed girl time). But, I'd been running on 5-6 hours of sleep a night, and I definitely need 7-8 to function. It was great sleeping in this morning until 8!

So, while we were gone, April was at the PetHotel. I've mentioned before that she loves the PetSmart because we've been there a lot for training. It's a great place to take her for overnights because the staff knows her, and she gets a ton of socialization and exercise while she's there. I'd hate the idea of her being in a pen all day at another kennel, so I try to take advantage of the day camps while she's overnighting there. This was the longest we'd ever left her (5 days), and when I came to get her, she gave me more love than she ever has. I think she missed me! Then, when Ben got home a couple of days later, she was beside herself. I think we've definitely reached the point where she loves us and misses us, and the feeling is mutual. Hooray :)!

Knitting update: One of the best things about traveling is the time I can spend knitting. I started decreasing the crown of the sockyarn hat! I'll be switching to my DPNs soon, so it's just a matter of time before that project is done. I might pop on some Buffy and nestle in on the couch with the hat after a nap. It's a beautiful day outside — one of those days that you just wish you had a hammock. I'll settle for sleeping underneath an open window on the couch. I'll worry about cleaning tomorrow.

still hot...

2011-07-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here in the dark office at 8:15 p.m. It's 82º in the house and 82º outside. The cats look like they want to be shaved, and April is drinking water like there's no tomorrow. Suuuuuucks...

In two days, I will be winging my way to MO for my high school reunion. I was debating whether to go back for the 10-year one, but seeing as how I haven't been back to the hometown since we were on our cross-country move almost 2 years ago, I thought it was high time (and a good excuse) for a visit. There's still some prep work to do before I leave, but it's seriously too hot to vacuum right now. Ben left this morning so he could spend a few extra days with his parents, so it's just me and the zoo.

In an effort to not do what I always do right after Ben leaves town (which is to collapse on the couch and pass out before 9 p.m. out of lack of anything better to do/exhaustion), I'm trying to decide if I should play Civ5, work on my website or do some research on our next location....

Hokie Hokie Hokie Hy!

Yup, we're going to be moving to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia at the end of the year. Ben accepted an assistant professor position at Virginia Tech, which starts in the spring 2012 semester. We're trying to decide if we want to move before or after Christmas. I'm leaning toward before so that way we can get really settled before he has to start work. I've started my job search down there, so if I can land a good job, I might be moving down sooner than December. It's crazy to think that in 4-5 months, it will be ass cold in New England, and we'll be heading south.

I'm certainly not in a hurry to leave. We've only been out here for a short while, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I have a Boston-bucket-list I'm trying to plow through before we move. I'm starting to get a bit sad about the whole thing. Just when we get settled, it's time to go. At least we'll definitely be in Virginia for 7-10 years because Ben will be tenure-track. I'm excited to learn about my new home, though...I've already found some Ravelry friends who invited me to stop by the LYS when I get there for a knitting night (knitters are so nice)! There's also a professor who wants to take me golfing sometime, something I haven't done since living in California.

I think I should update my clips on my website, then play Civ5. Yeah, that sounds good. I'm sad I'm out of beer. At least I have Crystal Light. Beer would be good, though.

another one down and another one down...

2011-07-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Finished square No. 6 of the Great American Afghan! Hooray! Now, the pattern calls for 25, which at this rate, I will never finish. So, I'm hoping to reach 12 and make an assessment. I really like the challenge of a new pattern in a small enough project.

I only messed up a little right at the end, and by the time I'd noticed it, I was binding off. So, it has some imperfections, which makes it all the better.

I'm hoping to work more on the sock yarn hat tonight. I have 2 more inches to go before I can start decreasing, so that's 20 more rounds (that's at 144 stitches cast on, so I have 2,880 more stitches to go before I decrease....holy crap). Why WHY am I doing a project with sock yarn???? Socks never seem this daunting, and there's two of them!

It'll be really cute when it's done, that's why. I have already 15,120 stitches in the hat. What's another 2,880?

Right?

melting! meltiiiiiiiinnnnngggg.......

2011-07-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

Not really. But I am sitting in my own pool of sweat. Please, Baby Jesus, see it into your heart to give us AC at our next home. We have a window unit in the bedroom (thanks, Freecycle!), which helps tremendously when we're trying to sleep. The rest of the house is sitting around 85º. Tank top and teeny shorts are about all I can stand. I'm also sunburned in weird places from Sunday's trip to the beach (stupid spray sunscreen...you can tell where the 50 spf actually landed and where it did not). I'm sure it's throwing off my internal temp even more. It was supposed to rain today to help things cool down. No dice. Here's hoping there's a violent thunderstorm overnight to cool stuff down.

The beach on Sunday was amazing. It was the first time I've walked around in hot sand since moving to MA from CA almost 2 years ago. It was a trip long overdue. We went up to the North Shore, paid way too much for parking (I hope at least half of the $25 goes to the Boy Scouts who were running the parking lot), and bummed around on the beach until it started getting crowded and rowdy. Ben swam about a mile up and down the coast line, and I laid there and did nothing but listen to the iPod. Incredible. Oh yeah, and we played some cribbage and had a picnic, too. Amazing.

The neighbors upstairs (re: landlords) came home Sunday with a newborn. We are now six at 48 Concord Ave.! We only can hear the kiddo crying if we're outside and they have their windows open. Otherwise, we hear nothing. And that kid has some good lungs on him. Hooray for high ceilings. I've offered to babysit if they need a night out together...I like exposing Ben to babies, and it would be a good refresher for me — I haven't changed a diaper since I was 15 or so. The best part about the little guy is that he was born with an amazingly luscious head of black hair. The parents are having the briss at the house on Friday, so he'll officially have a name soon!

Design news: In some downtime at work today, I started doing a Lynda.com tutorial on the new features of InDesign CS5. Holy crap, I'm excited. I was completely geeking out at the new tools. So much so that I want to create a fake book project, just to have something to play with. I'm really hurting for a creative outlet...I volunteered to do a logo design for a non-profit starting up. It's called Knitting Heritage Museum Work-in-Progress. I made a few logos for them, plus a badge and banner they can put up on their Ravelry site. It was so nice to combine two of my loves: knitting and graphic design. I'll put up the finished product when it's all done.

Knitting news: Possibly too hot to knit tonight. Although, I've been plowing my way through "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" season 1, so I might be convinced to pick up the sock yarn hat. I didn't get as far this weekend on the afghan block as I wanted, but I'm a mere 15 rows from the end. The cableing is getting less complicated, so it should go relatively quickly. The wool is worsted, though, and I'm pretty sure it would absorb my hand sweat. The fingering weight sock yarn would do much better on a night like this.

omg stop whining...

2011-07-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

The dog is laying next to me on the floor, doing the nose-whistle whining. Earlier, she was indiscriminately growling. I know she has some wicked energy that she needs to get out on the walk or at the park, but I want Ben to take her when she's like this — she still does much better with him than with me. If I were to take her myself now, she'd be crazy and I'd get frustrated, which would make her more crazy, and I'd probably end up crying. I'll let Ben sleep another 5 minutes before trying to wake him up. SHUT UP, APRIL!

My stomach has been having a rough week. I don't know if I ate something bad or if I was dehydrated or what, but I had zero taste/desire for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday night, and I had to leave work early yesterday because I felt like I was going to hurl (or worse) at my desk. I came home, made sure to eat some protein (in case it was a carb-overload or something), then slept for 3 hours. When I woke up, I was actually hungry for dinner, but still feeling iffy. This morning, I'm better, but I won't be trying to take down a whole pizza by myself or anything. It might be related to my acid reflux, but I'm not sure.

We saw "Horrible Bosses" last night. I don't think I've heard Ben laugh that hard at a movie in a long time. Same with me. The casting was perfect, and Charlie Day may be my new favorite actor. We went with my coworker and her fiance, and it was super nice to do something fun together outside of work.

Today, I HAVE HAVE HAVE to do some knitting. I think I've knitted 2-1/2 rounds on my sock yarn hat this week. That's it. PATHETIC. Post Office, farmers market, house tidying, then knitting. I started watching Buffy: The Vampire Slayer on Netflix, so that will be a good excuse to sit down and crank out some rows. I have 2 more inches left on the hat before I start decreasing (that's about 20 rounds), and I'm more than halfway through the afghan square. One of those will get done today. Yes yes. I have too many pressing projects in my queue, and I don't want to have 20 WIPs going. I blame the dog. :)

things...

2011-07-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

I promised Katie I wouldn't blog about the gross thing the dog did yesterday, so ill blog about the amazing thing she did this morning. We were on our morning walk, and she was incredibly wound up. I did some makeshift agility with her, using the picnic tables and park benches, then took her into the ball field for recall training. I do this by putting her into a Sit, telling her to Wait, walking away a decent distance, then calling her by yelling Aqui! She comes barrelling at me as fast as she can to get a treat, then we start the process over. She does a good job if there are no other dogs around, but her puppy friend, Tilly, showed up, so I was dead to her. The two of them wrestled and ran around for a bit, me still occasionally yelling Aqui! to keep April with me in her little brain. Then, another dog on leash came into the park. April abandoned Tilly and went flying toward the stranger dog. It took me yelling APRIL, NO! LEAVE IT! AQUI! to get her to stop her approach. Not 10 feet from the other dog, she banked a corner and came flying back to me. I was never so relieved that she listened to me and never so happy about a year's worth of training paying off. She still sucks at her initial impulse control, but my voice is starting to get through to her. Praise Jeebus.

In other things, the 4th weekend was great. It rained Sunday, so I cleaned in the morning and bummed around in the afternoon. On Monday, we went to the Sox-Blue Jays game, where I very nearly passed out from the heat. It was brutal. I was paying fo $3.75 bottles of water and couldn't finish one beer before the heat made it skunky. In the 5th inning, the sun started going down and clouds rolled in, helping me recover. Too bad the Sox lost, though. We had friends over to grill before catching the big fireworks show. We were incredibly exhausted and so ready to sleep.

The last thing is that I've redesigned my website, this time using WordPress. I got tired of fumbling with Dreamweaver, and my website host had an easy WordPress install. I'm still tweaking it while I learn about CSS, but it's off to a good start. Be sure to swung by to check it out!

independence...

2011-07-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

The British army marches on Boston Common (again)

One of my favorite parts of the year is the weekend of July 4. It was awesome as a kid...going to the carnival and shooting off fireworks in the back yard while trying to keep our Old English Sheepdog from eating the smoke bombs (it would turn her white beard shades of orange, red or blue). As a teenager, I loved going to barbeques at friends' houses and shooting off fireworks in an only semi-safe manner. As an adult, I've enjoyed spending the holiday with my dear husband, sometimes also with friends. The big day itself is special to me because in 1998, it was the first time Ben and I kissed. He came up for the weekend from scout camp, where he was working all summer. We went to our friend, Maya's, house for a BBQ, then proceeded to Lion's Club Park for the annual fireworks show next to the carnival. After watching the fireworks go off, Ben drove me home and walked me to the front door. It had been a terribly romantic night, and he kissed me goodnight on my doorstep. It was so very sweet, and I felt like Jell-O afterward. It's still wonderfully romantic to watch the July 4th fireworks with him, and thankfully, we've always been together to see them.

Sorry for another long blogging drought. After my parents left, it was work work work work because of a major meltdown in the servers that stored all of our working and archived design files at my company. Basically, a year's worth of layouts and PDF proofs were lost. The server got sent off to one of those data recovery services, and for a whopping $10K, they were able to recover 85% of the lost data. The problem is that the data all has new file names, is not in any sort of order, and we don't know what 85% got recovered (if it was vital or not).

Considering the adversity, my department did a helluva job getting things out this week. It would be nice if we got more appreciation, but we know we did great. I guess that counts.

I have a long weekend for the holiday, though, and we've been taking advantage of the rest time. We did take an outing this afternoon, though. This morning at Long Wharf, British soldier reenactors disembarked their ship and marched through Boston. We caught up with the show at Boston Common, where there was an encampment of colonial militia and British regiments. They reenacted four battles from the Revolutionary War, including the Lexington-Concord battles and Bunker Hill. It actually wasn't as cheesy as I thought it might be. Plus, the commentary from the little kids made it even better: "It's tea time! Better stop fighting and go have your tea back in England!" one 7-year-old cleverly heckled. They were also really excited about the flames/smoke coming from the ends of the guns. And they cheered every time a Redcoat went down. Sadly, they didn't know that Bunker Hill ended in a Colonial loss, so they were greatly disappointed to see a retreat.

I can't say enough about how awesome it is living in Boston around the 4th. They do it up right here!

Tonight, I made seared steak with chard salad for dinner. It required me to buy anchovies for the first time, which greatly pleased the 4-legged members of the house (they all got to have one). It came out great, and I'm definitely saving it to cook again. I will say, though, for the two of us, 1.5 lbs of sirloin was a bit much, so I'll probably just go with a pound next time.

I've been greatly inspired to cook ever since I signed up for a Recipe-of-the-Day from the Food Network. I've had great success in what I've cooked so far, and it's pushing me to try things I wouldn't otherwise (like the anchovies).

Knitting update: I'm about halfway through square No. 6 for the Great American Afghan. I also worked a little on the slouchy sock yarn hat, but much of the progress was made by my dear mama, who graciously knitted seven rounds on it while she was out here visiting a couple of weekends ago. Our gauges are really different, however, so it'll just be a little extra slouchy in the middle :).

rain...

2011-06-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Mom snaps the ends off the green beans

It's supposed to be June 24, but it's 59º and misty. We had about 3 days of beautiful summer weather last weekend that quickly went away. I guess it's better than it being so blasted hot that we can't even sleep. It just sucks that the weather is crappy the weekend my parents are out visiting! It was very cold and rainy when they visited more than a year ago in March, so I was hoping a June visit would be nicer. Oh well.

It's been awesome hanging out with my mom. My dad is out here on business, so she tagged along to see me. I was able to take a day and a half off for a long weekend. Not sure what we're going to do with our time (weather dependent), but we're just happy to hang out with each other.

It was a rough week at work with technical difficulties. Pretty much every server that holds our work has crapped out in some fashion. The computer system seems to be melting down (or maybe it's actually SkyNet and it's become self-aware). Because of that, it's even better to be able to take time off and avoid the employee meltdown that will go with it.

Knitting update: I'm almost halfway through square No. 6. I really like the pattern. It's a combination of moss stitch, crisscrossing cables and knitted acorn motifs. Very cute! I'm hoping to have my mom help me out a bit with my sockyarn hat while she's here to keep that going. I'm only at 4.5" of stockinette, and it needs to be 9" before I start decreasing. Oy.

with thumbs...

2011-06-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to make a go of blogging more, but I'm usually too wiped out in the evenings to do so. Now that I have an awesome Droid, I decided to try to blog more on my phone. It works pretty well, but sometimes Autocorrect kills me. For example, blogging = flogging. Or sometimes I'll just type I and hit the space, which will change the word to impregnate. Um okay. Anyway, we'll see if it keeps up. I can type super fast on a real keyboard, and I feel a little too special typing on my phone sometimes.

It wad kind of a crappy day at work. The worst was that one of the main servers I use died. Not like, "Did you restart it?" died, but full on, OMGWTFBBQ died. There was a panic that swept through when it was determined that the server was last backed up in June 2010. That's a lot of stuff to just go POOF. We eventually found a more up-to-date back up server, so the mass suicide attempts were thwarted.

I'm better now. An after dinner walk with the husband and Thin Mint ice cream helps :).

TMI...

2011-06-16T05:17:00.000-07:00

It's probably something that I shouldn't share, but it's too amazing not to. Yesterday, April ate something that she really shouldn't have on many levels. About a year ago, I switched from an oral birth control to a vaginal ring after consulting with my doctor about increasing problems with cramping. The gist of it is, you use a ring for 3 weeks, then take it out the 4th week to start your period. The used rings are to be disposed of in their original ziplock baggie and placed in the trash. Occasionally, April would get into the bathroom trash to shred cotton balls, but it had been awhile since she did that. Ben came home yesterday to walk April before the Bruins game and found the little baggie shredded. Only a small plastic piece of a ring remained. My dear puppy ate something that had been INSIDE me.

I shudder to think what would happen next. Is she going to eat my hairbrush to get a taste of my hair? My sweaty socks? My ARM, when I'm not looking?

I'm pretty sure there wasn't enough hormone left on the ring to hurt her. I'm more worried about the chunks of plastic.

procrastination...

2011-06-15T04:51:00.000-07:00

I should really go shower. The bus I've been taking lately leaves in 3 minutes, so I suppose I'll grab the one that leaves in 30 minutes. I slept 30 minutes past my alarm, took the dog on a nice walk this morning (I had to work with her in a busy area because she was getting too worked up with all the activity...I'm pretty sure in her head is just a constant AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! when we're outside). Now, I'm sitting here, feeling the start of cramps. Ugh. It makes me just want to crawl back into my PJ pants and curl up on the couch with my new copy of "Catching Fire."

I can't call in sick, though. The other graphic designer is chaperoning a group of 8th graders to Washington D.C. this week (bless his heart) and the Art Director is on vacation, leaving me and the senior designer to crank out this week's work. It probably would be mean of me to call in sick, huh? Where's the Advil?....

I realized this morning that I hadn't bitched about training the dog in awhile. I take this as a good sign. Either she's gotten a lot better, or her insanity has become routine. I think it's the latter, and I'm able to deal with the insanity better. She still has her moments...this morning, she decided to bay at a homeless man walking down the street. She does that when she's frightened but not looking for a fight. Once we passed the man, and I gave her a few corrections and said something like, "His life is hard enough without a dog judging him," she was fine and was happily bouncing along beside me. Idiot. She's gotta learn that mama can handle the scary stuff so she shouldn't be on guard so much. Sigh.

Yeah, need to go shower. And find the Advil.

mmm beer...

2011-06-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

Caprese sandwiches in the park

Ben, 29, and Susan, 28

The anniversary last weekend was a blast. We had a pre-beerfest picnic on Prospect Hill, overlooking Somerville, Harvard and into Boston. Ben had the idea to bring caprese sandwich makings and wine and bike up the hill. Aside from me not being able to bike all the way up the incredibly steep hill, it was a good idea.

After eating, we headed home and made our way to the Seaport for the American Craft Beer Festival. I kind of knew it, but got reminded that this event is kind of a big deal. The bigger craft breweries got their start at this festival, so it's a great place for unknowns or little-knowns to get more fans.

Boulevard!

We visited our favorites: Boulevard (KC), Stone (San Diego), Anchor Steam (SF) and Rogue (Oregon). We also tried smaller breweries and some that we've had one or two of their beers before. The favorite of the day for me was a toss up of Rogue's Chocolate Stout and Left Hand's Coffee Porter. I think I could drink more of the Coffee Porter, but the Chocolate Stout has sentimental value (I had it for the first time at a Rogue Ale House in SF on my first and only trip there a few years back). Yeah, I have a rough life...trying to pick which beer was more delicious.

We ended the night with a burger, another beer and a Bruins' loss at Charlie's Kitchen in Harvard Square. Sad face. It's incredibly hard to not get into Boston sports while living out here. The Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins are all great teams with a hardcore fan base, and even if you try not to, you end up cheering for them. It was fun seeing the Celtics go pretty far last year, and it's been great cheering on the Bruins closer to the Stanley Cup. The series is tied 3-2 with the Canucks in the lead. The next game is here in town, and if the last two games were any indication, it should definitely go to a game 7.

The last month or so has been incredibly exhausting at work. I've been having to pull long days and even work a couple of hours over the weekends. Yesterday, though, our biggest project(s) of the year were finished up, so I'm really looking forward to a few quiet weeks ahead. I finally feel like I can catch my breath and get reoriented, just in time for the next big storm.

It's a rainy, cold Saturday, which suits me fine because I need to do about 8 loads of laundry and vacuum the excessive amount of pet hair that starts to take over the apartment. Along with my exhaustion, the house has started falling into disarray. I've also been bad about cooking lately, which I thoroughly enjoy doing. I'm hopeful that I'll have the energy for meal planning and preparation once again! Thursday, though, I was determined to cook, and I made a chicken salad pita over hummus with couscous on the side. The marinade on the chicken was delicious (as was the thigh-meat...glad I didn't use the white meat on this one). The meal turned out fantastic, and I'll definitely make it again this summer — I'm drawn to the recipes that require little or no stove/oven time and heat up my no-AC house.

Today, I went to a Mary Kay party at my friend's house. She's just starting out, so I went for moral support. It was not a crazy-fest like I expected, mainly because I was the only guest who came and the woman leading the party wasn't the insane, helmet-hair, makeup obsessed representative I feared. I don't wear much makeup, but I was interested in the face cleansing products. I still have an issue with acne, mainly on my chin, so I'm still seeking a regimen that works on me. I decided to get a sampler of cleanser/moisturizer/serums to see if that helps me out. I also need to stop touching my face while I work. That's probably the biggest hurdle.

On to laundry load #2 of 7...

six years...

2011-06-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

Susan, 22, and Ben, 23

On June 4, 2005, I married my best friend. It was 90 degrees with 90% humidity. I woke up at 6 a.m. out of anticipation, but the wedding wasn't until 6 p.m. By 3, I was ready for a nap, but my hair was done, so the best I could do was lay my forehead down on the kitchen table and close my eyes. Our minister (Marv, who passed away recently) was so caught up in the ceremony, he skipped over the special music part — a piano piece played by my maid of honor sister Sarah. It's okay, though, because it was so hot up at the altar that Ben's best man, Christian, almost fainted. Then, we partied. It was one of the best parties I've ever been to. Our families and childhood and college friends were all there, chatting, eating, dancing, and drinking. Our friends are incredibly important to Ben and me, so it was fitting that we were able to have an event to bring everyone to one place for some fun. My dad extended the open bar by an hour, but thankfully closed it down before my college buddies started doing tequila shots. Ben and I were some of the last to leave the reception when it closed down at midnight. We were just having so much fun! We were melancholy, too, though. In a week, we were leaving Missouri for our new life together in California. We knew that it might be the last time we'd ever see some of these people, and we weren't quite ready to say goodbye. It was a good send-off for us, though, and we were able to embark on the new adventure we've been having the past six years.

Thank you, Ben, for the adventure that we are still on. We've grown up a lot together, and I can't imagine my life any other way. It's been pretty great.

We're celebrating tonight by going to the American Craft Brewers Festival at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. Here's the list of attendees. I audibly screamed when I saw Boulevard was going to be there. You can't find it ANYWHERE outside of the Midwest. I'm stoked.

Go Eagles...

2011-05-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

Yay! I finished another project! Here's a Moderne Baby Blanket from "Mason-Dixon Knitting" in Philadelphia Eagles colors for my dear friends, Cliff and Katie. This is for James, who arrived a couple of weeks ago. Now, I just gotta get it in the mail!

It differs from the last one I made in that I made a stroller-sized blanked. This was slightly intentional — I was feeling a time crunch, and this size was a bit more manageable.

they say the neon lights are bright on Broadway...

2011-05-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

First off, yarn pr0n:

And patchwork pr0n:

Both purchases came from Purl Soho, a Mecca of mine since I started knitting. I read their blog religiously, and I was super excited to visit the shop on my first trip to NYC. I bought Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter 100% American Wool to make Ben a replacement pair of fingerless gloves with a mitten flap to replace the ones that were lost this past winter. The fat quarters was an impulse buy. I figured I could find something cute to do with them (pillow cover? quilted purse?).

*******

Knitting update: I'm on the last two panels of the baby blanket I'm making for the newly born James Erwin. Almost done, kiddo! I just need to do the edging! I also got back to work on my sockyarn hat, long neglected, while in transit to and from NYC.

******

Sarah at her 30th birthday dinner

For more photos, please visit here. Now for the trip. We went to NYC to meet up with my dear sister and her husband for the weekend. Today, in fact, is my Sarie's 30th birthday, so she suggested meeting in NYC to celebrate. Seeing as how we now live much closer to the Big Apple, we were happy to oblige.

The visit was amazing, and I really love New York! It was an interesting adjustment, though. I'm used to Boston being a big city, but in fact, it's much smaller in square miles than lots of big cities. You can easily walk from one end of Boston to the other in a few quick hours, stopping for beverages and such. We ended up taking the subway a lot in NYC in addition to walking. The small area of Manhattan we visited was enormous!

Ben and I flew in earlier than Sarah and Paul, so we did some sightseeing on our own in the rain. Our first stop was to the Times Square hotel to drop off our bags. We were starving at this point, so we took a look at delis around us (side note: we just recently both got smartphones...they totally made our visit to an unfamiliar city MUCH easier....thanks Google Maps and Urbanspoon!). We decided to eat at the closest one, Hello Deli. It wasn't until we went inside that we realized it's the deli frequented by the Late Show. It's actually right behind David Letterman's theater, and he does bits in there every now and then. The food was AMAZING. I got the roast beef with bacon, provolone and tomato. Droooool.

We weren't able to check into the hotel by this point, so we decided to find our way to SoHo so I could stop by Purl Soho. I paid homage, and then we decided to try to find the restaurant where we were hoping to have dinner that night (Ben got the recommendation from his adviser...there were no reservations available when we called, but they suggested calling around 5 p.m. to see if anyone canceled). We sat on a bench outside Balthazar and people-watched while we waited for it to become 5 p.m.

While we were sitting there, observing people and their fashion (at least I was...I now have major shoe envy of the women of NY), a crowd started forming. There were paparazzi hanging out near us, so we figured that someone of note was in the restaurant. Eventually, Jessica Simpson emerged and quickly ran inside a big SUV. After all the commotion, Ben was finally able to go inside the restaurant and secure us a reservation for 9:30 p.m.

We had some time to kill, so we braved the rain showers back to Times Square. By this time, we were able to check into the hotel, so we got everything up into the room and rested before dinner (we were chilly and damp from the crappy weather).

Dinner was probably the best meal I've ever had. Seriously. Like, in my whole life. Balthazar is a French restaurant, known for their deliciousness. Ben and I decided to get the roast chicken for two (it came with roasted veggies — carrots, onion, leeks, garlic — and garlic mashed potatoes). It was a 30 minute wait for the food while the chicken roasted, and it was totally worth the wait.

We left the restaurant happy and full, and we proceeded back up to Times Square to meet up with our long-lost family, caught up in travel delays. We grabbed a drink in the hotel lobby before passing out for the night.

******

The next day, we took a friend's suggestion and headed to Greenwich Village for breakfast. We hit up Murray's Bagels and took them to Washington Square Park. We didn't realize it at the time, but that's where Harry drops Sally off in "When Harry Met Sally"! We decided to see Central Park before our matinee showing of "Lombardi" on Broadway. The rain finally dissipated, and we were able to enjoy a lovely afternoon at the park.

We hurried back to the hotel to change clothes before the show. "Lombardi" was held in a really cool venue — it was intimate and you were right up to the actors. The show was well done, and it was pretty cool seeing the dad from The Wonder Years and Judith Light (Who's the Boss?) play these iconic football roles. It was a very good show. I also spotted Zachary Quinto (Heroes, Star Trek) in the audience, and apparently Matthew Brodrick and Keith Olbermann were there, too!

We grabbed hot dogs from a street vendor to tie us over until dinner, then headed back to the hotel just as more rain started. We had a few hours before dinner, so we all napped. It was amazing. I love taking naps on the weekend. We had dinner at Havana Central in Times Square, on the recommendation of my boss who used to work in Times Square. There was a live band playing Latin music (it's a Cuban restaurant), and we had two pitchers of sangria (made fresh at the table). I thoroughly enjoyed my meal...classic paella with chicken, chorizo, clams, mussels and shrimp. It was too much for one person, but we didn't have a fridge back at the hotel and I was sad to let the rest go to waste. We got Sarah nice and tipsy for her birthday dinner.

After dinner, we walked to Rockefeller Center. We saw Radio Music Hall, the NBC studios, and 30 Rock. It was nice walking off our full stomachs, and we headed back to the hotel to crash for the night.

******

Sarah and Paul had to catch their flight, so we said goodbye to them in the morning. Ben and I got checked out of the hotel, stored our bags, and headed downtown. We decided to see Ground Zero, almost 10 years after the 9/11 attacks. What amazed me when we got down there is how it wasn't depressing. There's so much construction going on at the site, we couldn't really see the devastation we'd been seeing in pictures. In fact, the new memorial tower looks really beautiful. I'm quite excited to see it all finished one day.

We continued walking to Battery Park to see the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty. It was incredibly foggy, so we just got the outline of the lady, but it was still cool to see her off in the distance. On our way back uptown, we stopped off at the Village again to eat at Mamoun's Falafels, recommended to us both by a friend of mine from high school and Ben's PhD adviser (note: if two people recommend the same hole-in-the-wall place in a giant city like NYC, it has to be good). Oh, and it was. We both got the falafel plate, which came with fresh, warm pitas. Hands down, the best falafel I've ever had. It also helped that we were starving. We ended the visit with a coffee, cappuccino and eclair at Cafe Reggio next door. I really like Greenwich Village. If we ever move to the city, that's the neighborhood I'd like to live in (perhaps...if we could afford to live on Manhattan, that is).

We headed back uptown, grabbed our bags, and headed to Penn Station to get our train back to Newark. We ended up being really early to the airport (we allowed a lot of time since we had to transfer trains a few times), so we grabbed a beer and chilled out. It was a big weekend, and our flight ended up being delayed because of weather, so by the time we got home, it was quite late and we were exhausted.

But, I hadn't felt so relaxed in a long time. The three days away felt like five, and I had my happy back.

I'd like to visit NYC again, mainly to try more food. I don't think I've ever eaten so well as I did that weekend. Amazing.

******

It was another rough week this week with some overtime hours. But, our good friend, Josh, and his girlfriend, Maggie, came out for a visit. Maggie's 5-year college reunion is this weekend, so they came out a few days early. It's been awesome getting caught up!

I'm hoping I can take a nap today, too :).

It's happening...

2011-05-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

I found my first gray hair last night. I had some phantom gray hairs before, but they turned out to be platinum highlights from being in the sun. Nope, this one is for real. It's wiry and wavy, and it's shorter than the other hairs around it, which tells me it's new. I'd like to say that I earned that hair, but I don't know if I can.

I've been incredibly stressed at work the past month or so. The workload is out of control, and this past week, I worked 48.5 hours. Now, there are plenty of people who work that on a regular basis (or more), but in my job, that's a lot. We don't get paid overtime, and the mood/energy of the office tends to side with "hair on fire crazy." So 48.5 hours tends to feel like 60 hours. I do my best to not be affected by it, but eventually the negative energy creeps in. It usually manifests with my acid reflux reappearing, pulse rate and blood pressure increasing, and anger rising. I have coping mechanisms for each, but by the time Friday rolls around, my defenses are weakened.

I need to start doing yoga again.

This coming week won't be much better, except for the fact that I have Friday off to travel to NYC for my dear sister's 30th birthday! I'm very excited...it'll be something to keep my sanity this week. I haven't been to New York before, and it's something I really want to do while we're living in New England.

It's been a nice weekend. I feel like all I've done is slept, but I suppose I needed it. Ben and I hung around the house, doing some cleaning before he settled down to do some work and I tucked in with some knitting. Today, we're going to finish some spring cleaning chores, and I'm hoping to get another couple of naps in.

First, though, I guess I should walk the dog. She's doing laps around the house (driving me a little nuts), which tells me she needs a vigorous game of fetch in the driveway before the walk. She's much more calm if we wear her out before we venture into the big scary world. Eeeek!

shout-out to moms of all types...

2011-05-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Of course, today we honor the women who have given birth, but let us not forget the women who have simply a straight-up nurturing role. They're moms, too!

I have three fur-babies. I feel like each of them has their own challenges, has tried my patience, made me coo uncontrollably, and given me some form of poop or pee to clean up (repeatedly).

Dodger: My first pet as an adult. Ben and I adopted him in 2005 at age 3 from a classmate who was fostering him. Dodger came into our lives before we were married (out of wedlock! shame!), and he has been one of the best cats Ben or I have ever owned (I say he's up there with Oscar, and Ben says he's up there with Licorice). Dodger continues to be the calm snuggle bunny who loves just being near us and sleeping on us. Sure, there were a few "revenge poopings" and inappropriate peeing/marking over the years. Sure, I came home to a petrified pile in my knitting basket after being gone for a weekend. Sure, we would occasionally find something reeking of male cat pee in our Riverside house (he would mark out of frustration because of the vast amount of feral cats in the neighborhood, marking the outside of the house). But, overall, he's been amazing. We've joked about cloning him when he dies, just so we can have him around longer.

Cali: We got Cali in April 2006 as a playmate for Dodger. There was a pet store up the street from our house, and there were all these little kittens in the cage by the window. We went in one day, and Ben picked out a little orange tabby girl with an eye infection (yes yes, the dangers of getting a pet store pet instead of adopting one from a shelter...but she was sick, so we felt like we were rescuing her from probably getting dumped somewhere eventually). She was about 4 months old and already showing signs of her adult behavior. Cali is one of the most neurotic cats I've ever encountered. She can be super sweet, meowing right at you to pet her furiously. But she is also incredibly skiddish, sprinting out of the room in an instant if she hears a slight noise or someone moves unexpectedly. We can't pick her up without her freaking out and going into an alligator death roll. She has about a 10-second memory, is slightly wall-eyed, and likes to sit at a distance and observe her surroundings. She was so traumatized with the move from California that she had a nervous breakdown and spent two weeks sprinting around our new Massachusetts home, pooping on everything (including our brand-new mattress the first night we slept on it). After giving her some "kitty weed" recommended to us by the vet, she calmed down and finally settled into her new home. She's even getting less skiddish about approaching the dog!

April: Our newest addition to the family. If you've been reading this blog regularly, you know our saga with her. She's been the biggest challenge to me, teaching me that I'm not (as I thought) a patient person, nor am I the hardass I thought I was going to be. I'm really happy I get her as a practice child before having a human one. I think I needed to work shit out that I didn't know was there before damaging a person (dogs don't need expensive therapy like broken children). She's made great strides in her training, thanks to Ben's unending patience and calming influence on both the dog and me. She's going to be a good family pet. She's already getting there. I think age will play a factor as she gets older, but we still have to remain consistent and vigilant in making sure that she learns how to properly behave. It will help when we have a back yard too :).

Ben and I would like to have a human child at some point. We've been waiting until our lives are a bit more stable before heading down that path. Not that there's any good time to try for children, but it wasn't something we wanted to do while we were moving around so much. It's still down the road, but my fur-babies have helped me feel more prepared than I would have been 6 years ago when we first got married.

So, happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there, be it for human babies or otherwise. Your love makes the world a better place.

where am i?

2011-05-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

This has been a weird/awesome week. I swear, this week lasted about 3 months because it was incredibly full but good.

Ben was out of town on a field trip to Utah, so it was 4.5 days of me-and-dog time. April was good this week. I think having decided that I was going to tackle the leash aggression with some new tactics, I was empowered and got frustrated less. It worked pretty well, and I also made an effort to tire her out with fetch in the driveway before we went on walks. Day camp on Thursday and a rough and tumble get-together with Ella and new friend Charlie helped as well:

From left: Charlie with a crazy eye, Ella and April playing 3-way tug on a stick

On Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to get a free ticket to the Bruins-Flyers playoff game at the Garden. My boss has all sorts of free tickets to games, and occasionally he'll give them out to employees. I went with my friend, Jackie, as her date, and she had the awesome loge seats. For my first in-person hockey game, it was pretty badass.

Hockey and beer with Jackie at the game

Awesome seats!

Ben got home Friday morning and met me for lunch downtown. He was pretty tired from taking the red-eye, but his happy face just made my day.

This morning, April blessedly did not whine in the kitchen, allowing us to sleep in to the ripe hour of 8:30. Normally on the weekends, I'm still up by 6:30 or 7. I got the best sleep last night that I've gotten in awhile. I was so incredibly exhausted after a full week of work and dog, I really needed to sleep in. Thanks, April!

It's going to be a beautiful day, and I got my bike fixed up for the year. I'm hoping I can convince Ben that we need to ride our bikes to Boson to go look at the flowers blooming in the Public Garden. Spring in Massachusetts is amazing!

Knitting update: I worked on the blanket a total of one day this week, knitting only two garter ridges. Dammit. The recipient will be born in the next couple of weeks, and I know it'll be okay if he or she does not get it right away, but still. I'd like to be close!

sheep and dogs...

2011-05-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

It's finally feeling like spring. I don't know why it makes a difference, but 55 degrees in April and May feels way warmer than 55 degrees in March. I turned off the thermostat and opened up a few windows. It's not really all that warm outside, but the sun is shining and there's not a cloud in the sky. It's total basking weather.

Alpaca!

Kristen (right) watching her friend give a spinning demonstration

This is Bonnie. She's April's age and listens to her trainer just about as well as April listens to me.
It was encouraging that a working dog can still be an ass hat like mine.

Freaked out sheep at the herding demonstration

Baby Nepalese dwarf goats. So teeny!

Freaky puppet parade

Yesterday, I went with a friend and her fiance to the Gore Place Sheepshearing Festival. I wasn't expecting much...the last community festival I went to was in California (some apple harvest fest), and it was totally lame. This one, though, was quite amazing and a really fantastic time! There were a ton of amazing food vendors (GIANT corndogs), craft vendors (lots of handmade, nice jewelry), other skilled vendors (spinning, basket making, blacksmithing, etc.) and Revolutionary War re-enactors. There was a sheepshearing demonstration and a border collie herding demonstration. I got to touch a baby alpaca and plung my hands into large tubs of wool and alpaca roving.

Basket with hooks and alpaca yarn

I bought a skein of natural brown alpaca yarn, a bar of lavender honey soap and a lovely walnut basket with hooks for April's leash and collars. Oh yeah, and there was a FREAKY puppet parade. That was a little trippy.

Overall, it was a lovely outing, and the best part was that I was able to take public transportation to get there. It would have been faster driving, but it was really nice getting to zone out and listen to music instead of being stressed out with all the crazy drivers around me. It's one thing I'm going to miss about living in the Boston area — being able to take the bus to events way outside the city. I'm really trying to not take for granted the public transit, as much as the MBTA can piss me off on my morning and evening commute.

From back to front: Lavender, oregano, parsley, rosemary

Planted last weekend

Other than that, it's been a quiet weekend. Yesterday, we filled up the herb boxes Ben built last weekend. We're starting to really have a nice back porch area. The greenery definitely makes it more inviting.

I'm starting to do some much needed spring cleaning, involving digging my bike out of the cellar (it needs some work before I can ride it) and bringing up my summery clothes and putting away my heavy winter sweaters. It's nice pulling the plastic off the windows and putting up my lighter curtains in place of the heavy, wind-blocking ones.

Ben is getting ready to take a trip out West with some upperclassmen. He's going to be showing them how to be a field geologist. He's very excited, but I know it means a week of being a single dog parent again. April hasn't exactly been the best with me on walks lately (she's been fine for Ben...dammit). I'm going to have her in day camp two of the days so that she gets enough exercise, so hopefully that'll help.

happy caturday...

2011-04-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

weird commute...

2011-04-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

My city bus driver got pulled over yesterday while I was on my way to work. He ran a red light, was speeding and almost hit a jaywalking pedestrian (we all saw her from far away, but he didn't slow down). It was kind of amazing. I wasn't in a huge hurry to get to work, so I didn't really care, but I can only imagine if anyone had somewhere to be, they'd be freaking out. Anyway, when I finally got to the train station, the Orange Line was running on 25-30 minute delays because of a power problem at another station. Turns out, a city worker cut the main power line by accident. OMG. It was all around fail.

I love the weekend, though. It's a very rainy Saturday, so I'm listening to Car Talk on NPR in my PJs while Ben is pwning n00bs on Halo: Reach. At some point I'll need to put on real pants and go to the grocery store, but that can wait. Dodger just curled up on my lap, so I'm at the computer for awhile.

Knitting update: Still working on the blanket-o-garter stitch. I'm going to try to finish another block today if I can. I really need to finish it so I can crank out a baby hat for a coworker's kiddo that's due in a couple of weeks.

i bake bread bread bread and i sweat...

2011-04-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

I made bread from scratch for the first time using a recipe from "Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life." I think it needs more salt, but other than that, it's delicious! I've been tearing off hunks of the braided loaf, and I'm going to experiment different ways to use the round loaf (I'm thinking of toasting it and making crostini or making garlic cheese bread). The next thing I'm going to make out of the book is the homemade butter. Kind of excited about that.

I've been spending my Sunday afternoon watching "16 and pregnant" and knitting while laundry goes. I thought this show would glorify teen pregnancy, but it really shows how these kids have to completely sacrifice their dreams because they were stupid and weren't using protection. I just feel really bad for the babies because they didn't choose to be born into that situation. It's kind of scared me against ever having a teenager to raise. Good God.

The good news is that I'm on block #7 of the blanket. There's still a ways to go on it, but I'm getting there.

caturday...

2011-04-16T05:17:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord, it's the weekend. I woke up to a purring 13 lb kitty who wanted me to pet him NOW. Dodger hasn't demanded love from me like that in awhile, so it was extra sweet when he decided to crawl under the covers between Ben and me. Too bad it was at 6:30 a.m.

My nose isn't as red this morning. I got antibiotics yesterday at the doctor's office, but the nurse practitioner discussed the possibility that it could be a cyst pimple. I'm holding off on taking the antibiotics to see if indeed a head of some sort forms. I actually really hope it's just a giant zit and not a skin infection (I got scared about MRSA while we were chatting). I haven't had to take antibiotics in a few years, and I'm trying to avoid it if I can.

I just made my to-do list for today. I probably ought to get cracking. But, instead, crawling back into bed with my asleep husband sounds way better. I got up after the dog started whining to go out to pee, and after I realized I forgot to approve some proofs yesterday for a catalog I just produced at work. Thankfully, our printer has a browser-based approval process using a personal log-in, so I got the other pages approved this morning. Whew!

Knitting update: Two more ridges (4 rows garter stitch) down on the blanket. Thankfully, this block is skinny. I'm only doing 12 ridges on this one and the next. I'm not looking forward to the square ones coming down the pike. I'm even making this one smaller than the last one (it's more stroller-sized), and it's still taking me forever. I think the difference is that I made the last one during football season when I could sit at the pub for 3-hour stretches on a Sunday afternoon, cranking out garter ridges without thinking. Now, the weather is getting nice and all I want to do is bum around. Dammit!

maladies...

2011-04-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

Since the fall, I've had a near uninterrupted run of the sniffles. There's been very few days since November where I haven't had to blow my nose. The constant drip has caused a small crack to form on the inside of the tip of my right nostril. It hurts sometimes, and just when it starts to heal, a good nose-blow opens it back up again. Now, I think it's infected. My nose is red and shiny (I look like a drunk), and it hurts like hell if I have to blow my nose. Awesome. I tried popping into the after-hours clinic, but the wait is almost 2 hours. I have an appointment tomorrow on my lunch break, where hopefully the nurse practitioner will say, "Yup. Here's some antibiotics." That could also clear up whatever this thing is that's making my nose run in the first place. Please???

It's been awhile. Ben got back from his 2-week trip to Asia. He brought me back a string of black pearls and a really bitchin' kite. Oh, and he got us aluminum chop sticks to replace our wooden ones — in Korea, they use washable ones instead of disposable. Good people over there. It was awesome having him home after his long trip, especially when it came to the dog-rearing duties :).

Katie, my heterolifemate, came up to Boston for a visit. The weather was pretty crappy while she was here, and we were both plagued by allergies, but I got to show her a bit of the city on the one "nice" day that it wasn't raining. It was absolutely wonderful getting to hang out with her, though. The best part was getting to plow through more episodes of Veronica Mars. We started watching the series three years ago when she came to visit Riverside, only making it halfway through season 2. We were able to finish season 2 and watched the first episode of season 3. It reignited my jacket envy of Kristen Bell. I must find a faux leather motorcycle jacket now.

After Katie left, it was a struggle to get back into the routine. Ben was still a little jet lagged from his trip, and I had 4 days off in a row. Needless to say, it was hard getting out of bed to go to work in the morning.

It's been relatively quiet this week. April has been crazy again. I think it's the weather change. She was SO well behaved when Katie was out. I think she wanted to impress Aunt Katie. She's not terrible, but she's been having a few more idiot moments out on walks than I'd like.

Knitting update: I FINALLY started block #5 of a blanket I'm making for some friends expecting a kiddo soon. There are 10 blocks in all, so I gotta haul some ass. The problem is that by the time I sit down to knit, it's about 9 p.m., giving me 90 minutes of knitting time in which I'm more likely to fall asleep than finish a row. I've literally fallen asleep while knitting. Not good for finishing things. I'll try to get an earlier start tonight.

8.5 hours...

2011-03-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

I got an email last night from Ben as he was heading to his flight from Seoul to Chicago. That's a damned long flight. I think it's 12-13 hours. Good God. I don't think I could be on a plane for that long, especially because I have a hard time sleeping on planes. Ben should be fine, though. He sleeps great in flight and has lots of stuff to keep him occupied when he's awake. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HIM!

Dancing post-show

The birthday outing last night was a blast. The Donkey Show was an odd interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, but the production, costumes and use of awesome disco hits was a great combo. We grabbed dinner at John Harvard's and scorpion bowls at Hong Kong before we went, so I feel like I had an awesome Harvard Square night. There was much dancing after the show ended, which I hadn't done in a loooong time (probably not since we went to a drag show in Riverside when Ben found out he got his fellowship). I was exhausted, had stitches in my side, and my makeup was running from the sweat, but it was so much fun. It made me miss my sister TONS, though. Sarah has a wide selection of disco that she'd listen to while studying in college when we were roommies, so when I hear Donna Summer, ABBA or the Bee Gees, she's first in my mind. Sarie, if you are able to come visit again while we're still out here, I'm totally taking you to the show :).

I fell asleep on the couch after I got back home a little after 1 a.m. I woke up a few times, noted that the lights were still on and the TV was showing the same infomercial on a loop, but I was cozy and the cat was right on top of me, so I just went back to sleep. I finally woke up around 6:15 to turn off the TV and lamp over my head, then went back to sleep until 8:30. The dog woke me up then by shoving her squeaky stuffingless beaver toy in my face (she was in the living room with me, sleeping on her bed on the floor). I let her out to run around/pee, then crawled back onto the couch until 9:30. Yeah, it was awesome. I feel like there's stuff I need to do right now to kill time before Ben gets home, but I'm drawing a blank. I suppose I could vacuum. I already walked April for a decently long walk...it's still friggin cold, so I didn't want to stay outside for too long (it's sunny, but 31º).

I'll probably play Civ V here in a bit. Or work more on my website. I'm trying to figure out what ActionScript I need to use to make a button link to my email address. I can only find the URL script, which won't accept my mailto: command. Must do some Googling. My redesigned site is almost ready to put up...I just need to get the portfolio images ready to go. My portfolio page is the only dynamic page on my new streamlined site, and I need to get the "click on a thumbnail and a bigger image pops up" thing to work.

Or maybe I'll take a nap.

one more day...

2011-03-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

This has been one of the longest two weeks without Ben that I've ever experienced. I really shouldn't complain....I have friends who have spouses deployed to war zones for months at a time. However, working full time and being the primary caretaker of the house and pets is getting EXHAUSTING. My life is much less stressful with Ben around. He's the best partner, and his absence is huge for me. He gets back tomorrow night, and I'm sad I won't have much time with him before I have to go back to work on Monday.

It's also gotten much more stressful walking April this week. She's been getting out of control when she sees other dogs, and I'm having a hard time subduing her. Observing her, though, I really think she's gotten protective over me. She's incredibly obedient when I tell her to do something. I barely have to whisper "Watch Me," and her head snaps to attention to lock eyes with mine. She's listening to me and follows my instructions. When another dog is in the vicinity, though, all bets are off. She'll immediately bark (she rarely growls first now), I'll put her in a sit or a down (which she does readily), then she'll jump right back up and ferociously bark at the other dog. I try to put myself between her and the other dog, but she's so agile, she bounces around me. It turns into a circus with me trying to keep her from jumping around and keeping calm myself. Then, as soon as the dog is out of sight or she gets over her initial fear, she'll be right back with me as if nothing happened. She doesn't do this with Ben, I'm guessing, because she knows he can protect himself. She doesn't believe I can. Our neighborhood is quite safe and I appreciate having a "guard dog" when Ben's away, but she acts so inappropriately. I'm going to put in a call to our trainer this weekend to see if she has any advice for me. I'm thinking about enrolling her in another training class — there's one near us that has a "walking in the city" class. I'm hoping that will put us out on the street with a trainer to teach me how to handle April when unexpected things happen. I love the PetSmart class, but she got so comfortable at PetSmart that she was much better behaved there than she was on our street.

Can I just mention again that I can't wait for Ben to come home? :)

It got butt cold again. Today and tomorrow's highs are only in the high 30s. I took the truck to the car wash to give it a post-winter scrub down and to vacuum out the interior, and there were icicles hanging off the truck almost immediately. I'm so over it. At least when Katie comes to visit next week, it'll be climbing back into the high 40s and 50s. Please.

Tonight I get to go out to a show in Cambridge for a friend's birthday. I'm very excited, but I have no idea what to wear...I want to wear something cute, like a party dress, but it'll be friggin cold. The show is "The Donkey Show," which is a disco version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." I wanted to see it for awhile, so I'm glad I get the chance!

Now, I'm going to tuck in on the couch with This American Life and some knitting. I'll probably take a nap too. ZZZZZZZZZ....

28...

2011-03-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

This birthday is vastly different than last year's. For one, it was 70 degrees last year. Today, it hung around 40 (but it was sunny). Last year, my hubby took me out to dinner in the North End. This year, he is in China, and my friends are taking me out for dinner at Harvard Square. Last year, I could sleep in and do what I wanted. This year, I had to still walk the dog and make sure she was taken care of (blessedly, she gave me a great birthday gift — being EXTREMELY well-behaved at the dog park. Go, April!).

It feels weird being 28. I still feel like a kid a lot of the time, but I can now say that I'm "pushing 30." Yet, now there are things that are very adult that I have to contend with (paying off the credit card, saving for retirement and a house one day, planning for any future children, etc). Last year seemed more fun and that I had less responsibility. It would probably help if I knew where we were going to be living 5 months from now. Yeah, that would help. Soon.

It's been a very nice birthday, though. Aside from feeling ill this morning (I was bad and had some coffee yesterday, even though I gave it up for Lent, and it did a number on my whole gastrointestinal system) and not being able to take April on a proper walk, the day turned out well. April was good to her mama when I had to keep stopping on the walk and turned around halfway to the dog park. She allowed me to chuck a ball at her in the back yard and call that "good for the morning."

Patrick and me down at the parade.

After resting up, I met up with my friend, Patrick, and after eating a burrito at Olecito, we headed to Southie in Boston for the annual St. Pat's Day parade. It was chilly, but the sun was nice. There were a CRAPLOAD of people taking the T down there, so it took awhile before we could get out of the station and up to the street level. We found a pretty good vantage spot and watched the procession. It was a lot of military, past and present (the Revolutionary guys kept firing off the muskets and scaring the crap out of everyone), and high school marching band. It really reminded me a lot of the parades from my hometown. You'd think that Boston would have this elaborate parade set up, but nope. It's very small-town-ish. We grabbed ice cream and tea when the parade ended and waited for the second one to start up....

Apparently in 1993, the Gay Irish League of Boston wanted to march in the annual parade. They got permission, but at the last minute (out of fear that parade organizers would have to let other LGBT groups into the parade), the parade got canceled. The area down there is notoriously homophobic, so this isn't surprising. To make up for it, LGBT groups, plus anti-war groups, started a parade after the first one. It was very small, and it involved many more anti-war groups than gay rights groups, but it was nice to see their voices were being heard, too.

I'm off to meet Patrick and some newish friends he's introduced me to for dinner at Harvard Square. I had thought about "going all-out" tonight, but my stomach is still feeling iffy. I might have to not be wild and crazy and call it an earlyish tame night. I took April to the dog park this evening, where she was VERY good and only decided to try to dominate one dog, and that was at the end. The rest of the time, she played well and acted like a normal dog. Thanks, baby girl :).

Overall, though? It's been good. I miss Ben and wish he could be here, but his birthday wish to me was the first I got after midnight last night (via email from an airplane taxiing in Inchon, South Korea). I'm just happy he'll be back home with me in a week!

surviving the week...

2011-03-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it. We made it. Yay for us!

I survived the first full week of Ben being gone as a single dog-parent who had to work overtime hours every night. This is without coffee (or caffeine in general) because I gave it up for Lent. This was with the help of my wonderful friends who would come over and let April out to pee if I wasn't able to get home at a decent time. And it was with the help of beer, which I was able to consume to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Thursday with a coworker (the dog was at day camp).

I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 last night. Awesome, huh?

We had our first almost-70 day yesterday. It was amazing. Until the AC refused to kick on and our office hit 85 degrees. But whatever. It felt AMAZING outside. Today, it's back into the 40s, where it will linger for the next week or so.

Ben is gone for another full week, so I have 17 more walks with the dog. I'm counting those as 17 more chances for her to NOT bark hysterically at another dog. She will bark at 95% of the dogs she sees. I haven't figured out what's so special about the 5% she doesn't bark at. One was a beagle last night that was on "her" sidewalk. No reaction other than normal curiosity. Weirdo.

I picked up my new glasses today. I decided it was time to update my frames. The ones I wore the most are about 8-9 years old and are decidedly too small for my face (the arms bend outward, which means overall my head is too big for them). I like them, but it was time for an upgrade. I got some RayBan glasses that don't look too hipster, and I'm getting used to my stronger prescription. I like them, but they'll definitely take some getting used to (the fact that they actually are proportional to my head, for one). I got the transition lenses on these again so that when they get dark, it looks like I'm just wearing RayBan sunglasses. Two-for-one!

Today is going to be spent working on a baby shower invitation design for a friend who's throwing a shower for another friend (got that?), maybe playing some Civ V, maybe taking a second nap (yeah, had one after walking the dog and taking a shower this morning), maybe doing some knitting.

Speaking of knitting, I finally sent the baby bibs to my cousin and I delivered two more baby gifts to the new/expectant parents. Here are the two newest FOs:

Cascade Handpainted Pointy Elf Hat for Ravit & Ted (my landlords): I was worried about running out of yarn, so it's not as pointy as it's supposed to be. But I still think it's really cute, and I love how the thick-thin yarn came out. It's 100% wool, so it'll keep the kiddo's head warm through the Boston winters. The pattern is from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, a book that I'm slowly diving into.

Cotton Ease Football for Jeff & Emily (friends from California): When Jeff and I were coworkers at The Press-Enterprise, he said, "If I ever become a dad, I want you to make a baby Abraham Lincoln stovepipe hat with a beard chin strap." I said, "What if it's a girl?" He said, "What, you don't think my daughter could free the slaves?" This summed up our friendship well :). A baby stovepipe hat is structurally difficult for someone who isn't very good at crocheting (knitting wouldn't be stiff enough), so I settled for the next best thing: a Raiders-themed old-school football helmet hat. It pained me to make something in Raiders colors (being a Broncos fan), but it was for Jeff's son.

The current knitted item is also football-related, but I decided to go for something different than the hat. I'll post a picture of it when it's done.

And the projects for myself? Stalled. I barely have time to make little knitted items, let alone bigger, adult-sized stuff. The next project, though, is for an adult. My sister, to be exact. Someone's turning 30 in a couple of months! Get excited, Pear!

i have no idea what's going on...

2011-03-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

Knitting update: Yarn bought for 3 baby projects. First baby hat started and will (hopefully) be finished tonight. Yup, that's about it.

I fully intended to blog last week, but that sure didn't happen. Uuuuhhhh...yeah. I actually am having a hard time remembering the details of the past couple of weeks. Greg and Erica came for a visit last weekend, which was awesome (thanks for coming!), and their visit gave me a great excuse to take a half day from work. The weather was super while they were out, but it was short-lived. This past week plunged back into frigid temps, and once again, I was not able to retire the parka for the season. The good news is that it's "warm" today at 52º, so I was able to open one small window to air out the place.

This week has just been get up, walk the dog, go to work, come home, eat dinner, pass out on the couch. It sucks because Ben left for a 2-week trip (he'll be on a continent that sounds like ay-sha). It would have been nice to be in a better state of mind to spend time with him before he left. He was pretty wrecked too, so we did our best.

He flew out this morning at 6 a.m. That means that we left the house at 4 a.m. We probably should have left at 3:30, but Ben didn't anticipate the airport being so incredibly busy that early on a Saturday morning. After standing in a very long line, he was able to get checked in an hour before his flight, and we said our goodbyes. This trip is harder than some. I know he'll have a great time and will do good science, but I'm going to miss him horribly.

After coming home and sleeping for another two hours, I packed up the dog and went on a walk in the woods at Middlesex Fells. April has been pretty pent up lately with her energy. She got to have a little short romp with a puppy friend one morning (we ran into Tilly while on a walk, so Tilly's owner and I let them run in a park), but other than that, she hasn't gotten balls-out exercise in more than a week. Needless to say, she was a freakshow once we got to the Fells. I wasn't too strict with walking her until she started seeing more and more dogs. Most people let their dogs hike off-leash at the Fells, so all these Labs, Golden Retrievers, etc. were coming up to her to say "hi." She, of course, was acting like a spaz and kept barking, snarling and jumping toward them. The dogs were smart, though, and kept their distance from the unstable dog I was trying to distract/subdue. Once a dog would leave, April would then whine because in fact, she wanted to play with the dog, not kill it. Sigh. I wish she could talk so we could have a conversation about etiquette. I know she's not dangerous and doesn't want to harm the other dogs, but the other owners don't know that. I can't risk a lawsuit because my dog is socially retarded.

Even with the madness on our hike, she was able to get enough exercise. I put her on her 100-ft rope and she got to run hard. Now, she's passed out, which is awesome. It's going to be a long 2 weeks without my dog-walking partner for sure.

Here's something awesome that happened this week. There was a bank robber apprehension outside my office building. The state police and the FBI got an anonymous tip that a wanted bank robber would be going after the BofA across the street from my work. So, there were stakeout vehicles, M16s, shotguns, bomb-sniffing dogs (the guy used fake pipe bombs), undercover cops...the whole shebang. My coworkers got interviewed on the news, and one coworker in particular was able to provide video of the arrest that was used on several news stations. It was very exciting, yet slightly terrifying that such unsavory people come around so close to where I spend most of my week (there was an armed robbery in front of the same BofA a few months back...at 3 p.m. on a weekday...awesome).

The other cool thing is that I got to see a movie being filmed, also near my office. We got word that a Sarah Jessica Parker movie was being filmed in Boston, and they were shooting a scene yesterday near Faneuil Hall. I needed to take a walk on my lunch break, and I just happened across the set in front of the Union Oyster House. I guess the movie takes place over Christmas. It was amusing to see fake snow on the ground (we got 75+ inches this year, and it's finally all melted), plus a costumed Santa ringing a bell for the Salvation Army. I didn't see SJP or any of the other notable actors, but I did see SPJ's stunt double getting ready to be hit by a car. I probably won't see this movie in the theater, but it's definitely Netflix-worthy.

Nap time.

fun with filters...

2011-02-26T14:06:00.000-08:00

On the iPhone, it's called Hipstamatic. On the Droid, it's called RetroCamera (the one I have). Either way, it allows you to take photos on your camera that look like they were taken on old cameras and manipulated in the dark room. The photo above is a block from my office. It's the Zakim Bridge next to the Boston Garden. I think the snow looks like sand. Kinda cool.

I love my Droid. I have no idea why I didn't get a smartphone when we first moved out here. I've already gotten a ton of use out of the "Metro Bus" application (it tells me when my next bus is arriving) and the GPS navigation. I get lost really easily, even on foot. There were so many times that I got lost on foot when we first moved here and had to figure out how to get home. The Droid would have been helpful in those situations (instead, I called Ben, gave him the intersection where I was standing, and had him Google Map me home).

One thing that's been really nice about having a phone is the camera. I brought in a crocus pot I bought on Sunday at the grocery store, and I was able to document its bloom throughout the week.

The crocus looks a little rough after the ride home on the train. A lot of the blooms are smooshed, but there are more coming up. I bought a bigger pot today to put them in, although they're not going to rebloom once the current ones fall off. I'll figure something out.

It was a bit of a tough week. It was a short one because of the holiday, and people at work were in really hostile/panicky moods. Not good. It was tough to distance myself from it, and Thursday got tense. Thankfully, Friday was quiet and I was able to keep my head down and work.

I just love my weekends at home. I've gotten really jealous of my time where I can get caught up on household stuff. I mailed off a dog license application and a rebate for my new phone, I got some bills set up and paid other bills. I also sorted through some paperwork and junk mail that started piling up. Ahhh. I'm going to reorganize our pantry area to make better use of space, and I'm going to clean the kitchen. Tomorrow, I'll do my usual vacuum/sweep and finish off laundry. Yup, I like the housewife role. The pets like it too. April seems calmer with someone home for the better part of the day, and Dodger is on my lap when I stop moving for 5 minutes. Cali, who often will sleep in another room, tends to follow me around more now. She's staring at me right now from the computer desk, in fact (Dodger is asleep on my lap, and April is on the floor next to me, taking down her compressed rawhide bone).

It's nice, but I know that if this was every day, I'd probably go crazy. There's only so much one can clean. At least having the dog forces me to get outside. I took her on a long walk today and challenged her a lot. She flipped out at 5 different dogs, but I was able to get her focus back with me before moving forward. There was no one at the dog park (the ground is frozen over from yesterday's soaking-rain-turned-to-snow), so we played fetch for 10 minutes to wear her out more. She came home exhausted, which is great. I'd like to think that if I could work with her and exhaust her every day, she'd be calmer (she already gets that sort of walk with Ben at night, so I'd be able to double the effort).

Knitting update: After cleaning the kitchen, I'm hoping to work more on the baby hat I've been working on. It's a little clumsy because the yarn is thick-thin and I'm having to make it on US 11 DPNs. I just feel awkward using the combo. Thankfully it's for a baby, so it's small :).

questioning competancy...

2011-02-21T14:28:00.001-08:00

Knitting update: I whipped out the fair isle sweater vest again. As nice as it is having two hat projects at the moment, I'm LITERALLY falling asleep on the couch while working on them. The fair isle is still stockinette in the round, but I have to pay attention to the pattern. I've started the waist shaping, and it's going nicely. And I'm staying awake. I think the hats will have to be commuting projects if they are ever to get completed.

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I spent my day off from work trying to learn how to design a portfolio website in Flash. The starting point was easy and made sense, but I don't know if exhaustion started, but as soon as we got into the ActionScript, my brain shut off and I couldn't follow the tutorial (I'm using Lynda.com, which is amazing). I'm going to take a break to make 16-bean soup for dinner (with slab bacon and corn bread), before jumping back into it.

I toyed with the idea of having a Flash site for my graphic design portfolio versus having a regular HTML site through Dreamweaver. For my skill set, it would be much easier for me to design my site in Photoshop and import it to Flash. This process has become much easier as Flash got incorporated into the Adobe process, and I feel more confident about making a great looking site.

My site right now isn't bad. It's functional, but it's lacking depth and sophistication. I know I can do better. I'm also torn because I'd like to rebrand myself (color scheme, fonts, logo, etc.) but I'm having a hard time coming up with concepts. I have no problem working with a client's branding, but when it comes to my own, I have a hard time figuring out what represents me and how I'd like to be perceived.

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I've been taking a break from Facebook for awhile, and I'm finding that I don't have an easy place to share my randomness. For example, on Thursday, I was introduced to damnyouautocorrect.com. I don't know if it was because I had a rough week and was feeling emotionally raw, but some of the posts literally made me weep from laughing so hard. I wanted to share, but because I'm off Facebook and I canceled my Twitter account awhile ago, I had no other outlet but to text. Which is fine. I just never realized how used I got to instantly connecting with hundreds of people on a whim.

I also was excited by watching the finale of the IBM Jeopardy! Challenge where computer "Watson" beat the two best Jeopardy! players in history. I love Ken Jennings. To go with his correct Final Jeopardy! question, he wrote: (I, for one, welcome our new computer overlord). He rocks on so many levels.

perfect storm...

2011-02-19T06:27:00.000-08:00

I feel crazed this week. We started off with temperatures in the 30s, then yesterday, it hit 60. Ben left town for a couple of days, and the dog has been insane. I should probably mention that it was a full moon yesterday, and we had a fast-moving thunderstorm (lots-o-lightning) move through last night. I know it's just making excuses for her, but I'm pretty sure the combo of Ben being gone, full moon and quick cold front moving in made her extra insane. I took her to the dog park this morning (the one we don't go to very much because it's farther away) with the hope that she could run off some nervous energy, but it was still completely iced over. She couldn't get up speed. Sigh. Since last night, we've been having 40-50 mph wind gusts, so walking back to the car from the park, April went into crazy play mode. So, add high winds to the list.

I've noticed that she's very sensitive to changes in routine, especially when it comes to the weather. She has a hard time calmly accepting the transition. The same thing happened when it started getting cold for the winter. Then, she adapted to the snow. Now the snow is melting, revealing months of smells, and she's spastic once more. She's a 1 year, 5 months old. Can't wait until she hits that 2-year-old mark and calms down (it'll happen, right?).

The good news is that I have a long weekend. There were some things around the house last weekend that got ignored, so I have time to clean AND be a slug. Yay!

I had a revelation yesterday...I went down to Windsor Button at Downtown Crossing to look at yarn. I'll repeat...I LOOKED at the yarn. I didn't buy. I have so many projects in my queue and yarn to go with them that I have zero need/want for more yarn at the moment. I couldn't even envision what I could make out of this beautiful tonal Berocco Ultra Alpaca (two shades of purple). I think, then, I need to get out of my rut and get to knitting to make more room in my stash cabinet. I worked more on a baby hat last night and did a few stitches on my sockyarn hat. That might need to hibernate for a bit, seeing as how we'll be warming up soon. It'll be a good summer knit, though, because the yarn isn't heavy and it's a small project.

Happy Saturday!

happy birthday...

2011-02-13T04:29:00.000-08:00

My dear husband turns 29 today. Before he turned 30, Ben has completed his PhD and done a post-doc at Harvard. If he gets a faculty position this year (instead of staying at Harvard another year), he'll be a professor before he hits 30. That's pretty badass. I'm so happy I've gotten to be there each step of the way to see the great things he's done and will be doing. I love you, Ben! Happy birthday!

time warp...

2011-02-11T16:19:00.000-08:00

Knitting update: The stockinette part of my sockyarn hat is starting to fly. The bad news is that I have to just knit for 9", which is 90 rounds. I'll be knitting mindlessly on the train and bus each way for awhile. Sigh. I don't think this hat will get done before it gets too warm to wear it. There's always fall.

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Random: I just flipped on The Wheel (yup) and this woman has the most ridiculous hair bump. It doesn't help that she's a bottle redhead and her hair is short. It's a terrifying hair bump. Snookie would be proud.

I barely remember what I do during the week anymore. I forgot to fill out my timesheet at work for last week, so I had to fill it all in before submitting it for approval. We have to itemize our projects, and for the life of me, I couldn't remember what I did at work last week. I had to look at our database to see what stuff I worked on and came up with a rough estimate. Sigh. I know it's a symptom of doing too much in too short of a time span at work, but still. I can't be having huge lapses of memory. This means that I have nothing going on except cranking out pages and pages of travel products. I'm a factory. I feel like each week is a race to a (short) weekend.

This weekend is going to be a busy one. Ben's 29th birthday is Sunday, and I'm debating whether to make his gift a surprise or consult with him first and see if he'd be down with it. That's all I can say because he reads this (hi, sweetie!). Then Valentine's Day is Monday, and Ben says he has something planned for us. That's awesome. He has historically done something really sweet and thoughtful for the commercial holiday. Sometimes I'd ruin Valentine's by being hung over from celebrating his birthday a bit too hard the day before, but for the most part, the day of lovers has been a really nice day and relatively low-key.

Tomorrow will be filled with the usual Saturday cleaning (de-furring the rugs and floors and doing laundry). But I'm hoping to get in some good stretches of knitting. I have a bunch of pending projects that need to get started. I might even make a trip to my LYS (local yarn store) to stock up on good, inexpensive yarn to get these cranked out. I need to plan.

I should work on redesigning my website, though. Uhhhhhh....I'm pretty sure my Lynda.com 30-day free trial is about to expire. I should look up a tutorial before it dies.

Or I could knit. And drink wine.

victory starts with a P...

2011-02-07T04:31:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken pre-game, but he pretty much had this expression on his face at the end. We had a Super Bowl XLV party last night and ate too much and consumed a lot of beer. It was great! Gotta go, though...it's back to work today. I'll post more tonight. In the meantime, enjoy some of our Super Bowl bounty.

big game...

2011-02-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

Knitting update: I decided to stop the 2x2 ribbing on the sock yarn hat at 3.5" instead of going for the full 4". It was just too painful to go another 1/2 inch. Now I'm onto regular stockinette, which can move a lot faster. I really love how the colors are coming out. They're not pooling in odd places, which is great! I also started working on a bonnet for a yet-to-be born kiddo, but I'm rather uninspired by it. The pattern is from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and I think there might be some errata in the pattern. I need to look it up to see if I'm correct. There's another hat in there that I might make instead with some nubbly thick-thin yarn I have.

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We're spending the day getting ready to host a Super Bowl party. Go, Packers! I hit up iParty yesterday on my lunch break to get green and yellow decorations and some other football-related decorations. We're going to get the food tonight (beer brats and vegetarian chili) and decorate tomorrow. Today is all about the cleaning. Eeek.

groundhog day...

2011-02-02T14:41:00.001-08:00

Apparently the marmot predicts that winter will be tapering off over the next few weeks and then we'll have a mild spring. Awesome. When is this "tapering" supposed to start? It's going to get down to 16º tonight, and we had enough rain/sleet today to make giant slush puddles that are going to freeze overnight. My snow boots are not equipped for big puddles, so my socks got wet on the way home from work. Wah.

But I have wine. And I took a hot shower to thaw. And there's BBQ pork in the crockpot, waiting to be pulled and served with baked beans and corn on the cob. And I was productive today at work.

I'd say I broke even today.

Now to tuck in and knit for the rest of the night.

cross-country skis...

2011-02-01T04:47:00.000-08:00

For reference, I live in the blue area. Sigh. I'm heading to work. The snow has started picking up. It's pretty, but it won't stop for 2 days. At the end, it's supposed to turn into sleet. Oh joy.

end of a weird week...

2011-01-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

Finished baby bibs from Mason-Dixon Knitting

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Knitting update: Tried working on my sockyarn hat last night. SOOO painfully slow. I still have another inch on the 2x2 ribbed brim, which is about 9 more rounds. At 300 stitches on US 2 needles, that's at least an hour's worth or more. We'll see if I can finish off the brim today, so I can switch to stockinette. I also still need to order the yarn I need to make some projects for impending babies and for my dear sister's 30th birthday that's coming up :).

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After my last post, where I listed the weirdness that happened this week, I went to work to find out that a long-time employee at my company had a massive heart attack overnight and passed away. I didn't really work with him, but he was the receptionist and delivered mail to our floor. So, he was an ever-present fixture in my work day and was always very nice to me when I saw him. His wife also works at the company (only been married 2 years), and my heart just breaks for her.

Oddly, the same day, we got word that another coworker was getting ready to deliver her first child. Fitting, no? It was a strange day of life and death.

Thankfully, Ben came home from a trip that night, and we grabbed a beer with some friends. I definitely needed to decompress from the week.

That's why I pretty much spent most of the day yesterday laying around, being a sloth. It was nice. Today, though, I have to do the usual floor cleaning / grocery shopping. The floors get really gross in the winter because, as hard as we try, we always end up tracking in snow+salt. Probably having the dog doesn't help too much either.

Speaking of the dog (because no post wouldn't be complete without me bring in her up, right?), she ALMOST made me proud yesterday at the dog park. I made a concerted effort to keep her in a calm state of mind before letting her go through the gate. If she gets too anxious, she runs in and starts attacking the other dogs. This time, I made sure I was calm and she was calm. She ran in, straight for the group of dogs, and stood there while they sniffed her. Her tail was up, and she was uncomfortable, but she permitted them to do this.

I can't emphasize how HUGE this moment was. Normally, she'd run in there, a dog would start to sniff her, and she'd freak out, flip around and start dominating the dog. This time, the dogs sniffed her, and she went right into play mode. I almost cried. Finally, she acted like she was supposed to.

After awhile, she was playing really well with the other dogs and had a happy-go-lucky look on her face I'm (thankfully) starting to see more. Then an Irish Terrier came in. April immediately switched gears and started full-on attacking this dog. Sometimes she'll get on a dog and we can get her away from it, then she leaves it alone. This time. she just kept going after the dog.

Let me emphasize how she was attacking...I had to grab her by the skin on her shoulders, haul her up off this dog and pin her to the ground. I let go, and she went straight after the dog again. This time, I had to grab her thighs and pull her up. In the fury, she was flailing around, trying to bite my hands (which she has never bit me, except when playing a little too exuberantly).

It was scary as hell. Who was this demon dog that was inside the cute shell of my dog?

We ended up sitting on the opposite side of the park, her leashed, me correcting her for acting like an asshat. I was debating whether to just leave, but I didn't want to end the outing on such a bad note. Plus, the victim kept running over toward April, as if he wanted to play (obviously, he's retarded). So, I let her go. She got a little attitudinal, but then, as if nothing had happened, the two dogs played a little before ignoring each other the rest of the time.

She's going to give me an aneurysm, I swear.

In speaking to the victim's owner, her dog apparently attracts this sort of attention. If a dog isn't attacking him, then it's dominating him in play. The dog really doesn't seem to mind, which is weird. If the dog would have fought back, it might have ended sooner (April respects dogs who fight back, for the most part).

It got me thinking...there are people I've met, and from the get-go, I've instantly disliked. There's one guy in my office who I rarely see, but when I do, I have this urge to punch him in the neck. My initial instincts about him were good, actually. He's egotistical and an idiot — a bad combination. So, I can appreciate dogs' immediate dislike of each other, but I wish they'd practice a human-like self-restraint. I'd get fired if I punched the inept coworker in the neck (yet cheered at the same time...I'm not the only one who can't stand him).

I'd give the outing a B. She made tremendous strides in a group of dogs, yet she failed when it came to one dog that REALLY pissed her off for some reason. I'll still count it as progress. Plus, me having to pull her off by her skin showed her that I, for sure, am Alpha Female and she needs to be submissive to me. Kinda awesome.

We spent the rest of the day laying around the house, but there was the first movement of lightening our load with the stuff in our house. Nine years ago, I bought a Dell desktop computer with money I got after my grandpa passed away. I used this computer throughout college, and it did well for about 4 years. Then, a couple of viruses and an upgrade to a wireless modem made it show its age, and it had been moving into obscurity.

Through the wonders of Freecycle, I saw a posting for "Wanted: Old computers" and contacted the poster. Ben helped me wipe the hard drive and the poster came to pick it up. He rebuilds computers and donates them to non-profits in the area for network servers or in-house computers. Part of his mission is to keep the heavy metals that are in computers out of landfills, and subsequently, our water supply, so this is why he drives all over the metro area, picking up unwanted computers.

Made me feel pretty good that my old Dell would be put to good use instead of ending up in a landfill somewhere. Mmm, mercury.

I still have the goal of going through some of the boxes in the basement to clear out stuff we don't use anymore. We also have a box of "miscellany" sitting in the office that I should sort through. I think there are some old phones, random cords, etc. in there. If we end up moving somewhere this year, it would be nice to have a head start on that.

I just realized that this may be one of the longest postings I've written in a long time. This is what happens when you deactivate your Facebook account. You have randomness built up that you need to get out. At least I feel better that if you, the reader, are choosing to visit my blog, you care about what I say. I can't say that for sure about the people who were seeing my status updates all day.

So, if you've made it this far. Thank you. I'll try not to ramble so much, and perhaps throw a photo in here and there more often :).

the routine...

2011-01-28T05:03:00.001-08:00

You know what happens when you get several feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures? One crazy dog and very cold toes. I just can't seem to exercise April enough this week. We went to the dog park Tuesday night, she had a playdate with her BFF Ella Monday night, she got to romp with Ella yesterday afternoon while I was at work, and she got a good long walk this morning with her backpack weighing her down. She's still CRAZY. She's getting so much more exercise during the week than usual, but it doesn't seem to be calming her down. Uuuuugh. I hope this is her usual once-a-month defiance and not a growing trend. She's been relatively obedient, but she's having a hard time controlling herself (growling at nothing again, freaking out at dogs when she's on a walk...the usual). Can I blame Ben for this? He's been out of town the past two days and is due back tonight. She usually acts like an asshat the first night he's gone (challenging the Alpha Female role), but then she calms down and listens to me after I get tough with her. This week, though, her ADD is out of control. I also blame the snow. When going outside to walk her, she smells all the other dogs that came before her (paws and pee), which gets her worked up. And she just loves the snow. It brings out something primal in her and she goes into high-play mode.

I need spring.

It's almost the weekend. This has been my first full week back at work in more than a month (holidays, vacations, etc), and it's DRAAAAGED.

Oh, right. I had a hard time adjusting back to my normal routine and April has had her normal routine interrupted because of the weather. No wonder we're butting heads.

Random reflection: As I write this, I'm listening to Morning Edition on NPR, and I'm hearing coverage of the riots in Cairo. Working at a travel company, I'm much more acutely aware of world events. We have passengers and offices all over the world, so when something happens, my first thought goes to "do we have people there?"

We have an office in Cairo, and we have several programs that take passengers to Cairo. A couple of weeks ago was the political rioting in Tunisia. We have a Tunisia program. Last year, there were mudslides at Machu Picchu in Peru, and our passengers had to be evacuated. Several programs were affected by the Iceland volcano, and some of our passengers were stranded in Italy when they were trying to get to Germany.

It just makes me just that much more aware of what's going on when I know that there are Americans on vacation in volatile areas. I hope that everyone is okay and that they will make it home safely (they'll probably want a refund or something, but I don't work in customer service, so yay)!

Knitting update: I frogged the beaded lace shawl and the wool socks. I'm going to find a new pattern for the wool socks, and I'm going to restart the shawl this summer (it's a good, light knit for when it's hot). I haven't really done much knitting this week (please see the first paragraph), but I'm hoping to get some yarn ordered for specific projects this weekend.

arctic blast...

2011-01-23T06:34:00.000-08:00

It's frickin' freezing in New England today. It was 12º when I took April to the dog park (I was bundled in 2 pairs of wool socks, leggings under my jeans, lambswool sweater, wool/cashmere cowl, fleece lined knitted hat, ski gloves and the ankle-length parka. Might seem like an overkill, but it took an hour for my toes to start getting cold). She doesn't really seem to feel the cold unless we stop moving for a good amount of time. She goes crazy and runs around, which is great because then she passes out for the rest of the day.

I guess we're supposed to get more snow, too, this week. So far, we've had 59.6" for the season. We average 46" for the whole year. So, yeah, that's awesome. There's nowhere to put all the snow, and the mounds are getting bigger than me!

I'm just ready to thaw. There's only so much tea/coffee/stout beer one can drink to stay warm.

Our big event for the day is the Packers-Bears playoff game. I really hope the Packers pull it off...not just because my dear husband will be elated for another week, but I really don't want Jay Cutler to win. I got so annoyed with him as the Broncos quarterback that I love seeing him get flustered and mess up (which happens if he gets pressured). I know it's mean, but it gives me extra incentive to cheer for the Packers.

Knitting updated: I finished the two bibs for my cousin's twins yesterday. I just have to sew on the buttons and weave in the ends. The babies are under 4 lbs a piece, and it'll be awhile before they'll need the bibs, but I'll get them sent off soon anyway. I worked a little more on the sockyarn hat, but I'm going to have to switch to a baby hat soon to stay on schedule.

snow pictures...

2011-01-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from the blizzard we had on Wednesday. The snow hasn't had a chance to melt because, even though it's sunny, it hasn't gotten above 30º. We're even supposed to get more snow tonight (flurries), but then it's going to turn into rain. BARF.

Knitting update: I've stalled my vest and hat in favor of cranking out baby gifts for a number of babies to be born soon. It sucks having to put the projects for me off to the side, but the baby things are quicker than big projects for me made out of sock yarn.

snow day...

2011-01-12T14:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what the official tally will be, but there's a crap-load of snow outside. In preparation for "SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011!!!!" I brought home work I could do from home. It was nice. I got up at 8, let April out to pee/run in the snow in the backyard (we had about 3" at that point), made coffee, and started the process of trying to connect to my office's servers. That proved unsuccessful, so I'm glad I brought home the work that I did.

Ben stayed home, too, and got some work done on a paper that is going out for submission. He took a break to help shovel the driveway. All in all, it was a really productive day home for both of us!

The best part of the day, though, was having Dodger curled up on my lap while I worked at the computer. I wish I could bring him to work with me. He's so snuggly when I'm immobile!

We're probably going to put on real pants and trudge up to The Druid for dinner tonight. A glass of Guinness and a giant bowl of Irish beef stew sounds amazing. The walk with April will be interesting tonight. She completely spazzes out (in an entertaining way) when she's in the snow, but the walk is supposed to be structured. I perceive a battle. The Guinness will help me stay calm.

I'm planning on doing nothing after dinner other than knitting. Hooray!

another new project...

2011-01-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

I'm turning into that knitter. The one who has multiple projects hibernating or waiting to be frogged. Ugh. Frogging is too depressing, and the hibernating projects have been uninspiring. What is a knitter to do? Start a new project, of course!

The photo is the designer's image of her Sockhead Hat. It's a very simply constructed hat using sock yarn. Sounds great! I have some Ranco Multy I bought from Mind's Eye Yarn shop near Porter Square, and I cast on the hat onto US 2-1/2 needles.

Needless to say, the gauge is so small, it's much more slow-going than I'd like. It's 10 rounds to the inch at 144 stitches in a round. I have one inch. To be fair, I've only been working on it on my commute. At home, I've been working on the fair isle sweater. How is it that I now have two "tiny-needle-tiny-yarn" projects going?

It's been a very very long week. This was the first full week back at work after the holidays, and I've been struggling to get back onto my regular sleep schedule. It doesn't help that after a warm snap, it's plunged back into "seasonal" temperatures (low of 18 tonight). We had some snow this evening, and we're supposed to get more overnight. At least the snow covers up the ugly, half-melted snow from the blizzard. Hopefully we can take April up to the Fells to run around tomorrow. Or at least arrange a playdate with her buddy, Ella. She has certainly gotten pent up energy this week. Long gone are her days of romping in the Missouri fields.

Speaking of the dog, she's doing great. She still has idiot moments, but they're getting fewer. She's become really obedient (especially when she wants something, like a beef shank bone...aw yeah). It helps that she's shedding her awkward adolescence as she's becoming an adult dog. She's still playful like a puppy, but she's definitely mellowing out. We really think she's going to be a great family dog.

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In other amazing news, my hubby's Nature article came out this week. In conjunction, UC-Riverside put out a press release about the article, so Ben has been fielding questions and interviews from reporters all over the world. I'm so super proud of him and what he's accomplished in his career in such a short amount of time. Way to go, Ben!

2010...a look back on lazy blogging...

2011-01-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

Compared to other years, 2010 was my year of not updating this thing very much (65 posts only in the entire year). That is sad. Now that I have a computer at my disposal (when the hubby isn't playing Civ 5 or StarCraft II on it), I can blog more. Which is something I'd like to do in 2011.

The year in blogging can be summed up in three words: work, dog, weather

Work
I worked A LOT (and mostly without overtime or other compensation). But I survived. It was a tough year at my job, but I'm learning a new industry and getting a better perspective on what I want to do for a career. I'm still trying to figure that out, but I was gainfully employed for the entire year, something that should be celebrated. Because I was working, Ben and I are knocking out some debt accrued while he was in grad school and I was making a journalist's salary.

Dog
2010 was the year we got a dog. Ben and I had wanted to get one for awhile, so we finally took the plunge. The timing wasn't good — Ben had just gotten back from Spain and was jet-lagged and we had friends coming in to visit. That was stupid of us. But, as Cesar Millan says, you get the dog you need when you need it. April certainly didn't turn out to be the dog we WANTED (she's high-energy, hardheaded and too smart), but she definitely is the dog I need. She's taught me patience and tenacity. She's made me lose 10 lbs. She showed me that I could actually experience rage to the point where I wanted to harm an animal (but I didn't because she taught me that whole patience thing). I learned from her that she needed to be in my life before I ever had a prayer of being a parent. Having her has been great for our marriage, too. Ben and I learned how to work together as a team and stay on the same page when it comes to discipline. I have a great partner, and training a difficult dog showed me just how great of a team we are.

Weather
This shouldn't be surprising, but New England has a lot of wacky weather. Being out here for a full calendar year gave us the gamut of Mother Nature's fury and beauty. I say it a lot, but no wonder East Coasters come off as being cold, unapproachable and downright pissed off. They're cold! Or they have 60 mph gusts of sleet smacking them upside the head! You should see how nice people get in the city when it's 75 degrees and sunny. It's because they can finally thaw. It's very nice for me being back in a state that has all four seasons (sometimes spring gets short changed, though). I also got to experience my first flash blizzard with white-out conditions that lasted a mere 2 minutes. Crazy!

Some other highlights
We had a steady stream of visitors. Sarah and Paul were out for Christmas last year, my parents came out in March, Jim visited in April, Jeremy and Carolyn came out in June, Ryan and Clara visited in September, and Ben's parents visited in October.

Mixed in with that, I was able to catch a lunch or two with old friends who were out visiting other people — Mike Becker, Matt Calkins, Sara Bondioli and Patrick Garvin (who ended up permanently moving down the street from us)!

We also went to a few Red Sox games, got free tickets to the Celtics semi-finals, took a road trip to Maine and camped at Acadia National Park. I also got to take a long-awaited trip to visit Katie and Joe in Georgia and meet their pups!

I'd give 2010 a ranking of "STRANGE"...there were a lot of highlights, but much of the year seemed to be bogged down with being exhausted from work and training the dog. The dog is getting better and work doesn't get to me as much as it used to.

Knitting roundup & update

The first project I finished in 2010 was a baby sweater for little Adrineh. I challenged myself to do a complicated stitch pattern mixed in with sweater construction. I think it came out very cute and my favorite part is the row of duck buttons!
The next few projects were started and completed in the 2-week window of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The Ravelympics gave prizes in several categories for starting and finishing projects before the Olympics were over. I was happy to note that 3 out of the 4 I "entered" were completed on time! Mocked Cable Hat, Chunky Scarflet, and Karaoke Mitts. The Primary Blankie ran into some snags when I kept running out of yarn (stash-busting, not so much).
I made the Mohair Scarf because I had some mohair and wanted to try the pattern. It was a good commuting project, but I didn't really like the end result. I still have it, but I'll probably give it away at some point.
I made my mom a dark blue version of the Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret when she was out here in March. She liked mine so much, I had to give her one of her own!
I made a bolero out of leftover Vanna's Choice yarn. It's not bad looking, but the acrylic makes my armpits smell. I think I'll use the pattern again, but I'll definitely use a cotton yarn.
I finished a big baby blanket for little Jackson. It was fun getting to do the log-cabin construction, and I love how the Mizzou colors turned out, but the rows and rows of garter stitch got booooring. I was also disappointed with the yarn. I used Knit Picks Swish Worsted, and when I washed the blanket to block it, the yarn immediately pilled. It looked well-used before it ever got sent out. I will definitely do this project again, but with different yarn.
It was the year of babies, apparently. The next project I finished was the February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I made a matching hat for little Lilly, and I had to use red yarn. Mama Amy is a sucker for red, so any little girl of hers had to have it.
More recently, I finished a Noro-striped scarf. It's super long, which is great because I can loop it around my neck a lot to keep the wind out. It was a very fast knit, and I loved seeing both yarn colorways change as I went through the skeins. My only complaint is a common one with Noro — too many damned knots in the skeins, and the knots don't even match up with the color changing pattern. Grrrr.
The next project was a quick one done out of necessity. April needed a blindfold for her training, but she was too good at getting scarves off her face. I busted out my first-ever knitting pattern in one night, and it's serving her well to help with her anxiety.
My most recent FO is a baby hat for a coworker's kiddo. There was a surprise shower for her, so I whipped out Candy Cane from Itty Bitty Hats. Sadly, I didn't get it finished before the holidays, and she's now on maternity leave. So, it's waiting for her when she comes back. Glad I made the 6-9 month size!

I'm still working on the fair isle sweater vest. I'm really enjoying it, and it's moving along faster than I thought it would. I'm almost to the start of the waist shaping, and I've gotten the hang of working on one color English style and the other color Continental.

2011
Not sure what the new year will bring. I have some goals in mind. Nothing I really want to start or stop, but more like things to work toward. Regardless of what happens, I'm very excited to see how the year will turn out! And, there will be more blogging (65 posts? seriously?).

Happy New Year!

a bit of bliss...

2010-12-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

I got home in the wee hours of the morning from a wonderful Christmas vacation to Missouri. Ben and I hadn't been back for Christmas in three years, so it was about time. We don't get to visit our home often enough (have you SEEN plane ticket prices from the coasts to the Midwest? Eek). But, it was a must this year.

I ate too much sugar, drank too much booze, laughed a ton and reconnected with my family and friends. My only regret was that it was too short of a trip. I'm also super exhausted by the trips' events, so another day to sleep in would have been nice.

While I was gone, I missed an epic amount of snow (Blizzard-o-pocalypse 2010). The city just looks gross when it snows that much. There's nowhere for the snow to go, so it just gets piled up and takes forever to melt. There's nowhere to wait for the bus, and the slush gets slick before freezing. It just kinda sucks.

The snow in rural Missouri, however...beautiful! We had a white Christmas this year. I woke up on Christmas Eve at 7:30 a.m. to 3 inches. It continued to snow/flurry over the next couple of days. By the time I left, it had mostly started melting, but I'm glad there was snow on the ground for the holiday.

At both houses, we opened presents, ate great food and played fun games. It's very fun when your in-laws start getting sassy while playing "Loaded Questions." :)

For a special treat, my side of the family took an overnight trip to Lake of the Ozarks to stay at the Lodge of the Four Seasons. Dad got us girls half-day spa treatments, while he took the boys to a gun store/range. The best part was seeing Mom after her very first professional massage. She couldn't form sentences and literally looked like she didn't have a care in the world. Awesome.

One of the other best parts of the trip was that our spastic puppy reacted as I had hoped when she got to the country. She got two good runs-in-the-field a day, and she stayed exhausted (re: obedient). She was a very very good dog in my parents' and Ben's parents' houses. She even made friends with a cat. I'm very sad for her that she has to come back to the city that stresses her out, but it won't be forever. We'll get a backyard for you, April. I promise!

I threw in a small load of laundry, cracked a Harpoon Winter Warmer and am about to crap out on the couch for the night. I was going on 4 hours of sleep today, so I don't think I'll be able to stay up much later than getting the laundry finished. That's fine. I have one more day of work, then another long weekend for New Year's. Not sure what we'll be doing for the holiday. I think it'll be a lot more low-key, though, so we can do some recovering :).

Knitting update: I plowed through several rows of my sweater vest while I was in transit from Boston to Missouri. I'm really enjoying working on it. Even though the needles are tiny and the yarn skinny, I'm not getting bored because of the fair isle. I've also gotten into a good routine of knitting both Continental and English style to make it easier to change colors. It's become a breeze! I'm hibernating the socks for right now. I don't like how the ribbing looked with the yarn, and I need to fix the heel. I'm not really in the mood to redo them right now, so they'll just hang out until I need a summer knit.

I also finished a baby hat for my coworker. Sadly, I wasn't able to get it to her before she left for the holiday, and her son was born this morning! So, she won't be getting the hat until she's back from maternity leave. Glad I made it in the 6-12 month size. I used the Candy Cane pattern from Itty Bitty Hats in Berroco DK. CUTE!