silver lining

It’s my birthday and I’ll be sick if I want to…
Woke up this morning with a fever. Slept almost all day. Good times.

When I finally did wake up I found a cute box that Joe had left out for me to find with my birthday gift. I would have taken pictures, but, well, you’ll have to excuse that for today. I will, however, direct you to the website… I love it! I write a lot. Especially since we moved. Yes, I know you wouldn’t know that from the blog, but you know, it’s personal stuff. Stuff I need to get off my chest. Stuff I need to think about. Stuff that becomes clearer written down. So now I have this beautiful cover and my first ever Moleskine journal. It’s perfect. Plus, he left me a really lovely note inside and no, like my journals its not for public consumption.

So even though I woke up feeling like yuck on my birthday I feel loved. I received lots of Happy Birthdays and talked to everyone in my family, some of them several times over the day. It’s nice. Nice to know that people care and are thinking about you. Even if they are thousands of miles away.

Have a lovely day everyone!

field trip

On a Ravelry forum last week I was made aware of an interesting place near where I work called the Mechanic’s Institute Library & Chess Room. So today I went over for the weekly tour that they provide. If your in the city and looking for something to do on a Wednesday I recommend it… really interesting place with lots of history. I’m seriously thinking about becoming a member.

This staircase goes down five floors.

And chess…

They apparently have a very active chess club. I <3 these old worn tables. Can you imagine the years it took to wear that down?

And their very own chess director. Who knew?

I realize I didn’t take any pictures of the actual library parts. You know, the books and stuff, but I figure you all know what that looks like. Plus, these were the more interesting bits of the Institute. I found it all very intriguing.

On a completely unrelated note, as per normal, someone has been writing on my shiny new chalkboard. We will not be naming any names.

it’s on random

I only seem to have a few random thoughts for today

1. I’ve been procrastinating way to much lately. Even procrastinating with things I enjoy doing.
2. A simple (non-dressy) black skirt is apparently not available here in the city.
3. I need a lamp for my desk. It’s just not conducive to writing with an overhead light. The glare!
4. I need to figure out how to get the sound to work on my webcam. You can only hear me if I shout.
5. I’ve been reading my horoscope lately and it’s all true.
6. I have a super ambitious To Do list for this evening… see item 1.

silently sleeping

And I’m back. Again. Aren’t you three just all excited!?

Tonight I finally got off my ass and made it to the Crafty Meet-up that I’ve been talking about and telling Joe that “I really should go” for months.Gah! Why do I wait so long to do this stuff? Besides the fact that I met other super nice yarny/crafty types (hi Alice and Anne!), it was nice to get out and do something I like to do with other people who like to do similar type things*. Fun! With no pictures! Cause that’s how I roll… not even one shot for Instagram. There’s always next time…

On yet another entirely different topic, um besides the fact I need to work on better segues… I think Leeloo is giving Joe and I the stink eye. It may not be entirely unwarranted, but it’s disconcerting nonetheless. Thank goodness we kennel her while we sleep. One can only imagine what shenanigans she’d get into when we’re sleeping as payback. For what you may be asking? Because we are at our wits end with all the barking. It’s not only embarrassing, but a few weeks ago she made some poor little boy cry cause she scared him half to death with her crazy barking self. Something had to be done and none of our training techniques were doing a bit of good. So, at the recommendation of a fellow dog owner I purchased a citronella collar to startle her so she would think twice about barking. Yeah, well, considering everything from the motorcycle that drove by outside to the crazy shake she does (this time inside) sets it off, not really a winner for teaching your dog to stop barking. Could be good for making your dog neurotic, but not much else. So last week I started the search again and found this remote control buzzer with electric shock**, which seems to be doing the job. She hates it, but has been staying fairly quiet even when it’s not on her. She hates it, but quiet wins every time. I kinda hate it too, but I don’t have any better ideas. *sigh*

She just looks so cute and innocent when she’s sleeping…

*Yeah, the long, convoluted run on type sentences are epic around these parts.
** not to be used at our house…

good things come in threes, but mostly twos

What? A post three Wednesdays in a row? That’s right people, I’m working on consistency.
Of course, since I’ve now mentioned it I’ll probably fall right on my ass next week. That’s how I roll…

Now on to our regularly scheduled blog posting.

I realized this afternoon that while I’m walking around, far, far away from paper, that I think about really interesting  or clever things to write about. Then I get distracted and they’re gone. Gone without a trace. And then later I think… what WAS it that I wanted to write down. No clue. I’ve come to the conclusion that two things could actually be happening:
1) I’m missing out on really great ideas and things to write about
2) they’re really mediocre or bad, but seemed really great at the time and should be forgotten

Now for the experiment. My shiny happy iPhone has a voice recorder and I’m going to start using it. I mean, I have that thing with me ALL THE TIME. This, of course will lead us down one of two paths as well.
1) I’m gonna have really great things to blog about. And I will!
2) I’ll never mention this again. I have a feeling this one may be the winner. *sigh*

And now for something completely different.
I decided to check on my horoscope today and the one thing that caught my eye was this statement: It's also a good day to handle paperwork relating to finances. Huh, it’s like they knew two things:
1) my taxes are still not done
2) but they were already on my to do list for today

I don’t know why I have waited this long to finish them up. Actually, they’ve been done for about a month, but I needed to do one last run through. That apparently takes a lot of time. Apparently. The point here is two fold (yes, again)
1) they’re done!
2) to forestall this happening in 2012 I’m making a vow

The vow is as follows*: the second any tax forms come in I’ll get them into TurboTax (love me some TurboTax!) immediately. Or at least within 48 hours. That means 2011 taxes will be done by mid February. To this end there’s now a reminder in my calendar with an alarm, no less, reminding me of this fact. Stay tuned ten months from now for my riveting follow-up to this story.  I know you will…

So to that end. This post is over. And I’m off to get some sleep. Nighty night!

*ultimately vows are made to be broken. I just won’t be responsible for how this all turns out.

wants

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with my future. What I want to do with my life. What I want to accomplish. It’s vague and full of knots. Rolled into one big ball of sorting out the big picture into the bite sized pieces.

This is what I want:

• I want to be my own boss.
• I want my own space to fill.
• I want the freedom to make my own destiny.
• I want the freedom to succeed or fail on my own merits. To own my own dreams. Not based on arbitrary standards & measurements.
• I want to sell lovely, cute, well made, well designed things to people who will appreciate and enjoy them.
• I want hard work that’s fulfilling.
• I want a challenge.

So what this means is that I’m looking for a change. I have an idea, but I need a lot of help and a lot more information and investors. Of course, if I had my way I would jump in without looking back. That’s why I have Joe. He’s my temperance to my impulsiveness.

It’s a road I’ve started down though and that’s something. I’ll let you know where it goes…

why i don’t knit gauge swatches and stuff

So, I had all these grand plans to write a blog post last week about my trials and tribulations with this new stole I started knitting. How it suggested using a size 4 needle, which I didn’t have on hand so I swatched (yes, I swatched for a stole) and it totally lied did not work out at all. I went to Imagiknit twice and bought a total of 4 circular needles. I finally settled on size 5’s and started the darn thing and took it with me on our flight to WV this weekend. I should have know this story was not going to end well… especially since I flagrantly decided not to take any of the other needle sizes with me. I was so confident!

I’m sure you can see where this is going… on the plane I realized that the fabric was too loose and, you guessed it, the size 4, suggested needle size, was what I needed. You know, the one I left at home. This meant yet another knitting shop, this time Kanawha City Yarn Company, and success! The first repeat of the stole looks great!

Maybe not the greatest picture. Of course, this is about par for my picture taking abilities, especially on a plane.

As I mentioned, Joe and I flew to WV for a nice long weekend visiting our families. It’s so strange being so far from home. No longer a quick 4 hour drive for a visit, but a hard 8 or so hours flying across the country. It makes me appreciate them all the more! Hopefully we can get back for another trip before Christmas, but I’m thinking that’s not too likely…

On a lighter note, hello to you lurkers out there! It has come to my attention that more than two people are reading this here blog. When I say more than two, I’m thinking there now might be five. This makes me very very happy! So I’m going to ask a favor, por favor. I would love a headcount. A hello. Nothing fancy. Just a quick hi in the comments to let me know you’re here. One time. You can do it!

this and that

So I’m a little behind on posting my 30 day lists and I’m kinda tired. That means I’m going to cheat and just link you over to my flickr account and you can go take a look at my new ones if you’re interested. I’ll wait, go ahead…

After last nights thinking session I decided I really needed some sort of dream board and headed to Lowes to by some galvanized metal and paint among other things. Martha Stewart came to the rescue and as long as I can get a few days of no rain I’ll get this bad boy up and running. I’m kinda excited about having a place to stick all my random thoughts and ideas where I can see them clearly. Ripping out magazine pages and sticking them in a pile with a note is just not working out for me. I know, shocking, right?

I did manage to finish one Cascadia sock today. It even fits. Wow! I immediately cast on for the second one so I don’t have that poor sock hangin’ out by its lonesome for too long. I might actually knit myself an entire pair of socks!
I’ve got to figure out how to take a better picture…

late night navel gazing

Up late tonight. Sort of reverting back to my old ways in a time that I could get away with this (I’m so going to pay for this tomorrow…)

Making a list for tomorrow, of course, it is tomorrow, but I digress. And thinking about what I want to do with myself in general. I had an interesting conversation with a newish friend Friday night that was surprised at my current occupation and thought I had more to do with social media and well, probably anything other than what I actually do. True enough. What I do now doesn’t suit me, but what to do?

For one, I’m going to blog more. Not that it’s going to bring in extra cash, unless some kind soul would like to send it my way, but because I enjoy it. Because I enjoy writing. Even when it’s all grammatically incorrect. I’m also going to spruce up my craft room and get a board on the wall where I can pin and write ideas. Any idea on a combo for that? Or do I need to have two separate pieces… hmmm… the hamster wheel runneth.

So this is what I need. I need ideas.

shhh… she’s sleeping

Before we begin… sleeping puppy… so cute!

Fun, fun day today. Even if we did have to move the clock forward. Blech!
The day was spent with good friends, good food, and maybe a few cocktails. What a great way to end the weekend!

I thought it was time to post some updates on the 30 days of lists, so here we go with Day 10: Wishlist.
I’m really enjoying the daily prompts and the time it creates to sit and think about, well, a lot of things.

Day 11: Date Night Ideas
I’m pretty flexible…

Day 12: Weekly Rituals
Made me think that maybe I could get more done if I had a few things that were to be done on a specific day. It’s funny how I like consistency, but when I sit and think about it, I haven’t created any for myself.

Day 13: DIY’s I Want to Try
I think this speaks for itself