Move along, nothing (much) to see here

Since my last post, I’ve written nothing, knit 20*** rows (two cable repeats) on the palindrome scarf, finished a book (see sidebar for book 72) and pet the kitties a little.

Oh, and I took half an hour to wind up the 4th skein of O-wool (before knitting the 20 rows, of course).

In non-blog-related stuff, on Friday afternoon I dropped my cell phone in the toilet. (What? It happens… right??) Luckily, I was on my way into the bathroom when it happened, so the water was, um, fresh. Or as fresh as unused potty water ever is. I pretended my hand belonged to someone else and suppressed my gag reflex long enough to reach in and pull the drowned cell out, then I wiped it repeatedly with a disinfecting bathroom wipe, then scrubbed almost all the skin off my hands, then wiped it some more, then scrubbed my hands some more, then watched the screen flash off and on as the water got deeper into the phone. then scrubbed my hands one more time. Then I bleached out the toilet, just in case my inner klutz decided to throw my iPod into the thing. Then, yes, I scrubbed my hands one last time.

The skin has mostly grown back, thank you for asking.

I’ve also logged in 36 hours at work and done some Christmas shopping.

But, as I’m not doing any holiday knitting this year, I’m at peace and have only a few things left to buy before I’m ready for Santa Day. I’ll be working Christmas Eve night and Christmas night and on through the weekend, but I will get home just after 7 a.m. on Christmas, so the BCs won’t have any delay in the claiming of their holiday booty. I’m not sure what they’ll be doing for lunch that day, as I’ll have gone to sleep, but I’m hoping the BC13’s dad and/or Julie’s mom have something more than soup-n-sandwiches planned, so they all have somewhere nice to go for the feast that will not be happening at my house. We They shall see.

Now, I’m off to bed. Tonight I’m going to see Avatar (which the BCs and Julie assure me rocks) and I need to crash first.

___

In case you were wondering, the phone was insured and a replacement is due later today. And the damaged one is now in a sealed plastic box of rice, to let some of the lingering moisture get leached out over the next couple of weeks. I’ve heard tell of phones that worked just fine after such a treatment. [UTA: Gotta ship that probably-still-wet-inside sucker back to the manufacturer, as the insurance-replacement phone arrived today and that’s how that works, evidently. Who knew? Clearly, not me. (On a side note, look how many “ly” words are in this paragraph! It might just be a record, even for me. Squee!)

Of course, I’ve also heard tell of jolly elves who make toys and a big man in a red suit who rides in a magical sleigh pulled by flying reindeer once a year and takes presents to good boys and girls all over the world.

Do I believe that? You betcha. (Hi, Santa!)

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Did you notice the photo at the top of the blog now? It’s an old shot of Puffer, one I took 5 years or so ago. I love that shot, grainy and messy as it is, and thought it suits this space. After almost three years of blogging, I finally found the tool to replace the stock picture supplied by WordPress for this format. Who knows when the photo could change again? (Oooooh, a lame attempt at creating mystery/suspense … You’re welcome!)

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*** UTA: Upon reflection, I realized that I have, in fact, knit 50-ish rows: 30 to finish out the 3rd skein (after the picture in the last post), then 20 with the 4th skein. Still pretty pathetic, I suppose, but not quite so much. Each pattern repeat (10 rows) takes about 30 minutes, so I’ve logged about 5 hours on the needles in the 4 days since the last post. Ah, well, I’m off tonight and tomorrow night, so my production should increase drastically. Stay tuned for updates!

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Fetch me another, please

Left mitt: done!

Click to make bigger... and fuzzier. Sigh.

Alas, the focus, she is no good here. Still, except for the weaving in of the two yarn ends, the first mitt is done.

Pretty, yes?

I’ll cast on the right mitt tonight or tomorrow morning. Now, however, it’s time to scoop the litterbox, then get myself horizontal with my book-in-progress (For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison) and then, finally, relax into sleep mode.

Happy Wednesday, kittens!

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Proof of intent

While at Mom’s (yes, I’m home now, with kitties, waiting for the fur to start flying… good thing she gave me a good vacuum to use while she’s out of town, as mine really doesn’t suck… which is bad in a vacuum, doncha think?), I did not knit. I read (see sidebar for book #23) and I watched all but episode 1 of Castle with Mom. She’d saved them all on her DVR, ’cause she thought I might like the show. (Yes, she was right. She often is about things like that.)

I did, however, think about knitting.

Knitting socks, specifically.

Wanna know why?

‘Cause before I left town Wednesday evening, I checked the mail and found (ta-da!) that the Amazon fairy had visited my mailbox. She deposited there not one, but two (count ’em) books on sock-knitting.

I am now the happy owner of Sock Innovation by Cookie A, which is cool enough that it just might seduce me into knitting socks from the cuff down. Which I’ve never done. And never really thought I would want to try. But I’m sorely tempted now.

I am also thrilled to have received my brand-spankin’-new copy of Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson. Hot off the presses, y’all. And I have already picked out a pattern to start with: I Heart Toe-Up Socks (pg 94). ‘Cause I do. And they are lovely. And I have a shitload of sock yarn in the yarn closet that soon may see life as pairs of socks.

It’s a beautiful thing!

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Good mail!

I discovered a package in the mailbox this morning, which arrived either Friday or Saturday. I’m not sure which, as I didn’t check the mail either day.

Thank you, Cammie, for the goodies! You brought a big smile to my tired face.

I’ll take pictures and share them with you later. It’s been a L-O-N-G work “day” and I’m too pooped to do it now.

Just kiddin’.

Cammie wrote that she thought of me when she saw this t-shirt. I can’t imagine why. (And, no, I didn’t see it before I wrote the title to yesterday’s post. Really.)

And knit. Must knit, too.

She also put two armbands in the package. Here’s a not-very-good picture of them.

Can you read that?

I upped the contrast on that shot to help the words pop. They say “openBOOKS openMINDS” and were put out by TheLiteracySite.com. Amen to that, I say. Of course, the open-minds part may explain why some hard-core conservatives are also book-banners or -burners.

BTW, check out that site. It’s a click-for-free-to-donate-children’s-books site. I haven’t had time to delve into it, but it looks like a good cause. And as the suggestion came from Cammie, a children’s librarian in Daytona Beach, it’s well worth investigating.

Again, heaps and piles of thanks to you, Cammie! You made my day.

(And if I could still fit into a size Large t-shirt… sigh. Ah, well, it’ll last longer if I don’t wear it, right? Right.)

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I am not dead

Despite the lack of blog activity here, I am alive and well.

In the days since my last post, I have finished the back of the baby aran and added 3 rows to the front. That’s it. No other knitting at all.

Pathetic, I know.

Sorry, y’all. I’ll try to do better in the immediate future. Well, not “immediate” as in “right after I finish this post.” More like “immediate” as in “sometime tomorrow, probably.” ‘Cause it’s bedtime and I’m exhausted and 5:30 comes damned early.

In the meantime, I finished a book. (I know, my reading progress this year is pathetic, too.) See #8 in the appropriate sidebar for a few more details.

Oh, and my mom gave me her minivan (for a nominal fee) and I’m getting two new kitties on Sunday and my training is supposed to end this week, which means I’ll be moving back to night shift. Other than that, it’s been deadly boring here in the Sunshine State.

And as no one dared and/or cared to venture an opinion on the liar-vs-idiot question, I’m voting for liar. ‘Cause idiot just hits too close to the bone.

‘Nite, all.

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Limbo

I can’t seem to get anything done and I don’t want to start anything new right now. I feel unsettled, possible (okay, probably) due to this whole election thing. It’s got me alternating between fear (of another stolen election) and joy (at the possiblity of hope triumphing over fear and people being more important than money), to the point I feel a little paralyzed. I can’t stop watching Stewart and Colbert and Olbermann and Maddow. I can’t stop reading articles from moveon.org and the Huffington Post. I can’t help feeling energized and optimistic when I see the newest polls and watch news coverage of Obama rallies with their huge crowds. Most of all, I can’t get over the fear that my heart is about to be broken, again, because of vote manipulation or outright fraud, and my country subjected to more of the subjugation of the individual to the benefit of the corporation that has been in evidence for most of my adult life.

This paralysis is spilling over into my non-political life.

I can’t make myself finish Kai. I can’t get motivated to cast on a new baby sweater, ’cause of guilt over not not finishing Kai. I can’t bring myself to finish unpacking boxes in my apartment. I can’t make myself work on my “novel in progress” (and I use the term very loosely). I haven’t been able to blog even.

I can’t get my shit together… or if I do, I forget where I put it, ya know?

Oy. This is not fun.

Is this what it feels like to be under the limbo bar, not sure if you’ll make it to the other side… or if the people holding the bar will move it down on you, making you fall on your ass no matter what you do? (For the record, I never have liked that game.)

So, what have I been doing this last week, since my last post?

I’ve been encouraging my friends, family and co-workers to take advantage of early voting, to reduce their risks of election-day disenfranchisement. I’ve been knitting on a pair of fingerless mitts, now 5/6 done, just to take the edge off.** I’ve been reading novels (see sidebar). I’ve been petting the kitties and taking care of my kids. I’ve been working, finishing the non-emergency-calls portion of a new employee’s training and pulling some overtime to cover for co-workers who are learning how to use the new computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) system our center is installing early next year. I’ve donated platelets (yesterday morning) and made an appointment to do it again next month. I’ve been recycling and cutting back on frivolous spending. I’ve been watching the price of gas drop ($2.53/gal yesterday morning at some stations). I’ve been rehearsing madrigal and Christmas music. I’ve been listening to podcasts and reading blogs.

You know, I’ve been keeping busy.

But this unsettled feeling? It’s enough to make me want to overindulge in carbs and chocolate. It’s enough to make me wish I could have a drink, but not enough to make me do it. (Any alcohol = three-week migraine for me, every time. Not worth it.) It’s enough to make me want to pray, but to whom does a deist-with-reincarnation-beliefs pray?

In short, I’m a mess.

Thanks for putting up with me.

** If I get the mitts finished tonight, I’ll take a photo tomorrow morning and add it to this post.

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Hunkerin’ down for Fay

Tropical Storm Fay is halfway through our region, having dumped rain in varying amounts for the last 23 or so hours, with the center of circulation sitting right over Gainesville as I write this (at 8 a.m.). It’s barely raining now, but there’s more precip to come in the next 23 (or so) hours, as the back half of Fay passes through. We’ve had no damage in my complex or to any of the places I care about. In fact, our county has reported no real damage at all.

Fay has given me a great couple of days off. I’ve been snugged up in my apartment, with the back sliding-glass door open just far enough for me to hear the rain dripping in the trees and off the porch roof. I’ve been smelling warm pumpkin spice, as the candles burn and warm the space. I’ve been knitting (3 “squares” last night) and reading (2 books finished in 2 days) and watching TV. It’s been cozy and relaxing and pretty darned wonderful.

I don’t watch TV much these days, except in the morning after work and before sleep, which means I’ve seen quite a bit of “Charmed” and “ER”. I’ve been sleeping into the evenings, getting up just in time to get ready for work, leaving no time for the boob tube. Heck, even my Stewart/Colbert watching has been delegated to the 1-a.m. reruns I’ve been able to catch on my “lunch” break at work.

These last two nights, especially after 2 a.m., I’ve been a reality-show junkie, especially of the Bravo variety. I’ve watched “Shear Genius” and “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover” and “ANTM” and “LA Ink”. I’ve supplemented that with “X-Files” and “Angel” and, of course, the Weather Channel. It’s been great!

[Never fear, kittens, I haven’t been housebound. Wednesday night started with a reading stint at Books-a-Million, then a dinner date, then some hurried leg-shaving (TMI?), then a couple of hours of, um, purring. Rrrrrrrrrrrrr! Then there was a half-hour trip to the Evil Empire (had to stock up on bottled water and TP for the storm, ya know). And only after that did the home cozy-fest begin.]

The last half of the night was a veritable picture of domesticity, featuring me on the couch for the most part. So went my Wednesday off. Good, yes?

After a sound sleep cradled in my beloved waterbed and eased by the sounds of rainfall and a fan and faux waves (I love my sound machine, too), I got up around 5:30 p.m. yesterday and started my Thursday.

I braved the moderately heavy rain and met my MAT Jen for dinner at a new restaurant (newish in general and definitely new to me) near her new apartment. We spent nearly three hours there and at her place, catching up, while Fay washed Gainesville clean outside.

Jen’s life is in turmoil now and will only get worse before it gets better, with impending loss and grief and pain. Thank the gods she recently met a soulmate to help her through and to love her no matter what comes. (Yeah, yeah, she’s got me, too, but this guy is equipped to meet her needs – on many levels – in ways I can’t.)

Once home, I got into serious hunkerin’-down mode. It’s been restful and soothing and peaceful and I don’t wanna go back to work tonight. Sigh.

Oh, I went out just after it got light this morning and took a couple of pictures. As you can see, some minor tree debris fell here and that’s the extent of it chez moi.

TS Fay's clutter so far

That’s the view from my front stairs, looking to the right. No big mess, right? Let’s hope it stays that way.

And for the record, school’s out today, too. Is it any wonder kids here love hurricane season?

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No right to complain

So I was going down the list of blogs I have saved on my work browser, checking in for updates, trying to keep my finger on the pulse of my lil corner of the blogosphere. And I was getting annoyed, ’cause it’s been a while since some folks out there have posted. I was thinking, “Come on, y’all! Don’t you know I’m checking every day, hoping to get a new post? Why’d you start a blog if you’re only going to update it once every week or so??”

Then it occurred to me that, um, it’s been a few days since I posted anything. And, um, some of you out there may be wondering WTF is goin’ on with me. And, um, well… Sorry.

I haven’t added anything except pages to my list of books read, as I’ve not done much else. Work, read, sleep. Work, read, sleep. Like that.

I did try to get on with the getting on with Kai. That is, I pulled out the neck that I’d picked up incorrectly the first time, then picked it up correctly.

And that’s it. Exactly one row.

Pathetic, isn’t it?

Oh! Wait! I did go to my LYS and buy some yarn, specifically for two projects that are next on my list, projects for which my stash was insufficient. (Shut up! It could so happen, no matter what my kids say.)

Still, buying isn’t knitting. And I didn’t even take pics of that yarn to post for you here.

Like I said, pathetic.

Anyway, I’m still out here, reading, working, sleeping… and carrying my knitting bag around everywhere, all the time.

Surely I’m gonna trip and fall into some knitting sometime soon, right?

I’ll keep you posted.

And to my bloggin’ friends: tag, you’re it!

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Pet peeve

If I have to read/hear/be in the same hemisphere with one more idiot using “author” as a verb, I may kill someone. Seriously. For example, “He authored a groundbreaking book on why word misuse can make some people homicidal.” Or “She co-authored a popular webzine that featured recipes to make from the internal organs of idiots who misuse the English language.”

The word is wrote, folks. Wrote. Co-wrote. In the present tense: writes, co-writes.

Whew.

Thank you, I feel much better now.

—

On the knitting front, there is … nothing. Nada. Rien. I have not taken needles in hand since making the charity “square” I mentioned a few days ago. (No, don’t count how many. It’s too depressing.) I have been carrying my knitting bag everywhere, with both the unfinished Kai sweater and coral yarn (for more charity “squares”) inside, waiting patiently for me to pull them out and commence knitting, but to no avail.

My knitting mojo is, um, no mo’. Or on sabbatical. Or on vacation. Or hibernating. Or something.

I’m not worried ’bout it, though, as experience has shown me that the mojo will return. It’s surely just a lull. I have every intention of finishing Kai and of making several other projects (no, I won’t say what, but there are several babies making their debuts soon and, well, I’m the baby-sweater-knitting lady ’round here… a title I have no intention of relinquishing). This means that the knitting content will recommence soon. Probably.

You may have noticed I’ve been doing a lot of reading instead. I think I’m trying to make up for the reading I didn’t have time for while I was doing Hello, Dolly. That whole pendulum-swinging thing. I don’t know when I’ll get back to center, but you know you’ll know about it almost as soon as I do. ‘Cause I’ll force you to read about it here, right? Right! (Glad we got that straightened out.)

—

Happy Mother’s Day to those of you who are celebrating it. And to those of you who are not moms, but who still have moms, call your mother! (If you and your mom are not on speaking terms – for reasons that are none of my business, I’m sure – you may consider yourself exempt from that nag.) 

For my mother’s day, I am working 4 hours of overtime (making it a 12-hour shift tonite), then sleeping all day. I am due back at work at 11 p.m. tonite, so there won’t be a whole lotta celebrating chez moi. Still, I know my BCs love me and would shower me in kisses, if given the chance (well, maybe not “shower” me in them, but certainly force themselves to give me pecks on the cheek), so all is good there.

My mom should be roadtripping today, heading down south to visit two of her sisters and other relatives. Wherever she is, she knows she goes with my love. And, yes, I’ll be calling her cellphone to be sure the message is fresh in her mind. ‘Cause I’m a good daughter like that.

Shut up. I am, too.

Just ask my mom. She’ll tell you.

And, no, you can’t have her address or phone number.

You’ll just have to trust me!

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Checklist for a good day off

My checklist would include all the activities in the blog’s name, now wouldn’t it, as those are four of my favorite things? So, how’d I do?

You be the judge:

Writing? Well, you’re reading this, so “Check!”

Knitting? Charity “square” number two. “Check!”

Reading? Started and finished book #41 for 2008, so “Check!”

Purring? With two kitties in the house, you know that’s a definite “Check!” Several times. (For me, too, although not in my house. Check! Check! Check, check, check! ‘Nuff said.)

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