Holy Knitting Content, Batman!
So I thought I'd better post some knitting if I'm going to head off to knitting group again. Just so people don't think I've completely denied her, I'm offering proof that Pinup Queen is officially all knit up and ready to be sewn. Just as I thought she would, she grew about five times her normal size when I bathed her. Damn! I did as much as I could to shrink her down, but we'll see. It was the recycled yarn that did it to her. I never straightened out the kinks from the previous sweater, and when they relaxed, they REALLY relaxed! I know some people that it will fit if it doesn't fit me, so I'm okay with it.
Pinup Queen, all knitted and waiting to be sewn. At least she's gotten THAT far!
Yesterday, I started a sweet little sweater named Bea from
Rowan Little Treasures. There are some of the most adorable patterns in it, and Rowan Soft Baby is one of the nicest yarns I've ever knit with. It's so soft knits really smoothly. I had to go down two needle sizes to get the right gauge, but I think I finally got it right.
Bea: A B-E-A-utiful little sweater knitted with Rowan Baby Soft. What a dreamy yarn!
Looking ahead, there's a part of the pattern that is really confusing me. It says I'm supposed to cast off the 20-something stitches right smack in the middle of the back. Hopefully I'll be able to get some help tonight 'cause I can't imagine why your little darling would want a backless sweater!
Anyway, I thought I'd give you a few more pics from Aruba. There were about 900 PL consultants on the island that week, and we were nothing if not pampered and partied out by the end of our 5-day trip. Enjoy!
This was the view from our hotel room in Aruba. Does it get much better that this?
We walked around downtown a little bit and enjoyed as much sunshine as we could soak in.
We crossed a little bridge that boats could come into one of the hotels under. Pretty cool!
On one part of our island tour, there were wild goats everywhere! I thought about trying to sneak one back on the bus so I could bring home some mohair, but I figured people might notice a goat on the bus.
These guys were everywhere too! Cute, but also kind of creepy if they happened to crawl over your feet as you're eating lunch.
Our last night was a huge party on the beach with Aruban musicians and dancers, tons of food and drink, and even fireworks!
PartyLite went all out, and we had a blast!
Banished No Longer
Alright...my self-imposed banishment is officially over. Looking back at my last post, I realized one thing... I forgot to knock on wood. I rarely give in to this silly superstition, but boy-o, you better believe I would have then if I'd known what a HUGE oversight THAT was!
Such an optimistic last post for the end of the year.
Well. Here's the update. I started back up with school in January and found myslef immediately drowning in a deluge of meetings, workshops, prepping, planning, parent letters and emails, and more meetings. In February, G and I were slammed into a big, red brick wall. G had gotten sick. Really, really sick. Overnight he was depressed, anxious, sleepless, exhausted, and generally the exact opposite of his normal self. We had him tested for a number of diseases and found nothing. They put him on Zoloft for depression, and, for about two weeks, I thought I had lost the man I had loved for the past 13 years. He wasn't there. In his place, was this sweaty, glass-eyed, miserable shell. I can't even describe the emotions that swept through me every day on the way to and from work (the only place I felt safe releasing my fears).
Long story short and three doctors later, G was diagnosed with Lyme disease. He probably got it from a tick bite while repairing the walls on our property last year. A large price to pay, we're discovering. He now has an IV port that he uses to infuse himself with toxic levels of antibiotics four days a week and is on a myriad other oral medications and supplements. Every day is still a mystery as to how he'll feel, but he has about one good day in five now, so we're counting our blessings. We're lucky we caught it early.
Oh yeah, then I was rear-ended on the freeway on my way to work in a four-car pileup. Not my best year so far, you think?
So now, thank dog, it's finally summer, and I've no idea if I have a teaching job for next year yet, BUT I did well enough with PartyLite this year that they sent both G and I to
Aruba for 5 days in May. THAT helped. A lot.
I'm slowly but surely coming out of my shell now. I've started to knit again, and while the patterns have been super simple, the process has been very soothing. I'm hoping to get to Knit Nite tomorrow. Anyone else going?
So...we're healing. Slowly at first, but maybe a little faster as time moves forward. No babies this year. Less knitting, reading, and breathing than I'd hoped. But this too shall pass.
I'll leave you with a picture from Aruba and promise to be back soon.
A good day.
Goodbye to 2005!
It's the last day of the year. I know tomorrow really will just be another day that someone decided should be the first day of the year, but, for some reason, January 1st has always held meaning for me. It seems easier to convince yourself that there is a reason to try to be better starting with that specific day.
At the beginning of this year, we experienced complete chaos and disaster within our household. It has taken us an entire year to recover, rebuild, and settle. My new teaching job has worked on me to create and sustain more of the chaos and stress that I have fought against. I am recognizing that I was a much more centered person in 2004. 2005 has been tough, but there is no reason why I can't take steps to make changes in 2006.
So, here are some things that I'm planning for 2006:
- Breathe more.
- Strive to stay in the moment more often.
- Call my friends and family more.
- Remind myself that I chose to teach to help shape a better tomorrow. Anger and frustration with obstacles are only temporary.
- Read more. Watch TV less.
- Give when I can, but remember to say 'no.'
- Knit. A. Lot.
- Follow through with others.
- Find more ways to be kind.
- Get pregnant. :)
This year is going to be about reconnecting. This year is going to be less about trying to do everything but still doing as much as I can. This is going to be the year that I take care of myself (and those I love) physically, emotionally, and (esp) spiritually.
This is going to be the year that I finish that damned sweater! Think I'll go knit right now.
Happy New Year.
Restless Arm Syndrome?
I have to know if there is anyone else out there with this problem... Right away, just by saying that, I have confirmed that I'm crazy, but here goes.
I usually sleep on my side with one arm underneath me and the other dangling over my side in front of me. With me so far? OK. For some reason, when I knit consistently, say a couple hours a day, I wake up several times a night with my arms flung up over my head! My hands fall asleep, my shoulders get sore, and I wake up over and over again just to put my arms back down!
Tell me. Does that seem a little odd to you?
It's like my arms and hands are going into revolt once I've taken the wool away from them for the night. I've been putting my knitting next to the bed at night so I can knit right before bed. Maybe my hands are secretly trying to creep out of bed on their own to finish just one more row. I don't know, but it's pissing me off. Stop it already!!
No camera yet. Hence, no pictures. I'm working on it along with another scarf and a few other mini-projects. And now that Kodak "photo-share-only-if-you-buy-stuff" Gallery has deleted my folders from my sidebar, I am also working on a new photo gallery that really is free even if you don't buy anything.
So there.
No Foto, Moto!
I realized the other day that I left my camera in my classroom on the last day of school, and I'm just not at the point yet where I'm ready to venture the 25 miles to go get it. Needless to say, that means that many of my knitted gifts went without glamour shots before they were packaged up and vigorously opened on Christmas Day.
There are a few things that have yet to make their way to their owners this holiday season, though, and I will try to get them photographed before I do something silly like actually give them away. I managed to get a purse, five scarves, and a hat knit up in just a few days, and this brings me to the realization that I. do. not. knit. fast. enough. Remember that I am out of practice. Other than that I have no excuses and no idea what it will take to help me knit faster. I'm under the impression that if I could just find an extra 2-3 hours a day in which to practice, I could certainly speed knit with the rest of them. Hmmm...
Of course, as I was too busy knitting for other people (and, apparently, I'm a big fat liar) poor Pinup languished all month without another stitch to show for all my time off. I didn't get to wear her beautiful red wooliness on Christmas... Maybe Valentine's Day?
Yes! That's it! She's saving herself to be worn on the reddest day of the year! Valentine's Day! Apparently, she's a bit lusty. I've already been giving her a few furrowed looks, trying to determine whether the neckline might be diving a little too low. I'm pretty certain, without having tried it on, that I'd be fired for wearing it without an accompanying tank top to school. Alas.
So...no pictures yet. Hopefully soon. I also hope that everyone enjoyed their Chrismahanukwaanzmakah and has a crazy New Year!
29 and Feelin' Fine
What a weekend! The last few days of school were crazy, sweet, and frustrating all rolled into one. My students took home the most adorable presents for their parents (designed by me, of course), had a great time with the gift exchange without any whining, and gave me lots of hugs at the end of the day. Then I was evil and gave them tons of homework! >:-)
I spent all day Saturday cleaning for my birthday party on Sat. night. What a blast! We had about 20 really great (and drunk) people over to the house to celebrate and had a great time! Thank you to all of you that made my day extra-special! :)
Sunday morning was spent cleaning up the gigantor mess all around the inside and outside of the house, but I spent the rest of the day vegging on the sofa and watching movies on TV with G and my knitting. The perfect ending to a perfect weekend.
Speaking of knitting, I've been on a sort of finishing frenzy and managed to finish three projects this weekend! Pictures coming tomorrow...
After all that moaning about not having time to knit any presents, I have unexplicably started knitting for everyone else! I have no idea what's gotten into me, but it cannot be good. I find myself, just a few measley days before Christmas, actually STARTING new knitted gifts! What am I doing?! Someone needs to talk to
Ms. McPhee and tell her to stop putting ideas into my head! I in no way wanted to experience "IT" this year, but here I am. Looks like I've stepped right in "IT."
Wish me luck. I'll be back tomorrow.
Four and a half days
That's the amount of time I have left until Winter Break begins. One of the many joys of being a teacher is the three weeks off for the holidays... The only problem is (and of course you knew there had to be one) is that every year I promise myself I'm going to do nothing, but I end up over-scheduling myself with a myriad of activities. Instead of taking the time to rejuvenate and relax myself, I run around the whole time, trying to get in all the stuff I can't during the school year.
The first week always goes something like this:
Celebrate birthday, clean house as much as possible in order to put up decorations late, knit till my fingers hurt to try to get as many gifts finished as possible, give up on the gifts as it gets too close to Christmas and spend endless hours at the mall and Costco searching unsuccessfully for the second most perfect gift I can find that is also within our budget, buy "It's a Wonderful Life" dvd's for everyone on the list in an attempt to just have something to give all the people who lost out on their knitted gift this year, AND THEN celebrate Christmas!!
Week two?
Collapse. Then try to make up for Christmas by baking everyone my favorite iced sugar cookies and banana bread and delivering.
Since this may be the last non-pregnant, childless New Year's, we're also planning to head down to our friends' house in San Diego this year to party it up "freak-style." We always have a great time hanging out with the crew down there, but are still debating whether to face the freeways and traffic going in and out of Tijuana or to take the train and our chances that the New Year's crowd won't be too large or annoying. (Amtrak's real motto should be something like, "It's your sanity...Take it for a ride!" Especially during the holidays.)
Week three will be spent entirely getting ready for the kids to come back to school with new projects planned and reservations for the rest of the year's field trips. New paper needs to be hung on the classroom walls, lesson plans need to be finalized, and my resolve for finally getting my rules and procecures across must be firmly in place before I go back to school on that following Monday.
So here I go. Four and a half days before craziness ensues. I will let you all continue to be envious of the scheduling of a teacher, but remember...I will in no way be eating bon-bons on the sofa for 21 days, I've been working 50-60 hour weeks, and, while some of you will be staying home with a couple children of your own this season, I will be
going back to 20+ children very soon.
Goodbye to a Friend
It's amazing how an animal as small as a betta fish can become a fixture in your daily life. How is it possible for a grown woman to miss a fish who's most exciting day was jumping over a fish tank barrier, trying to commit
fishicide. Jello Rainbow (red) was about two and a half years old (Is that old for a betta?) and loved to threaten his friend Sonic through the plastic screen that stood between them.
I have no idea how he died, but I'm pretty sure that Lucy's attempts to catch them through the fish tank's plastic walls didn't help. Maybe he was scared to death by a gigantic cat pouncing at the tank from time to time. Maybe he got pinned between the faux plants and the wall of the tank. We'll never know. For now, I'm off to scoop his fishy fins out of his home and send him down the other household bowl. I hope his fishy ghost is currently relaxing and enjoying that great ocean in the sky. We'll miss you J.R. (At least until we get another betta.)
Damaging?!
I actually had a parent (Why, yes! The same crazy parent as usual.) refuse FREE tutoring for her child because I might be "
damaging."
Ummmmm...
Yeah, I can't even respond to that right now. I guess that means I won't be staying as late, after school, as I thought.
Family Ties
So many more things to tell you about, I just don't know where to start! Hello is working again, so I'll warn you now about the gazillion pictures that are involved in this post.
The first picture demonstrates how close we were to having our house burn to the ground about a week ago. The fire burned about 4,000 acres and was finally put out. We were worried we would have to evacuate for a while, but ended up being fine.
2005 School Canyon Fire looming over the hill behind our house.
For the first time, Thanksgiving was at or house. Landscaping and wall construction ended on Wednesday, so we were ready just in time to have all of G's family over. The evening turned cool, but we lit up the fire pit and some of us hung out outside anyway, talking and laughing.
Kickin' it in the backyard on Thanksgiving evening with G's family.
On Friday, my family came up from Disneyland-ville to hang out and spend some quality time.
Lunch with G and my fam in Ojai (pronounced "Oh, hi!") on Friday. We had a VERY yummy seafood lunch, wandered the boutiques, and had a wonderfully pleasant day.
Mom, Grandma, and I. That would be my grandma talking while the picture was being taken. She always does that and really is not confused at all.
We wandered the boutiques for a while, when I spotted this...
and this.
This seemed much more forceful and angry than the cute little sign. No one else noticed it but me, and it made me wonder how many people actually look down and notice they're BLOCKING THE TROLLEY STOP! Really, the nerve.
We ended our tour at a little winery, tucked away in the foothills. They don't have any grapes anymore, due to some pest that came up from the creek that we had to drive through to get there, but they did have some yummy wines that we ended up bringing home.
Winery clouds at sunset.
As I said before, all the landscaping and wall construction is now complete. I would love to have you all over to show you, but as that is not possible, a little photo essay instead.
Come for a tour of our new landscaping and walls...
A new white picket keeps the yard a little private without blocking a view of the front door. Something I was worried about when I received an eerie phone call from someone who knew too much about G and I. (He asked to see me without telling Greg and wouldn't tell me who he was. We immediately got an alarm and decided to take down the tall security fence for safety's sake. Overreacting? Maybe. But it was REALLY creepy!)
View from the front door.
The front yard is now complete with grass, roses, a bench for enjoying the sunshine, and a new retaining wall to hold up the neighbors' property.
View from the side yard, looking toward the street.
Looking from the side of the house out to the front. Notice how the new palm trees are strategically placed to block the view of our neighbors across the street.
View of the backyard from the "Tiki Hut." (For those of you who don't know, there is nothing tiki about the open structure in our backyard now, but it was completely outfitted with Tiki masks and a rainbow colored fence when we first moved in.)
The backyard is now so secluded and quiet, you can actually hear yourself think. The extremely loud teal wall has been replaced by a little bit of Spain, and the new wooden fence keeps out our neighbors chickens and children. Aaaahhh...The serenity of a finished project.
I told you this post would be picture heavy, but I'm now where I would like to be, blog-wise. I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and make it back to work without too much crying after the long weekend.
So, Hello is not working again. Bah! I have so many exciting things to show and tell you! G has been given a VERY big decision to make by Monday. I don't know what he's going to do, but he knows that he has my support, either way. More on that after the decision has been made.
Last week, I bought two fun, new books from Amazon. The first was Holiday Knits. Don't know if I'll actually have any time to knit anything for anyone this Christmas, but the pictures and projects are great, and I may get around to knitting the classic stocking for G and I next year.
I also bought Erika Knight's Knitting for Two. It has a lot of very sweet and stylish items for both mommy and baby that I might make a priority to knit. The two sweaters below are my favorites out of the book. The best thing about the mommy patterns is that they are versatile enough to be worn even after the baby has been born. Lots of items with ties, side vents, and double-ended zippers make the items look very easy to wear.
The last thing I have to show you is the sad progress of my Pinup Queen sleeves. They go up past my elbows now, so they're a little longer than pictured, but the time has not been there to devote to this almost-finished product.
Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and an even better long weekend! :)
Death to Hotmail
I had this great post with pictures, talk of my sweater, new book purchases, and al kinds of other goodies. Well, it's all gone now, and I'm bitter. Hotmail has been screwing with my computer all day. It keeps signing in and out and making IE do really weird things like disappear with my posts! Aargh!
I'll come back tomorrow when my computer better have decided to behave! Even uploading pictures through Blogger doesn't seem to work today! Bah!
What was I thinking?!
Still at school, but I'm leaving soon to go to the Java Station. Anyone else going tonight? I've had precious little time to work on the sleeves of the Pinup Queen, but I'm still devoted to finishing this sweater before Christmas so I can wear it on Christmas morning. Apparently, I'm not that worried about starting projects for anyone else this year because it is now November, and I have done little more than gaze at my kntting books and wish I had more time to make soft, wooly wonders.
I would love to make stockings for everyone in the family or mitten and hat sets for everyone. Just know that if you are a member of the family that you probably shouldn't get your hopes up this year. I have one week of winter break before Christmas, and I highly doubt that I'll get ambitious enough to clothe you all. I DO still love you, but, this year, the woolens are for me. I have four projects on needles that are all mine. I hope to finish one...ever.
I promised some parents today that I was going to teach all the students in my class to knit in January or February. Is that a bad thing? What is the best way to go about this? I figured I would start with just a few students a day at lunch time, so that I wouldn't be too overwhelmed and that, by the end, they'd all be able to help each other. I saw these really great tutorial cards online for kids that would be great to use after they're starting to practice individually. Think I'll be able to get parents to chip in for that? We'll see... Anyway, any tips for maintaining my sanity in this endeavor would be great, and anyone who wants to volunteer in January would be even better!!! Anyone wanting to come hang out with a bunch of nine-year olds?
"Bubbles, bubbles everywhere..."
"An Evening to Remember"
November 6, 2005
Congratulations to my friend Scott and his new wife, Tiffany. It was a beautiful evening for a beautiful couple.
Greg and I enjoying a fabulous evening despite getting home at 4:30am that same morning. It's always a good time when friends come from all over and debaucherize (Of course that's a word!) all night long!
Scott is a long-time friend of both Greg and I. We all went to high school together and sang in the school choir. Scott has never been the type to keep in close contact with the central group, but he is still considered a member of the "inner-circle." Needless to say, that made this a super special event. It was on the crest of the main hill at the Santa Barbara Zoo, overlooking the ocean. The ceremony began at sundown, and the combination of the bubbles and Tiffany's tears made it at least a little easier to forget that the dry officiant called Tiffany "Stephanie." Oops!
Congrats again to some very special people. Thank you for letting us share in your joy.
