Yes, I Like the Controlled Chaos

So much to talk about, so many pictures I want to share! Where to start?

Well, last Friday was a sick day for poor DDthe8yr old. So what do you do when you feel yucky and get bored? Why KNIT of course!

Those of you who have been with me a while, may remember back in the day when I started to teach the two oldest how to knit. After that, they sort of lost interest, and I haven't been in such a great teaching place the last couple of years. So we started again. She loves it of course, it's in her blood. =) DSthe10yr old also wanted to try again once he got home, and it went well with him too. (no pictures of that, sorry)

I have also been on a mini reading kick. First this book:

Which was VERY captivating. It may have been a teensy bit predictable in one part, but I have been reading novels since I was, what 11/12 and I started with Pride and Prejudice. Not many stand up to Jane Austen. This author is really good, though, and at the end of the book, I found myself wanting to know what happens to her next. Fortunately for me, there is at least one more book with this character in it. YAAY!

Next was this book:


It reads like a good movie, several sub plots following the lives of several people, all involved some way with the people who frequent a certain New York City yarn shop. VERY good, not very predictable for me. That's all I'll say about that, because any more and I'll start giving things away. It DID make me cry a few times.

I've made some good progress on my sweater, it's now time to start doing the shaping for the hips.


I haven't felt like wrapping my mind around that quite yet. So I decided to start another project.
After trying and giving up several years ago with the figure 8 cast-on, I finally did it successfully! I was so amazed at how easy it was.


I declared myself accomplished and started a toe up sock


I'm using some brand new yarn I got the other day when I found myself on my way to an event that didn't start till next week at that time. DUH. So there I was, literally all dressed up with no where to go. But AH, I was very close to the only LYS left in my area. (cue sobs) But I've been craving self patterning yarn for quite awhile. Result? VIOLA!


I really liked the colors in this yarn and once I really looked at it, I realized that it is both variegated and self patterning in the usual sense. So it's an interesting diversion. Since I like doing two at once, I decided to do the figure 8 cast-on again. To my great surprise, I could no longer do it. RATS. At long last I realized I was wrapping it much too tight. So I loosened up. (something I am always in need of doing anyway)


But it was much too loose. I'm starting to think about the Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. This one was MUCH too tight, that one was much too LOOSE. See all the AIR through those stitches?


Until finally, I tried Baby Bear's stitches which were JUST RIGHT.


LE sigh - finally a good start on the second sock. I don't have photographic proof of said second pair of socks, but rest assured, they are safely on the circ now, after doing all the toe increases on my size zero bamboo dpns. (yes, I'm warming up to dpns, slowly but surely)

At some point in the middle of all my sock issues, I noticed a giant thunderhead right over our neighborhood. Usually the are off in the distance building, but this one was spectacular. So of course - SKY PICS!

see those tiny dots near the top? birds! =)

You can see that torrential rain off in the distance. Yes it got dark and there was much lightning and thunder and it rained and rained.

And then the sun came out while it was still pouring, so I jumped up to see if we had a rainbow and lo and behold a really awesome double rainbow. AH glorious!

see my umbrella?

Can you see that the rainbow sort of comes down in front of that house? It was SO cool. And the raindrops were lit up like thousands of diamonds falling from the sky. If I had not been yelling at the kids to get away from the street, I'd have some really cute pictures of them in the driveway with their umbrellas. drat. I didn't think about it until it was too late. OH well. Here's the view to the West.



Guess what else? (yes there's more) I had another interview with a Chiropractor on Tuesday, the practical (the massage portion) is scheduled for Thursday. Today, Wednesday, I got to fill in for a therapist that had to call in sick, at another Chiropractor's office. That was fun. They are also going to be looking for someone in the next couple of months, and they really liked me, so they are a little hopeful that they have a chance at me. Fortunately, since most of us are private contractors, we can work in several places at once and it's not a conflict of interests. It's good to have options, yes? I'll let y'all know how the practical goes in a few days.

AH yes, and perhaps most importantly... The Yarn Harlot is coming to Dallas on Friday! YEEHAW! I'm so excited, I've been wanting to get to one of her book signings forEVER. Btw... you non-knitters, Stephanie is only the rock star of the knitting world. I should probably say, the online knitting subculture. She is hilarious, her books are hysterical - great comedian that she is. So my sister, remember Mica? - real name Heidi, and I will be trekking over that way on Friday. woooot

I'm sure I'll be bursting at the seams with blogging material by Saturday. (not unlike today, actually... hmmmm)

Finally an FO - Among other things

I've been promising some knitting content, and that I shall deliver.

First, the FO (finished object - for those non-knitter readers)
I finally got the knee brace things finished. Yaay! Even though the person I made them for is now preggers with twins and not much allowed to exercise.... she'll have them when she needs them. Chasing twins around is exercise, right?


They are made with the most squishy, wonderful stuff - 59% Bamboo, 25% Cotton and 16% Elastic Nylon for sproing =) It wasn't the easiest stuff to knit with (which is my fault because my tension is very tense) but overall, I will buy it again. Panda Cotton from Crystal Palace Yarns - good stuff. I definitely want some socks made with this yarn.

Second, the WIP (work in progress)
I am muchly liking this version better than the last. I did the fitted thing for the top and give it more shape once it's long enough to include my ample hips - lol. Those of you rolling your eyes, I've put on some pounds, I can say that now.


Those of you who have been reading this blog awhile, know that I have a hard time taking pictures of myself. After taking 20 frights, I finally handed the camera over to my daughter. It was still several shots before we got something presentable, it just happens to come with a small hand holding grass, roots and dirt on it. That's okay with me.

Third, my wubbie
I have a cotton sweater/cardi thing that I really like. I got it at Ross for some very low cost, I'm sure. I've pretty much worn it every day since. However it is beginning to disintegrate. Sad I am, verily.

So, I will be deconstructing it, on paper. I can't actually bring myself to take it apart, I can still wear it at home. KnitPicks has some new natural color cotton yarns that look very tempting. I'm still not sure which variation I'll choose, but the one closest to what I have is the Malted Milk. I'll probably go with that one. This project means I'll have to either get over my aversion to seaming and grow up and become a real knitter =) or figure out a way to do it in the round and do scary steeks on cotton yarn that will also make me grow up and be a real knitter. Either way, I'll have to grow up. rats

Fourth, my family surprised me with a little graduation party!
I was completely taken off guard and pleasantly surprised and felt very weird at the same time suddenly being the center of attention. There was cake and cup cakes and presents and everything!


I LIKE my presents! 15 year old Scotch - SO YUMMY - and a Starbucks card =) Does my family know me or WHAT? I'm new to Scotch (weird considering my love of everything Scotland) but this stuff is my fav so far. I only sip a little now and then, so no danger of adding a real PROBLEM to my other issues (in case you were worrying about that) I plan for this bottle to last me a very good long time, which is why I hid it from the other adult in the house. (come to think of it, I think I'll hide it better) I can't have him defiling it with Dr. Pepper or some such heresy as that. MUST PROTECT THE SCOTCH

and finally
Fifth, more cool sky pics.


Did you notice, the scenery is completely different? That's because I was driving from my neighborhood to my Mom's house. That's about 20 miles. These only represent about 8 of those.


Yep, me driving my little standard, taking pictures and talking on the phone to my brother, who, again, alerted me to grab the camera.






That reminds me! My car is okay. Apparently, since I need tires, and the whole car shakes like... what's something that shakes a lot? ... well it shakes violently between 60 mph and 81 mph. It's really smooth at 82 mph =) Anyway, it shook a spark plug loose, thus the coughing dying thing. So... aside from still needing tires and the shaking, the car is good. (stop screaming, they aren't that bad)

One more thing. Today was my therapy day and it came with a realization. (or revelation, if you prefer) It really applies to lots of people, and it's something I kinda knew already, but didn't really know WHY I was this way. Basically goes like this, since I was raised in a very chaotic and painful situation, I became used to disarray and well, chaos. So I work very well under pressure. School and study, when I was young, was an escape from a very, critical, ridiculous situation. For the most part, none of the things at home ever made any sense, it was full of stress and hopelessness, because there was never a time when anything I ever did was good enough to please the powers that were there breathing down my neck. Being a person that is relatively intelligent enough, as I said, I found school much less awful than home.

Once I grew up, I threw myself into lots of things at once. Again, chaos, pretty much, but I thrived in that environment. So... once I started staying home, no outside job, no outside anything, really, I started on a gradual decline. As a person used to chaos, I was bored, but I thought, hey, boredom should be good for me, a break from the chaos. Not so, as it turns out, I need some pressure and some sort of something pushing me to accomplish things.

I'm not saying it as well as it was presented to me, I don't think. He said I reminded him of a friend of his, a very talented aeronautical engineer who struggled with sobriety over and over. His sponser eventually told him, "Your brain is much too dangerous a place for you to be playing around in there by yourself." In other words, he really needed to be DOING something in order to keep from looking at his personal life with dissatisfaction. He needed an external pressure, some chaos to keep him engaged in his work, which in turn, kept him from being TOO introspective, which would invariably lead to relapse.

I really see that in myself. Boredom leads to pathology.

Just to be clear, being a mom IS doing something, don't get me wrong. I'm glad I stayed home when they were little. It's a very hard job, the hardest I've ever had. My problem was that it never ends and it never gets done. SO... everything you did today is gone tomorrow, so a real sense of accomplishment is short-lived. That's was my world, anyway.

SO... why share this? In the hopes that at least one other person reading this, had a not so great situation when they were growing up with one or more critical, overbearing person in their life who made you feel like crap. Think back to a time when you were doing REALLY well. What were you doing? Lots of stuff, probably. Keep the chaos OUT THERE in the workplace or out the in school or wherever it belongs, and give your personal life a break from it.

ok - off soap box now =)

live long and prosper

Update on Interview

The interview went very well, not sure I want it, but glad to be considered. I did a 30min massage for part of the interview and she was very impressed with that. Apparently there aren't many of my peers that can do deep tissue and keep it up for an extended amount of time. That's pretty much ALL I do, I don't really know what to do with a person who just wants light pressure. When I feel a problem, I attack and work it out.

That sorta describes me in all aspects of my personality. Usually =) There are exceptions - like areas where that approach has had zero success. But anyway, just wanted to give y'all the update I promised.

More sooner than later - knitting stuff and some more coolish sky stuff.

ttyl

Sunset Spectacular

My brother called me a few evenings ago
and said, "Have you seen the sky? Get your camera
and go quickly!" So I did.

West view? Wow

Every minute, it got more dramatic.

These beams were in the East.

If you looked South, you saw this

Is it just me, or does this look like a pretty painting
of a woman from behind, and a man's head and
torso from the front?

As the light began to fade, the shadows grew larger


The whole thing was too big to fit into one picture


It started to look like a nebula when I zoomed in

Doesn't it just look like you could go through that space
into another world?

I do have knitting to show off, but I just didn't think it would fit with this post. I think this particular sunset deserves it's very own post.

I have my first job interview tomorrow, though. I'm SO excited! Think about me tomorrow - which will probably be today actually, since I'm posting this so late. So... think about me Thursday morning!

I'll probably post again tomorrow - Thursday or Friday - to let y'all know if I totally went uncool and blew it or if I was chill and did good - lol - AND I'll show the knitting. C U then =)

More Fun

Which Fringe Character Are You?

More on Fringe. Created by BuddyTV

Have any of you seen this show? It's way out there on the ...
well the Fringe. Science Fiction/Crime Drama
I really like it, because some of the concepts
aren't as far out there as one might think.
bomp bomp BOM

lol - it's a really cool show

What have I been doing now that I'm out of school? Well I had two pretty much sleepless nights, followed by crashing in a heap last night and then sleeping till 11 or so today. It felt much later, mainly because I kept dreaming it was 3. I hate when that happens, dreams breaking into my reality and infusing false times on my brain. Not fair.

Check this out for odd timing.... my car broke down two days after school was finished for me. Very odd, and I'm SO thankful it didn't happen to start breaking down on the way to school any earlier. I had just dropped off the kids at their school and was about 1.5 miles from home when it started acting like I was in forth gear going 10mph - you know that sputtering "I'm SO gonna die on you" thing standards do. Well, the thing is, I was in neutral. So I start revving up the engine and tried to get home as fast as possible (AFAP - hahahahaaa) and I made it home. I guess this is what happens when you own two paid off vehicles, something out there wants to force you into another car payment. Hopefully though, it's something not too terribly shockingly horrible and I can be oot and aboot again. (just checking to see if my Canucks are still paying attention) I can't actually spell it to sound right, but I can hear it in my head properly. Oh speaking of Canada:

I was driving along the other day and saw a license plate from Ontario. I had to really control myself not to flag them down like an idiot and say, "HI! I LOVE CANADA!"- and then proceed to laugh like Goofy. It was sorta funny though because the car following them had a license plate from Chihuahua, Mexico. Which isn't that odd since there are German Canadians in Mexico, but it's odd because my instructor for 4 out of 6 mods in school was a German Canadian born in Mexico. Synchronicity - don't ya love it? (actually I have no idea what PART of Mexico has the most Canadians, so I don't really know if those two lisence plates were oddly following each other or not) Maybe I'll find out when I do my exit interview at school next week.

I have been knitting still - well some. I am closish to being done with the knee brace barriers - I'll probably have to mail them to their intended recipient since I failed to realize I ought to have them done by the time school was out - duh. OH well, that can happen when you are trying to finish a 17 page pretend business plan before it's due.

Well, I should probably go become the homework enforcer, since my first efforts have failed miserably. Does anyone know children that just do their homework without being told a dozen times? Second thought, don't tell me. See ya next time I take another Random TV/Movie Character Quiz

Just For Fun

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Take the Quiz here!

PS: I finished my internship today - May 2nd - =)

ETA: And today - May 4th - was my last day of school,

and my last final!

It's happy/sad - but tomorrow I get to SLEEP - yaay

(and I made 98% on my final! squeeee)