Wednesday, September 28, 2005

You have 17 messages...

Oops! That was all I had to say when I heard this on my cell phone today. And double oops as most of them were work-related!

Today I felt like my left hip was vibrating all day. Just that side since that is where I put my pager on my jeans pocket. After awhile it felt like it was vibrating just 'cause I was getting used to it- I didn't notice it NOT going off.

I specifically carved out time in my day for Stitch N Bitch in Eden Prairie from 10-12. When it was 10:45 I was wondering Where the Heck is everyone?! Then, I found Ann, another knitter led astray under false pretenses that we were going to knit at this Dunn Bros. I went to my google mail and gave our SnB leader a ring on her cell. WOW! There are three knitters, herself included at the OTHER Dunn Bros. Well, I stayed where I was, but was dissapointed that I wasn't with the whole group. It was a fragmented SnB!

After this I got a page; my timesheet wasn't in and it was overdue. I had faxed it at 9:30- but it didn't get there. This page was received in the 25 min. that I had to shop at Kohl's for a wedding this Saturday in the UP of MI. Back at my car I realized I didn't have my papers that I absolutely needed for my appt. So I went back to my "satellite office" Troy's desk, re-faxed one set of things, used my flash drive to make more copies of my papers, then hustled off to my appt.

Fast Forward...after lots of help and searching I found an outfit to wear to the upcoming wedding. It is trendy, camisole, shrug, beaded "fluffy" skirt, "beauty and the geek earrings" and a "gypsy" gold necklace. Everything I bought was on sale- I saved 50 some dollars according to the sales lady. What I didn't mention was that I also spent 75. So, I could have saved 75 by not shopping, or would I have saved 125 dollars, since 50+75=125?

And yes, there has been a trifle of knitting. I have no idea what project should come along in the LONG car ride- the sock would render me carsick in about 5 minutes if I tried to knit that along the way (I know from experience). Perhaps the capelets...though I would really like to be knitting a sweater!!!

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Leaf socks


Leaf socks
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
My socks are resting on my internship manual. Does anyone know whose

picture is on the cover of the book? Lisa perhaps?



I am trying to match the colors this time. I hope I have enough yarn to

do it. I think I am knitting this one tighter than the first, also. So

far I am quite happy with the color matching. This has been pretty much

the only knitting I've been working on. I did a few rows on my new

green capelet from Target, and I also knit about 3 inches on my Mom's

sweater. Her project stays at her house, and I knit it when I am over

there.



DH surprised me on Saturday night. I was holding onto the only copy of

Vogue Knitting in the store, the last copy, and he nonchalantly slipped

it away from under my arm. Later I saw him pay for it himself. It was

really sweet. There are too many patterns I want to knit from the

magazine for me to not buy it.



We have still been running, and I can feel that I am getting much

better at it. I can nearly run for 20 minutes now. There will always be

a few walking times, like when the dogs have to stop to do their

business, but I am quite pleased with being able to run more than half

a block before walking.



In jobland- I have been keeping busy. Yesterday I left the house at 9am

and returned at 8:45pm. I did some knitting in the morning so I didn't

actually start doing work till after noon, but once I started I kept on

going. I have had to learn how to schedule time with my husband- like a

full evening's worth, otherwise I am pretty much falling asleep on the

couch by the time we are together.



I am thinking about going to knitting tonight, we'll have to see. I

have an appt. that might get done at 6:30pm, or slightly earlier. The

rate I am going on my sock I could finish it in about a week and a half

if I work at it. I cast on for the second sock last Tuesday, after

kitchnering the toe of the first.



OH- and my classes are done. I have a one page reflections on small

group supervision paper to write- that'll take about an hour, an oral

exam to schedule, and doubles (direct supervision) to do, and I'm done.

Weasel pic


Weasel pic
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
I was holding her on my lap on her back. It was really hard to take

this picture!

Friday, September 16, 2005

Play day+ my last Master's level class

Wow. Yesterday was a solid long, busy day. I was pretty much working from 9:15 till 8pm. I say pretty much 'cause a girl's got to eat and use the facilities once and while. Let me tell you what it's like to be an in home therapist.

When will I eat a snack, lunch, dinner, etc. How will I pack a lunch and a dinner such that both are self-contained yet tasty enough to be eaten while driving and following along with at Mapquest directions on the way to my next appointment. When people return my phone calls will they offer an over abundance of important info that should be written down- at the same time that I am driving? (I don't write and drive, but I could see how this challenge could come up).

Just what is it is like to live out of your car? At the start of the morning I try to think about everything that I could possibly need through the day. Knitting always goes into the car- but it doesn't always get touched till I'm home for the night. Sometimes you wonder where to go to the bathroom. Is this going to be a safe, as in clean place to go or should I wait and sneak it in on the way to a next appointment?

Well, today I am studying with my friend Rebekka for our upcoming oral exams. Speaking of which, I had an unnerving phone call while in Caribou knitting with my friend Leslie. Dr. Smith called. That is the same name as my dentist. I really hate going to the dentist, and as you recall I went there a few months ago. So meanwhile I am panicking. What's going on? I know they cleaned my teeth well enough, my wisdom teeth are already out, why are they calling?

Then I realized this was Dr. Smith from Grad school, calling about my oral exam. The oral exam that is a "conversation" per my thesis-advisor's description, not a teeth cleaning type. Whew.

So tonight I begin my very last class in school. And tomorrow at 4:30pm or before I will finish that same class. Today I study at the wonderful Muddy Paws Cheesecake, and go to class. Did I already mention that I did my run for the morning? Yes. It is a good day. A day in which I will have fun studying with a friend, and basking or bragging about being done with school:) And I will knit, too. Indeed, a good day.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

In answer to Amy, mommy of Teddy the wonder dog (and some cute real kids, too)

Here's a fun little blog game.

Ten years ago: OH gosh. Let's not relive that time of my life! I worked at PetSmart as a cashier, specialty associate, dog obedience trainer, etc.

Five years ago: Hmmm...how old was I then? That was a year before I "officially" met my husband. I think I saw him in church though, and claimed him as my own after hearing him sing I said, "I'm going to marry him" he has a really nice voice and can play guitar and all that stuff. I was in college, oh! I went to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands as a traveling studying biology nerd. You should see how cute I look in my own version of rain forest trek clothes. Let me give you an image. Shoulder-length brown hair peeked out from under my khaki colored hiking hat, a lanyard held a portable compass and mini girlie Swiss Army knife, pants were those adaptable shorts/pants that zip off, a small Memo book graced my hand adorned with quick sketches and note about epiphytes and so on. OH- I wore a polyester tie dye fitted button-down shirt too.

One year ago: Grad school- keeping busy there while working as an in-home family therapist intern. I had just begun knitting my first sweater, a gift for DH's Septemeber 26th birthday.

Yesterday: What did I do yesterday? Oh- about 6 hours of work, I was so tired! And went to the Blue Nile with DH to celebrate a friend's birthday with a big batch of other friends. Let me tell you how I got there. I was coming from 394 towards the city and thought, oh, let's take Hiawatha, then travel over to the area where I thought the place was located. So I finally got near Uptown and received a call from DH asking where I was. Well I was on the wrong part of Franklin. Fortunately he was able to re-maneuver make back to where I needed to be, and was calmed down by DH following my too-frequent getting lost due-to-being-creative experiences.

Five snacks:
-----------------------------------
Bolthouse Farms Short-cut Carrots. I have been trying to eat them instead of chocolate or candy. And it is mostly working.
Gummy worms
Goat, and swiss cheese
Pizzeles ('cause we still have some left)
Apple or bell pepper (my favorite)

Five songs I know all the words to:
------------------------------------------------
Lots of songs- just turn on the radio
Gwen Stefani's LAMB, Over the Rhine, Superchick, Barlow Girls

Five things I would do with $100 million:
-------------------------------------------
Buy the yarn for a sweater I want to make
Buy DH the IPOD family of techno things
Dh says there's a lot of money left over still so,
Scions for all my close friends
Buy a summer home in Tuscany with a nice view, a garden plaza, alpaca farm, lake, a horse
A few million for the not yet conceived children we plan to have someday
Then donate all the left over- like 90 million- like a million to 90 different charities of my choice- that would be fun

Five places to run away to:
-----------------------------------
Well, I can only run for about 20 minutes max without wussing out, so that would get me to Caribou or Starbucks
Otherwise, Brisbane and Queensland Australia
Monteverde in Costa Rica
The Collinette yarn making place in Europe
Tuscany
Sweden- then Denmark

Five things I would never wear:
----------------------------------

Fur from animals that lived once
Pants that are rolled or pinned on the bottom
The brands Sag Harbor or Alfred Dunner
That's about it- I am adventurous fashion-wise with bold colors, prints and textures


Five favorite tv shows:
----------------------------
Crafters Coast to Coast knitting segments
Kim Possible
Dr. Phil (I gotta watch it for "work")
Home decorating shows
Agility competitions with corgis

Five biggest joys:
----------------------------------------
My husband- the love of my life who takes really good care of me and helps me sort myself out when I need it. He's also a wonderful sous chef/cook. Buster and Genevieve. Family and friends. Learning to knit. Being able to run more than a block. That's an accomplishment not a "joy."

Favorite toys:
-----------------------------------------
Koala
Sewing things like plastic canvas, knitting spool, art supplies
Fisher Price microscope
Make and Do Childcraft encyclopedia
dogs- real and toys

Monday, September 12, 2005

Treasures from 2 different garage sales

I like pretty things, like these little plates I bought to use for tea

parties. Can't you envision a nice cookie on each one? The middle one

is china, it's really pretty. I seem to feel compelled to buy anything

that has a shade of aqua blue remotely close to that of our kitchen

wall color.

For the budget knitter- that's me. Clearance time at Target!

I was in the school supply section, wandering around in the hopelessly

ransacked area in search of some file folders to match my others to use

for my work. In the Eden Prairie Target I found my new job

organizational system. A grey or silver zip-up portfolio to store the

small parts of client files- like the to-do-list stuff, and some

coordinating file folders for that purpose.



Just a minute, I heard a thud in the bedroom. I went in and there was

Genevieve- on the bed like she's not supposed to be, about to cross my

night stand for presumably the Lilo and Stitch kleenex box. What

trouble! I picked her up- telling her "no!" and then dropped my

clock/radio. My clock radio will not be quite the same now; I think the

radio will be on forever.



Anyway, back to the post. I picked up this capelet in a box kit, and

debated over whether or not I could buy it. You see, I bought the

Knitting Stitch Bible when I had a coupon at Borders and it was more

than 20 dollars. I bought it so I could design my own stuff. I thought

that little book would be the key to using my imagination and knitting

together concurrently to result in an amazing sweater or something.

Well, when I bought the book I realized that was my yarn money too- so

now I have the book, but not the money to buy the yarn to use the book

to design my own clothes. So I have been working on my sock instead.



OH- but I decided to buy the capelet kit, saddened by the lack of my

coordinating file folders at the St. Paul Target ( I've been to the

Woodbury, Shoreview, St. Louis Park, and then the St. Paul Target to

look for them). I thought I might have enough on my Target giftcard

from my parents from Christmas. I did. Enough for some money leftover

after buying this and some PB M&M's. As I pulled out of Target, I

called my Mom and thanked her for buying me a capelet. She was a little

confused at first, but then I explained it to her. Sweet- another new

project. The problem is that I really want to be knitting a sweater. I

think it would help me psychologically prepare for the impending season

change from summer-to fall-to winter. Nevermind the fact that I already

have 2 other beautiful hand-knit sweaters that were finished on the

cusp of warm weather (thus leaving little time to enjoy their cozy

warmth, but lots of time to roast in them 'cause I just had to wear

them anyway! )

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Watcho out for the fall knitty!

Check this out- I think I would make all these things. What a great way to transition in to fall with all sorts of beautiful knitted options.

Yesterday's hectic day

Whew! I just slept in to recover from yesterday. I had three appointments scheduled, and each is supposed to be 1 1/2-2 hourslong or so. I got lost on the first one, and it took me about 45 min to get there instead of 15 min. Then- there was no one home. So I got back on the nearest freeway and decided that I may as well drop off my thesis copies at school. While in the school parking lot I got a call and rescheduled that earlier missed appt. I was almost late to that though, and sort of got a little lost coming from a new direction. Yikes.

Then, I got there, had that appt. and continued my day. I made it to my second appt.- did that, then went to get some dinner. While I was using the facilities there I nearly dropped my pager in the toilet. It fell out of it's clip-on case and landed 2 inches from the toilet! Close call. I hurriedly ate, wondering if I even had time to eat before getting to my next appt.

I made it on time there. Did my appt. Went to my car, and looked for my keys. Not in my bag, not in my pocket, not in my purse, do you like green eggs and ham ? (I just had to add the Dr. Seuss reference). There they were, sitting on my passenger seat with a map on top of them. Through a series of attempts including called AAA to get them out as a back up, I was able to retrieve them when someone put there arm done my partially but hardly open window and unlocked the door. Awesome.

Then, I was off to my house, to chill out. I did a little knitting on my sock. I think about 3 rounds, so I have picked up the two sides of stitches and am working on the instep leaf lace pattern. I am loving this pattern. It is challenging enough to keep me intrigued, yet not so difficult that I want to toss it aside (like I wanted to do with my shawl a few times). Knitting really does build character, like patience and persistence, and then confidence and courage if you can figure out how to knit a challenging thing.

Today I just have a 4pm appt. I think I can handle that. I do still want a Scion, though. DH was excited to show me the new Nano Ipod or something like that. And also that the Scion has an option for IPOD capabilities. He had forgotten that I was the one who showed that to him Saturday when I was designing my own Scion and included that feature in the print-out just for him. :)

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

wait a minute...

Who has a silver Scion? I wanna silver Scion...Tell me more...

DH and I volunteered at Dorothy Day in St. Paul on Saturday morning. We made unbaked oatmeal cookies for 150 people and lemonade for 300. I brought my own favorite apron to wear, so I didn't have to wear a thin plastic white one. Mine is blue and white with big hawaiian flowers on it. It is from the Aloha Swap Meet in Hawaii. It has a nice pocket on the front and a thin strap that goes over my head. It really is the best. But anyway- at the Dorothy Day volunteer parking lot there was a SILVER Scion! Where did it come from, who's is it? Anyone who knows me knows that sometimes I am really not shy. Like when DH and I invited ourselves over to a Hudson, WI backyard of strangers just because they had corgis. Yes, I have been about to ask those lucky few on the road (when parked) just how their Scion treats them. What do they like, dislike etc. No, I am not conducting an outsourced survey for Toyota (of whom Scion is a "marque" of theirs, I just want to know. So tell me, what have you experienced/heard about Scions?

OH- I have a big day- three sessions tomorrow, from 11-7ish. I hope I can make it through the day!

Weasel got her stitches and staples out today- it was a big day for us all. Then, at home she and Buster had bath night. So I have 2 clean dogs. One of whom will go for a run with us tomorrow. We've been taking Buster on the run, and then coming back for Weasel for our cool-down. It's been working pretty well.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Give a little to Katrina survivors

I just did my part. I learned about a special donation opportunity for knitters, and
wow am I impressed with their generosity. Click here for more info, to see what the knit bloggers are doing to help out.

Inside photojournalistic shot


Inside photojournalistic shot
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.

Check out this surprise!


Check out this surprise!
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
my dream car- a beautiful box called Scion

On Friday night I was surprised by this in my driveway. I was jealous of the "Friends of ours" to whom it belonged- then I realized that it didn't belong to any friends of ours. We walked the dogs to Caribou and came back to it in our driveway. I squealed with excitement. This is my dream car- a Scion. A lovely box.

Then, I was told by DH that we were test-driving it overnight. So it wasn't going to be mine, but it was still cool. We took it to my parents' house, and my Mom burst out the front door, ready to congratulate me for my new car. I had to tell her the truth- we were borrowing it, not keeping it. Besides, it's not silver, like I would get. Other than that it was perfect. It was super spacious in the front and back seat, and we folded the back seats down to go to the drive-in movie theatre. There we saw "Forty-year old Virgin" and "Wedding Crashers" from the seats of the blue Scion.

The next night I went online to the Scion page, and designed my own. Then I printed it out, just so I would know how I'd like my Scion to turn out.

I asked DH if he knew what he had done, unleashed the Scion-desire in me. So now that I've driven it, and it's everything I wanted it to be, I have to wait...until the time comes...or when my Electric blue Neon dies. But I wanna a Box now...

Look- it's printing my thesis


Look- it's printing my thesis
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
And yes, I had to break into another block of paper to print two copies.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Yippie yippie yay!

I have been knitting on a leaf lace sock, working at my supposed-to-be full-time but not quite full-time yet job, and COMPLETING A THESIS!

Yes- it's true. I just finished printing out 2 copies of my thesis. And not a moment too soon, either. I got an e-mail from school telling us to schedule our orals whether our paper is done, or undone.

I am in a state of shock; the reality has not yet hit. This is 53 pages of thesis. 38 sources were used, countless hours were involved, the budget was blown due to overconsumption of Caribou coffee (I needed it to help me work, yes, really), way too much sugar was ingested, and a good-size forest of trees was sacrificed in the process. I learned quite a bit about myself, the most important thing is that eating lots of gummy candy makes me a productive worker. It really helped me get in the "zone" and to stave off writer's block. I figure it's worth all the caffeine and sugar to have this paper done, don't you think?

So I can go into this weekend relaxed, and not have any thesis work writing to do. I do have another bit of edits to do following the review by the 2 faculty, but that is such a small thing in comparison to gathering thoughts and trying to make it all flow.

Now, my friend Rebeka and I can go out to Cafe Brenda. The first time I went there I motivated myself to complete my research paper (back in winter), and now our second trip will be a celebratory event for our theses.