Knit Night

We had a new member at knit night tonight:



She did a pretty good job getting along with the knitters, but didn't get much knitting done. And she kept stealing Liz's sweet potato fries! The nerve...

More Tiny Sweaters!

After I posted the picture a few days ago of the short sleeve Blythe sweater that I made, several people contacted me saying how much they liked it! So, I am going to be starting to make sweaters to sell! I have whipped up a few more of the short sleeved ones, and will be starting up with long sleeved ones after I fill my first few orders. Here are a couple of shots of the short sleeved models:




Two of them are going to be winging their way to my first dolly sweater 'customer'. We're actually doing a swap, where I am going to be receiving some much coveted pom pom trim for my sewing escapades, and some little fabric scraps.

Now, off to knit! It's even more fun to knit these little sweaters because I'm using leftover sock yarn from projects of days gone by, and it makes me think of the other things that have been made from the very same yarn. Nice!

New Sweater!

No, Cece, I didn't finish the hoodie yet. ;-) A member on the Blythe forum (thisisblythe) mentioned that she had access to pom pom trim to make doll clothes with, and i have been totally unable to find any in the nearby stores. I suggested that if she wanted, we could do a swap, and she said she was interested in a short sleeve doll sweater.

After a few tries (too big, too lumpy, lame pattern, etc), I came up with a cute, one piece pattern that just slips right on. I'm thrilled!



I'm glad I had a reason to try this out. I will definitely make more short sleeved sweaters in the future!

Homemade Green Curry

Last night, I tried out another recipe from my new favorite cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Moskowitz. So no, I am not a vegan, but I am always looking for delicious recipes that feature vegetables... too often, a recipe with meat just doesn't have enough veggies in it!

This recipe took a bit longer than some of the other ones I've tried from the cookbook, because you make your own curry from scratch, rather than just opening up a can and spooning it out. I toasted cumin and coriander seeds, ground them with black peppercorns with my mortar and pestle, soaked 2 kinds of hot peppers in boiling water, press and fry the tofu, and so on. I altered the recipe a little bit because I have a great Cambodian grocery store nearby... well, actually, there are MANY Cambodian grocery stores nearby... and was able to get these veggies, all ready to eat:


I have no idea what many of them are, but the small green and white round things are a type of eggplant, as are the purple thingies. There are green beans, some sort of squash, and the rest... who knows? I DO know what the leaf below is.... delicious Thai basil:


Here's everything bubbling in the pot. The hot peppers were so spicy, my eyes were watering and I was coughing up a storm. I was VERY nervous that the whole thing would be too spicy to eat!


Ready to eat, served over short grained brown rice:


The flavor was very nice, and it was worth the extra work. It was NOT too spicy to eat, fortunately, and there are plenty of leftovers for a few lunches this week.

I highly recommend this cookbook. I have made several recipes so far, and they have all been delicious. Although some of htem are more labor intensive than others, but some of them are pretty quick. One of the slightly more labor intensive recipes was for seitan, which is a wheat gluten based meat substitute. I used it in an Ethiopian dish, which was also tasty!

*insert interesting post title here*

Note: no hyperlinks today. Sowwy.... too lazy!

Well, I jumped a little hurdle today in my quest to be more environmentally friendly – When I went to go buy a coffee today, I remembered to bring my travel mug. I never really see anyone doing this, so I asked the owner what the policy was about using travel mugs. “It’s a dollar”, she said. Now, ladies and gentlemen, when was the last time you paid a mere dollar for a coffee? This is wonderful! I’m saving money AND reducing the amount of stuff I throw out! Stupendous!

In knitting news, the Widdershins Noro socks I was working on are being put in the corner for misbehavior. I generously knit the foot to 7 inches before working the heel, and the heel was supposed to eat up another 3 inches… but…. It did not. And since the following statements are true: 1. my feet are not going to shrink 2. I have already frogged this yarn 3 times and can’t quite bear to rip back again quite yet…. These are going to be put on a time out for the moment.

Instead, I have cast on for the Central Park Hoodie, which everyone in the entire world is either currently knitting or is about to cast on (or has already finished, I suppose). Cece and I decided to do this sweater together. Those knitters on Ravelry who have already knit this pattern has beautiful results to share, and I’m looking forward to see how mine turns out! I bought a discontinued Classic Elite yarn at their factory store, called “Skye Tweed” in a sort of teddy bear brown tweed color. They had EXACTLY the number of balls left in the color that I wanted to use, which was rather convenient, don’t you think? Anyway, as of the first day of knitting this sweater, I am 1 14^th finished, as I got to the end of the first ball of yarn.

Last night, I went to meet up with some other Lowell knitters, whom I met up with through Ravelry. We have met several times on Thursday nights at a local bar, to drink beer, eat chili, knit and chat. It’s been an enjoyable way to pass an evening, and it’s always fun to see what other people are working on. I wore my “Tweedy Aran Cardigan” by Norah Gaughan to the event, as I like to take the opportunity to ‘show off’ my knitting to people who would actually appreciate what I’ve made. The funny part about this is that when I got home, there was an email waiting for me from my mother, asking me to look up that VERY SAME PATTERN on Ravelry to see what people were saying about it! What are the odds? Because it is from the Winter 01/02 issue of Interweave Knits, only 17 people on Ravelry have documented knitting this sweater, but everyone’s looked very nice, so I gave my mom the thumbs up and urged her to join Ravelry, if only to surf for patterns.

We have a 3 day weekend coming up. I have lofty plans to do a bit of housework, perhaps a smidge of sewing, some knitting, and on Sunday, I’m meeting up with a couple of friends for lunch, which ought to be fun. Other than that, I will remain horizontal to keep nursing the ol’ tailybone. It is getting better bit by bit, but it is taking its sweet time in doing so!

Environmentally Friendly?

So, lately I have been thinking more about what I can do to conserve resources and be more ‘friendly’ to the environment. I already drive a fuel efficient car that is about the size of a toaster, my commute is very short, and I live in a small home that does not use up a lot of electricity or gas. However, there are a few things that I do every day that are NOT environmentally friendly: a few times a week, I go to the coffee shop and get my coffee in a throwaway mug. (the other days, I bring my own in a travel mug) I use paper napkins and paper towels. I use Ziploc bags to carry my sandwich and pretzels for lunch. I use Kleenexes very liberally.

I already have been pretty reliable about remembering to bring reusable shopping bags with me to the grocery store and to the mall and such… and these bags are easier to carry, too! I even reuse produce bags if they haven’t had a cucumber go mushy in them…

But can I do more? After reading a thread in the Etsy forums about what people do to reduce their plastic use, I was inspired… and the answer was an emphatic YES, I CAN do more, with only a little extra thought, and almost no extra effort. I can certainly continue to remember to bring my reusable shopping bags with me – I packed them in my purse today so I can go grocery shopping after work, as a matter of fact. What else?

1. Use cloth napkins – I went out and bought some this week. They are laundered and ready to use.
2. Talk to my local coffee shop about using my travel mug rather than using a new disposable cup on the occasion that I do go in and buy coffee. I can do this – the owner is VERY nice.
3. Pack sandwiches and pretzels in Tupperware rather than plastic bags. No problemo, I have plenty of Tupperware.
4. Wash out Ziploc bags and reuse them – they are definitely sturdy enough to withstand this treatment. I have washed one batch of Ziplocs already; I didn’t enjoy it. However, it might be worth it!
5. Consider using handkerchiefs rather than Kleenexes, at least around the house. People in public might not want to look at my grody snotrag, but I don’t care in the privacy of my own home.
6. Look into buying/ making reusable produce bags. They sell cotton/ linen blend ones online for a ridiculously high price, but I could easily sew some up for a few bucks in a matter of minutes. They certainly don’t need to be works of art!
7. Recycle paper. There is NO RECYCLING for downtown residents where I live. However, it would NOT be that difficult for me to carry a bag of paper to work with me every week or so to recycle it here at work.
8. Look into where I can recycle plastic and metal. If there is a reasonably convenient place I could swing by every couple of weeks to bring my plastic and metal containers, I could certainly do that!
9. Reduce paper towel use. I have a TON of rags and old t-shirts lying around. How hard would it be to wipe up messes with rags or an old sponge, instead of using a paper towel? Not hard at all. I guess the trick would be… do I throw the dirty ones in with my regular laundry (ew), do a full load with rags, handkerchiefs and whatnot… wasting extra water and money…. Do I wash them by hand? Dunno. I need to think more about that one.
10. Reduce waste in other ways. For instance, I have had the same vinyl shower liner for the entire 3 ½ years I’ve lived in my apartment. I have washed it once before, and it was getting all moldy and gross again. I pondered throwing it away, but instead, took FIVE WHOLE MINUTES out of my life and put it in a ‘bath’ of water and a little bleach. I swished it around, let it sit for a bit, scrubbed the stubborn spots (there weren’t many), rinsed, and boom. In WAY less time than it would have taken to drive to a store and get a new one, the shower liner looks much better. Perhaps it doesn’t look quite as sparkly as brand new, but it is certainly perfectly fine!

One thing I haven’t figured out: what the heck am I supposed to use as garbage bags? Plastic does not decompose in giant landfills; pretty much nothing does, because the piles are so huge that air cannot get to the center of the pile to help things rot. Paper? Cloth? (probably not) Do I use a box and dump my garbage right into the dumpster? This might not be TOO bad, because I compost and my garbage is mostly dry. Hmm. Let me know if you have any ideas on that one.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Most of the ideas will take pretty much no effort on my part whatsoever, other than learning a new habit, such as the ones that involve remembering reusable bags and using cloth/ reusable items instead of throwaway items. Some of them will take some effort, like finding a good place to recycle plastic and metal, and taking the time to wash Ziploc bags. But we’ll see what happens.

I’m curious: What do YOU do in your life to be more environmentally conscientious? Or, is it something you haven’t really thought about? That’s fine, too… I obviously hadn’t thought a whole lot about it until recently, obviously. There are so many more levels past what I am thinking about… trying to buy locally, trying not to buy things that have to be shipped from far away (and thus wasting fuel)… dunno if I’m able to go that far yet…

Yarn Source Find!

Okay, so I really didn't JUST find this online store, but have actually REdiscovered Carodan Farm recently, when I went online to find a good price on the new Noro Kureyon sock yarn. Carodan Farm had the best price I could find: $16.25. They are now sending me their newsletters, and they're having a five day sale just prior to doing their annual inventory... over 40 yarns are on sale, and you can also get 10% off all non-sale yarns by entering the code: JAN2008 when checking out. They have a ton of sock yarns. Loads of sock yarns. Some of which are tempting me with their socky sockiness.

I am particularly enthralled by the Crystal Palace Panda Cotton, which has bamboo, cotton, and stretchy nylon in it. The stretchiness might make it superior to the bamboo yarn I have tried in the past, which was saggy. soft, pretty, but saggy. No one likes a saggy sock! In the 80's, we liked SLOUCHY socks, but even then, saggy was a no-go.

Ooh, Noro Transitions is also on a very good sale there... $15 instead of the usual $25 per skein! What a deal! It's still a bit out of my price range for anything other than a hat, but still... it's lovely!

Hmm, they also have the Kaffe Fassett sock yarn... I love some of the colorways... and ... MMMMMM... Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn... sigh... so delicious!

And to further tantalize, they ship for free for orders over $75.

Now, wasn't that fun? We just went window shopping together!

New Knitting - Widdershins



After trying several different patterns with this new Noro Kureyon sock yarn, I finally settled on Widdershins from Knitty.

Lately, I have been 'mixing it up' when it comes to knitting socks. I started knitting socks on two circular needles instead of using double points, and for this project, I decided to knit two socks at a time. This way, I would know well ahead of time how long I could make the socks, rather than being conservative when making one sock at a time, leaving too much for the second sock.

Point of information: this sock pattern is quite narrow. They fit my extra narrow feet like a snugly glove, so if you have regular or wide feet, you're going to have to fiddle with the pattern (or use thicker yarn) in order to make these socks fit.

Another point of information: if you are interested in getting some of the Noro yarn, you should visit Carodan Farm's website. They have the lowest price I have found on the web - an introductory price of $16.25, rather than $18.95, which is the regular price I've seen elsewhere. Plus, there's free shipping for orders over $75, if you are so inclined to spend that much.

The yarn feels not quite as rough as the regular Kureyon, but like regular Kureyon, I have heard that it 'blooms' nicely after washing. We'll see what happens. I just love Kureyon so much, I almost don't care if they're too itchy for me to wear! It's so pretty and Noro-y!

It's official.....


..... I broke my butt.

I dragged my ass (pun intended) to the doctor today, if only to document my injury and to figure out the healing timeline. I got some x-rays, and indeed, I broke my tailybone. Not a fracture, not just a terrible bruise, but an official bone break. Dang.

As others have told me, the doctor said I can expect to be uncomfortable for about six months. Oh, great.

I am just glad something even worse did not happen! No skin barrier was breached, my overall spine was not damaged... and it was only my hiney, not my brain or something...

Now, I have official bragging rights. People, I broke my BUTT! You fell or stubbed your toe? So what... I BROKE MY BUTT! You have to use crutches? So what... I CAN'T SIT DOWN!

I can get many sympathy points if I play my cards right...

And as a matter of fact, it helped me to score a free martini tonight from a neighbor. We saw each other while I was walking back from the parking garage after my doctor's appointment, and I told him of my woes, and he bought me a drink.

This broken butt thing just might be the answer to all of my problems... I wonder what else it might get me!

Huzzah for broken buttttts!

Stuff I've Made Lately

Okay, I decided that the last post was so boring, that I needed to make up for it by posting about some things I've made lately. As usual, I have some socks to show off. Both patterns are the most recent shipments from the Rockin' Sock Club.

First up is Lenore, which is made with Blue Moon Fiber Arts new Raven Clan yarn... all of the Raven yarns use black as the background, so they are moody and mysterious. ooohhhhhh......







Project Details:
Pattern: Lenore by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: STR Raven Clan in Lenore, lightweight
Needles: Size 0 circulars
Notes: I liked the pattern. There were several sizes to choose from, which is always nice. The socks are knit top down, with an interesting detail at the top of the leg. After that, you could pretty much go on autopilot for the rest of the sock, which was nice. They fit well, and I like them.

WARNING; My fingers were totally turning red while knitting these socks. I would strongly warn against tossing these babies into the wash before color setting them in some vinegar/ salt water and then hand washing a few times. No need to turn your wardrobe pink!


The next socks were the final project of the year from the Rockin' Sock Club. They were the Salish Sea Socks by Cat Bordhi. These socks were absolutely fascinating to knit! Here are some pics to start off:




Project Details:

Pattern: Salish Sea Socks by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: STR mediumweight in Bella Coola/ Nuxalk
Needles: Size 0 US circulars
Notes: These socks were fascinating to knit! Cat Bordhi has written a new book that describes a number of new architectures for 'building' socks, and this pattern is a loose cousin to one of those architectures. Basically, she figured out that the arch increases can really happen anywhere around the circumference of that section of the sock, so you can add the increases as part of a pattern, which happens in this sock pattern.
The pattern is toe up, with a round toe. There is a cool pattern along the instep, and another nice pattern around the leg. At the top of the leg was another fun pattern- I was interested and intrigued the whole time!

These two patterns were very different and were enjoyable for different reasons... the first one was a good 'cruise along' sock, where you didn't have to look at the pattern most of the time. The second one required more frequent visits to the pattern page. I liked both of them, and I'm sure I'll wear both a lot!

Now, last but not least, I have a sewing project that I made for my latest customized dolly. I used the 'granny dress' pattern by oriettacat, but added a collar and cuffs, as well as a petticoat underneath. I was going for a 'Wednesday Addams' goth look and I think it turned out fairly well! Unfortunately, I had to take the pic at night and you can't see the waist detail that well. Use your imagination and squint... that might help...


Anyway, that's some of the stuff I've been working on lately.

Belated Update

So, I have been pretty spotty on the blogging lately. This particular post might be a bit rambling, but perhaps I will get to shorter, more picture-heavy posts soon.

I am back at work after a very lovely 11 day break. I spent much of that time up at my parents’ house in NH, which was very relaxing and enjoyable. My sister had flown in from London, and my brother and his wife had flown in from Oregon. So, the family was all together, and the time passed quite pleasantly. We sat around and talked, joked, played cards, ate DELICIOUS meals, opened gifts, went snowshoeing, sledding, and so on.

Regarding the sledding: that did not end so well. My brother, always the enterpriser, cleared a path in the woods that led down to the pond, so that we could fly down the hill and across the ice. In theory, this was a great plan, and several good runs were enjoyed before… one of the best and worst runs of the day. Yeah, it was me. I was on a small luge-type sled, and was doing a pretty good job of steering and not running into things (we were in the woods and the ground was very uneven, causing difficulty in steering). I got to the bottom of the hilly part near the pond, when suddenly, I found myself off the front of the sled. My trip was stopped short when a small, viny stump made very abrupt contact with my tailbone and my general posterior region.

The pain was really quite something. At first, I couldn’t even scream or anything. It hurt too much to even roll off of the stump. Of course, everyone ran down the hill to see what had happened, and my brother said, “well, I can’t see what you hit. It must have been the sled.” Not so, my friend. When I finally stopped feeling like I was going to vomit and faint, I had two people help me up… which was when everyone could see the stump that I had been somewhat impaled on. (No, nothing…. Um…. Tore. There. I said it.)

Sitting is now an uncomfortable enterprise. Standing and lying down are both just fine. However, I’m back at work now, which is not so great… lots of sitting at work. Yes, I got one of those special cushions with the tailbone area cut out, but the general sitting position is not a great one for me right now! Surprisingly, sneezing hurts a lot… who knew you used muscles in that area when you sneezed? Certainly I did not!

I have nothing much more to report on the subject. My butt hurts. Loads. From what people tell me, it is going to hurt for a long time.

So, there you have it. I will try to veer future posts toward more cheerful topics.

Self Portrait Thursday

I haven't done one of these for a while for a couple of reasons: I had been in a funk for a while, and then the funk was prolonged by the severe lack of sunlight I have been able to experience. Who wants to see a picture of me in the dark every Thursday? I propose that the answer would be no one!
Anyway, we have a snow day from school today, which does not bode well for my sister, who is flying into Boston today (at least theoretically). However, it bodes well for those who wish to try and catch snowflakes on their tongues! I did manage to get a few, too! Sorry about the up-the-nose shot, but try and focus on the more whimsical aspects of the shot:



Happy snow, everyone!

Meet.... ummm... what's her name!

Well, I have NOT purchased a new doll, but I DID take one of my dollies and give her a pretty serious makeover! I didn't really take any 'before' pictures, so the only before pic is the one I have below. She's the light brown haired girl third from the left:



I bought her at a low price for the express purpose of cracking her open and giving her a massive makeover. Therefore, she was never named. And, I still don't have a name for her! She used to be a "Primadolly Ashlette" for people who know what that means. She was pretty tough to open up, and I ended up having to saw her head right on open. Yikes! I am a beginner Blythe surgeon, but it went okay. I'll outline the specs of the customization below, so if you don't care to read it, feel free not to!

First, she's looking around feeling a little nervous about her new surroundings:





However, Quinn makes her feel more comfortable and they are quickly telling secrets and giggling:




And now, here is a full length shot:


And here, she's checkin' out a picture of me, my siblings, and my paternal grandfather:



Okay, now for the boring stuff for dolly geeks: I removed her scalp, sawed her head open, rerooted a coolcat scalp in a custom three color blend from dollyhair.com (raven black, phthalo blue, and midnight blue). That part took the longest time, of course. I also gave her four new sets of eyechips, slightly boggled her eyes, slightly corrected her gaze, gave her black eyeshadow (on eyelids and on face) new eyelashes, new blush, lip stickers, sand matted her face, gave her sleep eyes and new pull cords. Then, I put her back together and trimmed her hair.

Now, all that's left is to put charms on the end of her pull strings and to think of a name! I'm not sure what her name will be, although the somewhat obvious "Blueberry" comes to mind....

Another Round of Snow

A lot of it happened while we were sleeping last night, but I ventured out for a brief moment this morning to snap some pics. It was a gloomy day, but after having a nice, sunny day yesterday (okay, so it didn't get out of the teens... big deal!)

First up, we notice that the sidewalk has been grossly neglected. (Also, please note that I'm sorta wearing highwaters and that my boots are completely under the snow)


The plows were taking care of the streets and parking lots... thank you, Mr. Plow!


Middle St:


And again:




Important note: I actually brightened up these pictures a bit to make them a little more visible... it was a lot more gloomy out there than the pictures suggest. There was NO ONE out and about... it was quite frosty and snowy out there!

Later on in the day, we enjoyed some nice sleet, which ought to slick things up quite nicely. Again, I will be curious to see as to whether or not they'll delay or cancel school tomorrow. This is the third Sunday in a row we've gotten snow!

I had a pretty quiet day today. I got some chores done, some Christmas gifts prepared, and most of my Christmas cards have been written out and tucked into their envelopes, all ready to go.

Do you ever say something out loud at the same time as it is said on the tv? I just typed out "pretty quiet" at the same time as the newscaster said it on television. Weird. Cool, too!

I haven't mentioned knitting lately... that is because I don't currently have a project that is really catching my interest, believe it or not. Every once in a while, I take a little break from my intensive, obsessive knitting. I have, in fact, knit about 4 inches of the Socks that Rock Lenore pattern, and do like the pattern, but I've been more focused on the jewelry stuff lately. That's just how it seems to be going for me. Don't worry, I will ALWAYS return to knitting, and there will be projects and pictures to share... there had better be... I have about 30 projects in my Ravelry queue, and have plenty of yarn to work with!

One more week of school until... Christmas vacation! My sister Liz will be flying here in a few days, and we are already devising plans for all of that free time we'll have. Bowling was even mentioned... I'll try to remember my camera!

Christmas Cards

So, after I uploaded my photos onto Flickr today, I noticed that there was a new button above the pictures, suggesting that I "Edit Photos". Hmm, well, okay! I'll bite!

Turns out, it brings you to a page where you can do all sorts of things to your photos... crop, rotate, resize, adjust color, and also add various features... text, images, blur the edges, add a spotlight, so on and so forth. Now, I had been thinking to myself that it would be fun to make some Christmas cards with my Blythe pictures, and coincidence of coincidences, this new feature becomes noticed to me (no idea when it was actually added) on the first sunny day that I've been able to take decent pics in weeks!

So anyway, there were two finalists, shown here:





Even if making dolly Christmas cards isn't your thing, this is a fun tool to play around with.

Now, I'm all ready to fill out xmas cards tomorrow during the bad weather. Not everyone will be getting a dolly card, since there are many out there who are not big fans of dolls and have made their opinions very well known... but I know I'd be very happy to open up a cutie card like that!

In Heaven!

I am happy as a clam today. I had a really nice night last night (will describe later on in the post), then woke up early, did errands at 5 different stores, and was home by 10 AM. It is sunny (but coldddddd) out, and I got to go outside in the sun for the first time in WEEKS. I intend to repeat this act at least once or twice more today, because I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Because of the sun, I was able to get some pictures in my apartment of the dollies setting up the Christmas tree. First, Quinn sneaks into my pink and white tree and checks out a bird:


Next, the girls trim the tree. Well, some of them do... Toby lazes about while everyone else puts up the decorations:


Willow thinks about what to put up next:



Toby shows us a sparkly ball:



I think she is determined to stay under the tree until Santa arrives. I'm sure there are visions of sugarplums in that giant noggin of hers!


So, that was fun. I enjoyed taking silly pictures and putting up the trees. They're both small, but I have two of them. Fun!

Anyway, last night, I went to Newburyport to visit my friend Heather. Our friend Sue and Heather's coworker Pam also came along. We walked downtown, and did some holiday shopping. All of the downtown stores stayed open late and many were serving cookies, wine, hot cider and so on, to attract holiday shoppers... and every single store was jam packed! I found just what I was looking for, and we had a really nice time walking around and browsing.

We did have a little bit of a scary moment on our way there... We were walking along, when suddenly a car veered to the side of the road and honked loudly. He then screeched forward and slammed into the parked car in front of him, and then screeched backward and slammed into the car parked behind him. There were about 5 car lengths in between the two parked cars, so this was a fairly dramatic event! After he screeched forward the first time, I suggested rather forcefully that we run away and around the corner. We then called the police. After we called, the guy (who had gone into the house next to his car) came out and looked at us, and we got all freaked out and ran away. We have no idea what happened next, because personal safety felt like the most important choice at that moment.

It was really nice to have an evening out. It was very cold, but the wind was not blowing and I was warmly dressed. It will help to balance out tomorrow, which looks like it is going to be sleety and cold and gross all day long.

Sloppy, Snowy Day

It started snowing here around noon today, and it was really coming down. Many towns in the greater Boston area planned ahead and called early releases prior to the kids even getting to school today, but not Lowell! Teachers with long commutes started getting nervous pretty soon after it started to snow, because it was falling so quickly! About an hour before dismissal, I found the principal and told her I'd be happy to cover classes for any teacher who needed to leave early because of a long commute... after all, my commute is about 2 miles... I didn't exactly need to rush to get home!
I watched the "Lifeskills" class for a little while, which was fun. It's a small class of students with developmental delays, and they were watching a movie. They all know me already, so it went smoothly. I go in there whenever I need a little boost - they're a sweet group of kids who always make me smile!
Then, I had to go into an eighth grade science class, which was somewhat less awesome. There was the boy who showed me his leg and asked if I thought it was sexy, the two girls who attacked a boy and tried to pierce his ear with a pen, (and then tell him that the dot they put on his left ear meant that he was gay) then there was the boy who asked thirty times if he could go and get a drink even though he had done absolutely no work all class... you get the idea. I took it all in stride, though, knowing that I didn't have to be there for very long, and didn't have to see them again tomorrow... not my class!
Anyway, there was a lot of snow removal that needed to be done prior to driving home, and my two mile commute took over 30 minutes. I fared a lot better than some people... I'm currently watching the 11:00 news, and there are literally still people stuck on the roads who left work at 5 or 6 this evening. People reported a 16 mile drive taking 5 hours. Horrible. Just horrible!
No idea whether I'll be going to work tomorrow... I have the feeling that we might be going... the snow is tapering off, and they may be able to clear the roads by morning. We'll see.

I could be a Vampire

Seriously... last weekend, it was sunny outside on Saturday but I was stuck inside all day. It was cloudy on Sunday. I am in a windowless office all week at work. Then, this weekend was a repeat... sunny on the day I'm stuck inside, cloudy all day today. When in the world will I ever get to go outside in the sun again? My next chance is six days away.

People, this is grody. I have pictures to take... doesn't the sun know that?!?!?

It's snowing again tonight, and I hear ice is expected to join it. I wonder if we'll get another snow day. If so, I hope it's actually snow and not wet sleet/ icy rain... cuz if it's just snow, i'll run outside and take the pictures out there! Why the heck not?

Yesterday was the last official jewelry selling event of the season. It was a busy week, and I sold a lot of jewelry! Huzzah!

You know it's hot in your office when...

You step outside after work into sub-freezing temperatures and remark to your coworker, "aaaah, it is SO NICE to finally be outside!"

It's bad enough I don't ever get to see daylight or sunshine in the winter time due to the lack of a window in my office (and the fact that I arrive at work as daylight breaks and leave as the sun is setting). But to add insult to injury, it is OVER EIGHTY DEGREES in my office, and has been all week. I am miserable. By the end of the day, I truly cannot think any more. I ask people stupid questions I should know the answer to. I go home EXHAUSTED. I have complained bitterly. I daydream about running into the office stating that I'm going home and they can call me when my working conditions are actually humane. I have complained to the people who potentially could do something about it, but they say nothing can be done for now. I have also contemplated dressing appropriately for the 'weather', but that would involve more shaving than I normally feel committed to at this time of year.

I'm sweaty. I'm drowsy. I'm sad.

Car update: it mainly just needed a new battery. I also had them check over a few other things to make sure I'd make it through the winter. I can't even believe how fast the car starts now... I guess the battery had been going downhill for a while now.

Sorry about the no pictures thing lately. However, I'm not home during daylight during the week, and the days I've been home over the weekend have been extra cloudy. No vitamin D for me, no pictures for you!

NooooOOOOOooooooo!

Well, actually, it's really not as bad as all that. Really. I went out to my car (fondly known as the Skittle due to its resemblance to a purple skittle) this morning, and was sorely disappointed at the lack of 'engine running results' I received when I turned the key. There were a few lethargic attempts at turning over, a few clicks, and then silence. Each subsequent attempt was met with an even less enthusiastic response.

Interestingly, I wasn't particularly stressed out about it. As I get older, things like this just don't worry me as much as they used to. Car problems happen, particularly to 9 year old cars that have lived outdoors all of their lives. AAA and my mechanic are called. Hours of work are missed. Car repair charges are added to credit car bills. Life goes on.

Now, my attitude may very well change if this car turns out to be surly for the last third of its life. I do indeed expect another good 5 years/ 60,000 miles from the Skittle... I have this grand plan of getting another car around when I turn 40, which is in exactly 5 years and 2 months, to the day. If the Skittle and I are destined to spend a lot more mornings like this, we are going to have to have couples counseling or something, because I don't intend to put up with such behavior!

Anyway, I'm back at home, waiting for the call from AAA... I'm no fool. You won't see me sitting in a parking garage waiting for them... I'll be on my sofa, writing this little anecdote on my blog, sipping coffee.