Knitting the Blues

Ten on Tuesday

Ten Favorite Articles of Clothing that I Own.  Hmmm, can they all be flannel pajamas and lounging clothes?  I love my comfies!

1. Okay, the first is pjs.  I change into lounging clothes as soon as I know I'm in for the night (or day).  For a long time there was a little ritual in our house.  In the evening I would stand up and ask, "Do you know what time it is?"  And the answer would come back, "IT'S PAJAMA TIME!"  I have a pair that I have been planning a post about, but need to take photos.  I'll bet you can't WAIT!
2. My Baby Cables and Big Ones, Too sweater. 
3. My hand-knitted socks.  While I love them all, there is a bit of an heirarchy there.  My Koigu socks are often grabbed first (when all are clean), then my Trekking, and my Lorna's Laces Conwy Socks.  Love them.   
4. Jeans.  I have one pair that I wear most often, mostly because they still fit.  Last year I couldn't squeeze into them.  This year, thanks to issues and a special diet, they are loose.  But I am a wearer of jeans, I wear them all of the time.  Until I get home and it's PAJAMA TIME! 
5. My new Lululemon workout clothes.  I'm not kidding, they do something for you!  I have never gotten so much attention at the gym.  That is a mixed blessing for sure, I usually prefer to be left.a.lone. 
6. My Gap t-shirts.  Remember the ones they used to make, I think they were called gapstretch.  They don't make those anymore, but I have two whites, one navy and one lighter blue.  Love them. 
7. My hand-knitted shawls.  Sometimes I think I have a favorite in the bunch, but in reality, when I decide to wear one (which I have been much more regularly this winter-even at night they top of my pjs), I have difficulty choosing, so there is a bit of a rotation thing in place.  
8. A few years back Express had ribbed turtlenecks in their line, a blend of mostly cotton and some cashmere.  Do you know how hard it is to find a decent t-neck that fits well?  I purchased a light blue, a periwinkle blue, two medium blues, red and grey.  (They had a really good after Christmas sale.)   
9. Victoria Tank.  I have made two of these and know I will make another.   
10. My Indigo Ripples Skirt.   

Whoa, what a casual list. There are a couple of dresses that I have made that I love to wear all summer long and more sweaters and then there are the unmentionables. Heh. I do have favorite undies as well. I can't really think of a favorite dressy thing. I don't have much occasion to dress up, and now that I think about it, if I did have something come up I'd have to start sewing. Maybe I'd better think about it now.

Twenty-two. Guess what....I have a new laptop! Blogging should resume as soon as I get it all set up. I know you can't wait for that!

YouTube Saturday

Ahh, reminiscing of our childhood today at a family get-together.  Those of you that are a certain age range might remember this.  Hey, and do you remember that you could cut a Banana Splits song off the back of a cereal box and play it on your record player?  heh.

Twenty-one.  It is late, I just got a computer share time, and this is the best I can do. But still. The Banana Splits! Doin' it, doin' it, doin' it!

Start Humming a Funeral Dirge March.........

The computer doctor called and the news wasn't good. My trusty old laptop was terminal. I could pick it up, take it home and spend quality time with it for as long as it lasted, meanwhile saving up for a new one.  Well.  The quality time lasted long enough for me to upload a photo, start a post and then have it die.  Dead.  Deceased.  No Lazarus moment here. 

And I had so much to share!  It will all have to wait.  Erin is impatient with me using her computer, and frankly, who wouldn't be?  I can't just come in to it and upload all of my crap and move things around, I'm conscious of being the guest around here, and I would be just as frustrated if I had to share with her.  There isn't any time (much less the cash on hand) to shop this weekend so I don't know when I'll be blogging or having any real time to catch up with blogs that I read or sending emails.  I am still checking email, but I did lose a lot last night when I got it all onto my Outlook Express.  Now they are all in the dead computer and I want some of them.  I'm going to have to figure that all out.

  

So, do you have a laptop?  I am leaning toward a Mac, but would be thrilled to hear any feedback you have on any laptop that you have.  Good and bad.  I have plenty of time for this decision.

Twenty.  Who knew that blogging would really have to just stop so suddenly?  Not my intention at all.

Ten on Tuesday

Ten Favorite Sports Moments

1. The curse reversed!  The Boston Red Sox become the World Champions of Baseball in 2004.  What a come back! 
2. And again! in 2007. 
3. When Erin Campbell competed in her first gymnastics competition and took an overall silver medal after losing her breakfast in anxiety.  At the end of that day she exclaimed, "This was the best day of my life!" 
4. Following Michael Phelps through the 2008 Summer Olympics. 
5. Gillian Campbell was not the fastest of Cross-Country runners, but she and friends were committed and tenacious, attending every practice, running every long run and finishing every race.  Her participation and endurance says more about her than winning every race.  
6. Ray Bourke finally wins a Stanley Cup championship after years of being a gentleman and a leader.  The only thing that would have made it better was if he could have won it with the Boston Bruins. 
7. Kristi Yamaguchi.   
8. Torvil and Dean skating to Bolero. 
9. Meagan Campbell, after having a weekend of disappointment at a horse show, exhibits sportsmanship and dedication in winning her final class and shedding tears of joy and I'm sure, exhaustion.  She earned the sportsmanship award for the year that year, and I know she knows, being a good sport is always better than being a winner. 
10. "Miracle on Ice".  The underdog USA Olympic Hockey team beats the USSR.  You cannot think of it without your pulse beating a little faster, it is what the Olympics and teamwork are all about.

Nineteen.  Who knew I was such a sport nut? 

Well, It Was Bound To Happen Eventually

The first day without a post on Knitting the Blues in over fourteen months.  I was going to post on Sunday, but my computer woes are continuing and getting enough share time from Erin is difficult (plus I still cannot get photos onto her laptop!  She needs to do something about that).  It goes something like this:  blah, blah, blah, operating system, blah, blah, reinstall, blah, blah, blah, memory, blah, four or five days, blah, blah........  I have no idea what they really said, but Pete does and this is our last shot at keeping that laptop going before I really do have to buy a new one.  Bummer.  Who knew that my four year old computer was practically obsolete?  When I got it the memory was almost as much as you could get and it was sleek and fast.  Since then the internet has become more sophisticated and is using more of that memory to load pages, especially multiple pages and going back and forth between them.  Well, hopefully this will help for the time being, until I win a lottery or something and can get myself something shinier and quick as lightening. 

To tell the truth, I'm sort of glad to get that first day off out of the way.  I wasn't sure how I would do it and then it just happened.  I mean, technically I could have posted Sunday night, but just let it go.  And now it is done.  

If you already spend too much time on the computer and love reading then you should probably stop reading right now.  I'm sure I'm the last one to this party, but Gillian invited me to join yet another online community.  As if Ravelry isn't enough, this one is all about books, your favorites, other people's favorites, there are groups to join, chats to participate in, reviews to read....  There are even challenge groups, like read fifty books or one hundred books this year, of course, the ever popular read along.  It's all there at goodreads.   Come look for me, my screen name is ReadingtheBlues.  Surprised?  

I am currently reading listening to (do I still have to remind you all of that?) Possession by A. S. Byatt.  I am loving this book, despite being neither the academic or intellectual that many goodreads reviewers recommend.  While the book is on my practically weightless iPod Nano, I still have the impression of a heavy, dense book.  It is weighty in prose and flowery language, heavy in descriptive phrase, and plot hefty with two complete and thoroughly crafted stories, in two different time periods, wound throughout.  Add to that the writings of the characters, their letters, poems, biographies, diaries and papers.  There is a lot to follow in this book.  I have to admit to trudging a bit through the poetry and language at times, but the storylines keep me hooked.  I am almost finished and am listening every second I can to get to the end.  I so hope I am not disappointed there.

So, add your books to goodreads and add me to your reading friends list!  Just think, like Ravelry you can keep track of your library and all of your finished and current reads.  Unlike Ravelry, you never have to take a single photo or fill in the details of your projects!  That shouldn't be too much of a time suck, right?

Eighteen.  I apologize in advance, but if I'm going down into another slippery slope of computer obsession, I'm taking prisoners!

 

YouTube Saturday

This is actually a bit of a scary flick for me. It is no wonder that we are stressed and feel overwhelmed by the amount of things we feel we need, need to do, need to know, need to keep up with:

"Right here! Right now!" In guided mindfulness meditation the mantra "right here, right now" is used often to bring the mind and body to the present moment, to turn attention to the breath or the body or whatever you are concentrating on in that moment. It is meant to slow down the mind and counteract the effects of stress. I find its use here a bit ironic.

Seventeen.  I wonder how long it will be before the knitting I know now is obsolete.

Not Again!

I was going to write you three posts tonight, to get us through the beginning of the week.  Oh, it was such a plan!  I had a progress photo to show you and a stash enhancement, because I just couldn't wait, and a little random thing that you might find moderately interesting (in a hmmm.... interesting and move along sort of way).  The laptop?  It has its own ideas, apparently.  I'm thinking I may have gotten a virus this evening and now I get nothing from the laptop.  I can't even run my anti-virus program.  Such a bummer.  Well, certainly worse things have happened to people, even my family this week, so lack of a laptop that I can load photos to and post from is pretty minor.  Remember I said that, I'm sure I'll need reminding sometime, maybe soon.  I just don't want to think that I will be shopping for a laptop this weekend.  There are other things that I would much rather be doing.  There are other things I would much rather spend my money on.  I'm probably limited to a PC.  Sort of ironic when all of my girls have Macs.  It just doesn't seem right, does it?   

There is a better news department around here though.  It appears that my injury, while probably precipitated by my never-healing ankle, is a lower back, piriformus muscle issue (I have Deep Buttock Syndrome! Who knew?!), not a new thing for me, and it is responding well to the miracle worker physical therapist and her magic hands.  Yesterday I could barely walk, certainly not without pain, but today I can even take the stairs right over left, left over right.  Hallelujah!  I may be taking short runs as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday!  

Now I am going to bed, because my momma always told me that healing needs resting.  Plus it is downright chilly in this house, and the bed should be warmed up by now.   Pete went to bed an hour ago.  He is my own personal heated mattress pad or hot water bottle for the feet.  I'll only feel a teensy bit bad for him when I stick the ice cubes I call hands under his armpits to thaw.  It is amazing what the human body can endure, now when I do that he only jumps a few inches and barely wakes up!

Sixteen.  I'm running out of ideas, so tell me.  What are you doing to keep warm?   

Okay Renee,

I'll bite. 

1. I hate to be late.  I used to be ignorantly and unforgivably late.  Now, I am occasionally late, but make such an effort to be punctual that I am usually on time.
2. My family had an Old English Sheepdog when I was a kid.  That dog was stupid.  While my kids and husband would love a dog, I am not willing to be the caretaker for one at this moment.  I kinda feel bad for them, a tiny little bit.  Not bad enough to get a dog, though.
3. My dad loved that I knit and bought a Kaffe Fasset kit for me to make a cardigan for him.  That thing was a test of my will and while he loved it, I'm glad I don't have to do it again.
4. I, too, am influenced by color.  So much so that I have to be careful that I am not choosing a project just because it is sampled in blue. 
5. My hands and feet are almost always cold.  Actually, my whole body is usually cold (I'm freaking freezing right now), but in the summer I do warm up a bit and definitely will wear shorts and tanks.  Even then, a shawl or light sweater is kept handy, just in case.
6. I want to knit every day.  I didn't knit today.  I wanted to, but things just didn't go according to my plan, which was to knit alllllll day.  Okay, not all day, but at least some of it, but the physical therapist could fit me in and then I forgot that I had to go down to Whole Foods for vitamins, then I had some correspondance and stuff to do, then I wasted precious knitting time on the computer.....  You get the drift.  I do have multiple projects going, on the needles, with other needles, with a sewing machine...
7. I am married to my best friend, love him to death.  I always tell him he got the short end of the stick in this arrangement.
8. I hate a mess or clutter in the kitchen, on the counters or in the sink.  I usually go to bed after cleaning it all up, but if I don't I will still sleep just fine.  My family?  They wouldn't know clutter on the counters if it was a snake about to bite.
9. I used to be a runner.  Until two days ago.  I intend to be a runner again in the next week or so.  Getting out there, jogging along the roads, up and down the hills, feeling the air move in and out of your lungs, the muscles moving you along.....  It all feels pretty good, but there is no better feeling than running back up your own driveway and into the house for a stretch, shower, tea and knitting.
10. I suffer from SABLE. Stash Amassed Beyond Life Expectancy.  That stash is not only related to fiber in the knitting/spinning arenas, but in needlepoint, cross-stitch, sewing and tea.  Yes, I have a tea stash.  Come on over, the water is always hot.
11. I love seeing the inside of people's homes.  I love seeing what they put together and what things are special to them.  I know this probably doesn't fit in with most people's perception of me, but I have a really hard time figuring out what to do with my own home, so it ends up being a hodge-podge of things that have been dumped on given to me, and a lot of it I don't even like.  I've never actually gotten any house that we have lived in to the point that I have been content with it before we have moved out.  I'm working on this one, but I have a feeling that my time is running out.

Fifteen.  How was that Renee?  You asked.  :) 

Is Today Wednesday?

Then why does it feel like Thursday?  Actually, I'm glad it is Wednesday, because I have a lot to do before Friday and am glad to be surprised with the extra day. 

So, my laptop is returned home all safe and sound.  Apparently my spyware and anti-virus programs were not doing their jobs and that was the root of all my problems.  I have to say, that while I am happy this was a relatively inexpensive fix, I had almost gotten myself used to the idea that I would be getting a new computer.  You know, on Erin's Mac the compose editor in Typepad could keep up with my typing without a problem.  I loved that.  I almost got used to that.  Oh well, now I can use that money to get a chair or wool or cotton or something.

In other news.  I am injured.  Pulled up lame during a run yesterday, eight miles in.  Yay.  So far the PTs are not shaking their collective heads when I tell them I am running a half-marathon next month.  My hip and thigh?  I think they have other ideas when it comes to that, but as far as I'm concerned, at this moment, I am still planning on it.  Things to be grateful for:  Erin was around to get my phone call when I decided I could not make that last four miles home.  Another:  my phone waited to die until I made that call.  It would have taken me forever to get home on my lame leg and it was getting dark.

Oh, the yawns are coming fast and furious, so I am off to bed.  Maybe a mitten update tomorrow.  I'd love it if I had a finished mitten to show, but at least I have given up on the problem area and in moving on have discovered some of my problems and have a plan to make the second mitten better than the first.  I really want to knit a round before bed, but I have a feeling that would be a bad, bad idea.  If I go now I might be able to get up early and knit a round or two before I head off to work.  Yeah, as if that would happen. 

Fourteen.  That's all.  Just fourteen.

Ten On Tuesday

Ten Things You Are Really Good At. 

1. Pointing out what I am bad at.  Seriously.
2. Procrastination.
3. Optimistic stashing.  Truly, who can knit, spin, sew, craft, needlepoint all that I have in a lifetime? And if you use as evidence what I have done over the years vs. what I have stashed over the years, well.  Let's just say that right now I can't afford to stash so much and if I can't for awhile, I am still all.set.
4. Using knitting as proof that I am not wasting time (just because I am not doing what you think I should be doing, or what I possibly really should be doing, doesn't mean I am doing nothing).  Again.  Srsly.
5.  Cleaning a bathroom.  Seriously.  You could perform surgery in there when I am finished. Sparkles.  Shines, gleames, radiates warmth, friendliness and disinfectant. 
6. Smelling.  It is a curse, really.  I can catch whiffs of anything from anywhere and all day I live in an olfactory merry-go-round of aromas floating by and catching my attention, if only so briefly.  So when I smell something and want to know what it is or where it is coming from and turn to Pete to see if he can help sort out the fragrant mystery I am out of luck.  He is smell blind!  SERIOUSLY! Just when you thought he was perfect in every way.  We all have our little faults. 
7.  Changing.  My clothes, my hair, my opinion, my mood, my mind....... 
8. Knowing what is right for everybody else.  Trust me, I am pretty good at that, just ask the girls.  Not that they ever listen. 
9. Justification.  Just ask me if you need help, I can justify just about anything. 
10. Loving. 

Thirteen.  What I am not good at is getting to work on time!  Gotta go! 

Fooled Ya!

Heh, so you people think I am still posting to my blog every day, don't you?  Joke's on you!  The truth is, I dropped my computer off for repairs around the middle of last week and haven't heard a word about it since.  Bummer.  They did say they were "backed up."  I guess my pleas for mercy went ignored.  I did try to convince them that people were depending on me, that my sanity and well-being were at risk, but I don't think the cheerful and really nice kid behind the counter was buying it.  He could probably write a pretty humorous book filled with the justifications for speed he hears.  I wonder why he gave me that weird look when I threatened to bring a sleeping bag, tea kettle and knitting to camp out on his floor until he was finished?

Anyway, I am still computer unencumbered and sharing with Erin to make the occasional search, a purchase on ebay or to read a few blogs is going okay.  So far.  I sense a bit of irritation on her part, and who can blame her?  Who wants her mom snooping around her computer, reading any IM messages that may pop up or digging into her history.  Alright, I haven't done any of that, honest and true.  I haven't the time to figure out her Mac anyway, much less get into the history and all that.  Plus, I have enough that I want to accomplish when I have my few minutes, reading her stuff just does not interest me at all.  So, I posted ahead before I gave up my laptop, and now I am hoping to get it back today or tomorrow.  If this should cost a little more than I am willing to pay to keep a computer I am not in love with going, it may be a bit longer in the sharing if I have to get a new one.  After a few days of this, I'm thinking I could get used to this Mac thing after all.  We shall see.  I'd much rather spend that money on a chair for my room or a new sofa for the game room, or fabric for a quilt for my bed or, or......

You may also have been fooled by the occasional comment left to a blog.  I'll admit to be impatient and lazy, but after having to type in all of my now unsaved identifying information, I get real tired of it darn quick.

Progress has been made on some of the knitting pictured in last week's posts.  The mittens are moving along.  I have reknit to the same spot four times and while each time is different, it still does not meet my standards.  Just one.spot.  So.Annoying!  I have decided to soldier on and hope the second mitten is better.  Two color knitting used to come so easily to me, but I haven't done it for a while and it is kicking my ass.  I knit with one color in each hand, picking throwing my way along, and I keep trading off which yarn goes over and under and still I am not getting a look that I like.  I see so many beautiful mittens on Ravelry and it just makes me feel worse, all that comparing myself unfavorably to others.  I did start a little trend though.  Back when I first started these mittens I got a few emails asking about the colors.  It appears a few more people either had the same idea or copied me straight up, because look here and here.  So beautiful.  It isn't surprising, I do have great taste, don't I?

Helena is moving right along, but because of that the sweater for Ben is still pinned to the blocking board.  I figure when I get them both to the finishing stage I will go into power finishing mode and wala!  Two finished sweaters at once.  Could happen.

Alright, alright!  It is Sunday afternoon as I type and Erin is doing that heavy sigh thing.  I think I'm done for now!

Twelve.  Man, seventeen year olds can be contrary.

 

And I Said I Wouldn't Be Joining.....

If only to get these mittens on my hands before the last breath of winter is gasped, I joined the NaKniMitMo thing and am working on my Snowbird Mittens.  What you see isprogress to the same place I have knitted to twice before and am ripping back again one more time.  It got all wonky and I have want to try and fix it one more time.  Fingers crossed.  Inside the mittens soon, I hope.

Eleven.  It is really starting to look like a knitting blog around here!

YouTube Saturday

On on YouTube Saturday last year I had a post featuring some winners and contestants in the Calm-A-Sutra Scholarship competition. When this video showed up on my Google home page I thought it was so cute and had to share another video about the benefits of tea drinking:

That of course led to a Claymation look around YouTube and this one had me crackin up. Those of you with Guitar Hero know exactly what it is like to get in between the guitarist and the television. Ha!

I so wish I had found this one before Christmas, but better late than never. It is really cool.

Ten. I just know I have some Play-Dough around here somewhere.....

And Just What Did I Learn From This Swatch?

  That I LOVE Kidsilk Spray and Haze.

Nine.  It remains to be seen if I still love it after knitting miles and miles of stockinette stitch on size two needes......

You Can Learn A Lot From A Swatch

Not all of which what you expected.  So, what happened with the Koigu swatch?  I cast on with excitement, intending to knit a square with one color of the Koigu and get all the stitch and row information I would need to cast on and make a Tempest for myself.  In my anticipation to see the colorways together I decided to make a striped swatch. 

<Insert deafening silence here.>

"What stripes?" you ask.  I know it!  And, oh by the way, where is the blue?!  This photo, even after white-box shot and manipulation in my photo editor doesn't show just how purple it is, but dang it!  It is PURPLE!  Why didn't I see how purple it was in the skein?  Well, I did see it, but I think I just wanted to see blue.  And while I wanted the stripes to be subtle, I wanted to see them! 

I'm thinking a couple of things.  First, over a whole side of a sweater the stripes will probably be more obvious, you can't really tell that from a 4" swatch.  Or, I have enough of both colors to make the sweater in one color, but I kind of wanted the stripes.  (Yes, I am whining.)  BUT, and this is the thing, I do.not. see myself in purple.  Periwinkle?  Yes, but purple?  What if I finish this and decide that I really cannot wear this purple?  While I decide whether or not to cast on for a front and see what the effect is on a larger canvas, this project is in time out.

So I swatched again for another project and while debating the pros and cons of purple I decided to knit this:

That is the start of Helena (ravelry link) in Queensland Collection Rustic Wool DK. I am loving this.

Eight.  Who knows?  Maybe knitting purple for somebody else will bring me around to liking it for myself.

Let There Be White Light!

You know when you have a yarn in your stash that you bought just because you loved it and then it sits there, wallowing away, because 1) if you knit it you won't have it any more and b) (heh) you are worried that you will knit the wrong thing with it and it will be gone forever?   Maybe you should have left it on the shelf until you find the perfect project, then it won't be sitting there taunting you with its prettiness, but sometimes it is a yarn that is either hard to come by or isn't readily replaceable, not a mass produced brand or color.  (Even still, maybe I should be stocking up on those yarns, too.  Remember Rowan Magpie?  Everybody loved it and yet POOF!  Gone!  And I never did get all the colors I wanted.  Anyway-back to this yarn.)  Well, as you probably have guessed, I have some of that yarn and a few months ago I found a sweater that might be worthy of it.  The yarn is Koigu KPPPM in two colors.  The sweater is Tempest (ravelry link).  After mulling it over for a while I pulled the Koigu out and decided to photgraph it and write a blog post about how thinking it all over.  That was back in October or something.  I took the photos and was so disappointed in them that the post never happened and while I kept thinking about it (every day) I let other things take precedence.  See, the thing about Koigu is the color and the depth of colors in one colorway and the thing about blogging them is the photography and how it never shows it well.  At least not when I take the pics.

Can you see the difference in these colorways?  Can you see the green in the blue or the blues in the greens or the subtle periwinkley purple in each of them?  How could you in that picture?  And I tried all over my house to find a spot that would reflect enough white light to capture the prettiness of this combination.

When the opportunity came up to take a short workshop on photographing for the internet I jumped on it.  While I still do not get most of photography, like depth of field, aperture, or ISO adjustments, I did get to try a white box.  How cool!  You see, not only does the amount of light matter, but the quality of the color of the light.  White light reflects colors so much better, so when you take a picture in a room with green walls the light reflected is green and has an effect on the color of the photo.  Now, most of our cameras have adjustments for that, but they aren't perfect.  In a white box with white lights you have less to fight.  It provides a light that simulates a bright, overcast day, which is preferred.  So I learned.   So I came home and made one!   I got the instructions to make one just like the one we used in the class.  With a box, box cutter, white tracing paper, tape, and a piece of poster board I came up with a passable box.  My tracing paper has a bit of a yellow tinge to it so I want to replace it with white vellum and I am using OttLites, but I would like to get some inexpensive spot lights.  I think as long as you use day-white light bulbs you can use any lamp.  While I can't claim a miraculous change in my photos, I'll give you a little idea of the difference.

   

So, can you see it?  That the blue has greens in there and the green has some purply blues in there?  Can you see how I think they would stripe well together and how I wanted to buy them and knit them together and why I didn't wait to buy them, because it is Koigu and may never show up again?  It is time to see what I learn from the swatching......

Seven.  You can make a white box, too!  Here is a bit of a better one, I might try this one as well.  Where will I store all of this stuff?

Ten On Tuesday

Ten Things You Want To Do in 2009.  Is that like a resolution list?  Or just stuff I'd like to do.  Sort of a bucket list.  Or a dream list, things that it would be interesting or fun or great to do, but will probably never happen.  Things are flying around in my head and the two things that are usual about this list making and me prevail.  One, there is the first list, my private list and then the list I am willing to share with the internets.  Some things are on both lists.  Then the second thing, it will be a hodge-podge of things I want to do and probably will, things that seem interesting and wouldn't it be great if I go to them and dream stuff.  Hey, we'd all like to do a lot of things, right.  Doesn't mean we can or will, but it is nice to have dreams.  So, these ten things are not goals or resolutions, or even intentions (well, some might be), just a list of ten things.

1. Do a chin-up.  A real, honest to God, hang from a bar and pull my body weight up until my chin is above that bar chin-up.  You have no idea how far from that I really am.  Maybe if there is a pit of snakes below me.....
2. Make a quilt, well two really.
3. Go to Maui.  (That is on every to-do list I have.)
4. Knit through some of my stash.  Some.  Like one ball or a couple of hundred, just some.  I'd better get started. 
5. Spin enough yarn for a large project, like a sweater.  Now, where will I find the fiber.....?
6. See peace in the middle-east.
7. Make a million bucks then give it all away then make another million. 
8. CONVINCE TYPEPAD TO GO BACK TO LETTING ME RESPOND TO COMMENTS THE EASY WAY.  BY HITTING REPLY IN THE EMAIL AND GETTING THE COMMENTORS EMAIL TO REPLY TO!!!!  It used to be that way, why change a good thing?  Why?  WHY?!  People!  Complain! 
9. Knit something for myself that is not blue.  Hey, I did it last year, right?
10. Drink through half my tea stash.  That one will be very, very hard.  I think I'll go get started.

Six.  These lists start to feel an awful lot like shoulding.  You should never should yourself, it only leads to disappointment.

What You Can't See In This Photo Are The Two Bags Of Ice Under the Laptop Fan Thingie That Are Keeping My Computer Running!

Santa left an iPod Nano under the tree for me last year (or this Christmas, however you want to look at it).  A BLUE one!  I just love Santa.  It took me ten days to find the the "just right" protection and belt-clip combintation before I would take it out of the box.  No scratches on that baby, no way.  Just in time for my computer to start being a little pain in the neck.  It just shuts down with no warning.  None.  Just goes dark.  I used to have a little time before that happened, but now it only runs for a minute and then-OFF.  So, I am sitting it on ice so that I can back up the things that had not been backed up yet and get some books loaded to my iPods (I'm loading them both in case I have to wait for any length of time, although at 16G I am having a hard time filling the new one) then the laptop goes to the laptop hospital for surgery or whatever it needs.  Pete keeps telling me to just get a new laptop, but he says these things as if we just have the extra cash lying around with no other place to put it.  (Does he know something I don't?  I doubt it, that is just the way he is.)  I'm trying to get the most out of this thing that I can.  Besides that, there is the research and effort in purchasing a new laptop.  I am not so thrilled with this one that I would just get another, and all of my girls have macs and seem happy, but whenever I try to use them I get frustrated and think that I am too old for that learning curve.  I'll just fix this one for now, I'm sure I can get another year or so out of it.  Scratch that.  I'm not tempting fate by uttering those words.

So, what's on your iPod?  I have books, books, books, music, music and podcasts.  I fell off the book wagon during December, favoring my Christmas music.  Now my queue is long and I'll have plenty to listen to while working and driving. 

Did I mention, way back when, that I finished Outlander?  I'm hooked!  My plan is to spread the series out to every third or fourth book I listen to so that I don't get totally immersed in Claire and Jamie's lives to the exclusion of reality.  I do that you know.  Get so involved in a book that I start thinking the characters are real and my friends.  Then I look around at my family and life and wonder who the heck they are where the hell all that came from?  I don't think they take it personally anymore....

Five.  What books have swept you away to another world?  I can add them to my list!

What Do You Get When You Have A Back, Two Fronts and Two Sleeves?

 You get the blocking board out, that's what you get!

Four. I like this counting up thing. How high will I go? (NO! That is NOT a challenge for myself.)

YouTube Saturday

This is pretty cute:

And because there is always somebody with too much time on their hands:

I didn't watch the whole thing.....oops. Maybe I should have, did I miss anything good? And, is it too last week (or two days ago) have this wish for you?

Three. Who knew?

Begin As You Mean To Go On

That is how I have tried to live my previous New Year's Days,fitting in the things I hope to continue throughout the year.  Live with intention.  Sometimes I get all of the things ready on New Year's day and sometimes life (or the lives of all the people that are a part of my life) takes precedence, which in a way is one of the ways I mean to go on anyway, so it is all good.  So, did I begin as I meant to go on?  Well, I guess that I did.

First, I got up and ate a healthy breakfast.  That isn't all that new for me, I am a big believer in the most important meal of the day.  Then I went up to the beach, in the freezing cold (really! BRRRRR!  FUH-REEZING!  Like, when I got out of my car it was 10 degrees farenheit with a wind chill of freaking ice pellets being blown into your skin from a machine gun.  Like, when I hear about or see people who leave their warm homes to participate in these assinine activities I say to myself and anyone that will listen that they are soft as sh*t.  That is how arctic it was) to run the Hangover Classic with Cheryl.  Honestly, had she not been convincing me that it was going to be great!  That we'd be so happy after!  That it wasn't as cold as I thought! I totally would have skipped.  And guess what?  Six miles of it was worse than I thought, and I was happy when I was done, happy to never do it again, and it was just as cold, colder even, than I thought it would be.  To begin, I was over-dressed (if you can believe it), so I was warm.  Ish, but the wind was kept away from my skin and the wind was brutal.  Combine a strong headwind (kept away from my skin, but truly blowing me across the road) with snow covered roads that are a struggle to run on to begin with and it is like running at a dead sprint but getting noplace at all.  I will be sore tomorrow.  I did learn a couple of things though.  First, wear a little less.  Second, I really don't ever want to do that again (which has no bearing, of course, as to whether I will or not).  Third, if the half marathon occurs on a day with similar conditions I will.not.run.it.  I anticipate being sore tomorrow.  yay. (And no, I did not run this race in any kind of impressive time.  I dragged ass.  But I finished!)

Thanks to Cheryl's iPhone, there we are pre-race.  See how my smile doesn't quite reach my eyes?  heh.  (I started this post yesterday and in the 24+ hours that I have had to think about it, I think I may have come across a bit more negative than I wanted.  I mean, it was all of those things, but it is sort of like childbirth, I've almost forgotten about it.  But not totally.  Trust me.)

Then I socialized with friends.  Not for a long time, but a good start to the year.  There was knitting, another thing I mean to go on with.  Then I did a couple of new things for the year.  Not really new to me, but things that have been sitting and sitting and I figured if I only just took them out and spent five minutes with them that it would be a way to begin and maybe I will meaningfully go on.  Since one of the thing I really want to do is remember to take pictures, I killed two birds.  Here are a couple of the five minute things.

I know it!  Cross-stitch and felt ornaments.  I love them!  I love the cross-stitch snowmen and the teapot shaped felt ornaments.  I have had the kits for a couple of years and really want them to be finished.  The felt ornaments are so detailed and take a lot of work, light, eyesight, and good fine motor skills.  That is why I can only work on them for short times each day.  But we know how a little bit every day can add up to new ornaments for next year's tree, right?  Take a look at the Santa close up! Isn't it going to be adorable?

We had a family dinner, the making and consuming of which was a group effort.  Then we watched Hancock (not what I expected, but not bad).  Spending more time together is another thing I intend to go on.

Here is a big one.  I spent time responding to emails and reading and commenting on blogs!  Were you surprised if you got an email from me?  Are you surprised to be reading and thinking that, "hey!  She didn't return my email or comment on my blog?"  Well, thanks to Typepad and their commenting crap I had a couple returned to me.  But I would like to be a better member of this community.  It is my intention, but how I do remains to be seen.

The day rolled on with me beginning things for five minutes here and there, but I think I will need the weekend to gather all the intentions for my beginning.  There is still the needlepoint, my spinning wheel to come out, my sewing machine to see day light.  Monday......

This could be a busy year.

Two.  But not one of those is a resolution.  Just an intention.  

New Year's Resolutions: The Two Lists

A little story for the New Year:

I was fortunate to spend time with an enigmatic man named Robert during a very special period of my life. Robert taught me many things during our days together, and this time of year reminds me of one particular interaction we had.

"Now that you are becoming more aware," Robert said, "you need to begin to set goals for yourself so you don't lose the momentum you have built."

"Like New Year's resolutions?" I asked.

"That's an interesting idea," he smirked. "Let's do that."

By then I was used to his cryptic responses, so I knew something was up because of the way his eyes sparkled as he let out an impish laugh.

"Tonight's assignment is to make two lists," Robert continued. "The first is a list of all the New Year's resolutions you WANT to keep, and the second is a list of all the New Year's resolutions you WILL keep. Write the WANT List first, and when you have exhausted all of your ideas, then write the second list on another sheet of paper."

That night I went home and spent several hours working on the two lists. The WANT List felt overwhelming at first, but after a while I got into writing all the things I had always wanted to do if the burdens of life hadn't gotten in the way. After nearly an hour, the list swelled to fill the entire page and contained nearly all of my ideas of an ideal life. The second list was much easier, and I was able to quickly commit ten practical resolutions that I felt would be both realistic and helpful.

The next day, I met Robert in front of the local food Co-op, where we seemed to have most of our enlightening conversations. "Tell me about your two lists," Robert said as the familiar smirk crept onto his face.

"The first list contains all the things I SHOULD do if I completely changed my life to be the person I always wanted to be. And the second list contains all the things I COULD do by accepting my current life, and taking realistic steps towards the life I want to lead."

"Let me see the second list," he said.

I handed him the second list, and without even looking at it, he ripped the paper into tiny pieces and threw it in the nearby garbage can. His disregard for the effort I had put into the list annoyed me at first, but after I calmed down I began to think about the first list in a different light. In my heart, I knew the second list was a cop out, and the first list was the only one that really mattered.

"And now, the first list." Robert bowed his head and held out both of his hands.

I purposefully handed him the first list and held his gaze for several seconds, waiting for him to begin reading the page. After an unusually long silence, he began to crumple the paper into a ball and once again tossed it into the can without looking at it.

"What did you do that for?!" I couldn't hide my anger any longer.

Robert began to speak in a quiet and assured voice. "What you SHOULD or COULD do with your life no longer matters. The only thing that matters, from this day forward, is what you MUST do."

He then drew a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to me.

I opened it carefully, and found a single word floating in the middle of the white page:

"Love."

Swiped from Daily Om.  The author is Daily Om co-founder Scott Blum.  Check out his website for a free download of a book (either text or audio).  Outside of this story I can not endorse anything else he has written because I haven't read anything else.  If you like it, great.  If you don't, don't blame me, I might not either!

One.  I know it!  Right!?  Here I am on the first day I can live blog free and here is a post.  Whatevah!