"Fried"-day

This marks the end of the first week of being officially down one coworker. My lovely coworker and friend Bel made the transition a job much closer to home this week. She no longer has to commute over an hour with her baby just to get to work every day, and she doesn't have to get up at 4:30am anymore either which means she is finally getting some well-deserved sleep. All in all, it was an awesome move for her and I'm happy that she was finally able to make that change and for herself and for her family. However, I'm missing her like crazy and wishing she was here to help out with some of the work load. We tripled the number of reviews we are doing this year and since my other coworker only works part time, it feels a bit like the brunt of the work is falling to me. Don't get me wrong, I love being busy. Being busy makes the day go faster, keeps me on task, and sends me home with a sense of accomplishment I can't quite get from a slow day of web surfing. On the other hand, I'm incredibly tired and wishing there was another set of hands to help carry the load. Plus I miss our lunch time walks that included a visit to the munchkin and other daycare kids. It was nice to get out and see the sun--even if has been below 20 degree for the past few months. Oh well. At least it's Friday.

The Games that Left Me Anything But Hungry

While in Utah for Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law gave me the first of 3 books in the Hunger Games saga to keep me entertained when the boys were overindulging in football, football, and more football. At first I was hesitant to get into it since I'm the type of reader that forgets the rest of the world exists when I get into a good book. However, I finally succumbed to temptation and dove into it not knowing exactly what to expect.

The first book was a quick, easy read that was masterfully written. I enjoyed the way the Collins wove in description to her story without going over board (think Meyer's in the 4th Twilight Saga book...*shudder*). At any rate, I really got to know the characters pretty well and became attached to them. Sure, the descriptions of all the gore sometimes turned my stomach, but I was definitely caught up in it. It was compelling enough to be a page turner, but not so compelling that I had a problem putting it down to do something else for a while (this is a good thing for me). I also really enjoyed how Collins made it pretty clear that this was some version of a future America. It was both interesting and a little disheartening to see how poor and backwards the people of the districts were, especially in contrast to the amount of technology available in the Capitol. So when my sister offered to let me take the second book, Catching Fire, home with me, I jumped at the chance.

Taking that book turned out to be one of the best decision I made that entire trip. Through a series of weather-related delays, I ended up reading almost the entire book either on a plane in flight, in the airport, or stuck on the tarmac in a plane that had no available gate to go to. The second book was just as interesting as the first, complete with a second hunger games. Collins did a good job of showing how tumultuous the pre-revolutionary country was and how ruthless those in power could be. I also appreciated that some of my favorite characters were back, though I didn't really care for how dense Katniss (the main character) was when it came to the relationships in her life. Still, the story ended on a cliff hanger so of course I was begging for more.

Which brings me to the third book, Mockingjay. Because I was finishing up my final papers for my degree, I was unable to dive into this book quite as soon as I wanted. Plus, I didn't actually have a copy and didn't really want to buy it. I also didn't get any responses to my desperate plea on Facebook for someone to loan me one. So I did what I do in any situation where I'm too impatient to wait for something to come out. I googled it. After reading the ending, I really wasn't all that interested in reading the third book. Still, the opportunity to read it presented itself to me last week when Spencer "checked in out" from his Kindle app on the iPhone. It was just too tempting not to read it, so I downloaded my own copy and spent a few days reading it. The story was just as well written as the previous books. There were no really slow parts, though I did not care for the direction Collins took with some of the characters. I didn't care for portions of the ending and I didn't think it really served her message. Spencer disagrees with me, but that's just his opinion.

All in all, this was a fun, quick series to read. Well, maybe fun isn't quite the right word given all the death and gore, but I did enjoy reading it. I've heard they are thinking about making it into a move. I have no clue how they would do it without making it so gory and so violent as to drive off most audiences. I certainly wouldn't be inclined to see it, though I would be interested to see how the movie created the world of Panem and some of the crazy characters in it. Movie aside, if you're looking for an entertaining read, look no further.



Hopelessly Devoted To....YARN

You might think it's crazy, but becoming a knitter has turned me into an obsessive freak that has the uncontrollable urge to own all the yarn or yarn related paraphernalia in a 50 mile radius...even though I already have more yarn than I could ever possible knit right now. (Seriously, I have a lot. I should put up pictures sometime. We're talking mammoth quantities of yarn here. And I still sometimes catch myself thinking, "I have nothing to knit!")

Heaven help my bank account if I ever step into a yarn shop (which I did last Thursday). About the only words I can utter once under a yarn shops magical spell are "ooh" and "aahhh" and "pretty! I want it!" And if I have a knitting friend with me, well, let's just say I'm a bad influence. For example, I say things like, "you can totally afford that," or "yes, but feel how soft it is," or even "you know you want it."

This applies to knitting books as well. Even though I already have more books than allotted knitting book space, I still have this irrational desire to buy more. And more. And more. And now this little beauty is coming out soon. It has so many things I want to knit. And wear. And love.

The only problem with knitting though is how long it takes. It's not like just going to store or shopping online or even sewing. Still, I love it.

So if (and I do mean if) you ever have the urge to send me presents, please consider yarn (no acrylic please) and knitting books. Food may be the way to a man's heart, but this girl's heart is pining for yarn.

And Then There Were Two (Months)

I neglected this past week to post that match day is officially less than 2 months from now. Two months is not that much time, especially when you consider that one of those months is February (the shortest month of the year). At the same time, two months is a really long time when you're waiting to find out where you will be spending the next four years of your life.

So what will I be doing for the next 2 months while I patiently (ha!) wait for the news? Art. Knitting. Going to the gym. Attempting to clean more. Reading. Baking. Participating in Soul Restoration. Basically whatever strikes my fancy which is both nice and weird after being in school for most of my life. Spencer will be continuing his rotations most likely with a healthy dose of Starcraft thrown in. 

So, despite the waiting, I anticipate that the next few months will actually go by pretty quickly. Which is awesome, considering how long I've been counting down. :) 

Image from here.

It's ONLY Tuesday?!?

Somewhere between last night and this afternoon my brain did something weird where it made me think that several days had passed. Perhaps it was because I went out last night to knit with the gals or perhaps it's because I may have been having a rather vivid dream when I woke up this morning (you know-the kind where you dream you are at work, etc so when you wake up you're all confused and upset because now you really have to go to work). At any rate, some time after lunch I realized that it is in fact, only Tuesday.

It was then I decided that we should re-instate 3 day work weeks. Who's with me?

Life as a Grad

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since I graduated (!) from my bioethics program. It was a big push at the end and took a ton of effort on my part to get motivated to write those last few papers. I love school, just not the part where you get graded and have to write about what they want you to write about. I guess I thought I'd be bored or something by now, but I can honestly say that I'm not. Here's a quick breakdown of recent happenings:

I turned in my final paper on December 21st, added red highlights to the mix, and started prepping for the trip back home for Christmas. We hoped a plane to DC on Thursday (no connections, wahoo!) for the Christmas/New Year holiday. We spent out time there shopping, going to movies, shopping, seeing the National Christmas Tree, shopping, going to the National Zoo, and did I mention shopping? Of course, there were the traditional Christmas activities as well like Christmas Tree Lane, hot chocolate, presents, and the obligatory post-present fashion show. Spencer's not used to so many girls, but I think he survived because he got to build my parents a brand new computer while he was there and filled the rest of his time with Star Craft.

January brought us back to Wisconsin and back to reality. Spencer started his radiology rotation and I went back to work. Two days later, I was home with the mother of all colds. It first hit in early December, then decided to rear it's ugly head again over the break. I though it had gone away until it knocked me on my back for a few days. Suffice it to say I haven't done too much since we've been home.

Spencer, on the other hand, has had 2 more trips to the far away land of Detroit, MI in the past week. Apparently the gods of match day want us to move to Detroit. Me? Not so much. I'd much rather stay here or go to sunny California instead.

Since I'm done with school now, I finally have time for exciting things like cleaning the bathroom, making dinner, and folding clothes. Hmmm. What does that say about my housekeeping skills for the past few years? Seriously though, I'm enjoying the time I have now to take better care of the house and spend my down time after work doing fun things instead of reading for class or typing up a paper. I'm reading for fun again and knitting more. In fact, I've already finished my first project and book and am hard at work on the second book/project. All in all, I think 2011 is shaping up to be a pretty exciting year. It's the year of change for us and that, for once, is a good thing (to quote Martha).

Happy 2011!

Well, we're officially on day 4 of 2011 and since the rest of the blogging world is already doing it, I decided to go ahead and add my own list of resolutions/hopes for the new year to the interwebs.

1. Knit more. Not just knit more, finish more. I currently have at least 9 (that I can think of) projects on my needles or in various states of being done. They are:

• Tiffany's baby boy coming home sweater (he was born last March and is an extremely large baby). All it needs is the sleeves sewn up, buttons sewn on, and a crochet border.
• The 6 month boy sweater for a soon to be 3rd time mommy- all it needs is one sleeve, button bands, and buttons.
• The 6 month girl sweater for another soon to be 3rd time mommy-still on the needles, needs the sleeve knit, the bottom ribbing finished, button bands, and buttons.
• The koolhaas hat for me in a creamy white-I'm on the second of 5 cable repeats, then I need to shape the crown and finish.
• A green scarf that just needs the ends woven in.
• A felted bag-so there are only about 4 rows on there...but they are there so I guess I should get working.
• Rachel's XOXO headband: Super soft, lovely. It needs a few more cable repeats and then it just needs to be sewn together. It's still on the needles right now.
• The Debbie Bliss 1 year old brown sweater. It's still on the needles and taking forever (probably because I never work on it, huh). I have barely started one piece and there are four total, then all of them need to be sewn together.
• My first sweater: it's the sweater that haunts me. It's been knit for a long time, but I hadn't learned how to sew knitted garments yet so the first time I did it, it looked horrible. Now I've picked out the seams and will be starting again. It's also way too small. I'm thinking of going back and adding ribbing around the sleeves and bottom since the width is OK, the length is just way off.

I also have several patterns in mind for the other yarn I've acquired. In no particular order:

• 2 more 6 month baby sweaters: 1 to donate, 1 for a baby scheduled to debut in March
• A scarf to match koolhaas with the left over yarn
• Socks! Lots and lots of socks! I even have some great sock yarn to go with it.
• Hand warmers to match Rachel's XOXO headband
• The "baby dotty" blanket form Mason Dixon--steeking, scary!
• A market bag
• Another sweater for me
• Some sort of short sleeved sweater or vest for the yarn from Wool and Sheep.

Phew!

2. Read for fun. I'm done with school now, probably forever (in a formal setting) and it's now time to read just for the sake of reading. I've got a ton of books on my shelves that I'd like to get to but haven't had time for yet and now is my chance. Plus, there are always more at the library!

3. Bring my lunch to work instead of buying most days of the week. It's cheaper and probably better for me. Unless I only bring brownies or cake. :)

4. Make better use of my YMCA membership. I don't use it nearly enough right now.

5. Be more consistent with my scripture study.

6. Actually clean the house now and then rather than just looking around and thinking, "wow. that looks really messy."

That's all for now. Really the list is only inclusive through about May which is when we will be making some sort of transition to residency be it moving or simply staying put. Wishing you all the best year ever in 2011!