63 Days Unitl Christmas

Well, it's almost November which means 3 things:

1. My birthday is in about 2 weeks and I will only have 2 years left in my 20's.
2. Thanksgiving is about a month away.
3. Christmas is a mere 63 days away!

These 3 things have caused me to have the following revelations:

1. Holy crap I only have 2 years left until I turn 30!! That's old!! That's when people know what they want to DO with their lives and I still don't know what I'm doing with mine!
2. Mmmmm....turkey...stuffing...cranberry sauce...pumpkin pie...mashed potatoes...gravy...food coma...
3. I am really, really behind on my knitting goals.

And those 3 revelations have caused me to produce the following task list:

1. Figure out what I want to do with my life and find a way to do it.
2. I need to invite people over for turkey day so I can make a boat load of food and not feel bad about it.
3. Knit 4 beanies, 2 cowls, 1 pair of hand warmers, and a scarf by December 25th. Oh and wash them, block them, and wrap them.

Image taken from here.

Moving Realization #1

I have way, Way, WAY too much stuff.

But I will never have enough yarn. Ever. Even though I totally just filled two 35 gallon Rubbermaid containers with it....hehehe. :)

And the Year Goes "March"ing On

Since it's March, I thought it would be nice to take a peak back on my New Year's goals and see how they were going. For the most part, I think I'm doing OK, but I'm sure I'm not quite doing everything I had hoped to do. So without further adieu,

Goal #1: Knit more. I am definitely doing this. I've even finished a few things and taught someone to knit. Unfortunately, since I'm also hanging out with more knitters, it means I'm near more yarn. That means that I'm buying more...which means my stash is growing. Also, I didn't finish any projects in February, but I did get closer so I'm going to count that as a win with room for improvement.

Goal #2: Read for fun. I am totally rocking this goal. I've read 3 books since the beginning of the year and have at least 3 more in progress, with more cued up to read. Of course, I'm not really sure if very many people would find The Jungle a "fun" read, but since it wasn't an assignment, it counts.

Goal #3: Bring my lunch to work. This pretty much never happens. I do, however, try to make healthier lunch choices and find ways to eat for free. For instance, we have lots of leftovers from other meetings. I call it the "student meal plan" (as in I plan on mooching off free food whenever possible). When things settle down at work, I will try to re-instate this goal.

Goal #4: Make better use of my YMCA membership. I'm totally rocking this one as well. Since starting my 10k training a few weeks back, I've been going at least 3x per week. Sure, I didn't really get going until February, but I did finally get going and hopefully it will stay that way.

Goal #5: Be more consistent with my scripture study. I'm still trying to be better about this. I was doing better for a little bit, then things got crazy again and I regressed. Oops. I guess it really is a constant struggle to stay on top of it.

Goal #6: Actually clean the house. So I had a job chart going in January and for a while, it worked. When I say it worked I mean that I did pretty much everything by myself. So now we're just back to cleaning when we can and my new mantra is "it's OK if it's messy." Life's a lot more enjoyable that way.

To recap, I'm doing pretty well at keeping up with my goals so far. A few are lacking, but that's to be expected. I think goals are great because they give us things to work towards, but one of the things I've learned by setting goals is that we have to be a little easy on ourselves when we don't quite do everything perfectly. It also helps to evaluate them and see if they are reasonable. For me, a couple are not really reasonable right now if I want to have any semblance of a life outside of work so a few of them are getting neglected. I'm OK with that, but still want to improve. The great news is that I can.

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.

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!

Pumpkins Already?

I have to admit, even though fall is my favorite season, I am not emotionally ready for it to be fall yet. I blame it on the fact that this year we never really had a spring and our summer seems to have lasted for-ev-er. But, a few days ago I noticed the leaves were changing color already and that my toes we cold and that my usually joyous trip on the scooter to church had left me shivering and seriously wishing for warmer layers.

Side note: Is it just me, or has this year both seemed to last forever and taken no time at all? A few months ago we were 3rd years and it was a hot, sticky summer. And then the farmer showed up in August with a pumpkin and we have somehow finished all but our last 5 weeks of rotations for the year 2010. Seriously, where did the time go and why won't it go any faster when I want it to??

But I digress...again, as usual. Despite fall being my favorite season and totally not being ready for it, I am enjoying with greater anticipation than years past the Christmas holiday. Perhaps it's because we will be visiting my folks this year or perhaps it's just because for the first time in a long time I've been playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving (but only on Sundays when the congregation is exiting because I don't think they are really listening to me and I want to see if anyone says something). But some how, despite that anticipation, despite the fact that I've broken out the needles and re-declared my love of all things woolly, and despite the fact that my coworker has turned the office into a veritable fall festival, I am still not ready for pumpkins, falling leaves, cool nights, and jackets--my most favorite of clothing accessories. At any rate, I guess (along with everyone else), it's finally time to say "Welcome, fall!"

Sheep and Wool

This past weekend was the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival out near Madison. I had planned to go all day Saturday and even toyed with the idea of taking off work Friday and skipping church Sunday to be there, but settled on just one day to take in the wonders of wool, woolly critters, and wool-working workshops. Unfortunately, I caught the office cold that's going around and was only able to make it to the Saturday afternoon session. However, I had a good time attending my class on finishing knitted garments, petting the sheep, and shopping. In fact, it's official: I want my own sheep. The sheep I petted was especially affectionate and loved being scratched behind the ears. Sheep also are the creators of my second love: yarn. Ergo, I want a sheep. And the knowledge and skills on how to get from sheep to yarn. That way, the credit card bill won't look so fat after I visit a Wool Festival. Or yarn shop. Or the State Fair booth where they are selling yarn. Baaaaa.

PS: Meant to get a picture, but forgot to bring the camera. It was just that kind of day. Plus, I don't really take pictures.