Yarn, Cats, and Cookies

Too long

2011-11-26T22:59:00.002-05:00

It's been too long since I've posted. Crazy long. Wendy is almost 22 months, nearing her 2nd birthday... which is just unbelievable to me. She's really talkative. She puts about one sentence together every day, not including things like "Mimi gaga" = "Mimi has glasses". She loves glasses and she always pulls them off my mother-in-law.

She is also difficult in the sense that she pinches and kicks a lot, which is frustrating. And bites, slaps, grabs... Mostly she directs it to me. She's been going through a really clingy stage, and it's her way of saying "PAY ATTENTION, MOMMY!"

Nonetheless, it's still really rewarding. She can also be incredibly affectionate with hugs and kisses. And she's recognizing so many letters, which is amazing. It's not like I've been pushing the alphabet on her at all. Sometimes when she wants me to draw with her, I'll draw a picture and then write out "Mommy" (or Daddy or Wendy or something else), and point out the letters. And she looks so proud of herself when she gets a whole word right. She's so smart!

The little things

2011-05-04T19:26:00.002-04:00

I gave Wendy a bath about half an hour ago. When her hair gets all wet, it straightens out, and looks SO long, it goes down the back of her neck. After the bath, I rub it with the towel, but mostly it air-dries, and it's funny to watch it go through this transition of long & straight back to shorter and curlier.

I wish my camera was working so I could show what I'm talking about! It's just so cute. I have stick straight hair, so it's funny to be taking care of Wendy's curly (or very wavy) hair... I can't wait to see what it will look like in a year or two when it really grows out. She's got her daddy's hair to the Nth degree!

She's so good at entertaining herself. She loves to "read" (well, she intensely looks at her books). She's almost got the hang of spinning her octopus top (Seen here), which she has had for... Wow, a whole YEAR! Since she was just 3 months old. That's amazing.

Sleepy...

2011-02-20T19:31:00.002-05:00

Yaaawn... I have got to stop staying up so late... I want to nap, but I should really be productive and put the laundry away. So I'll end up being productive now, and then at 11 or 12 tonight, I'll decide "Dammit, I deserve some time to relax and knit" and then I'll stay up until 2 am knitting and watching The X-Files on Netflix. What's wrong with me?? Because of course Wendy will wake me up at 8... or 9, if I'm lucky.

I finally went grocery shopping today. It got to the point where I had oatmeal for dinner last night. Good thing I loaded up on lots of food. I got the ingredients for meatloaf, matzo ball soup, and lots of other stuff. We go through seltzer SO fast, so I got 10 bottles.

I'm going to treat myself to some cookies...

Gray winter day

2011-01-19T20:51:00.004-05:00

It's so gray out today. Usually at 8:30 the sun wakes me up because it's hitting me in the face, but not today. I guess it tricked Wendy, too, because she slept until 10! Her daddy did wake us up when he left, but Wendy went back down when I nursed her.

She's so funny now. She makes such deliberate choices. She loves throwing things down the stairs, which can be annoying. Toys, remote controls, shoes... She's also been doing this funny thing with her walker where she turns it upside down and walks with it that way! She also loves to open her drawers and empty all her clothes onto the floor.

Whenever she picks up her duck toy, she says "Kak kak kak!" That's her way of saying "Quack quack quack," which her mimi (grandmother) showed her.

I can't believe she's going to be one in less than a week!

Long time, no blog...

2010-11-20T19:56:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I last posted, so I figured it was time to update again. It's been what, almost 9 months since I last posted? Wendy is almost 10 months old now, and she's a joy. She's a big girl, at the 97th percentile in height, weight *and* head circumference. I hope that she grows tall enough to reach things for me! She's been crawling for about 3 months now, and pulling up on everything for almost that long. She's been cruising around the living room, and I suspect any day now, she'll take her first real steps. She loves to express herself with shrieks of happiness and "ba baba" and "dadadada" and that sort of thing. I can't wait for her to start talking and really expressing herself!

Here's my sweet girl:

She's here!

2010-02-10T14:40:00.005-05:00

Gwendolyn was born at 11:07 pm on Sunday, January 31. 8 lb, 7 oz. And she has red hair like her daddy! Which is so incredibly surprising. I didn’t think it was possible, because John kept telling me that red is the most recessive hair color, and it only shows up if you get the gene from both parents. But apparently I have a recessive red hair gene somewhere in the family.

She's so sweet, here are some pictures...

Gwen & her daddy (2 days old)

Gwen at 7 days old

I had a 42 hour labor, and 30 hours into it I was given epidural & pitocin, and it all ended with an emergency c-section. It was the complete opposite of what I planned, and probably the hardest experience of my life. The 3-day stay in the hospital after the surgery was really rough, but it's getting better. My feet & legs were terribly swollen for days, because of all the fluids they were putting in me at the hospital - and aggravated by the fact that I wasn't moving around very much. But they're 95% better now. I can get in & out of bed on my own now, and I'm getting around relatively easy, although I still can't bend over very much.

Countdown... 9 days left

2010-01-23T17:14:00.002-05:00

I'm done being pregnant. I'm So. Freaking. TIRED. I thought this stuff would plateau, you know? The exhaustion, the hormonal freak-outs, and the difficulty moving around (especially getting in and out of bed) -- That at a certain point, it would just level out. But apparently not, instead it still gets harder by the day. I hate it. I just want to have my little girl in my arms.

I'm sick of strangers giving me funny looks because my belly is so huge (No, I'm not imagining it). I'm sick of friends thinking they know everything about pregnancy and labor and babies because they have one close friend who recently had a baby (not even THEM, but someone they KNOW). One woman's experiences are not the same as mine. Everyone has completely different pregnancy and labor experiences. I don't need to hear another horror story about being induced at the last minute because of something insane, or a c-section where the baby's face was accidentally cut, or anything else. I AM JUST TRYING TO THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS, AND I DON'T WANT ANYONE SCREWING THAT UP FOR ME!!

Tired. Very tired.

2009-12-28T21:17:00.002-05:00

I haven't been blogging lately, basically because the third trimester is exhausting. I guess I'm having a relatively easy pregnancy compared to many other women, but I can't help feeling exhausted and cranky after just a couple of errands.

I'll be 8 months along on New Year's Day, and that astonishes me. Baby? Here? In a month? Impossible! There's still a lot to do. I don't really have a place to put her clothes. The apartment is not baby-proofed, to say the least. It has a lot of work to be done. I wish I had more close friends that I could call and ask to help me with housework.

Ok, I've got to go figure out what's for dinner...

2009-11-12T21:29:00.004-05:00

John and I went to Florida for 4 days, which was great. It was a family reunion for John. We left on Friday and came back Tuesday. For the first 3 nights, we stayed at a hotel in Bonita Springs -- Which was beautiful, by the way, I recommend it if you're staying nearby (The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point). We hung out at John's cousin's house on Friday & Saturday, and then Sunday was spent lounging around the pool (and I got a mani-pedi). Monday, we checked out of the hotel and had lunch with lots of family, and then Doug (John's brother) drove us to his home in the East part of Florida. The drive was nice, we went through the Everglades and saw a whole bunch of alligators! We spent the final night at Doug's house and then went home on Tuesday. The weather was SO nice in Florida, high 70's - low 80's, and windy. Luckily when we got home on Tuesday, the NYC weather was relatively mild, so it wasn't too big of a shock.

I brought my camera to Florida but completely failed to take a single picture. I am bad.

John took the whole week off so we could get some work done on the apartment -- Get it ready for the baby by getting things organized, putting shelves up, etc. WELL... Not a lot has been accomplished. Yesterday, nothing was done. Today, work started around noon, and I helped him a little with mounting shelves. Unfortunately, before much was accomplished, the level fell on my head. SMACK in the middle of my forehead. It hurt like hell and that was it for me. I got a little weepy and wasn't about to keep working. After John comforted me a bit, he finished the task at hand and then stopped. So his office and the hallway are now cluttered because everything's in mid-project. It's not looking like we will get much accomplished, because this weekend will be devoted to birthing classes.

February baby

2009-10-20T10:57:00.002-04:00

So I went to my new midwife yesterday, and she changed my due date -- It's February 1. I suppose now that I have a February baby, I should make the "February Baby" sweater! Maybe I'll wait and see if she comes on time...

This is me yesterday. As of today, I am now exactly 25 weeks along.

I still have to finish off the purple & white striped cardigan for Gwen. It shouldn't be taking me so long, it's not as if it's difficult or anything... I just keep putting off the finishing. All I have to do now is make the second button band, and then get buttons for it! I think I'll make a date with Abby to go to M&J Trimmings together for the buttons, so I have a deadline.

Kung-Fu Baby!

2009-10-02T00:22:00.002-04:00

Gwen has been kicking up a storm tonight. Right now she's kicking me like crazy. It's not like any other feeling, I don't know how I would explain it to someone who's never been pregnant.

I can't really believe I'm already 5 months pregnant. It seems like it's been flying by. I suppose that by 8 months along, I might not feel the same way! But right now I'm enjoying being pregnant, other than being tired a lot of the time. It's exciting to feel her kick, and I like watching my belly grow (although the stretch marks aren't attractive). I'm still enjoying the novelty of all of it!

I love that it's getting cool out, and I've been wearing a cozy sweater for the past couple days. It has a faux fur hood that is great to snuggle against.

You know it's time for knitting when I say it's knitting time!

2009-09-28T10:56:00.006-04:00

So, I'm happy to say that the Brooklyn Birthing Center seemed really nice. I went on a tour there yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised at how homey it was. I have my first appointment there 2 weeks from Friday.

I'm almost done knitting the turtle that I started 2 months ago. I stopped working on it for a while, because I started to hate the i-cord edging that I had to do. But I picked it up the other day and it was like "What's the big deal?" It was easy. So now I just need to attach the legs and embroider some eyes onto it, and voila! I will have a Sheldon for Gwendolyn. I'm sure she'll come up with a cute name for him.

Then I'll work on the little cardigan for Gwen. It's so cute and simple, I don't know why I've been procrastinating working on it. It's purple & white striped. I can't wait to pick out some adorable buttons for it...

Feeling depressed

2009-09-19T00:41:00.003-04:00

I am so frustrated, trying to find a good doctor or midwife. I attempted to switch to a different place today, recommended by an internet buddy, and I wasn't very happy. I really should have done more research on the place first. First of all, the practice has 4 doctors, and 3 of them are men. I should have THOUGHT about this and realized that I'm not comfortable with a male doctor. I've never had one before, and I just felt funny having one touch me.

The appointment wasn't bad per se, it just didn't leave me feeling confident or compatible with the doctor. And since any of the 4 doctors could show up at my delivery, it's impossible to know what it will be like.

F@$%ing pregnancy hormones are getting me so emotional about this. I cried after leaving the appointment. There are SO many choices involved in having a baby. Which doctor, which crib, which baby carrier, which birthing method, midwife or doctor, the pacifier debate, etcetera, etcera. And since I have no job or anything else (other than knitting) to focus on, I feel extra overwhelmed. I NEED SOMETHING ELSE TO FOCUS ON!

I am so frustrated with my own lack of ambition. I'll think "Okay, I'll join a chorus" or "I'll take a photography class" or various other possibilities, and I never follow through. On the rare occasion that I do follow through, I usually do a half-assed job. God... I worry I'm not going to be a good mom with this attitude.

Oops.

2009-09-08T00:55:00.003-04:00

I kind of forgot about my blog for a while there! A lot has happened in the past few months. We moved. I got laid off. But between those two events...

We're having a baby! I am now 19 weeks and 3 days along. It's a girl (SQUEEE!) and her name shall be Gwendolyn Mae. She's due January 30th, and I can't wait.

When we first found out, we were a little freaked out (John especially), since she wasn't planned, and we're living in a pretty small apartment... But after a few weeks, it got more exciting, and it's brought us closer together. I actually feel like we're falling more in love (as corny as that sounds), now that we're going to have a family. It's so incredible. I'm very happy.

2009-05-11T13:11:00.001-04:00

Feeling like crap. Not enough time/room to explain. Can't I just get paid to knit for a living? BLEH.

2009-05-07T15:53:00.004-04:00

This is a test. I'm trying to blog from my cell. I'll be very happy if this works. I haven't blogged much lately, mostly due to the new job. Trying to squeeze in knitting, socializing, and (ugh) packing when I can! More later!

Ow... OW!

2009-04-13T20:06:00.002-04:00

Well, when my cat hurts, I hurt. Literally. I'm not 100% sure what just happened because it happened so fast, but I think Tasty Paws must have been sitting right behind me, and I didn't see him, because I stepped on his tail (or maybe his paw, I didn't even see him there) and suddenly lots of claws were sunk into my calf. I hollered some curses and he went running at top speed in the back room. Once I got over the initial pain, I followed him, and he immediately tore down to the basement. Now he's hiding and I can't even see if he's okay until he decides to show his face. Little freak! I hope he's okay...

Also, we have another new cat living in our bathroom. She'll need a new home by the end of the month, because we're MOVING!!! We sign the lease tomorrow! It's a very pretty 2 1/2 bedroom in Sunset Park. I'll post pictures when we move in May.

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

2009-04-06T20:42:00.002-04:00

Things have been very busy for me lately. I got a job about 3 weeks ago (I started March 17, I think) and now I have very little time to blog and go on Ravelry and worst yet, knit. I don't know how I'm going to get my grandmother's shawl done for her birthday. I guess I'll keep plugging away and try to to work on it more than I'm working on my swap gift -- Which is due a week or so after Grandma's birthday. But it's a much simpler pattern, and it's fun for subway knitting.

John and I are apartment hunting again, this time much more seriously. I think we may have found our new place. I'm going to look at one more apartment tomorrow after work, and then unless it's a real contender, I think we'll take this place in Sunset Park that's a short walk to my job!

Good Ears

2009-03-09T22:03:00.001-04:00

I guess I have good hearing... I'm turning 27 soon but I passed this test (supposedly only people under 25 can hear it). I guess the real test is to try it again in 5-10 years!

Created by Train Horns

(Warning: If you can hear it, it's about as teeth-grinding as nails on a chalkboard... To me, anyway)...

Achy breaky head...

2009-03-05T00:13:00.002-05:00

My head is killing me. A nice woman from my knitting group (Hi Penelope!) drove me to the subway station after the group let out, and as I was getting out of her car, I bashed my head on the top of the car. It still hurts, 2 hours later. That's not so good. I mean, it's not bad enough to be a concussion, but I kind of feel like I lost a few IQ points.

We found a home for Ralph, the new cat from the street! My mom's friend Ellen is taking him in on Friday for a "trial run", but I think it's likely that she'll keep him permanently. He's a pretty sweet little cat.

Go, go, gooooo team!

2009-02-24T16:04:00.002-05:00

I've been feeling oddly motivated lately. I finally worked out on the Wii Fit yesterday (first time in you don't want to know how long) for an hour, and my biceps are killing me today from the boxing! I'll do it again today but I'll probably lay off the boxing, or at least do very, very little.

Guess what? John and I took in ANOTHER cat last night! Yup, this is what now... the 4th time? Well, the 4th time we've taken a cat in from the street to stay with us for a while until we find it a home. There have been a good 6-7 cats that we've rehomed, but some were ours for a while... John took in Opal off the street almost 2 years ago, and then she gave birth to 4 little kittens, and we found homes for 3 of them. And Opal belongs to John's Mom now. But we still have the 4th kitten, Tasty Paws! Anyway -- This is a picture of the new cat. He's still pretty dirty but he's been cleaning himself up.

He's VERY affectionate.

Organizing My Yarn

2009-02-10T23:07:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I realized that my yarn is getting out of control. 5 good-sized boxes and I don't know where a lot of stuff is! Once Michael's stuff is gone, I'm going to use the closet in his old room to really organize my yarn in an attractive way. But for now, I'll settle for having it organized within the boxes.

I have these 4 boxes, plus a cardboard one in another room. See how the balls of yarn are loose inside the boxes, not within bags or anything? It was chaos.

So now, I organized all the yarn into bags as follows:

Green Fabric Box:
All needles, accessories, etc. (Everything that’s not yarn), plus Araucania Ranco Solid in purple (to be used for Grandma's shawl)

Medium Plastic Box:
Bag #1: SWTC, Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Plymouth, Sunshine Yarns, Brooks Farm
Bag #2: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
Bag #3: All other Lion Brand, All Lily dishcloth cotton
Bag #4: All sock yarn - Lorna’s Laces, Lulubeans, etc

Large Plastic Box #1:
All Cascade (except destash)
All Brown Sheep
All Patons
Bag of unknown partial skeins (I think most are Knitpicks WotA)

Large Plastic Box #2:
Bottom bags: All DESTASH (For Trade/Sell)
Top bags: Weird Lithuanian yarn, ALL ALPACA bag

Cardboard box:
Yarn that still needs to be photographed
Bag #5: Malabrigo Worsted & Lace, Jaggerspun Lace, Blue Moon lace, Jojoland Harmony, GGH Magica & Bel Air
Bag X (small): Noro Kureyon, Berroco Jasper, Araucania Pomaire in teal
Araucania Bag: Araucania Pomaire in pink/orange (sweater quantity)

It's all back in the boxes, but it's much more organized now. And I have all my stash on Ravelry marked where it is! Now it will be a million times more easy to remember where all my yarn is!

Word play

2009-02-02T18:36:00.002-05:00

Stolen from WendyKnits:

Use the first letter of your name to find a word for each of the following:

Your Name - Lulu
Four letter word - Luck
Boy name - Lawrence
Girl name - Linda
Occupation - Lyricist
Color - Lilac
Beverage - Lemonade
Something found in a bathroom - Loo
A Place - Las Vegas
Reason for being late - Lost on the way
Food - Limes
Something you shout - Look behind you!

Lazybones

2009-01-27T18:46:00.000-05:00

I'm in that mellow, laaaazy state where I know I should be running errands, but I really don't want to go back out into the cold. I really should get juice and seltzer before John gets home, and I should also bring his coat back to the tailor's, because when they sewed a button back on, they sewed right through the pocket. Morons.

But instead, I'm sitting here being lazy. Forget the coat, I'll deal with it tomorrow. Ughhh... Don't wanna go into the cold again. But I know John will get all grumpy if he gets home and there's nothing to drink.

Ok, ok, here I go.

"Care for a little necrophilia?"

2009-01-19T01:50:00.005-05:00

Poor John has been sick for days. It looks like strep throat or something along those lines, but his ears are also filled with fluid. He got antibiotics yesterday but he took today off, and I'm sure he'll take tomorrow off, too. It's a bit of a shame since tomorrow he'd get time & a half for MLK Jr. Day. Oh well.

I finally organized my circular needles today! I've been planning on it for months. I got these expanding file pockets in... October, I think!

The insides:

...Now I just have to tackle my yarn stash. That's a MUCH bigger job, and Michael's closet has to be emptied first. Stupid boy hasn't moved all of his stuff out yet, and he's impossible to get a hold of. Hopefully next weekend, John and I will go to Long Island, and then we can just drag it all out to him. Even though he should really do it himself, I'm anxious to have that closet free, so we'll just have to cram all his stuff in the car for him! Oh well.

Happy Anniversary

2009-01-12T02:53:00.002-05:00

Today is the 3rd anniversary of John's and my first date. (I know that's wrong grammatically but I'm not sure how to correct it). We went out on a nice dinner last night since he won't be able to go out tonight. It was fun, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Chez Oskar. The only downside was that his veal was too salty and a lot of my mussels were missing their meat! But it was okay, they comped his veal and gave us a free dessert.

I was just reading about Nikola Tesla, this bizarre physicist from the late 19th century/early 20th century. I couldn't remember what a Tesla Coil was, so I Wiki'ed it... And now I'm fascinated by this guy. He was a crazy genius. I never took Physics in high school or college, but I understand the basic concepts, and I find it really fascinating when I read about it.

Hmm... Another possible idea of what to study if/when I go back to school. John told me about this college in London called Huron University that takes lots of transfer students that he went to for a semester in high school. It might be a fun opportunity to visit London and try to go back to college. MAYBE.....

Project 365

2009-01-10T18:58:00.002-05:00

I've got a new blog over on Wordpress for Project 365. It's exclusively for photos, so it doesn't mean I won't post here anymore. Here is my Project 365 blog: luluproject365.wordpress.com.

For more information on what Project 365 is, check this site out.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-08T00:52:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone!

New Year's Eve was a really fun, crazed night. I paid the consequences the next day for too much drinking fun, though... Ooof, I'm never doing that again.

I'm in Long Island for the week, cat-sitting for Brenda. I'm getting a lot of knitting done. Today I nearly finished this piece of cherry pie! I can't completely finish it, though, because the toy stuffing is back at home, and I have to stuff it before I finish sewing it up. Here's a picture of it nearly complete, though:

I also started on a scarf for myself, Midwest Moonlight (Ravelry link) from the book Scarf Style. At first I was cranky with all the careful row counting, but I'm starting to like the look of it.

The weather outside is NOT frightful

2008-12-28T14:39:00.004-05:00

It is ridiculously nice and warm out today. 64 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside and it's 3 days after Christmas! Very weird. I wonder if this is some kind of record.

The cats are thrilled and they've been out in the backyard for over an hour. I'm concerned Bogart won't be back until it's very late. He's probably prowling around, reminding all the other cats on the street that he's still in charge!

I got some nice Christmas gifts, plus the sweetest package from Christine, who took Blakely the cat -- Freaking GORGEOUS Malabrigo, a skein of sock yarn that matches Blakely's fur, 2 knitting related books that I've been wanting for a long while, some pretty stationery, and a sweet card thanking me for giving the cat to her.

So sweet of her! As for other gifts, John procrastinated his Christmas shopping so much that all I actually got on Christmas day from him was a video game (albeit a cool one), but he came with me to the knitting store and ordered me a yarn swift and ball winder. So YAY!! No more winding balls by hand!

Sicky Sickerson

2008-12-15T18:12:00.003-05:00

I've been sick. Started yesterday. I'm exhausted and I have a sore throat and I don't want to MOVE! But I know John will be cranky if he comes home and there's no seltzer and grape juice in the house. I might just go to the grocery store in my sweatpants. Is that just too freaking lazy?

I've been lying around working on knitting Christmas presents and watching bad movies. Last night it was "Jumanji", today it's "Batman Forever". Seriously cheesy, but just what I need since I can't concentrate on any complicated plots at the moment. I love Doctor Who but the old Tom Baker shows have such convoluted plot lines, I really need to be 100% awake to watch them!

Turkey Day!

2008-11-27T11:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

My parents and I are in Boston visiting my Grandma. She's in assisted living now and she keeps saying she's moving back to her apartment. But she CAN'T... Ugh. I'm not going into it again.

Baby Bogart

2008-11-15T17:19:00.002-05:00

My poor Bogart is injured. He went outside on Tuesday and came back with this icky bruise on the inside of his back leg. It's a very awkward spot to see clearly. It looked like he'd been bitten.

I brought him in to the vet yesterday at 11 am, and the vet shaved the area and immediately it started to bleed. He looked concerned and said that he didn't think it was a bite, it looked more like a bad scratch, and that it wasn't just a couple days old, because of the scab that fell off. So they had to keep him for several hours to sedate him and treat the wound, and gave him 6 or 7 stitches. So I had to sign a hospitalization form in case of emergency with the anesthesia, which really upset me. And then I went home without Bogart.

John had to go to California for the weekend for a funeral, and he misplaced his wallet, so he wanted to borrow my debit card. I gave it to him without thinking there would be a problem. I'd gotten a bunch of cash out for myself for the weekend. But then I went back to the vet at 7 pm to pick up Bogart, opened up my wallet, and said "OH SHIT." No way to pay. Oh boy... After much freaking out, I ended up giving them $200 cash (leaving me with just enough money for a car home) and then went back today to pay the rest via check.

When I picked him up from the vet, they told me about the medications, and said that because of his stitches, he's not allowed to JUMP high for the next 2 days. Um. That's difficult. He likes to get on top of the kitchen cabinets! And be on the very top of the cat tree. So I have to keep the poor boy locked in the bedroom. I hung out with him for a while and let him sit on the bed with me for about an hour. He's being very affectionate, which is TOTALLY not him! It's like he's saying "Momma my leg hurts, you pet me and make it better!"

To make matters worse, I got a cone to put on his head, so he won't chew on his stitches, and it won't go on his head!! I think it's just too small. I don't know what the hell to do.

It goes without saying - His outside privileges have been revoked, as well as Duncan's and Tasty Paws's. The other two will be fine without going out, but Bogart thinks he's the king of the block, so I know he'll start getting cabin-fever in about a week.

Don't ask...

2008-11-06T16:47:00.003-05:00

I am so utterly exhausted right now. I was up ALL NIGHT. Seriously, I didn't go to sleep until 9 am and then only slept until noon. And all I was doing was bumming around the internet and watching ANTM on YouTube.

What the heck is wrong with me?? ...I need a job. Seriously. I need something to keep me on a routine.

"I'm gonna throw you in my DeLorean and gun it to 88."

2008-11-02T13:24:00.004-05:00

Oh crap. I just heard about NaBloPoMo... If I had known about it in more advance, I totally would have done it, but I guess I missed the boat. I'm late with everything "fashionable".

I had a pretty low-key Halloween this year. I didn't dress up, for the first time in a LONG time... I think the last time I skipped a costume was the semester that I tried to go back to Bard, and I was all depressed and holed up in my room. Anyway, on this Halloween, Abby came over and we watched scary movies - "Halloween" and "An American Werewolf in London". I had bought a whole bunch of candy, but unfortunately there wasn't a single trick-or-treater! I don't get it. There are plenty of kids in the area. I guess it's too sketchy of a neighborhood and parents don't want their kids knocking on strangers' doors. Sigh... I can't wait to move to a better neighborhood. Preferably where take-out options aren't limited to greasy fried chicken or MSG-filled Chinese food. I should start looking at Astoria apartments again.

I watched "Knocked Up" the other night -- SUCH a funny, cute movie. It really made me want a baby! I know, I know. But I know I'm not the only one it affected that way!

Rain, rain, don't go away...

2008-10-28T11:37:00.003-04:00

It's such a rainy, chilly, gray day and I just want to curl up and watch scary movies and knit... But I have stupid chores to do. I really, really don't want to go out and get the dry-cleaning. I'll go when the rain stops.

Of course, now the sound of the raindrops stop. Dammit!

I'll just get it tomorrow. I just looked next to me, and some cat apparently threw up ALL over the coffee table during the night. Great. Just great.

Rhinebeck!

2008-10-21T11:59:00.003-04:00

Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival was this weekend, and it was great fun.

I stayed with Beth(aroopie) and had a lot of fun with her and the other ladies. All together, we got a TON of yarn and fiber!

More pictures here!

HE'S BACK!!

2008-10-07T23:41:00.002-04:00

I got a call less than an hour ago from a wonderful woman who saw the "lost" signs that my bf put up, and said she had him in her house. Apparently he crawled in her window on Friday or Saturday, and she didn't even notice at first because there was construction going on in her house. She was only 4 houses down from us, so I went right over and there he was, in a cage, yowling and squeaking, all freaked out. Poor baby. He's a little antsy but thrilled to be home. I'm SO RELIEVED!

Sleep Deprived and Sad

2008-10-06T19:24:00.003-04:00

The last day or two has been extremely stressful. Trying to get work done and pulled an all-nighter last night. I just took a nap and I'm so out of it, I feel almost drugged. I'm not even going to get into all the damn complications of the work.

Tasty Paws has been missing. John said the last time he saw him was Friday afternoon before he came to meet me in Long Island. We came home last night and haven't seen him. It is NOT normal for him to be gone this long. He comes in to eat and usually likes to sleep on our bed with us. He's such a sweet boy. And John is so attached to him, he's like his baby. I don't know what to do, and the more time that passes, the more I worry. Best case scenario, someone took him in, and hopefully when we put signs up tomorrow, someone will call us to say they have him.

I am SUCH a mess and I can't remember the last time I felt this drained.

"Les Misbarack"

2008-09-29T18:17:00.002-04:00

I love this video so, so much. I don't know if they're actors or real Obama campaign workers -- I THINK they're real campaign workers, but I'm not sure. Nonetheless, it is freaking brilliant.

Viva la revolucion!

Commercials are stupid.

2008-09-28T17:19:00.004-04:00

This ad is so creepy. Therefore I must share it with the rest of you:

Also, John showed me this great commercial from when he was a kid, about poison control...

I've been singing it all day! Okay, now I have to go knit swatches...

Stupid banks.

2008-09-25T22:10:00.003-04:00

My bank got bought out. Details here. This sucks. I really liked Washington Mutual. Then again, any bank is better than the one I had before, Apple Bank. They were AWFUL. I mean, totally incompetent.

This economic disaster thing sucks the big one.

I had my 2nd crochet class last night! Unfortunately there are only 2, but I learned a bit -- I'm still a total newbie, but I'm psyched about learning more. And I'm looking into taking a class that can make me a Certified knitting instructor, which I'm very excited about. I'm waiting to hear about if the class is full yet -- Hopefully not, in which case I'll be taking it in about 3 weeks.

Water, water, everywhere...

2008-09-16T22:42:00.002-04:00

I saw a rather distressing documentary today with my mother. It was called "Flow: For Love of Water". Watch the trailer:

I'm going to a crochet class tomorrow! I'm very excited. Finally I'm going to learn to crochet!

The neverending baby blanket

2008-09-09T21:31:00.003-04:00

I started this entrelac baby blanket back in June, for Andy (Doug's baby), and I'm still knitting it. It's only about a third done. Granted, I've taken a few breaks from it -- some of those breaks were a week or 2 long -- But it's taking freaking forever!

Now Brenda told me that she's going to Florida the first weekend of October, to see Doug and family, and I'm wondering: Can I get the blanket done in time? If I make a push and work on it every day, could I really get it done?

15 tiers of entrelac to go. If I work my butt off, I think I could knit half a tier per day. That's 30 days. No. I can't do it. Seriously. I mean, if I was going to work on the thing 8 hours a day, I could probably swing it, but I am NOT willing to do that! My hands will ache and just... poo. Oh well. I guess it will have to be a Christmas gift.

I'm hoping to hear back soon about freelance knitting. Veryyyy anxious. I really want to be able to do this. Everyone send "CALL ME!" vibes!!

We're Back!

2008-09-07T02:33:00.002-04:00

...Well, we've been back for a week. But we've been recovering from jet-lag, unpacking, etc... So I just got around to posting pictures. I did it on Photobucket which isn't nearly as good as Flickr, but my Flickr account is nearly full, so I couldn't use it. Anyway... check out my pictures! I wish I could have taken more, but the memory card on my camera got filled up so fast!

It was really beautiful in Kauai. The weather was amazing - Warm but rarely uncomfortably so, occasionally rainy but almost never for more than 10 minutes. We were careful to put sunscreen on every day, since both John and I do not tan - We ONLY burn. So I started to get in the habit of swimming at sunset, which was really cool. It was awesome to sit in the water and watch the sun set over the mountains (or "Puff" the dragon)!

Kaui Hawaii!

2008-08-14T19:36:00.004-04:00

We're going to Hawaii tomorrow!! This time tomorrow, I'll be... Well, actually I'll be in the Los Angeles airport, waiting for my layover, but nonetheless, I'll be on my way to Hawaii. :)

John really tried to pull one over on me. I thought he wasn't coming on this trip. Since he got his city job, we figured he wouldn't be able to come on the trip. Since it takes a while to build up vacation time, he asked about it, but figured it was unlikely. He asked about it WEEKS ago, but he still hadn't got an answer... Until about a week ago. They said yes! He told his mother and told her to keep it a secret from me -- He wanted to surprise me. Except, I was talking to his mother on Tuesday evening, and she accidentally let it slip. I said I would try to keep it a secret, and pretend like I didn't know... But Wednesday morning I cracked and told him I knew. We ended up having a good laugh about it, and it was all good.

I'm doing laundry now so I can finish up packing. I cleaned up the kitchen and the laundry room today. Both of them were gross. I can't believe what slobs John and Michael are... The laundry room had dryer lint all over the floor. Just covered the floor, especially so in one corner where it was piled like 2 feet high coming out of the tiny trash bin. Yuuuuuuck.

Leaving... on a jet plane

2008-08-09T02:34:00.002-04:00

Well, more like in a moving truck tomorrow, only going about 8 miles away, and staying in Brooklyn... But I am ALL packed. Thank goodness. I hate packing. My hands are all achy and it hurts to knit! Woes is me!

I've been in this apartment for just under a year now. It's mostly been good. My roommate is a sweet girl, I want to stay friends with her. The neighborhood is nice, even though it's far from everything else in the city, it has all the amenities and then some. The view of the Verrazano Bridge is nice. I should have walked down to the overpass more often and sat by the river. I only did that ONCE. And it's been great to be right around the corner from the subway. I don't even have to cross the street to get there!

What I will be THRILLED to get away from? The roaches are number ONE. The uneven, warped floors. The terrible ventilation (there's no such thing as a cross-breeze in this apartment). The lack of a living room or any real place to sit and eat (99% of my meals have been eaten while sitting in bed). The unfriendly, sometimes creepy neighbors. The shower that doesn't drain properly.

And you know what? John's place in Bed-Stuy has NONE of those problems. It is far from the subway, and there's hardly any place to eat near him except the cafe around the corner (which closes at 5pm)... But it won't be so bad. And it's only temporary while we look for a new place. I'm hoping we can find some place nice in Astoria or in that area.

Yarny JOB!

2008-08-04T15:03:00.006-04:00

I am psyched because I have an interview on Wednesday at Lion Brand Yarn!! The position is an Office Assistant, and it would entail a lot of things I have experience with, plus I would also be helping with photo shoots... Which I'm sure would mean photo shoots of YARN... I am so excited! I can't remember the last time I wanted something this badly!

So the next 2 weeks are going to be kind of stressful. I have to move out of my apartment before I leave for Hawaii on the 15th, because I didn't tell Kristtel that I needed until the end of September to move out -- And she already found someone for September 1. It was my fault, I first told her I'd be out by the end of August, and I wasn't thinking that I'll be in Hawaii until August 30th.... So I'm going to move in with John into his Bed-Stuy apartment for a month or two, and we're going to look for something new (maybe in Astoria). I wish I didn't have to live in the Bed-Stuy apartment. It's way too far from the subway, and I'm not crazy about the neighborhood. Besides the safety issues, there's just one crummy Key Food, and no restaurants or any where nice to go.

Anyway, I'll be doing lots of packing in the next couple of days. Obviously I was going to have to pack eventually, I just wish it wasn't so squished into such a short period of time. We're going to get a truck on Friday/Saturday, possibly from Penske? I have to look into it.

Awww...

2008-07-28T04:41:00.005-04:00

Beth called me a "Raveler with a heart of gold"! I'm touched. :-)

We gave Mary the kitty away to Beth this morning (ok, yesterday morning -- Don't ask why I'm still up at 4:45am)... Beth and her hubby seem like really cool people. And it seems like we have a lot in common. Not only are we both Eddie Izzard fans, but it turned out we went to his show on the same night in March!! So funny. Also, we are both total Buffy/Angel fans. Which is why she is re-naming Mary... to Willow. Which I got SUCH a kick out of!

I'm going to miss little Mary. She's the most affectionate cat I have EVER had.

I love this! Cast yourself.

2008-07-22T00:13:00.002-04:00

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Babies babies babies!

2008-07-15T22:16:00.003-04:00

So John started his job last Monday. He's on a probation period for the first year, but July 7, 2009 will be his first day as a "union" member working for the city, and that will mean real stability. So yesterday he said "If you're 40 pounds lighter by July 7 of next year, we're taking that birth control patch off, and trying for a baby." (Being 40 pounds lighter is my goal).

I asked, "What if I lose 40 pounds before then?"

He replied, "Then we can talk about getting married before then. But we'll try for a baby once I'm off probation."

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

DPNs, I have defeated you!

2008-07-10T16:51:00.003-04:00

I'm so proud of myself! I have totally mastered DPNs! I'm knitting a secret project (for a swap on Ravelry) that is much simpler on DPNs, and I totally jumped in with no problem. This is my 3rd time using them and I'm finally comfortable with them.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, DPNs = Double-Pointed Needles. Knitting with them is kind of like trying to use 4 (sometimes 5) chopsticks at once! This means I'm finally ready to conquer SOCKS!

I hung out with Abby and she helped me with the embroidery part of the project. I suck at sewing, so it was a relief to have her do that part for me! Thanks Abs!

Damn it.

2008-06-29T18:20:00.003-04:00

What do you do when you have a party, and a friend brings someone you don't like?

All this guy can talk about is how "dope" his rapping is and how his metal band is going to kick ass once they get a gig. Normally I think musicians are great people... But this guy is just a boring, drunk moron. He went on my computer and brought up his MySpace page so we could hear his music... Now, I think I have a pretty varied taste of music, but this stuff bites. And he can't stop talking about how awesome it is.

Hopefully he won't stay all evening...

Sadness

2008-06-26T03:30:00.004-04:00

My great-uncle Bob passed away last Sunday. It was so long ago since I'd seen him, something like 15 years. I didn't spend much time with him, but he would sometimes call my mom and start chatting with me -- I can hear his voice, in the sweet Minnesota accent: "Hey, Lulu, it's yer uncle Bob." We couldn't go to the funeral because last-minute airfare was a fortune, and we didn't qualify for a "grievance discount" because we're not immediate family. My mom's cousin Fran; Bob's daughter, sent us the eulogy. It was really nice and spoke about what a kind, friendly man he was, and this was the last paragraph:

After a two-week decline in the hospital, he yearned to be reunited to his beloved wife. Last Saturday he returned to the Veteran’s Home for one last time—happily residing with Betty once again. The next day during the late morning while sleeping in his bed, he simply stopped breathing. He passed away like we all pray we ourselves go—no long fight with cancer, no painful disease, no suffering—he simply stopped breathing and quietly slipped away. It was Father’s Day, and he returned to his Father in heaven.

I'm in tears now. I suppose partly because he passed away in such a gentle way, the way we all want to. I'm not a religious person by any means, but I hope Bob is in a special place now.

Frustrated...

2008-06-26T00:06:00.002-04:00

God F$%^$ing dammit... I just logged into my LiveJournal account and my photo galleries are GONE. TONS of pictures, disappeared. My paid account lapsed and I didn't get notice, because it was attached to my old email address, which I don't even remember the password for. ARRRRGH...

Well, I think 90% of the pictures I have on cd. I'm pretty sure. So, okay, calming down. But it's still frustrating...

My Mom drove me home from dinner tonight and tried out the Wii Fit. She is in SUCH good shape. Her BMI is like 21.7, or something. I'm jealous! Need to lose weight...

I'm going to go watch Buffy and work on knitting my market bag... *Sigh*

Wii Fit... And the job for John!!

2008-06-25T11:26:00.005-04:00

So, the city investigative job that John has been waiting and waiting to hear about (and was really starting to doubt he would get it) finally called... And he GOT IT!! He is thrilled and has been telling everyone. He starts training on July 7th.

Unfortunately, this means probably no Hawaii trip in August. :-( We'll have to see, maybe he'll be able to get time off between training and starting the actual job, but it seems unlikely.

In other news, I have been working my ass off on the Wii Fit for the past week. I've only missed one day (Monday), and made up for it by working out for an hour and a half yesterday! Still haven't lost any weight, but that probably has something to do with the big dinners I had Sunday and Monday night.

I'm about to start this blanket for John's nephew Andy, who's just a month old. It's okay to give them a blankie in August, right??

Air Conditioning and The Boy.

2008-06-21T03:14:00.004-04:00

I have a problem. John doesn't believe in air conditioning.

We don't actually live together, but we're always at each other's apartments, and it's rare that we spend more than one night apart. At his place, it's bearable, because somehow his apartment stays relatively cool. And he has a fan in the window. And besides, it's his place -- I can't really demand that he get an AC just for me.

My place is a different story. I live in a kind of crummy, pre-war apartment building, that gets UNBEARABLY hot. So I installed my AC a couple weeks ago (well, actually he did it for me, because it's a big heavy thing). Now, I know we are going through an energy crisis. Plus, my roommate and I are totally broke, and can't afford an expensive electric bill. So even though I'd LIKE to keep the AC at 72 all the time, I can't. I think 79 is a good temperature, and I put it on "Power Saver" when we go to bed, which regulates the temperature of the room and goes off when the room goes above 79. And with this, he gets COLD. I just don't get it.

The one thing I miss about the apartment I lived in last summer was the air conditioning. My landlord was ripping me off on the rent, but everything was included - So I would set the timer on my AC to go on an hour before I got home from work, at like 65 F, and I would come back home and open the door to my room... And it was like a nice cool refrigerator. Mmmm.

Am I never going to get that again?? What am I supposed to do when I move back in with John?

Photography and yarn

2008-06-04T21:38:00.002-04:00

Note to self: Design a knitted camera.

I woke up this morning and found myself bitten by the photography bug. I might even want to go back to school for it, at least take a continuing ed course.

I'm going to go through all my photos and find 15-20 to make a portfolio with.

I'm using this yarn to knit the Dream Swatch Head Wrap (warning: PDF). It should be very pretty and soft!

When Sushi Goes Bad

2008-05-28T01:04:00.004-04:00

John is such a dunce sometimes. We went grocery shopping tonight, around 10 pm (already a bad idea to grocery shop so late). He thought it would be a great idea to get a big platter of sushi from the fish department. Not the fresh fish, over the counter department, but the pre-packaged, it's-been-sitting-there-for-days fish department.

"Sweetie," I said. "I think that's going to be gross. Supermarket sushi is never good."
"It looks good," he said. "And it's only 20 dollars!"

...Guess whose cats had a feast tonight?

Yeah, don't go grocery shopping late at night, when you're hungry.

John and I have been getting into a routine out here in Long Island. It's not a bad routine per se, but it's the same every night, no doubt. He watches Adult Swim while I go on the internet or play The Sims 2 until 2 or 3 am. He falls asleep on the sofa with the TV on around midnight (and I'm not allowed to turn the TV off). Around 3 am, I wake him up and we go to bed. Half the time he decides we should sleep with our heads at the end of the bed. And you really can't argue with John when he's half-asleep. I mean, really, you can't. It's impossible. He's like a 5-year-old.

I leave you with this adorableness... This baby plays tennis better than my dad!

A New Beginning

2008-05-24T17:32:00.003-04:00

Greetings to all!

Well, the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. Goodbye LiveJournal, Hello Blogger!
My LJ was getting ignored and my only real use for it was the photo gallery there, so I decided it was time to start a brand new blog. Mostly devoted to knitting, but I'm sure I'll end up talking about John (the boyfriend), family (they're mostly crazy), and various other things.

Current knitting project: Knitted Sushi (For Mom's birthday)