| You Are Cameo |
 You are understanding and very empathetic. You don't tend to have acquaintances. Everyone is your friend. And all of your friends tend to be friends. You have a knack for bringing very different people together. |
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Overall ...
I have to say that things are OK here. The job keeps me busy, keeps me thinking, keeps me in the position of learning more new things & stretching my brain, can keep me in the cranky chair w/some of our shoppers (I work on vacating that cranky chair as quickly as I can although some times it is tough tough tough), keeps my bank account in a better place than my pet sitting career did. Still have a Sunday through Thursday work week although I do have an occasional Friday or Saturday shift. At the end of February I will attend a 3 day workshop for work in southern New Jersey.
Outside of the full time work, I do still see a few pet sitting clients - kept just a handful of households. It's nice extra money, I love the kitties & the folks, they treated me well & that matters in the big scheme of life for me.
Current ways to spend the days off & time away from sittings:
~~ knitting. You knew that, right? I have such a gigantic amount of yarn for future projects. Have a ton of projects I am working on & so many more I want to do. We have a weekly management team meeting & I keep a knitting bag at work that contains my current Dulaan project that I work on at every meeting.
~~ reading. Have been on a bit of a binge of lining up the next books I want to read - aren't there just so many great books to read? It's too easy for me to pick only mystery novels to read. Recently I finished PROMISE ME by Harlan Coben (a mystery book). Currently I am reading EPITAPH FOR A PEACH, FOUR SEASONS ON MY FAMILY FARM by David Mas Masumoto & also am reading (on the 2nd story) THE LIVES OF ROCKS, STORIES by Rick Bass. He is a fantastic short story writer, he also writes lyric nonfiction books. Still a library book borrower & volunteer at the Library, spending a couple or three hours there a week, spread out over Monday & Wednesday evenings after work & on Friday & Saturdays during the day.
~~ organizing/cleaning out/rearranging the house & basement. This is a relatively smallish row house - it can only hold so much. Don't know if I am deluding myself that I don't have a ton of stuff (you know - I can compare myself to others & rationalize that I really don't have that much stuff.) Did some major rearranging of the living room in after T'giving w/the help of a close pal, SB, who is an ab fab decorator.
~~ helping some friends clean out their houses & apartments. I chauffeur, whisking away those boxes & bags, finding homes for the unwanted & un-needed things. For example, a retirement home has been the recipient of a goodly number of houseplants from my pal C as she down sizes her plant collection. An almost new box of syringes went to a wildlife rehab facility from her - they had been purchased to help her late husband w/some of his meds as he was ill w/ ALS.
~~ trying to get enough sleep. Do we all battle this? There's always a bigger to-do list than there are hours in the day & I find that I can always stay up late, doing chores, working on the computer, watching bad TV - fill-in the blanks w/whatever. Have been trying to sleep well & rest.
Natalie & Jeremy are, knock wood, well. She is being seen on a regular basis for treatment for a low potassium level by our fabulous vet, Dr. Small, & is on daily meds.
Here's my pitch for your creative knitting suggestions. At the 2006 Retreat from the swap table/lounge I got a hank of Fleece Artist Hand Dyed Blue Face Leicester DK, 450/250 grams. It's dyed in an array of dark magentas & pinks. I would like to do something for me - a cool scarf, some w/lace maybe, an interesting pattern, a shawl of some sort. Ideas? And what size needle for this great stuff? I am less of a tight knitter than I was a few years ago - thank goodness, it's better for me, my hands & my knitting. Would love to have your tho'ts please.
I have to say that things are OK here. The job keeps me busy, keeps me thinking, keeps me in the position of learning more new things & stretching my brain, can keep me in the cranky chair w/some of our shoppers (I work on vacating that cranky chair as quickly as I can although some times it is tough tough tough), keeps my bank account in a better place than my pet sitting career did. Still have a Sunday through Thursday work week although I do have an occasional Friday or Saturday shift. At the end of February I will attend a 3 day workshop for work in southern New Jersey.
Outside of the full time work, I do still see a few pet sitting clients - kept just a handful of households. It's nice extra money, I love the kitties & the folks, they treated me well & that matters in the big scheme of life for me.
Current ways to spend the days off & time away from sittings:
~~ knitting. You knew that, right? I have such a gigantic amount of yarn for future projects. Have a ton of projects I am working on & so many more I want to do. We have a weekly management team meeting & I keep a knitting bag at work that contains my current Dulaan project that I work on at every meeting.
~~ reading. Have been on a bit of a binge of lining up the next books I want to read - aren't there just so many great books to read? It's too easy for me to pick only mystery novels to read. Recently I finished PROMISE ME by Harlan Coben (a mystery book). Currently I am reading EPITAPH FOR A PEACH, FOUR SEASONS ON MY FAMILY FARM by David Mas Masumoto & also am reading (on the 2nd story) THE LIVES OF ROCKS, STORIES by Rick Bass. He is a fantastic short story writer, he also writes lyric nonfiction books. Still a library book borrower & volunteer at the Library, spending a couple or three hours there a week, spread out over Monday & Wednesday evenings after work & on Friday & Saturdays during the day.
~~ organizing/cleaning out/rearranging the house & basement. This is a relatively smallish row house - it can only hold so much. Don't know if I am deluding myself that I don't have a ton of stuff (you know - I can compare myself to others & rationalize that I really don't have that much stuff.) Did some major rearranging of the living room in after T'giving w/the help of a close pal, SB, who is an ab fab decorator.
~~ helping some friends clean out their houses & apartments. I chauffeur, whisking away those boxes & bags, finding homes for the unwanted & un-needed things. For example, a retirement home has been the recipient of a goodly number of houseplants from my pal C as she down sizes her plant collection. An almost new box of syringes went to a wildlife rehab facility from her - they had been purchased to help her late husband w/some of his meds as he was ill w/ ALS.
~~ trying to get enough sleep. Do we all battle this? There's always a bigger to-do list than there are hours in the day & I find that I can always stay up late, doing chores, working on the computer, watching bad TV - fill-in the blanks w/whatever. Have been trying to sleep well & rest.
Natalie & Jeremy are, knock wood, well. She is being seen on a regular basis for treatment for a low potassium level by our fabulous vet, Dr. Small, & is on daily meds.
Here's my pitch for your creative knitting suggestions. At the 2006 Retreat from the swap table/lounge I got a hank of Fleece Artist Hand Dyed Blue Face Leicester DK, 450/250 grams. It's dyed in an array of dark magentas & pinks. I would like to do something for me - a cool scarf, some w/lace maybe, an interesting pattern, a shawl of some sort. Ideas? And what size needle for this great stuff? I am less of a tight knitter than I was a few years ago - thank goodness, it's better for me, my hands & my knitting. Would love to have your tho'ts please.
Friday, February 16, 2007
| You are 67% Virgo |
 |
This post is a shout out to Like The Queen - XOXO to my Virgo pal, you give Virgos a great name, hon.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
End of 2006 Knitting Meme
I saw this on another blog & although I was not tagged by her, I liked the ??s & tho't I'd tag myself for this introspective Knitting Year in Review ^ ..^ And even though it is February 9th, it still seemed OK to post now.
List your FOs:
Dulaan hats & scarves (including a Feather & Fan scarf to be blocked)
Scarf for my Iowa pal, Linda
Large lap blanket for my pal, Eileen
List your works in progress:
At this moment, I have many projects on the needles: two bags that will be felted, a V-neck sweater that is in the home stretch, two scarves, a lace shawl, a couple of Dulaan items, two socks (yes, different ones from different yarns)
What skeletons are in your knitting basket?
There are not any at the moment.
What was your favorite project of 2006?
Albeit there are still so many UFos, I am liking most of them. If I did not, I would have frogged them.
As to the question ... the feather & fan scarf was my 1st foray into a (completed) lace project. I have liked the V-neck sweater & the scarves.
What projects will you never knit again?
The large lap blanket - I loved the yarn (Spirit Trail Fiberworks bulky merino) & I loved the pattern but it did seem to go on for a lllooonnnggg time.
What was your major knitting accomplishment?
There are a few:
~~ the Knitting Olympics although I did not complete my project w/in the Olympic time-frame
~~ kept my yarn purchases down to a very few skeins - I was not as "good" as Bess w/my yarn diet but I did awfully well nevertheless
~~ took two classes at the Tangled Web
~~ cleaned out my stash & gave a goodly number of skeins to a friend who has recently started to knit
~~ also gave more yarn to work colleagues - one is a new knitter & one is a lapsed-crocheter
~~ took more things to the KR Retreat for the yarn swap
And, a drum roll please
~~ I attended the 5th annual Knitter's Review Retreat! It was a huge thrill, which my non-knitting readers may not understand, but what can I say: I am continuing to love knitting.
What was your favorite yarn from 2006?
(There can be more than one, I think.)
Numero Uno is Jennifer's Spirit Trail yarns w/ Aurora 8 & Cascade 220 tied for 2nd place.
What's your favorite yarn overall (so far)?
Jennifer wins again w/ her beautiful yarns - & the colors are terrific too.
What new knitting techniques did you learn in 2006?
~~ The Cat Bordi workshop at the KR Retreat was educational, inspiring & fun. The Teva D. workshop was inspiring too & in a different way.
~~ Lace was somewhat new for me.
~~ I did not push for many new techniques this year & instead pushed for projects.
What are your knitting goals for 2007?
This is a question I ask every year.
~~ Encourage myself to tackle more technically challenging projects
~~ Pick and choose my projects carefully so I can maximize my knitting time
~~ Finish more projects & be proud of what I have done
~~ "Shop" from my stash (also known as my Resource Center) when I want to begin a new &, I hope, amazing project.
~~ Learn how to spin & to use the beautiful, wonderful Robin's Spinning Wheel I bought in the fall
As a quilting aside, I did work on a few quilts - three have been "delivered" & three more are close to completion. Three more are in the pipeline. I gave away a huge amount of fabric, along w/ gadgets & gizmos, to Quilts for Comfort & to some quilting pals. Since quilting does not hold the place of greater importance for me, I tho't that my fabric stash needed to spread its wealth & find homes w/ other folks.
I saw this on another blog & although I was not tagged by her, I liked the ??s & tho't I'd tag myself for this introspective Knitting Year in Review ^ ..^ And even though it is February 9th, it still seemed OK to post now.
List your FOs:
Dulaan hats & scarves (including a Feather & Fan scarf to be blocked)
Scarf for my Iowa pal, Linda
Large lap blanket for my pal, Eileen
List your works in progress:
At this moment, I have many projects on the needles: two bags that will be felted, a V-neck sweater that is in the home stretch, two scarves, a lace shawl, a couple of Dulaan items, two socks (yes, different ones from different yarns)
What skeletons are in your knitting basket?
There are not any at the moment.
What was your favorite project of 2006?
Albeit there are still so many UFos, I am liking most of them. If I did not, I would have frogged them.
As to the question ... the feather & fan scarf was my 1st foray into a (completed) lace project. I have liked the V-neck sweater & the scarves.
What projects will you never knit again?
The large lap blanket - I loved the yarn (Spirit Trail Fiberworks bulky merino) & I loved the pattern but it did seem to go on for a lllooonnnggg time.
What was your major knitting accomplishment?
There are a few:
~~ the Knitting Olympics although I did not complete my project w/in the Olympic time-frame
~~ kept my yarn purchases down to a very few skeins - I was not as "good" as Bess w/my yarn diet but I did awfully well nevertheless
~~ took two classes at the Tangled Web
~~ cleaned out my stash & gave a goodly number of skeins to a friend who has recently started to knit
~~ also gave more yarn to work colleagues - one is a new knitter & one is a lapsed-crocheter
~~ took more things to the KR Retreat for the yarn swap
And, a drum roll please
~~ I attended the 5th annual Knitter's Review Retreat! It was a huge thrill, which my non-knitting readers may not understand, but what can I say: I am continuing to love knitting.
What was your favorite yarn from 2006?
(There can be more than one, I think.)
Numero Uno is Jennifer's Spirit Trail yarns w/ Aurora 8 & Cascade 220 tied for 2nd place.
What's your favorite yarn overall (so far)?
Jennifer wins again w/ her beautiful yarns - & the colors are terrific too.
What new knitting techniques did you learn in 2006?
~~ The Cat Bordi workshop at the KR Retreat was educational, inspiring & fun. The Teva D. workshop was inspiring too & in a different way.
~~ Lace was somewhat new for me.
~~ I did not push for many new techniques this year & instead pushed for projects.
What are your knitting goals for 2007?
This is a question I ask every year.
~~ Encourage myself to tackle more technically challenging projects
~~ Pick and choose my projects carefully so I can maximize my knitting time
~~ Finish more projects & be proud of what I have done
~~ "Shop" from my stash (also known as my Resource Center) when I want to begin a new &, I hope, amazing project.
~~ Learn how to spin & to use the beautiful, wonderful Robin's Spinning Wheel I bought in the fall
As a quilting aside, I did work on a few quilts - three have been "delivered" & three more are close to completion. Three more are in the pipeline. I gave away a huge amount of fabric, along w/ gadgets & gizmos, to Quilts for Comfort & to some quilting pals. Since quilting does not hold the place of greater importance for me, I tho't that my fabric stash needed to spread its wealth & find homes w/ other folks.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Silent Poetry Reading and ...
some tho'ts about poetry from wonderful poets.
A Clear Midnight by Walt Whitman
This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flights into the wordless,
Away from books, away from arts, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, grazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best
Night, sleep, death and the stars.
"To understand poetry, we need four white walls and a silence where the poet's voice can weep & sing." Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet
"Poetry is like prayer, in that it is most effective in the times of solitude as, for example, in the earliest morning." Wallace Stevens
"I term the poem a soul in action through words because I want to suggest that lyric poetry provides us w/a particular means of spiritual transport. It carries us away." Edward Hirsch
some tho'ts about poetry from wonderful poets.
A Clear Midnight by Walt Whitman
This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flights into the wordless,
Away from books, away from arts, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, grazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best
Night, sleep, death and the stars.
"To understand poetry, we need four white walls and a silence where the poet's voice can weep & sing." Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet
"Poetry is like prayer, in that it is most effective in the times of solitude as, for example, in the earliest morning." Wallace Stevens
"I term the poem a soul in action through words because I want to suggest that lyric poetry provides us w/a particular means of spiritual transport. It carries us away." Edward Hirsch
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