Where's my black arm band?

I was feeling kind of sorry for myself last night. I knew that I was about to finish the book I've been reading for pleasure - A Breath of Snow and Ashes - the last in the Outlander series. I started reading Outlander over Thanksgiving break and loved it so much that I bought the rest and have been racing through them. They're not the greatest books, but I love the characters so much that I had to find out what happened to them. Please tell me I'm not the only one who mourns at the end of a good book!

So I get home to finish the book with a heavy heart and find Hub and Little Big Man with this in the living room.
Hub said, "Well, I'm 40 now and there are things that I want to do and I can't if I'm fat." Cool! We all tried it out and Sassy thinks it's the coolest thing. Hub even got up early this morning and watched bird hunting shows while he was elipting away.

I got into work this morning and there was an envelope in my mailbox and a message on my voice mail. I'm cranky, I'm in mourning - and there's work to do. The envelope was from a friend I haven't seen in a very long time with a note and a picture of this.
The note said, "Saw this and thought of you ... give me a call when you get a minute." Talking to her was the coolest thing. We made plans to meet for lunch when it gets warm and my day is starting to look up.

The voice mail message was Jillian. I'm on spring break next week and wanted to go play. We're going to do lunch and a movie. Woohoo! I'm starting to pull out of my funk a little more.

Then I go online and find Diana Gabaldon's official website. There is at least 1 more book in the series and possibly 2. Some days it does pay to get out of bed.

Dang

Highlights

So, I've been a little busy lately. Even though I dropped microceconomics {spitting over right shoulder} I'm still dealing with statistics. Send me any good number-crunching vibes you have lying around. Would you mind if I just hit the highlights of the last couple of months?

This lovely stuff comes curtesy of the Ann Arbor Knit In. It's a group of knitters who meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays for social knitting and good coffee drinking. We had a gathering at Freddyknits' house back before Christmas, ate good food, and traded gifts. It's Koigu - in my most favoritest color.

This was my Christmas gift from Hub. Lest you think he's that in tune with my hobbies, I opened several websites and told him to pick something off one of them. He chose the Zuni Medicine Woman basket spindle from Gabe Jaramillo. I saw the interview in Spindlicity and then went to his website. It's impossible to tell in the picture how big the spindle is. I guess I should have known because he lists all the weights on the site, but when I opened the box and pulled it out, I realized how big a 4.5 oz spindle is. It is great for plying!

I called Gabe to order it and he couldn't have been nicer. He apologized over and over that he didn't have any spindles in stock at that moment because they bought all the spindles he took to SOAR a couple of weeks before. He seemed a little shocked at that. I laughed and told him that it wouldn't have mattered how many he brought - they would have bought them all!

Lastly, this is my haul from the Fleece Fair:



I wish I had taken my camera to show you how much stuff was in one place. It was almost impossible to choose and I found myself touching, picking up, and putting things back down on tables because I didn't want to go over my budget. I actually came in under my budget - for once!! Here's the run down moving clockwise from that giant green/blue blob in the upper right. The green/blue is 8 oz of a Corriedale/Mohair blend. My friend Edie did this and named the color Midnight Forest - she has the most gorgeous colors!

Next is a 2 oz ball of white Rambouillet combed top. It was so soft and smelled so good, I had to have some. Pauline also had some brown (that Kim picked up) and I wanted some of that too, but decided to spin this up first and then buy some brown.

Then comes 4 oz of wool and angora in that lovely 2-toned green. I have lots of green, but the softness of this cannot be beat. And speaking of softness, that tomato-y red is 4 oz. of alpaca. Jillian practically shoved this in my bag. I didn't resist.

Next is 4 more oz of wool and angora dyed by Jane Purcell - who also did the 2-tone green from above. I can't wait to spin this and may break with the studying to do just that. I'm moving into a blue phase with my spinning and I'm dying to see how this turns out as yarn.

The lovely orange/red/yellow is also from Edie. She had larger balls of this, but I do have lots of red and orange and thought this might make a nice accent yarn for something. It's Corriedale and mohair as well.

Lastly, the first ball that Jillian thrust into my hands when I met her at the tables is alpaca and wool. I don't know that the colors show up well, but they're a lovely black/purple swirl. It's another ball that's so soft I can't wait to spin it.

I have lots of projects lined up for when classes finish (on April 18). I can't wait to finish the schooling and get back to my life. There are too many more interesting things to do!

Hey! I was tagged!

4 Jobs I've had in my life:

* editor
* book store manager
* car crash researcher
* Girl Scout Cookie Mom

4 Movies I can watch over and over:

* Godfather I
* Godfather II
* Pride and Prejudice - the BBC miniseries
* Kindergarten Cop (shut up)

4 TV Shows I love to watch:

* Law and Order - Criminal Intent
* West Wing
* Crossing Jordan
* House


4 Places I have lived:

* Michigan
* Sunny for about 10 minutes Michigan
* Cold Michigan
* Cold, wet, gray Michigan


4 Places I have been on holiday (this was hard to only pick 4!):

* Antarctica
* Moscow and St. Petersburg
* Portugal
* Colorado


4 of my favorite dishes:

* Soup (I could talk about soup forever)
* Delmonico steak
* mashed potatoes
* that spongy Ethiopian bread and some spicy beef or goat


4 Websites I visit daily:

* Pesky Apostrophe
* Snowball in Hell
* Fresh Pepper
* D-listed
* Post Secret (I added this one in because they only post once a week - on Sunday - so I figured I could sneak it in)

4 Places I would rather be right now:

* Antarctica
* Colorado
* Morocco
* my toasty warm bed reading a book for fun


4 Bloggers I am tagging:

* Is there anyone left? Anyone? Bueller?

What's this??

Lance and Sheryl have called it quits.

Oh noooooo!

Woohoo!!

I mentioned to the Hub on Friday last week that I'd really like a laptop. I talked about how in Statistics this term, we have to use a statistical software package and how convenient it would be if I had a laptop to load the program into and work on my homework anywhere. I talked about how I had a couple of big papers to write and how it would be cool to take a laptop with me and work whenever I got a few minutes. What's this?



My new laptop. Now I need a backpack, because carrying this thing around in my messenger bag is making my back hurt. Could I possibly whine anymore because I got what I wanted? Shyeah, like that's going to stop me.

Smells Like Teen Angst

This morning I witnessed a most hysterical display of teenage temper. I was chatting with Sassy who was standing on the landing between the basement and the main floor of our house. Little Big Man, who had been in the basement, was leaping up the stairs with a pile of clothing in his arms when he mis-stepped and fell. {He unfortunately has inherited my sister�s trait of being able to fall up stairs.} I winced and said, �Are you okay?�

He leapt to his feet, pointed his finger at Sassy and screamed, �It�s HER fault!!! Why are you standing at the top of the stairs? I looked up and saw you there and lost my balance! I never would have fallen if you hadn�t been standing there!�

I fixed my face into neutral and said, �Come on, how is it HER fault that YOU fell?�

�If she hadn�t been standing there, I never would have fallen!!� Spittle was flying out of his mouth and he struck a crazy pose � arms akimbo and taking up space. Discretion being the better part of valor, I gave him the Scottish noise and walked away. By the time I reached the other room, I was shaking from laughter.

When Sassy came into my room a few minutes later, I fell dramatically on the bed and said, �Stop it! You just gave me the �fall down eye� and now I can�t get up,� and laughed like a maniac. She looked at me, disgusted, and walked back out.

At the end of the driveway waiting for the bus, Little Big Man said �Be good today Sassy � don�t give anyone the death ray.� Then when he was getting out of the car, he fake stumbled a little and said, �See? She�s dangerous!� I laughed out loud.

She was incensed. �He�s so mean to me!�

�Nope,� I said, �he realized how ridiculous he was being this morning and that was his apology.� Damn, he�s growing up way too fast.

Graduate School Sucks

It's only 3 weeks into the semester and already I'm overwhelmed. I understand this isn't supposed to be a picnic - I'm all set to work hard. What I want from all this hard work is some semblance of understanding. I mean, really, if you read a chapter, is it too much to ask to be able to understand what you've read? I'm not a stupid person, but I have to read my microeconomics text 3 times to just understand what it says. Which is not to say that I understand the concept - just that I understand all the labels on the colorful pictures.

I'm also spending 10 hours sitting in class for 1 measly 3 credit course - and 2 of those hours are on a Sunday! For those of you playing along on the scorecard at home, yes I took Micro last term. This is the cost-benefit analysis part of the course - it only looks the same, it isn't really the same.

So, despite nary an understanding of what a cost-benefit analysis is...I did one and came up with "Drop the fucking class." Dang, that was easy. Now I just have to make it through Statistics and I'm home free.

One more thing, the person who invented Sudoku - truly an evil soul. This is the worst time sucking game ever!

Hooked on a Feeling

I made the mistake of clicking on that awful Hasselhoff video that's making the rounds and haven't been able to get this terrible song out of my head for 2 days. That teaches me to click on something for the morbid curiosity. If you must, go here. Don't say I didn't warn you.

So, I'm back in school. I'm trying to get studying done as well as a bit of spinning and/or knitting every night. I didn't knit at all last semester and almost lost my mind. The needles soothe me and I was crazy to give them up. Send me your good statistics and cost-benefit analysis vibes. I think I'm going to need them.

One more housekeeping detail. Last year around this time lots of people were signing up to read 50 books over the course of 2005. I didn't sign up, but thought "I can do that - I read all the time." I actually read 25 books last year. Not bad considering I was in school, but I'm a little surprised it wasn't more. Anyone else try this? How many books did you read last year? I'm going to keep track again this year and see where I am in December. My 'to read' shelf is huge (Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell, Anthony Bourdain, Amy Tan, Gregory Maguire, Diana Gabaldon). There is no shortage of books in my house!

Hooky Day!!!

Since our trip to Threadbear last week was postponed due to bugs (stomach and head), I played hooky from work and Jillian played hooky from her family and we made the trek yesterday. It's always fun to see what the boys have done with the store. Everytime I'm there, I swear they can't fit anymore yarn anywhere and when I go back, they have. An overwhelming feast for my color and fiber starved (ha!) self.

They had tons of gorgeous, new Schaefer Yarns. These are the 2 skeins that followed me home. At one point, I had 7 skeins in my arms before I dropped them on one of the infamous black tables and sorted through. When I made my final selections, J looked them over and said, "You know, I think you have that one in Mountain Colors..." It's pretty sad when my friend can remember what I have in my stash better than I can.

Do I need any more roving? No, but I like to encourage vendors to have things that I want to buy (yeah, that's it). Are these gorgeous? That orange/yellow/pink ball is destined for socks. I picked the blue up because I'm currently in a blue phase. Can't wait to spin it up!

Last, but certainly not least, what's this?

It is the yarn for a Vivian Hoxbro sweater that I have affectionately called the Histogram sweater for close to a year now (Vivian has actually named it the Trip-Trap Jacket). I love this sweater and J reminded me yesterday that I had finished my first term of school and I needed to buy something to celebrate (like I ever need an excuse). I believe, between the spinning and sleeping, I'll be knitting on this for the next week or two. Now if I could only convince my family to bring me food and Coke while I knit in bed, I would be a truly happy woman!

Here's a picture of the back of the Trip-Trap Jacket:

What makes the holiday all happy??

I give to you my grades for the first term of Graduate School:


Class Grade
Calculus B+

Microeconomics B

Values&Ethics B+

History of Public Policy A



I was worried about Calculus when I applied to the program. It's a required course and I hadn't been in a math class since spring 1983 - longer than some of my classmates have been alive (no kidding). While it wasn't painless, it was much more clear than I expected it to be.

What's my favorite gift for X-mess this year? That B up there in Microeconomics. A serious gift. I hated this class with the firey burning passion usually reserved for ex-husbands and mothers-in-law. The professor was entertaining and quite friendly, just not a very good teacher.

What's in store for next term? Statistics and the cost-benefit analysis part of Microeconomics. Can anyone explain to me what the hell chi-square is????

Spindle Ho...

Guilty! This is my newest. It's a Tom Forrester Granny Spindle that I bought from Gemini Fibres after I saw the one Jillian got on her most recent excursion to Toronto. When she thrust hers into my hands and demanded that I spin - I was a goner.



It's a little lighter than I usually buy (41.2 grams/1.45 ounces) so the resulting yarn is thinner than I usually spin - but change is good. The best news is that it spins and spins and spins. Apparently these little babies fly off the shelves so fast that Gemini can't even get pictures up on their website before they're gone. I sent an e-mail asking what they had in this style and got a very prompt (and extremely friendly) reply in just a few hours. They had 7 to choose from, but no pictures. I picked the rock maple whorl with a black walnut shaft (10 holes in the whorl).



The fiber is some that J shared with me, but my brain is still dreaming of Calculus, so I can't remember where she got it from. Normally, I rip off a hand of roving and just start to spin - it works for me. Someone is a fiend for pre-drafting, so I'm trying that. As much as I hate to pre-draft, I must admit the spinning is very enjoyable when all I'm worrying about is putting in the twist. The yarn seems to be much smoother too. Even the joins are smooth! I guess it pays to have your world shaken up a bit and be forced to think about things in a different way.

What's This?

Remember back a bit when I went to the Sewing Expo? Well, I forgot to take a camera with me. (Usually, when I go somewhere with Jillian, she remembers to bring all the stuff I've forgotten, but she couldn't go with me that day.) Anyway, my table-mate, Lorraine, had one of those one-shot dealies and she told me to go and take any pictures I wanted with it. She promised to develop the pictures and send copies to me. Guess what came in the mail yesterday?



Yes, that's me at the feet of the master. He deigned to look up and smile.

I'm still alive!

Plus, I just finished my final assignment. It's a paper based on what has to be the most needlessly long novel in existance - All the King's Men. If anyone tells you that it's the greatest American political novel, look them in the eye and tell them they're full of shit.

I have lots of things to show and I'll have more when I'm back from Threadbear with Jillian on Saturday, I'm sure.

For now, amuse yourself with this:

Microeconomics professor
Circle I Limbo

General asshats
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

Liars
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

Creationists
Circle IV Rolling Weights

People who are mean to my kids
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

People who drive slowly in the passing lane
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

Sexist asshat men
Circle VII Burning Sands

My brother's wife
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

My mother-in-law
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

Just do it

In light of my recent birthday, on Friday I had my first experience with the mammogram. I don't care what anyone says about it being uncomfortable...it fucking hurt!!!. This from a woman who gave birth with no drugs, twice.

But you know what, it's a damn site more comfortable than what Twisty is going through. I'll take the mammogram. Have you scheduled yours for the year??