Oh my good lord!

Last night I did the impossible. My mom called me at work and asked me if I could come over and rake some leaves for her. Of course I agreed, and by four thirty i was braving the freezing cold weather. (O.k., so it was like 35, but that's damn close enough!) Twenty-four bags, three hours, and as many blisters later, I finally finished. Oh, and by that time it was officially freezing, so i wasn't so far off.

I learn a few things from this project.

1. I have an awesome husband who is learning that anytime my mom is involved, one should add at least 30% to the allotted time frame. He also got out there and busted his ass to help pick up the million piles, or I might still be out there.

2. When Mom calls for "a little help", see #1. If she bribes with food, double it.

3. In a pinch, socks work almost as well as gloves.

4. Chili's fajitas suck, and should never be an acceptable payment for leaf raking.

5. When in doubt, just call in.

The last is in reference to my morning. I'm an avid bus rider, and when gas was threatening four dollars, it saved us tons. Like maybe a nice vacation worth. Seeing as it was freezing this morning, and some ice, The Man decided it would be good for all involved to just take me to work. (He can tell my mood by what the temp outside reads. Cold is never a good day.)

The down side to this is I have to be there by 6:30 so he won't be late to the great north. Silly me thought I was just tired and needed coffee. Silly girl. Two cups of coffee and two hours later I was in the bosses office asking for vacation time (June trip to in-laws), and sick time. Sometimes it sucks not driving to work. Like when it's 8:30, 32 degrees outside (not counting the wind), and you have to wait for the bus.

Sometimes we all just need to call in sick.

Austin Weekend

I really love living in this town. Sure, it's changed a lot, and definitely isn't the same place I grew up in, but the heart is still there. Sure, there are a ton of new, corporate, things and people that have come around the last five years or so. And I swear, if one more landmark gets torn down in the name of development I may scream. The Man & I actually shouted with joy when the Statesman declared the death of the condo surge in Austin.

That's what makes Saturday mornings like this one so much sweeter. The Man & I bundled up and ventured down to the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market for, what I hoped, would be the bulk of this weeks grocery shopping. Alas, it was very cold, very windy, and only the crazies were out shopping. We did manage to score some milk, a few veggies, and a cup of very good coffee. The bulk of the vendors were more on the arts side of things, although not a one fiber goodness in sight.

Once we reached out freezing point, we headed to Maria's Taco Express for some warmth, more coffee, and great tacos. I am such a spaz and left my camera at home, but trust me, if you've never been, it's well worth the wait. The chimichurri is to die for. Mmmm.

In other news, I have finished the monkey socks and LOVE THEM! I've been referring to them as my Rainbow Bright socks. Now I just need to find my next project...probably a hat for The Man.

Inauguration Day

As I write this, I am watching the inaugural parade. I’m sure I could wax on poetically about my hope for a new future, which I have, and my new expectation, which are high, but that can be found, much more eloquently, all over the web.

This is what I will say. Today I am happy, and have a sense of relief. Tomorrow will honestly be no different, nor the next day, but soon there is the possibility.

Thank God it’s finally Friday!

There’s this country station in Corpus Christi, and every Friday, right around the time I was taking my check from the faboo temp agency to be cashed they would play this song. (They very well still might, I just don’t much care anymore, as I was able to escape, barely, the evil clutches of that city.) I have no idea what the song is called, and in fact have never heard it in it’s entirety, but the jist is Thank God it’s Friday, I just got paid, and I’m spending’ it all on booze. Yep, sounds about right. Only this Friday is not my payday Friday, so I’ll have to settle with the leftover beer from our NYE party. (Yep, still have that beer. I have the bestest, most generous friends who filled my fridge with the nectar of the gods.)


And oh, after my bus ride home from work, I need one. Hang on, need sustenance. Mmmmm. Tecate & lime.


Anyways, first I wait in the freezing cold weather (o.k., it’s like 45 or something, but this is Texas people, central Texas.) for the overly crowded bus. When it does finally arrive, I end up sitting next to an obviously drunk gentleman, on his way to work, telling me that crocheting is the most difficult, intricate work a woman can do. Ummm…what? First off, as I dumbly informed him, I was knitting, and by the way, whatthefuckdidyousay?!? That’s right up there with the guy asked me, like I was a four year old, why I didn’t just buy my socks in a store. Wasn’t it easier & cheaper that way? (This was also one of those college/fresh out kiddos who obviously just scored a job at the state capital & needs everyone to see him in his new suit.) Anyways. During my fifteen minute ride I also had lady just from the hospital talking about how they just packed something, the lady telling everyone her small child, on the bus with her, has just been diagnosed w/ strep, and the guy phone-sexing up his girlfriend. Seriously? On the bus? Whatever.


But I love riding my bus to & from work. It saves us so much time and money. Money that can be spent on other things, fiber-ey things.


This (wonderfully, nice, long) weekend I plan on finally finishing up my monkey socks, and maybe even heading to SoCo (oh, that hurts every time) to check out the awesome Hill Country Weavers, and maybe look for something to make a clapotis out of. That GC is just burning a hole in my glove box.

Random, can't think of a thing to say

Have you ever notice that you have a million things to say until you have a place to say it? Not a good way to start out a blog.

I am going to make a point of posting at least once a week, although I'm sure I'm the only one checking around here. It's kinda great that way though. This way I can sound like a total idiot and there's really no one to judge me.

In other news, I'm working on the second sock for the monkey socks, and I'm really loving them. The colorway is really great too. Reminds me of Rainbow bright. I'll post photo's next time I'm around. (I'm at Mom's computer, thus no access to my pictures).

This one is for real

I have been thinking about starting a blog for some time, and in fact have had this account for about three months, just sitting here. Truth be told, I just wasn't sure if I had anything worth saying. Don't get me wrong, I can yammer on and on about absolutely nothing at all, but was I ready to open my life up and put it out on the web? And was it worth taking up the space?

So why start now?

The short answer; I'm tired of over thinking things and not doing them. I don't think I'm going to pull out some amazing life experience from this, but maybe it will provide some perspective. This past November I got married, and while I'm thrilled beyond belief, I'm ready to move on to the rest of my life.

And that brings me to the first "purpose" for the blog. My birthday is looming, and while many of my friends assure me that 27 is not "late 20's", I do fee the need to make a conscious effort to achieve certain things in my life while I still have ample opportunities for them. Therefore, I have started working on 101 goals to be reached in 1001 days. I'm still working on my list and will post it, probably shy a few, on Feb. 1, my start date. I plan on using this blog to track my progress, setbacks, and overall thoughts of the process.

The other purpose of this blog is to track (and yammer on and on about) my knitting, and the people I drive up a wall with it. There is something so wonderful and calming (at least to me) about taking a long piece of yarn, a few needles, and some moxie, and coming out the other end with a product that wasn’t there when you started.

But I'll save that for another time. For now, I'll leave you with a picture of the finished product from my honeymoon yarn.

Test

Testing. Let's see if this crazy thing will actually work.