Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
If I Won the Lottery...
...which is a game we all play sometimes, whether we admit it or not. It's nice to day dream. I've decided I would go back to school. I'd get a PhD in psychology and my master's in law and donate my time to people who needed help. I'd establish places for the 18-year-old 'adults' the foster system abandons to live. I would buy my parents a new house, or build a new one on the land they have now. I'd buy myself a house with enough rooms for Jim to have an office, me to have a library/craft/music room and a spectacular kitchen. I'd get my dad flying lessons, and send Kate and maybe El to Japan. I would hire a maid or a housekeeper. I would so take Momolla shopping with me. I would get a good haircut and pick up some jeans that finally fit, even if I had to pay more than $25 dollars a pair. I would buy shoes. Oh, the shoes.
If I ever won the lottery, I would travel the world and meet new people and visit old friends. I would still have a budget, though spending comes easily to me. I would find someone to give me lessons in whichever instrument struck my fancy at the time. I would host wonderful dinner parties. I would invest in a parking garage in the city to provide decent income. I would find a garage for Jim and buy him a couple of rusty old trucks to play with. I would con Jim into marrying me, and go somewhere exotic for our honeymoon. I would adopt a dog, or maybe two. Mostly, I would relax.
What about you? What would you do if you had no budgetary restrictions? Buy a desert island? Go on a shopping spree?
If I ever won the lottery, I would travel the world and meet new people and visit old friends. I would still have a budget, though spending comes easily to me. I would find someone to give me lessons in whichever instrument struck my fancy at the time. I would host wonderful dinner parties. I would invest in a parking garage in the city to provide decent income. I would find a garage for Jim and buy him a couple of rusty old trucks to play with. I would con Jim into marrying me, and go somewhere exotic for our honeymoon. I would adopt a dog, or maybe two. Mostly, I would relax.
What about you? What would you do if you had no budgetary restrictions? Buy a desert island? Go on a shopping spree?
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I believe...
--That perception is not reality, but that it sure has a hell of an impact on it
--That it doesn't matter who you love or how you love them, so long as they're a consenting adult
--There is nowhere near enough love in the world
--Instant meals are wonderful, but nowhere near as good as home-cooking
--You get back what you put out into the world
--Karma is a bitch
--That people change, sometimes for the better and sometimes not
--Everybody needs a bosom buddy to share secrets with
--We are all stronger, smarter, and more amazing than we give ourselves credit for
--There is magic left in the world, if you know where to look
--There are many gods, and they are all facets and aspects of one god
--We all walk our own paths, to our own destinations, and all these paths deserve respect
--Life needs the bitter to enhance the sweet
--That you should be nice to customer servants, always. They're people, too
--In tipping your waitperson well, they work crazy hard
--Chocolate can do a lot to make a crappy day better.
--Crying and laughter are both incredibly healing
--Some things happen for a reason, and some happen just because
--You can't always get what you want, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try
--Sometimes, all you can do is let go
--Moving outside your comfort zone is liberating and terrifying
--Failure makes you grow, if you do it right
--Success is relative
--Nice matters
--Women are crazy
--Men are also crazy
--Beauty is a state of mind
--That it doesn't matter who you love or how you love them, so long as they're a consenting adult
--There is nowhere near enough love in the world
--Instant meals are wonderful, but nowhere near as good as home-cooking
--You get back what you put out into the world
--Karma is a bitch
--That people change, sometimes for the better and sometimes not
--Everybody needs a bosom buddy to share secrets with
--We are all stronger, smarter, and more amazing than we give ourselves credit for
--There is magic left in the world, if you know where to look
--There are many gods, and they are all facets and aspects of one god
--We all walk our own paths, to our own destinations, and all these paths deserve respect
--Life needs the bitter to enhance the sweet
--That you should be nice to customer servants, always. They're people, too
--In tipping your waitperson well, they work crazy hard
--Chocolate can do a lot to make a crappy day better.
--Crying and laughter are both incredibly healing
--Some things happen for a reason, and some happen just because
--You can't always get what you want, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try
--Sometimes, all you can do is let go
--Moving outside your comfort zone is liberating and terrifying
--Failure makes you grow, if you do it right
--Success is relative
--Nice matters
--Women are crazy
--Men are also crazy
--Beauty is a state of mind
Good Intentions...
...but bad results. I was meaning to post again yesterday, but we had so many errands to run after work that I went home, ate some dinner, did some straightening up, and fell asleep. I am an old woman these days, and I'm okay with that. And so today, there will be two posts from work. On the one hand, it will give me something to do. And on the other, if I write both posts early, I can rest easy knowing that I'm caught up.
I woke up sore again this morning, ready to have a good grumble and spend the rest of the day being all crabby and grumpy. But then I realized that nine months ago, I was diagnosed with a giant tumor. Five months ago, I was operated on. And today, I can move and stretch and lift and carry things. And I feel like a normal person again, and the whole experience is being assimilated better. There are some days where I forget about the scar. There are several days where I hardly hurt at all. Sure, I'm still sore and the muscles are still recovering. But mostly, I'm back. I'm me again, just me. Living my life as best I can, healthy and whole and happy. So maybe it's time to change my outlook, and rather than whining about hurting, be grateful that I'm healthy. I'm lucky. And I'm happy.
So for today, I am going to concentrate on the happy and the good. It wouldn't have taken much for the past several months to turn out differently, and not nearly so well. What's not to be happy about?
I finished the handspun scarf for real last night; I finally wove the ends in. I'm debating washing and blocking it. It's easily the most beautiful thing I have ever made with my own two hands. I can hardly bear to put it away and let it sit til it's time to wrap it up. I also finished my handwarmers/fingerless mitts. They're made from the gorgeous Noro RoseRed sent me back in April, and they were an adventure. I've never worked with anything like this yarn before, it's a single-ply and the variations in color and texture kept what would have been a pretty boring knit pretty interesting. They're fraternal stripey twins, which makes it easy to distinguish between the right and left mitts. The left is just a little longer, to keep that hand a little warmer. I've got a few other projects I'm working on at the moment, and a sizeable list of things I'd like to accomplish in the next two months or so. It might not all get done, but it's good to have goals.
In review:
-Life is good. Not perfect, but plenty good.
-Knitting is fun, especially when you make yourself pretty things.
-Having a job where you can blog from work is pretty awesome
-I have gone way, way overboard in my list of knitting projects for the next two months. This should be interesting...
I woke up sore again this morning, ready to have a good grumble and spend the rest of the day being all crabby and grumpy. But then I realized that nine months ago, I was diagnosed with a giant tumor. Five months ago, I was operated on. And today, I can move and stretch and lift and carry things. And I feel like a normal person again, and the whole experience is being assimilated better. There are some days where I forget about the scar. There are several days where I hardly hurt at all. Sure, I'm still sore and the muscles are still recovering. But mostly, I'm back. I'm me again, just me. Living my life as best I can, healthy and whole and happy. So maybe it's time to change my outlook, and rather than whining about hurting, be grateful that I'm healthy. I'm lucky. And I'm happy.
So for today, I am going to concentrate on the happy and the good. It wouldn't have taken much for the past several months to turn out differently, and not nearly so well. What's not to be happy about?
I finished the handspun scarf for real last night; I finally wove the ends in. I'm debating washing and blocking it. It's easily the most beautiful thing I have ever made with my own two hands. I can hardly bear to put it away and let it sit til it's time to wrap it up. I also finished my handwarmers/fingerless mitts. They're made from the gorgeous Noro RoseRed sent me back in April, and they were an adventure. I've never worked with anything like this yarn before, it's a single-ply and the variations in color and texture kept what would have been a pretty boring knit pretty interesting. They're fraternal stripey twins, which makes it easy to distinguish between the right and left mitts. The left is just a little longer, to keep that hand a little warmer. I've got a few other projects I'm working on at the moment, and a sizeable list of things I'd like to accomplish in the next two months or so. It might not all get done, but it's good to have goals.
In review:
-Life is good. Not perfect, but plenty good.
-Knitting is fun, especially when you make yourself pretty things.
-Having a job where you can blog from work is pretty awesome
-I have gone way, way overboard in my list of knitting projects for the next two months. This should be interesting...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Belated Monday Post
Because I slipped and totally forgot to write an entry for yesterday. Go, me! I was a little wiped out yesterday, work was crazy. But then, when isn't it?
Tonight will be busy, too, and the rest of the week into the weekend. Jim's mom is coming up for a visit. I invited her, because she's in a really tough living situation right now and it seems like she could use a bit of a break. Our house may not be exciting, but it's restful. And after tonight, it'll be clean.
I must confess, my quest to keep the house cleaner has been going slightly better, but not as well as I'd hoped. I think a large part of the problem is the sheer amount of stuff we have, and the lack of organization to it. Also, we're all kind of lazy when it comes to cleaning. Still, the house looks better. The kitchen floor is still sticky, but the dishes are done and the counters are fairly clean. The bedroom is in pretty poor shape again, but that's because it's the room where all the stuff that doesn't have a place on the bottom floor goes. Oh, well. If given a choice between being happy and mentally stable and having a clean house, I will take the former every time.
In review:
-Slacking off is good for you. I have decided this is truth.
-Wish I brought a darning needle to work today. My mitts are pretty much done
-Next post today will be about the knitting. I swear I still know how to move sticks and string
-It's amazing what you can get done when you have a regular, normal schedule
Tonight will be busy, too, and the rest of the week into the weekend. Jim's mom is coming up for a visit. I invited her, because she's in a really tough living situation right now and it seems like she could use a bit of a break. Our house may not be exciting, but it's restful. And after tonight, it'll be clean.
I must confess, my quest to keep the house cleaner has been going slightly better, but not as well as I'd hoped. I think a large part of the problem is the sheer amount of stuff we have, and the lack of organization to it. Also, we're all kind of lazy when it comes to cleaning. Still, the house looks better. The kitchen floor is still sticky, but the dishes are done and the counters are fairly clean. The bedroom is in pretty poor shape again, but that's because it's the room where all the stuff that doesn't have a place on the bottom floor goes. Oh, well. If given a choice between being happy and mentally stable and having a clean house, I will take the former every time.
In review:
-Slacking off is good for you. I have decided this is truth.
-Wish I brought a darning needle to work today. My mitts are pretty much done
-Next post today will be about the knitting. I swear I still know how to move sticks and string
-It's amazing what you can get done when you have a regular, normal schedule
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Second Sunday Post...
...and, despite my best intentions, I have nothing much else to report or to comment on. Today was my day to relax and unwind, and I took advantage of that time to listen to a book and knit. I didn't get dressed until four, and only then put on old, ragged sweats. Friends, it was liberating. We've been so busy lately, trying to keep up with all our loved ones and spend time with everyone whenever we had the time, that Jim and I were both pretty burned out. Not that we don't love our friends, but everybody needs a lazy day or two. So today, we just relaxed. I didn't fret about cleaning, I didn't worry about finishing the laundry or being productive. Jim managed to be more productive than I, he washed the dishes. He would also like me to point out that he 'did stuff outside, too.' (jim is helping me blog tonight. he says hello!)
Being lazy doesn't mean I was entirely unproductive. I managed to finish knitting a scarf that's meant to be given as a Christmas gift. It's made of some handspun, and I do believe I am in love. There's a striping effect, even though the yarn itself is a riot of colors, that I just love. I realize that it's early to be thinking of any holidays other than Halloween, but since I am what could charitably called excruciatingly slow at knitting, and there are a few other things I would like to make for gifts, getting a head start seems like a good idea. Ideally, I'd like to have something special for everybody in the house and for my family, but we'll see how well that works out.
Tomorrow is Monday, and that means work will be interesting, especially since many people have the day off for Columbus Day (i've always wondered how the native americans feel about us pale folk celebrating 'finding' their home). I'm bringing the handwarmers I'm making for myself because they're easy 1X1 ribbing and I can work on them while I answer easy questions. I've decided a pair is in order, though I'll likely only need the one unless I'm outside. A couple of the guys at work have noticed and petitioned me for a pair. We'll see how generous I'm feeling a little later in the year.
And now, darlings, it's time for me to rest my weary head after a long, hard day of sitting around. I hope that your week is easy and goes swiftly for you, and that you have plenty of opportunities to relax.
In review:
--I was horribly boring today, and I LOVED it!
--Makes for shady blogging, though
--I totally forgot to post a review section on my earlier entry. I am sooo good at this stuff
--Work tomorrow will be trying, but there should be some good knitting time in there. Gotta get my mitts done, the building maintenance crew insists on leaving the air conditioning on.
Being lazy doesn't mean I was entirely unproductive. I managed to finish knitting a scarf that's meant to be given as a Christmas gift. It's made of some handspun, and I do believe I am in love. There's a striping effect, even though the yarn itself is a riot of colors, that I just love. I realize that it's early to be thinking of any holidays other than Halloween, but since I am what could charitably called excruciatingly slow at knitting, and there are a few other things I would like to make for gifts, getting a head start seems like a good idea. Ideally, I'd like to have something special for everybody in the house and for my family, but we'll see how well that works out.
Tomorrow is Monday, and that means work will be interesting, especially since many people have the day off for Columbus Day (i've always wondered how the native americans feel about us pale folk celebrating 'finding' their home). I'm bringing the handwarmers I'm making for myself because they're easy 1X1 ribbing and I can work on them while I answer easy questions. I've decided a pair is in order, though I'll likely only need the one unless I'm outside. A couple of the guys at work have noticed and petitioned me for a pair. We'll see how generous I'm feeling a little later in the year.
And now, darlings, it's time for me to rest my weary head after a long, hard day of sitting around. I hope that your week is easy and goes swiftly for you, and that you have plenty of opportunities to relax.
In review:
--I was horribly boring today, and I LOVED it!
--Makes for shady blogging, though
--I totally forgot to post a review section on my earlier entry. I am sooo good at this stuff
--Work tomorrow will be trying, but there should be some good knitting time in there. Gotta get my mitts done, the building maintenance crew insists on leaving the air conditioning on.
Feedback...
...is a good thing. I appreciate all the comments from the previous post. You've all got very good points. To answer the question Momolla asked me yesterday, Jim and I haven't had a fight, and I was pretty calm when I wrote that. The verse really is lovely, and I can appreciate the sentiments. But the kind of love it extols is perfect, and it reminds me very much of the Disney movies I watched as a child. What it shows you is perfect, and therefore, almost never real. I do believe that love is powerful, and that it can be a great motivator and a great inspiration. But love also spawns emotions that can make you petty and afraid. Love is wonderful, but it's never perfect, because the people that feel it never are.
Thanks to some issues with my internet connection that our service provider stoutly denies to be possible, I wasn't able to get online to post last night. There will be two posts today to make up for it. I'll try to make sure that the second is another real post. I'd like to save the fluff bits and padding for closer to the end of the month when I'm running out of ideas and stories to share.
Yesterday, my parents celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary. My sisters and I spent it with them, wandering around Lancaster's Farmer's Market and a few other shops. Momolla and Dadums graciously bought me a ham for Christmas (a trip to s. clyde weaver's is always a requirement. they have the best bacon you have ever tasted), since we're hosting dinner again, and I expressed a fear of being presented with another canned ham. Kate was 'intrigued' by the fruit tarts. There was a lot of wandering and talking and catching up, since we haven't all been together as a family in rather a while. We had lunch together, and drove over to a shop called Labadie Looms, which has fibers for spinners, weavers, and knitters. The fiber fumes are heady stuff in there.
Since I am on a tight budget (jim's birthday is later this month, and i promised him truck parts), I ignored the honey-colored merino and silk blend. Well, okay. I picked it up and carried it with me for a few minutes, and then sense got the better of me and I put it back down and walked away to clear my head. I did splurge and pick up some gorgeous scarlet silk hankies to spin. I've never worked with silk, and the color called to me (it was less than twenty dollars, so it was an indulgence, but less than half the cost of the original object of me affections). There was no name or color information with it, so I've started to think of it as 'Desire' in the back of my mind. I'm thinking it's going to be a cowl or a broad scarf for me, since I so rarely keep my handspun, and since I'm going back to blonde in a few more weeks. The color won't clash with my hair, though it's so pretty, I would have worn it, anyway.
That's all I have for you all with this post, my darlings. I hope the last bit of your weekend is/was lovely.
Thanks to some issues with my internet connection that our service provider stoutly denies to be possible, I wasn't able to get online to post last night. There will be two posts today to make up for it. I'll try to make sure that the second is another real post. I'd like to save the fluff bits and padding for closer to the end of the month when I'm running out of ideas and stories to share.
Yesterday, my parents celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary. My sisters and I spent it with them, wandering around Lancaster's Farmer's Market and a few other shops. Momolla and Dadums graciously bought me a ham for Christmas (a trip to s. clyde weaver's is always a requirement. they have the best bacon you have ever tasted), since we're hosting dinner again, and I expressed a fear of being presented with another canned ham. Kate was 'intrigued' by the fruit tarts. There was a lot of wandering and talking and catching up, since we haven't all been together as a family in rather a while. We had lunch together, and drove over to a shop called Labadie Looms, which has fibers for spinners, weavers, and knitters. The fiber fumes are heady stuff in there.
Since I am on a tight budget (jim's birthday is later this month, and i promised him truck parts), I ignored the honey-colored merino and silk blend. Well, okay. I picked it up and carried it with me for a few minutes, and then sense got the better of me and I put it back down and walked away to clear my head. I did splurge and pick up some gorgeous scarlet silk hankies to spin. I've never worked with silk, and the color called to me (it was less than twenty dollars, so it was an indulgence, but less than half the cost of the original object of me affections). There was no name or color information with it, so I've started to think of it as 'Desire' in the back of my mind. I'm thinking it's going to be a cowl or a broad scarf for me, since I so rarely keep my handspun, and since I'm going back to blonde in a few more weeks. The color won't clash with my hair, though it's so pretty, I would have worn it, anyway.
That's all I have for you all with this post, my darlings. I hope the last bit of your weekend is/was lovely.
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