The Wrong Business

Just a quick one between pages. Yes, I actually opened my book! I would feel terribly guilty if I took the day off to study and spent the day knitting or shopping instead, plus failing the test would be bad. I'm taking a quick break to make a late breakfast to accompany my ever-so-satisfyingly excellent cup of coffee. Yes, it really is that good.

I have the Style network on, and they just showed some fabulous boots. I really am in the wrong business. There must be some sort of career for me where I can be surrounded by beautiful things. No, the insurance job in a cubicle just isn't doing it for me. I'm going out of my mind with boredom. Maybe that's why I so quickly became addicted to knitting once I started it up again. Hey, I needed a creative channel-any channel. It's helping, but it's also bringing me back to myself, and any job where I sit at a desk all day talking on the phone and, in this case, handling auto claims, is no where near myself. I even feel the urge to draw and paint again. My grown up ideas are sooo much better than my high school ideas (when I also had my heart bent on becoming an artist).

For now, though, it's back to my lovely executive-looking navy blue and dark brown workers compensation and bodily injury claim books. Blah.

Nine West

Kenneth Cole

Bronx

a little of this & a little of that

Most things I mentioned for today have been accomplished... sort of. No apple pie. I completely forgot about it. My knitting attempt failed too. I did knit, but let's just say I destroyed the evidence. I was making baby slippers, and I thought they had potential but was quickly mistaken. I did take it upon myself, however, to upload some new knitting photos. They're just ornaments, but ever since I started photographing my FO's I have felt the need to not leave any out (not counting those that make it in the trash - there have only been two of those so far this year, I think).

Tommy and I did make it to two stores, and that was plenty. Traffic wasn't bad except in and around the shopping center. We started at Target and then walked to AC Moore, and both were as busy as expected, but by the time we made it to AC Moore it was after 11 am, and it was impossible to navigate the store. I couldn't see through the crowd of people on my way in that the line was LITERALLY BACKED UP ALL THE WAY TO THE BACK OF THE STORE. Once I heard the word "line" from someone in the back and looked around to see dread and fatigue on the faces of every shopper in sight I decided it probably wasn't worth looking around any more. Tommy and I took what we had to a second line that we somehow managed to find squeezed against the side wall, and we hoped it would move quickly. (There were no lines in the middle, as one could not get to those registers due to the never-ending mob of people on either side. One had to get in the long line and work his or her way down toward the center.) We were expecting the rush, so I didn't mind it much, but I couldn't have done it all day. Tommy was a very good sport about it all, but he was definitely ready to stop by the end too. He really wanted me to carry him, and he is so tall now that I just can't do it when I'm trying to hold and do other things at the same time. (To think he'll be five in March! Is that really possible???)

Somehow on our way home I managed to take some roads I have never driven and still ended up on the highway going the right direction (well, yes-that part was easy). I thought I knew where I was going until I realized I didn't know where I was. Yeah... It was sort of a long way around, but at the same time I avoided 90% of the traffic and still found myself entering the highway one exit closer to home than my usual route. It worked out well!

I hope if you went shopping that you found what you were looking for and enjoyed the time out. It's strange to me that this time of year can be both so heartwarming and so stressful at the same time. I am not of the more stressed out holiday types, but I understand where it comes from. I have to say that I really enjoyed shopping for other people today. I had so many ideas. I actually didn't find much, but it was about the spirit of the season. There were a couple of things I really wanted for family but couldn't find, so I'm sure I'll be out again. I still need to shop for Tommy too...

However you spent your day, I hope you have a great night and a wonderful weekend! Happy Holiday Season Beginning!

Turkey Day

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a quiet yet traditional day at home, complete with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the morning and football in the afternoon. Brian cooked turkey, mashed potatoes (Becky's recipe-yum), stuffing, sweet carrots, cranberry sauce, rolls, and (of course) gravy. Neither of us likes sweet potatoes or pumpkin pie, and Tommy ate only the rolls, but that's no surprise. I had planned to make an apple pie, but due to a combination of circumstances it hasn't yet happened. I will probably make it tomorrow, and while it will be late, I will still enjoy it.

Also up for tomorrow is a shopping trip for Tommy and I. We braved Black Friday shopping last year, and it worked out well. I prefer not to shop the day after Thanksgiving, but the deals are excellent, and it's one of very few days I will be able to shop all season. Overall I am looking forward to it. While I don't have much put aside for Christmas I do have a little, which is more than usual, so I feel like I can really enjoy shopping for gifts this year. My only problem is figuring out when to shop for Tommy.

I will probably knit a little more too. I know I said no more until after my test, but that was before I rescheduled the exam a second time. This will be the final time. (I would have originally scheduled the exam for the final date except that I didn't realize it was available.) In any case, I do need to study some this weekend, but I am not completely cutting myself off from knitting until after the weekend. I have been making lots of little Christmas ornaments, and I like how they are turning out, for the most part. I have made 12 different ornaments since I bought the Christmas yarn: all those below plus another in red and the rest in green. I know to whom I want to give them, but I don't know which ones to give to whom. We'll see.

I also ache to make more baby sweaters. I don't know why. I just do. Of course, after Christmas will probably be a better time for that. Besides, I have a specific image in mind and no pattern for it or enough know-how to make it up on my own just yet...

More tomorrow! I hope you had a wonderful day with the people you love. Goodnight!

Sunday's Study Progress

Yeah, there was none.

Saturday Sky

I said before that I would miss Autumn's colors once they passed, but now that October has come and gone I occasionally find myself gazing through endless webs of bare November trees at their intricate layers of lace. There is just something about their quiet, unadorned beauty. Maybe it's just me.

Pleeeeeeaase help me decide!

Every year at work we get to choose a gift for Christmas. This year I chose a certificate for 1 large 1-topping Domino's pizza, a 2-liter bottle of soda, and a DVD. I am having trouble deciding on the DVD.

Here are my choices:

The Big Chill
America's Sweethearts
Jerry McGuire
Stripes
A League of Their Own
Philadelphia
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
A Beautiful Mind (not really an option since we already own it)
The Bone Collector
Gosford Park
Red Dragon
Ghostbusters
Man on the Moon
about. a boy
Nutty Professor II
As Good As It Gets
The Emperor's Club
Rudy

I won't tell you which ones I am considering because I don't want it to affect your answers. Please, please, pretty please, reply with your pick! (Important stuff, I know.)

Soon to be Gifted -

My first baby sweater. I hope it fits, and I hope it's a boy!

I made the front Monday night, the back Tuesday night, and added the sleeves Wednesday night. Now if only I could manage the same sort of determination with my studying I would be golden!

Tommy

The theme at Tommy's preschool last week was "All About Me." Yesterday he came home with a little booklet he had made. The first page listed a few likes such as:

My Birthday Wish - some more kitties
Favorite Food - snack after lunch
Favorite Game - CandyLand
Best Gift Ever - my toys

The second page included a list of fill-in-the-blanks:

I'm glad to be in school because... I like to play.
The best thing that happened this summer was when... I went swimming at the gunky place. (a.k.a. the pool-Tommy makes up words when he can't think of the one he's looking for)
This year I want to learn... my name. How to go camping.
I am very good at... listening.
I am happy when... I can do anything I want.

Yep. Still loving being a mom.

Newborn Christmas Hat

I couldn't resist.

My sister is having a December baby. She doesn't know yet whether she'll have a boy or a girl. I figure if it's a boy it will be perfect, and if it's a girl, hopefully it will still look cute with a little red dress, particularly with the matching sweater I'm hoping to make as well. (I would like to learn how to sew baby clothes too.) I just have to find the right pattern. Tommy had a little navy and cream striped hat and sweater when he was a baby, and I loved it. It was from the Gap. Of course I would love to find something similar in style to that, but I'm sure I'm narrowing my focus too much. I just need to make a couple of sweaters so I can learn how and then start making my own designs.

I also thought about making both a boy set and a girl set, and then my sister would be set either way. So many ideas. =)

Washington?

Brian and I saw some pictures of Mount Rainier on PBS this morning. What a beautiful place. What do you think? Should we move to Seattle? I've heard great things about it!

Photos from bulgar.no-ip.info/downloads/snimki/wall/ and http://www.philarmitage.net/rainier/rainier4.html

I found more really great photos here. (I particularly like Paradise Meadow 2, Doe with Fawn, and South Slope.)

Preparing for the Holidays

I missed Saturday Sky again this week, but I did get out for some Christmas yarn and ornament-making accessories. -No wooden ornaments yet. Just some copper wire for the sweater hangers - and a small wire cutter. (Who knew they were so expensive?) I'm looking forward to working with the new colors. I think they will be better displayed once knit together. In the photo they appear quite bold, but in person the green (leaf) and cream (off white) are actually quite muted. Each by itself is nothing special, but side by side they are beautiful.

Hopefully my Christmas knits will turn out as hoped. Most of the sweaters I have made so far are nothing I would actually give to anyone - or hang on a Christmas tree. My latest, however, I like. It's a bit bigger than I want for the tree, but the snowflake worked out like magic, unlike the previous sweater, during which I gave up and just made some star-like things that were sort of kind of supposed to be something like snowflakes - and then took those out in favor of a little star (that proved to be no better). We'll see if I can duplicate it. I'm also planning to make tiny mittens and stockings. It took me a while to scour the web for just the right patterns, but I think I've found a couple I can work with. -I still have studying to do, but since they are so small and quick my hope is to have at least one sample of each completed by the end of the week.

Again, it's those little things.

One - Tommy and I counted to one hundred on our way home tonight and then again to one hundred fifty. He started to understand that numbers really do go on forever and ever.

Two - Not a drop of water fell on my car the whole way home, but just as I was about to step up onto the porch I heard a rush of rain come up like a wind that rustles the leaves. I had to reach my arm out from under the overhang to confirm it really was rain. It must have started in that single tenth of a second that Tommy and I happened to step under the roof.

Three - I think this is a wonderful idea.

Four - I rescheduled my insurance exam. I'm now taking it a week and half later than originally planned (unless you consider the fact that I planned to have enough time to reschedule).

Five -


Six - We completed Tommy's first ever homework assignment tonight. It was technically termed a family project, but I still felt it must be photographed. The instructions were as follows:

"Tobias Turkey is so nervous because this is November and that means Thanksgiving! He knows that farmer John is planning on having him for dinner. Please help Tobias from being farmer John's Thanksgiving feast. Using creativity and all sorts of fun items please dress Tobias in a disguise to trick farmer John."

If you were farmer John, would you know there was a turkey behind all those leaves?

Seven - I found this little decoration at flickr the other day, and now I really want to make one. In fact I want to make a whole little village of wooden people.

Seven and one half - Some day I hope I can find some cute little crafty thing to make that people actually want to buy (or at least want to receive as gifts and show them off). I want to see others like the same things I do and appreciate them in such a way. -I'm not looking to get rich selling crafts, but I think it would be fun to have a little etsy shop and barely keep up with the incoming orders.

Eight - That's all. Goodnight!

I missed it.

My blogiversary, that is. It was yesterday. What does one do on one's blogiversary? I guess this is it.

Yeah, that's pretty much all I had to say today. I would post my Saturday Sky pic, but I snapped it in the only 2 minutes I was home on Saturday, and it didn't come out well. Maybe next weekend.

I could tell you that I made a fourth sweater ornament, but you are probably getting tired of them, aren't you? I won't photograph this one just yet. It still has to be decorated and might make its way into a Christmas card, so it will have to wait. Those little things are addictive -especially when I have two unopened books that need to be studied for next Friday's exam. I mean, really, when you think about knitting lots of little sweaters you probably just think "Why?" but when given the choice between reading two books titled Managing Bodily Injury Claims and Principle's of Workers' Compensation Claims or making cute little sweaters, what would you choose? Right. I SO don't want to read about insurance when I handle it all day every day already. But then this is my own doing. Hey, when I'm done I will have my AIC. I'll bet you don't even know what that is. Yeah, it's pretty pointless. Oh well. :)

Yet Another Mini Sweater

Right now I'm just using scraps to keep my hands busy. I really need to get some Christmas colors. Soon. First I have another test for which to study. Blah.