Thanksgiving/birthday weekend

This week has been very, very full. So full I haven't had two seconds to process, much less write on here. Thursday, Thanksgiving, we went to my mom's with my extended family, then to Adam's aunt's with his family, then back to my mom's and then bowling with my family again. I was really proud of Adam and I. Typically, holidays come with a fair amount of stress - from everything from just sharing the mirror to figuring out timing of when we leave one family to go to the other, to feeling neglected or left out at the other person's family, etc. But last year I made some resolutions about getting through what is supposed to be a happy day of thankfulness and family, and I am so thrilled to say it was perfect.

Part of what made it better is that Adam is getting more comfortable with my family, so that helps tremendously. Also, I made a point to not be touchy or sensitive about ANYTHING, no matter how stressed I might be. It felt good feeling almost like I was...outsmarting him. Does that make sense? I don't mean it maliciously, I just mean - it was nice to feel like I had control over how pleasant the day was. I could look beyond my own petty wants, and make everything fun.

Friday was my birthday - I did absolutely nothing all day, then went out shopping with my sister/mom, went to my sister's soccer tournament, and then went out for dinner with Amber, Adam, Daniel and family. It was really nice, really fun and low key - Amber, Rosie, and Roxana got me YARN gift certificates, Adam got me diamond earrings and a BIKE, and my family got me the game Hive, and the coolest blender ever (yes, a blender, hush, I am thrilled). Oh, also Roxana made me the coolest CD of "shower songs."

Then yessstterrrday...I spent all day studying for my psychology test, took that, and then went to the Alamitos Bay Yarn Company and knitted there for a while. I got a needle felting kit, which will be fun to use, and some manos del uruguay and lamb's pride wool/mohair. Very very yummy. After that I went running for a while in Seal Beach, then went home and got ready to go see Tom Russell at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. Adam and I met Linda and John Wilson, and Tracy and Matt there (all the director/co director of the daycare I used to work at and their husbands) at a mexican restaurant, then we went and listened to the absolutely wonderful southwestern crooning of Mr. Russell.

Today I did dishes, half a load of laundry, grocery shopping, finished a scarf and a pair of socks, and am roasting a whole turkey! It's crazy. I've never cooked a whole animal before. :P It smells really good - I hope I don't screw it up. It's got an hour and a half left to cook and I am resisting the temptation of opening up the oven to look at it.

The rest of the day holds finishing laundry, eating turkey, going bike riding or running, maybe going to my sister's soccer game, maybe going shopping with my mom, and then Sunday night tv with the boyfriend. Tomorrow it's back to work as usual.

I've of course been taking photos of all of this - so as soon as I can I will put up the illustrations. :)

birthdays at work

So my place o' employment has the tradition that the night before someone's birthday, their friends/supervisors stay a little late and decorate their office for them. That way, when the birthday person gets into the office the next morning, they are greeted by streamers, balloons, etc. I've seen some entertaining office decor before - top prize goes to Emily and myself for filling Monice's office top to bottom with balloons, and then ceran-wrapping them in to the cubicle. I'd say second prize goes to yours truly for Emily's office, just due to the sheer difficulty she had in finding her computer and chair under the streamers. I shoulda known payback was coming.

So the day after tomorrow is my birthday, but since we have thanksgiving tomorrow, they decorated my office for me this morning. I completely forgot about that, until I walked into the office and it looks like a clown exploded. There are streamers. Balloons. Ribbons. Bows. Banners. And confetti like you w0uld not believe. To top that off, Rosie made me a sash and a crown that I have to wear all day. I will post photos eventually.

I just wanted to write this post right now, even without the photographic evidence, because I was feeling sort of down the last few days, and this picked me right up. Three cheers for Rosie and Emily. It's good to have friends.

photos from this week

Hi kids, it's time for a photo update.
In no apparent order, we have...yours truly, going camera-happy and taking self portraits. There's plenty m0re where that came from...

Then there is my little sister and our friend Nadine (who will now forever be known as Nadizzle). They were enjoying a photo shoot for my bags a little too much.

Following that photos it's my little sister with her boyfriend at the karate studio car wash. I am sure they had been busy earlier washing cars...but note that they were not busy at the moment.

Then we have what I thought was a kinda cool photo of some of the larger bags that I have made. The middle one (the bright yellow/orange one) has been on reserve for someone at work for a while, and I finally wrapped it up and delivered it today.

I spent the last two saturdays doing ceramics at the Irvine Fine Arts Center with my friend Amber, so she took a photo of me throwing, and I took some of my works in progress.

The last photo is totally random - I was closing the screen door and realized there was a lizard on it. I decided that was a perfect chance to mess around with the close-up settings on my new camera, so mess around I did. I also used the chance to get a sneaky photo of Adam while he was unsuspecting. Mwhahaha.

I just realized that my birthday is a mere four days away.

gee.

stuff

sooo tired...

last night we went to the gym at about 12:00am..got home around 1-1:3am..then Adam puts on the movie 88 Minutes. It starts with a rape/murder in a girl's house, and it's ICKY. He falls asleep instantly. I am up until 4am watching this horrible movie so I can know who dunnit so I can fall asleep. It had the stupidest, lamest ending ever and four hours later when my alarm went off, I was very angry at myself for staying awake for it.

But my alarm went off so that Amber and I could go do ceramics at the Irvine studio - so that was good.

Adam and I are going ouuuutt tonight - to see Role Models. I am happy. It's been a good day.

Yesterday I finished ALL of the granny square bags I'd been working on. 6+ hours of sewing. I will post pics eventually.

Right now I need to go work on my essay before it's movie time!

sending gifts

This is going to be brief, because I am ridiculously tired and it's past my bedtime - but, I just wrapped up the Pollock Pencil Holder I sold a few days ago, to mail tomorrow, and I wanted to say...I LOVE wrapping the items I have sold. Every one I've wrapped has been totally different - I don't have one style I do for everything I sell, and I don't know if that's good or bad, but I like going through my materials and deciding which fit the item the best. Each package takes on it's very own handmade-ed-ness which I really like. There's also such a good warm and fuzzy feeling of sending a package all wrapped like that. It's not just a business transaction, I really feel as though I am giving a gift.

Tomorrow I want to take some work-in-progress photos of my granny square bags. I'll also write about my presentation tonight. I think it went well. It was a long day. Time for bed.

Time to unload

Phew. I have that feeling right now like life is starting to get just sllliiightly out of my control - and it would be very simple to solve that feeling, I just have to stop, breathe, and take the time to organize.

This feeling tends to be induced by a messy car. I don't know what it is with me and a messy car - but as soon as there starts to be more *stuff* than carseat, I start feeling a little anxious. It starts to feel like water is rising while I'm sitting at the drivers wheel, and it's stressful trying to keep my head above it. Like I said - ten minutes of cleaning out my car would do the trick, it's mostly just a bunch of jackets and water bottles and my karate clothes spread out in the backseat. But it's one of those things I procrastinate which then makes the rest of my life feel tense.

The other thing that is looming is a presentation I am doing tonight at Whittier College for work. It's turning into being a bigger deal than I thought (students are getting extra credit to come listen to me speak). I am wholly confident in my ability to get up and speak, but I am not wholly confident in my factual information regarding specific developmental disabilities, nor am I wholly confident in my power point. What would fix that? Spending a solid hour today updating the powerpoint to include the information I want it to include.

I have been doing okay with my sleep schedule - the last two nights I ended up sleeping around 11-11:20, which is getting to be a little too late again. I would really like to be in bed by 10 tonight. However, there is a Young Alumni Mixer that a few of my friends are going to, who I haven't seen for a long time, and it would be nice to see them. I don't get done with the presentation til about 7:30, then I want to go to karate, then am I meeting them for dinner AFTER that? I won't get to bed til midnight-ish if that's the case. I don' t know when I got to be such an old lady, but it's very apparent to me that I just WORK BETTER with more/earlier sleep.

I am also trying to get the newsletter for work DONE - I am trying to send the giant file to the printers. As soon as they say they have it, that will be a load off my shoulders.

Last night I attached handles to a few new bags, and started crocheting another one. The canvas straps that I bought at the fabric store seem to work well! I am excited by this prospect. My goal is to have enough stuff to sell at a craft fair in December. Amber and I talked to the lady who runs the Long Beach Sunday Craft Fair, and she said all she needs is a few days notice, so we are going to split a booth in December. I am SO excited about this! I am going to try to have a bunch of bags done, and some ceramics. It's time to crank up the production line.

Oh - one more little stressor is my psychology class. I need to spend all of my spare time reading my textbook - I have a quiz tomorrow, and I have one more chapter to read.

Last night Adam and I went to the gym and I did day 2 of Week 5 again. It's two 8 minute runs. This run was the easiest of any of them so far. I was really, really pleased with myself. I listened to Les Miserables and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and sang along in my head and actually enjoyed running. Could this turn into something I like to do after all?

I am still tracking my weight watchers points, I am into week 5 of doing that now also. I have no idea how much I weigh, but I feel really, really good, so that's all that matters. I'd like to start doing more crunches and ab things too - when I go to the gym I do things I could do at home..I just don't do them at home.

Okay. You know how I love my lists. Here is the list I am going to stick to today!

1. Call Commonwealth Printing, make sure they got the newsletter. Ask about timeline.
2. Tell Rudy what day Day Program should come help out.
3. Print labels (compare them to Bernard's, make sure I don't overlap)
4. Print Movie Night labels ready for Nancy when she gets here
5. Update powerpoint, print notes pages. Go through and decide who will say what.
6. Print directions to Whittier.
7. Bring extra paper/pens for activity.
8. Lunch, pick up Nancy, do other work.
9. Presentation
10. Karate
11. Stuart and Sal?
12. Wrap pencil holder.
13. Read at least a few pages.
14. Throw away trash in car

Tomorrow (friday)
1. Work
2. Read other chapter
3. Take quiz
4. Do activity/discussion board
5. Mail pencil holder
6. Go running
7. Sew linings for bags.

Okay. That's all for now. Enough updating, time to go do the things that will make it all better.

small update

Okay so my list yesterday didn't go so well. I did not water my plants, read my book, or do dishes. However, I did put away laundry, and I ended up going out with karate folks. I finished fingerless glove #3 (short gloves made with manos del uruguay) and I lurrrrve it. I did also stop at the discount fabric store and bought fabric for the lining of my bags. I also bought some of this cool canvas strap that I am hoping to turn into the handles for large bags - it'd be so much cheaper to do that than buy them...if they work.

I am going on Saturday to do ceramics again and I am so excited. Adam invited me to go climb Mt. Baldy with him - and I really would love to do that too, but the call of the clay is strong...

Looking at Rebecca's pieces, I am inspired all over again. Yes, this is the same Rebecca that I used to take ceramics with. I am so impressed by her stuff, it's ridiculous. It made me really, really, really want to use Bmix and polish up my pieces.

schedule

Tonight...
1. Stop at the discount fabric store for fabric lining
2. Stop at Joanne's for handles
3. Go home, with any spare time, wrap recently sold Pollock pencil holder, read textbook (or do dishes...)
4. Go to karate
5. Do not go out with karate folk
6. Go home, do dishes (if not previously done) and finish reading Chapter 8
7. Put away laundry
8. Water plants
9. Go to bed early

Tomorrow
1. Wake up early
2. Start reading Chapter 9
3. Work
3a Print more copies of internship/volunteer applications and flyer
3b send newsletter TO PRINTERS
3c go to Fullerton job fair
3d finish Whittier College powerpoint
4. Leave early - go to Post Office, mail Pollock order
5. Sew bags and stuff!
6. Find article for research paper

Thursday
1. Work, etc.
2. Whittier Thing til sorta late
3. karate hopefully

Friday
1. Work etc.
2. Leave early

Saturday
CERAMICS!

dr. horrible

By the way, for those of you who haven't watched Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible Sing-A-Long Blog....oh go find it. Really. Your world will be better. Neil Patrick Harris + Nathen Fillion? How could it not be amazing? Really - your awesome levels will increase.

photo time

Hi folks! I have had such a nice few days. But I don't have much time right now, so here is a photo blog... The f irst few photos are Dr. Horrible induced...also my excitement at Daniel bringing me a new card for my camera! I can now store the technical ammount of "two gajillion" photos.

The next photos are my two sisters and I, outside of the theater where Roxana performed admirably in And Then There Were None - the Agatha Christie. It was hard to get scared with Rosie and Daniel next to me whispering "that's what she said" after every other line.

Then, at dinner (fine dining of Subway) - they decided to neither speak, see, or hear...hardeeharhar.



This is my dad in his kitchen! I don't get to see him nearly often enough - the other night I went over there and we watched Top Chef together and had a heart to heart, which was really nice. He's always busy working (data analyst for Edison International) or coaching soccer, so it's always good to get to go watch movies or talk with him.

How I can make one day feel like three

Phew! Yesterday was a very long, very wonderful day! I have discovered the key to my having a good weekend - going to sleep by 10pm and waking up before 8am! Friday night I went to my dad's house and watched Top Chef with him, and then had along heart-to-heart. I was at home, asleep by about 10:30. I woke up around 7am the next morning, and spent a few hours happily sweeping, scrubbing, cleaning... then I headed over to Amber's house, where we stopped at Whole Foods, and then went to Aardvark's for clay, and then went down to the Irvine Fine Arts Center!

Now -for those of you who don't know, ceramics has been an obsession of mine since I was about 11. It actually started at the Irv.FAC - we went with Girl Scouts once. I loved it (although the first time I went, I was so excited, I went and got a bucket of water, and set it down on the wheelhead. The first thing they said to do was test the peddle. So I did. And water went FLYING. It was so embarrassing, but I survived.) Then, I was at Cypress College when I was about 13, and walked past this door...

I peered inside, and there was Bob Dylan and Tom Waits playing, murals painted all over the walls, the wheels, and the cubbies, and a big flashing sign that said "CERAMICS" and this silver haired woman with the brightest shirt I ever saw going around and encouraging everyone. I signed up for ceramics the next semester.

That class turned out to be so much more than a class for me. I stayed there for 5 years - they helped raise me. Char and all of the lab techs took me under their wings and taught me everything about throwing, glazing, and firing. Les would help me load the kiln, Ducky would show me how to use the power chisel to clean the shelves, and Jeremy let me raku with him. Oh, rakuing. That's a whole separate post. Oh man. My heart palpitates just thinking about it. Greg Morissey was the handbuilding/low fire glazing expert, Jim used to come up to me when I was learning how to center and thump my elbow and say "oops, center it again" so I learned how to center really well and really fast. John Danner and I started the same semester, and stuck together - he ended up making me some incredibly useful personalized tools, Rebecca, Fil, and Tifani started a little later, and when I met them, my life was complete! Rebecca now lives in Utah, but is still doing ceramics out there (and is thinking of opening her own etsy!) Fil lives who knows where, but apparently resurfaces every once in a while, and Tifani is her own fairytale, which I ruined, and is also another post.

My point is - I loved everything about it. I loved the actual act of throwing, loved the smell of clay, loved sticking my whole arm down in a glaze bucket, loved the old film of Paul Soldner rakuing, loved the day when we got to watch the slides of Char's favorite cups, loved the first day of class ("WOW" day she calld it - for "Weed out the Wusses") I LOVED cleaning that big beautiful silver sink and singing, taking breaks and hanging out on the patio by the aloe vera plant with all the smokers, organizing boxes in the clay cage, helping to load and unload kilns...I loved the precision of loading a glaze kiln, but I loved the bisque kiln because it was so big I could stand in it to load it.

Raku - originally a Japanese form of glazing, was Americanized and made popular by Paul Soldner, known as the Father of American Raku. He also happened to be one of Char's instructors when she was in school. He would come and visit, and every once in a while select students of Char's would get to go to his house for parties, potlucks, and sitting in his hot tub surrounded by the bush that looked like a water monster, and 80 different bonsai trees. I lived for the day Char deemed time to raku. At our studio it was a three person process - and my two favorite parts were definitly actually using the tongs and walking into the kiln to get the pieces, and watching the golden-molten glaze lift off in cotton-candy-thread-like pieces if they were stuck to the kiln shelves, and opening the lid of the reduction barrel - and the backdraft and smoke that would happen every time it opened. I actually lost my eyebrows once from that, and lit my ponytail on fire! Arm hair was a thing of the past. ;oP

Char ran an incredible studio. It was, as she always said she wanted it to be, a mini Utopia in a world where it's hard to find a perfect place.

Then she retired. I stayed on as lab tech for a few semesters after that, but it was too hard for me without her, and without most of the people who had been in class with me for 5 years. I moved to Wisconsin for a little while - found a spot where I did ceramics once, and cried the whole time.

Discovered the Irvine Fine Arts center, and I remember that I hated it the first time I went, for the sheer lack of Bob Dylan music and Char's big booming voice. I pretty much stopped doing any ceramics for a while.

But you know what? I couldn't quit it! I don't do it as much as I used to, that's for sure, but every once in a while my hands just ache for clay. I still get Char's voice about technique in my head when I throw, and I hope I am not forming any bad habits, but throwing for the sake of throwing is now just as enjoyable as it ever was.

However, I STILL HAVEN'T RAKUED SINCE CHAR RETIRED.
ohhh woe, woe, woe..

------
wow, I sure left my original post. Okay, I guess that illustrates how much I love ceramics..the point is, getting to go throw yesterday was a very good day for me. Amber and I threw from about 11am-4:30pm when they closed. I had to stop throwing because I ran out of clay, and did handles/trimmed cups for the last two hours. I forgot how quickly I can go through clay. Next time I will be bringing more.
I used Soldate 60 - which was our staple at Cypress College. It takes glaze well, and has enough sand in it that structurally it's fairly easy. Next time I might take some B-mix, just to get some really fancy schmancy glazed pieces.

There was a lady there yesterday that actually knew Char, and we started talking - she said she could see Char's influence in my pieces. I am not sure she meant that as a compliment, but I take it as one - Char was always after my pieces to be more dramatic and have more direction. I felt really good about these cups.

After ceramics, Amber and I went and had some sushi at a new little sushi place in Seal Beach, then got the dog and went for a run on the beach. It's day 2 of week 5 of Couch to 5k, and it wasn't so bad running with Amber. It helped to run on the boardwalk between houses and ocean - I LOVE running in neighborhoods. Imaginging the people who live in each house and looking at their design is what distracts me the best from running. Adam likes the gym so he can watch people and the tv, but that's not distracting enough for me. He also likes the park, which is nice, but I have to retreat really far into my own head for distraction.

By the time I got home, ADAM was also home, which was nice since I hadn't seen him since Wednesday morning. He left at 6am this morning after a good luck kiss for Ventura for his physical exam for the State Parks.

Alrighty, I think this post is now officially four times as long as any reasonable blog post should be. I am going to go get dressed and call Amber - today is a bike ride to the farmer's market, and going to my little sister's performance of And Then There Were None.

missing my man

harumph.

that's what I have to say this morning.

harumph.

Adam left Wednesday for his job doing National Forest Visitor Use Monitoring - he went all the way up to Monterey. I talked to him at about 7pm Wednesday - he was stuck in traffic in LA. When I got home, there were sticky notes everywhere "I'll miss you," "love ya babe," "don't worry, I'll be fine," etc. But now...two days later...I sure wish I had a phone call from him to make sure he got there fine and all is well. I am sure it is. Especially since the sticky note on my microwave keeps telling me so. But still. I miss him, it'd be nice to get a phone call. :)

The worst part is, he took the dog, so my house is SUPER empty. Luckily, for the last two nights, my little sister and her boyfriend have come over after karate and watched the office with me - I end up falling asleep before they leave, so it works out. I like my alone time, but I like it more on Sunday mornings in the daylight when there's a dog around. :P

So anyhoo - I am feeling the need for some Adam-loving, so here are some photos. These photos are us on the 1st Annual Disc Golf Road Trip last April. The one on the left is the last day we threw - it was a crazy great day. There were water holes, it was STUPID hot (we found a water spigot in a campsite and everyone totally doused themselves), and I made the most incredible 75 foot putt ever. The picture on the right is Adam earlier during that trip - one thing about him is he has a hard time sitting still when we go camping. I don't even bother setting anything up because then that takes away the stuff he can do. So he putters around putting everything together...and then tries to make things. Like fish hooks and fishing lines. So that's what this photo is.

I miss him! I know four days is not very long at all, but it is just strange to not have him around when I live with him, ya know? I guess it's good for us to have these little breaks every once in a while, I am going to be so happy when he comes home.

hello world

Oh my goodness.

So. I am so used to livejournal, where I have it set to email me anytime someone leaves a comment, that it didn't even occur to me that I may have been getting comments and not knowing it on here. I just clicked back through my archives - and - HI EVERYONE! Sorry I never responded! I had no idea! *laughs*

Well, that certainly, suddenly, made me feel like I was actually writing for an audience. It's funny, I was just talking to a fellow etsian at karate last night about how to continue being a blogger, you have to have a certain amount of narcisism and not care if anyone else is actually reading it. What great timing to find out that people are. :)

I am totally underprepared for my pyschology test today. I have karate tonight - and I am inspired all over again. I had the fastest stripe test from Mr. Fuller last night - I did my lessons, did a few strikes, and into third squat position I went. I actually felt like I deserved this stripe, just for the amount that I *cared* about it. It feels good to really care about karate again.

Photos: My little sister is the one with the blue gi (she's an instructor) and in the crazy-hair photo on the right. I'm the other one, holding the kali sticks. The crazy-hair photo is her at her blackbelt test making me more afraid of her than I've ever been.

earthquake preparedness

Something we are talking about a LOT at work is earthquake/disaster preparedness. We serve so many adults with developmental disabilities in so many different ways that it's really incredibly daunting trying to figure out how to be personally prepared, and support our clients. I am on the safety committee, and..well..phew, it's overwhelming.
I am glad for the chance to really think about my own preparedness, though - for those of you who don't live in Southern CA, WE HAVE EARTHQUAKES. :P We're about 150 years overdue for the next "big one" and in an effort to stem the flood of panic, I am trying to PREPARE!

Today we participated in the Great ShakeOut. Over 5 million folks participated - it was a HUGE earthquake drill. Schools, businesses, and individuals all over So Cal paused at 10am and pretended that we were having a 7.8 earthquake.

My first order of business is to make a Go Kit in my car - with food, water, first aid, etc. So no matter where I am, I can have it. Because it can be expensive to do that all at once, we put together a timeline for our employees to follow - one item every two weeks starting in January. I figured I'd post it here, so if you were so inclined to become better prepared yourself, for whatever type of emergency scares you the most, you could follow along!

Timeline

□ JANUARY 9th Water
3 Gallons (that’s enough for 1 person for three days) (Water in specialty disaster containers have a 5 year shelf life – regular water bottles have to be changed every year.)

□ JANUARY 23rd Food
Non-perishable food that doesn’t need cooking
Energy bars, dried fruit, jerky, peanut butter, canned food that can be eaten cold. Take a look in your cupboards for food you already have!
Also remember: can opener if using canned foods, salty foods make you thirstier, do you have any allergies or special needs?
Enough for three days

□ FEBRUARY 27th First aid kit
Target, Home Depot, Rite Aid, and Walmart all have first aid kits starting from $4.99+

□ MARCH 9th Comfortable, sturdy shoes
Don’t throw away your old pair, they’ll last you for three more days!
□ MARCH 9th Change of clothes
If you can’t spare anything from your closet, make a trip to a thrift store for something your size.

□ MARCH 24th Cash and coins
So you don’t have to worry about using an ATM in an emergency, and to use a payphone if your cell phone doesn’t work

□ MARCH 24th Important phone numbers
Put inside a ziplock baggie to make sure they don’t get ruined. Maybe you could put your change in there also, in case you have to make a payphone call!

□ MARCH 24th Emergency Blanket
Sometimes they are included in the first aid kit!

□ APRIL 9th Flashlight with batteries

□ APRIL 24th Hygiene kit
Tissues/toilet paper/feminine products/medication/hand sanitizer, etc.

Andrea's Scarf!

This is the scarf that has been occupying my life for the last few weeks. I can't believe it's done. What will I do without it? Oh, I know...everything I haven't been doing!

My cousin ordered this custom scarf for a friend of his. It was supposed to match a hat she has - he took a stealth photo of this hat with his cell phone, and that's what I went off of.

She wanted "easter colors," for it to be "flat, but not ribbed," "soft but not fluffy" and with no fringe. I did my best! I ended up doing seed stitch to keep it flat without the ribbing, and I laboriously taught myself how to do intarsia to get the sort-of-almost plaid look that her hat has.

My cousin is giving her the scarf today - I don't think I've ever been so nervous about a custom order in my life. :)

The first photo is me with the scarf covering my face, the second photo is my little sister, and the last photo is my sister with her boyfriend. I kidnapped them last night after karate and made them watch the WoW SouthPark episode, then we watched The Office until I fell asleep.

I am so looking forward to working on my other projects now that this scarf is done. I need to totally finish JW's bag, which means I need to sew the lining, and then I can start listing the things I've been neglecting!

This Saturday I will be going to the Irvine FAC so I can do ceramics - I want to include some of my pieces in a corporate gift basket that AbbeyLane is putting together.

ATTENTION ETSIANS!

As you may or may not know, I work for a company called Project Independence. We serve adults with developmental disabilities all throughout Orange County. That means we help over 750 people who have mental retardation, autism, and Down Syndrome live more independently. We do this through several programs - Independent Living, Supported Employment, Behavioral Supports, Day Programs, Banking and Budgeting, and Access to Adventure, our travel/recreational program.

We are a non-profit organization, and it is frequently hard to provide every service we wish we could give. This December we are holding a Holiday Ball in Anaheim for all of our clients - and one thing we would like to do is give every client a gift. Sadly, we can't afford to buy a present for every single person, so we are holding a raffle instead!

I have been soliciting items from corportations and businesses - and it suddenly occurred to me that I am part of a community that could make a HUGE difference! Why didn't I think of it before? Etsy + Raffle items = THE BEST GIFTS EVER!

So I am asking you, my fellow fine-feathered etsy folk, to donate something beautiful and handmade to our Holiday Raffle. I have a Federal tax ID # to give to you, and you will be listed in the next newsletter as a supporter of our organization. So not only will it make you feel warm and fuzzy, but you'll be spreading the joy of making and giving handmade to a population that has been exposed plenty to what they see in tv commercials, but maybe not to the fabulous handmade creation YOU can make!

Please contact me either through a comment on this page, through a conversation on my etsy site (royaboya.etsy.com), or by emailing me at rsorooshian@proindependence.org

THANK YOU ETSIANS! Together we can save the world from mass production!

--Roya

oh you know, stuff

Well, yesterday's doctor's appointment turned out to be a big emotional drain/letdown/hopeful visit. It was a weird mix. I didn't end up getting a biopsy...but I also don't feel very good about making progress in figuring out exactly what is going on. The doc gave me something else to try for another month, and, yet again, we'll just have to "wait and see." Grr.

On the upside, Adam took me to the doctor's and was wonderful and supportive and made me realize, yet again, how good it is to have someone like him to be able to lean on. I have a hard time asking for things like "hey I'm nervous about the doctor, I'd like your physical presence, will you go with me?" I remember once I had to go to the emergency room when we were first together, and I got my mom to go with me - I'm used to depending on her! It's a funny transition going from her to boyfriend, you know? But Adam did make it very clear that it's both that I *should* ask him of these things, but he really *wants* me to. I can understand that. I love to "be there" for him - it would hurt if I were never given that opportunity.

After the doctors, we had lunch at Souplantation, then I went home, did some work (I was working from home for the rest of that day) and then watched The Office while I knitted. I am working on my fingerless gloves in order to survive my freeeeeezing office.

Tonight is picture night at the karate studio, and I need to do some reading for psychology. Adam is frantically heading to Monterey as I type, and I turned down an invitation to go to Mammoth this weekend in order to see Roxana's show, And Then There Were None.

As far as karate goes - I hit a slump a few months back where I was just not interested. I had to force myself to go, and it took a long time for me to get into it once I was there. I consciously made the decision not to give in to that, and reestablished myself at the studio. Tonight I am testing for my first stripe on my greenblack belt, and I am excited about being excited. I am doing two lessons - one is a right forearm hammer to the back of the neck while stimultaneously kneeing them in the groin. This makes them bend over, and I do a choke on my right side (while making sure my right foot is placed beside theirs), then I plant my right foot behind them, and do a right sweep, which takes them to the floor. Then I do a stomping side kick to their throat with my right foot.

The second lesson I am doing, we both start left side up, they throw a straight punch, I block with my left (upwindmill block), then do a straight one-knuckle punch to their ear. I do a right side kick to their knee, which brings them to their knees. I do a right backhand to their neck, then I do a left upperarm strike to their throat while bringing them in to a four knuckle upper cut to the back of their head, almost in a scooping motion.

I am starting now preparing my lessons for my blackbelt test. These will be the first two I do. I will now never stop doing these lessons.

Friday morning I would like to wake up early enough to go running on the beach, since it's dark by the time I leave work now. Day 2 of the Couch to 5k involves two 8 minute runs. Adam will try to do his while he's camping in Monterey, so I have to make sure I do it before he comes home and wants to run 20 minutes straight.

Alrighty - that's all from me for now. I will miss Adam, but I am also looking forward to not having to negotiate what we watch on tv. :) Romantic comedies and "stupid" tv shows, HERE I COME! ;)

I've been tagged!

I was just tagged by leakymouth! I have to mention 7 random facts about me, then tag 7 others to do the same.

Here's the rules:Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.~ Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.~ Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog.~ Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

The FACTS:

1. I am an elementary school drop out! My mom pulled me out of school to homeschool at the end of 4th grade. I consider myself an "unschooler" which means we never did curriculum or set lesson times or anything - we just lived life and learned because we are naturally curious people! I spent my time with swim teams, girl scouts, Rainbow Kids (our homeschooling park day group), and Bard in the Yard, the LB Shakespeare Company, until I was about 13. Then I also added classes at Cypress College, and fell in with the ceramics department. I did a lot of traveling, spent a lot of time in the ceramics studio, and eventually transferred to a 4 year university - although I would still, to this day, consider myself an unschooler.

2. My name means "sweet dreams" in farci. My dad is from Iran, he moved here in his early twenties to go to school. My parents met at USC - my dad was the only person in a tough economics class that got an A on the first test so my mom decided to study with that guy. She speaks farci as well, even though she's as white/blonde as can be from Long Beach, but they both speak it less now that they aren't trying to keep secrets from their little children. Farci was my first language, but I lost it when I started going to school. I can say "devar moosh derat moosh goosh derat" which means "the walls have mice and the mice have ears."

3. I have, on occasion, been asked to speak at homeschooling conferences around the country. One of my favorite talks EVER was the mom and daughter talk I did at the Live and Learn conference in Saint Louis, home of The City Museum. This year I will be speaking at the Good Vibrati0ns conference in San Diego.

4. I spent the summer of 2007 as an assistant Back Country Ranger for the Alaska State Parks. My boyfriend and our giant german shephard spent a week driving up to Alaska in his dad's white truck, camping along the way. The closest town to where we were was Willow - start of the Iditarod. Of course, Willow was basically a post office and a library, and The Burger Bus. The place we drove to to get groceries was Wasilla - now known as the home of Sarah Palin. We were working at Nancy Lake State Park Recreation Area - at the end of the road there was a trail that headed out to Red Shirt Lake. It was 3 miles to get from our truck to our cabin out at the lake. It was an amazing summer - one that I wish every day I could replicate. At "night" (lots of daylight, remember) we would sit in our yard and watch the eagles, the beavers, and the moose.

5. I once spent about 6 months living in Madison, Wisconsin. I heard Ralph Nader speak, learned how to knit, spent a lot of time walking, read every PJ Wodehouse in the library, worked at a Quaker camp, set my apartment on fire, shopped at the Co-op, got hit by a car, saw fireflies for the first time, lived in snow for the first time, spent a lot of time going to the farmers market, to state street, and using a friend's spinning wheel.

6. I once weighed 201 pounds. The day I stepped on the scale and was over 200 pounds I realized I needed to do something. That day I started exercising and watching what I ate. I lost 50 pounds. I lost the initial 50 by myself (well, with support from people, but no official "program") but now I am doing the weight watchers thing and tracking my points. Healthy living, exercising, and eating good food are huge parts of my life now - I can honestly say I have been changed forever. It's also not about how much I weigh anymore, but about adopting certain guidelines in my life and just feeling good! I never knew that I would get to where I would feel out of sorts and icky if I didn't exercise. Now it's a part of making my day good.

7. I want to run an art camp - I have wanted to do this since I was about 11, and it's something that burns inside of me and doesn't go away. Everything I do is with the thought that it might one day assist me with this goal. My degree is in Recreation and Leisure Studies, with certificates in Outdoor Recreation and Non-Profit Management. My current job is to run the volunteers/interns program we have, and to run Access to Adventure - the travel/recreational/social program for our clients. Our clients are all adults who have developmental disabilities, and one of the most rewarding parts of my job are not arranging transportation to Disneyland, etc, but putting on art workshops every few months and seeing the results. I am currently taking some online psychology classes in order to get my next degree - one in Art Therapy. Ohhhhhh how I want this camp!

so that's me, folks, and my 7 facts. I am now going to tag the following seven folks:

1. http://www.heidilogic.wordpress.com/

2. http://www.shellmitchell.blogspot.com/

3. http://maryeb-blog.blogspot.com/

4. http://twozanyzebras.blogspot.com/

5. http://lazytcrochet.blogspot.com/

6. http://lostmittenblog.blogspot.com/

7. http://paperwires.blogspot.com/

alphainventions

So I am using alphainventions... but I don't exactly know what it is. But I figured I should link to them. :)

My 2nd calorimetry

This is my 2nd calorimetry - made with manos del uruguay. It was a pleasure to knit! It fits better than the first one - I made it with smaller needles, and did a tighter bind off, so it doesn't have a funny little frill at the edge. YAY!

roya plus yarn

So these are the adventures of Roya, Amber, and dying yarn with kool aid! We each bought two skeins of 100% wool to work with. In this photo, I am separating mine - I did 5 different batches so I could play with colors. Amber did two really big ones.


The next few pics are the yarn heating up - we mixed the kool aid in cold water first, then added the yarn. At first we were worried that it wouldn't take, because the yarn didn't really soak up the water like we thought it would. We had to scoosh it around with a fork for it to submerge. But then we heated up the water and the yarn just soaked it up. The only issue we had was once the yarn went over the edge of the pot a leeetle too much, and sort of caught on fire...so I have one skein that's now a bunch of smaller pieces. :P
























After we dyed it and rinsed it, I hung it up in the backyard to dry. Pretty cool looking, huh? I like having curtains of yarn outside my kitchen window.
And here are the final products!

Tuesday morning update

I am so sleepy, that for once I am glad it's cold in my office. Last night Adam and I went to the gym pretty late - I worked on mah abs for a while and did the elliptical, and then we did day one of WEEK FIVE of the couch to 5k program. Holy cow, this week is going to kill me. But I do feel really good after I run - I hope I don't stop. It's pretty miserable, but I keep hearing people talk about how much they love to run and I want to be like them! :P I can see running has the potential, but right now, it's just pain. But I'm sticking with it - I have gone running three times a week for the last 5 weeks, so one day I hope it'll turn into a fun, good habit.

I made cupcakes on sunday using yellow cake mix and a diet soda. Very interesting. It totally worked and I was mucho suprised. I definitly want to experiment with this!

Adam will be gone from Wednesday to Saturday and then gone again all day Sunday. I feel the need for an Office Marathon with my little sisters already.

Today I have a doctor's appointment - that all throughout writing this post is what I've been thinking of. I finally have an appointment with a specialist, and I am a little (more than a little) nervous, but trying not to be. Wish me luck.

The thing that I keep focusing on is being able to finish my second calorimetry in the waiting room. I am knitting it with smaller needles and a smaller weight yarn - manos del uruguay, which is my one true love. then I am going to make some fingerless gloves using my kool aid yarn.

Here I go!

perfect sunday

Yesterday was one of those perfect weekend days that you just don't want to end. It started early (for me) I woke up at 7am, and didn't go back to sleep! That was great, because I love wakign up early, I just also love *not having to* - so I watched the new episode of The Office (my personal addition), and hung around with Adam, did laundry, dishes, etc. Then I went over to a friend's house, where I used to live in Seal Beach (while my parent's house was being rebuilt after the fire), and we headed over to Long Beach to go to the farmer's market! I am madly, deeply, ridiculously in love with farmer's markets, and have been meaning to go to this one for ages and just keep missing it (it's over at 1pm and somehow I never get there on time). I bought green beans, snap peas, apples, corn, bok choi, onions, carrots, etc. etc. etc. Then we headed over to Sunset Beach and went for a bike ride with a friend of hers.

The weather was beautiful - clear, bright blue sky - and a WIND like you would not believe. Riding south towards huntington beach, we didn't even need to peddle. Unfortunately, on the way back to sunset, we sure made up for it. I think I am still getting sand out of my teeth. :P

Theennn we headed to 2nd street to meet up with some of her old friends at Legends, then went to Alamitos Bay Yarn company - our local yummy yarn store. We spent a huge amount of time in there watching a lady do some needle felting, which I can feel in my bones is going to be a new obsession one day soon. Then we headed to Michaels to buy some cheaper yarn, and stopped at the store to buy kool aid packets, got back to my house, and..

dyed yarn with kool aid! It was AWESOME. The colors turned out really amazingly bright - we used a few packets of the ice blue lemonade for blue, fruit punch for red, the limeade for the green, lemonade for yellow, and half grape half strawberry for the purple. Each color turned out really vibrant - we mixed it in the various pots, added the yarn, then turned up the heat. The yarn totally soaked up all the color, and by the time we poured out the leftover water, it was devoid of all color and poured out clear. We rinsed the yarn, and hung it up on hangers in the backyard to dry. I will try to post some of those photos soon.

Afterwards I made a stirfry with all the veggies I bought at the farmers market, we ate food, she went home, and Adam and I cuddled and watched our sunday night ritual tv shows. I didn't sleep til about midnight - so it was a long, satisfying, wonderful day, full of good food, good company, art, and physical activity. Hoo-rah.

of course, my kitchen is a mess because I didn't feel like cleaning it up last night, but... ah well. That's what tonight is for.
Tonight I also need to do some reading for my abnormal psychology class. I am taking it online, which is useful, but I am fascinated by this subject and wish I had a teacher and classroom full of students to discuss it all with. The chapters I just read were about anxiety disorders, phobias, obsessive compulsiveness, and PTSD. So now every time my heartrate accelerates I end up thinking about panic attacks, but such is the nature of this class.

I am almost finished with week 3 of tracking my points, a la weight watchers. I haven't lost any significant weight, but I know I am eating better and I am proud of myself for it. The key to my success this time does seem to be making sure I write everything down once a day - no skipping days! Also, I have collected a variety of websites which have done all the point calculating for me, so it makes it easier. It's lunchtime, which is why I am now starting to think FOOD FOOD FOOD. I have leftover stirfry and some tomato soup, and new Manos del Uruguay I am going to knit on my break.

Idyllwild

Yesterday after work I drove up to Idyllwild where Adam was working (doing National Forest Visitor Use Surveys), and surprised him there! I love that drive - once you get to the 243, anyway - and it seems like such a fairytale to be driving up these curvy mountain roads surrounded by hills with no trees, just tall grass and boulders that look like they were just randomly tossed there. Then, once I got up into the oaks and pines the light was getting ready to disappear and it was one of the nicest drives I've ever had. The directions I had actually got me to Adam's jeep and the look on his face as I came up the trail made it all worth it!

We ate dinner at the Good Times cafe (yum, yum, yum - and every single person who went through that door KNEW the owners. I want to live somewhere like that), and then set up our tent at the county site. We lit a fire, I drew with charcoal and sang for a few hours, then when we realized we were falling asleep, we headed for the tent. Sometime in the middle of the night we woke up and after some confusion, realized that our tent was *SIDEWAYS* and we were looking straight out of the top. We had half an hour of giggling madly pretending like we were in a spaceshuttle. Turns out our tent is so little and flimsy, when Rommel scooches up against the side, he can actually turn the whole thing. The light was amazing when we finally woke up again this morning.

My overwhelming feeling since hitting the 243 yesterday was an increase in my desire to live in a mountain town. It made me so sad to head home today - thinking that I had to get in my car and drive two hours just to see trees. Everything was golden and red and crunchy, and the air was - well, you know, the air that you get at 7000 feet, and I couldn't help it but the whole time we were driving through trying to pick out which cabin I would want to live in.

Anyhoo - I am babysitting tonight, and will hopefully get a lot of knitting on Alex's scarf done. Tomorrow Amber comes over, and I'd like to go to the farmer's market.

Friday morning

Today I apparently have allergies. I have never had allergies before. I am not sure what to do about it, other than just sneeze and sniffle a lot. Maybe it's not really allergies and I am getting sick. I don't know which would be better. :P I need to drink a lot of water today.

It's a hard day to be at work - the sky puts crayola cerulean to shame - *leaves* are actually falling. It's warm outside and so cold in my office. It's Friday, and there are very few people here.

I am making some progress with Alex's scarf - it's very cool. After this one I am excited to use my new intarsia skills and do all sorts of images and patterns. Although I do think my first order of business after this scarf is to knit myself some fingerless gloves. Holy moly it's cold in here.

Yesterday my big afternoon project was cleaning out The Closet of Doom and organizing my desk to make it more ergnomically friendly. My intern and I did great things - she tackled The Closet of Doom with a verociousness that I lack when cleaning, and I timidly approached my desk drawers. I have to admit, that it was all worth it this morning when I got to my office and was surprised all over again by how nice and uncluttered it was. Just another reminder for me that I really do work better when I am organized and uncluttered - the physical clutter feels like it messes up my brain. Sadly, being organized/not messy does not come naturally to me, but it's definitly worth being conscious of it and making it happen anyway.

I really like my job, but I am looking forward to the day when I don't have to work fulltime. This is a huge motivator for me to get my master's - I want to do what my mom did, which was be at home with her kids during the day, and teach nights. That sounds just about right.

It's time for me and my puffy eyes to go do some work - yesterday I mailed the first notice regarding our next big trip - the 2009 Walt Disney World Resort and Cruise! I am anticipating many a call for that today. I'm excited - this will be my first big trip that I orchestrate from start to finish, and I feel really good about it. We've got a year to plan (we'll be going Nov. 2009) and I learned a lot from the Alaska cruise.

I also have a newsletter to finish, so that's what I am going to go do now. (the photo is one I took of a bald eagle in Sitka, AK when I was there on the Cruise.)

It's only 4:20 and it's starting to get dark outside. Tonight my plan is to stay here and read my psychology book until about 7:15, then I'll head to karate. After karate I will go out for a little while with folks - but not eat - just knit - and work on Alex's scarf. Then home, and sleep, and tomorrow - take the quiz and work and do the discussion questions/activity.

Amber is coming over tomorrow night to knit, and between work and that would be a good chance to get caught up on sweeping, dishes, cleaning the bathroom and laundry.

Adam will be in the San Jacinto mountains friday and saturday and invited me...I'd have to drive up by myself Friday night and then drive home by myself Saturday. I can't decide if I want to. It'd be nice to have a leisurely day at home alone - bake a cake with diet soda and maybe go running by myself at the beach.

Who knows. I'd go in a second if I didn't have to drive. :P

it feels like fall!

Oh my gosh, this morning it feels like fall. I need to knit myself some fingerless gloves so I can sit in my freezing office at work and actually type. I love mornings like this morning - I woke up so warm and in blanket-nest, and there was pastel sunshine like only fall can have, and I knew as soon as I got out of bed it'd be chilly, but I got to snooze for ten minutes and just scrunch down in the warm and sunshine.

Last night (this morning, technically) around 1:00am Adam and I went running again - this time in the park. We were visited by all three coyotes again - they are getting incredibly bold. Adam now runs with a large stick just in case. I tried for a while, but it's annoying, so I gave up any pretense of badassedness.

We did a 3 minute run then a 5 minute run, twice. Adam says he feels improvement, but I just feel tired. I guess mentally there is an improvement - five minutes does not seem like the end of the world the way it felt the first time we did this set. We made the mistake of looking ahead to next week - the first day are 3 5 minute runs, then there are two 8 minute runs, and then 1 TWENTY MINUTE RUN. Yikes. I am afraid, but also looking forward to the challenge. I am liking the idea of being able to just run and run, even if I am cursing under my breath while we do it.

My coworker just came in while I was writing this and put in an order for an African Kufi for black history month. I am excited. He's been such a huge supporter of my work - has bought 1 birthday present and 3 christmas presents so far from me.

I now need to make a to do list for all my orders:

1. Finish JW's bag - which means

going to the fabric store and buying nice black liner, sewing liner

2. Wrapping JW's bag, SC's scarf and KG's scarf in christmas wrapping

3. Wrapping EL's picture frame in christmas wrapping

4. Take a photo of JW's bag to put on alchemy

5. Take a picture of all of them wrapped for appreciation pictures

6. Make Alex's Andrea's scarf - finish by Nov. 12th!! (I am so proud of this scarf - I taught myself how to do intarsia on this one. I had a picture of a hat to go by, and it's WORKING. It's just going slower than I'd like.)

7. Make Noemi's sister's coin purse with a crown (since she's a "princess") in pink, black, and gold.

8. Finish the 5 bags and 4 makeup bags I have in progress (buy liner, sew liner, attach handles, put in zippers, etc.)

9. List them!

10. Voila.

Meanwhile, I have an abnormal psychology class I NEED to catch up on today, (quiz tomorrow), work, and dishes like you wouldn't believe. Also - my cabbage and lettuce is getting eaten by something and I want it to stop. My tomatoes and strawberries are doing good, but I am afraid for the rest of my garden.

Tomorrow evening Amber will be coming over to knit with me, so I hope to get a lot of Alex's scarf done then.

I have so many things I want to do that I can't decide so I am running around in circles it feels like! Guess it's time to quit dreaming about the things I will do when I get home and get to work.

Today Adam and I tried something new and went to the gym to run instead of going to the park. I am all for the gym - but not for this. I miss the cold air and coyotes following us and it just being the two of us (and Rommel) (and a few coyotes) in the entire world.

I am so excited about the election. Excited/nervous. I think which one it is depends on how it goes.

Please oh please, no on Prop 8.

one more day, one day more!

Any fans of Les Miserables in the hizouse? This made me laugh, and then it made me sing.

Hi everybody! It's November! Woohoo! With November comes Thanksgiving, my birthday, no change in the weather (Orange County, CA), and time for a new team etsy blogger update! First things first, this month's featured etsy blogger is storybeader! Her jewelry is fantastic - the photo is the piece of hers that caught my eye right off.

One of the most unique things about her pieces, though - is not just the beautiful jewelry, but also that each piece comes with a haiku, written specifically for that piece! It makes me want to order some just to see what she writes about them. :)

Storybeader is also a huge help for the etsy bloggers team, and, of course, keeps a blog! You can read all about her jewelry, see photos of dogs in costume and more, here: her blog.

Really - go check out her stuff, I am a huge fan of blogging, a huge fan of etsy, a huge fan of haikus, and a huge fan of jewelry - so when they are all combined, it makes magic. :)

rommel and my braided rug

Here is my puppy dog taking a nap on the very first braided rug I ever made. It's the product of..oh..years of tears and frustration. It's made out of tshirts I cut into strips then braided. I have been trying to make braided rugs for evvver, and there was always something wrong with them- usually a puckering that I just couldn't control. When I moved to Huntington Beach, the first thing I did was get a library card, and spent a marvelous hour or so wandering around in the basement getting completely lost in the decimal system. I happened to find what looked like a really old book about braiding rugs...and lo and behold, I found the tools to magically fix all puckering problems. :)

on our way home

Happy, tired ride home.

riley's farm

apple orchards!

These are photos from yesterday when Adam, Rommel and I went to the Apple Orchards.


First we have my pooped out boyfriend - at our very first stop that day, mind you.








Adam got very excited by the idea of a zoo. He saw the ostriches and that was it. He spent a good 75 cents on corn kernels to throw at them. There were actually some pretty cool birds there - also, a pig that just wandered the property, a "trout fishing pond" (a large bathtub literally teeming with stocked trout), a goat named Mad Max wearing a hat, llamas, emus, and the smelliest goats I have ever seen.






The actual act of throwing the corn. Yes indeed. I am a thorough photo journalist.

calorimetry

Time for some photo journaling, my fine feathered friends!















Here are some photos of the calorimetry that I made today. I like it. I think next time I would make it with WAY brighter yarn, and make it slightly smaller. Also - I wouldn't bind off so loosely.

oh man, three cheers for gaining an hour today. I needed it! Yesterday Adam, Rommel and I went up to the Apple Orchards, which was wonderful. It was cool (it rained today) and there were fall colors, and apples on the trees, and chestnuts and apple cider... we went all over the place, finally eating lunch at Riley's farm and then heading home. We have a jug of apple cider in the fridge and half a peck of red delicious' on the counter.

Today I was an exhibitor at the Down Syndrome Association of Orange County's annual Buddy Walk at the Angel's Stadium. Sadly, it rained and rained and rained - so we couldn't really set up our whole booth, but we hung out for about 4 hours and watched all the folks walking. It was a much larger event than I'd anticipated - next year it'd be neat to get a lot of people there, including our clients. It's kind of Relay-for-Life-esque, but with more little kids.

Now I am at home, wishing I were warmer - I am in love with this pattern that Heidi found so I might take a break from crocheting my granny square coin purses and make something for myself. Oh yeah - I am pausing on the granny square bags and going for coin purses of all sizes - I am crocheting them and then putting a liner and zipper. So far, they are cute, I just want to make them extra special so I am going to put them down for a while and let the ideas for them percolate. Also - I've been crocheting so much lately that I really miss knitting, and it'd be nice to make something for meeee!

I can't believe it's already Sunday afternoon. Man. I am so tired of working fulltime. I want more days to myself.