Whew.

Only a few more days left in the week.

And, no learning and conditioning class on Thursday, but still I have Reading Processes.

Good thing: I am DONE with my first exam of the semester--so on Friday, I am going to buy myself a Trollbead for all my hard work (even if I made up answers for my question about Panic Disorders and Anxiety Attacks. What's funny is that my classmate also made up the same, or similar answer).

This is what I am getting:--Carly by Trollbeads. The story: A distinct voice and a unique personality. Carly Simon was one of the strong female artists of the seventies, who made quite the statement in the music scene with her hit “You’re so vain”.

I can't wait!!! I've not bought any beads since August (when my class ended). I've been very good about not randomly buying beads, but still have been lusting over them. Can you tell I am completely hooked???

In knitting news, I will be working on the tech bag sometime soon (my SnB group is having a knit-a-long)-- Andi over at KnitBrit.com will be teaching us all how to do that.

Argh

I have finished grading exams for my professor. Problem though--I need to do a corrected exam score, because no one-- I repeat -- NO ONE got a score in the A range! Ugh. And the prof gave me some complicated way of adding points to the grade, but I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to do it. I'm tempted to just make the highest score a 100%, since only 5 people actually ended up in the "B" range, before a corrected score. We'll see. I'll sleep on it tonight.

Know what's cool?

What's really cool?

Today one of the volunteer editors saw a picture of a hat that I knitted, and they put it up on the front page of that particular pattern--check it out! Very cool, isn't it?

And in other news--I am back to teaching, and taught my first class today, which went better than I thought it would. Now just need to get through the rest of the semester--LOL! Tomorrow I will write my lecture (somehow) and start grading exams. Hopefully the math will click for my students on Wednesday.

I'm skipping Rhinebeck this year, though :( Oh well.

Pooped

Frankly, I'm just a wee bit pooped. It's been a stressful couple weeks, what with school getting turned topsy-turvy, and my schedule changing like crazy. Not to mention endless meetings with professors and not a whole lot of time to myself. (But when I DO have time, I end up knitting a couple rows and watching a sitcom or something). Essentially, in the last week, I've had about 3 or 4 meetings with various professors and people of importance, which is tiring, considering one of them works at a hospital about an hour away. Well, actually that one isn't a professor, but rather, a former professor of mine, who I'll be doing my independent study with. For those who knew me back in the day, when I went to college, the words "independent study" combined with "short" and "balding" should give you an idea who I'll be working with. Not that I mind, but I'm just exhausted thinking about it. Despite that, I still wake up super early in the mornings--I blame all those early morning meetings that I've been running to!

One of the other professors that I met is one that had surgery this Wednesday. In anticipation for surgery, they quickly arranged for me to teach his undergraduate course in hearing science, and need I say, I barely remember any of those topics. And it frightens me when I tell people I am going to teach hearing science, and then they grimace, and brightly say, "Oh, you'll be great!" This includes the aforementioned former professor as well as some of my PhD student colleagues. I'll just tell my students to bear with me for a week or so; they do know that this was a sudden thing. Hopefully they'll forgive all the math that I may butcher. (By the way, I really don't like math, despite the fact that I have, in the span of about 4 semesters, taken three statistics courses).

The sad part is that when I knit (unless I am taking the time for appointment TV -- that is, Ugly Betty or Dancing with the Stars), I feel like I'm wasting time! And that's not a good way to be! I blame the PhD program!

Yes, I am alive!

I actually haven't been posting lately, mostly because (1) I've been lazy, or (2) haven't been knitting THAT much. Some, but not a lot. But I made some little baby sweaters with some oddball yarns that I have left over. One is this one:

It's a sweater from Debbie Bliss baby. Actually, i made another one, it's pinkish (actually makes me think of froot loops) but I dont' know where it is. it is somewhere in my mom's suitcase, and it's been squirreled away for my cousin, who is expecting a baby girl sometime this fall. I'm afraid to dig through her suitcase, because I dont' want to mess anythign up.

I'm also working on my Boatneck sweater from Fitted Knits. Had some issues with it (wrong gauge! Ack!) But I will be patient as possible!

I've also started classes again, so I was rather stressed out for a couple weeks, and not sleeping well. But a week or so ago, Amy, Martha, Andi, and I went down to Columbus for a yarn trip, really enjoyed Temptation Yarns. we also checked out Yarnmarket, which was pretty impressive and has a lot more yarn than you think it would.

In other (exciting) news--I have a ravelry account! Find me at jukeboxheroine! Whee! It's addicting, like myspace or facebook. But without the crazy blond hos who want to be your "friend."

Post #101

Well, I didn't realize that my last post was the 100th post! If I'd known, maybe I would have done something celebratory? (P.S., I apologize in advance for any wonkyness in the way the blog post looks--for all the empty spaces and words that blogger refuses to change. Oh well.)

But over the past few weeks, here is what has happened: I am in class (ugh), BUT it's not too bad, just at a lousy time in the day: right smack dab in the middle of the afternoon. But at least my friend Tameka (blogless) is in it, as well as this guy, who was in my quant class all last semester...but I couldn't figure out where I had seen him, and I found him on friendster.com. Turns out we both went to the same, small undergraduate college--and lived in the same DORM. Hilarity ensued--but even more so when this other guy (he looks a couple years older than me) overheard us and mentioned that he also went the same college, too. Ha! Small world!

But in terms of knitting content:

This is the Sunflower Tam from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughn. Very pretty. A little aggravating at times to knit, becuase I had to pay attention to which stitches I was on, and oops, I dropped some stitches off the dpns at the end. And the tam makes my head look big, but it is kind of cute. I may make another of these in a different yarn, too. It's kind of hard to resist the pattern.

I also started a knitting project this past Tuesday from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel, and I have the yoke finished, and the beginnings of one sleeve. I'm really pleased. It's my exercise in stash-busting. After this, I think I'll try the mohair wrap sweater in Fitted Knits, or maybe something with this nice caramel colored yarn that I have.

In other non-knitting news, I am still in love with Trollbeads. We had our first private bead party on Friday, and actually it turned out to be fun and a good thing--and I'm hoping we'll have a few more in the future (it's a good way to make a good deal of profit in a couple hours. Not to mention that there are some CUTE trollbeads out now for the summer--such as this one:

From top to bottom : The Juggler, Circus Elephant, and Double Flower

The story behind the Juggler: The three balls (pearl, coral and lapis lazuli) dance through the air faster and faster, while the juggler slowly and effortlessly bends her back around the chain till she is standing on her head. A world-class artist.

The story behind Circus Elephant: The circus elephant is everybody's favorite. It tumbles good naturedly around the circus ring in its own playful way.

The story behind Double Flower (which is prettier in person, too): In the summer night, they open up. Fragile and soft in the moonlight, up against the cobalt blue sky that never really darkens this time of year.

A true sign of geekdom.

If you take this test, let me know how you scored!

Your Score: The Cultured One

70 Opera Composers, 60 Pasta

Great job! You were able to identify many pastas and many opera composers. This classifies you as a wonderful. And a nerd.

Link: The Pasta or Opera Composer Test written by batedserenity on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Whew!

All right, so I am back from vacation! I actually did sit down here a few times after I came home, but the idea of writing every single thing down into this blog just exhausted me to death. So here is a very quick rundown (as quick as I can make it).

Sunday (departure from Cleveland): We miss our flight (leaving at 8:30 AM. Damn. We're not sure if it's our fault or the airlines, or no one's. The line was impossibily long. We get booked on the 12:45 flight instead). In a way it is a good thing, because I was on the flight with someone I used to work with on my rotations, and my family actually got to eat a leisurely breakfast before we went. (And lunch, too, even though they also served us breaded chicken patty sandwiches, a salad and M&Ms.) But the best part?

This:






















I wasn't even brave enough to get near Anderson Varejao (for those of you not in the know, he's one of the Cleveland Cavaliers). My brother, on the other hand, has no shame, so he asked the guy for a picture with him. Anderson Varejao is incredibly nice, by the way. And I'm sure the girl with him (girlfriend? Quick shag? not sure) thought it was hilarious that all the people in the airport kept bugging the guy for pictures.

Arrival in Las Vegas: HOT Even though I hated the humidity in Ohio, this was worse. I baked instead of steamed. We did see the Bellagio (the dancing water fountain is beyond awesome--"Singing in the Rain").

Monday: Went all over to different hotels/casinos, and some guy at Planet Hollywood accosted us and asked if we wanted free tickets to a show, and a free dinner. The trade-off? We'd have to listen to a 90 minute presentation about Westgate Resorts. Okay. We did that. My brother prolonged the 90 minutes into two hours, by asking our salesperson a steady stream of questions. We saw Cirque du Soleil (Mystere) at Treasure Island. Way cool.

Tuesday: We saw the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and a Joshua Tree Forest (the largest in the world, in fact).

We also got our free dinner at Planet Dailies (yummy) and saw Lance Burton (yawn, I think I would have loved it more if I was about 18 years younger--am I really that old? eep.)

Wednesday: Last minute sight-seeing. Home. Finally we get to fly home...we arrive at the airport at 8:15 PM...dawdle a bit, as our flight does not leave till 11:30 (we're paranoid about missing the flight, given our experience with the flight on Sunday).

We make it to our gate after being lazy (dad gambled away his money on the slot machines in the airport)...only to hear an announcement that our flight has been delayed till 1:30 AM (Las Vegas time!)! So we wait in the airport for hours, half asleep/asleep. I talked to the woman next to me, who is a pit boss at Planet Hollywood. Interesting conversation and a very well-traveled woman.

I'm glad to be home.

There's my sunrise circle jacket, minus the buttons! Yay! I was worried because when I blocked it, it was so huge and I was worried I'd have to make it all over again, but after washing it, it started fitting a bit better. The sleeves are a bit long, but it's cozy and good feeling. I've found several buttons online that I really like, but I'll wait till I come back from Vegas before I buy them.

I'm going to place an order at knitpicks for some undyed yarn and a few needles...and maybe a book (so I can get the free shipping). We'll see. Martha's going to have a dye day, so I need to be prepared for it...even if I end up being a little cash poor this month.

Dream yarns

Ok, so here are some yarns that I want to try knitting with (hint: none of them are Noro)....The other day, I stopped by Miss Chickpea's, and I saw some awesome yarn...


Like:

Ozark Handspun

Lampes Lumps (pictured below)

and Bamboo yarn.

I'm also curious about this ceramic yarn that I've heard about...

In knitting news, I am seaming up the sweater! (yeah!) It's all blocked and everything, just need to put it together and find some great buttons.

In other (non-knitting) news, I have been busy these past few days, doing work--we have some HUGE events coming up, such as the Kent Fest, and our Hallmark Ornament Premiere...so we're getting everything ready and ship-shape. Not to mention that I think we're going to promote the heck out of trollbeads and Chamilia (did you forget what those look like? Here's a reminder:














In a few weeks, we're going to have a huge special on Trollbeads & Chamilia--buy 3 beads, and you can get the bracelet for $25 (regularly priced at $48--that's a savings of almost half, people! Interested? let me know...)

Today, I went to the library (huge used book sale), and I walked away with some really great books, like 3 textbooks (2 statistics books and one about advertising, each were 75 cents!) and a lot of books like The Poisonwood Bible (75 cents, looks like someone read it once), a hardback of "The Perfume" by Patrick Sueskind (So I have the German language version, but I'd like to see the movie sooner than later to compare...I am sooooo slow at reading the German, though that book may come with me to Las Vegas), Middlesex (1.50), "The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime ($1.00). Not bad. Many more. I also picked up some knitting books with some of the most horrifying patterns I've seen in my life, but each of them have like, one redeeming pattern or style...so I figure 75 cents per book isn't too bad. Not to mention a copy of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. (one dollar). Not a bad haul. Now I just need the time to read everything. (Oh, and I found a couple autographed books for a dollar each! How cool is that?)

Viva Las Vegas!

Well, in July, my family and I are headed off to Las Vegas (somewhere we've never been, for all our traveling)...hopefully it will be stress-free (I need and LOVE stress-free).

In other news, I have been busy doing things like...making ads for our store, websites, a store blog, etc...because we have Webkinz...lots and lots of them at our store. I'm not even kidding about how many we have. Think I'm kidding? This doesn't even scratch the surface. In the backroom, we have piles of boxes, too.

Not to mention that we have tons of events coming up, so I've been making coupons, flyers, mailers, etc., etc. See, I don't necessarily need to be an audiologist. Give me a computer and I can whip together a few choice things for a small business. Special talent of mine, I suppose...

But on the job front: I may have a per diem position through the university! I'm just in the process of all the paperwork stuff. Fun.

In knitting content...I was hoping to get the sunrise circle jacket finished, but I'm still finishing up the back (not too much left now! Maybe I can finish everything on Wednesday, except for the buttons? That would be great if I could!

This week, I will post some of the yarns I long to knit with...stay tuned...

Happy Birthday to ME!!

(I'm off MY diet too!)

My dad woke me up early this morning (being a birthday girl and all, I was hoping to sleep in...oh well. I'm awake now). He wanted to talk to my brother and me, to get our ideas about what to do for my parents' anniversary...both my brother and I were so groggy and sleepy, and you could tell. But dad was thinking of taking a trip or something...Despite the fact that my brother and I think it would be great if dad and mom went on a trip together, ALONE, he wants to make it a family vacation.

So far, we've come up with New York, Vegas, Chicago...anyone have any ideas? Something quick (weekend trip) and not too expensive? Or even in Ohio, if we can't make it out of state? If so, let me know what your ideas are...(post in comments or drop me an email).

And, if you're looking for Webkinz (shameless plug), we received a shipment at our store: Vale Edge Blog.

One day away!

Good news:

Garfield is now celebrating his countdown to his 29th birthday, which makes me oh-so-very happy.

And here are pictures that I promised:

This is the back of my sweater--or what I have of it so far. I'm pretty excited that I've made it this far. I'm going to finish as much as I can this week (all of it?) we shall see!

This is what the front portion (and sleeves) of the sweater look like. It's actually a much prettier turquoise shade in person.

When I came home from work...this package was waiting for me...It's from my Secret Pal, and inside were some goodies for my birthday...

Some Noro yarn, with a great pattern (I seriously can't wait to try it! I am going to finish that sweater first, though!), a copy of Domiknitrix, some C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E , including a square of Ritter Sport, which always brings back memories of Germany (I had a friend, Aaron, who was hooked on this particular brand--so every time we went grocery shopping (or shopping), he always had to buy chocolate. And there is the cutest stationary. Between this and the cute sheep book, I have no idea where you find this cute paper! I love this package, and I've had a great pal--so thanks so much to Suzie!

I just wanted to show you a close-up of the awesome scarf pattern (the Noro yarn goes with this)...it's really great! (Shoji screen wrap and scarf pattern).

And, I wonder if I can get my boyfriend to wear this (Mohawk hat from Domiknitrix)?

Countdown to June 19

I was disappointed that there were no Garfield birthday comic strips over the past week, or even today. It's become a tradition for me, over the past few years, to read those strips.

And it's because Garfield and I actually have the same birthday (June 19). This year, Garfield will be 29 years old, and I'll be 28. Ever since I was about 9 or 10 (when I found out that Garfield and I share the same birthday, he has remained my favorite cat, and I'm sure that's part of the reason why I grew up loving Italian food ;) I hope that Jim Davis will have a birthday comic strip for Garfield on Tuesday. Or else that will be a sad start to my birthday, indeed.

As far as knitting, I finished the right front for my sunrise circle jacket (yeah!) and I am working on the back--and now am feeling MUCH better about being able to finish everything--thus, accomplishing my goal to make at least one sweater this summer--because I plan on making another one this summer! Yeah!

I'll post pictures tomorrow. I haven't taken them yet.

And yesterday, the boyfriend and I went to an Indian Restaurant, and we had pretty bad service but a great waiter who noticed that no one was serving us...so he waited on us...and we got free ice cream...coconut and pistachio. Actually I hate coconut.

The reason?

It tastes like suntan lotion to me.

I told Adam as such, after trying a little bite of the coconut ice cream, and the poor guy had a hard time eating the ice cream afterward--because he was like..."you're right. it DOES taste like suntan lotion. You ruined it for me!"

3-0

Whew. Apparently Blogger has some feature where you can type in Hindi. Hmm. I'm not sure that people could undestand what I write, if I type things out in Hindi--but that's kind of cool.

Anyway, when my blogger suddenly started spouting out Hindi, I got really distracted from my annoyance, so I am not sure I can do it justice...

But...

WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH THE CAVS??? How come they're playing so bad? And LeBron was totally fouled at the end! Augh!

Lest you think I'm a rabid basketball fan, I'm not. I don't watch sports, but when one's sports team makes it to the finals (and come on, Cleveland? Our football team stinks, and I don't even know when the Cavs were in the playoffs, and I know we've yet to win a pennant in the World Series...)

So yes, I care. For this time being.

And I did knit a couple rows during tense moments of the game. Apparently I knit faster when there's more tension.

Pictures!

So I promised some pictures!

So first...some knitting ones from the package that I described yesterday...I love the fact that the box is pink:

And oh, why did the package have to come right before I left for work? I tried not to open it before I left. I lasted about 30 seconds, and this is what I saw inside (minus the biscuits and the chocolate).

There's some moisturizer (specially made, lemony-scented stuff which smells delicious), some great colorways (Vero), some rosebud tea and lemongrass tea--both of which I am curious to try, as I've never had either before. I'll make myself a pot when I have a few hours to sit down and relax.

Also there was some chocolate. Like this Caramello Koala, which looks cute, from the packaging. I forgot to take pictures of the biscuits. You can see the good magazines--Yarn and Gourmet International--both of which have drool-worthy pictures. Let me show you some of them:

This is all this passionfruit stuff...like a passionfruit semifreddo with mango and raspberry salad...and passionfruit vanilla slice...

Or how about this meringue stack with raspberries and cream? The magazine is like this. Sure, there are things I'm not quite clear on what they are, like baby shiso, treviso, or cevelo nero. But I'll find out ;) I'm not kidding, I was ready to lick the pages--especially the ones with the desserts--or even the "southern style barbecue" stuff with ribs and cornbread. Yum. But I don't think magazine papers have that finesse.

As far as the Yarn magazine, I like this red sweater...I think I can wear somethign like this.












And wouldn't those coffee/tea cosies make great Christmas gifts?












And for some odd reason, I am fascinated by this sweater, despite the fact that it would probably make me look heavy (those horizontal stripes) but there's something so wonderfully 1920's about it, too.

And aren't you glad that Paris Hilton is going back to jail? This card came in with our shipment today. My co-worker told me, "Nah, they'll never put her back in jail. Too much money." Well, I hope she finishes the rest of her sentence.

This is actually kind of neat. This is some sort of leaf, and on the underside of the leaf...

A flower is blooming! I've never seen that before--and our florist said that in about 20 years, she's only seen this about four or five times. I think this particular floral arrangement is still in the cooler at our store, if you want to buy some roses, with some blooming leaves.

And to make up for all the pictures of pictures of food...here is a picture of some REAL food! This is a tempura banana from Wasabi--this Japanese restaurant we went to for Amy and Rae's birthday. (Yum)

Christmas in June!

I had several fun things happen today...

1) I met an old acquaintance for breakfast at Wild Goat Cafe (yummy breakfasts)...She brought her knitting along, as she had some questions about knitting, so we did that a little bit before our breakfasts came (I had, what I call the breakfast sampler...a little of everything) and it was yummy. As we were paying out bills, this older woman (maybe in her 50s or 60s) came up to us and asked us what we were making. After oohing and ahhing over our scarves, she talked with us at great length about knitting, her knitting group, their projects, etc., etc.. J. was like, that was a weird experience. LOL. I suppose there is some sort of code among knitters...there's a strange kinship about sharing what you're doing and what you're doing (and the names of different festivals and such)...

2) We then hit up the library across the street--which looks more like a bookstore than a library now, that they've done all this remodeling and stuff. Found some fun books and a couple classic movies. (Odd that my hometown library has a huge stock of indie favorites and Hindi movies, as well as blockbusters--and this particular library is oozing classic movies and strange things like "Bill Nye the Science Guy: Digestion"). I also borrowed a couple CDs on tape--I tried listening to Guy Noir (Garrison Keillor) as I was driving, but I found that the more I listened to it, the less attention I paid to driving (I think being alive and intact would be a good thing), so I tried Bill Bryson (same thing), so I finally tried Ruth Reichl (I had been pronouncing her name "Rye-kl", as I would for a german name. However it is pronounced, "Ryechel", or something close to that). That book is fine for listening to in the car...nice, measured tones, no music in the background...

3) I got a package! Thanks to Lara (Discoknitter)! I got the package today, right before I was about to leave for work. It was pink (the packing)...and inside, there were yummy things, such as biscuits/cookies, a candy bar, handmade moisturizer, some very pretty yarn, and two lovely magazines (one of them that has lots of great spinning tips and some pretty sweater patterns!) I will have to take pictures tomorrow...they are coming soon, I promise! Lara's been a great pal--and a very interesting person...and a fun one to write to. Thanks, Lara!

4) I am debating a Trollbead purchase. Sigh. Decisions, decisions.

5) Our store has Webkinz. If you are interested, please visit our store here, or over here. We have shipments!

Links!

I created some fun, cute buttons for linking to this site...if you want to grab one, feel free to do so. If you like any of them, please save them to your computer (right click on the image and save. Be sure to link the image to this blog.)

I'm back! (Whoo-hoo!)

Actually, I really didn't go anywhere, but was just busy. Busy cleaning up, having parties at my house, knitting, and resting up (and reading a little bit). So, this is what I am working on.


I had to frog the back, because (silly me) I hate doing gauge swatches (you think I'd know by now...) and didn't do a good job of figuring out the gauge...and wound up with a back that was big enough for a person who's like, 6'5" or maybe about LeBron James' height. So I decided to just knit the fronts first. I tell ya, it feels like it takes forever because you not only knit the sleeve, but you knit the sleeve and the front at the same time. So it feels like you've not accomplished much...but you actually have.

I'm almost done with the left front and left sleeve. Hopefully I'll finish that tomorrow, and can get started on the right side (which will feel like it's taking just as long, if not longer, as I probably will start working a little more this week). Then the dreaded back (again!). Oh, by the way, I figured out the gauge this time. Sigh. Just had to go down a needle size.

As far as other yarn/knitting content goes: I went to the Great Lakes Fiber Festival in Wooster, which I think was a blast. I only took about 3 pictures there, I think I had a brain burp, and though i said I was going to take pictures of the barn interiors, I forgot to do that, except in several cases. But there was lots of lovely yarn and the crazy buffalo lady (did you know you could spin yarn from buffalo coats? I sure didn't. Not till I was looking at some lovely alpaca yarn, and wandered to the next booth, where the lady cornered my poor boyfriend and told him stuff like, how buffalo wool is so durable, that she had a pair of socks made from buffalo wool, and all her lambswool/sheep/alpaca/angora/etc. fell apart in less than 5 years, but her buffalo wool socks have stayed in good shape for years and years. And that she cried when she learned how many buffalo were killed back then (enough to feed and clothe the entire western hemisphere). Poor boyfriend. He wanted so badly to get away from the buffalo lady, but couldnt' quite figure out how to end the conversation, but as soon as he saw some potential customers enter the buffalo lady's booth, he was off like a bat out of hell. Hee-hee.

Ok, some of my acquisitions included some very pretty yarn (some as gifts, which i will not post here in case anyone stumbles upon pictures of upcoming gifts), but also some beautiful roving, which is more temptation for me to become proficient at spinning.

Speaking of spinning, there was this absolutely cranky lady who taught me how to use a spindle; she wasn't exactly the most patient person in the world, but I now know how to use a drop-spindle. The boyfriend tried it too, but couldnt' quite get it, and she wasn't very patient with him. You can see how much he loves spindling:

(Hint: He never wants to do it again.)

However, he did enjoy going to the festival, which is a good thing. Plus, he saw some things he almost--I mean it!--almost bought--but his common sense prevailed.

What was it, you ask...

A very cute, very fluffy angora rabbit named Ashley! I'm not even kidding. He was seriously contemplating buying a rabbit!

(Not that I'd mind...hehe. Especially when I can get angora from it). But he thought about it, and was like...well...I'd have to buy all kinds of stuff, like a cage, food, etc., etc....before I can get myself a rabbit. But he did get the lady's phone number, and I would not be surprised, if sometime this year (or next year) he got a rabbit for himself. I think Harvey would be a good name. (Right? ;))

And I got these at the festival:

I will take pictures of the roving later. I'll share those tomorrow or the day after, and think of fun projects for some of these (the last yarn that I showed a picture of--the woman gave me a scarf pattern for it, so I'll try it out.)

And there was sheep judging. The boyfriend was disappointed that it was not a shearing contest.

Ahhhh!

You know, it's so nice to finally not have to study my poor head off, write inane things about different psychological theories that I don't quite understand (but what little I knew got me an A in the class, anyway, so I am very pleased). It's nice to be done cleaning (save for some minor floor-sweeping/window polishing, etc., before a party on Sunday (surprise party for my mom's friend; her husband is borrowing our house under the guise that my brother will be visiting and wants to see my mom's friend before she leaves for a vacation)...

And since I did not have much to do...(plus, I finished off this great book, The Know-It All by A.J. Jacobs, which is hilarious and informative, and makes me want to read the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica...so I knitted and watched TV (Home Improvement can be quite fun), as well as watching a couple DVDs (Big Lots: $2! Sadly, I think Big Lots has sold out of all the good stuff) -- Advertising Rules was funny (it had the girl who played Lena in Goodbye Lenin! and the woman who played the daughter in Rosenstrasse)...and I'm with Lucy was cute, even if not stellar. I'd like Henry Thomas, please.

At the same time...I knitted. I'm being all ambitious and am determined to knit down as much of my stash as I can during my holiday...so I've taken that turquoise blue yarn and am making Kate Gilbert's Sunrise Circle Jacket.

So far, this is what I have (I'm working on the back). Not bad for a day's work. The color is a lot better in real life.












I will admit that I am slightly terrified of the front, but I will be brave.

And for the moments when I need to pay more attention to what I'm doing (i.e., SnB knitting, or frenzied Ugly Betty watching (by the way, did any of you watch it????!!! So not fair that I have to wait till next season to find out what will happen. Great way to leave us all hanging, LOL!)











I will admit I'm not super thrilled with the way this looks, but it's okay. Maybe I'll end up giving this to my mom or something. It goes along with my goal to stash-bust as much as I can. After this (and the sweater), I'll start another sweater or vest, and finish up my red Noro scarf. And the super-secret double-knit scarf (it's a secret--i want to fiddle with it a bit more...if all goes well, there will be a pattern!)

I'll post the rest of my works in progress as the weekend (or week) goes on...I've got a few more projects that are on needles (whether or not I like them). Well, I've got another hour before I must sleep (party tomorrow, party Sunday! I am a busy girl! LOL!) so I am going to work in a few more rows on the Sunrise Circle Jacket!

Two more days...

Two more days of test-taking (and test-giving). I am officially down to the last 16 students that I'll need to test this week! Yippee! So glad that it's almost over. I think I'll be okay with the law exam; I'm surprised at how much I actually remember from the book and notes--just need to brush up on a few specifics. And I aim high: I'll be happy with...a B.

Now the psychology...sigh...it still continues to whip my butt from one end of the room and back again...but I am sure at Friday night at 9 PM, I will feel a lot better. Because I'll be done (minus the grading, which I will do this weekend)...and I plan on buying myself a pint of peanut butter brittle ice cream from Handel's, which I have not yet tried. And it sounds delicious.

Now, to the knitting content (skipping SnB tonight, of course)...and my SP10 Hostess is asking us: what do we do when we knit? Where do we knit?

Well, I knit in front of the TV. It's a big comfy couch...sometimes I'll watch a Lifetime movie as I knit...or a cooking show...well, anything. I'll even watch it during Ugly Betty. Unless I'm doing something complex (I've learned my lesson now). I tend to sit near the armrest on the left side...prop my feet up on my dad's footstool and knit away! Nothing fancy or spectacular, but it's relaxing and I look forward to doing that again--to a lifetime movie that I taped ("My First Wedding" with Rachel Leigh Cook...)

Two more days.

Oh, and happy birthday to Elisabeth.

What I really wish...

Is that I could learn through osmosis.

I am stuck on ANOVAs. I really don't get it (does anyone know? I'm trying to write my research proposal--rather, a fake one, for my class), and study for my exam on Monday. And everytime I think I have that glimmer of understanding, it blinks out. Augh. The worst part is that I have to take advanced quantitiative in the fall, so I better know this stuff, baby! (Not to mention that I'm not a fan of the professor, who is the only one who teaches the advanced level course. Ugh. 15 more weeks of torture with this guy. Too bad he's cute; his personality does not match his looks--but maybe that's how they get the female PhD students in his class? Relatively young, good looking guy? Then he grouches at you, once he knows you aren't going to drop the class--mostly because you need to graduate? And in order to do so, you better know how to do ANOVAs (all the different types).

Oh, another thing that drives me nuts about my professor. He loves to say, a priori. For weeks, I kept thinking, now what on earth does a priori mean--since I never took latin, and I'd always tell myself that I'd look it up when I get home, and of course, I would forget to do so. So the following week, he'd say something like, You would have to know this stuff a priori. And I'd be thinking, what the heck does that mean? Why can't he just use regular English? I'm sure I'm not the only one who would appreciate it--there are folks there who I am sure have not really heard the word before, and are guessing at its meaning. Or the students who are not from this country. I should have made a note of that on my course evaluation. It would have totally driven him nuts. There are also several other big words/ rare words that he bandies around, but I can't think of them off the tip of my head. Ugh.

I'd also like to put in a request for someone to write my take-home final for pscyhology, too. I am not used to thinking the way psychologists do. I'm much more linear in my field and there is too much theory in psychology for me. Give me facts any day. Although I like creative stuff, this really makes my brain hurt.

Does that sound fair--some osmosis learning for quantitative methods (or someone to explain all those stupid ANOVAs, research conditions, etc. to me), someone to take my written final for me, and I'll take the law one (even though i hate law, too?) Any takers?

On a lighter note: For those of you in this area (NE Ohio) who like Trollbeads or Chamilia, our store is having a trunk show this Saturday, May 5 (yes, Cinco de Mayo)...from 9 Am- 5 PM. Our website (ok, so it's our florist's website, but all the info is there) is at: www.valeegeflorist.com . And if you dont' remember what Trollbeads are, here is my bracelet (also makes things a bit more colorful. Maybe I'll see you there!