Esther Knits

Foot in Mouth Disease

2006-09-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

DSC01070.JPG
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

I haven't updated this in almost a month so I thought I would do a little post about all the goings on since I last posted. I also can't remember if I ever posted pictures about the finished Adamas shawl from way back in July, so here's a pic just in case. School is up and running and boy let me tell ya, it is kicking my butt! I have never read so much dense material in my life! I have been having a hard time concentrating for long periods of time and I also find my mind wandering a lot more than it normally does, but I am making use of some note taking strategies I've found online that have helped me to make sense of all the reading in a more synthesized way.
I am thinking the lack of concentration is something that will get better with time, at least I really really hope so. I have also noticed that my brain-talk filter is g.o.n.e. I have said more seriously stupid things in the last two months than I can remember. Like tonight, talking about taking a quiz online I just rambled and rambled and rambled on about how I hate taking quizzes online because I don't trust myself and blah blah blah, probably came off as totally wacko, what I meant to imply was that I don't like the format of taking assessments at home because I study and study and study some more and wait to take the quiz/test until the last minute and end up knowing that I could have gotten it done and over with earlier because I was just overpreparing. Why can I come up with what I mean to say after the fact, but when I am talking it comes out so disjointed and weird? I am definitely not feeling like myself!
Jered and I went on a bike ride with our friends Kristi and Casey on Sunday. It was really nice to get out on the bikes and ride, the weather was a little warm but not too bad. Saturday we went to a Gin Blossoms concert which was interesting. The band sounds just like they do on the radio, but the band members were all a little less cool than I remembered them being in 9th grade! Overall the concert was good, it felt pretty short, but they had awesome kettle corn at one of the booths that made up for that :)
I took some pictures of the Saffron Cables afghan that I started as well as the new lace project I started a while back and the socks that I am knitting at school, but alas, I can't find the cable to connect the camera to the computer, so no pictures today. Since I never keep my promises about posting pictures I won't promise to post them and we'll see what happens later this week.

Long Weekend

2006-09-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

Had a nice long weekend and got to really relax with Jered for a while. My mom and brother went to Tennessee for the long weekend which was really nice for them (they got to get away from the house, paperwork etc.) and really nice for us (we got to have a little time for us). As odd as it is to say that it was nice to have a break, it seems almost mean to think it, it really has been nice having some down time for just the two of us. I have needed it more than I knew.

We had a very inspired weekend. We decided to rearrange some furniture in the house and make use of one of the rooms that was basically just sitting empty. We decided to move our office stuff into our downstairs "library," but instead of making it a traditional office, we've done it starbucks style and made it very loungy and multi-purpose. We bought a HUGE solid oak table for next to nothing at a local discount furniture store. Then we moved some of our organizational stuff and bookshelves from upstairs into the downstairs room and set up a nice, clean and organized space around this great new table. If we do have the big family that we want one day, we will all be able to fit around this table, it comfortably sits 8-10! Right now we have two chairs set up and little banker lamps on each side. I will take pictures soon. We also bought a printer this weekend, which we have been needing. Jered tried to network it wirelessly but it didn't work because we are on Macs and the print server we bought only networks postscript printers, which ours is not. But that doesn't really matter because we have an awesome printer that copies, scans, faxes and prints pictures (it even does it from negatives!).

I worked a little on the Afghan I started from the latest version of Interweave. It's been fun doing a project with cables because I haven't done one in a long long time.
Tomorrow its back to work and school for both Jered and me. We've got a semi-busy week ahead of us, but it has helped to have a restful and relaxing weekend at home together.

Sorrow

2006-08-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Sorrow
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

This picture sums things up.
My mom is spending the night tonight and my brother is over at a family friends' house. We are making sense of things slowly but surely. It's good to have the support of family and friends. It has made all the difference.
Today we were out and about getting things done related to paperwork and "business" stuff until 9:30 pm. It was a long day.
I'm off to bed early, and hoping to get a little more work done tomorrow but also to do some yard work and maybe go on a bike ride.

Support

2006-08-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has been there for us through the last week. My dad's funeral was Tuesday. He got full military honors at the cemetary and it was a beautiful ceremony. We had family come into town starting last weekend including Jered's parents and Uncle. Everyone has gone home now, so its the first day that without tons of people around, which feels very weird. We are sorting out paperwork and all of the "business" that goes along with the death of a family member. It is so weird.
I'm actually feeling quite a bit better. I have my moments, but things are starting to get back to a state closer to normal.

I really appreciate all of the support and comfort you all have extended to me and my family. It has helped a lot!

My dad

2006-08-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Graduation, May 2006

My dad passed away yesterday at 4:07 pm. We don't know what happened. It was too quick, he was in the hospital for neck pain, his biopsy came back after he died, it was large cell lymphoma stage IV. He was scheduled to start chemo in a few weeks. We don't know what killed him, his heart just couldn't take it anymore and his blood pressure and heart rate went and his lungs failed him. They think it might have been a pulmonary embolism. I hope it was painless. We left the hospital two hours before he went code blue. We thought he was getting moved out of the ICU, they said he was doing better and that his surgery was healing well. He wanted chicken and canteloupe for dinner. My mom fed him pineapple and liver and onions for lunch. He was in and out of it but the morphine made him pretty sleepy. I didn't get to tell him about our trip. I didn't get to hug him because I was afraid to touch him and hurt him. It hurts so bad.
I love you dad. We don't know what to do without you.

Keep up to date

2006-07-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

Wanna hear about how Jered and I tackle 360 miles on our bikes? We will be podcasting through Odeo and Jered's website each day of the ride. Tune in and see how it goes!

http://podcast.jeredb.com
We had to change hosts mid-stream, but this should work! We're in Kansas City waiting to leave for the bike trip early tomorrow morning. We start riding on Monday and finish up next Saturday, August 5th. I'll post pictures of our time at the lake and in Wisconsin when we get back!

To listen to previous posts, click on the "Posts" link in the player below and all of the posts should show up for your listening enjoyment!

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Vacation

2006-07-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

We're leaving for our two week vacation tomorrow morning (eaaaarly, 0:dark thirty). I am ready to get out of town for a little while and just relax, no work, no school no pets to take care of, just leisure and relaxation, well except for the 360 mile bike ride... ;)

We are going to finish packing tonight and take the dog over to my parents' place before we hit the sack tonight. I'm hoping we can get the car loaded tonight so that tomorrow morning is a shower, load the cooler and go kind of thing. We are driving somewhere around 15 hours tomorrow and 5-6 on Sunday.

I will be "unplugged" for the next two weeks, no internet ergo no blogging. I will post pictures and updates when we return after the 6th :) I'm hoping to get a pair of socks knit and finish my second Madli stole.

Here's to well deserved vacations!

Good week

2006-07-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

Adamas
I finished Adamas earlier last week, which I am really proud of because its my first triangular shawl. This was a fun knit and has really got me in lace mode. I love the way the light yarn feels during the hot summer months.

My dad had his biopsy yesterday. He is pretty sore from it, but the radiologist made sure that he and the pathologist got enough tissue to get a good sample so that we can get an official diagnosis and start his treatment as soon as possible. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Jered and I are getting ready for our bike trip. We got our package of gear from Performance in the mail this week. We both got a pair of new bike shorts, and rain jackets, and I got a new pair of bike shoes. I'm very excited about getting away for a little while. I think I will come back refreshed. In a way, I feel sort of guilty for going away right now, especially since my dad is just starting his treatment, but they have told us to go ahead and go. I have mixed feelings about it, but I am glad that we have an opportunity to get away for a little while.

I'm on the third repeat of my new Madli stole. The Alpaca Cloud is really nice! It's very slippery, but not too slippery to stay on the needles. I'll try and post some pictures of the progress later this weekend.

Grilling

2006-07-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

DSC01044.JPG
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

Jered and I have been grilling up a storm since we bought our tabletop grill over the 4th of July weekend. So far we've done steaks, squash, potatoes, mushrooms, corn, tuna steaks, and salmon (not all on the same night!!). It's been really nice to have a cooking option that doesn't heat up the house as much as turning on the stove or oven.

We're also working on our back yard, my tomatoes are really taking off! I have about 15-20 little green tomatoes. I started the seeds way back in early March, so its so rewarding to see the plants grow. Right now our backyard is full of basil, chives, tomato plants and weeds. We have more weeds than anything else! We're working on it though. Since my parents need our help with their lawn this summer, our own gardening and yard work has taken a back seat.

This week is fairly normal. It's my last full week of teaching and I've got 7 clients scheduled. Wednesday I'm getting my hair cut, probably pretty short, so I will post pictures later in the week. Thursday is my dad's biopsy (finally!), unfortunately I can't make it to the appointment with him because I've got a presentation that morning but Jered and my mom are planning on going with him.

Two weeks until we leave for Kansas and Bike Across Wisconsin. I got on the bike on my own on Friday and went for an easy 20 mile ride. Saturday, Jered and I rode the parkway for about 20 miles. We've also been running and walking quite a bit to help us get into better shape. I'm still a little nervous about the ride. Jered's family has done a lot of cycling and I just started in college. I've been trying really hard to get out on the bike at least a few times a week. I hope I'm ready!!!

I'm really excited about our trip out to Kansas and Wisconsin. We are spending about a week at Jered's family's lake house in Missouri. They recently bought a jet ski, so we're both really looking forward to getting out on the lake! We haven't been on a "real" vacation in a while. It will be so nice to get away from work/house/pets/stress for a couple of weeks. We also haven't been back to Kansas since graduation over 2 years ago!!! It is hard to believe we haven't been out there even once. I am really looking forward to seeing Jered's family too. We always have a really good time, and we get to see their new house, which we haven't seen completed yet!

More pictures and knitting updates later this week. I cast on for another Madli stole yesterday (in Alpaca Cloud Mist) when we drove up to Richmond to go to the Apple Store to troubleshoot Jered's computer problems. While we were up there we tried to visit my sister who now lives in Richmond. She was working and couldn't get time off to see us, but we are hoping to visit her sometime soon so that we can see her new place.

Could it be?

2006-07-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

It's Done!
I actually finished it, blocked it and gave it away (to my mom). This one will be borrowed from time to time!

Riding the Storm

2006-06-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Things are going a little better for us. My dad had a relatively useless appointment on Monday where we basically were told to come back July 5th for his biopsy to confirm that its cancer. The oncologist won't even meet with us until he has the biopsy.
I'm frustrated and ready for him to get his treatment started. We're all still nervous and worried and shaken up, but the day to day is a little easier.
Oscar had a seizure last night, it was weird because it almost seemed like he was conscious during it which made us both uncomfortable because we really don't want him to be in any sort of pain when he has them. We have had a lot of bad thunderstorms so it might be related to that, but luckily he hasn't had any more since then. Let's hope it stays that way!

I baked chocolate chip cookies tonight. They turned out perfectly. Maybe I'll buy some vanilla ice cream tomorrow and make ice cream sandwiches with them. Yum!

I am almost done with Adamas. Just the edging left!
Pictures will be posted when I'm done.

Stressful Week

2006-06-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

This has been a really rough week for me and my family. We found out on Wednesday that my dad's cancer is back and that he will have to undergo some pretty extensive treatment including chemo in a few weeks. It was a hard thing to hear because we thought that his melanoma was in remission. I'm trying to keep as positive as possible, he has great doctors and full medical coverage because of his military service. The situation is about as good as it can be for this kind of news, our family is all here in town and the rest of the summer is pretty low key for me so I will be able to go to his treatments and help out when he and my mom need me and Jered. I don't think anyone is ever prepared to hear news like this and the past two days have been really rough, but I'm starting to feel a little better and am starting to look at the practical side of how to help my dad in the best way I can.

As if that weren't enough, last night at 5 pm Oscar started having seizures again. I thought it was just an isolated thing but then he had another at 10, one at midnight, one at 2 am and one at 4 am. He lost control of his bowels and couldn't seem to shake the seizures. We decided to give him his morning dose of pheno 3 hours early. Luckily he hasn't had a seizure since (knock on wood!). He had a scheduled bloodwork appointment today at 11 anyway so we talked to the vet and considered putting him to sleep. I even made the appointment for tomorrow. The other option is to up his medication to a really high level and see how it goes in the next 2 months. The vet bills have been extremely expensive so it almost seemed like we really didn't have a choice and euthansia was the only way to go. I talked it over with my parents, with Jered and with a few friends, made the appointment to have him put to sleep and thirty minutes later was in the car taking him to the York river for his favorite walk. I talked some more with my mom and then more with Jered and we realized that he is so happy when he isn't having seizures and he seems to be so comfortable and healthy other than the seizures. I called the vet and cancelled our appointment tomorrow. We are upping his dose and riding it out. We are hoping his cluster of seizures was related to the high emotional stress at home the past few days or something else that was a one time glitch. We are upping his dose and hoping for the best. We are not ready to give up on him!!!

So needless to say it was an emotional morning and an emotional couple of days. I am starting to feel much better, thanks to the support I've gotten from Jered and my family and friends. While the news this week hasn't been the best, it could be much worse, and we are a strong family with plenty of support and will pull through all of this. I am lucky to have such great people around me. My friend Liz is coming down to stay with us tomorrow for the weekend just to help us get our minds on something fun. We will probably head to Busch Gardens and relax.
I might even get some stress knitting done today!
Be thankful for the people and pets around you that are so easy to take for granted!

Adamas who?

2006-06-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Esther and I have been bad about blogging for a long time now. Now that its summer and my work load is somewhat lightened I am going to make a concerted effort to blog more regularly. I have been knitting about as much as I've been blogging... not a lot at all. I graduated in the middle of May and since then have taken on some new clients (I'm up to 10!), started teaching a human sexuality class at a local community college and started taking the two summer classes I signed up for to complete my degree requirements and maintain my status as a counselor resident at our clinic. We have to take a supervision course to keep seeing families at the Clinic, so that is one of the two classes I am in right now, and the other is a couples counseling and sex therapy class. Classes end the week of the 18th, so we're almost done, and the class I'm teaching goes until late July.

I started knitting again a couple days ago. I have been picking things up here and there but not really doing much more than a few rows of this project and a couple of that. I have resolved to take it one project at a time, starting with Adamas. I am on the last repeat of the main pattern and then will be working on the border and will finally be done! I will try to post pictures later today.

On the pet front, our little zoo is getting along quite nicely now. Oscar has had a few more seizures since we have put him on the phenobarbital, but for the most part it seems like his epilepsy is under control. He has also discovered tennis balls. Oh holy hell he loves those things! Tennis balls are one of the few reasons he will bark. He's quite an entertaining little fellow and has recently taken to sleeping in the bed with us. We love it.

I've been doing some gardening this summer too, and started basil and tomatoes from seedlings waaaay back in the beginning of March. Well the basil has really taken off and the tomatoes are ready to be attached to the trellis we are building this afternoon. We're hoping the cool weather will hold out so that we can get a little stuff done in the yard. I'll post pictures of that too!

Check out our graduation pics and other random stuff at flickr. More pictures later!

Update

2006-05-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

I graduated, and I'm back in class again.
I'm taking one real class this summer and teaching one as well. I'm also seeing 11 families! It's going to be a busy summer, but the change is refreshing.
The dog is doing really well. He hasn't had a seizure in at least a month, and we just got word from the vet that his blood work was normal.
As for knitting, I got a gift certificate to Elann from Jered's parents, I got a double pointed needle case and four balls of Peruvian Baby Silk to make the heartstrings mobious scarf. I cast on yesterday in class, I've been able to knit quite a bit today during class too.
I've also been finishing up Adamas. It has been slow going because I haven't been knitting much, but I expect to have it done really soon.
Hopefully I'll have some time to post pictures of graduation and new knitting projects this weekend.

Awwww

2006-04-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

DSC_0037.JPG
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

Bad pic of my mom, great pic of the dog. It always seems to work that way!
This week is the last full week of school for me before finals. Everything is due this week which means that everything is done. It feels so good to have most of the work behind me. This past Saturday was the NCE certification exam. I think I did well enough to pass (I hope!). It's nice to have that behind me too. Things are winding down, thank goodness. Jered's sister is coming to visit us in 2 weeks, and my grandma is coming from Germany on May 12th. Graduation is the 14th, summer classes start the 15th.
It's going to be a busy busy summer, but it will also be a nice change. My supervisor said something really neat today which I think rings true: A change can be as good as a rest.

This reminds me of someone not me

2006-04-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

Find your own pose!

This is the sleeping position I came up with when I took this quiz, which I don't think describes me much at all, but it does remind me of a certain someone I am pretty close to!

My expensive habit

2006-04-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Oscar
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

This dog has been ridiculously expensive! Thank goodness he's well behaved and good natured, it makes me feel like I am getting my money's worth ;)
No really, though. This whole epilepsy thing means that he has to have bloodwork done every 6 months to a year, and he is scheduled for his initial bloodwork in a month. I am sick of giving the vet my money! I love little Oscar, but this is really getting to be a bit much. We have had Oscar just over two weeks and he has been to the vet 5 times. You can only imagine what that amounts to!

Other than getting nickle and dimed to death, life with a new dog has been pretty good. We bought baby gates this weekend to section off the downstairs so that he can hang out with us when we are home. The cats are slooooowly getting used to him. Floyd still runs away, but Jinx isn't really all that scared anymore.

What are you supposed to do with a dog on a rainy day? Do you take them for long walks even though its raining? Any tips from dog owners? I've never had one before, so I'm still learning. I've been having him go back to the back yard and come back in and get toweled off.

I finished another paper this morning which brings me just a little bit closer to finishing this semester. I'm looking forward to finishing the semester out and getting the summer stuff going. It's going to be a pretty big transition period since I will be moving my families around to fit my new summer schedule. Jered's sister is coming out to visit us sometime at the end of May or beginning of June, my grandma is coming to visit from Germany for graduation, and my friend Liz is also coming down for graduation. I will also be teaching a human sexuality class at a local community college starting May 22nd. It should be an interesting summer! Hopefully it will be a little bit of a break.

He may be epileptic...

2006-04-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Jered's dog Oscar
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

But he's the best darn dog I've ever had!
Last night Oscar had a pretty big seizure, but now that he is on phenobarbital the seizure wasn't short and quick like it has been, instead it was long and drawn out and it took him a longer time to fully recover. The vet said that the drug will take up to two weeks to get into a steady state in his bloodstream. Hopefully by then we will see less seizures and more of Oscar's great big personality.
I've got four families back to back tonight, so I'm glad that I'm feeling better and a little less stressed than I have been the past week!
I can't wait to get home tonight and crash. I am exhausted, but in a good way :)

Oscar the (possibly) epileptic dog

2006-04-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Arrrrgh
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

He's gonna be okay. We picked him up from the vet yesterday at 5 and they said that there is a 95% chance that he is epileptic. We hadn't observed him having any seizures until after his surgery on Wednesday, so I still think the two are somehow related. Maybe he had an allergic reaction to the meds? Who knows. It could also be a corn allergy. All I know is that Oscar is acting fairly normal again. Knock on wood- he has not had a seizure since we brought him back from the vet yesterday. They gave him some phenobaribitol to control the seizures, which we are picking up today.
Oscar is the sweetest dog, and when he's not seizing things are just about as good as they could be with a new dog in the house.
On the knitting front (for once!), I am officially re-committing to Madli today and am going to try to get her done by graduation at the beginning of May. I have my counselor certification exam coming up at the end of April so I'm pretty busy studying for that and getting group projects done, so I think May is a realistic goal. I honestly have not knitted since the beginning of March! It's hard to believe, but life has been pretty darn crazy.

Thanks for the kind thoughts, I'll post more about Oscar as we learn more. And of course, there will be more pictures :)

Sadness...

2006-04-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Well, Oscar was neutered on Wednesday and everything was going fine until Thursday afternoon. He had a seizure at the vet's office yesterday and they told us to watch him as he might be reacting after all the anesthetic. He had another seizure last night at 6:15, and another one at 11:05 that was terrible. He convulsed and lost complete control and didn't come out of it for minutes. It was the most terrible thing I've ever seen happen to an animal.
This morning he had another small seizure at 7:30. So I decided to take him back to the vet. They are running tests on him all day today to try and figure out what is going on. Apparently his glucose levels are fine, so we are now just waiting on the bloodwork to come back.
I started crying at the vet's office. I couldn't help myself. I never cry! Seriously, only when I am really really upset, but here I was crying because I'm stressed over the bills and how quickly they are adding up (first a neuter and a teeth clean and a full physical, now bloodwork and bajillions of other tests). He started as a $50 dog, and now has already cost us upwards of $600. Needless to day, we don't have that kind of money. I hate to bring money into a discussion about my feelings but it has been extremely stressful knowing that he might be really sick and we might not be able to care for him.
The SPCA didn't tell us anything about the fact that he might be epileptic! The vet is saying that there is a 95% chance that he is. I just want to get everything figured out so that we can get him well and start to enjoy having a dog.
Today has been extremely stressful. I didn't sleep much last night because I wanted to be sure to hear him if he had a seizure, and then today has been very very emotional. I'm feeling sad because the poor little guy is just helpless when he has these seizures and there's nothing we can do but wait for him to come out of it and clean up after him afterwards (they can be very messy), guilty for indulging my impulsive side and adopting Oscar, and ashamed that I'm even worried about money...
It has been a rough day.
I think I will be doing some therapeutic knitting this weekend. I haven't picked up Madli's Shawl in over two months, and I think now is a great time to focus on something that really will grab my attention and put my mind on something other than worrying.
I also was able to get through the first 5 pages of a 10 page paper. I guess worry has fueled me to get things done. Might as well do something with the nervous energy. We pick Oscar up tonight at 5. I'll try to post an update later. Keep him in your thoughts.

Oscar Part Two

2006-04-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

Poor Cow...
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

The first night of having Oscar at home went off without a hitch.
We are keeping him in our upstairs bathroom for a few weeks to get the cats accustomed to the scent of him and to get him used to the smell of the house/cats/us. We have a little fenced in back yard that we let him out in for a few hours today and we've been on lots of walks. The cats were pretty upset when they saw him in the back yard, lots of hissing and growling! It is going to be a while before we're going to bring him in the house and introduce him to the cats face-to-face.
I've read a lot about Cairn Terrirs and most of what I've read says that they are hunting dogs, which worries me a little because I don't want our cats to die! I think the slower we go with the introduction the better things will work out in the long run.
Oscar pees, a lot. All over everything. When we walk him he pees on every bush, every patch of grass, everything! We're having a hard time with him in his "den" too since he misses the newspaper sometimes. He's an adult dog (as far as we know) and he's not housebroken which is anxiety producing. Tomorrow is his vet appointment for his "snip" and rabies shots etc. I'm hoping after his alteration he'll cool it a little with the peeing on things. Maybe we just need more toys? :)

No Joke...

2006-04-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

Mmmm Toy
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

I can't frickin' believe it! We got a dog!!! We picked up this little guy (we've named him Oscar) at the SPCA. He's an adult Cairn/Westie mix terrier and he is the sweetest little guy!
I've never had a dog before so this is a big deal. Right now he is out in the garage because our two cats probably wouldn't take too kindly to him hanging out in the house right away. Any tips for bringing him in? He is very mild mannered and calm, so I'm hoping it won't be a problem!
Going to go out and play a little :)

How's my diet going?

2006-03-14T18:58:00.000-08:00

A lot of snails
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

Yeah...I've been baking quite a bit for someone who is trying to shed a few pounds, but luckily we've been able to share our baked goods with family and random stoppers by. These were made over spring break from a recipe I got in the Nigella Lawson Domestic Goddess book. I tweaked it a little because I didn't have turbinado sugar and I was a little short on butter, but they turned out great. Jered is a big fan. I love baking with yeast. Making things that rise and rise again is always a good time. And the house smelled soooo good!
But I've put a stop to the baking for a while, I need to get back on track and focus myself. I want to be in better shape by this summer and that means not so much baking (at least not for us to consume here at home).

My allergies are starting to act up in a weird way. I've been tired and my eyes have been dry all day. I've also not been sleeping too great. It might be time to start popping Allegra again. I hate to start so soon, since usually they don't start kicking in until late April/early May. I guess we do what we have to do.

The sweater is coming along nicely, I've got about an inch or two done and plan to work on it in class tomorrow night.
I might even finish my socks this week.

New Hair

2006-03-12T17:50:00.000-08:00

Knitting Doo
Originally uploaded by jeredb.

Yesterday morning I woke up and rather impulsively decided that I wanted to cut my hair. It had grown to be about midway down my back and it was very dry and many different colors from being bleached by the sun and dry at the ends. I made an appointment and an hour later this is what I got! I love the new length. In this picture it is super straight which is different for me because I usually don't have enough time to straighten all my hair (I have a lot). This picture is also proof that I still knit. I cast on for the simple hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, yesterday in some brown merino wool that I had in my stash. I am on row two, so there is obviously not enough progress for me to show with another picture.

This morning Jered and I went on a 24 mile bike ride and it was amazing. The weather here was in the high 70's and my bike is finally "just right." My seat was a little too high earlier, and I had a smaller less comfortable saddle the last time we rode, and now, well, I don't! We rode out to the battlefields and explored a new route that we had on a map from the bike shop. We've got to really get some time on the bikes so that we are ready for Bike Across Wisconsin in July!

This afternoon, I worked on the Ethics competition with the rest of the W&M team. We worked really hard for 4 hours and cranked the bulk of the paper out. We are just fine tuning and editing now. It feels good to have it done!

Yesterday Jered and I also did some pretty heavy-duty gardening. We mulched the front beds and laid edging stones. It was a very productive weekend!

Spring Break

2006-03-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

I'm on spring break doing a lot of catching up on school and internship stuff. I had two meetings with two different school counselors this morning. It was odd being back in an elementary school! I had forgotton what its like to see miniature chairs and desks all over the place. I still have clients this week, three tonight and two on Thursday. Tomorrow I'm working on an ethics paper with the ethics team at school which means I will probably be there all day. I really hope we're able to get through most of the paper. I don't want to be working on this all month even though its due until March 26th. I also have to take a Human Growth and Development test this week at some point. Part of me wants to take it right now and just get it over with but I haven't studied yet. At all. I'm hoping by Thursday I'll be done with all the work stuff so that I can enjoy a few days being really "off."

On the knitting front, I've been working on a pair of socks, which are both almost ready to be worn. I'm still working on Adamas, very sloooowly. I could have it done by the end of the week, but I'm making school the top priority this week. I've been thinking of casting on for either Rogue or the simple sweater in the last minute knitted gifts book. We shall see!

Three more years

2006-02-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

I found out yesterday morning that I have been accepted into the PhD program for Counselor Education. My interview was Wednesday and so this all happened very quickly and I was pretty surprised to hear back so soon!
I am still in disbelief and the details are starting to sink in. It's an odd feeling for me because I do feel very young to be taking on such a "big deal" kind of thing. I never thought that at 23 I would be preparing to enter yet another academic program. My parents have always joked that I am a professional student and it seems that they have me figured out. There are so many things that I am excited about with this program. I'm going to get to take on a new role as a counselor looking at things from a different angle. The emphasis on research will certainly push me to think of things in more outcome oriented ways.
One of the best things about this program is that I have been guaranteed a full-time assistantship which means that I won't need to worry about how everything will get paid for. Having that off my mind is a huge relief and is letting me focus on the planning aspect of things. What will my cognate be? What classes will I be taking in the fall? How are things going to be different making the shift from a master's program to a doc program? I'm anxious and excited about all of this. I feel ready for the challenge that I know I will get in this program and I'm proud of myself for making it this far.
It's an odd feeling to be at the beginning of such a huge amount of work and learning, but its an thrilling one. Who knows what I will be like in three years time. I am so thankful for this opportunity.
And...I'll be able to continue knitting in class! :)
My goal for the weekend is to get a few knitting pictures posted since I haven't posted much knitting content this year. Jered and I will be celebrating this weekend, he recently got a new job, and is preparing for the transition this coming week (he starts Friday). There have been plenty of positive changes lately and it feels like things are finally starting to fall into place.

...!!!!

2006-02-23T18:07:00.000-08:00

I got in! More later, still in disbelief :)

Interview

2006-02-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

So just three weeks after turning in my application to the Ph.D. program, I had my interview. It was intense! Jered helped me prepare last night and I am really glad that I took the interview seriously and prepared for it as much as we did. Everyone in the clinic has been telling me not to worry about the application process and that I have a great shot at getting in...but there is something about that that is unsettling to me. It's one thing to have confidence in someone, but another to assume that you are "in." I'm just not comfortable doing that, especially not with something that is this important to me.
I thought the interview went fairly well. I was really nervous which I think influenced the organization of my answers. In my head I had everything planned out and ready to say, but my nerves did get the best of me and I felt like I was babbling on a few times. At this point it doesn't make much sense mulling over how I thought it went. This part of the application process is over and it is now out of my hands. I did the best I could, and if my work so far has made a positive impression on them, then I think that I could very well make it into the program. Gosh I hope so. I want this really badly.
Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted!

Wanna Curl Up?

2006-02-14T18:02:00.000-08:00

Jered made some great Valentine's Day Cards that I gave out at the clinic today. Stop by his site to check them out. I was very impressed!
This week I've got a lot going on. Tomorrow my day starts at 8 am when I have to attend an in-service at the health center to be fitted for a respirator in case of SARS (or something like that), then I'm off to work until 3, office hours from 3-5, client at 5, and then class from 7-9:45 pm. Long day ahead!
Thursday starts equally early with an 8 am division meeting, class from 9-11:30, work for two hours, class until 4:15, and clients from 5:30-9:30. Two marathon days.
Usually I have Fridays off which makes the long days somewhat more bearable, but this Friday is the VACES grad student conference. I'm presenting with a group of my classmates on our experience working in a student run family counseling clinic. Should be fun stuff. Our presentation is from 5-6 pm, so I am hoping that people show up.
This weekend I'm planning on sleeping. That is it. Just sleeping. After 8 am wake ups and 10 pm homecomings I am going to need a little shut eye.
Jered and I spent V-day at home. I made steak and rice pilaf with asparagus, it was quite nice. Better than anything we could've gotten at a restaurant and cheaper too! For dessert we're having lindt truffles left over from Christmas. I love that we aren't buying into the commercialism of Valentine's Day. Guys have it tough, there is an awful lot of pressure from the media telling guys and gals that diamonds and chocolate are the only way to express love. Why should we let other people tell us what we like and should come to expect? Diamonds don't mean much to me. Chocolates nice, but what does it mean? Sure, its nice when your significant other goes the extra mile and does something special for you, but how many commercials have you seen where a woman gets a man a gift? I haven't seen a single one. So men love women, and are expected to show it by spending as much as they can afford on rocks and cocoa, and women (presumably love these men back!), are expected to stand by and wait for their cliched roses and chocolates. Love it.
Sorry for the cynicism. I just believe that love is more than something we should stop and think about once or twice a year. For me, love is a mutual respect and a constant process. I understand that some guys might want to express their love by buying flowers and chocolates, and that's okay! I'm not trying to say that we should all poo-poo Valentine's Day, I just feel that the media has really given us a warped look at what we as women should come to expect.

Back to watching the Olympics, Happy Valentine's Day!

Stupid Bowl Sundae

2006-02-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

Referring, of course to the stupid bowl I ate my ice cream sundae in and not the all-day tv marathon that is actually 90% commercials (which are all the same!).
We watched Star Trek on SciFi tonight and only clicked over to ABC once to see if the game was really on. Surprise surprise, the Steelers won!
Anyway, I guess I'm bitter because Gray's Anatomy just now came on and I need to be up early tomorrow.
I started my socks today. I tried to join the Knitting Olympics, but it didn't show my name on the gigantic list, so I think my comment might not have made it, so my olympics started yesterday. I am knitting two very plain top down socks for myself and at the same time. They are coming along quite nicely. I'm about 5 inches into both of them.
Pictures.... soon?

Google Hummus

2006-01-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

We should all google hummus three times daily so that we get flagged by the government for suspicious activity. (I know, I know, hummus is a docile chickpea dip, Hamas is the militant anti-Israeli group). I have a hard time with the government wanting access to google's search records. One million random search terms and web addresses for any specified week in 2005...why? I know I've googled some pretty suspicious stuff over the past year just out of curiosity. If I don't know what something is, I google it. If I'm curious about Hamas, I google it and visit wikipedia. So all curious minds are going to be flagged? Sounds like the new McCarthyism. I suppose curiosity breeds questions, and questions are dangerous in society today. Does it really hurt for us to get more information about certain topics? If we have a so-called "enemy" shouldn't I be able to learn more about what they are all about? I suppose not. Are terrorists going to be sitting around googling terrorism? Probably not, although I'm sure they could google how to make improvised explosives or where to get the nearest cup of starbucks coffee.
I know this is a knitting blog, but this has been bugging me.

Long Day Away

2006-01-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

Wednesdays are my marathon days this semester. Tonight is the first night of classes and I had to be at work early because the Beetle is kaput yet again. This is the umpteenth repair in the last two years. I am getting tired of taking my car to the shop every 6 months. First it was a clutch that literally "fell out" according to the dealer. The it was a brand new compressor, now its a hole in the radiator hose and something about a gasket cap. I haaaaate cars! If I could use public transportation i would be all over it.
So I came into work this morning at 8 and I'm hanging around here until 3, then I have office hours until 5, clients from 5-7, and class from 7-9:45. It is going to be a loooong day! Jered is stuck at work until I come pick him up after class tonight, so his day is equally long, just more boring since he doesn't get to leave work for over 12 hours.
So I brought along Adamas to try and knit on if I get a free half hour. I am getting close to being done, another 3 repeats and I'll have it wrapped up. Of course the further along you get, the longer each repeat takes, so...it could be a while!
I am considering joining the Knitter Olympics and challenging myself to finish a pair of socks. Not just one, two whole socks. I don't know if I can do it. I always get sock ennui. I think I will have to start them both at the same time to keep me from giving up. Any suggestions for a not too frilly pattern?

Specs

2006-01-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I've been bad about not posting the specifics for my most recent finished projects. For Leo, I used Endless Summer Lara in dark blue (which I got on Elann, but they don't carry it anymore). The pattern was from a back issue of Knitty.
For my brother's green hat I used the Cable Cap pattern from Stitch and Bitch Nation. The yarn is Peruvian Collection Highland Wool in Lettuce.

Speaking of finished projects. I finished Clapotis a long long time ago (last March, I think!) and I finally blocked it out. This was knit in some wool that I had in my stash. I don't remember the name exactly, but the color I do remember: raspberry. Not too hard to remember.

It's a lot longer than it was before blocking:

I've been steadily knitting away at Adamas. I got some new wooden circulars that have made it so much easier to knit. I was working on it with my Denise needles, which otherwise are my very favorite needles to knit with. With lace, they just don't work as great. I kept getting stitches stuck in the joins, and I would have to stop and move stitches back up onto the needle every 20 or so stitches. Not with the new circs! Our Ben Franklin's here has an awesome needle section. They have just about every circular and double pointed needle size you would ever need.
While I was there, I also picked up a magnet board. It has helped so much. No more squinting to remember what row of the chart I was on.

Just for fun, here are a few more pictures from Christmas:
Here are Jered and Clayton (my little brother) hamming it up for the camera, demonstrating their amazing synchronized eating abillities.

And Floyd striking a pose and looking quite sophisticated on the couch:

Leo!

2006-01-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are the first few pictures of Leo. Jered wore it to work yesterday and I was so proud :) My first really nice sweater!

And I waited until after we were married to give it to him. Okay, well really it just worked out that way because I took my dear sweet time finishing it up!
Strike a pose:

Now I'm all ready to knit up a sweater for myself. I made Salt Peanuts about a year ago, and it turned out allright, but I want something less heavy and more fitted. I got the Last Minute Knitted Gifts book from Jered for Christmas and I have been thinking about starting the hourglass sweater. It's knit in the round (always good!) and I really like that it is fitted throughout the body. Now that I've finished Leo and took my time seaming it up (and actually learned how to seam, after all these years), I am much more ready to do big projects that require lots of seaming.
Maybe that's why I've fallen in love with lace...no seaming!
I went over to my friend Dani's house today and taught her to knit.
She is an incredibly fast learner. Her mom knits, and she had learned a long time ago, but had gone to just crocheting until now. She is expecting twins in August and
thought she had better learn to knit now so that she can start cranking
out double blankets, sweaters, booties etc.
Christmas was good to us this year. Before we left for Alabama we had to take the ornaments off the tree, but here is a shot of it in all its glory before it started being deconstructed.

This weekend Jered and I are going to try and go on a bike ride with the new bikes we got for Christmas. We picked them up on Tuesday but haven't had a chance to ride yet because the weather has been sooo cold and wet out. It is supposed to clear up on Sunday and I'm really hoping it does. I want to break in my new bike. I'll post pictures if we do get out and ride.
I am looking forward to this weekend, it's been a little boring being at home without Jered all week.

Christmas Knitting

2006-01-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

worn
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

I promised pictures of the holiday knitting i did this year, and I still haven't figured out how to blog directly through Firefox, but here is one of the photos of the cable cap I made for my little brother. He's 12 and a little picky about what he wears, but lucky for me, this was a quick knit, and he ended up liking it just fine.
I am enjoying my last few days of freedom before I go back to school/work/clients. It is nice to have time to just do what I want. I had a little bit of work to get done, but I finished it up this morning after my morning walk (and sleeping in until 9:30, ahhhh). I have one client tonight and then I am free until Monday when my life officially starts again.
I've been working away on Adamas, and it's coming along really nicely. I will post pictures of that with some action shots of Leo this evening when Jered gets home and shows me how to do multiple photo blogs (blogger acts weird on my Mac).
If you are looking for a good show to watch on tv tonight and you're into comedy, I would highly recommend The Office. I think it will be on at 9:30. I think its the funniest show on tv right now. I'll be tuning in.

Orange hair

2006-01-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

orange
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

So Jered thinks my hair is orange... He took this picture to show me, and I kind of see what he means. It's funny because my hair doesn't look like that from the front. Must be all the sun I've been getting ;)

I uploaded all of our holiday photos and the pictures of Leo and the new Cable Cap. I'm trying to figure out blogging directly through firefox, so I'll post those when I figure it out.

Hiatus

2006-01-01T10:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, that was a loooong break!
So much has happened since I last blogged. Jered's parents were here for Christmas and we had a really great time spending the holidays with them. My parents live in town so we were able to gather everybody together for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner.
Jered and I got new road bikes for Christmas from his parents. We were really surprised and weren't expecting the bikes at all! We go and pick them up this Tuesday, I will be sure to post pictures of them once we have them. We're planning a small 20 mile ride out to the Parkway on Tuesday if the weather holds up.

After Jered's family left we headed down to Alabama to visit my grandparents with my parents and my little brother. My parents rented a van and we drove down together. My cousin is pregnant and has about a month to go, but everyone thought she might go into labor while we were there. It was an exciting trip. Got to see my grandparents and spend a little time relaxing. There isn't a whole lot to do in Alabama, especially in Enterprise (it's almost like time stands still down there), but I really like that because I rarely have an excuse to just sit around and do nothing. We had a nice visit with my grandparents, and our first trip to see family as a married couple (sharing a room was a little weird the first night!).

For Christmas Jered finally got Leo. I have plenty of pictures of Leo on Jered. It fits perfectly and I can't wait to post the pictures. I also knitted my brother a limr green cable cap from the Stitch n' Bitch book. Other than that I did no holiday knitting. Although, I did finally block Clapotis (which has been done almost an entire year!). I learned how to really seam with Leo. I did the best seaming job I've ever done on Leo because I took my time and sat down with instructions. Now that I've got the hang of it, I won't be as scared to do it in the future. I had a mild case of seaming phobia.

All in all it has been a great holiday season. I started trying to lose weight in early December and so far have lost over 7 pounds. I have a jump start on my New Year's Resolution which feels good! Jered and I rung in the New Year by sleeping. We got back from Alabama yesterday at 9, and we were out by 11 :)

Hope all is well for everyone out there who reads this. I've resolved to blog more this year and to upload my pictures more often, so things should be a little more regular around here.

Finals Over

2005-12-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

Always sleeping, or eating
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

I have had a long hiatus from blogging, but I'm back! I went to my very last class tonight and turned in my very last paper. I have two more days of work this week, and two client families to see and then I am off for three entire blissful weeks. I can't wait!
I have started Adamas and am on the 5th repeat of the body chart. I'm almost done with Leo (literally, a few rows from seaming, shhh its a secret!).
I only have two projects going right now, but that is plenty for me. I decided not to do much holiday knitting and just focus on two things so that I can have one big knitted gift to give this year (it's about time!).
I still have to finish my Christmas shopping this week and next. I've been waiting for a certain paycheck to come in, and when it does I have a few more things to get. Jered and I wrote each other lists, since we are trying to stay within a budget this year. It's so hard!
I'm off to get an early night's sleep. I just started reading "Wicked" and I want to get a few chapters in before bed since tv is all reruns tonight (argh).

An Ode to Laziness

2005-12-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

So lazy...
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Floyd has got it all right. Here is his seen lounging on top of our couch, something he does most of the day, and something I plan on joining him in doing in two weeks.
Between exams (coming up next week), seeing families, finishing term papers and group projects, work, and actually having a life, there really hasn't been much time for anything but staring blankly at the tv, wondering how everything is going to get done in two weeks.
Today I realized that its pretty much down hill after next week, so I've just got to get through until then.
I haven't gotten much knitting done, but I can say that Leo's last sleeve is about two classes away from being done (I have 2.5 hours of class tonight, and 2.5 next Tuesday). I knit one repeat of the Adamas shawl last night, surprisingly, which must mean my stress level is either peaking or winding down. I really can't tell which.
Tomorrow I hope to crank out my last two projects and study a bit for next weeks exams. Jered and I are going to a Christmas Tree lighting and lighted boat parade down at the river tomorrow night, and oodles of Holiday parties over the next couple of weeks.
I love the holidays. Once class/work/families are over I plan to sit on that couch with Floyd and revel in some hedonistic laziness.
Oh yeah, you wanted knitting pictures. Sorry. Maybe next time.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2005-11-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

Most of the food
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Just a picture to show what we have been doing all day...eating our way through this feast! We tried the Alton Brown recipe for turkey and it turned out soooo moist and flavorful. I had fresh rosemary and sage from my garden and stuffed the cavity with lemons and onions.
We also had homemade mushroom/celery/carrot/onion/apple/sausage/sage stuffing (made waaaaay too much!), the old green bean casserole standby, mashed potatoes, cran-blueberry-clementine sauce, and pan gravy.
I am stuffed. We had dinner around 2, and didn't have room for dessert until almost 7! We had pumpkin cream, and blueberry peach pies, and my friend Liz made something called green fluff that I had never had before.
I am thankful to feel this full and have good company to share our feast with. That, and having a husband who really pulled his weight in the kitchen!

Did you know?

2005-11-21T18:08:00.000-08:00

That the term "big cheese" originally referred to people who were wealthy enough to purchase a whole wheel of cheese.

That Coffee is the second largest commodity traded in the world - after oil.

That I want to be knitting but I am not feeling well and can't muster the energy to pick up my needles.

That my morning class got cancelled tomorrow and I'm going to be sleeping in.

Sleepy

2005-11-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhh it's Friday!
I spent this morning at a local middle school meeting with an administrator about one of the families I see. The meeting wasn't as successful as I would have liked, but I'm glad I got their perspective on the family's situation.
Then I headed over to EvilMart to buy a turkey. I have been trying to find a 10 pound or less turkey, and supposedly Walmart was one of the few places that had them. I am very excited about cooking my first turkey :)
I am going to plan the rest of the menu this weekend. I've been stockpiling ingredients all week. Tonight was stroganoff night, but then we went and picked up a friend of Jered's from the airport because her husband had to work late, and so we went out to a new burrito place called Moe's. It was frickin' fabulous.
I'm off to see my client and get my weekend started. I got my yarn from knitpicks last week and hope to start on Adamas this weekend, if my fingers don't freeze and fall off.
Check out Jered's review of Harry Potter (why I am tired!)

Creepy

2005-11-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

chicken
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Are you ready for the flu? Apparently CNN is, and this scary photo was the cover story for their website today.

I read the article and I am amused at the irony: If a bird flu pandemic strikes, the vaccines will most likely be made in billions of chicken eggs. Life is lovely.

Friday night Fiction

2005-11-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

I had the day off today. I spent my morning running, in a geriatric yoga class (literally, I was the only one under 60, I felt supple), getting my eyebrows waxed and finishing treatment plans and evaluation studies. I called my mom this afternoon to invite her for lunch, but she was in Florida. I had no idea. I suppose that means I'm an adult, my parents don't tell me when they leave the state for vacation. Life surprises me.
A good friend of my mine came over this afternoon and we went out for sushi and a movie with Jered. We went and saw Prime. It was okay, a little less funny than I had expected, and a lot more dramatic than I had hoped. I was thinking it would be more of a comedy, but it ended up being more of a dramedy. I really don't like Uma Thurman. I don't know why, I can't put my finger on it, but she just leaves me feeling empty, like after I eat a rice cake. Empty, wanting something more, but not quite sure what.
Quite a bit of sex in the movie though, if that's your kind of thing.

I downloaded a smattering of new songs this afternoon. I stumbled upon this band called Kings of Convenience that I am really liking. Got a little Death Cab for Cutie, some German music (2raumwohnung, check them out on iTunes, very cool band), it was a very chill day.

I feel like writing, but I don't know what. I am not in the mood to knit. My mind is all over the place, and I need a different sort of creative outlet. I'm not the journaling/diary type, which is a smidge ironic... Any ideas?

Knitting pictures...tomorrow maybe?

The Itch

2005-11-06T07:48:00.000-08:00

I think that school and work and just the hum-drumness of it all has given me an itch. I want to get out of my surroundings and go somewhere new. Learn something new that isn't related to counseling or school or health education or knitting. I just want to experience something novel. I'd love to learn to ski or snowboard. Heck, I'd even like to get out and go pick apples at an orchard. Anything, I need a change of scenery.
The end of the semester is coming and with that comes a pretty extensive amount of work. I need to finish three major projects while continuing to go to class, work, see families...it seems like the list of things to get done never ends. So I've been thinking that maybe this is my way of wanting to escape from it all? Going someplace new just feels like it would be the perfect solution. My brain feels like it is getting screen burn in. I've been doing the same things, have had the same stress, day after day after day. We have a big screen tv at home and the people who gave it to us watched a lot of CNN. We can tell because the CNN logo is permanently burned into the screen. If my life were a tv screen, I'm curious what this burn-in would look like. Maybe a big purple inkblot with zzzz's coming out of it. Hmmm. That was abstract.

Musical Interlude

2005-11-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed that NBC ends all of its major dramas with a slow, sad, and weepy song. All of the characters are shown wrapping up their respective stories, without words, to the sound of said song. I don't know how long this has been going on, but I started to notice it with the show American Dreams, but tonight it was on ER. Amazing, truly amazing.

Thank God it is Thursday night. I am so ready for this weekend. I have an inservice tomorrow, and I plan on doing more homework when I get home. Hopefully I can get it all done before Jered gets home so the rest of the weekend can be just for doing nothing.
Speaking of Jered, check out the button he made me from the graphic he designed earlier this week (it's on my sidebar).

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the canvas Jered and I painted and the progress I have made on various knitting projects. Hopefully I will have pictures to post of new yarn from Knitpicks too, if it gets here by tomorrow!

Girl + Yarn + Cat = Relaxation

2005-11-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

Yeah, Jered gets mad props for this one. He made me my own little graphic. This is how he sees me, I suppose, and I think I quite like it.
Short post for today, its Hump Day Eve, so celebrate. Woohoo!

More Lace

2005-10-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

Since my blog is worth over $1000, I decided I could afford to get enough lace yarn to knit Mim's Adamas Shawl. I bought three hanks of Shadow in Lost Lake. I think this shawl will be for me!
I'm looking forward to doing a whole lotta nothing this weekend. I am almost done with the first of two socks for Jered. They are a little wide, but he does have man legs, so... we'll see.

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

Where the buns are

2005-10-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Right now both Jered and I are camped out on our sofas. I promised pictures earlier, and I figured out why blogger wasn't working (it wasn't actually blogger, it's the new browser I use, Flock).

Today was long and cold, and I'm glad that the day is officially over. Tomorrow is Jered's birthday and I'm taking the evening off, no families, no class, just us and dinner over at my parents' place. They are making steaks and got a cake from Coldstone. I'm quite excited, it should be a good time. I also can't wait for Jered to open his present tomorrow, I think I might even wake him up early so that I don't have to wait any longer to give it to him. He has recently been blogging about my interpretive dancing tendencies. Check out his blog. I was thinking of interpretive dancing to "Happy Birthday" tomorrow. Maybe I'll practice a little tonight ;)

Monday Blues

2005-10-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

Comics and Cats
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

I wish I could stay home all day just like Floyd. He gets to spend his Mondays doing what he does every other day of the week. Hang out on our new furniture, sleep, eat, poop, sleep. What a life!

I had supervision this morning, but no meeting with my bosses. It was rainy all day and I just wanted to be at home. Tonight I had three families, and they all showed up, and I could tell it was a rainy day. Everyone was a little wet and tired and ready to go home (including me). But overall it wasn't too late of a night and I was able to come home and make dinner at 3:30 so that it was ready when I got home (smart move). Jered's birthday is on Wednesday. I am going crazy keeping his present a secret. He is taking Wednesday off, and won't let me skip class that night. Something about me needing an education... hmmm.
Anyhow, Here's Floyd, my picture for the day until I can get blogger working again!

Marshmallows

2005-10-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Marshmallows
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Now that I've figured out how to post pictures through blogger/flickr I can post many more pictures. I spent yesterday making homemade marshmallows from a recipe I found while perusing Cooking Light at Barnes and Nobles yesterday. This morning they were done "setting," and I cut them and rolled them in powdered sugar. How weird is it that you can make your own marshmallows? And they really taste and feel like marshmallows too (squishy, foamy, soft, marshmallowy). Take a look.
I will post more pictures as soon as blogger's picture function starts working again. For now, today will just be a marshmallow picture day. Ahhh. Lovely.

Madli Pictures

2005-10-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

Update: If you subscribe to me through bloglines, please re-subscribe using the "Subscribe to My Site" button. When my site went down and up and down again things got a little funky. Now they are fixed. Thanks!
So here she is! Hopefully my picture posting will work. I haven't tried it without flickr since we moved and our connection went all funky, so cross your fingers that this works!
Madli is my first real lace project. I made a few little mistakes, but I was not brave enough to rip back and fix them. I think it turned out great despite the little glitches. This is a picture of Madli before blocking.

It's amazing what a little blocking can do. I pinned Madli out and misted her with cold water. Once the shawl was nice and wet it stretched much easier. My points aren't super symmetrical, but I think they look just find. Here is Madli during blocking.
Once I finished blocking I took a few more pictures of the end border (which is my favorite, it looks much harder than it actually is).

And here is a picture of me actually wearing Madli, shortly before I gave her to my mom, who didn't believe I had actually knit anything that could be considered lace.

Specs for the project:
Interweave Knits Summer 2004
Pattern by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Shadow from Knitpicks
Content: 100% Merino Wool
Amount: 2- 440 yard/50 gram hanks
The pattern calls for just over 1000 yards, but I was able to finish the shawl with just two hanks of Shadow in "Sunset."

New Look!

2005-10-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

It is wonderful being married to a graphic designer. What do you all think about the new look? I love it! I am going to post a few pictures tomorrow of my recently finished Madli as well as our new sofa and love seat. Check back soon, and let me know what you think of the new look!
And just fyi, I belong in London :)

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern.

A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.

A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything.

No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)

A new place to sit

2005-10-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Jered and I did some spontaneous furniture shopping. We have been using a futon as a sofa for the past year and a half, and while it has been perfecty functional, we started to get a little annoyed with the feeling of wooden slats beneath our butts. We went to a discount furniture store and found a sofa and a loveseat for right around 10 benjamins. I will post pictures later this week of our lovely new leather furniture. It's a nice neutral green color and it is so amazingly comfortable that I briefly considered quitting school and my job to permanently sit at home.
In knitting news, I finished Madli! It's been my first "real" lace project and I can't wait to post the pictures I took earlier this week. I decided to give Madli to my mom, but not for Christmas or her birthday (which is coming up the first week of November). No, I just couldn't wait another couple of weeks. Once I blocked her out on Sunday and had her all ready to be worn I was itching to give her away. I think my mom really liked it, but didn't think I made it. She asked, "Did you....knit...this?" As though it wasn't normal knitting and maybe I found it at a yard sale and was regifting. Or maybe she was just impressed. I'd like to think she was impressed :) She usually "out-crafts" me in pretty much every arena, but I don't think she can anymore with the whole knitting thing. My mom is a jack of all trades master of some. She does a few things really well and lots of things as hobbies. She knows how to knit, but she doesn't, so I think I'm safe to say that for once in my life I am craftier than my mom in at least one way. How childish of me. But really, I don't care, it feels good ;)
I've also just started a pair of socks for Jered which I hope to have done by next Wednesday (his annual party happens then). I'm also getting ready to knit a few robots for the guy. He came upon this website: http://www.jesshutch.com/robotmain.html and has requested a few of the little guys. They are adorable and would make great pillows for the cats. I have much knitting to do.

I've got class and clients today and lots of studying for my ethics midterm tomorrow. It's strange to have multiple choice and short answer exams, I got so used to essays that its been a bit of a shock for me getting into undergrad mode again. I think that maybe this is their sneaky way of preparing us for the certification exams in the spring. Ugh. I had a psych testing and measurement exam last night that I think went fairly well, and I should be getting back my substance abuse exam tonight. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and this weekend I am looking forward to not studying for anything.

Teeth

2005-10-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Penn Station Skylight
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Today was day two of the two most dreaded days of my entire year. Day one was back in April, today was day two. In April I switched dentists to a really nice and gentle guy who doesn't like to see my gums bleed all over his office. I had a cavity, but I didn't mind much because at that point I was still on my parents super good military insurance (ah the perks of staying in school forever, you get forever id card priviledges, or until you turn 23, which didn't happen until May). Sure it hurt when they put the needle in my gum to numb me up, but it wasn't too traumatic. The power went out in the middle of my filling, which was really scary because they were halfway through and said they might have to give me a temporary and try again at a later date. Well I lucked out, the power came back on.

So today was day two of the most dreaded days of my year. I become a wreck the day I have to go to the dentist. I don't know what it is, but I can't handle it. I didn't eat lunch today because I was afraid I might give myself a cavity in the last minute. I take good care of my teeth, brushing daily and flossing at least a few times a week, but still, the thought of a cavity, and the copay. Ugh. So all morning as I wrote up my midterm paper and studied for my substance abuse midterm (which is tomorrow, ah!) I had this nagging sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Like, I absolutely just KNEW that I had a cavity. I could feel it. All of my teeth felt a little "off," like they knew it too, and were just waiting, sitting quietly and patiently in my mouth waiting for their drilling doom.

So I left half an hour early. I do this when I'm nervous. I got to the dentists at 1:20, my appointment was at 1:45. I had to get some insurance paperwork done since I have a new name, new husband, etc. etc. But that only took about 4 minutes. So I was sitting in the lobby, reading Readers Digest, which I used to love when I was about 12. The little jokes didn't seem so funny. I felt like laughing might make me more suceptible to cavities in the last moment, so I sat with my mouth shut, just waiting. My stomach was pretty rumbly, from hunger and fear, and it started to make noises. Really obnoxious noises. To the point where the receptionist asked if I was hungry. It was bad.

My teeth were cleaned by a dental hygienist I had not met before. She was very nice to my teeth, I didn't bleed at all. But it was a long cleaning, almost 25 minutes. And I had X-rays done today. I hate x-rays. They mean that the dentist can catch what my teeth try to hide. The deep dark secret cavities that lurk below. I tried doing progressive relaxation. I tried doing that thing where you are supposed to imagine yourself walking through various rooms of a house that you are familiar with, and mentally become calmer as you walk into each room. It did not work. I ran away from home. So after my x-rays, and during my cleaning I was waiting, waiting, waiting for the doctor to come and examine my teeth and tell me the dreaded news: all of my teeth were rotting from the inside and I would have to have them all drilled, filled and then pulled without novacaine because our insurance doesn't cover it. I just knew it was coming.

No cavities. It happens every time. I should have known.

I think I should knit now. Four more repeats till Madli's center panel is done.
Oh, and the photo is totally unrelated. Just thought I would give you something nice to look at.

Leo Sweet Leo

2005-10-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sleeve
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

This last sleeve is crawling along, but it will be done by Christmas. I plan on finally finishing Leo for Jered by the time it starts getting really chilly here. Which, the way things are going now, might be never. It is 78 degrees and muggy today. It's raining, which is a nice change, but it feels more like August than October. Seriously, will it ever get cool? October is supposed to be at least a little chilly, right? Give me snow sleet and hail any day over this muggy mess.

Yesterday I had the day off, and I've got Monday and Tuesday off too for our fall break. I'm getting three new clients next week, all three of them on Monday, so I'm excited about that. It is a little overwhelming though. Next week I have one midterm, and the following week I have two more. It's hard to believe that the semester is almost half over. Hard to believe, but a relief at the same time.

We got a wedding present yesterday from my Uncle who is stationed in Korea. He sent us a gorgeous Korean jewelry box, that has a mirror that pops out of the top of the box. It reminds me a little of the box in Jumanji. I'll have to post some pictures.

I worked two repeats on Madli this week which is pathetic, I know. I hope to get a few more done this weekend and then finish her up before my mom's birthday in November. Then, hopefully I'll be able to start another one for Jered's mom and have it done by Christmas.

I went shopping yesterday because I ran out of shampoo, and I spent about 20 minutes trying to find a moisturizing shampoo that wouldn't break the bank and didn't smell like feces. I finally found an Awapuhi shampoo by Suave that I picked up and all was well. Until I took my shower this morning. Yeah, in all my searching, I accidentally picked up conditioner. I ALWAYS do this. I swear. I tell myself, check the label, check the label, and I always check. And I had checked with the other shampoos that I had held in my hand and considered buying, but somehow I slipped up. So now I have yet another bottle of conditioner and no shampoo.
I should start a collection.

Still no knitting pictures

2005-10-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

Ghost Cat
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

That's because I'm too busy knitting to take them. So here's a picture of the cat, the fat, sweet one. He loves our curtains. More than he should, actually. He sleeps in them, plays in them, hides in them (although that doesn't work out too well!) and begs for dinner in them.
I went to Knitting Sisters on Friday and found some great closeout sales! They had berroco Denim Silk 75% off, so it was like, $2 a skein! I got three and have started a diagonally ribbed scarf. I needed a quick project. So many shawls and sweaters, I need something I can finish in a weekend or two!
I also bought two balls of CashCotton for 50% off ($4.50 a ball!) which I plan to use to make Jered a decent dressy scarf that he can wear to work. It's black so it will go with anything.

I love fall, I just wish I had more time to enjoy it and less things to think/worry about. With school/work/internship to think about it just drives me nuts. It's hard to relax when I have all of it on my mind. I wish I could mentally dump it all somewhere and not have to deal with it. But then that wouldn't be healthy, and I'm going to grow up to be a real live counselor, got to lead by example. Whatever ;)

Oooooh, Ahhhhh

2005-09-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Inside Again
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

So my readership is down because I am no longer on the Knitting Blogs webring! That explains the lack of comments :) Hopefully I'll be back up shortly.
This is an inside shot of the new knitting bag. I haven't taken it anywhere yet, but I'm debating leaving my regular back pack behind tomorrow and taking the new bag to class with me.
It still hasn't cooled off here. I can't wait for fall. I am a cool/cold weather person. Fall and winter invigorate me, I like a crisp chill in the air and even enjoy being cold sometimes. Summer just makes me uncomfortable. It's sticky and makes me feel sloooooooooow.
This weekend it is supposed to cool down into the 70's, finally. It is about time! It's almost October and we're still averaging 85 degree days with mucho humidity. Ylech...
I hope we have a freezing cold winter. As long as I can keep our house around 55-60 degrees I will be happy as a clam. I think I was meant to be an Eskimo :)

Knitting Bag!

2005-09-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Knitting Bag!
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Jered and I were reading the Sunday paper this morning perusing the coupon section as we usually do, and we came upon a 40% off coupon for Michaels. We have been trying to figure out what to do for art in our living room since we have much more wall space to fill up now, and thought, Hey! Let's go to Michaels and buy a huge canvas with this coupon. So off to Michaels we went. We stopped by the new Paneras on our way there and had a delicious lunch first, and then continued on our bargain hunting way.
We got to Michaels only to find that all canvases were already 40% off! And since you can't use the coupon with any other offer we had a coupon to use on another item. So, Jered found me this bag. The mother of all knitting bags. It's big, its orange, and its just about the coolest thing I have seen out there. AND, we only paid $24 for it. I should say, Jered only paid $24 for it.
They had a specific knitting bag, but it was actually not as nice as this one and it was a little too big, if that's possible. It just didn't seem practical, for me. They also had a one skein knitting bag that reminded me of a wine bottle carrier, and it wasn't quite big enough. So I got the General Bag, which seems to have been designed with knitters in mind. I am quite pleased. I have already put most of my notions in it. I'll post a picture of the back and the insides soon!

Fall, Autumn, where are you?

2005-09-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

92?! WTF? It's September right? It has been so hot and humid out it feels like summer. I miss Germany this week. In Germany its not humid, it might still be a little warm, but its not humid. The humidity in Virginia is surprising. I guess not having grown up with it, it takes some getting used to, and I"m only in the first two years of getting used to it. Tonight it stormed out and rained for the first time in 3 weeks.
I haven't knit anything this week, partially because yarn sticks to my fingers in this weather. So right now I"m watching NBC's Tuesday night premier line up. Starting with My Name is Earl.
Life is good.

Comments Down?

2005-09-13T04:58:00.000-07:00

The busier I get, the more I knit, the less I blog. Sound familiar to anyone?
Things have gotten really hectic at work recently and combined with school and my internship there hasn't been much time for regular blogging. I can knit in all 5 of my classes which is a major plus, but blogging is a different story. I think my comments may not be working, that or I have lost all my readers when my site went down for a week or so. We shall see. I tried commenting on a previous post and it hasn't shown up yet, I'll keep trying.
Madli is nearly finished, I have 5 repeats left. I thought I was going to give her away for christmas, but I am quickly changing my mind. I think I might "need" her myself :) It's really warm and my first real lace project, so I am justified to keep it, right?
Well that's all i have time for now. I have a 13 hour day today so I'd better go get started to get it over with!

Ice Cream and Sleevage

2005-09-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

I had a relaxing and productive day. I didn't think the two were really meant to go together, but it was nice to have the day to clean up a bit and get some things done. I haven't had time to clean the house all week and things were starting to pile up a little, I got all my chores done today while Jered was at the game (see previous posts).
After getting all of the "work" I needed done, I decided to track down the Coldstone cake batter ice cream recipe. I was able to find a recipe that looked like it would work, and made up a batch of ice cream batter. It has to chill over night in the fridge before we put it in the ice cream maker, but the mixture tastes pretty darn close right now! It's far from healthy, made with cream and half and half, but it was fun to make, and might even live up to my flavor expectations.
I also made a batch of spaghetti sauce today. I had some spicy pork sausage in the freezer and a few jars of my mom's fresh "canned" tomatoes. The sauce turned out awesome, I had lots of sage in the garden and used that in it. Quite delish. It made enough for dinner tonight and two more batches for future dinners (I was able to find enough containers to freeze the rest). For those of you who make tomato based things, I learned a tip from someone a while ago about how to keep your plastic/tupperware containers from staining. Spray them with non-stick spray before you add your food/sauce/tomatoes, and it won't stain, even if you keep it in the freezer for ages.
I finished the first Leo sleeve in class this week and started the second. With the classes I have I should be able to finish Leo by Jered's birthday, and have it seamed by Christmas (his birthday is in October, Chrismas is in December) :)
My best friend Liz is coming to stay with us next weekend. We're having a housewarming party and she's coming down from Delaware for it. I'm hoping she gets here in time to see Jered as the CNU mascot. I'm really excited to see her, she will be our first official house guest :) And! In other great news, Jered's parents will be spending Christmas with us this year.
So many things happened this week... I need a rest :)

Rowan?

2005-09-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

Rowan?
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

Saturday's football game was against Rowan, of all teams. I couldn't resist the chance to take a picture of a Rowan football helmet. Even Jered got the humor in it, and we joked that their mascot should be either a very wooly sheep or a giant ball of tweedy yarn. I love that he "gets it."

It feels like Monday, even though I know its Tuesday and I know the week is short. It can't really be short enough! Luckily I only have work and class today, no clients or evening appointments other than class.
The weather here has cooled down significantly, it's been in the 80's with low humidity and sunshine. I hope we get some rain to help the plants recover from the shock of being moved all over the back yard, but none is forcast for the next week or so.
I managed to finish 6 repeats of Madli last night while watching a show on the history channel about Rome. I also did a little bit of the Leo sweater, which is still, sadly, unfinished. I think it's my intense dislike for seaming that is keeping me from finishing. Just the thought of all that sewing makes me want to put it back on the bottom of my pile.

I should get to class, hope everyone had a relaxing Labor Day weekend.

After!

2005-09-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Garden
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

What a difference. The weather has been really nice here, not too hot and not too humid. We are pretty much done with lawn and garden maintenance for the weekend, other than mowing the lawn and taking the 8 bags of weeds to the dump!
I finished 2 repeats of Madli so far, so I'm not living up to my expectations. But 2 repeats is 2 repeats. I will get her done eventually. For now, there is laundry to do and a garden to enjoy.

Before....

2005-09-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

Back Yard
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

Before this morning, our yard looked like this. After half a day of weeding, replanting and getting eaten alive by bugs, it looks completely different, ah the suspense, I'll post the after photo tomorrow :)

A weekend free...

2005-09-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

Kitchen
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

We were supposed to go to Savannah Georgia this weekend to pick up a free 52" tv from friends of my family. My parents ended up going by themselves because gas prices are just to outrageous right now. I also can't see driving an extra car down and using that fuel for nothing, it seems a little too wasteful considering all that is going on in our country right now.
So I find myself with a weekend that is completely free. I can knit, clean, work in the yard, cook (I'm boiling peanuts in the kitchen right now) and just generally relax. It's a very eerie feeling!
I hope to get at least 20 repeats of Madli done this weekend, which would also mean I would be done with Madli this weekend. We'll see about that. My best intentions usually end up, well...not meeting their own expectations :)
Jered and I are headed to CNU's football game this afternoon. He has taken on the role of their mascot and so I have a feeling Saturday football games are going to become pretty common! I am going to take some pictures, but might not post them since it's supposed to be a secret, shhhh! :)
Hope everyone has a safe, relaxing and fun weekend.

Monday Monday

2005-08-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

Flowers from the garden
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

Today has been a long day and its not over yet. I am having some trouble with licensure stuff because I didn't take one class last semester that my advisor said it was okay for me to wait until this summer to take. I would have taken it if she had told me that without it I don't graduate until August (even though my class is over June 1st!) I would have moved our honeymoon to August and everything would have been fine, but she reassured me that waiting until this upcoming summer would be no problem. Whatever! I won't be able to get my degree until two full months after my last class, AND, if I get a job, my counseling hours won't count as post graduate licensure hours until I get my official diploma. I have talked to the "powers that be" and they all say there is nothing I can do, and that its a raw deal, but one that I will have to live with. It sucks because I am actually ahead on my coursework, and am only taking 4 classes in spring instead of 5 like everyone else, of course the one class i need is only offered the last two weeks of May. AHHHG! I'm pissed. This program is great, but so disorganized and so crazy making when it comes to finding out anything that we need to know about graduation, licensure, etc....
At least I have pretty flowers in my garden and Madli to knit on.
I feel like a turd.

I love Madli

2005-08-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Different View
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

I think I have a new favorite. It was socks for a long time, now I think it's lace. Okay, I know it's lace. I am doing Madli without the nupps because I started with the nupps and I didn't really like them that much, I'm not a very bobble-y person, and while I think they are fine for other people, they are not fine for me. They were fun to make, but I like the look of Madli better without them. Hopefully I won't regret this once I have her all blocked out!
I've knitted another 6-8 inches beyond the point in this picture, but it wasn't super interesting so I just thought I'd use an older photo.
This weekend is yard work weekend, and we are finishing cleaning our old apartment so that we can finally be rid of it. It will be so nice to only have one place again! (And to be paying for only one place)
My work week from hell is finally over, and although I won't be sipping margaritas by the pool all weekend, it will be relaxing not to have to see any freshmen, including my sister!

This is where I want to be

2005-08-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Living Room
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

And finally i am here! I spent 13 hours at work today. I am absolutely exhausted. This morning at 8 I had to help with the Peer training for our mandatory alcohol education programs. Then at 11 we had a picnic in the rain, which actually wasn't that bad because I got one repeat of Madli's done. It's going so much more quickly now. I can get one repeat done in about 45 minutes, so it should only take me a million hours to finish ;)
After the picnic I had to go into my office and work for a few hours on some pretty urgent stuff, including organizing volunteers to staff our resource center. Then it was off to a depression/stress program for the freshmen and then off to a meeting with my supervisor to discuss more planning for the semester. From 6:30-9 I was at a student activities fair. I had to demonstrate putting on a condom with the wooden models our office has. It was a riot. It's amazing how many students don't know how to correctly put on a condom! My job and life is so strange sometimes :)
I'm home now, Jered had sushi and candlelight waiting for me. He really spoils me. After a long day it was just what I needed. I don't think I have the energy to knit any more tonight, and I'm actually surprised I had the oomph to blog.
My comments should be working again, so go ahead and give em' a shot. I got the comments from a few days ago that got wiped out when we reformatted some things, but everything should be back to normal now :)
Goodnight!

Swift!

2005-08-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Swift!
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

This weekend has gone by way too quickly. I spent both Saturday and Sunday working so it hasn't felt like much of a break. We are in the middle of freshman orientation right now and until next week I have at least three more late nights related to it.
Luckily, I have my knitting to keep me sane. This is a picture of the swift that I got from my Secret Pal. It goes perfectly in the new knitting room. How weird is it that I have a room devoted to my hobbies/school? This past month has felt really surreal, between the move, starting work again and learning to knit lace ;)
I can't wait for this week to be over, next weekend I have nothing planned for Saturday or Sunday, amazingly, and I hope that that is just the way it stays.
I have to send the reveal package out to my secret pal (who I won't name just yet, in case she reads my blog) sometime this week. I am always so late in sending my stuff!
I'm hoping to post at least a few pictures of the furnished house this week, so check back!

Madli's Shawl

2005-08-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

Madli's Shawl
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

Finally! Since moving to our new place we had a minor tech problem and both of our websites were down for a while. Luckily I got through to our Internet people and got everything squared away.
School starts next week, as does the rest of everything else, including my assistantship, and my internship. I am trying to get as much knitting in as I can before everything starts up again.
A few weeks ago i got a great package from my secret pal with a lovely swift (that I will post a picture of as soon as I can figure out how to get flickr to let me do it!) This has allowed me to start knitting lace. I had lace yarn that I was waiting to wind into balls, but the thought of the knots and entanglement stopped me. Obviously the new swift acted as motivation. I started Madli's shawl last weekend and have worked through 4 repeats of the main pattern now. It is so much easier than I thought it would be! I had to frog 4 times before I got the border right, but I've got the hang of it now (crossing fingers).
This week I also got a package from my KRSP Sarah! (http://www.sarahwooden.typepad.com) She sent me a lovely package of Lush Soaps and Bath fizzes that smell amazing. Luckily with two bathtubs in our new place I'll definitely be able to enjoy them! Thanks again Sarah :)

That's all for tonight, I'm just glad we're up and running again! Please comment so that I know all of you haven't forgotten that this site is here :)

Testing Testing

2005-08-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

I'm having some technical difficulties, I lost the two posts I did over the weekend, but have them saved on my computer at home, hopefully everything will be back up by tonight!

We are a Team

2005-08-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

Jered and Esther at Penn Station
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Jered and I have been moving moving moving all week long, and yesterday and today have been absolutely crazy. We managed to move just about everything but a few cleaning supplies and a chair to our new place in two days. Holy smokes. It did help that we started moving things all week, but the bulk of our furniture was moved yesterday and the rest today. I don't think I've ever been this sore in my entire life. We moved it all, in my VW beetle and Jered's Ford Focus. We borrowed my dad's van for the day yesterday to move the "big furniture" which consisted of our bed, the futon a.k.a. our "sofa", and a few other bulky items. We finished at 12:30 last night and started again at 9 am this morning. We are no where near being unpacked in our new place, but the old place is empty. We plan on cleaning it out sometime in the coming week and having an inspection before we turn in our keys so we don't get charged for anything.
Moving is such a pain, but so rewarding all the same. Our new place is so much roomier. I even have a room that is pretty much mine. Right now we have all of my knitting stuff set up in it as well as my "Mac Stand" which is a desk we bought at IKEA on our way home from Baltimore.
The cats have gone a bit nutty, but they seem to be adjusting fairly well. We have a little cat walk on the second floor and Floyd decided he wanted to test it out and jumped from the second floor to the first. He looks okay, he was limping around for a little while but he's a tough guy. I think he learned the reason for stairs today :)
I've done no knitting (surprise, surprise), but I have set up all of my supplies and can't wait to have everything put away so that I can start a new project. I was in the Sunday paper today! They did an article on Knitting for the Daily Press and my picture was in the center of a two page spread! It was craziness. Jered made us buy 3 copies. I was surprised that my picture was used. It was a great article on knitting with lots of local input and good information.
If I ever find the digital camera I will take pictures of the article, goodies from my Secret Pal, and the disaster area that is our new house :)

Can't wait to use this!

2005-08-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

Fireplace
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

We have a fireplace, and I can't wait for the weather to cool down, for sooo many reasons!
I got an amazing package in the mail today from my Secret Pal. I got a swift!!! How cool is that? I mean, how many people can say they got a swift from their secret pal? She is the best! I have been wanting one, for. ever. Seriously. She also sent the most beautiful handmade stitch markers that match the sock yarn she sent in the last package. AND (I know, there is more, crazy, right?!) she sent some more sock yarn. Amazing. It totally made my day. If I could find the camera I would take pictures :)
The move is going slowly, but it's nice to do it leisurely. Every morning I get up and move a car load or two over, unpack it, touch up some of the painting, pull some weeds in the garden and then come home and get on with the rest of life. This weekend we plan on doing some major moving, and getting a bulk of our stuff over there. We should be officially moved in by the 15th, which works perfectly since I start work on the 15th and class on the 23rd :)
I just hope we can get it all unpacked and organized before then!
Thanks again Secret Pal from Ohio, you are the greatest!

Front of House

2005-07-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

Front of House
Originally uploaded by Jered and Esther.

Jered and I might be moving into a townhouse that my parents bought as an investment. We are torn because the townhouse is so much nicer than the 1 bedroom apartment we live in now, but my parents also are asking quite a bit more than we are paying for our rent here now. This townhome is so much nicer and has much more space. I would love to move in today, but my parents have yet to decide whether or not they want to do business with family. We shall see. It would be a huge upgrade for us and it would come at the perfect time since I actually have time to move stuff right now seeing as I have no classes or work until the 10th.
I finished Ginger and just need to block and weave in the ends. I also have a little lace yarn in the mail from Knitpicks for Madli's Shawl which I've been wanting to make for a while now.
More on the housing situation later. Wish us luck!

Housing situation update:
We decided to go for it. After thinking about it for a few hours this morning and weighing the pros and cons we decided that this was an opportunity that we just couldn't pass up. The place is gorgeous. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a fireplace, a garage, and drumroll please, a garbage disposal! The previous owners were friends of my parents and they painted the house in neat colors. We went over one of the darker teal colors with a light grey because the teal wasn't really our style and didn't match with the things we have, but otherwise the place is in tip top shape. I'll try and take a few pictures tomorrow if I can find the time. This is going to be so exciting! We are officially out of this apartment on August 29th, but we will actually be out of here by the 15th, we're just paying rent for it until the end of the month. This is so exciting. A real house! With a yard and a garage and carport and... I was feeling very overwhelmed earlier, but now that we have started the process of moving I'm feeling much better. So my 10 day mini break is not going to be much of a break anymore but this is worth the work! This has been a whirlwind day!

More Baltimore

2005-07-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

On the Water
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

This picture really isn't that great, but Jered and I did go to the Inner Harbor and had a great time last weekend.
I came up with a Knit Picks wishlist today that I hope to send to Jered before Christmas ;) I love Knit Picks, especially since I've started wanting to knit more lace, their lace yarn is so reasonable and they've got the most gorgeous colors.
I'm in class right now and blogging...haha. It feels rather naughty. This is my last class of the summer, thank God, it feels like it has dragged on forever!
I've been working on Leo and Ginger, almost done with both, hopefully some more pictures this weekend.
Yesterday the heat index here was 120! Can you believe it? Talk about hot has habaneros...it was insane. I think I started to cook from the outside. Literally, I felt like a pot roast in a hot oven.
Thank goodness I don't work outside :)

Jered on Beer

2005-07-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

Jered on Beer
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Just to give you an idea of what our Baltimore weekend was like. Good times were had by all. I got absolutely no knitting done, but we had a blast. The weather worked out perfectly and I got to try a real crab cake.
Wowsa.
Check out my flickr account to see more pictures of our trip!

And now for the Meme from Knitting Nurse:

Five of my idiosyncracies:
1) Sometimes I make conversations into musicals just to be funny. Example: If work was crap I'll tell Jered about my day to the tune of an imagined musical. Sometimes dancing ensues.
2) I have a super heightened sense of smell. This can be a very good thing and a very bad thing. I will get cranky if a room doesn't smell good, or at least neutral.
3) I don't know the words to any one entire song. I know many parts, but I always seem to forget at least a verse.
4) I like to scratch my head. That sounds weird, but it comforts me. When I'm nervous I will scratch and scratch and scratch. It feels good to my nails and fingers and head. Weird, I know.
and finally...
5) I love to do stupid interpretive dance. I'm not talking serious stuff, but goofy - people probably think I'm on crack when I do it - stuff. Jered hates it, but always laughs.

And now I shall tag:
Miriam
Lolly
Jered
and I'll think of two more soon!

The sleeve that went on forever

2005-07-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

Leo Sleeve
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

When this sweater is done it will be a miracle. The gauge is so small and knitting a man sized sweater on size 3's with cotton has not exactly been a quick knit! I absolutely love the way this sweater feels. Unlike some of the larger gauge patterns I have knit up like Salt Peanuts, this feels like something one would buy at a store, and it looks frickin fabulous!
Jered and I are heading to Baltimore for the weekend to visit my friend Liz. I think it's going to be about a 3 hour drive, so I'm taking Leo along and hope to finish the first sleeve. I'm also taking along the camera, so hopefully sunday night or monday morning I should have a nice big picture post.
I've never been to Baltimore, but I'm very excited to visit Liz. I hear there are some decent yarn shops there so maybe i'll get a chance to check them out.
We got an outrageous electic bill last night so we have been trying to conserve more energy. It is crazy, we live in a relatively small one bedroom apartment and never keep the air below 77 and it was still outrageous. I can't wait for summer to be over, this humidity and heat is just dragging me down.
Luckily, we're halfway through the really hot stuff, at least I sure hope so. If I keep telling myself that it will be true, right?!

Sleevage!

2005-07-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Sleeve
Originally uploaded by estherknits.

Finally some knitting pictures :)
I am using flickr now so we'll see if this works out okay, I think I can only post one picture at a time, but even still it's worth a try. This is the first sleeve of the Leo sweater which has knit up very quickly. I have the back and front done and hope to finish this sleeve by the end of the week. If Harry Potter doesn't get in the way! Flickr is neat, but this one picture at a time thing is a little lame if you ask me.

Allright, I have a few more pictures, so I'm just going to do these the old fashioned way! Here is a shot of the one thing standing between me and the end of the first sleeve:

well, and maybe this guy...

She doesn't much seem to care!

And last weekend we had the funniest thing happen to us. Jered went in to get new tires and ended up having to get new brakes and rotors (this isn't the funny part!) and so they sent him home with a gargantuan Ford truck. The thing was absolutely massive. We only drove it twice all weekend because we knew 1) we couldn't afford the gas, and 2) We were afraid we might kill someone or run over someone else's car. This truck was insane. I can see why you would need one if, say, you were trying to transport stuff for a construction business or on a farm, but otherwise, why kill the environment?! The thing was just too big. We thought it was funny because never in our right minds would we ever consider anything with such awful gas mileage, and there we were in a big red truck. The surreal life indeed!

I hope I haven't offended any truck drivers out there, I'm just sayin'...it's big. I had to jump to get in!
This week we're back to our fuel efficient VW and Ford Focus. I think the next car we will buy will be a hybrid. With gas prices as outrageous as they are (although compared to most countries we really can't complain) it just makes sense to go for the most efficient machine. Okay, stepping off soap box.
Au revoir.

It's been a while...

2005-07-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Really now, over 10 days!
I'm enjoying the weekend. Jered and I got up this morning and went running down by the York river. It's a good thing we went early because it is hot as habaneros outside. It just started storming, so maybe we'll get a little break, or we'll end up even hotter and steamier than before.
We went and saw Wedding Crashers last night and both thought it was absolutely hilarious. I don't usually like Vince Vaughn, but my opinion has changed with this movie. I wouldn't suggest taking kids to it though, its a little spicy for a middle schooler.
I just made a batch of granola bars, I'm a little worried about them because they look rather turdish, but I'm sure they will taste fine. I'm planning a picture post tomorrow (we'll see how that turns out!) because I'm supposed to be in the local paper wearing some of my knitted things. I'm really excited about the article because I have absolutely no idea what the pictures look like or what the article is even about. It will be a fun surprise.
Leo's first sleeve is almost done, and Ginger now has about 1/8 of her back done. Hopefully I will have a FO by the time school starts in August. I am slow this summer. Very slow.

Cable, Leo and Le Tour

2005-07-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

We gave in and got a cable subscription. It is just yummy. After 10 months of just public television it almost seems naughty to have so many channels. It reminds me of undergrad, probably because that was the first time I had cable and could watch whatever I wanted whenever and for however long. Now tv seems like much more of a luxury, but it is nice to have a little selection when I do want to watch something! And for everyone who says there is nothing on tv, whatever! Right now it feels like there is too much to watch, too many choices, which I like :) We're pretty much hooked to the Tour de France right now, and have a little Fantasy League going on. I was very bummed that Zabriskie took a tumble just before the end of the team time trial :(

All weekend I worked on Leo, and finally finished the front and started the first sleeve. I worked diligently during class this morning and have done about 8 inches on the sleeve. It will be so nice when it is finally done. I don't know if I will ever knit a sweater on size 3's again...Jered should know I really love him! (Good thing we're married, what a sweater curse that would be, all those stitches, all that time!)

I finished the front of Ginger last week, here she is and a closeup of the edging that I am still unhappy with (again, any suggestions?!?!)

Oh! And last week the iPod dock that Jered got me came in the mail, doesn't it look just swell? It beats having to plug it in and be afraid of dropping it on the floor all the time!

A bit more knitting...

And the stars of this show, Mr. Freud (replace the L in Floyd with an R, hardy har har)

and Jinx, aloof as ever (albeit much more affectionate lately!)

First Family (not the Bush's)

2005-07-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

I saw my first family this week. It was supposed to happen two weeks ago, but I was assigned a new family and actually had a session with them. It went much smoother than I thought, and I'm not nearly as anxious any more!
I finished the front of Ginger, but I'm a little disappointed with the edges. They are supposed to be neat and strong since they will be the finished edges, but they look more like loose selvedges and I don't really know what to do about it. I've never finished with crochet (i know, i know, I am slow to try new things) so maybe that might help" Does anyone have any suggestions? I will post some pics tomorrow of the edges and the finished front as well as Branching Out so far.
Tomorrow I am supposed to be in our local newspaper modeling my Salt Peanuts sweater and a few other things I've knit for myself. I don't know which, if any, pictures will be in the paper, but I did have a little photo shoot. If I am in the paper, I guess that makes me a local celebrity, ha! I wonder if I get a special parking spot...

We went and saw War of the Worlds this evening which was okay. I was less thrilled than I thought I would be, but I think the whole Tom Cruise publicity lately kind of killed the movie before I sat foot in the theatre. He truly is manic. Poor guy, he probably really does need to be medicated, but I guess vitamins and exercise will have to do.

I changed the "look" of my blog for summer, I wanted something that looked less cookie cutter and more plain. I like the simplicity of this template. I'm hoping to work on getting something a little more original, but for now this will have to do.
I just had a huge margarita and I think I should probably stop writing because I'm bound to start sounding like I had one too many sips of the stupid juice. G'night!

Ginger Binger

2005-06-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

I finished my first full week of summer courses this week and it was exhausting! Tuesday and Thursday I had two 4 hours classes, so I pretty much went straight through from 8-5 with an hour for lunch. I'm taking Addictions and Family Systems which is an awesome class, we don't get a very long break, so it does seem to drag on and on, but its fascinating stuff!
In the afternoon I have Community Counseling which is much more of an advocacy/public policy change class than I thought it would be. I just read part of Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and my brain feels a bit a like Jell-o, nice oppressive, I can't do anything to help the oppressed people without somehow patronizing them and further oppressing them- Jell-o.

I have been able to knit a lot on Ginger, I have probably 6 inches of the front done and it is knitting up pretty quickly. I had to go up quite a few needle sizes as I wasn't getting gauge very easily. The fabric is nice and loose and airy which is perfect for the heat and humidity that we are about to get.
I have also been doing a row or three on Branching Out sporadically, but I'm a little more into Ginger right now, there is something nice about doing plain stockinette and being able to watch movies or read or play one-sided fetch with Floyd all at once.

Its warm enough for a trip to the pool today, so I might go try out my new swimsuit if I can get my homework done. Our apartment is right next to the pool and I got a new suit last weekend that I have been dying to try out, so I will use that as my motivation to get the other 20 chapters read...ugh.

That's all for today, I think. I may try to post a few pictures of Ginger if I finish up the back tonight, but otherwise the plain stock just isn't exciting enough to warrant a photo!

Pakucho mucho

2005-06-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

My yarn came in and it is lovely, but a big fat pain in the arse to wind into balls! I have a ball winder but no swift and I have not yet figured out a good alternative to a swift (since I don't have one and don't think I'll have to money to buy one any time soon!) So last night I tried to make one hank into a ball and ended up with very happy cats, a very frustrated disposition, and no ball!

I wanted to ball it up so that I could get started on Ginger in class tonight, but that probably won't be happening. I am seeing my first family tonight, it was supposed to happen last week, but they didn't show up, so my anxiety has been postponed to this week. I'll be in the clinic from 4-8 pm so maybe, just maybe, i'll get a little chance to knit :)

Last night was my Oma's 70th Birthday. We celebrated at Red Lobster, at her request, and later had champagne and dessert at home. She is leaving to go back to Germany on Saturday so I was glad to be able to spend a little time with her.

The rest of this week is going to be fairly hectic, I've got beaucoup buckets of homework and reading and an intense desire to be lazy, so we'll see how I work the two out!
Jered and I bought Nike Free shoes last weekend so I have been trying to work out all week, but school is getting in my way. At least I have cool shoes that let my feet mimic nakedness, being barefoot is always a good thing!

Anonymous Donor!

2005-06-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

Well well... it seems I have been anonymously gifted an Elann certificate worth $25!! The "giver" left no calling card, so I don't know who it was from, but whoever it was, thank you thank you thank you!

I already used it all up, plus $1.26 of my own money ;) I bought 7 skeins of Pakucho Organic Cotton in the Avocado shade to make Ginger from the Rowan Summer Tweed Collection It should be a quick knit and something I can wear this summer!

Thanks again anon friend :) Twas much appreciated!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Thursday, its my favorite day of the week because the anticipation of the weekend is still there without it having started yet. I'm hoping to get a Branching out finished and blocked this weekend, we shall see if I actually follow through!

Wedding Pictures!

2005-06-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

Alright, as promised, here are a few of our lovely wedding photos. Jered and I are so excited that they turned out so well. I am posting a few of my favorites, and I may post more if anyone is interested. We had such an amazing time, and looking through the photos was like re-living the day, I can't wait to see the hard copies of these!

My bridesmaids and me, so lovely!

Manly Men, and my little brother

Squeezing me into my dress ;)

So studly...

Me, mom and dad before the big party

Going to the Chapel...

Let's Dance!

And there we have it! Enough pictures for one post, I'd say :)

Another Package!

2005-06-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

I spent the morning in Virginia Beach picking up our wedding photos and they turned out great! We have 1215 images and all of them are great. I will post a few tonight once Jered and I finish looking through them.
I went grocery shopping this afternoon for the first time in what feels like weeks. Usually I go every week and pick up the little things that we need, but since we've been back from San Fran I haven't cooked too much especially after I got sick, so now we have a stocked kitchen once again!

I came home this afternoon and had an awesome surprise waiting for me, a package from my pal Mary. She was the krsp that I sent packages to, and she sent me a thank you package! Thank you for the gorgeous sock yarn and the candle snuffer! How sweet of you to think of me (and Jered) :)

Tomorrow I will be working from home so I should have a chance to post some pictures of Branching Out, which has grown a bit since the last picture I posted of it. I knitted almost two hours last night, so I suppose that means I'm feeling back to normal :)

3 in 3 and a Package in the Mail!

2005-06-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

This is my third posting in as many days, its amazing :)
I received a fabulous package from my SP5 Pal! It contained gorgeous blue sock yarn, summery scented soap and candles, a fun lollipop, Jelly Bellies and the coolest personalized stationary ever. The stationary is the first thing I have with my married name on it!

Thank you again!

I have been feeling a little better today, well enough to write my paper for psychopathology. It definitely wasn't my best paper ever, but it will do the trick (i hope!) I'm really glad its Friday, there is something about being sick and not able to do much during the week that has left me feeling like a lazy bum, at least during the weekend I can feel like I'm meant to relax!
On Monday I get to pick up our wedding photo proofs, I am soooo excited! I will post some of the pictures after we sort through them. The photographer said that he took over 1200 images! Oh the loveliness of digital photography :)

We are planning on going to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith tomorrow, has anyone gone to see it yet? I suppose that would mean that you would have to have seen it tonight, but even still, anyone out there who might have seen it, let me know if its any good. There is nothing worse than spending 15 bucks on a dud flick!

Happy Friday night to all!

Ode to Jered

2005-06-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning feeling very blech. All last night I kept waking up feeling nauseous and this morning was no different. I spent most of today on the couch either sleeping or trying to drink peppermint tea that my mom brought me, it seems I have either a stomach bug or some mild food poisoning, not fun either way!

Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I have to write a paper by tomorrow evening diagnosing characters of films using DSM criteria. One small problem, lazy me never bought the DSM thinking the library would finally get in the copy I requested. I was trying to save money, but it turns out that I was just being impractical. So I asked Jered to check at the library of the University that he works at to see if they had it, but alas they only have the old version, not the text revision. So...around 2 pm today Jered comes home, with the DSM, and tells me he is home for the day to take care of his wife. My oh my, what a guy! It is amazing, but simply having him here made me feel better. I really picked a winner.

Here are some more pictures from our amazing trip to San Fran. I'll post knitting content as soon as I feel a bit more like me :)

Knitting Rut

2005-06-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

I am stuck. I don't know why, I don't know when it started, exactly, but I am completely stuck. I don't have much material for blogging because I don't find myself knitting that much. I tried to find a group here in our area to join but all are either defunked or they are over an hours drive away. I think I've just hit my summer dry spell. Maybe just getting this out of my system will make me want to start knitting again. Its not that I am not knitting at all, I am working on Branching Out, and Leo is somewhere in the apartment, the Phildar socks are on my night stand, its like everything is just hovering in the UFO category.

So, obviously, no new pictures of knitting today! But I will try to make a goal for myself to post again and with pictures by the end of this weekend. Its funny how now, when I have more free time than ever during the school year, I can't seem to find the gusto to knit.

I start my family counseling intensive practicum next week. I had to contact the family that has been assigned to me today, and the phone call was very brief. I am really nervous about actually counseling real families. Last semester in my practicum I got to work with kids, but that was mostly under the direct supervision of the counselor I was working with, I was never in the room alone with a client, and even if I had been, it was always individuals, not families. I guess I am anxious about it as we haven't really had any preparation for the experience. We were supposed to have an orientation to the clinic today, but instead that will happen next week, the day that the family is coming in. Jump right in, let me tell ya! I guess this whole self-doubt/nervousness/anxiety thing is normal, but its really uncomfortable. I was enjoying having a little time off, do I have to go back to learning so soon?! Tomorrow I'll be writing a paper for my psychopathology class diagnosing characters in two movies using DSM criteria, what fun! I watched Martha Inc. and 28 days today, both quite good movies, and very interesting to diagnose! :) It will be a fun paper, I just don't know where I am going to find the energy. If I had to diagnose myself I would almost say I fit depressed: not interested in activities I normally enjoy (for the most part), okay, that really is the only one, but it feels crappy!

I need something fresh and new, something to look forward to other than the thought of September when the heat goes away. It could just be my body adjusting to the humidity and general hotness of the weather right now, maybe I'll turn the AC down a notch and see if that helps things!

Picture Extravaganza

2005-06-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

As a wedding gift from my parents Jered and I received a brand new 7 megapixel digital camera. It is absolutely amazing! We took over 200 pictures in San Francisco, and I will post some of those every now and then just to remind myself how much I love the West Coast, but for today, I have some exciting East Coast pictures!

First off, I received a lovely package from my Knitter's Review Secret Pal just before the wedding. I would have posted pictures of the package sooner, however, when we got back I had the package in my husbands car and he kept leaving for work in the morning (pesky jobs!). So, here is the amazing package I got, just in time to destress me before the wedding! It contained a couple of gorgeous bracelets in a pretty orange bag, some delicious french candies and the most beautiful sock yarn, ever! Thank you so much Pal! You have been so sweet :) You are helping fuel my sock knitting obsession!

On the non-knitting front, we recently switched to Nutra Max Cat food, and it has made our cats sooooo sleepy! I guess they are just adjusting to the new higher quality food, they eat less, poop less and sleep all day. I can't complain, Jinx has even been...friendly! Lethargic cats make for great photo subjects, this is what I did with my afternoon:

And I have been knitting! Imagine that! After the wedding I ventured into our LYS and found a great deal on 300 yards of gorgeous Helen's Lace for only 7 dollars! I started the branching out scarf from Knitty and am loving it! I have been wanting to knit lace for a while and I finally decided to get to it. The pattern is starting to be visible, at first I was having a hard time seeing it, but I am quite happy with the way its turning out now :)

That's all for now! Thanks again KRSP, and happy June to everyone else!

Married Life

2005-05-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

We did it! I haven't blogged in a while but we finally tied the knot. Its been just under a week since Jered and I got married, and while I don't have any wedding pictures yet, i do have pictures from our honeymoon. See if you can figure out where we went :)

This was our ultra modern and chic hotel room at the Clift

A lovely picture of my husband (its strange calling him that!)

And a couple of pictures of the two of us (the last one gives it away) :)
The picture that won't let me resize

I will be posting pictures of my package from my Secret Pal when I get out of class tonight. I have to spend my birthday in class today, but Jered is redecorating our apartment and making dinner for my friend Eleni and I, it should be good time. I will post pictures of the package and our apartment either tonight or tomorrow. Now that we have our own digital camera, picture posts will be much more frequent :)

Seamstress? What does that mean?

2005-05-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

I went to pick up my wedding dress today and it fit perfectly. Which is great, but, and this is a pretty darn big but, the front of the dress where they had to take it in (right at my chest) was done very very poorly and so it looked like I was Madonna in a cone bra. I was livid. Okay, maybe not livid, but when else do you get to use such a great word? I was a little miffed. So I told the seamstress that our wedding is in, oh, four days, and that I was not leaving until my dress was fixed and pressed. Two hours later, I have my dress. Seriously, how could you not have noticed? The woman claimed that the dress looked fine on the hanger (which it didn't, it wasn't even evenly taken in), and when I tried it on, she even said "Oh, it looks wonderful." Wonderful if you like pointy Madonna hoo-has.
Anyway, no reason to fret, the dress looks great, my hoo-has are nice and rounded (not pointy, phew), and the dress is finally out of their hands.

My Oma is coming in from Germany today. I haven't seen her in almost a year and a half. I am so excited that I told my dad not to bother to pick her up from the airport, that i'd go myself. I think my brother might accompany me. I am hoping to get a bit of knitting done while we wait for her plane to get in. We have to go through the tunnel to get to Norfolk which always takes a little while, so we're going to leave here shortly. It is so strange not having to go to school! I was stressing out last night about all of the work I have to get done before the wedding, but I was able to get most of it done this morning before I went to pick up my dress. I cleaned the kitchen, vaccumed the apartment, did various tedious wedding things, including making about 80 bajillion phone calls.

Hehe, to change the subject rather quickly, I am at my parents' house and my brother (11) just got his interims and I just heard him scream at my mother that C stands for adequate. The poor kid, he is not going to win this one. B's are considered "Blasphemous" in my family, a C is more "Crap" than Adequate. Its going to be a long night, maybe I'll teach him how to knit at the airport :)

Married in a Week

2005-05-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well, it has really sunk in. I will be married in one week. The alcohol is with the caterer, as are the centerpieces. We have officially ordered our cake and its delivery is now scheduled. We've written our prayers of the faithful and coordinated our music. We've started to figure out the programs, and have begun making our agenda. With so many people coming from out of town we finally decided we either had to a) make an agenda, or b) go hide in a cave. There were no vacant caves.

This afternoon we went to the Greek Festival in Norfolk with Eleni. It was a lot of fun, we ate Gyros, watched Greek dancing and musicians, ate some Loukasomethin'somethin's and then took a little trip to the ultra posh mall in Norfolk.
That is when the best part of my week happened. As we walked in front of Godiva I saw a sign that said "Key Lime Truffles are Back." You don't understand how great this is. They discontinued them about 9 months ago. I was devestated. They are pretty much the only chocolate I love, and I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for them to come back. Well, they are back. I bought 12. It cost $22...I feel guilty, but not very guilty...They might suddenly discontinue them again, and I will have my little stash in my freezer :)

I started a pair of socks today, since I don't think I'll have finished Jered's sweater by the wedding, at least I can give him a pair of socks!
I haven't been very good at this blogging thing lately, but I think it will pick up a bit this week and then after the mystery honeymoon.

Any guesses as to where we are going?

Six-o De Mayo

2005-05-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

What a lovely day. We're having a May Nor'Easter, which, according to native Virginians is a big ole' whopper of a storm, rain, wind and all that good stuff!
The weather here is so weird...its been in the upper 50's all week and next week its supposed to be 85!

I finished my last written exam yesterday and it only took me three hours. I still have to work on this career portfolio for my career class, but that is mostly just reflection and organization, so I consider myself pretty much done with school!
My loan came through (thank God!) so I will be taking 4 classes this summer which means I should be able to graduate next May. And I suppose that means that a year from now I will be looking for jobs. Ick ;)

The wedding planning is coming along, we're a little over two weeks away. I can't believe that its already pretty much here. Once I finish my assistantship for the semester (next Friday) I'll be tying up the loose ends for the wedding. There is still so much to do, but at this point I"m taking the attitude that the little details don't matter all that much. As long as all of my family and friends are there, and of course, Jered too, I'll be happy :)

So we are going on a mystery honeymoon. Jered has only told me that we will be going on a road trip, and I suspect that we might be road tripping through Virginia and possibly DC. He's a schemer though, so I'm not ruling anything out, for all I know we could be going to Zimbabwe for four days! I will keep everyone posted. I'm sure wherever I go i'll take pictures, maybe I'll even have a contest!
Guess where I will be going for my honeymoon, and if you guess correctly I'll send you a souvenir!

I'm off to meet with the lady who has coordinated my summer assisantship and then I'm off to practicum for the very last time (sniff). It will be nice to not have anything to do for a few weeks :) Maybe I'll even have a chance to knit!
My next project is going to be something lace. I don't care what, but I have to knit some lace.
Happy Friday!

Its been a while!

2005-04-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

I can tell I'm getting married in 3 weeks. I have totally neglected my blog. Why is it that when you are getting married, everyone and their brother's mother's uncle thinks that they can tell you exactly what you want and need? Am I not capable of figuring that out for myself? Between having my mother tell me that she wants to add another 6 people to the guest list 3 weeks before the wedding, and finding out that I really don't have enough money to buy any flowers but hydrangeas (which are perfectly fine, its just not having any choice because we're so poor kind of feels shitty!)
I just feel like this wedding isn't about us anymore. If I can get my mom to stop adding people to the guest list I will be happy!
We have been working on our centerpieces and favors this weekend, and they do look quite nice. Right now we've basically decided that since we have little say over the ceremony we are going to make the most of the reception and personalize the heck out of it. We broke down and hired a DJ since the iPod thing was a little tacky, even for us. We've been trying to find songs that we absolutely must play and that black list of songs that absolutely cannot be played (e.g. Macarena, Electric Slide etc.) Our list is extensive and the black list looks like a Nashville lineup.
My boss is getting ready to have her baby. She is actually scheduled to have her right around the wedding date, so we're not sure if she'll be able to come. I'd say having a baby is a fairly decent excuse...! I went over to her place for a meeting this afternoon and got to see her nursery; it is soooooo cute! They did a Classic Pooh theme and it looks like something from a magazine. That little girl is going to be one stylin' kid, too. She has more outfits than I think I've owned in the last 10 years! It is great to see how excited they are, they are both going to make really great parents. Thinking about other people's big events seems to make me not think about the fact that we're getting married in three weeks. Holy. Frickin. Cow.

Any tips on how to survive this maddening craziness and get through two group projects and presentations, one big ass paper and a portfolio (all within the next 10 days)??? Any brilliant suggestions will be rewarded.

Two turn tables and a microphone

2005-04-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Where its at? The pictures are all here! First, I owe my Secret Pal a picture, since I have been a major slacker and have not been able to post any pics of last month's surprise! Just today I started a lovely pair of socks with the Plaisance she sent me, but before I say anymore, here is the picture of all of the fabulous things I received (minus the l'Occitane soaps and some of the candies which I just couldn't keep my hands off of) :)

Thanks again secret pal!

Since my last post with pictures I have actually been quite the productive knitter. I finished this baby sweater for my boss, who is due a week after our wedding and a day after my birthday. This is her first baby and its going to be a girl, how exciting!
Here she is, Daisy from Knitty knit in some German merino wool my Oma sent me for Christmas.
Her baby shower is next week, so I have until then to sew on three little buttons at the top. I also think I'm going to knit a mini version of this sweater to put on a little hanger as decoration for the gift bag. If I have time, of course :)

About a month ago I finished Tempting, and I think it turned out quite lovely. I don't like the purple ribbon because it reminds me a little too much of the Red Hat Club and i'm a little young for that yet. Purple was the only ribbon we had in the house, so I had to use it just so I could call her finished. She looks great on too, I just forgot to take a picture of that!

Our cats have been enjoying the spring-ish weather. They both have shed their winter coats and are hoping that the temps don't dip below 40 again like they did this past week! Here they both are bird watching:

And here is Jinx in her new Kitty Bed. She used the old teeny tiny one so much that I just had to make her a new one. It is big enough to fit all of her in it, and she loves it even more than the little one. She likes to flip it over and sleep on it upside down for some reason, but hey, whatever makes her happy.

And finally, what I'm working on now. I finished my booga bag, I just have to attach the handles, I don't have a picture of the finished bag as it is still over at my mom's blocking, but here is a pic from the beginning, you can see the color scheme, at least. Its made of some leftover Rowan and a skein of Manos that I had laying around. It shrunk, a lot. Holy cow, but it turned out really cute.

I also am working on a pair of socks pour moi with the Phildar Plaisance that my KRSP sent me. I will try to get a few pictures before Jered takes the camera back to work! And hopefully I will get a few pictures of a finished Leo back and front soon. I hope.

Spring has Sprung

2005-04-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

I am having a hard time adjusting to the time change. I love getting out of class and being able to drive home before the sun goes down, but getting up has been so hard! Luckily, it is light out when the alarm goes off at 6:20, but just barely.
This week has started off well enough. Yesterday I had a multiple choice exam, which i wasn't really used to. The last time I took a multiple choice exam was probably about a year ago. I'm so used to writing essays that I almost forgot how to study for one!

Leo is now shaping up, literally. I have reached the arm hole shaping and am now working my way up toward the neck, soon enough I will be on the sleeves thank God!
It feels like I have been working on this sweater for years. Leo is really the only thing I am working on right now. I've all but given up on the socks that I have on my needles, I just haven't had any time to knit other than Leo. With classwork snowballing into an avalanche recently and the wedding coming up in a little over 6 weeks (geesh!) when is there time to cast on a new project? I am hoping this will be remedied toward the end of the semester. Or the next time I get a bit of a breather.

Jered promised he would bring home the camera from work before the end of this week, and when he does I will have tons of pictures to post. The goodies from my Secret Pal, Tempting, Michelle's baby sweater...and maybe by then Leo?! We shall see.

The weather today was just lurvly...tomorrow it is supposed to be nearly 80 degrees. Gotta pull out my Birkenstocks :)

Day off...kind of

2005-03-29T21:03:00.000-08:00

I got to work on Leo tonight in class, I'm about half an inch away from the armhole shaping. I am determined to have this sweater done by the wedding! If only I could just learn how to purl faster, I hate purling. My purls are so loose so I tighten each of them with a little extra tug, it doesn't slow me down too much, just enough to annoy the crap out of me!

Still no camera, which means: no pictures. So just to keep you lovely people from falling asleep or taking me off your list of blogs to ogle (i like pretty pictures too), here is a picture of our futon. Just because.

Secret Pal Goodness and an Anniversary

2005-03-24T19:58:00.000-08:00

I still don't have the digital camera here at home which is really bumming me out because I want to show off all the goodies I got! On Monday I came home to a lovely package from FRANCE! It contained some lovely Phildar Plaisance in the happiest color I have ever seen, Vitamine. Its a bright cheery fiery orange, love it! I will take pictures as soon as I possibly can. You can imagine how excited I was when I received a package that had "laine" on the contents label!!
She also sent me a wonderful post card which is just perfect for Jered and me as we are both avid cyclists, again a picture is warranted.
Now to the sweets, oh the sweets! I'll start with the sweet smelling L'Occitane soaps, simply delightful! Then there are the fruit gelees, I haven't eaten any of them yet because I want to take pictures (you can imagine my frustration at not having a camera yet!) Then there was a lovely assortment of carmels and bonbons...yum!
I also got a sweet little school set with a pencil pouch, eraser, pencil sharpner, tres mignon. I have to admit, I had some caramels already...i'll take pictures of the wrappers, that counts, right?! :)
Thank you so much secret pal, you really helped kick start my week! Merci :)

On top of the lovely surprise on Monday, today is our 6 year dating anniversary. We went out for a lovely sushi dinner tonight and I picked up the icecream cake I ordered on Monday. Any excuse I can possibly have is justification for icecream cake. We haven't had any yet, but boy am I looking forward to it! I ordered an Oreo with yellow cake with a special message on it, but they forgot to put my order in, so they gave me a slightly larger cake (pralines and cream with white cake), took 10% off the original price and gave us a dozen free donuts (our baskin robbins is also a dunkin'donuts, its sinful.
Jered also got me a vase full of gerber daisies, my favorite flowers at the moment and yet another reason I wish I had a camera!

On the knitting front things have been stale, I have started socks and have worked a total of two rounds. What can I say? I have three huge projects due in the next 3 weeks and I just can't find the time to start something new...its a real bummer! Although, the Phildar is calling my name and as soon as I get the pictures I am going to find the perfect project for it. Does anyone have any ideas for me? If you do, leave me a link to the pattern in my comments (hehe, sneaky me, i just want comments)!