On Accountability

Evidently, the weather has decided to look at a calendar and behave accordingly. Which is awesome, til I look out the window at work and pout cause I'm stuck inside when it is beautiful out.

Today, however, I went for a run after work. All that walking to class has paid off, as I managed to jog a respectable .4 miles before needing a break. And I haven't actually been running in a couple of years. All told, I managed a good 1.5 miles, and probably ran about 40% of that. Sadly, my leg muscles gave out before my lungs really did.

Really, I'm only posting this here cause a) I want to be able to go back and look at this info later and b) I don't want to fall off the wagon in a few weeks, like I normally do.

However, I really need to go get me some solid running sneakers.

Sometimes, I forget how much I love poetry.

Of things vnseene how canst thou deeme aright,
Then answered the righteous Artegall,
Sith thou misdeem'st so much of things in sight?
What though the sea with waues continuall
Doe eate the earth, it is no more at all:
Ne is the earth the lesse, or loseth ought,
For whatsoeuer from one place doth fall,
Is with the tide vnto an other brought:
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.

Edmund Spencer, The Faerie Queen, Canto II, xxxix

Meijer vs Wegmans

I like creme brulee. There's nothing better than an excuse to play with fire in the kitchen, and it tastes awesome.

So it is no surprise that I decided to try some of Meijer's creme brulee ice cream. At the very least, it would be ice cream, even if it did taste nothing like creme brulee.


However.

I was distracted by the realization that "WEGMANS" was written on the container. WTF, mate! Wegmans is an East coast brand which I miss way too much out here in the midwest. They have the best sushi for a grocery store, and great bruschetta and bread and mac'n'cheese. NOM.

Weird. They also both use the same picture of creme brulee with the tiny spoon and violet on the saucer. My google-fu has let me down, as I haven't been able to find anything about a merger, or being owned by the same company. There were a few mentions of supermarkets teaming up to deal with supply train problems, so I suppose that could be it.

Creme brulee AND a taste of Wegmans. NOM.

I would walk 500 miles

Another shot from last weekend up at Greene Valley. I love water.

Another glorious weekend over. Lei came to visit and we were our typical boring selves. Xtension Chords concert on Friday night (and I was rather disappointed, as the group used wireless body mics rather than corded standing mics, and as a result, you could almost NEVER hear the soloist(s). GAH). Then, doughnuts and shopping and ice cream and good TV and a puzzle for the rest of the day.

And then we made cakewaffles this morning. Any day that involves cakewaffles can't be that bad at all. Plus, it is suddenly and gloriously spring. (Well, late spring, what with the 80-degree temps, but that is ok.)

I'm itching to be outside, in the sun and the breeze. I want to go running, but I need new running shoes or I won't be able to walk in a few weeks. I've promised myself that once the really crazy part of this semester is over, I'm allowed to start working out seriously again. I miss riding like crazy all the sudden. Here's a picture of the best horse EVER.


He's currently 32? 33? years old and still going. He is happily retired and still hates to have his face cleaned. He recognizes me and never knows if I'm good news or not. So I just feed him treats every time I see him and give him a great big hug.

And since my mind is now back at the barn, here's an awesome picture from last summer. I heart the macro function of my camera.


In other news, Schrodie has taken to sleeping on top of the cabinets above the fridge. This is bad news, as I had moved my stash on top of the fridge so I could stop coming home to discover that SOMEONE had unwound balls of yarn all across the living room and really really really wants to help rewind it again. Oddly, his help always makes the job take longer.

Just two more weeks, and then almost everything will be over. One class is over already, another one will be done by Friday. The reading levels have really tapered off, which is good as I have to write a 10 page paper this week and put together a presentation on said paper to be given on Thursday. At the very least, two pages of that paper will be taken up by a transcription of this:


And in still other news: It was the Blue/White weekend, and I didn't get to go. BUT, it looks like a few PSU football players did well in the draft, so I'll have a few more teams I need to watch from now on, to follow my PSU favorites. Like the Hawks.

And The World Is Made of Engery*

I had the best weekend in quite a while. Drove up to Chicago-land, to spend the weekend with Farmer John. We watched lots of How I Met Your Mother, made yummy food, and went hiking in the Greene Vally Forest Preserve. Sadly, it was not quite spring yet, so there was a lack of pretty flowering stuff and the day was kinda cloudy and overcast, but at the very least it was warm.

We saw a baby snake! He wouldn't stick his tongue out for the camera though. Maybe he was actually a teenage snake?

I got kinda frustrated as many of my shots didn't turn out as I had them in my head. However, I think a lot of things could be quickly solved with some cropping and other simple editing. One of these days, I'll get around to doing that sort of thing in iPhoto. Til then, will be lazy and just post pictures anyway.


PLUS, I got to meet up with a few Chicago-land CPaAGers from Ravelry, and I got to spend the morning (while Farmer John was, of course, playing frisbee) knitting and sewing the zipper into my Urban Aran. I need to pretty up the zipper, but other than that, the cardigan is mostly done. You know, just in time for spring. I'll need to ask those who took pictures if it is ok if I steal them and put them up here. So more on that topic later. At the very least, I promise FO pictures of the Urban Aran.

Now, to face/deal with the homework, etc. that I ignored in favor of actually relaxing. I made the mistake of making a list of EVERYTHING that needs to be done between now and the end of the semester. It didn't fit on one page. However, three things have since been finished and crossed off the list.

Why I never manage to get anything done: There is always a cat that wants to sit on me. But she was purring. (And as I type this, the kitten is curled up and using my left arm as a pillow. [snickers: I have Zombie Nation playing, as I am missing PSU football lately, and he's looking around for the source of teh noize. I don't think he likes Zombie Nation.])


Also: I knit Sheldon for a coworker's baby. Another coworker is pregnant with twins. Two girls. I want to knit her something similar in cute- and -easyiness levels. Sugguestions? I found a cute goldfish (ravelry link) which I think would be cute in a slightly varigated yarn. Any one known of another cute, easy, and free fishy pattern?

*The Apples in Stereo

Is It Spring Yet?

I've decided to just start dressing as if it is already spring.

Ok, fine. I need to do laundry.

Score: weather: 1, self: .5 (I get a point for having clean clothing to wear, but lose half a point for being cold all day.)

Maybe It's Time*

As it is the weekend, I put clean sheets on the bed today. (Ok, fine. I also am avoiding a paper. Whatever.) I'm not sure how it works, but no matter how dead to the world both cats are when I go get the clean sheets out of the closet....they are both awake and want to help make the bed seconds later.

Kit, per usual, ended up under the sheet and blanket, and was willing to play. Schrodie sat and watched the lump under the blanket move around, but never thought to play with it. When he finally would have been able to actually play with Kit.. he didn't even think to do so.



Kit is currently curled up right in front of me, using my left arm as a pillow. Schrodie, feeling left out, has moved from the floor by my feet, to the top of the printer, to the stand for my iMac. He doesn't quite fit as well as he used to, so he keeps stretch and shifting to get comfy. And then the tail twitches. Silly kitty.

and people wonder why I wanted three comfy seats just for me? there always seems to be
a kitty occupying at least one of them, meaning I would have to sit on the floor if I didn't have three.

I am nearly done the Urban Aran. HURRAH! (that's what Kit is sleeping on, above.) I need to finish seaming the sleeves, sew them in, and find and sew in a zipper. I might also need to make the sleeve cap a bit longer, as I am certain that my row gague is off and things don't look like they will work out well. I am certain that truely Spring Weather will arrive the second the thing is complete, so I am trying very hard to finish NOW.

I knelt on the sidewalk in front of a random house to get this shot.. had to use the macro
function, meaning I was only a few inches from the flower. I got a number of funny looks. I giggled.

In other news, I have finished all homework for this week, minus a 40 minute play-with-online-games-and-such-for-museums assignment and above paper. I have also made brownies and baked yummy bread. (Note to self: hide bread AND brownies from kitten.) And cleaned. And wasted time online. What fun!

I also read God Bless you, Dr. Kevorkian by Kurt Vonnegut. I had forgotten how much I love Vonnegut's humor and outlook on life. And I uploaded a few pictures from an old zip drive:

I think what I love most about the above is the fact that
a) this was taken the summer before most of the above's senior year (my junior year)
and
b) all but ONE of us went to Penn State. (Will, second from right, went elsewhere)
Atkinson, Wark, Jimmy, Cederberg, Weaver, Scott, myself, Will, Stratton

Oh, high school. I've been finding a bunch of pictures from high school lately, and have realized that I was one of those weird people who actually LIKED high school. That said, I wouldn't do high school again. College, yes. In a heart beat.

3 out of 9 in this shot attended schools other than Penn State
Again, Will, and the other girls.
Will, Devin, Atkinson, Cederberg, myself, Megan, Weaver, Scott, Jimmy

Also? Have just realized that the first year of both high school and college kinda sucked the most and then it just kept getting better from there. Wonder what that means for grad school? For life?

*window twins

I'm Not Dead Yet!

Um.  Hi.

I am (finally) back from the dead.  Well, mostly.  I ended up rather sick over spring break, and ended up spending 3-4 days in bed.  Sleeping.  Eventually, I got bored enough of the view of my room to start sleeping with my head at the foot of the bed. 

As a result, spring break was kinda a wash.  I  basically got nothing done, other than a few fun things that I refused to give up, such as a trip into Philly with a certain person, nommy sushi with Alliquippa people, and my half/un birthday party.  Totally worth it, I think.  I shall continue to celebrate my half-birthday, as that one evening - still kinda sick, very very tired, and not drinking - was more fun than my last four birthdays combined.  And I didn't even get any presents! (although, Sister made me a PB&J sandwich the next day, which was awesome.)

I knew I was sick when I didn't want to go to the barn.  Or knit.  And fell asleep after every two or three paragraphs, no matter what I was reading.

I am back to knitting, now, though.  I have a completed back, two completed (and matching) fronts, one completed sleeve, and one almost-completed sleeve (only 18 rows to go, and decreases on most of those rows).  Soon, I will have to start sewing things together and then knit the collar.  I think I shall totally not follow the directions for that and just start somewhere.  Oh, and I suppose I ought to get a zipper or something.  Since I really kinda don't wanna do button bands and stuff.  We shall see, I suppose.

My sister ripped a hole in her Bayerische Socks.  Too big to simply repair, too central a spot to just mend and not care how it looks.  Thankfully, it is rather near the toe of cuff-down socks, so I was able to just unravel from the toe and re-knit.  I didn't bother to wash the yarn or anything, and it looks rather funky.  I am a little afraid, as I am ready to kitchner the toe shut again .... and I never ran out of yarn.  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?   I will need to check it against it's mate and make sure that I (mostly) did the same things as before.

Schroedie, playing fetch:

(it is hard to hold a camera steady and throw a fuzzy pink mouse.)

Things recently learned (or relearned)

If you ever have to choose between having a cat hair in your eye or an eyelash, go for the eyelash.  Even if you are not allergic to cats.  Considering the size difference between the two, you might think the eyelash would be more painful, but that is a dirty filthy lie.

While Kit is a person in cat clothing, Schroedie is a puppy in kitten clothing.  Evidence:

• he plays fetch
• he has destroyed a flip flop (which, sadly, is no longer available.) and regularly attacks shoes
• he sits up and does other tricks to get treats
• he walks on a leash
• he greets me at the door when I come home, all excited to see me and, presumably, tell me about his day

The internets are full of weird and crazy and mean people.  Thankfully, there are also amazingly kind, sweet, and thoughtful people that will knit you socks just because you asked.  Often, those groups of people exist in the same places on the internet.  They just tend to gravitate towards sides of the room, if you will.

The biggest problem with life is a lack of time.  There isn't enough time to work 8 hours, work out for 1, cook and eat a yummy dinner, do homework, knit, take pictures, practice the clarinet, learn piano, ride horses, etc. etc. etc.  And there never will be, so when you have a chance: take it.

Pictures of babies can make everything better, even if just for a few minutes.

Friends will often pop up out of unexpected places.

A coworker's life goal is to purchase a trailer and then die in a tornado in said trailer.  S/he thinks that will be a fast way to go, and relatively painless.

Eye Candy Sunday

Or: Something To Do Other Than Write A Paper:

all straight out of the camera, I think these were with the cybershot.

I really really am ready to be DONE with school.