Packing my bags and heading west!

Sorry to be AWOL this week, but I have absolutely no clue where the week has gone! Last weekend, Chuck and I worked on the house, Amy and Andy came up on Saturday to go out to dinner with us to celebrate my birthday, and then Amy, Tracy, and I competed into town for the Dino Dash on Sunday. I was very happy to see that I was able to top my 13-min/mile pace and bump it up to 12:49-min/mile. Woo-hoo! I shaved off 11 seconds! Also, if any of you know Tracy, please give her a pat on the back the next time you see her b/c her hard work has really paid off. I tried to keep pace with her, but just couldn't do it.

The rest of the week was really a blur of work, running errands, knitting, and preparing for being out of town this coming week. Thanks to Cheanne's help, I was able to finish the tear down and re-knit of a shrug that was made several years ago (2004, maybe?). Wearing this shrug felt like I was in a Chinese finger trap, so rather than have a nearly finished project (needed a ruffle) that wasn't ever going to be worn hanging around the house, it was re-purposed into a man's scarf. In case you're wondering, this project was made out of Encore (!). I have since lost the label, but actually like this colorway. If you look closely at the yarn, there's a second, thinner yarn spun with the thicker, overall color. The thinner yarn is a baby blue, which catches the eye every now and then...

After much consternation over having to run out to the store to purchase size 10.5 needles (a swatch using size 10s and one using size 11s just wasn't doing it for me), I started and nearly finished the "Medallion Caplet" from the Winter 07/08 issue of Vogue Knitting. I'm making it out of Noro's Kochoran. I'm hoping to wear it this week while on my trip, so need to finish the collar and do some light blocking tonight. Oh well....I really didn't want to hem that pair of slacks anyways. Hemming is such a pain!



The yarn and pattern for this project was bought at Knit Michigan back in February (yes, 2008, for those of you who've held onto projects for longer than that). I saw a version of this cape at the Skeins on Main (Rochester) booth and knew that I really needed to make it.



Since there's angora in the yarn, it did shed quite a bit on my clothes while wearing. I'm hoping to pair this with a brown shirt and gray slacks, so hopefully the shedding won't really stick out too badly....

Now, I just need to find the right button or clasp in my collection to hold it shut.



In case you've made it this far and haven't gotten completely agitated with me b/c I haven't mentioned where I'm going, congratulations on your perseverance! I'm headed to Portland, Or tomorrow for a dam removal and sediment monitoring workshop being held by the Subcommitte on Sediment. I'll be back on Friday, and am hoping to enter at least one blog entry over the the week to update on how things are going. I'll twitter for sure, especially since I'm hoping to hit some of the LYSs while there.


Before I quit for the night, there's one more project for me to mention: I took all of these little squares from Nancy's monthly Stitch Challenges at Woven Art and seamed them together to make a third scarf for the MSU vs UM Charity Knitting drive (Go State!). I'm not quite done as I have 2 more months worth of squares to go, so I'll worry about taking a better photo before turning this over to Nancy to add to her donation tree. This'll be my 4th scarf for this drive, so I really hope we kick some Wolverine ass!

I broke my "wear a white shirt" mantra and am regretting it...

Okay readers, I don't normally post this much (two days in a row -- woohoo!), but had the strangest experience at the Secretary of State's office this afternoon that I just needed to get it out....

So, my birthday is on Monday. And, like most blue-blooded Americans, I waited too long to renew my license and vehicle registration on-line or through the mail and need to head over to the Secretary of State's office. Monday is the worst possible day, since it's the last day for voter registration before the November election, so that day was out. Ever since moving to the Lansing area close to 15 years ago, the only Secretary of State's office I've ever visited is the one in East Lansing in the Habitrail.

I thought I was safer going there today than tomorrow, since it's MSU's Homecoming and things are likely to be crazy down there and all. So, I arrived at the office, picked a number (#21) and saw that they were on #99, ready to start all over. I plopped down in a seat and started gathering together all the stuff I needed: wrote out my check for $100, made sure I had both my forms for the registration and license renewal, and opened up my little binder that stays in my glovebox with my insurance info and expiring registration....only to find that my insurance paperwork wasn't in there....Call for numbers 0, 1, and 2....Crap!! Where could it be?!? Quick! Rechecked the binder thoroughly...checked my bag to make sure it didn't somehow slip out.....call for number 3.....Ran up to my car in the parking structure (level 2) and tore apart the glove box. (What's Leo and Nicole's wedding program doing in here?!?)

So, dejected, I headed over to the nearest AAA office on Saginaw, just west of US-127 and had a new proof of insurance printed. I really didn't want to have to do this on another day, so I headed right back to the Secretary of States with hopes that they hadn't reached my number yet b/c I literally was gone only about 15 minutes. This was a day that none of you would have wanted to have been in the car with me. [P.S. Anyone out there harboring doubts as to why the Honda Civic is one of the most tricked out cars out there?]

I was lucky enough to score a meter spot outside of BW3. Now that's good karma talking! Rushed across the street to the Secretary of States, and was immediately bummed out when I saw that they were on #38. Nuts! So, I picked a new number (#81) and took a seat. I double- and triple-checked my paperworked (check -- check!, renewal sheets -- check!, proof of insurance -- check!!). Then, I took out the Clapotis shawl and started to knit. Hey -- why not? I've got 30-minutes on the meter and a wait ahead of me. The gal sitting next to me leaned over and asked what I was making. I showed her the shawl and she seemed genuinely impressed. Then, she hands me a number (#66) and said that when she had sat down, someone else gave her their number b/c someone else had given them a number that was left behind (#45). [Bonus!]

Soon enough, her number was called and off she went. Her seat was taken up by another girl, who had #91. I asked her if she wanted to skip 10 other people and handed her the #81 slip. "Heck, yeah!" was her reply. Life is so good when you share the wealth.

At any rate, my number was called. Down went the needles and off I went to the counter. I handed the clerk all of my paperwork, only to have her hand me back my insurance papers, to which she said, "Oh, I don't need this..." What?!? What?!? WTF, man? When did the Secretary of State no longer need your proof of insurance to register your vehicle? No wonder there's so many dishonest folks out there driving around without it! And, to make matters worse, she asked for my driver's license, which I gladly handed over, expecting her to stick a sticker or something on it b/c my license renewal form explicitly said "eligible for renewal by mail," which I took to mean that I didn't need a brand-new card. Instead of a sticker, she promptly clipped the corner and stapled a piece of paper to it. "Wait a minute! You mean, I need to have a new photo taken today?!?" Crap!

"Uh, can I come back on Monday for that? I mean, I'm not wearing a white shirt." Yes, folks, I actually said that. Right about then, I'm sure she was hitting the security button that's hidden under the counter to let the folks in back know that she had a live one on her hands. Let me explain a little bit here b/c you're probably wondering just as she was...I have been very blessed to have had all (but one) of my license photos be fabulous. And when I say fabulous, I mean fabulous. My hair looks great. My smile is great. The photo is clear. And, I'm in a white shirt. The only photo that didn't turn out was one of me in a black shirt. In addition to wearing a shirt of the wrong color, my haircut was bad, my smile poor, and I had a very strange, oily, flash-bulb glare on my forehead. Yuck! So, today, my hair was in poor shape (did I mention running up stairs in the parking structure, and running from the meter to the office??). And, for the record, I was in a maroon twin-set and jean jacket.

Snapping back to reality, I realized that avoiding Saturday and Monday at all costs was really why I was there in the first place. "Oh well, I already wrote out the check," was my quick cover and was delivered with an uneasy smile. "Okay, please step over to the monitor and read me line 2," which I did rather poorly after pulling off the totally gross paper forehead keepers that were on the vision checker doodad. "Um, do you wear contacts?" "Well, no." Should I? [Note to self: schedule an appointment with the optometrist soon.]

So, I did it folks; took my photo in the wrong shirt. Sure, they gave me the opportunity to preview the photo. But I felt guilty b/c all the while, the office was getting more crowded and they were already calling numbers in the high-70s. Crooked smile. Shirt collar off kilter. And I knew that a re-take wouldn't help. I really needed to come back with a white shirt.

Now, I need to know: if I lose this license that will come in the mail in two weeks, can I just retake the photo or is it now on file and they'll insist on printing me a new one from there?

Busy as a GI fungus...

So, right about now, I think I have enough material to write a country song: the furnace isn't working (woke to find the house at a balmy 63^o), went to the doctor yesterday and found that I have a GI tract infection, and it's my birthday soon, but don't feel much like celebrating....

Okay, now to elaborate on all that:

Since Chuck doesn't read this blog, I guess it's okay to complain about him (see my first blog entry for more on that). Way back in May, we had the furnace/air conditioning folks out to clean out the air conditioner. At that time, [apparently] we had them take a look at the furnace and found that we have a cracked heat exchanger. Okay, no biggie; they'll go back to the home office and give us a call with an estimate. Well, according to Chuck, he's contacted them three times throughout the summer and they still weren't able to pull together an estimate. So they must not really need the work then, right? And a reasonable, thinking person would call another business, b/c there's a ton of furnace places out there, right? Right? Well, maybe not. A couple weeks ago, I mentioned to Chuck that it would be a good idea to change out the furnace filter before we start it up for the winter. "Oh, that," was his reply. I'm still sitting here wondering just how long he would've waited to have another company come out if I hadn't said something. Did he not realize that fall's coming on quickly? As it is, the company that came out couldn't schedule the repair until mid-October. Mid-October!! So, I'm hoping that Indian Summer continues until at least that long...

Okay, so as for the GI tract infection: as many of you may know, I am a researcher who works on various projects related to river networks and morphology. I've been working hard to finish up our last season of data collection, and the flooding that we had in mid-September really didn't help me much at all. I really couldn't wait for the rivers to recede down to the level that they usually are at for this time of year, so needed to work in water a little deeper than I usually would. I'm fine with that and know that there's times when I'm just going to end up filling my waders and getting wet b/c part of the job is to characterize the river bed, and that involves actually touching the bottom and measuring the size of the rocks there or describing the sand sizes (this is called a pebble count). So, last Tuesday (Sept. 23), I was out with a coworker at 2 locations on the St. Joseph River and 1 location on the Prairie River. Needless to say, waders were filled, I needed to dive to actually touch bottom in some parts, and a bathing suit was worn under all my clothes so at least I was comfortable. Skip to the end of last week, I started to feel a lot of discomfort in my abdomen and just thought that it was something I had eaten. By Monday, I started to actually have a dull pain in both sides. So, yesterday (Wednesday) I was able to get in and see the doctor. She thinks that I have a gastrointestinal fungal infection, so I'm now taking nystatin 3 times a day for the next 6 weeks! Could this be related to being exposed to potentially contaminated river water? You be the judge, but I don't know any other way that I would've contracted this....

So, between the furnace and the gut rot, I'm not feeling much like celebrating my birthday. I'm supposed to "run" in the MSU Dino Dash on Sunday, but have only put on my tennis shoes twice in the past month to go "jogging". I'm not a runner, and have simple goals during these races: make it further on the route than the previous year before the walkers and pregnant ladies catch up with me; and to make it further on the route than previously before I need to start walking. Someday, I'll finish the race in under 35 minutes, but I don't think that this year'll be the year for that. As for the birthday, I'd rather just go to dinner at AI Fusion, so if you're in the Lansing area and bored on your Saturday night, stop by for some great sushi...


One thing I should probably mention is that I have been knitting quite a bit. The Clapotis shawl is going quite well and I'm very happy with how it's turning out. I'd definitely work this pattern again; maybe even making something for myself.






I have two more hanks of the Interlacements: one meant for Chuck's mom and one to knit up for myself. I won't work on the one for me until the Christmas projects are done, so it'll be quite a while...





I also started my second scarf for the MSU vs Michigan knit challenge. This is the "Linked Rib" pattern from Knitting New Scarves by Lynn Barr. Though it looks tough, the pattern really is an easy one. Just need to keep count of rows so that each of the ribs end up even...




Lastly, though I knitted this shrug 3 to 4 years ago, I never really finished it b/c I soon realized after seaming the sleeves that I'd likely never wear this. I dug it out last night to take a second look at it and think that it *may* pass as a scarf if I un-seam the sleeves, and remove the ribbing. So, maybe this'll be my third scarf to donate for the challenge.





Sorry to leave all of the fun photos 'til the end, but I really didn't feel like showing the world all of the dust bunnies that have built up around my furnace (boy, I really should sweep that before the repair man visits!) and the fungus photos found on-line while reading up about GI fungi.

"....evading crazies..."

I decided to start today's entry with a snippet of my blog's tagline: "...evading crazies who always seem to find her..."; but, first, let me start with a little explanation. I really do attract strange people. It could be just walking down the street, shopping in any given store, or hanging out in a coffee shop, but there are times when I am either approached or something happens with just the oddest people. And these aren't folks that I know in any way, shape, or form. Those I can explain away as being eccentric or just a little tempermental. No, the grade-A crazy folks I tend to meet are always some random, out of the blue person.

A friend tried telling me that my problem was that I just look too friendly and inviting; but, hey, we all can't walk around with our bitch-faces on 24/7, right? Since I haven't really written anything about this aspect of my life yet, I decided that what I had experienced yesterday would be a good incident to introduce you to just the kind of thing I'm trying to describe (and am probably doing a poor job of it at that).

Yesterday afternoon, I did my weekly grocery shopping at Meijer. One thing about me is that I'm a complete creature of habit. For instance, I always park in the exact same part of the parking lot of the stores I go to often, and if I can, I always get a pull-thru parking spot. Don't really know why, but I just can't stand driving in reverse. At any rate, during this shopping trip, I happened to have parked next to the cart corral. As I approached my car, I noticed a fairly thin, late-30's/early-40's woman standing next to the corral with one of those mini-shopping carts packed with groceries. The fact that she was standing there wasn't really stange; at first, I thought she may have been lost in the parking lot. It was what she was busy doing: in her hand, she had an open pint container of grape tomatoes, which she was just scarfing down. And I mean, scarfing. I didn't mean to stare, but couldn't help do a double-take because of how fast she was popping them one by one into her mouth -- it's a surprise that she didn't choke!

I had never seen anyone do anything like that before. Sure, getting a quick chocolate fix is one thing. But, grape tomatoes? And not even making it to her car?!? So, I had to walk right next to this person to get to my car. I felt a little embarrassed for having stared at her while walking up, and was successful in avoiding further eye contact as I piled groceries into my trunk. But, as I edged up the side of my car to get in, I felt uneasy and again looked her way, just to notice that she was totally staring at me. And not just a "what? who are you to judge me?" kind of look. No, folks, this was a more menacing type of look that I'm having trouble even describing. I guess it's one of disdain. So, with a nervous smile back, I just got into my car, locked the doors, and drove away. In my rear-view mirror, I noticed that she was still standing there staring in my direction as I turned the corner. Yikes! And this was in broad daylight!

So, enough of that...The rest of my day was spent shopping for more patterns, having bought two of Sharon Winsauer's shawl patterns ("Heere be dragone" and "Flight of the honey bees"; sorry, no links to be found, but google this and check out the photos in her .pdf sale flyer -- if you haven't seen these already, you will be impressed!), Lucy Neatby's Poinsetta Shawl; and "Cool Crochet" by Melissa Leapman. I also picked up a kit of blocking wires, which are needed for the Feather and Fan shawl, and the rest of my Christmas shawls. Once the shopping was over, I spent the rest of the day and evening with Chuck scraping more paint off of the house. It better not rain, damn-it because we need to get this project back on track!

I completely frogged the Shell Crochet Shawl that I started the other day. The Interlacements yarn that was being used was the absolute wrong yarn for that pattern; the yarn's verigations were too short, and as you could tell from the photo, were coming out more like splotches. Also, the pattern was crap. I don't usually trash designers, but here I'm going to make an exception. I have serious doubts that this pattern went through any sort of editing process. The written words didn't match the chart. The chart just quit and got sloppier towards the end of the shawl, which gave me doubts that it was actual chart and not someone's kid's hand-drawn impression of their mommy's shawl. Yeah, this pattern sucks, and I wish I had never bought it.

Not being one to be hung up by a bad pattern, I decided to try out something else. After another pattern shopping trip, I decided to try out the yarn with the Clapotis pattern from Knitty and it can be either a shawl or a large scarf. I don't know if it was excitement over starting a new pattern, or over being disturbed about the crazy person in the Meijer parking lot, I just could not sleep last night. Eventually, I went to bed around 4:30 and was back up at 6:30 to take Sylvain and his friend over to Hunter's Safety class in Diamondale (about a 30-min. drive away). Today'll be a busy day with me being at the Jr. Chief Football concession stand (and I'll be super cute with my Caloimetry head-band on!), watching Sylvain's game, and visiting a friend who's in the hospital. We'll see how much my energy stream will last before I crash pretty hard. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to bed early tonight....

I can feel it coming on.....

Yes, folks, one very real side-effect of the "Back to School" time of year is that mom always gets sick. First, it starts with Sylvain getting a little sluggish, then congested, and the coughing kicks in. Next, it's Chuck's turn to come home from work complaining. Now, as I went to bed last night, I could just feel this thick throb of a head and neck-ache come on. Hoping that proper sleep and a comfortable arranging of pillows will make it all go away, I tried to sleep, but get getting hot/cold flashes, to the point where I slept buried deep in blankets and with the window open. There are times when the reward for being mom isn't much of a reward at all....

So, with Sylvain being down with a cold this week, the one up-swing to that is that he hardly argues over his 8:30 bedtime (yes, he's 13, and I still make him go to bed at 8:30). This gives me plenty of time to get the kitchen back in order, and spend the rest of my night on my projects. I finished with the Feather and Fan shawl, but haven't taken a photo of the completed work b/c I need to find some way to block it. It's about 8' long now, which should be long enough for a good stole. I was going to work the stole until the yarn was gone, but using Interlacement's Ric Rac II, and at 1,400 yards, I started to realize that the stole would end up being twice the length I have (!). And I'm already at the point where I was ready to stab myself in the eye with my needles over the boring, boring pattern!!



I started two more projects: one is a hat for the Spartan vs. Wolverine charity drive which is worked from the top down. The pattern is called Foliage and is a free download from Knitty. I *may* have linked to this already in my post about Knitterpalooza, I'm not entirely sure at the moment [see! the effects of a cold coming on!].



The second project is my second Christmas shawl, which is going to be worked out of one of the hanks won at Stitches Midwest. It is being crocheted and the pattern is from Daikeito and is simply called "Shell Crochet Shawl". I already needed ask around for help to get started b/c I'm not really a crocheter, but now that it's going, I think it'll be a good, quick project. The only problem that I can forsee for now is the same one I had with the Feather and Fan -- there's no way that this shawl will use up 1,400 yards of yarn.


In addition to all of that, I have the other random UFOs hanging out: putting the finishing embroidery on the Daphne bag, getting back to wet-felting my Super Mario Brothers bag, and piecing together my Great American Aran Afghan.

This weekend will hopefully be a fun and relaxing one for us -- now that we're in for a dry spell, we can get back to scraping and painting the house; I'm hoping to catch up with Carolyn and Sue Saturday morning at Beaners for coffee; Sylvain's going to Hunter's Safety; and we have another home football game (vs Grand Ledge) on Sunday, so I'll be at the concession stand there most of the day.

Well, wish me good health and luck in not getting it as bad as the guys have it....