Happy New Year!

Excuse me from being MIA from the bloggosphere.

Things have gotten ahead of me for various reasons but I will try & keep in touch!

What's new with me?

Well I was on a crazy holiday knitting schedule, which resulted  in successful presents all around!

My friend Haley, who owns knit-o-matic, broke her arms (both of them!). So I spent many weekends and free time going & helping her out. I wound yarn, used the cash register, you yarn business stuff.

After finishing the holiday knitting, I thought I would want to take a break, but NO! I started my own sweater. Unfortunately after I had done a third of the sweater, it was obviously way too big for me. So I have since started it again.

The in arrears blanket for my Dad is back as well It seems to be going faster now. I am not sure if that is due to the fact that I am kniting in the winter as opposed to the hot summer or if I am just a faster knitter than I was when I started it. I will go with a combination of both!

It may sound like my life is all knitting. But it isn't!

I am newly recovered from a sinus infection & bronchitis!FUN!

I am at night school once a week and the exam is 5 weeks away!SMALL FREAK OUT!

I have started up hot yoga! I have never sweated so much in my whole life. But I love to sweat! I am going to another class tonight. The goal is to go 3-4times a week. It's close to the house so I will go on the weekends too. The instructor for this past weekend's class Danny, was awesome! I have only gone to 2 classes, but I am already feeling the difference.

I am not giving up swimming. I am on hiatus due to the weather and the fact that I have been sick. But the ultimate plan is to swim 3 days a week before work & hot yoga too!

I have given up pop. I stopped January 11, 2010. For those of you who don't know, pop has always been a daily part of my life since I can remember. One of the lovely ladies at a sit n'knit explained that diet pop actually activates your sweet cravings  which in turn makes you eat more sugary things you shouldn't be eating....OK that's a really simplfied version of what she said, but it go me thinking and so I decided to drop it!  I don't miss it. No I don't drink more juice because of it. I drink water, tea & coffee!

So I have started some new health habits. These aren't resolutions. Resolutions are meant to be broken & I will break them. I did have one resolution. To not buy anymore yarn. Well I made that one knowing that it was going  to be broken!

My family all seem to be doing well in their lives.

One of best friends got engaged over Christmas (or rather before Christmas) & I am very happy that she has finally found someone who deserves her! Now if she would just hurry up & have a baby so I can knit things for her life would be good!

I promise to keep you updated & write again soon!

Just a note

I know my entries have been sparse.

I know my entries have been about knitting. ALOT!

I have knitting on the brain as it is what I am doing right now.

I promise to be more interesting in the coming weeks.

IT'S A THROWDOWN!!!!

Good Monday to you all!

So my Dad has just thrown down!

I am on a kntting kick for the holidays. NOTE: If you read this blog and are related to me and know I am giving you a present, SURPRISE!

My Dad was watching my knitting last night when my sister and the girls were over and told me he was sure I was over extending myself for Christmas knitting.

Now to be fair, early on in my knitting career, I was not as fast, into it and knowledgable as I am now. I did promise him a scarf and Mum a sweater 6 months after I started knitting and it has been about 4 years since. Mum got her sweater this summer. Dad made a request that it change into a  blanket. Which if you know me or have read this blog is in the works. If I were not making stuff for the holidays, it would probably have been done by now!

With all that back information, I see where he is coming from. But what he doesn't know is that I am a faster knitting now then I was 4 years ago and I had started knitting for the holidays about a month ago!

So Dad it is on! I accept your throw down challange to have everything on the list done in time for Christmas!

Knitting and Psychology

Hello all!

I  know it has been a while since posting. You'll have to excuse me for that! I have been feeling a little run down lately and have had trouble waking up in the mornings. My energy is not what it usually is. I am not sure yet if it is adjustment to night school or if I am coming down with something.

But I am feeling pretty good today!

I am currently knitting up a storm. Seeing as it is the holiday season, and I actually love to make things for people it is a good match.  My nieces and nephew's presents are almost complete and some of the adults in my life are under way as well.

I have been having fun making up a couple of patterns as I go along. That shows me that my confidence is rising in my abilities.

My knitting endeavors show me a few things about myself as I take stock in what I am in the midst of producing.

1. I knit for others first. This tends to be my motto when it comes to those I care about. I seem to worry about others and then myself in life. I sometimes forget to do things for myself.
              SOLUTION: In the midst of the holiday knitting I saw a pattern suggestion for this great scok yarn that was not a sock. I decided that I would make that for myself in the midst of all my holiday knitting. I may not get it done for a while, but I will get it done!

2. I'm just a girl who can't say no! Someone asks and even if I say no there is still some pushing for me to do it. There is that feeling of letting people down if I say no and for some reason I can't handle them being upset with me(Silly I know!).
               SOLUTION: Say yes but that it might take a bit of time to get it to them. In knitting either they forget about it or they will eventually get it and that calms them down.

3. Despite what people may think, I am actually a pretty organized person. I know what yarn I have. I know most of the needles I have. I also know what I am knitting for whom and when I need it done by.  It's interesting that I have spent most of my life believing that I am not the most organized, messy sure but organized? No way!  What's funny is that I run an office and I am organized enough to know before hand what and where the problems are to head them off.  My mother's family are all organizers of some form or another. So where is the surprise?
    I think it is amazing how one's perception of oneself stays with you even if the signs are there that you are wrong of your self image. Of course it can be too good a perception or horrible perception, but sometimes you have to stop and take stock of where you are in the moment and not in the past.  It is ok for me to knit for myself in the chaos of holiday knitting and  yes I can say no!

I didn't plan for this to be so heavy! Talk to y'all later

Introducing a new blog brought to you by Aunt Tallulah!

Happy Halloween to you all!

Hope you all get lots of tricks & treats today!

Just to let you know I have started a second blog which you can link to from this one.

It is called "crazy eighties lady." You can probably guess what it will cover.

For those of you who know me my informative years were in the 80s. I love the music, television and movies. So I decided to do a blog about it.

The inspiration came from listening to a podcast  called Muststashyo. It is done by two people I know Cindy - who is a spinner & maker of great yarns which can be found at studio loo which I have added as a link & Mat - spinner & maker of great yarns known as manspun! I will also add that link to the blog. If you are interested in purchasing some of their yarn, you can also mosey over to Knit-o-matic. Haley carries some of their yarn.

Anyway I was think after listening to their podcast (available on Itunes!), which made me think I would love to do a podcast about the eighties. I am pretty sure there would be some copyright problems if I played the music or clips from the movies or shows. So I thought that for now the best thing I could do is start a blog about the decade that I grew up in.  Please stop by. It is just in the beginning stages, but I am planing to do a where are the now post. Top movies of 1983 & a tribute to John Waters.

Don't worry though my other random thoughts will still be entered here on a regular basis as well. I am just moving one set of the randomness on to another page.

This is my brain!

So what's new in this brain of mine?

Well there are lots of things swimming around in there, it is often difficult to form what is thoughtful, insightful or entertaining. So I am just going to carry on and see what happens.

The newest thing I have done is dye some natural yarn that I had sitting around the house. I  used kool-aid (yes that KOOL-AID you used to drink as a child for pennies a glass!) and the new crock-pot (or slow cooker if you will!). The yarn is very  funky & I like it for the first attempt at yarn dyeing. But I am sort of considering dyeing it again. I haven't quite made that decision yet. I also have been eyeing the natural ultra alpaca at Knit-o-Matic for more dyeing fun!

I am trying to use up all my old yarn that I have sitting around the house. Yarn can get expensive & even easier to let pile up in your room waiting to be used. So most of the yarn is now being washed & re-wound & will be made into gifts for people for Christmas. Some of you maybe able to figure out what you're getting!

I am also kind of thrilled that someone like my earflap hat that he asked me to knit him one. Luckily it is quite easy to knit-up.

Yes there is more to life than my yarn obsession!

One of those is my photography. I haven't been able to do much because all of the photos are on my Dad's computer. I mentioned that I might want to work on and print some stuff. So that is a step in the right direction! When I left for the Cottage on my week vacation in June/July, my Dad gave me a photo card that holds 1800 photos! As of today I have 350 left. I am toying with the idea of transferring them to the computer, but I kind of like the idea of filling the whole thing up! It is somewhat satisfying that I have all those photos to sift through!

I have bought frames that I think I  can do stuff with as well. Those are often bought on trips to Homesense and other places where I find cheap frames. The thing is I now have plans for all of them, but I can't get to printing. Maybe I'll take some time off & just work on photos.

Let's see other thoughts.....

I am actually doing well so far in my Litigation law clerk class! Who knew? I know you are all saying  that I am being hard on myself. But I'm actually not. I am in no way putting down my intellegence! This is just not where I saw myself 10 years ago. Heck, I didn't see myself here 5years ago! It is quite amazing where life takes you!

I have been watching a show on A&E called Hoarders. It is quite scary to see how people live. I know I am not a hoarder. But looking at that has scared me to get rid of things. I plan to empty out my closet in the spring, because I am not ready to spend the time doing it yet! That means that my room is also going to need to get cleaned out as well. I have started by getting rid of a bunch of books that I don't need anymore by taking them to Goodwill. It can be very satisfying you know.

What strikes me about the hoarders is that this stuff has some meaning, even if it is a bottle of water. I don't want to get to that place in my life, ever. So my goal is to not collect too much stuff. I think photos are a different matter of course! I think that is where the yarn use up is coming from as well!

I would like to swim more than I have been, walking more than I have been and biking more than I have been. The many factors that are slowing that down are the unusually cold weather, the darker mornings. I also used to get infections every 3-4 months. The cycle has gradually gotten longer and  it has been 13 months since my last infection (September 2008). I was feeling a little off so I stop anything that might cause me to get sick (i.e. swimming) I left my bike at the office when I wasn't feeling well & haven't had a chance to bring it home.

I have also had difficulty waking up in the morning so the hour I would need to walk to the office doesn't exsist. I do find that I miss the exercise! I do go out for longish walks on the weekends. It's not like I am doing absolutely nothing!

Finally, I am on a no junk food mode again.  It has been quite easy to go & eat a bunch of junk so I am taking a break from it. I started it on Monday, but I ate one small cookie, so no big deal!

Finally I am done. For now!

Hope all is well with you!

I'm crazy smrt

So I am the class know it all!

I know sounds crazy doesn't it?
How on Earth did that happen?
It's not that I am unintelligent, quite the contrary.

We had a pop quiz last night in class. The instructor forgot the paper at the office & gave it to us orally. Now as you all know I am a bit of a chatter box on a good day, so I did cover my mouth a few times to stop from shouting out the answers.

The first couple of questions were about tort law. I answered one or two of the answers she wanted & let everyone else answer. No one really did.

The next set of questions were about the Rules of Civil Procedure (The rules is how I will forever refer to them). I could have answered them all. We were allowed to use our books because there is no  real way to memorize the rules (there are far too many & they're in legalese). I organized the book as she had suggested & was the only one who could answer the questions, I didn't because she wanted other to answer & she looked at me & knew I knew.

I think being organized with the Rules is the way to pass this thing. So my law clerking is going well! I was so scared about this whole thing!

This isn't like getting a music degree or opera school. But hey I'm not a complete disaster! **DANCING**