Destruction & a Package

Here is what my butler's pantry looks like right now. The kitchen island is similarly denuded, as soon will be the rest of the counters. Isn't hubby good at destruction? It'll all look nice in granite.

And, incidentally, I think that if one has a butler's pantry, one should also have a butler to go with it. Seems only right.

Today I received a wonderful package from Alvina in Singapore. This is our 4th swap! We ended up with a Disney theme this time, but Alvina also included a bunch of other goodies like an issue of Cotton Time that I'm very excited about. Does Thing 1 look cute in that hat or what? Thank you Alvina for another wonderful swap!

Seven

I finally finished square #7. See? I think if I were to make a sweater or something in Kureyon, I might choose this colorway.

When I was in Portland last week, I acquired several skeins of Kureyon at Knit Purl. When she went to ring up my purchases, the really nice and helpful woman there (the owner, maybe?) said, "Oh, there's this great pattern on Knitty for Kureyon..." and of course she was referring to Lizard Ridge. She told me she's been a bit of a commitment-phobe about large projects, so I told her to try this one. If you're in Portland, do stop by Knit Purl (conveniently located a few blocks from Mecca Powells). They have a particularly nice selection, including lots of Habu and other hard to find high end stuff. Even their window display is cute. I was lucky to leave with my credit card intact. I keep justifying to myself it's a bargain because there's no sales tax in Oregon. Right.

After that super-whiny last blog entry, today I did something I should've done last week: I called in sick. After getting the Things off to school, I went back to bed and stayed there until 11 am (only interrupted by 4 phone calls and an attempted delivery of our new floor). I'm still working now, but at least I feel a little rested.

A Tale of Great Sorrow

I'm absolutely drowning in work. I'm putting in really long hours but the work keeps piling up, and I feel like I've spent the last few months doing nothing but making excuses to various people about why various things weren't done yet. I have classes. I have department chair responsibilities. We just completed a search in which we hired 3 people. I just revised (from scratch) next year's schedule. I'm writing a book, which has several deadlines lined up over the next couple months. We're completely revising our curriculum. I'm trying to line up a grant for our youth mentoring program. And then people keep calling with requests like, "Can you drive 45 minutes away in 2 weeks and give an hour-long presentation on forensic science to 4th through 6th grade Girl Scouts?"

On top of that, half our kitchen is rubble (with the other half to follow soon) and, while hubby is being Demolition Man, I'm keeping the Things and Ruthie busy and out of his way. The yard is covered in weeds and has become a Snail Sanctuary.

All of which means I'm getting little sleep and no time at all to knit.

Woe is me.

Singapore Swap

Just about in time for my birthday, I received a swap package from Linda in Singapore. There were all sorts of goodies inside, but here are a few of my favorites. She and her mom made that cute little pouch. Check out the button selection! And aren't those about the niftiest chopsticks you've ever seen? Ruthie enjoys the slide whistle.

Thank you, Linda!

Back home, a birthday

Today could have been traumatic, seeing as I turned 40. But it wasn't. For one thing, I got some nice prezzies, including this one that a generous friend sent me:

That's an alpaca scarf kit, in beautiful natural colors. The picture doesn't do it justice. How could anyone be upset about a birthday that meant receiving something as nice as that?

Also, this birthday involved cheesecake eating.

Furthermore, tonight I got to begin a new class in ceramics. I've been wanting to take one for years, and I finally had my chance. So I get to play with clay for 8 weeks. Tonight I made a mug that looks like it was made by and for Neanderthals. Clumsy Neanderthals. I figure after one class my clay skills rank somewhat above Thing 2's. Maybe next week I'll get to Thing 1's level. But it's okay anyway, because playing with clay is loads of fun, as is being a student instead of a teacher for a change.

So 40's been good to me so far. Instead of being traumatized by my advancing age, I'll save my stress hormones for spring break, when we are replacing the counters, backsplash, and floor in our kitchen, laundry room, and family room. My favorite part will be keeping Ruthie and Thing 2 (who also has spring break that week) occupied and out of the way.

On the Road Again

I had a conference in Seattle, so I've been email-less for a couple days. I like Seattle a lot and had hoped to be able to spend some time exploring it, but I lost half a day when my flight was delayed. I ended up spending an extra 4 1/2 hours sitting in crappy Terminal B at Sacramento airport while waiting for a part to arrive for my plane and be installed. Goody. Anyway, I did get to walk around a bit. I made it to Uwajimaya, anyway, where I spent a bunch of money at Kinokunaya Bookstore.

Yesterday I took Amtrak to Portland, where I'm visiting my family. What a great train trip! I saw, among other things, deer, a sea lion, an eagle, and a dead cow. Aside from the dead cow, very scenic.

So now I'm hanging out a bit and celebrating my birthday a few days early. We just visited two great yarn stores: Knit-Purl (where I scored, among other things, Handmaiden Sea Silk) and Dublin Bay. Portland has some really, really nice yarn stores.

And the Oscar Goes to... Thing 2!

The Things fight over one of the kitchen chairs. We don't know why. It's identical to the other three. The only potential advantage is that it has the best viewing angle for the tv, but we don't allow tv at mealtime. Whatever the reason, they both want that chair. (Remember, these are the same children who have been known to squabble over bits of trash in the car.)

To reduce arguments, we assigned days for the chair. Thing 1 gets Monday, Wednesday, Friday; Thing 2 gets Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Hubby gets Sunday.

So tonight was T1's turn, but T2 wasn't happy about it. "I never get to sit there!" she cried, inaccurately. Cruelly, we made her choose another chair anyway. She slumped in that chair, a look of anguish on her face, and exclaimed, "I'll never be happy again!"

Oh, I am so not looking forward to the teenage years with this crew.

RIP, Paul DeLay

I recently learned that one of my favorite musicians died last week of leukemia. Way back when I lived in Portland, Paul DeLay was my top choice in live performances. I moved away, he did a stint in federal prison for dealing cocaine, and it's been years since I've seen him in concert. But I have a couple of his CDs, which I listen to often. He was a great songwriter and played a really mean harmonica.

He was only 55. I'll miss him.

Fruit, finished, fun, and French food

The cherimoya is ripe. Cherimoyas are a subtropical fruit grown in Chile and California. They're delicious--they taste sort of like pineapple vanilla custard. You can just scoop the fruit out with a spoon and gobble it.


Aside from the price, there's only one problem with cherimoyas:


That's a lot of humungo seeds!



Square # 6:


As busy as I've been, I've been hesitant to commit to any project bigger than an afghan block. At least this way I get some feeling of accomplishing something! Oh, and by the way, the Spring Knitty is up.

It's a beautiful day. Here's Ruthie, Thing 1, and the neighbors "helping" me weed.

I'm finding a lot of that snail's friends and relatives. Yes, we do have enormous snails here. I've read that they're not a native species, but are actually escapees from a 19th century French restaurant. You'd think it'd be easy to keep snails from escaping. I don't know if that story is true, but I've heard it from a couple of sources, and I do know these guys are edible. One of my colleagues collects them, feeds them on cornmeal for a while, then cooks 'em. Bully for him, but I'll pass, thanks.

No Theme Day

Today's post has no particular unifying theme. Oh well.

This arrived today in the mail: the first package in Blue Moon Fiber's Rockin' Sock Club. Yay!



This guy (girl? Aren't snails hermaphrodites??) was in the weeds in my garden today. Probably ten zillion of his/her relatives were there, too. Snails are so much more appealing to me than slugs. Isn't it amazing what a difference a shell makes?



They had cherimoyas on sale at the grocery store yesterday. This beauty still cost over 4 bucks, but I haven't had one in years. It's not quite ripe yet--I'll be patient another couple of days.

Five

I miscounted earlier, so actually, this is block #5. These blocks are so addictive!

RIP, P&G

My one and only LYS closed its doors forever yesterday. The owner is moving and wasn't able to sell the business. It wasn't my favorite LYS in the world because she carried more novelty yarns than I prefer, but the owner was very nice, and the store was a 10 minute drive from my house. There was one small consolation: I was able to scoop up some Cherry Tree Hill yarn at 75% off.

And, here it is, proven for all time. Remind me to show this to the Things when they're teenagers.

You Will Be a Cool Parent

You seem to naturally know a lot about parenting, and you know what kids need. You can tell when it's time to let kids off the hook, and when it's time to lay down the law. While your parenting is modern and hip, it's not over the top. You know that there's nothing cool about a parent who acts like a teenager... or a drill sergeant!

Would You Be a Cool Parent?

An FO at last

It's not a very big O, but at least it's F, which means I actually had a couple hours to sit and knit. It's block #5 in the Lizard Ridge afghan. Only 19 more to go.

I'm so totally in love with Kureyon. Every time I knit another block, I say to myself, "This is my favorite Kureyon colorway!" Then I get to the next block and the next colorway and I say the same thing. I had quite a stash of individual balls of the stuff, which I'm gradually working my way through. I'm exercising tremendous self-restraint in not acquiring more until my Kureyon stash is gone. Well, almost, because I joined Yarniverse's Kureyon club, which means they send me a single ball in a new color every 6 weeks or so.

Catch Up

Sorry for the lack of posts. I had a writing deadline this week and so I've been pounding away at the keyboard doing work instead of blogging. My knitting remains untouched--I haven't had a free evening in eons (begin sound of violin wailing now).

Thing 1 and I drove to Santa Clara on Saturday for Stitches West. The market was, as always, overwhelming in a totally good way. I didn't buy a ton of things, but I'm awfully happy with what I did get, including skeins of hand-dyed tencel and cashmere from Just Our Yarn, some really pretty variegated laceweight merino from Jojoland (I've never heard of them before), and a beaded scarf kit. I also came away with some cool buttons (one of which has a Saint Bernard on it!) and a gorgeous glass shawl closure thingy from Moving Mud. I'm wearing that this very minute.

Much to my surprise and delight, Thing 1 loved Stitches. There was some initial confusion because when I told her we were going to a yarn show, she was picturing a show--you know, a performance of some kind. Dancing yarn, maybe? Anyway, once we got that straightened out she was happy. In fact, she immediately announced she wants to learn to knit now. Then she wanted yarn. Turns out the kid has great taste in yarn. I bought her some Blue Sky cotton and some hand-dyed superwash merino, and had to steer her away from cashmere and the skein of beaded yarn that cost $135. So she already has a yarn stash! She also got a cat button (for her child, someday, she said) and she used her own money to buy a basket. As we stood in line at one point, she thanked me for taking her and made me promise I would bring her next year. The women behind us practically broke into applause. Clearly, I've been training her right.

Here she is at the Hyatt afterward, enjoying room service:

On Sunday we went to the Tech Museum in San Jose. I had to pick for her because she couldn't make up her mind which of her 3 options to choose. I've been to the Winchester Mystery House before, and I thought she'd really enjoy the Tech, so that's where we went. It's a fabulous place! Lots of fun stuff, even for grownups. Here's Thing 1 on a jet pack simulator:

When we returned home Sunday, there was a package waiting for me from Jody in Singapore. The Things started snatching goodies away so quickly I didn't get a picture, so here's Thing 1 posing with only a few of the wonderful things Jody sent:

The Pocky got a bit crunched in the mail, but I'm sure it'll taste just as good. :-) Thanks, Jody!

I can resist anything but temptation

I've been trying to work from my existing (and quite large) yarn stash and not add it to it. But Stitches West is this weekend in Santa Clara, and I can't be expected to resist all temptation, now, can I? So I've planned a girls' getaway this weekend with Thing 1. The plan is to head to Stitches on Saturday and check into one of the hotels there. We can spend Saturday shopping for yarn and lolling around the hotel (Thing 1 loves hotels), and then Sunday we can go do something around there that she will really enjoy. We're trying to decide now between the Tech Museum of Innovation, the Rosicrucian Museum (mummies!), and the Winchester Mystery House. That's a tough choice!

Phizzle

I've been too sick and too busy to knit, alas. So lieu of knitting content, here's something I saw on someone else's blog.

1. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (First 3 letters of first name plus izzle)
Phizzle (hey--that's good!)

2. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Blue Dog

3. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street name)
Kim Destiny

4. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Gerphfe

5. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink).
Red Smoothie (I like this one, too!)

6. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's middle name)
Ann

7. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets)
Black Furgie

Zippidy Doo Dah

After I was all grouchy and everything yesterday, look what arrived in the mail for me today:

It's my final package from my talented and generous Secret Pal, Kate! I've spent the day petting that lovely purple Alchemy yarn and as for the Reeses, well, let's just say they went to a good cause. And if you admired that sock yarn Kate dyed for me last time, she has an Etsy store. :-)

Well, that package definitely set today on a better course. Then I decided not to go into the office--always a happy choice. I did go see the orthopedist, who announced that I've been healing extremely well--just a bit of tenderness left--and I don't have to visit him again. And that's the last you'll hear about my hand, I promise!

Here for your amusement is another Disney picture.

This was taken on our very first day at the parks, when Thing 1 ignored the zillionth command not to run, and she fell and skinned both knees. I love her expression, which clearly says, "I want pity but I can't whine because I know it was my own darn fault so I'll just look pained." She survived. And remembered not to run--for about an hour.

It's a World of Laughter, a World of Tears

This is Thing 2 about to ride It's a Small World for the second time. It's one of her favorite rides. Hubby demonstrated what a great parent he is when he was the only one willing to get on that boat again.

We still have colds. Hubby has spent the whole week home from work, feeling sorry for himself. But the spring semester just began this week, so I've been dragging myself to classes and dealing with all the usual chaos and crises. One of my classes has 50 students but is in a room that seats 40. The other class was supposed to be capped at 40, but now enrolls 60 (at least there are 60 chairs in that room). And today a student came to me, asking why I gave him an F in a class. I said it had something to do with the fact that his entire paper was plagiarized off the internet. He said, "Really? I must have done it unconsciously." Yeah, that convinced me to change his grade. Another student's father called the department secretary and left a message that I must call right away--it was urgent! So I dropped everything and called. Turns out he was worried over whether his daughter could get into a class (the daughter had made a mistake about when classes started and missed the first day). I asked whether she'd contacted the instructor yet. Father said yes, she left him a message. I suggested that they wait to see what the instructor said before getting hysterical. Meanwhile, Extremely Annoying Colleague #1 kept having loud conversations about nothing directly outside my door, while EAC #2 kept popping in every 5 minutes to share his thoughts, and 14 thousand students stuck their head inside my door and asked, "Are you busy?"

Both Things had tantrums this evening. Thing 1's had something to do with a fork, and Thing 2, well, I'm not sure she even knew what it was about. I was glad to get them both tucked in tonight.

Okay, time for a nice big swig of Nyquil.

Valentine's Day

Due to the plague that Typhoid Mary Thing 2 spread to us, nobody is feeling very romantic here today. I did, however, manage to score a box of Recchiuti's Valentine's chocolates. It's one of those boxes where the chocolates are almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

The flavors are interesting, too. I just ate the rose caramel one. Mmm.

Home again home again

We've survived another cross-country plane trip with the Things and are now back home. I was going to post some Disney pix, but Thing 2 generously shared a cold with us all, and I'm pretty wiped. Disney will wait. I had to post these pix today, though.

A package was waiting for me from Ruthie in Bulgaria. Everything was beautifully wrapped, but of course I excitedly tore the wrapping right off. Ruthie sent 3 beautiful bags she made, 2 of felt and 1 in a cute cute animal print. As you can see, she sent a bunch of other lovely things, too, including the Bulgarian dog cookies of which my Ruthie is so fond. What a wonderful package! Thank you, Ruthie!



Today is Thing 2's fourth birthday. Due to the Disney trip, we skipped a fancy party and just had a small family celebration. Chocolate cake was included.

Thoroughly Disneyfied

Today's our last day in Florida; we leave at an unreasonably early hour tomorrow. We've hit all 4 parks--Epcot andAnimal Kingdom twice--and we've been fully moused and princessed. My favorite ride is definitely Tower of Terror at Disney/MGM studios. Thing 2 has been such a trouper--when we got off that ride, she announced,"I like that elevator!" Both Things have been very, very good, and the weather has been quite nice, too. Tomorrow we return to reality.

Epcot

Disney is having a"Magical Moments"promotion this year, which involves granting a variety of "wishes" to random visitors. This morning when we arrived at Epcot, Hubby and Thing 1 boarded a ride that Thing 2 is too short for. T2 and I went to wait in the gift shop, where the ride unloads. A "cast member" (what Disney calls its employees) invited T2 to play a game, then gave her a certificate. Very cute.

Around 6pm, our group was deciding whether to wait an hour in line for the Test Track ride. Some of us had ridden it in the morning, and it's a favorite. A cast member came up and told us we were the Family of the Hour. She took us in the back way, directly to the head of the line. Which was great enough, but then when the ride was over, we got to stay on again for a second go-round. How cool is that?

Here

We survived the plane trip, and our timeshare has internet.

It was 10 degrees when we landed in Chicago at 4:30 pm. It was good to remind myself of one of the reasons I left the midwest. This time of year is always particularly bad. It feels like it's been winter forever and everything is bleak-looking, and you know spring is still a long time away.

We missed the tornados and arrived just fine in Orlando. We spent the last day and a half at Animal Kingdom, which we all enjoyed a lot. We got to spend just last night at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, in a suite on the concierge level no less, and it was just wonderful. Knat, you could see Watusi cattle (and giraffes, ostriches, birds, and antelopes) right outside our balcony.

I went on Expedition Everest with Hubby and Thing 1. I'm not a coaster person, but this is a very cool coaster. And it didn't make me want to puke.

This morning we got up before dawn for the Sunrise Safari, which is a 2 1/2 hour safari through the Animal Kingdom. There were only about 20 people in our group, plus one of the animal keepers (Susan, if you're reading this, her name is Courtney and she knows your boss). It was very cool. All the critters were up and active (except the crocs), and we got really close to a rhino and some kudu.

Now we're all resting up for tomorrow at Epcot. The Things have been great so far--wish us luck!

Going going gone

We're off in the morning for 9 days at Disneyworld. I am not bringing my knitting because 1. I won't have time to work on it anyway, and 2. when traveling 3000 miles with 2 young children, one might be tempted to poke them with the knitting needles. I may have internet access, however, and I'll try to blog from there.

Where I've Been

I found this on Eve's blog! Here's places I've been. A few are only airport visits, though.



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

FO and Concert

I finished my qiviut gloves last night and am wearing them this morning. They are so soft on the hands! Excuse the picture--it was taken by Thing 1. :-)

On Saturday we took the Things to San Francisco for a Dan Zanes concert. Here's a picture I shot from the car as we crossed the Altamont:

The concert was a lot of fun. Most of the kids there were Thing 2's age or younger. Thing 1 was one of the oldest kids there, which is ironic, since only she was able to sit still for an hour and really enjoy it. Most of the audience was pretty wiggly. The impression I got was that Dan Zanes is a nice guy who's genuinely enthusiastic about making good music for small people. And he's sure good at it--he's far and away my kids' favorite, and really the only musician they request by name.

After the concert we went out to lunch at Max's Opera Cafe. Here's a picture of Hubby and the Things outside the restaurant.

Good day!

Now, I have been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of some of the world's most generous and thoughtful secret pals. But it turns out that even when I'm supposed to be the one giving, my own recipient is wonderful as well! I am Eve's spoiler for SP9. It was great being her spoiler because aside from being a really nice person and talented knitter, Eve is also Swiss. Which means it was easy for me to find her things I knew she couldn't easily get. I sent my last package to Eve a while back and outed myself. So look what came in the mail today from Switzerland:

I knew she was going to send me the calendar, and I am so thrilled with it! It's from the Barry Foundation, which means all the photos were taken at the Saint Bernard Hospice. How cool is that?!? But then Eve also surprised me with this cute cute needle case she made (complete with a set of double points). Isn't that sheep fabric adorable? Thank you so much, Eve!

And speaking of generous people, I'm so enjoying knitting with the qiviut Knatolee sent. I've finished one glove:

I adapted this pattern. The original pattern called for lighter weight yarn, plus I have really small hands. This glove is actually on backwards because I've only made the right glove and I only have a left hand. The beads will actually go across the back of the hand, and the palm is beadless. This really is a lovely yarn.

And one last thing for today. We're getting ready for a family trip to Disneyworld and I decided I needed new tennis shoes. I ordered a pair from Zappos at 8pm yesterday and they were on my feet by 6:30 tonight. And it was free shipping at that. Plus I saved $20 by cleverly ordering the shoes I wanted in a youth size instead of adult (I have small feet, too).

Hooray!

Look what I did last night! :-)

The yarn is a special treat, too--it's the qiviut Knatolee sent me. I keep petting it while I knit.

Please give me a hand

My hand was unmummified today. The doctor pulled out the stitches, too, and now I just need bandaids for a few days. There's still a bit of bruising near my wrist, and yellow sticky disinfectant that I finally get to scrub off in my next shower. As you can see, Ruthie has been very helpful.

C is for...

I stole this meme from Leanne. The idea is you get a letter, and then list 10 things that begin with that letter that have significance to your life. If any of you want to play, just email me or leave me a comment, and I'll send you your letter. Leanne gave me C, so here goes:

1. children
Well, obviously my kids are extremely important to me! I didn't have kids until well into my 30s, and I could have had a happy life without them, but I sure am glad they're here. Children help me add perspective to my life, make me see new things, and make me see old things in new ways. One of my favorite movies is Parenthood with Steve Martin, and there's a great part where the movie compares parenthood to a roller coaster. I think that's a perfect analogy, except this coaster's track always changes. Just when you figure you have the ride down, you get thrown for a loop. Having children also changes how the world relates to me. People who wouldn't otherwise speak to me, do. Lots of people know me only as Thing 1's or Thing 2's Mom. Yesterday I accidentally slammed Thing 2's finger in my car door. Without children, I would have gone my whole life without feeling that certain combination of guilt and panic that follows an incident like that.

2. creativity
I don't claim to be the most creative person in the world. In fact, I know for a fact that some of you are more creatve than me. But I value creativity very highly. To me, it means not only the ability to make new things, but also the ability to tackle problems in fresh ways. To think outside the box, to use an overused phrase.

3. classes
I have spent virtually my entire life in classes, either as a student or as a teacher. I can't imagine life not revolving around school. Even now, when I dream about what I'd like to do when I retire, taking classes figures high on my list.

4. chapters
I am obsessed with books. I have a lot of them--far more than I have time to read--and yet I can't stop myself from buying more. And I do love to read them. Once, when I was maybe 12, I was sitting on my front patio with my feet up, reading a book. I must have been sitting still a long time, because when I finished the book I saw that a spider had spun an entire web using the book, my chair, and various parts of me as anchor points.

I like to write books, too. I've written 1 whole book, and parts of several more. These are all academic books, but I also like to write fiction (although my fiction has never been published). One of my dream jobs is Successful Author.

5. crafting
I've always enjoyed crafting of just about any kind. I have a mini-Michaels worth of crafting materials in my house. I have a crafty family. My Mom crafts, my sister has a craft business, my brother does woodwork, my kids craft. My enforced craft sabbatical for the past 10 days has been very, very hard to take. But it's over now. :-)

6. collecting
I collect things. I may be slightly compulsive (hey--that's another C word!), although I haven't yet turned into one of those people whose house is filled with piles of newspaper and old mail. Besides my yarn and book collections, I also have collections of Saint Bernard stuff, blue glass, gargoyles, postcards, and floaty pens. Nobody ever, ever has a hard time finding a present for me.

7. career
My career is very important to me, very central to my idea of who I am. There are times when it's frustrating, boring, or upsetting, but mostly I like it a lot. Which is good, consdering the years of graduate training it took to get here.

8. canines
Wouldn't life be a much more boring place without dogs? I like animals in general, but dogs have a special place in my heart.

9. constitution
It's not just that I have a law degree and teach criminal justice (another C phrase!). I'm passionate about the Constitution and protecting the rights it contains. I'm currently the co-chair of my local ACLU chapter.

10. carpal tunnel
It is to be hoped that this recent and tedious theme will cease to be of importance in my life.

Getaway

This is the view from the room I shared with my friends at the Inn Above Tide in Sausalito. The hotel is, literally, above the tide. Sea lions swam right below us, pelicans dived, kayakers paddled. The rooms are quite pricey, but it's a very nice place. Only 29 rooms, pleasant service, nice wine and cheese in the evening, very nice breakfast in the morning. And the view, which you get from every room.



The ferries dock next door, so Friday we took a ferry to the Ferry Building in SF, had lunch, and shopped a bit. Some fleur de sel caramels from Recchiuti may have made their way into my hands, but I won't confirm that.

Today we went to Heath Ceramics, which is located in Sausalito. I've admired their wares for some time. We got a tour of the factory, during which I learned how much labor goes into producing their pieces. This little vase came home with me for Hubby:

If I'm ever wealthy all my dishes will be Heath.

Finally, we walked around downtown Sausalito. There are, alas, no yarn stores, but I did make one major score:

I bought 10 of these, which was nearly their entire inventory. I may share with Hubby.

Ski Bum

Thing 1 and Hubby went skiing today. I did not. My one attempt at skiing resulted in several days on crutches, and my limbs are only partially functional now as it is.

They had a great time, though. Next year, Thing 2 can learn how. I have fantasies of curling by a fire with a book and hot cocoa while they pay good money to hurl themselves down mountains.

PS--I knitted that sweater she's wearing, many years ago, actually before she was even born. Ten billion ends to weave in, but it is cute on her! I don't know how she managed to avoid hitting anything with all that hair in her face.

Reviews

At the end of every semester, the students in my classes get a chance to fill out evaluations of me. The front of the eval form has a bunch of fairly useless things the students can rate me on, and the back has a big blank spot where they can write comments. The comments are anonymous and I don't get them back until after grades are in. Here are a few of my favorites from Fall 2006:

• I would like to see more videos of you doing psychological experiments on your kids; those were very entertaining
• Class is interesting. Although I am doing very crappy in the class, you are doing a good job of teaching the class and applying the reasoning of the courts to fit our understanding.
• Stop putting in your political opinions and basis [sic]
• Students would appreciate having their opinions on the hiring of new faculty listened to
• This was a CJ class not a poli sci class, thus you lost a lot of students when you stated your political point of view

Apparently, only poli sci professors can discuss political views, because politics has nothing whatsoever to do with criminal justice.

Several students said I am "though but fair." I might like to have this tattooed on me somewhere, if I could think of an appropriate illustration to accompany it.

Healing

My hand is healing, little bit better every day. Luckily, there's been very little pain, just the annoyance of trying to do everything left-handed. And it is *so* freaking obnoxious to watch tv or movies without knitting needles in my hands! I keep wandering up to visit my stash and fondle it wistfully. With my left hand.

Meantime, there is preparation for travel! I'm heading to Sausalito this weekend with some girlfriends, and in 2 weeks we're bravely taking the Things to Florida for a week at Disneyworld. I hope I'll be knitting again by then, so I can pass the time on the long flight--or use the needles to poke naughty children.

this is me today. at least they made sure to cut the right hand. that "yes" may never wash off. and when i got home from the hospital, there were packages!


all this goodness is from sing yee in malaysia. durian dodol! and lots of good things, including some of her handmade art. thank you so much! can't wait to be able to use the stationery.


and this is my 3rd swap with alvina in singapore. as always, she's chosen wonderful things. she included more of her earrings and her handmade tissue cover and flower brooch. thank you!

it sucks typing left-handed.

Thank you!

Thanks for all the good thoughts for my hand! I'm going to look on the bright side: I may not be able to knit or type for a bit, but I do have a great excuse to lay around doing nothing but watching tv, reading, eating chocolate, and ordering people around. :-)

My carpal tunnel surgery is scheduled for Friday. After, I'll have a big old bandage on my wrist for 10 days. Ick. So today I made myself a wrist cozy from some leftover Noro.

It should come in particularly handy (Hah! Pun not intended!) because it's supposed to get down near 20F for several nights. I know, that's no big deal to most of you, but to those of us in California that sounds Arctic. I've lived here for 14 winters and it's never been that cold. So my poor hand will be warm and stylish.

And yes, I fully realize the irony of knitting something to cover my carpal tunnel bandages.

Shiver Me Timbers

Ahoy there!

I generally work well with deadlines. The proof?

Aye, me hearties! One completed pirate sweater in a size large enough to last Thing 2 for a couple of years. I seriously love the way this turned out, and the yarn is so plush and soft. Can't wait to see it on her, but she's fast asleep right now.

In fact, everyone is fast asleep except for me and Furgie.

Pirate project in progress

This is the project I'm trying hard to finish before I get my hand sliced open next Friday. It will be a raglan-sleeve pullover for Thing 2, who badly wants a pirate sweater. You're looking at the back and the front. I'm about halfway finished with the first sleeve, so I might just finish in time. The skull pattern is from the current issue of Knit.1, and the sweater pattern is from Junior Knits. I'm using KnitPicks Swish Superwash in black and the natural color is Bare Superwash Worsted. It's nice, soft yarn to work with, not scratchy at all, and of course machine washable.

And the orthopedist says I should be able to do a bit of knitting within a week or so of the surgery, but will have to ease back into lengthier sessions.

"My Second Story" by me

Here is Thing 1's second tale, verbatim:

My Second Story by me
Once upon a time, again, this is after 6 years with Ajeta and Kina. Well, one day, an evil samurai master wanted to rule the world. But Ajeta already knew he was evil and wanted to rule the world. So the next day Ajeta bowed to the king in the king's palace. The king's name was Oberon. Oberon asked Ajeta if he would help Oberon by saving the kingdom from the evil samurai master from becoming king. And Ajeta said, "Yes, I will." and so the deal was made. If Ajeta won the battle, then Ajeta would give Oberon lots of his treasures. (if he had any.) Well, king Oberon asked Ajeta if he had any. Ajeta said "yes" to that question, too. And so one day 6 days after the day that Ajeta made a deal with the king, Ajeta went to the evil samurai master's pretend palace. Ajeta said to the samurai master, "Are you the samurai master who is evil and wants to be king?" "Yes." said the evil samurai master. "Do you have any slaves?" asked Ajeta. "Why, slaves? What kind of slaves?" asked the evil sumurai master. Ajeta answered, "the kind that feed you and serve you." And the samurai master, who's name is Emika, said, "Why, no one has ever asked me that before and your answer is no. DO you have a wife?" he asked. (the master asked.) "Yes." Ajeta said. "She is beutiful and her name is Kina." "What a beutiful name." said Emika. Emika started to cry. "I know I'm evil! I promise I'll be good! Please! don't tell the king I said no to your question about being bad! I'll say yes every time you ask that question!" he started to cry more, then started to wail. "ther, there. It's all right. I like you." said Ajeta. "You, you, you do?" asked Emika. "Uh huh." said Ajeta. "Please, bring me to the real palasce." said Emika. "I want to tell King Oberon something." SO they went to King oberon's castle. "King Oberon." said Emika. "Can I be king after Ajeta If I be the good the rest of the way while your king than Ajeta's king?" asked Emika, shy to ask. "Well, as long as your good," said Oberon. So Emika asked Ajeta if Emika could be Ajeta's servent. Ajeta said "yes" so they all lived happily ever After.
THE END
This ode to the power of careful diplomacy is illustrated with a drawing of Ajeta, Kina, and Emika all looking happy.

Mail wonderful mail

Today had such exciting mail I don't even know where to begin! To think, all this was sitting there as federal employees memorialized Gerald Ford....

First I opened a large box from my Secret Pal. And look what was inside! I get to learn the magic loop method! And as if that isn't exciting enough, I get to learn it with the absolutely most perfect sock yarn in the world. Why so perfect? Because my talented Pal dyed it just for me in my favorite colors! The colors didn't turn out well in this picture, so you'll have to trust me that they're gorgeous blues, purples, and teals. Let me tell you, if I had seen this skein of yarn on a yarn store shelf, I would have snatched that thing up so fast you might hear a sonic boom. But of course I wouldn't find this perfect yarn on any store shelf. My Pal also sent candy cane tea (Mmm! Wouldn't this be perfect to accompany peppermint bark?) and breath cookies for Ruthie (which will be appreciated by both of us). Thank you, Pal!!

Next up was a packet addressed to Thing 1. A couple months ago I did a swap with Liz, who sent all sorts of wonderful things from Thailand. Liz teaches second grade there, so Thing 1, who is also in second grade, had included a letter to Liz's class in the package we sent. The packet that arrived today contained cards to Thing 1, all made by the kids in Liz's class. Isn't that fantastic? Thing 1 was just thrilled.

The last two things I knew were coming because I'd ordered them myself. First, a book for Thing 1. The other day, completely out of the blue, she asked me,"How do babies get in mommies' tummies?" So, here ya go:

And finally, because I had a fierce craving the other day, and who knows when I'll make it to the Ferry Building, and because I'm 3/4 of the way done surviving the Things' winter vacation:

Happy New Year!

I'm beginning the new year thankful for such good friends and family. I wish all of you a 2007 filled with joy and peace!!