becomING one of "those" people....

Over the past few months, I've become one of "those" people.  You know, the coffee snobs, one of those people who requires extra time and equipment just for a cup of coffee.

Careful, it's a slippery slope. It could happen to you.

It started with an inordinate amount of mugs I had collected over the years....

Then, I became a brand snob. My coffee requirements had surpassed anything that Foldger's or Maxwell House could provide...

Then, my sister got me a french press for my birthday (note, the unused coffee pot in the background)....

Then, I got syrups. Yes syrups...it's pathetic...

Next came the milk frother...because unfrothed milk certainly won't due....

As you can see, it's developed into quite the process and quite the mess. I find myself getting up a whole ten minutes earlier (a major accomplishment for me) just for a cup of coffee.

It's all pretty out of hand....but totally worth it. :)

Happy Friday everyone! I hope that you are enjoying whatever your guilty pleasure is today as well!

skatING in circles by yourself

I will never forget my tenth birthday. I had a skating party. All of my friends came, there was cake, music, presents, everything a ten year old Ali could have wanted. There was just one thing about it though--I was the only one who skated (at least to the best of my memory). By myself, I circled and circled the rink. I requested songs, I had a blast. Knowing my competitive self, I probably timed myself to see if it could get better. Now, I did take the time to spend with my guests thanking them for coming, eating cake, laughing, hanging out etc., but I alone skated, probably wearing some nerdy shirt that had something about NASA or the planets or something like that on it. I had my weird short haircut that made my head look like a mushroom, but I didn't care, I just skated.

When I look back at that memory I have two initial reactions. The first is that I sort of  want to recognize that memory as sad. How did I not realize how "uncool" I was? Were all my friends just pitying me by being there? Oh my gosh, I was such an nerd and didn't even know it. The worst kind! I almost get embarrassed over my ten year old self. No wonder I was  never a "cool kid." It can kind of be a painful moment to look back on.

Then I think about it for a second longer, and I laugh and I'm honestly proud. The thing is, when I look back at that memory, I wasn't embarrassed at all. It didn't occur to me on February 20,  1995 that nobody else skated. It didn't occur to me that I was skating in circles by myself. I just had a blast. The DJ played the music and I just went for it. I skated forward and backward, and did the scissors, and tried to go faster and faster each time around.  I would say I was brave, but to be honest, I don't remember it being something I was afraid to do, I just did it because it was fun and I wanted to.

Now, why am I telling you about my tenth birthday??? Lately, there have been these moments where I've felt like I'm skating in circles by myself. I've had moments where I didn't even know I was alone in what I was doing, and I looked back and realized no one was joining me. This feeling has come up with my job, with some friendships, just everywhere lately. I felt like maybe I was still that 10 year old skating in a circle by myself not going anywhere, looking uncool.

Then I rethought it again. I realized that sometimes in order to really live, you just have to skate in a circle by yourself, because it is fun. The truth is, everyone else usually wishes they could go out there and skate. After all, how is not fun to listen to "Ghostbusters" and feel the air flutter through your mushroom haircut,  as you zoom around on a bright orange floor while the lights from the disco ball swirl around you??? I mean, come on.  Everybody is just too afraid and fear makes us miss out. We sit and we think of a million reasons why we shouldn't be out there. We think about our ability or lack thereof, we think about how dumb we might look or how uncool it is (adults worry about coolness just as much if not more than Jr. higher's I've noticed).

Life sometimes, is trying to rip the hope right from us--through criticism, through painful experiences, through disappointment, but I've realized that that's the fight. The battle is to hold on to hope, simply because its worth it. Sometimes in order to do that it takes skating in a circle by yourself. It even takes grit. Not the kind that makes you calloused, but the kind that can still love even when things feel unlovely. The kind that believes in other people (or even yourself) even when it seems like there is no reason to. It takes laughing and smiling and rejoicing even when no one else seems to care to join you. The hope is that maybe they will join you, maybe they will feel less alone, less afraid, if they just get out there.

Maybe this still seems sad, but I don't think it is. It's freedom. I hope that I can always look back at 10 year old me and have the courage to rejoice and to hope, and to just be me really; I hope that you can be you too.

" Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place." --Unknown

"No child on earth was ever meant to be ordinary, and you can see it in them, and they know it, too, but then the times get to them and they wear out their brains learning what folks expect." --Annie Dillard

sayING "hello" to the new addition!

So...I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been kind of busy....



playing outside...

 

 

keeping the peace....

playing tug o' war...

fending off  "vicious" predators....

and catching some Z's...when she'll let me...

Everyone, meet Luna!

I actually have a few other things I would love to make a post about...soon, I promise. :)

gettING through...

...finals week.

knittING news

So I haven't done a knitting update in quite sometime. Let's do this.

First of all our famous knitter...I love this one!

It's FDR! He was a knitter! I would love to find more man knitters.

Next on the knitting docket, I found this mug:

I want it.


Also....in a few short week I will be attending....The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival!!!Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. A festival, in Maryland, dedicated entirely to all things wool and fiber related. You can see sheep, shear sheep, watch them be herded, eat sheep (yup, gyros...sorry sheep), learn to spin wool, knit, felt...and any other fiber related activity you could possibly imagine. There is even a parade of sheep which I completely plan on attending. I am way too excited! This is my first major fiber festival and I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas.

Here's the flyer:

Finally, I really really really (at least I think so) want to get a knitting related tattoo. Maybe a ball of yarn or something. I have to think this through though, because....I.am.a.wimp....not mention a chicken. As I've thought about it I think of how cool it would be then it somehow morphs into thoughts like:
What if it hurts? What if I hate it after it's done? What if I can't get a job because of it? What if I get aids from the needle? What if I'm allergic to the dye and go into anaphalaxis (spelling?) and die!?

As you can see, I have let the questioning get out of hand.

But look at these cool yarn tattoo ideas:

See?  Aren't they cool? Mine probably won't be that big and it will need to be somewhere I can hide it like on my back or foot or something. Some schools don't like teachers having tattoos I guess.

 I have some other yarn tattoo ideas bouncing around in my head. :)


So, that's my update...the funniest and saddest part is that due to blogging and school, I've had very little time for actual knitting. However I have worked on the leg warmers a little. Soon, I will post some pics of my progress so far.

Have a great day...Keep Calm...and Carry Yarn!


Image credit: All images from Google Images and http://www.sheepandwool.org/ .

procrastinatING...

...because I am, and you probably are, and it's the last month of school, and we could all use a laugh:

procrastinatING

i could write of anything right now,
anything except anne elliot, and jane austen, and mary wollstonecraft.

i could win a pulizter,
if not for this blasted assignment.

my prose would flow like paint onto the canvas of my word processor, and of of souls,
i'd move men to tears,
i'd be a regular da vinci, your everyday rembrandt.

if only i wasn't sitting in this empty room armed with nothing but a laptop and a rubric.

i could change the world with a word,
if this cursor would just stop blinking at me,
and the syllabus would just stop staring,
and it wasn't the sunday before the due date.

if i hadn't been told to write,
i swear.


i could do it.

knittING news

I'm up. I've been awake since around 6:30. I wasn't really planning on getting up this early on a Saturday, especially my last Saturday of break, but I'm a crazy person so here I sit waiting on my coffee to brew.

I have labeled myself a crazy person because I've realized that anytime Dave leaves while it's still dark (this is usually for hunting) I usually lay awake listening for the sounds of someone breaking into our house. Seriously, it's crazy. I convince myself that someone watched our house, waited for Dave to leave, and is going to break in, attack me, kill our cat, and steal all of our earthly goods (in that order). I need to stop watching Law and Order or something.

Since I'm up though, I thought I'd do a quick knitting post--more of an update on my slow and sad progression as a knitter, but a happy knitter nonetheless.

First of all, the Tumnus Scarf still remains unfinished. It's almost there, but not quite yet.

However (doesn't putting it bold make me sound like a mean old teacher..."However you all need to work on your grammar"...something like that). However (after all that...geesh) I do feel like I have an excuse. For some of my Christmas gifts I knitted coffee cup cozies (is it pronounced cozy, like a cozy cottage, or coozie, like the word cootie but with a "z" instead of a "t"? I'm dying to know).

Here is what they are supposed to look like:




Here is what mine look like (I'll let you in on a sad little secret...this is my best looking one):



It slightly resembles the picture. This is a victory for me.

Here is the pattern if you are a knitter and would like to make one yourself.

I've been thinking for awhile about what I can knit next. I've decided on (drum roll please):
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.


That's right! 1980's, aerobic instructor-like, almost dorky, leg warmers! The ones pictured are from someone's Etsy Shop.

I am so excited to pick out a yarn and a pattern and get knitting on these. I don't know if its the cheesy factor or the cozy factor, but I just love the idea of these. I also can't decide between doing a fun bright 80's color yarn or a calm cozy color like the one here (goal for today's post....use the a form of the word cozy as many times as I can squeeze in). Opinions regarding color are welcome.

Here's my last tidbit on knitting. I promise. I've decided to occasionally find a celebrity who knits and post at the very least a picture every now and then. I think this helps feel less like a 90 year old when I post about knitting.

I got this idea from Martha Stewart (should this really make me feel less like a 90 year old???). She did a short segment on Karen Allen.



You know, from Indiana Jones? Per her interview with Martha, Karen learned to knit from her grandma and has loved it ever since, even through her acting career. She now has her own shop. Not everything she knits is entirely my style, but it's definitely art.

Well, that's a wrap (or a scarf, or a shawl, or mittens, or a cozy...) Sorry I had to.

missING (its happy but humorous conclusion)

I am happy to say that my day did in fact get better. However, I have to add that upon arriving home last night I did manage to successfully lock both Dave and I out of the house without our keys (hence the "locked out" part) or our phones. This resulted in walking to his parents house to get a key. Oh, and thank you Katie for giving us ride for the latter half of our walk. (sorry if we scared you too badly by pounding on your door...I think I really felt bad about that part.)

I am also happy to say I found the missing sweater. It was in my closet, but only halfway on the hanger so unless I individualy slid every hanger over to look for it (which I did last night) I wouldn't have realized it was there (like yesterday morning).

I am sad to say that my ticket was actually 134 dollars as opposed to what I orginally thought (114). Since I was doing 83 in a 65 (18 mph over the speed limit) this means that I am "bumped up" to the next bracket of speeders. Oh well.

Thank you all for your concern. :)



Image Credit: www.thekansascitylawyer.com

missING

What was missing? My sweater. When was it missing? This morning, thereby setting into motion the following series of events:

I searched frantically for my sweater watching the time growing ever closer to the time I needed to leave for class (at Stark) and then pass it. I gave up, and left very frustrated as this was my favorite sweater and from Anthropologie even. I drove about two blocks (sweater-less...which means wearing my blue shirt that is a "back-up", I never really feel "ready to go" in it) realized I was missing a folder I needed for class and turned back around. I searched for about 5-10 minutes in the house for it and gave up (again). As it turns out, it was already in my bag I was taking to school. At this point, I realize I am going to be over 20 minutes late for a 50 minute class. I check the attendance policy on the syllabus: I only get one absence so I decide to go for it and try to make it to class (after all I still have flu season to survive...I may need my one measly absence later int he semester).

I am making my way down 77, yes, rather quickly. I am mad about my sweater, mad about my folder incident, mad about attendance policies, and mad that I'm mad about any of this. It was at that moment I looked in my rear view mirror...and yes...you know exactly what's next--flashing lights. It was at this point I finally burst into tears and feeling quite ridiculous about that (who cries over getting pulled over??? apparently me).

The cop approaches, tells me I was going 83 (yes, perhaps I was out of control). I am hysterical and feeling absolutely ridiculous that I'm hysterical and wondering why I'm hysterical when the cop (who was very nice by the way) says "It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." Seriously? Am I that out of control and hysterical? This really only creates more tears and hysteria for me. Finally, I get my ticket and I'm on my way and I'm now going to be 40 minutes late for a 50 minute class and I don't even know if this now constitutes being "present" for class (so much for flu season...if I'm puking, I'll bring a bucket).

So today I arrived at class 40 minutes late, sweater-less, soon to be 114 dollars poorer, and yes still hysterical and unable to calm down.

The good news is, the prof for my class is a genuinely understanding woman, and didn't think I was crazy for being hysterical(although I still do). Also immediately following that class is a four hour break between my classes whereupon I retreated to Starbucks and then Borders where I used my phone to make out a pictorial Christmas list of the books I would like this year. I also had a conversation with my sister and have now blogged. I think (I say this ready to duck) I have fully recovered from my hysteria and can now move successfully into my afternoon. Also if you look to your right, you will see that there are only 85 days until Christmas. This is a good thing and that alone should make anyone feel better.

Thank you all for listening. If you happen to see a brown Anthropologie sweater, size small...please let me know. It is still missing and I feel it should know that its misplacement has caused quite the ruckus.