2005: A Year in Books

January, 2005 I started my participation in the 50 Book Challenge. I made it, and then some. What frightens me is the thought of how many books I may have read if I didn't have school...

The final books of 2005 (assuming I don't start and finish another one today. I'm willing to take that risk.)

66. The Shop on Blossom Street - Debbie Macomber. Yes, it's that knitting book. Cute and it was nice to read someone who actually got the details right.

67. The Google Story - David A. Vise and Mark Malseed. The first half was really interesting, about the people and how they started Google. The second half was all IPOs and stuff like that. I'm not a business person, so that part dragged a bit. I love the Google mission statement: Don't Be Evil.

68. Little Earthquakes - Jennifer Weiner. Author of Good in Bed and In Her Shoes. I liked it a lot. It verges on chick lit, but it's chick lit of the highest quality. It's about 4 pregnant women who become friends and their dealing with birth and husbands and loss and Mothers-in-Law. Very funny.

69. The Manchurian Candidate - Richard Condon. I've never seen the movie, but the premise sounded interesting. Hence, the book. Written in 1959, so some of the more dated items really jumped out at you. And it's written really flowery for a thriller. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did it was entertaining.

70. The Wife: A Novel - Meg Wolitzer. January's book club selection. Also the one I got in Large Print for some reason. I liked it, but I had one major issue. One of the reviews I read while picking the books for club selection gave away a (THE) major plot point. Luckily, it wasn't the review I put on the selection list, so hopefully the other gals weren't spoiled.

71. An Idiot Girl's Christmas - Laurie Notaro. Not only was this one of my best Christmas presents, Melanie even got me a signed copy. Whee! The perfect, funny way to end the holiday season.

Final totals: 71 for-fun books. 12 for-school books. 6 Harry-Potter-book-rereads. We'll round that off to a nice 83.

Now if I could only get someone to pay me for being such a good reader.

And so ends 2005. Not my worst year ever. Surprising, since I lost my job and have been only marginally employed since last January, started a degree program that stresses me out and am a worrier. My friends, this blog, my family and Lucy kept me going and they are the reasons I survived the year at all. Thank you all.

See you next year.

All I want for Christmas is a Cheese Dispenser

I'm back. I survived without any actual frozen body parts and with a horrific airplane hangover. I'm 5'1 and I get cramped and stiff and knotty in those chairs, how the hell does anyone over 5'6 survive?

There is also a huge-ass bruise on my lower left arm. I know empirically that it is somehow luggage related, but damned if I can figure what I did.

I read two books on the flight-2.5 hour layover-flight home. The second one screwed with my time management ability because, in my haste to get library books for the trip, I managed to pick up the Large Print version of The Wife. They ain't kidding about that, I almost had to ask the wiggler sitting in front of me to hold it so my eyes could focus. It was a much shorter book then the page amount indicated, leaving me finished but feeling as if I should flip the book over and start reading it backwards. There has to be more content somewhere, it's an inch thick!

It was a great trip, with not a whole lot either scheduled or accomplished. Only 2 instances of car-sickness (me + backseat + Dad's driving = surprisingly sudden nausea.) Two trips to Joann's. Zero trips to other LYSs. One loaf of pumpkin bread eaten. Approximately 5 bajillion christmas cookies eaten. 5 pairs of pants, one shirt and one sweater for felting bought at Goodwill for $25. 4 Goodwill sweaters received from parents as christmas gifts, after my spending spree, which explains why Mom kept trying to edge me out of the sweater section.

Yarn-related activity:
On flight to PA
1. two black mittens worked on from ribbed cuffs until the point I though my Dad's thumb may start. Put on hold after I realized I was staring a bit too hard at the hands of every male who passes. Hands are often held in close proximity to the groin area. You do the math.
2. Mobius scarf/neckwarmer for me - started and restarted and restarted yet again. I had one ball of incredibly soft wool from the SnB party (thanks Eva) and kept altering my width assessment. Finally, about an hour from landing, I realized I could make it length-wise. I blame the altitude for the delay in thought process.

At home
1. Mittens - completed sans for thumbs by Dec. 23. Dad started to run every time I approached bearing a wad of yarn and the admonition to "hold out your right hand". Sometimes, just to mix things up, I asked for the left.
2. Mobius scarf - picked up and finished when I realized I no longer own any shirts with collars and the back of my neck was slowly going numb.
3. Anika sweater - picked up again on the 23rd with the hope of wearing it on the 25th. Goal met. The final sleeve and all the seaming were completed at approximately 11:30 pm christmas eve. Not completely complete ( I want to add a bit more length) but wearable.
4. Thumbs - Christmas day. Post-gifting, pre-relative arrival. I still count that as 'done-on-time'.
5. Tank top alterations - 2 inches added to my sister's tank top. I knew the frickin' thing was going to be short when I sent it, I just couldn't face going around and around and around any more. Stop the tank top, I wanna get off.
6. White Fun Fur scarf for Mom - the scarf I made her last year looked like a skinned poodle with mange and it was not a good color for her. Now she looks like Zha Zha Gabor with less false eyelashes and a more natural face.

Plane ride to AZ:
Nothing. I was burned out. Besides, there was no room to fling my elbows around.

Pictures of all the festivities and FOs will follow, just as soon as I have the energy to unpack.

One final note – when given a pencil with the phrase "Jesus is the reason for the season" written on it, my sister and I will immediately start calling them Jesus Pencils. For a week. And eventually my Mom will lose track of a conversation and wonder aloud why we are discussing Cheese Dispensers. Much hilarity will ensue.

Almost

I leave tomorrow for home. I'm almost ready to go.

The socks are almost done.

The mittens...are not almost done. That's what a 5 hour plane trip is for.

The hat should be gifted today and a backup recipient has been procured.

I did finish a book but it's in the other room so y'all will just have to wait for the listing.

I guess that's really about it. I have no idea how much I'll be posting from the parents so I guess I should do this now.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Murphy's Law

No, not that Murphy.

I mean the other one. I mean the mean one. The one who hates Peruvians.



Most days, you get wool within 25 feet of hot water and you get Barbie clothes. When you want it to shrink, no so much.



Just a little bit more. Just a tiny, little, intsy-wintcy bit more. And it would be perfect. The game plan for now is to have the birthday boy try it on and then he gets to decide Yay or Nay. A Nay will cause no hurt feelings and will result in another gift. Of some type. Probably not a felted hat.

This hat will then travel to PA in search of somebody with a big noggin.

The red socks have made a dramatic change. They now plan to be red socks with hot pink toes and heels. I just wasn't positive I'd have enough to finish both in all red so I decided to err on the side of hot pinkness.

Have you noticed there's been no books added to the list lately? That's because I finally met my match. I hardly ever leave a book for good halfway in but Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson kicked my literary ass. I've been reading it for over 2 weeks, I even renewed it at the library. I read it faithfully every night before bed (except when the new Entertainment Weekly showed up). 400 pages in and I gave up. That was before the halfway point even. It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't anything I wanted to read. Especially not for the next month.

Took it back today and got some others. Since two of the five are Stephenson's I hope Quicksilver was just a fluke.

And I came to the realization that I am a complete library geek now. Another of the five is a history of Google. I wouldn't be surprised if it's required reading at some point but it looked interesting.

And no, I haven't been wearing the same shirt for 24 hours, that's my pj's. What? You don't put your pj's on at 5 in the afternoon? Why the hell not?

"so why do i feel like something's been rearranged?
you know, taken out of context i must seem so strange"
Ani DiFranco, Fire Door

In which I resemble Mushmouth

The Extreme Earflap Hat

Pattern by Tiffany Reynolds in Interweave Knits Crochet Fall 2005.

Dark Green - Lamb's Pride Bulky, Loden Leaf
Light Green - SWTC Karaoke, color 282, possible test lot. Double strand.

I started this last night and just finished it now. Very quick pattern.

It's big.

How big?

This big.



Oh, did I not mention that it still needs to be felted? My bad.

How cool am I gonna be?

No one told me that being a librarian is going to be a lot like being a movie star...

A Christmas Miracle

I just had my blood drawn by a Chatty Cathy doll come to life. And even weirder, she was good at it. Barely felt a thing.

I will be in need of another Christmas miracle or three if I'm to get all my little giftis-es done in time. 3 in the works, 1 in my head and a few more listed on paper in case I manage to find that happy hole in the space-time continuum. There's not a whole lot else on my plate right now, so I may actually finish. And if I don't? It's not the first year I've given IOUs in festive gift bag.

Done

As of 5 minutes ago I turned in my last assignment. I officially survived the semester. I make few promises as to the quality of the work but the FastTrack motto is "completion, not perfection" and I am taking that to heart with a vengeance.

It is entirely possible that I may not think of anything the least bit library-ish until January 4th. However, it is not probable. I know I'll be visiting the library or something. But no Dialog searching, I can promise you that.

Once my brain has down-shifted, I will blog about the frickin' Anika sweater, my inability to compare two objects that should be equivalent, the fact that my left index finger feels like sandpaper and how crappy the Beyond is to frog. But not now. Now I'm gonna go watch the Survivor finale. Guilt-free.

Done.

A non-egg related post

There is actually more going on in my life then just egg preparation, believe it or not.

I'm plugging away at school-work. I will hopefully be done everything by Tuesday and then get slightly toasted at Red Kangaroo Tuesday night with the SnBers.

The Anika sweater is about 3/4 of a sleeve away from being done. Maybe less since the decreases start soon.

I've been reading the same book for 2 weeks now. I still don't know if I like it or not.

But the most important news of all?



I'm an official card-carrying Shrone now! The Shrone Mistress of us all, Lori, sent me the visible man and frog as a welcoming gift.

"I thought you might use these for Mad Scientific Purposes, such as unnatural genetic cross-species mutations, also known as "Playing God" and "Tampering with Mother Nature". Shrones have a latent desire for Total World Domination- one that never manifests because it requires to much work and plans are always thwarted!"

I'm gonna get right on that. Just as soon as school's over.

And the winner is ...

Pam!



15 regular deviled eggs and one deviled ostrich egg in the middle.

No, not really.

The middle is a dip I made with the first disastrous batch of eggs (thanks for the idea Sarah). I made sure they were cooked enough and then mushed them up with the rest of the deviled egg ingredients. So like deviled eggs without the handy portable delivery system.

I think I figured out what happened with the first batch. I was online researching recipes and this site was so hyper about overcooking the eggs I got nervous. They bamboozeled me with Science! Everything I've read since suggests a longer cooking time. Me, of all people, should know not to belive everything you read on the internet...

I make no promises about the taste of these eggs. All I know is they look purty and I'm not eating any because I am totally sick of eggs.

Let's call it a draw

Second batch.



Luckily I bought 2 dozen eggs on Sunday. Latent psychic ability or knowledge of how bad a cook I am. You decide.

Thanks for all the comments on the egg freshness relating to the ease of peeling. It was for just that reason that I bought them Sunday for use today/tomorrow. I don't think it was a freshness issue, I think I slightly undercooked them. Especially since I had a couple of slightly over date eggs in that first batch that were just as self destructive as the others.

So I have 20 or so usable halves and approximately 20 whole eggs in various states of dishevelment. Tomorrow the mixing begins. Wish me luck.

Deviled Eggs:1, Pam:0

This is why I usually sign up for plates and napkins.

Spoon!

I lurve Satchel and Bucky.

Caution

Found here.

Just a little flaw

There I was at SnB, happily working on the first Anika sleeve. La, la, la, maybe I'll finish by Christmas, la, la, la.

Holy shit, I'm starting my third ball of yarn for this sleeve. I'm not going to have enough to finish. WTF! I should have had at least 2 balls extra. I'm on gauge. WTF!

I plug grimly along, plotting how to get my hands on another ball, or two, or quite possibly three. Eva may be a connection. Maybe I can convince them to break a bag at the party Friday. Maybe I'll just make it short-sleeved.

I arrive back home and plop on the couch to hopefully finish the sleeve before bedtime. Ok, second set of 19 rows in pattern, done. Next step. Decrease and continue in pattern until 17.5". Umm...wait a cotton-pickin' minute. I'm already measuring 28". Huh? 17.5" from last decrease, maybe? No, from the bottom. And another hearty WTF was uttered.

Have you guessed yet? What the almost blindingly obvious issue was? That is correct: TYPO. The second set of 19 rows? Not so much needed. The pattern accidentally repeated two sentences twice (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here. The other option is that Cool Crochet has some sort of vendetta against me and I got too much schoolwork to deal with that).

So I measured and ripped and measured and started the raglan shaping (yep, 28" with no shaping yet. Can you tell this is my first sleeve?). The yarn quantity should be adequate. The sleeve will not be knee-length. And my sanity may stay intact for yet another day.

Links Aplenty, Links Galore

I love that book. Pigs in tutus, how can you go wrong?

Evolution and crochet all in one package. The Flying Spaghetti Monster Hat. To wear when you are touched by his noodley appendage.

Serenity the movie, performed by hand puppets.

Are you going to the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con? Do you own an saxomophone? Do you secrete Poindextrose? Go here to find out.

The true reason I'm going to library school.

Or maybe this is the reason.

Real men crochet. However sportswriters can't tell a needle from a hook.

Books for today's on-the-go lifestyle.

Update

I took apart a sweater. That was fun.

I also altered another sweater, took off the cowl, changed the neckline and took 2 inches off the length. That was fun too.

I started the sleeve to the Anika sweater again, this time with actual counting. Yipee.

The red socks are growing in little bits, so that's good.

I actually got the blanket in the mail. Hooray me.

I got to crochet and hang out with fun people Saturday morning. Very cool.

I didn't punch anyone in the face Saturday night even after receiving an elbow to the head. Very nice.

The bookclub meeting on Sunday was great. Yay.

So if all this wonderful stuff has been happening, why do I feel so iggity-ogggity ick? Short form answer: school. Longer answer in cryptic phrases: panic attacks, procrastination issues, confusing directions, cold feet, runny nose, annoying dog and major depression. In other words, I'm behind and rapidly running out of time. And there is no one to blame but myself.

Sorry for the pity party, it's late, my head is stuffy, and I've been at the computer most of the day. With more of the same planned for tomorrow with the extra added bonus of a SnB meeting that night. Yahoo.

How my mind works

Ok, Christmas is coming up. I'm basically broke and my family has told me not to get them presents. However, I have a yarn stash that could fill a small airplane hanger so I'll just make stuff. How hard can it be?

Alrighty, the blanket is done and Sis approved of it so it's boxed and ready to be mailed home.
Q: Do I really have to mail it? Can't it just fit in my suitcase?
A: Did you look at that thing? If you bring that in your suitcase you'll be wearing the same pair of underwear for 8 days because nothing else will fit. Duh.

Hey, I'm making those red socks. Mom likes socks. They'll be perfect.
Q: Does Mom even wear red? And what size are her feet again?
A: Yes and same as you, dumbass.

Alright, Dad. Did the hat thing. Did the slipper thing. Did the sock thing. Doesn't wear scarves. Doesn't wear sweaters. Fingerless gloves! For when he's working in the garage, etc.!
Q: Do these seem a bit big? And scarily bulky? Like if he wore them near anything with moving parts his entire arm may get pulled in and amputated like those poor clumsy mid-western farmers?
A: Yes, yes and hell yes.

Q: What's with those farmers anyway? Are they really that clumsy or do they just want their inspirational story to be written up for Reader's Digest?
A: Stop procrastinating. 24 days left, you dimwit.

So I'm headed in the right direction then. I just need to revisit the Dad idea and...hey, look at the pretty, pretty sweaters that just appeared from the closet. And look at the little holes and worn spots and really unattractive cowl necks that keep me from wearing them.
Q: Is it logical for me to be recycling sweaters and creating massive piles of thread, chenille bits and assorted lint along with beautiful, beautiful yarn? Isn't the deadline coming up?
A: No, it's not logical and yes the deadline is coming up. But forget it. Trying to keep you on one project is like herding cats. Cats that all got Starbuck's gift cards for their birthdays. I give up. I need a margarita, stat.

What did we learn today, boys and girls? That I am easily distracted and talk to myself a lot? That's correct Sally. That I really should think a bit before starting something willy-nilly? Good job Timmy.

And the most important lesson? That my subconscious has quite a mouth on her.