awake

It’s amazing how much more awake you are when you go to bed an hour and a half earlier (for those playing along at home, that means I was out by nine). I figured I should probably take advantage of the awake-ness and write a short (or, possibly, very long) blog post. Plus, I really don’t feel like getting to work at 7:30 and today’s not a scheduled run morning. Time to kill at home and all that.

1. I’ve been knitting a lot recently. Finished the sweater, finished the shawl for coworker Kim, started and finished a worsted shawl for myself, started a shawl which I frogged, and started a sweater for myself. All the photos I’ve taken are “off.” I blame the new iPhone wanting to get in as much light as possible. I got so used to the old one not letting any light in that I tend to overlight (is that a word?) photos now. Go to my Flickr to see what I mean.

2. Crochet has taken a backseat to knitting. I did start a doily yesterday (in worsted weight, ’cause I’m a rebel). I really need to get working on some amigurumi animals and imaginary critters for the young children in my life. My little cousin is having heart surgery today and I meant to make her a critter and just never got around to it. I feel like a horrible cousin. :(

3. Running is still going. Seven weeks until my race. Ten miles last Sunday, eleven this Sunday. I’ve realized that my body likes 8 miles then spends the rest of the mileage convincing me I shouldn’t run any longer. My shoulders, hips, and bottoms of my feet all, suddenly, start to hurt at mile marker 8. Hopefully that’ll pass soon so I can much more easily complete the last miles. It’s one thing to be too worn out to go, another when you’re body’s just being stupid and painful.

4. I’m considering another half marathon in Pennsylvania’s Amish country in November, but Matt wants me to wait and see how my first goes. A long November run sounds heavenly plus I always hear so much about Lancaster County but have never actually been.

5. I have three and a half weeks of work before I return to school which means 3.5 weeks to complete my boss’s to do list. I like a good challenge. I also have to schedule in a time for Alison and I’s grand school supply shopping trip and textbook ordering. No other real prep required. Oh, how I do not miss having to move into a dorm just before classes begin or otherwise adjust to returns to school. There’s a big mental adjustment from corporate world to school world but that can be more gradual.

6. Speaking of that transition, I think I will focus more on dressing up this school year. Get into the mindset that “grown up” clothes are my real wardrobe, not jeans and t-shirts. Sure, I’ll still wear them on weekends, but dressing up more during the week will probably help me to act more professionally on campus. Wait, that sounds wrong. I always conduct myself with a modest amount of professionalism, but something about school just brings out my immature side. Must find a way to quiet it. As Jocelyn says, I am a grown-ass woman. [Anyone else picture their mother, looking disappointed every single time they curse?] I should learn to act like it (almost) all of the time.

7. Sometime this week I will have a post in which I’ll have some FOs and yarn I want to get rid of for the cost of shipping. It’s all been weighing me down and I just need it out of here. The timing depends on when I have an evening to really take time and get some decent photos.

8. We went to the National Zoo on Saturday, but I’ll talk more about that in another post once I get the photos off Matt’s camera. It’s a rather nice zoo, seeing as it’s free and we went on one of the most beautiful days we’ve had this summer (read: very crowded). I just wish you didn’t have to walk the whole way uphill at the end of your visit to get to the exit that’s closest to the Metro.

9. We’re looking into doing a Caribbean (1 r, 2 b’s, must remember) cruise again this summer. Trying not to get too excited. [My favorite story my mom tells about her Spanish students is the kid who asked, "Who is Al Caribe?" It took her awhile to figure out they meant "al caribé" as in "to the Caribbean." The textbook had all dialogue text in capital letters, it was just a matter of incorrectly parsed capitalization on the student's part.]

Photoless

I have really got to learn to take photos either after work or before work. Now is when I remember, not while waiting at the stop for my bus or during my chill time right before bed, but right now. But, I do have lots of things to blabber on about, even if there’s no photo evidence.

Matt and I ordered new iPhones last week and they should arrive today. FedEx has an estimated delivery time of 3:00 so Matt’s leaving slightly early so we don’t miss them. (He worked a really long day yesterday, so it’s not like he’s skipping out on work.) I have a feeling an evening of the two of us totally ignoring one another is expected. We bought our current iPhones on my birthday in 2008 and spent little of that entire day actually confirming one another’s existence. (Though we did talk some at breakfast at a place in Seal Beach I really miss called Blackboard Bistro.)
I learned something new at work yesterday and am now really, really excited to start using my new knowledge. It’s nothing exciting or particularly hard, but I feel like a giant door of opportunity is now open. (It has to do with a relational database and our specific implementation scheme, if you care.)
While Matt played video games last night, I worked my way through the remainder of the second sleeve on my sweater. The entire sweater is now on a single 32″ circular (barely).
Due to the size / weight / wanting-to-fall-off-needle-ness of the sweater, I started the Ms Clarke shawl for my coworker last night. Nice, small project for bus knitting. I’ll continue to work on the sweater at home (hopefully finishing it this week) but forge ahead on the shawl in-transit. It’s been forever since I made a shawl, especially one with lace as the body of the shawl. Having to pay a whole lot more attention than my usual bus knitting but it helps the time pass faster. (You’d think I had a two plus hour commute, the way I talk about it – it’s only five miles and takes 20 minutes.)
The shawl is being made in the skein of Dragonfly Fibers Sock in “Rocky Top” I was using to make that crocheted scarf. I decided to frog the scarf after realizing that a scarf is boring to make, even though crochet does tend to go faster than knitting. Plus, it’s amazing yarn and, really, I want someone else to benefit from it vs keeping it for myself. My neck would probably break out from it, anyway. (Stupid neck is wool intolerant, I’ve realized.)
I’m already thinking about my next sweater, which will also be done in Weekend. I’ve got 1400 yards and it’s a solid worsted weight. Any ideas on what I should make?
Amazon’s giving away free Prime memberships to people with .edu addresses. I signed up in an instant as 1) I am cheap and 2) I will be very unlikely to continue using my .edu address after I graduate in May.
I didn’t run today as it took me a full 15 minutes to be awake enough to do more than read my email. When I headed out to go to the bus (about 45 minutes after I would have started my run), I was happy I had decided to skip the run: 75 degrees and over 70 percent humidity SUCKS. (Sorry, Mom, I know you hate that word. It’s just perfectly appropriate here.)

Random Friday

This may become a regular Friday topic though, really, I am random on other days of the week.

1) Still worried about the 26 people (and three) kids coming to our place tomorrow. Where will everyone sit? Will we have enough food? Just how much beer should I buy? Will I get the house clean in time? Will I have any alone time at all before people show up? Would it be wrong to go to Dan’s house tomorrow morning for waffles and leave Matt at home to clean up and cook?

2) I’m getting very good at reading pages upon pages of requirements. Not sure this is a good thing, as it means I’ll be required to do more of it in the near future.

3) The crochet hat isn’t going as bad as I thought. I’m actually doing things correctly. It now looks like a dinner plate instead of a hat but I’m only two rounds away from decreases. Still not used to starting a hat at the tip-top rather than the brim.

4) Ran again with Alison this morning. Wasn’t feeling great so ran faster than usual during the running parts. 2.5 miles at perfect 13:00 minute per mile pace Now quite sore and reading for a nap as a result.

5) Saturday and Sunday is the Old Town Alexandria Craft Fair. Really hoping I can make it on Sunday, post party recovery.

6) I brought frozen pizza for lunch today. The cooking time was given in table format. For each of three possible oven wattages, there was a range of cooking times. I zapped it for four minutes and hoped for the best.

7) The edges are crispy, the middle is a puddle of molten cheese.

8) Decided I can no longer take work notes in an actual notebook. Have moved to engineering paper inside a three-ring binder. I already feel calmer.

Bernoulli Trials

Title doesn’t have much to do with anything except that phrase is written on a white board in an unoccupied cubicle at my work. It’s on the analysis floor so I’m assuming it has something to do with modeling and simulation but I cannot think of anything we would model that has to do with only passing or failing. Or, wait, no – I can. (Wiki link here if you’re curious what Bernoulli trials are.)

(Insert clever analogy about life is just a series of Bernoulli trials in which we try something and the result is either success or failure, though we have no way of knowing what life’s “mean” is so we should just keep “testing.”)

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I should probably have thought ahead a little bit and had some photos to show you of what’s up knitting-wise but this would have required me to a) actually knit something last night or b) remembered to take a photo on the bus this morning. So, yeah, I did do a little bit of knitting on Veronica’s sock this morning but don’t have a single before or after photo to show you guys. Maybe tomorrow.

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Here, though, is a quick iPhone shot of our amazing view from the fancy corporate box at the Nationals game. I had the requisite cheap beer and half-smoke from Ben’s Chili Bowl (gotta try the “real” U Street location sometime). It was strange going to a game without Matt and with a bunch of coworkers but I really enjoyed myself. None of us are really Nationals fans so we didn’t care much that they got creamed by the Mets. I left at the top of the seventh when they were losing by seven and Chris had his hat inside out as a good luck charm. I’m really sleepy thing morning as a result though it’s Friday and everyone else is sleepy, too.

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This weekend I’ve really got to work on getting the basement all cleaned up. Matt’s cousin, Alison, will be living with us until she moves up to Baltimore to go to law school. It’s somewhat cleaned up but the floors could really use a good cleaning and I want to come up with a way to make the 1950′s dark wood paneling more cheery (any ideas?).

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Also up this weekend is a party in Baltimore at Matt’s friend’s place (meaning I’m missing a friend’s birthday party I totally forgot about until I saw the invite early this week – eep!). That’ll be enjoyable, even if the only people I know are his friend and his friend’s wife. I think Matt’s planning to bring up some sort of strawberry dessert which means I get some strawberry dessert. Yum.

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I saw a tutorial online for joining hexes as you go (actually the same tutorial that taught me how to make hexes in the first place). Apparently you just slip stitch them together every now and then as your crochet the last round. Looks easy enough but I have a feeling I’ll default to the method Anastasia suggested in her comment on my last point. More yarn used but much less fiddly. Will try it out this evening as I sit on our patio while Matt makes us steak for dinner. (Can you tell it’s breakfast time? I keep mentioning food.)

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(Insert here a rant on Facebook privacy and how 1) evil Facebook is for defaulting to “public” in their privacy settings because the “world is more open” and “privacy no longer exists” and 2) how people are stupid to think anything they post on the Internet, no matter how many privacy controls are in place, won’t be suddenly made public at the whims of a large corporation, decent hacker, or crappy code. I tried to write something intelligent but couldn’t so, yeah, I gave up.)

First Thing

Maybe the whole secret to this blogging daily thing is getting it out of the way first thing in the morning. No, not *first* first thing as I am a really horrible person the first hour or two after I wake up. Give me a little time and a good dose of caffeine if you expect me to be civil. But first thing as in I-just-got-dressed-and-ready-for-the-day first thing. Like, oh, now. But, of course, by now I’ve forgotten nearly everything exciting which happened yesterday so you’re stuck hearing about only the things I currently have rattling around my brain.

1. Comments that aren’t funny anymore and I refuse to laugh at, even out of politeness

- When you drive down the alley behind our house when we’re grilling something and say, “I’ll take mine Medium Rare.” Usually Matt’s making chicken or pork, two things you certainly don’t want to eat that way.

- When you have a cup of coffee or a particularly good smelling lunch in your hands, “Gee, thanks, I really wanted some.” No, it’s *my* food and I have no intention of sharing with you. Plus, I’ve heard this 1,000 times so you’re not even being clever.

2. My work group is going to a baseball game tonight. I’m still waiting to hear if I got a ticket. I’m dressed more casually for work than usual just in case I do get to go. I’m terrified of walking from the game back to the Metro by myself. (Those two statements aren’t related to each other, really. Still early. Brain not warmed up fully.)

3. My one work computer keeps turning itself off overnight. I know, I should be good and turn it off myself each night but I usually forget. I’m pretty sure I left work yesterday without noting where I was in a document review. That’ll be tons of fun to figure out later. (The doc is a good 300 pages long.)

4. I’ve started making crochet hexagons which may eventually turn into a blanket. The first one is below which turned out to have seven sides instead of six.

After the first two, I decided to start making them systematically. All centers then all second rounds and so on. Very engineer-like. Half of the hexes will be shades of blue, the other the shades of purple shown in this picture. Four colors means 24 combinations where colors don’t repeat. Er, two sets of 24 for each of the blue and purple shade combinations. Not sure if 48 hexes is enough for a whole blanket but it’ll at least be a start. I’ve got the first 24 about 2/3rd complete though I have no clue how to join them as I go (something to figure out if I go to knit night tonight instead of the baseball game).

If I can get through this first blanket I’ll consider making another, probably for my mom in purples. The woman loves blankets even more than me which is quite the feat. Oh, the yarn is Berroco Weekend, the same yarn I used to make myself a sweater over Spring Break which wound up too long for me but perfect for Maegan.

5. “Engageability” is not a word, even when used in an official government document.

Distraction

I really did intend to continue blogging multiple times a week about knitting topics for awhile there. I was going to show you all photos of my sweater progress and the lace shawl I finished last week and, well, I got a little distracted. Not by anything important, for the most part. Just, distracted.

First it was finals then waiting for my grades. I did quite well, if I do say so myself. Apparently the move to yet another new school wasn’t such a horrible idea, after all.

Then I got a job offer and panicked that I had nothing to wear to this new job and spent a good three days shopping.

And I ditched the idea of making myself a Cabaret Raglan and started the fuzzy math to alter Shalom to fit me at my gauge.

Oh, there was the finishing of the Andromeda shawl in there, too. Haven’t blocked that yet but that’s another story altogether.

Got a haircut.

Watched all three seasons of Deserving Design on Hulu. I may have a bit of a crush on Vern Yip.

And, last, family came over for dinner Saturday night and I took a few photos that turned out pretty well.

That brings me to today, a day to be filled with more work clothes shopping and meeting Alison for dinner in the city. (Do Washingtonians refer to it as a “The City” like those in the Bay Area refer to San Francisco? I keep calling it that and people usually know what I’m referring to but give me strange looks.)

Blame Twitter

My mind is constrained to think in only 140 character portions because of constant Twitter use. Not bad, just different.
You can write a lot in 140 characters, even without crazy abbreviations or leaving out words. Hate leaving out words.
I should blog more. People what to know what’s new in my life, other than knitting. Especially my parents.
Should convince my parents to get on Twitter. They’re already on Facebook. Previous attempts to get them to be bloggers failed. Too busy.
But the knitting posts are so easy – only have to write a paragraph about why I made it and what went right and wrong.
I could write about school and about how GMU is both much harder and much easier than CSULB.
Everything here is no much newer but people still whine about the school’s “crappy” condition.
If you don’t go here, you can’t say it, though. Think someone else making fun of your friend. Sure, she’s odd but they can’t say that.
Starting to get into a routine with where to study, when to eat lunch, and all that.
Still miss the major-specific computer labs and student organizations.
Student organizations here do next to nothing – rarely even hear about meetings.
Makes me really miss SWE and EAT and, heck, AESB meetings.
Have found two great people to hang out with between classes. They’ll be in most classes until we graduation together.
That makes me really happy, in a totally laughable way.
I wonder how many people are actually in our degree program overall. There only seem to be about 20 of us in our “year.”
Are we third years or second years? I guess second. Leah and Mike are 2nd years. (They’re my new friends.)
Man, I have been in college far too long.
At least, someday, I’ll get my degree. You will be able to hear my screaming in Southeast Asia (maybe even in Iowa).
I’m no longer working part-time. Group has zero funding. Means I need to get on the ball about finding a job for the summer.
Career fair is the week after we get back from Italy. Have to buy new pants.
Have I mentioned that I’m going to Italy, oh, this Friday? Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and a city I can’t spell but can pronounce.
Say it with me “Multa-pul-chee-ahn-oh.”
After a Matrix Algebra, Dynamical Systems, and two ballet mid-terms, that is.
Not a fan of mid-terms, even these supposedly easy ones.
My February Lady Sweater is nearly complete. Finished the lace part of the body yesterday.
Today, I finish the garter at the bottom.
I would like to make more progress but Matt’s parents are coming down. There’s bathroom cleaning in my near future.
Speaking of being productive, it’s about time I ended this post and was productive. ‘Til next time!

2008 Goal Results

Took awhile to find the post where I discussed them but here they are. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to accomplish most of them and make decent progress on the others. Of course, now I have to come up with my goals for 2009!

1. Blog: Write in here four days a week, on average.

Well, that certainly didn’t happen. Barely wrote one entry a week, never mind four. Actual post total – 57

2. Knitting: Finish ten knitting projects; two must be larger projects (think sweater or lace shawl). End the year with less stash yarn than I had to start with.

I finished 18 projects, three of which were pairs of socks. Sure, I said large = sweater or shawl but socks have just as many stitches (right?). I think I can say this was successfully completed.

3. School: Keep grades up (aka higher than 3.0 GPA).

Only wound up with one semester of school in 2008 but I did take home a 3.3 GPA that one semester.

4. Photos: Take an average of four photos a week.

According to Flickr my 2008 total is 1,273 photos which averages about 25 per week. A European vacation and lots of knitting shots did a lot to raise those numbers.

5. Friends/Family: Make the most of the postal service by writing more letters and sending care packages to friends and family just because.

I sent some letters and packages but not nearly as many as I anticipated. This goal will be re-written in a more specific way and turned into an ’09 goal, I’m sure.

6. Work: Be the best employee I can be in the new work group. Take tasks outside my comfort zone.

I think I did this though, really, only my fellow employees can say either way. I’ve tried to take tasks that are more “out there” though there wasn’t always the opportunity to do so.

Day Twenty-Seven: Thankful

It’s Thanksgiving and, well, I have a lot to be thankful for today. Here’s what I could remember in ten minutes, in no particular order.

Matt
My parents
The EAT guys
Everyone in SWE
Long Beach Stitch n Beach
Ladies at Knit Happens
Living in LA long enough to appreciate what traffic means
Moving closer to family
New apartment
Old apartment – especially the staff and being super close to Heather
Willie and Ollie
My work and coworkers – Eileen, ability to work remotely, interesting projects
Crappy television shows
Ravelry
Not breaking Matt’s camera
European travels

What Went Down in 2007

Don’t fear, I used old blog entries to figure out what happened when. My memory isn’t quite this good.

January: Starting working with a new FIRST team. Got most of the design and construction finished on the robot. My laptop’s hard drive bit the dust (and was soon replaced). Did a lot of work on an Around the World quilt. Started back as a full-time student and had all sorts of fun getting into the classes I wanted. Used the last Macy’s gift card from the wedding to buy myself a sewing machine.

February: We got our kitties. And they hid from us until mid-March. I purchased the fabric for and completed most of Rob’s (my brother’s) quilt. We finished building the robot.
March: I bought a new point-and-shoot camera and started taking photos like crazy. Matt and I discovered Eaton Canyon, a park with a waterfall, in Pasadena. I bought an expensive pattern and fabric and made myself a reversible bag (which I haven’t used in months due to it’s size). I started a blue and green fractal cross stitch pattern. The cats finally decided to become friendly; ok, Willie finally decided to become friendly. The robotics team went to the LA Regional and did pretty well; we made it to every single match. Matt made tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes.

April: I spent most of my Spring Break watching TV and doing cross stitch. I caved in and got myself a Flickr account. Matt and I went camping together for the first time at Yosemite. Had issues starting a fire but had a great time nonetheless. Amy and I explored Downtown LA together. I met a lady through SWE who said she could get me a job with her medical devices company; she has yet to return any calls or emails. Matt and I visited the Getty Villa. I started a challenge to take one photo every day. I taught myself to knit.

May: The month I really started to get obsessed with knitting. This was when I discovered podcasts, interlibrary loans, and my SnB. I finished the semester and started back at work. Had one very boring first week back (things picked up the next – big time). My car got rear-ended. I paid almost 3.50 for a gallon of gas but still drove to work.

June: Started back at work full-time working with my old program and a few of the small repair programs. Matt and I went to Yosemite with a group from his work. I got my invite to Ravelry. Finished a scarf for Matt’s mom and a potholder. Probably also finished the head scarf thing then but I’ve got no real record of that.

July: My parents came for a visit and we took them to a baseball game, Knott’s Berry farm, and all over Long Beach. I got Book Seven; Matt finished within a few days. I wouldn’t finish until Wednesday. Went to student orientation. My adviser gave me a pass to register for whatever I wanted. I started to slowly read through (and write responses to) Writing Down the Bones. We signed up for Netflicks. Amy left me for a year to be an au pair in Germany.

August: Finished up my internship for the summer. Got my first crown. Started a Clapotis for myself (first one). Found out the Check Engine light usually comes on because your gas cap isn’t all the way screwed in. I complained about the large size of my stash; it fit in one small Rubbermaid bin. I went to my first ever fiber festival. My friend G came to visit and we dragged him all over town, showing him our favorite places. I went with Steph to see the Jimmy Kimmel Show. We went to Baltimore to go to Steph’s wedding. Had time to squeeze in a trip to Philly (saw King Tut) and go to Shenandoah National Park.

September: Started a new school semester. Got volun-told I would be SWE’s EMIN and AESB rep. Matt took me to see Wicked for my birthday. Had a great birthday party playing buzzed Cranium with Joe, Steph, Josh, and (of course) Matt. Went up to the Valley to hang out with Amy’s family over Labor Day (it was actually cooler there than here, amazingly). Started knitting a pair of Jaywalkers, another Clapotis, and made lots of progress on the Evening Bag. Attended a sleepover at Yarn Lady and met two girls that go to my school there. The cats got fleas.

October: Matt and I celebrated our first anniversary by going to San Francisco for a long weekend. I fell in love with the city (culture, food, knitting stores, prevalence of good public transit) and we briefly thought of moving there. I started and mostly finished a baby sweater for Amy D’s baby. I missed a day of school due to Vertigo. I got Matt a Nintendo DS for his birthday (which he now plays when I drag him shopping). I got annoyed at how boring my blog was. My SnB held a yarn swap where I acquired lots of pretty stuff that I’ll probably never use.

November: Matt’s parents came for a visit and we took them to Solvang for a few days. Bought far too much wine and signed up for two wine clubs. Matt went back East for a week for work and I managed to keep myself busy with knitting and schoolwork. Thanksgiving was held at Amy D’s rather than our place due to a non-working oven (now fixed). We got a Wii. I took the WPE; still don’t know whether I passed. I bought a drop spindle at a fiber show. Matt taught me how to fix my photos in Photo Shop. I managed to finish multiple knitting projects (though most were started in previous months). I participated in NaBloPoMo.

December: I basically forgot what happened between Thanksgiving and Christmas other than finals and getting the new job. Started my new job the week of finals, two weeks earlier than expected. Finished the semester on a high note, an A in two difficult classes (and only a C in one I really didn’t understand). Steph had her first solo painting show. Visited my parents and brother in Florida for a week (eventually photos of that will be posted). Finished Danica (entrelac scarf) and started/mostly finished a BSJ for Amy D’s baby.

needles & vectors

an engineering gal who crafts her life away

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