Unpack Already

We live in an apartment, which means even though we have three bedrooms, space is still tight. Unlike a house, which usually has an actual dining room and living room as well as some sort of play or family room, apartments (unless you truly pay through the nose) don't. So the third bedroom is our computer/storage/workspace room and has been home to an absurd amount of boxes for the last year. I've picking away at them slowly, and we've carved a space for two desks, but that isn't a tremendous amount of progress for twelve months. Monday I decided, subconsciously, to remedy this situation. My motivation: my husband needs some documents of an official sort to renew his DL. So, after two days of searching, sorting and carting away the rubbish, no appropriate documents have been found.

My house is a righteous mess. For instance, in my search I found nine years worth of shredding to get done. I am not kidding, and my ex who is responsible for four of those years worth of junk, kept every bleeding receipt. I think I'm about two thirds of the way through, and there's a (second) thirty-gallon garbage bag full waiting to go out. There is also a small vacuum that no longer works, a several unusable children's toys ready to head out as well. It's, well, without belaboring the details, a freakin' nasty untidy mess. Anybody want to help?

The upside to this is that once all the sorting has been done and the two and half years of comics and bill filing done, and the storage boxes and various things put away, the computer room will be a much pleasanter place to be. Certainly not an extra guest bedroom like I'd hope - we have too much crap for that - but much, much better.

I guess this is my bonus for finally deciding which road to take this summer. My family and my home are still where it's at for me. The yarn business isn't a hobby - I can't stand the idea that someone would start something like this as a hobby and put their customer service second place because they aren't building a long-term business - but my own business is still not so important that my child (and future children) should get second place either.

The place is a mess, but I'm taking the day off. Dishes and laundry is it for me, and I'm still hoping I can get the kid out of the house for a walk at the Nature Park. Yesterday was stunningly beautiful, but somehow I prefer the shade and the ability to wear wool.

As an added bonus for you, if you could actually stand to read all the way through this boring post, is that I'd like you to have free shipping on any orders you place before Saturday morning. There are about three days left to get my yarn at a discount, and I love to get the shop down to zero items if at all possible. Just mention "unpacked" in the buyer's notes.

This is "Claire" by the way. Named after a friend who inspired a really gorgeous custom colorway, I've decided this one is a keeper. I have two of them rattling around, and it would look fantastic with "Margeaux" knit up as something stripey or as Spot Check from the new handknit sock book.

Take care and happy knitting!

Let's Move This Offline

Okay, one last self-indulgent update and then its back to using Outlook.

...Did I forget to mention filing taxes?...
- Federal is easy, but I don't like the state tax thing, so I put it off. Done now. Until next year, nemesis.

...make list of "needs" for Sock Summit Booth...
- We reached a decision two days ago, and since then I'm so relieved that I know I'm making the right decision. I'm not going to bother with Sock Summit. Yes, I'll go and see, but I don't want to take on the burdens that come with this behemoth event. I would probably have received some good exposure from being a vendor there, but Pop Culture Zoo will be covering some major events this summer and we're planning to get pregnant again. Who wants the burden of morning sickness on top of negotiating a stressful weekend.

2. Start socks for Mother's Day gift. Size 2's and vanilla basic sock. Should only take a few days to finish these.
- Plain socks on US 2.5 needles, and Shepherd Sock Sport in Black Purl. Going to be pretty.

5. Scrub the pink out of the bathtub before it gets unsightly.
- Did one better: cleaned the whole bathroom.

9. Start packing up April birthday gifts to be sent out.
- one down, two to go.

16. Post uberlate review of Fast & Furious.
- nevermind. it's silly.

See How The List Diminished, and Then Grew

6. Pay some bills, enter some receipts, reconcile, then freak out because we spend too much money.
- that went exactly as I expected it to.

11. Respond to emails.
- seriously didn't need to keep those retailers and customers waiting any longer.

12. Get new cards going. Involves a stupid number of phone calls.
- handed off to hubby. Thank goodness.

4. Vacuum. The whole house.
- the house looks totally sweet. (vacuuming also means tidying all the crud like random toys and dishes so that I can operate the vacuum without shredding it.)

8. Dye some yarn. Site needs Twilight Garden and backup Rainbow Black. Plus a skein or two of the PCZ colorway and some more Crushed Berries. All space-dyed, which I detest. A skein of Phoenix?
- wound up dyeing some custom orders and about 10 others for the site.

14. Organize yarn stash.
- ended up with fewer bins. okay?

Things to add:

...Finish the thumb on that one fingerless mitten from Christmas that I Rav-ed as finished about three months ago...
...Send out emails for CFF walk fund raising...
...Customize my CFF Walk page...
...Did I forget to mention filing taxes?...
...Tomato starts: find, transplant...
...re-pot smaller Bird of Paradise...
...make list of "needs" for Sock Summit Booth...

I'm certain that anybody whose been reading this blog over the last week is probably tired of my lists, but I am finding this a very motivational experiment. Maybe another week, I'm thinking.

Now To Update The List

I'm enjoying this social experiment. It feels like publicly announcing my list has been a bit of motivation. Here are the things that still need doing, with a few additions:

1. Draft interview for CFF fundraiser walk - want to help by posting something on PCZ.
2. Start socks for Mother's Day gift. Size 2's and vanilla basic sock. Should only take a few days to finish these.
3. Resend letter to J. The one I didn't send was very quickly outdated. Joy of snail trail mail and hand-written letters.
4. Vacuum. The whole house.
5. Scrub the pink out of the bathtub before it gets unsightly.
6. Pay some bills, enter some receipts, reconcile, then freak out because we spend too much money.
7. Get zoo pics from sister. My son and my niece were totally cute, holding hands and being sweet. They looked like they could be siblings.
8. Dye some yarn. Site needs Twilight Garden and backup Rainbow Black. Plus a skein or two of the PCZ colorway and some more Crushed Berries. All space-dyed, which I detest. A skein of Phoenix?
9. Start packing up April birthday gifts to be sent out.
10. Write review of Disney discs for PCZ before another deadline completely blows us by.
11. Respond to emails.
12. Get new cards going. Involves a stupid number of phone calls.
13. Prioritize cleaning up computer room. To file? To shred? Just tidy?
14. Organize yarn stash.
15. Bathe and brush dog.
16. Post uberlate review of Fast & Furious.

Things Finished On Tuesday and Wednesday

9. Scrip order. By Tuesday morning.
- that was always going to have to get done, but it was nice to see it in the perspective of my overall to-do list.

12. Transplant pea starts and get some compost into the other pots (for tomatoes!).
- the peas are done, dude. The rest of the compost can wait until I can find starts. I think I may need to fashion something to help the peas climb, though.


1. Write up Scrip Order Processor job description. (it's a co-op preschool thing which has to be done by Wednesday)
- I'm sure I suck because I'm always late getting these things sorted.

21. Darn hubby's DIC socks. Which begs the question: Tear out current WIP DIC socks?
- well, that's a bust. I can't seem to do it right, so I'm tossing this pair. I can always knit more. I also tore out the others, which was quite a relief.

20. Get more color photos up on BTFS Facebook page.
- There are quite a few colors up there, now to get some folks looking at them...

Addendum by Shelby: "Breeeeeeathe".
- yes, I will remember to take some deep breaths. That's what knitting is for, yeah? But I do breathe, regularly. Maybe a little aggressively, but it's still air in my lungs.

Things Finished On Monday

6. Choose pattern and yarn for Q2 challenge at Loopy Ewe.
- okay, that was easy: Houdini by Cat Bordhi in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Blackberry colorway. I've never done a toe-up construction, and I'm highly interested in the toe-to-heel with a steek construction.

7. Make a dent in financial paperwork for Black Trillium.
- keeping track of sales and expenses is not fun, but so necessary. Got further than I thought I would.

13. Clean and hang hummingbird feeder.
- ran a little vinegar through the thing since it's been sitting all winter. Filled it and put it out and within fifteen minutes the first bird found his way to it. Awesome.

10. Send out BTFS orders.
- tagged, bagged, taped, sent. whew! (I heart the post office and am deeply grateful that they're open until 6:30pm)

17. Grocery shopping.
- two stores, two hours. with the guys. Big score: Black Gold Compost for pea starts.

Later on, I'm sure I'll get 'round to at least one more thing. Yay me.

Monday: Listed

In publishing this list I hope to keep track of enough things to actually get a few done.

1. Write up Scrip Order Processor job description. (it's a co-op preschool thing which has to be done by Wednesday)
2. Draft interview for CFF fundraiser walk - want to help by posting something on PCZ.
3. Start socks for Mother's Day gift. Size 2's and vanilla basic sock. Should only take a few days to finish these.
4. Resend letter to J. The one I didn't send was very quickly outdated. Joy of snail trail mail and hand-written letters.
5. Vacuum. The whole house.
6. Choose pattern and yarn for Q2 challenge at Loopy Ewe.
7. Make a dent in financial paperwork for Black Trillium. (this is the one I keep avoiding) With taxes finished, the rest should be cake, right?

Okay, seven is enough, right? Let's see what I forgot to remember come tomorrow.

Afternoon addendum:

8. Scrub the pink out of the bathtub before it gets unsightly.
9. Scrip order. By Tuesday morning.
10. Send out BTFS orders.
11. Pay some bills, enter some receipts, reconcile, then freak out because we spend too much money.
12. Transplant pea starts and get some compost into the other pots (for tomatoes!).
13. Clean and hang hummingbird feeder.

Odds and ends I should squeeze in there somewhere...

14. Get zoo pics from sister. My son and my niece were totally cute, holding hands and being sweet. They looked like they could be siblings.
15. Dye some yarn. Site needs Twilight Garden and backup Rainbow Black. Plus a skein or two of the PCZ colorway and some more Crushed Berries. All space-dyed, which I detest.
16. Start packing up April birthday gifts to be sent out.
17. Grocery shopping.
18. Write review of Disney discs for PCZ before another deadline completely blows us by.
19. Respond to emails.
20. Get more color photos up on BTFS Facebook page...

Alright, this list has gotten out of hand...

21. Darn hubby's DIC socks. Which begs the question: Tear out current WIP DIC socks?

Where've You Been

When you play around on the internet without intent to work, this is what you might find:


visited 17 states (34%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or try another Douwe Osinga project

I'm missing a few.

2008: What I Am Thankful For

1. My husband and my child. Without the two of them, my life would not be meaningful. Everything else comes second.

2. Being a nearly-healthy human. Okay, I could lose a few pounds and I could probably do a whole lot more yoga and eat more veggies. But after the summer we had, in and out of the hospital, I just want to be here and alive and with the people I love.

3. The chance to do what I love for a living. My yarn business has had a few ups and downs since May, when I really started thinking about actually selling my own yarns. But considering how well I've done in an economy where lots of other people are having hard times and losing jobs, I really can't complain. I have wonderful customers to thank for that, many of whom have come back time after time and many of whom have been fantastic to communicate with and have been very patient and understanding.

4. Could we live in a better era? Barack Obama. The right to vote. The internets. Digial music. The public library system. Knitting as a hobby as well as a living. Communication. Enlightenment. Buddhism and yoga in America. Global economy and shopping locally. Etsy. Ravelry. Blogging. David Tennant as The Doctor. I love where I live, in both time and space.

...and maybe a few things I learned the hard way.

1. Don't smack the beast. If you make someone angry or defensive, stop pushing them. I know that I'm going to have to apologize for the rest of my life everywhere I go because I am crappy at being humble and "why why why" doesn't endear me to anybody. Sorry, everybody. And I don't hear subtext very well.

2. Nobody thinks the way that I do. With the notable exception of my husband. The downside to this is that we're constantly looking at each other wondering if we've both lost our minds. Or, if the rest of the world has. It has been brought up that maybe we should just find a remote cabin somewhere and hope that our child doesn't wind up as weird as we are.

3. I am not funny. I can't write funny no matter how badly I'd like to.

Okay, that's all.

Would a yarn sale help with the January blues? If so, I have some at the site.

Snowpocalypse 2008

Or Snowmageddon. Either way, we've been stuck inside for a couple days now. Yesterday, I finished a ton of knitted gifts, today my bedroom got cleaned from top to bottom, including moving everything out of the closet to vacuum. At this point, if tomorrow doesn't ease up just a little (and I don't think it's going to) I'll either wind up dyeing every single ounce of raw fibre and yarn I own, or we'll risk life and limb to a.) go somewhere or b.) play outside and get some exercise. Our school has already called Uncle, and as far as I know I'm not getting any hours at Wil Sonoma.

Maybe these fun pics can distract you:

Coming soon...a finished child's garment in HMS. I can't knit enough of this stuff! Also keep an eye open for the aforementioned fibre - I have some undyed roving that is just begging to become Gorgon, Roy G Biv, Chocolate Cherry and Black Trillium.

The Ways of Movement

Five years ago, I moved from one coast to the other to live with my best friend while her husband went overseas. We kept her business going until we could sell it - a full week before she had her first child. Now, her second child is about to have her first birthday and the business we sold is officially closing its doors because the new(er) owner hasn't been able to make it work.

Four years ago, I had my own first child. Today, he had his first full day of mom-free preschool. He was excited to see me when I came to pick him up, but he wasn't phased that I hadn't been there for several hours.

Three years ago, we moved back to the coast we belong on. My husband and I moved our family back here without a job to come to or a home to live in, but we found work immediately and we're definitely happy to be settle in our community of fantastic liberals, knitters, and pirates.

Two years ago, I started working outside the home for the first time since I had my son. I have never been so happy in a job. This spring, I had to leave that job because everything had changed about being there. I still don't know if I want to go back to a similar job.

One year ago, plus a couple months, I started going to Knit Night at a fabulous little place I happened to find in an internet search for a yarn that I never got around to buying. Now, I'm quite pleased to say, several of us that have gotten to know each other through knitting together have decided to go out on our own and start dyeing yarn.


There is nothing constant, eh?

You can find us here.

More 'Splosions

There isn't a lot our current president has done that I admire. However, there are some folks who have to carry out his wishes that risk their lives on a daily basis that I think are the greatest heroes around. One of them is my BF's husband.

I can recall my horror when they began dating. He's a soldier and a Christian, two things I previously believed to be deal-breakers. However, said gentleman gives a whole new meaning to both. He believes in his job and does it because he's good at it. He believes is love and thinks that Jesus was love's biggest champion. He's a man of integrity, honor, intelligence, and over the years I've come to respect his stubborn allegience with the US Armed Forces and the Bible.

While I can't get behind simple aphorisms like "Freedom isn't Free", on days like the 4th of July and Veteran's Day I like to take a minute to be thankful for folks like my BF's husband, who are willing to put themselves in harm's way for our country's welfare and ongoing prosperity.

And you all know what else The 4th is for:



My husband, a man of numerous talents, has been employed as an airplane refueller, software engineer, and pyrotechnics expert. Yup, he used to blow things up and get paid doing it. In fact, that was part of what he was doing when we first met. Fourth of July a few years ago found us in uber-rural North Carolina on a bridge under construction lighting off a manual show. Yipes.

BTT: Desperation

Booking Through Thursday's question: what's the most desperate thing you've ever read because it was the only thing available, and was it worth your while?

If you've had a baby, you know just how boring being a pregnant woman waiting for a quick weigh-in and brief face-to-face with an OB or midwife can be. The magazines and such don't change much, and if your doctor's office is as busy as mine was, you're waiting for the PA, then waiting for the ultrasound tech, then waiting for the midwife. Simply put, I wasted hours of my life in a doctor's office.

Pregnancy brain isn't a good thing when trying to remember to bring a book or a project to the check-up. There were times when I was rereading the birth control minutiae of an add for the sixth or seventh or twentieth time. It was ghastly. I was reading labels and price tags on plants and pots outside the windows. I was reading the backs of other people's books from across the room.

Of course, there were times when first-trimester nausea prevented me from focusing on much of anything because it made me sicker. At that point I got really familiar with the details of every painting in the waiting rooms.

Was is worth it? Well, my son is pretty fantastic, so there's the up-side of the story. But I certainly wouldn't choose that doctor's office unless under duress. I may have read a few things in the various "parenting" magazines that have been helpful, though I couldn't recall exact details.



(Okay, can you tell I wasn't a "glowing" pregnant lady?)

Like a Flu...

...this meme seems to be catching. Maybe everyone is so preoccupied with summer's evetual arrival that they've just lost the desire to post. G.bella tagged me, so I'm going to try and think of 7 random things that might be interesting to know about me.

1. I have a generous portion of a b.s. in biology and I've completed all the departmental requirements for an English Literature b.a. What am I missing? Electives - a year's worth.

2. I had a job at a food co-op in high school, and one really slow Saturday the baker and I decided we needed to make up hippy names for ourselves. Mine? Dragonmoon.

3. My husband and I chose our son's first name in part because of two of our favorite television characters: Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill. Yes, we're enormous geeks.

4. Working has never been my strong suit as I tend to loathe it. Being a stay-at-home mom was a dream come true, even though we've been pretty darn poor because of it. Now I have a minimum wage job that we don't depend on for real income, and I like my job because I don't really have to keep it. Okay, I like the people I work for as well, but don't tell anybody.

5. I secretly wish that I could make a living doing something creative, like writing, knitting or jewelry-making. The big problem is that I have no idea how to get started.

6. In total contradiction of #5, I hope someday (once I've finished my B.A.) to apply to grad school, study Medieval Literature, get a PhD and become a college professor.

7. When I like something (music, knitting, university, therapy) I tend to throw myself into it 110%. After about a year and a half, more often than not I run out of energy for my current project. But a couple months off and I'm ready to find a new focus.

Okay, here's the part where I'm supposed to tag people. But not this time. If anyone wants a go of their own choosing, feel free.

Only The Beginning

Third time's the charm, goes the cliche. Though nothing is ever certain, I assume that this will not be the case with marriages or cross-country moves, both of which I am comfortably on number two and would very much like to stay that way. However, this is my third go at creating a 'blog, and this time I'm determined to have something more interesting to say than what book I've just finished reading or how ultimately pointless I think our current president is. I began my first blog for the least interesting reason - my husband had one. My second was started for my own entertainment, but didn't manage that for anyone else. This, the third, well...

As one thing tends to lead to another (oh, another cliche!), reading books by bloggers, in particular Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Julie Powell, I found that there was the possibilty of much more than the recording of minutae in the blogsphere. Yes, these people manage to have published books on the merits of what they say online to unknown numbers of unknown readers. That is a perk I do not have an expectation (nay, icecube's chance in hell) of finding. This is a chance to practice how I write and what I write about. It is a chance to attempt some meaningful written communication in an age where the written word travels by flickers of electricity rather than snail trail mail. It is a chance to talk about myself to people other than toddlers.

For the moment, this post will suffice to be a placeholder until I can get together the editing time I need to personalize. Look for random motes of thought here and there, though be warned that I am not so html savvy as to attempt more complicated matters in audio or visual mediums.