Today started off on a high note. I pulled on my cute and festive green polo and clover socks and headed off to work. Stopped and bought some Krispy Kreme donuts and cupcakes for the work crew (as seen above – what, you think I did that? Silly Internet! LOL). I figured if we weren’t allowed to drink, we might as well indulge in a sugar high.
Unfortunately, the day ended on sort of a sad note. I got some news that kind of sucked. I can’t really talk about it here and now and it’s nothing major as far as my life or situation goes. It just sort of downer and some lateral changes that I need to get used to. Regardless, it has put a damper on my evening and this was the first time that I really, really wish alcohol didn’t conflict with these blood thinners I’m on.
Because I could have really used something: green beer, wine, liquor.
Instead, I settled for cupcakes. A worthy substitution, in my opinion.
Hope you all had a fun-filled, drunken (or sober), debaucherous yet safe holiday.
Éirinn go brách
I was all ready to write my TV post but got about six paragraphs in and decided I just didn’t have the gumption to do it tonight. I was, essentially, just rambling.
Not that that’s any different from another day.
Today was uneventful for a Monday. Did some actual work at work. Tweaked a few things on the site. I finally upgraded to WordPress 2.7 which I had been avoiding for awhile because I was scared some of my plugins didn’t work. Some didn’t, but they were unimportant or ones I had phased out. And now I have the sleek fancy new interface and everything works so much nice than it used to.
Plus, I added a lot of fun new things. Gravatars are enabled. There’s a little reply to arrow in the comments which allows you to reply to commenters much in the same way you do at Twitter. There’s a lot of new functionality that I added on the back end that I still need to tweak but am excited about because I feel like it’s going to give me the security I need to be able to open the blog back up freely again.
I really should have switched to WordPress earlier. I don’t know how I lived without it before.
Other than the site tweaking, which was minimal and so very easy, it was pretty much a boring day. It was really really overcast and dreary and by the time I left work, it was pouring rain, which was fine. I need a good dreary down now and again and my plants, particularly the palm frond that I will cry if it dies, need it more.
I did stop at Michael’s on the way home and picked up some size 10 needles, which is what I really needed for the basetweave project I was ranting about yesterday. I was going to pick up some nicer yarn. Mainly this Lion Brand Cotton Ease stuff because it is soft and light without being fuzzy and itchy feeling. It is the yarn that made me want to knit when I felt it in the store because it is exactly how I prefer my garments (not fuzzy, not heavy, not itchy). But it was $5.99 a skein in Michael’s and I wasn’t prepared to spend that much when I can’t even cast on and keep casted on properly.
So once I get things down pat with the current project and current yarn then maybe I will treat myself to the Cotton Ease. Michael’s always has good sales and coupons too so I can always take advantage of that.
Beyond that, just watched some new episodes of The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. Messed around with the site, ate some dinner and am now in bed, kind of not tired. I guess that’s what sleeping all weekend with do to you. My schedule is all sorts of screwed up.
But at least it’s not Monday anymore. And tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. Since I can’t drink, have one on me!
Slàinte!
Steve keeps telling me that he can’t believe I have the patience for knitting. I tell him that it really has nothing to do with patience and more about the fact that I am just a determined person and quite frankly, stubborn as a bull.
The stubborness is why I obsess over code and site design into the late hours of the night, not being able to stop until things are just right. Why I can clean the house the entire day and only see the stuff I didn’t get done. It’s why I use lists, for everything. Because there is so much deep inside of that I obsses about getting done and not getting done that I need to organize it on paper so I at least have some sense of priority.
But the knitting thing: it’s purely stubborness. And I can feel that obbsesiveness burning inside, the need to get it done and do it right. And it’s wearing my patience thin.
I’ve only been doing it for about a month and a half but I started on my first project, maybe last Thursday or so. I chose a basketweave scarf (not that exact pattern, but something similair, with fringe and less of a border) because I read that it lays fairly flat and is a pretty easy pattern with a bit of a decorative element instead of a straight stockinette or garter stitch.
So, the pattern: fairly easy looking. A simple cast-on, alternating knit and purl stich in the rows, nothing fancy like yarn overs or cables. But oh my god, it is driving me insane!
I’m using 14″ needles, which is hard to get used to because I learned with 10″ needles and those extra 4″ really require a more precise hand, or at least, more precise than I apparently have. And I’m left-handed, so everything was backwards and trying to translate the pictures was difficult in itself, let alone trying to do it backwards. I tried the right-handed style (moving the work from the left needle to the right) but it just wasn’t comfortable. Ah, the curse of being left-handed!
And then there’s the pattern. It’s so easy it’s hard! I don’t think I’ve learned enough to let my mind wander to anything but the work when I’m doing it because while it’s just knit one stich then purl another for 38 stitches, I keep messing it up! I’ve got yarn overs happening where they shouldn’t be, which is funny because I don’t really know how to do a yarn over. I’ve got slipped stitches. I’ve got duplicates, where i knit twice then purl. I’ve just basically got shit all over the place. And, you know, it creates rows of knitting that I could probably pass off as something but my inner perfectionist SCREAMS at me that YOU ARE DOING IT ALL WRONG MUST START OVER UNTIL IT’S PERFECT, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, GOD WHY DO YOU SUCK?!
Needles to say, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve pulled the work and started over. The last time I did it, I told myself I’d leave it alone for a day or so and let it cool and then come back to it with some perspective. That always works for me – give it a day then come back to it and I can usually get it done right. (God, I almost said GIT ‘ER DONE only because we have the Larry the Cable Guy roast on but I didn’t. Thank god! Kind of can’t stand him, don’t really want his stupid catchphrase permeating my life!) And guess what! I literally had to FORCE myself to NOT touch the skein and the needles. Because I do enjoy it. It is a great hobby and it is soothing when I can’t get stuff right. And I just felt that I needed to start it and do it until I got it right.
I resisted the temptation and the yarn sits still wrapped. The needles are naked. It needs time. I need time. Because the obsession is there but my patience is growing thin. And I don’t want it to grow so thin that I don’t enjoy the hobby anymore.
Plus, Steve keeps messing with my needles when I’m trying to work. He does it because deep down, his inner five year old can’t stand it when I’m not paying attention to him. It’s cute on most days, but when I’m frustrated because I keep messing the work up, all I want to do is stab him. With one of the needles. And I really don’t feel like going to jail over the hobby either.
*****
Other than the above, Sunday was fairly uneventful. There were no dogs throwing up, there is toilet paper in all the bathrooms and we actually have food.
My back was sore when I woke up, like a slept on it wrong (or sat on my ass all day in an uncomfortable couch) sore. I tried to work out the kinks by moving around and picking the house up. I got the kitchen fairly clean and most of the living room, which is usually just Sammy’s toys and the remnants from us hanging out and watching TV. I then started on our bedroom and got as far as cleaning off my nightstand. I was staring at the dirty clothes on the floor in the bedroom and the bathroom and decided that my back still hurt enough that I wanted to take a hot shower and see if that helped. Well, it didn’t really help my back but it made me sleepy and I ended up taking a long nap, not waking up until around 7pm. So the day was pretty much shot.
After that, didn’t do much. Made some pigs in a blanket for “dinner” (a new food obsession I’ve picked up lately), worked with the knitting for a little while, read a little bit and caught up on some crap TV (I’ve got a TV post coming up because there are some things I need to talk about) and now am in bed trying to make sure I at least try to go to sleep at a decent time since a new work week starts tomorrow. Am not sure how I’m going to be able to do that since I slept the afternoon away.
Here’s to trying, I guess.
And as an afterthought, here’s to a better week than last. Maybe if I things can get back on track at work, then everything else will fall into place in my life.
Here’s to hoping, right?
An uneventful Saturday, to the say the least.
I was wide awake about 7am. Jumped up to go potty and heard Steve shuffling in. He had remembered there was no TP in the master bath so he brought me some in. Very sweet of him! (Sorry, may be TMI but I don’t care. It touched my heart! LOL)
I decided I wasn’t ready to face the day so I jumped back into bed and dozed for another hour and a half or so until I heard Sammy whimpering. I shot up when I heard him jump off the bed and throw up on the floor. Poor guy! He has such a sensitive stomach sometimes. Plus, it’s been real dry in here these days and I think he’s having some hairball issues. But it was a quick clean up and he seemed okay the rest of the day, so not to worry.
It took me forever to get motivated but I finally did. I made a grocery list and set a budget then headed out to the new Bi-Lo down the road, which has quickly become my go-to grocery store (when I don’t feel like trekkin’ to Publix). I was only in there an hour and half and came in $34 under budget. I saved $54 and now have a little over two weeks worth of groceries.
I’m not a heavy coupon clipper and I never take the time to double-coupon or stockpile on things and only pay like $5 for 18 bottles of shampoo or something, but I have my techniques. I’m only shopping for two people but we try to be a bit budget friendly, mostly because I hate wasting food. Here’s what I’ve been doing lately:
- Planning my meals around the sales. This may be a no-brainer, but it didn’t even occur to me to do this before. I would just plan my meals then buy what I needed for the recipes, regardless of whether it was on sale. This has made a good difference for us.
- Compromise on name brands. There are certain things that I will not buy generic. Diet Dr. Pepper, for example. I drink a lot of this – it literally is my coffee, my cigarettes, my get up and go. I’m probably very addicted to it. But only Diet Dr. Pepper. No Diet Dr. Bob. No store brand stuff. It doesn’t come near the real kind. So I won’t buy anything else. But Steve will drink store brand soda. And other things, like mac-n-cheese – it’s ok to buy generic. Or paper products (as long as the toilet paper is two-ply). Set your standards and then work with them on other things.
- Cut your own meat (or, don’t fall victim to convenience). I’m not saying that you should open a butcher shop in your house or raise and slaughter cows in your backyard. I’m explaining that there are certain things that you can do yourself to help cut down on the expense of the meat. Because I know every other trip, I’m spending a LOT more money because I’m trying to replenish my meat supply. Buy split chicken breasts. With a good knife, you can turn them into boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I bought a pack of five today (roughly 4.5 pounds) and paid $1.57 per pound. They were selling the already cut boneless, skinless breasts for $2.99 a pound and you could only buy them in packs of 2.5 to 3 pounds or so. I also bought two sirloins steaks, roughly two pounds a piece, and with a good cut, turned them into four meals. I then freeze them all and just pull them out when we are going to make each meal.
- Don’t be afraid of marked down meat. I’m not talking about the stuff that is past the expiration date or the really discounted stuff. I’m talking about the stuff that might expire tomorrow and they need to get it off the shelf. I saved three dollars on each pack of split chicken breasts today because they needed to be moved tomorrow. I brought them home, cut them and placed them in the freezer. The key is to inspect them first in the store. If beef is dark all over, probably not good to buy. If chicken is really runny and smells a bit, not good to buy. Just know what you’re comfortable with.
- Know your store. I know the general layout of the common stores that I visit in my head and when I make my list, I separate everything I need into sections of the store. That way I’m not running all over hell and creation trying to get what I need and in turn, am not passing the temptations of end-caps and sales and such.
I’m sure there’s more but those are the ones I can think of the top of my head. I’ve tried to do the coupon thing but I always forget to buy a paper and I’m just not that dedicated. Mostly, I stick to buying the generics when I can, splitting large purchases of meat over quite a few meals and having our common, cheap, go-to recipes that I can add to the mix when we really need to budget crunch.
Of course, I buy all the food and we haven’t even eaten dinner. Steve played hours upon hours of video games and I read a little bit of the new book I’ve started (in the sidebar, Love The One You’re With by Emily Giffen – I can truly say that I am 36 pages in and I’m am enchanted!). I also casted on for my first actual knitting project: a basketweave scarf in a cheap, but really soft pine yarn that may or not be succesful as I’ve already ripped the stitches like five times and am now only three rows in. Knitting and perfectionism: probably not the best combination.
Also, it doesn’t help that when I pulled the new skein out of the bag, Sammy went a bit crazy sniffing it and Steve egged him on, saying “Get it, Sam!”. So the dog ended up trying to grab the skein and when he finally got a hold of it, he zoomed off the couch and whipped it around like he does the five million other ACTUAL toys that he has. Because you know, my yarn is a toy now! And in doing so, he unraveled a good half of it so now I have to manually keep unraveling it as I’m knitting. Lesson learned: will keep the yarn away from the dog from now on.
Then, we pretty much lazed around. Steve made me watch The Monster Squad. Now I’m catching up on some TiVo. My house is still a wreck and I don’t know if I will get around to cleaning it tomorrow. I should because it’s supposed to be a rainy day but I really just want to hang out, watch more TiVo, knit and read some more.
I guess we shall see tomorrow. It’s a shame Chick-Fil-A isn’t open. Their Chick-N-Minis would be a great way to start it off! 
For now, it’s off to torture Steve with reality TV and maybe fill up on one of the few splurges I allowed myself today: Oreos or Ben & Jerry’s!
Today was a MUCH better day than yesterday and not a bad way to end the week.
Woke up all bright-eyes and bushy-tailed at 6am this morning, thanks to the 12 or so hours I slept yesterday. Steve and I commuted in together so I good hour and a half or so to do some busy work in the morning. Pretty much worked through the whole morning up until lunch, when Steve and I took off down to Sullivan’s for what we are now calling Fish Camp Friday’s.
The temperature dropped and the skies were cloudy and gray all day so there a bit of a chill in the air, but no matter. Sometimes I just need a gray day.
This afternoon, I caught up on some more work and headed out early. We went to dinner at JI Pizza then wandered through Wal-Mart and picked up a few things. Now we are home, Steve is playing video games and I’m waiting to start work.
I still have not made any of my lists, folded any of the laundry or cleaned anything I wanted to clean. Will try to fit it all into one weekend but not really sure if that’s going to work.
I can’t believe we’re almost halfway through March again.
Happy Friday the 13th, part deux for 2009!
