Update, Update, Update, No Update, Update

One update:
So, do you remember how two weeks ago, after I had to miss work due to the big snowstorm, my boss talked to her boss about getting me a laptop, so I can work from home during such things? And the answer was yes?

And have you noticed that I haven't written about getting that laptop?

And do you know what the weather forecast for today/tomorrow was?

Yup. Here I am, home a bit early because of snow, not expecting to be able to get in until tomorrow afternoon if then, missing more work because of snow. How silly are they? And yes, another message from the division head saying to be sure to bring your laptops home because of the storm! I again heroically resisted the urge to reply, "Would if I could!"

Two update:
There's good news and bad news about the cat search: the good news is I heard back about the cat I asked about, and that they were honest; the bad news is that she's not the cat for me. If "the part about trusting people is still a work in progress," then no, I wish them well, but I can't sign up for that again. It seems as if she's in better shape than Miri was that way, but not good enough.

Anyway, I looked through Petfinder again last night, while Carlos had me pinned to the couch (thank you, iPad), and found another possible to inquire about. The description sounds promising, and I'm waiting for someone to call back; we'll see.

Three update:
About the heater at work: in order to check the theory that it was the heater itself that was causing the problems, before buying a replacement, I brought in a small heater I have at home (for heating up the bathroom when I'm feeling more than usually chilly). I unplugged Mary Ellen's, plugged in mine, and turned it on. It ran, without popping the surge protector. It stayed on. Ah-ha, I thought, and prepared to throw out the other one. Not being chilled was a very pleasant feeling.

Some time later, however, maybe half an hour or an hour later, off it went. What? I turned it on, but it was sure. Poof. So I began experimenting.

First, I plugged the surge protector in to another plug, in case it was the plug that was the problem. Poof. Nope.

Next, I plugged my heater into a different surge protector. And ... it stayed on. And on. Okay, then.

As a cross-check, I plugged the old one into the new surge protector. It went on and stayed on, but smelled like something was burning (enough that someone else commented on it). That's it for experiments in the office, I decided. Out with the old, in with the new. And there was warmth in the land, and it was good.

Four (no) update:
Is, of course, on the job application. No, I didn't expect to hear anything yet. Still. One hopes

Five update:
The shawl blocked quite nicely, and I mailed it off this morning.

Here it is before blocking. See how the bottom edge ruffles, and the top edge curls in?

And here it is, pinned out:

And with the inspector in the background:

The top edge didn't even need to be pinned to flatten out.

I like how the whole thing looks. Especially with lace, blocking is magic.

And hopefully Grandma will like it, too. Eight days of knitting, not bad.

Best-Laid, etcetera

I had planned to blog tonight, but, well.

Someone has other plans, and they involve my lap. Catch you tomorrow!

Sunday Night, Feels Like Saturday

Isn't it funny how a Sunday night feels totally different when you know you're off the next day?

Today was a pretty good day. About the only blot was that the Bruins lost, and even then they lost in the shootout, which means they get the pity point, which is better than nothing. My friend came over to hang out during the game, and it was the kind of laid-back, talk and silence kind of visit that only happens with good friends. We ate some of the chili I made last night, which went so well with the cornbread she brought, and I kept knitting on Grandma's shawl. I finished it a while after she left; tomorrow I'll take pictures of the pre-blocking and blocking process, which should effect a pretty big change.

After finishing reading a book (The Language of Flowers, which I liked, but I liked Someone Else's Love Story, which I read recently, better), I balanced my checkbook and started my taxes; the latter can't be finished yet, as all the forms aren't ready until the end of the month, but unless anything drastic changes, I'll be getting a nice chunk back. Last year, I was still dealing with the hit of unemployment, and this is better. It's also nice to only deal with one W2*, to be honest, though I certainly hope that next year I have two, the one from this job and one from the new better job I will get this year!
*I've had as many as three in a year, which is not a good sign.

So, I'm waiting and hoping to hear back about the job I applied for the other day; now I'm also waiting to hear back about a maybe-possibly cat to adopt, about which I sent an inquiring message yesterday. We shall see! Multitudes of fingers crossed.

Random ending: the other day when I went outside, the cold weather showed itself in unusual patterns on the car. Even in the cold, it was enough to have me pulling out the camera.

If it has to be so cold, the least it can do is be pretty.

Off for more cough syrup. Overall I'm feeling much better, but the cough, it will not leave. Erg.

Shawl Progress

I started this shawl for my grandmother last Sunday, and I was a little discouraged through the week at how long it seemed to be taking, given how much time it was getting. The cast-on is long, each row is long, and it seemed to be taking a long time. Today, though, I finally finished the first part, which is charted and 18 rows--of which the last few rows, with less patterning, moved a bit faster than the earlier ones had.

Here it is, all scrunched up:

It doesn't look like much, does it? Here's a bit of the edge:

Hmmm, you may be thinking. Not so impressive. Well, here's the thing about lace patterns: they can look like uncooked ramen noodles when you're making them. Lace comes to life in the blocking. Here's a rough approximation of what the shawl edge will actually look like:

Now, that's more like it, campers! Right?

What's more, once I started the next part, I could see that it would move much faster than the first did. This is almost completely stockinette, just knits and purls, and I'm making good progress. I'll get pictures tomorrow or Monday, when it's light outside, but I feel good about it being done in the not-too-distant future.

And that's a good thing.

Pre-Weekend, Cat and Hockey

In what I hope presages a good weekend of accomplishments, I did laundry after work tonight, and half a dozen loads later, all my clothing is clean (I got behind while I was sick). Still need to do sheets and towels, but a good start.

Speaking of being sick. While I am feeling somewhat better, I really am, I just can't seem to shake the last of this congestion, and the related coughing is slaying me. I get a few minutes here and there between cough drops, but all too soon, I feel that tickle and then I'm coughing and people are asking if I'm all right or offering me cough drops when I have a cough drop in my mouth already, give it a minute, I'm sorry, hack, hack, hack. Make it stop, please. I've finished the prescription cough syrup, and am back to OTC. Anything to buy me a little time without a cough drop. The syrup is kind of nasty, but then so is the coughing. I'm glad to be back of normal levels of tired, but you know me, always complaining, I want more! Or rather, less, less congestion thank you. Okay?

Tomorrow I take the baby to the vet, for some shots and a laundry list of minor questions. Hopefully all will be well, right? I don't think I can take it if anything isn't okay. It will be okay. It will.

In conclusion, here's a story for the hockey fans and the cat lovers. To quote the Puck Daddy headline: "Canadian zookeepers play hockey with lions, because of course they do".

Who would have thought a lion would enjoy playing hockey? A Canadian, that's who. I love it. Time for a rerun.

Please To Be Crossing Fingers Now

Every time I see a potential job listing, I have to stop myself from dwelling on how satisfying it would be to get the job, and to give notice where I am, and make myself focus on actually getting the job first. Those pesky details...

Step one, of course, is the challenging one of finding a job that is a good enough fit to be worth applying for it.

Step two is (duh) actually applying for it.

With that done, I now enter step hoping-for-step-three, aka, waiting. And you know what they say about that.

It was hard to pick out parts of the listing to highlight in my application, because it all sounds good.

Please, please, please...

Things I Don't Understand

• Why the little heater I brought in to work has stopped working. It's more than a month since I brought it in, and it's been working fine. The first day, it popped the surge protector once, but I plugged it into its own surge protector (so nothing else would be affected) and dealt with that: once in a while, maybe once a week, it would pop off, I'd turn it back on, we were fine, it worked great. Last Friday, however, it started popping very, very often. By which I mean, it will go for one or two minutes and pop off again. Why? Have I killed it? How?
• What I did to my right thumb. There is a sore spot at the base, I noticed this morning. At first I thought it was a bruise, then maybe a scrape or even a bite. A little red, tender, achy. The soreness I would write off as too much knitting (not a concept I believe in, theoretically, but my hands sometimes disagree). However, the red spot makes it seem like something more. Probably nothing big. But still: weird.

And what have I been knitting so much this week? The shawl for my grandmother that I started on Sunday. I've worked at least a couple of rows (long, looooong rows) every night  Photos to come, maybe this weekend.

Perhaps Some Light (that is not a train)

I finally had that moment this morning, when I thought, "Wait, am I only normal-tired, not crazy-sick-flat-out-exhausted? Hmmm. I think so. How about that." Still not 100%, but I may be finally improving, you know, three weeks later. Wouldn't that be something? Mind you, last night when I was falling asleep and kept waking myself coughing, until I had to get up for more cough syrup, I wouldn't have said so, and this afternoon I did feel droopingly tired, but ... baby steps. I got groceries after work (in the rain, too: where is my award?) and am not completely flattened.

Not that it means much here tonight, though. I went to the grocery store, and now? Well, to quote Stanley Cup of Chowder: "Nothing like a week of West Coast games to make you appreciate a few on home ice. Or even in the home time zone." I have a Bruins game to watch, with a cat next to me, and knitting in my hands; there's also a job listing I saw that I want to ponder more deeply, perhaps between periods. And I'm hoping to make it to the end of the game, something that seems much more possible when the game doesn't start at 10 or 10:30.

So as not to leave you with nothing, though, here: watch a cat hugging his dad. Because it's his dad.

Doe, a Mouse, a ...well, I didn't actually get that close

Tell me, what do you think about this pitch I recently received for the blog?

I know your site is not exactly about bowling but you seem like you enjoy staying active and participating in group events.

Yeah, I love that: not "exactly" about bowling. Could it be any clearer that they didn't read one entry? Until knitting or reading or petting the cat count as "staying active," that is one claim I can't make. Ah, well. Moving on.

Today, the work day started with some wholly unnecessary excitement. I was puzzled upon arrival to see that my plant, Seymour, had dirt scattered all around the pot. I got further confused that my nearest neighbor didn't seem to understand what I was talking about, but it turned out that he was talking to the guy on his other side, who is rather soft-spoken, and who had said it must have been caused by the mouse.

Mouse? What mouse? Over where?

There were a few minutes when Second Guy was the only one who could see the mouse (I may have said he was hallucinating), but suddenly [gasp!] there it was. Mouse on the windowsill! I retreated strategically, while five guys played an enthusiastic game of How many PhDs* does it take to catch a mouse?
*They may not all have PhDs, but at least some do. They tackled the task with the enthusiasm of the boys in seventh grade going after the bees that floated through the classroom windows (until Eddie broke a window pane and the activity was banned).

Finally, there was a senior analyst holding up a mouse by the tail (over a waste basket, just in case), and it was removed from the premises. I cleaned off my desk and scrubbed my hands, but remained thoroughly squicked out for some time.

The same analyst e-mailed me a picture of a mouse later in the morning, but honestly, in pictures they're cute! They just don't belong in certain places, like on my desk. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Later on, something nice happened, as if the universe wanted to throw in some counterbalance, and my boss received a box which turned out to be a small treat basket from one of the groups we do work for, thanking us for helping them achieve their 2013 goal. So that was nice! Don't let it be said that all I do on this blog is complain! Most, maybe, but not ALL.

Actually, I have something else to not-complain about, but you have to picture me knocking wood and crossing fingers and all, to not jinx myself as I say it:

I haven't had an awful headache since October. 

I know! That's a long time! I mean, the longest I've had in the last few years, anyway. Wow, man. That chiropractor is never going to see the end of me...

Sunday Night Already? Of Cat and Knit

I'm more and more convinced that I need to get another cat to be company for Carlos; I guess I'm to the point where I'll say, I'm going to get another cat. Carlos isn't desperate the way Harold was after Pan died, but I was out of the house today for two and a half hours, and he met me at the door, meowing, and wanted to sit down with me immediately and get attention. Since I can't be with him 24/7, it's time to get someone who can. Preferably a laid-back lap cat, definitely not another Miri [shudder], so careful selection is called for, but soon, soon. We have a vet appointment next Saturday anyway, for shots and the like, and I'll ask if they have any advice.

I was out knitting with friends, and cast on a new project, despite the many I have going and the many on my to-do-soon list. My grandmother isn't doing so well, and I wanted to send her a little knit hug (and as my aunt pointed out, might not want to wait until her birthday to do it). I chose the Annis shawl, a Knitty pattern, and as you start at the long edge, all I did in two hours of knitting was the cast on and the first row. But given that it's 363 stitches, that isn't bad! The cast-on edge did a cool swirl thing as it went on the needle:

So far, so good. The yarn, by the way, is Ella Rae Lace Merino, which I got at Webs last May.

While I'm feeling somewhat better, I still don't feel great; I amused a friend by saying that I look forward to getting back to my usual level of lethargy. I mean, it isn't the end of the world if I get behind on laundry, or don't clean up the kitchen today, but someday, these things will have to get done. Until the brownies come and do it for me, and how many years have I been waiting for that to happen? Perhaps I haven't been offering them the right food; I never do have porridge.

And, yeah, that's all I have right now. I hate the end of the weekend. Next weekend is a long one: yay!

And Then He Ruined It

I was all set to write glowingly of how comparatively nice the temperature was today, meaning that we got rain and not snow, but also that I could open the window and thus today was graced with that wonder of cats, fresh-air fur. 

However, when His Lordship called for my companionship just now, it turned out that he was coming right from the litter box, and he does not smell so pleasant. In plain fact, he reeks.

Be grateful that you can't get that over the internet.

Too Tired to Come Up with a Good Title

I am not normally a very high-energy person, to put it mildly. You could say lazy, though I'd prefer to call it energy-conserving. It's like I'm on the ground floor of the building, and most other people seem to be on the second or third floors, buzzing about getting things done, while I sit and plot how to do the minimal amount. I don't have a chronic illness, but it's telling that I really identify with the spoon theory: you only have so much, and when it's gone, it's gone, so use it wisely.

Anyway, that's the normal. For the last two-plus weeks, instead of being on the ground floor, I'm in the sub-basement. I'm just So Tired, all the time, even more than usual. On Wednesday afternoon after I blogged, I sat on the couch for an hour or two, watching TV and knitting, and it wore me out so much I had to go take a nap. I'm so sick of this! The other, more conventional symptoms, the congestion, coughing, and runny nose, those are all annoying, too, and today my stomach was pretty rocky (something the doctor said the antibiotics might do, though I bet all the cough drops are making it worse, am I ever sick of cough drops), but the constant, extreme state of tired is madly wearing. I just want some energy! I haven't been on the exercise bike since I got home from Florida--who has the energy for that? When sitting on the couch wears me out? Enough already. I'm sick of being sick and tired of being tired. Or sick of being tired and tired of being sick?

Sitting at work today, trying to concentrate on diagnostic ultrasound was hard when the predominant thought in my head was, "Oh, my god, I'm so tired." I turned to music to try to distract myself, listening to the MP3 player, to overwrite that boring recurrent thought with things like, "We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams." And "look into my eyes, it's where my demons hide."

Speaking of work, it turns out that it's "upward feedback" time again. Your responses are completely confidential! Your manager only receives a summary of all responses! The fact that your manager only manages two people is meaningless! Confidential! Be honest!

So, in addition to listing her "strengths" and "improvement opportunities" I get to rate her on a dozen points, as Strongly Agree, Mostly Agree, Mostly Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. I got started today, and so far, she has one Strongly Agree ("My manager gives me the right amount of freedom to do the job myself"). Yeah, this is going to go well. I said something general about the feedback thing to someone who sits nearby, and she said that it's basically impossible to be completely honest on those. And her manager is one who has had no turnover in his group, so he must be doing something right! It's kind of consoling that she thought so, all the same. Do you have to do upward feedback where you work? How does that go for you?

In conclusion, thank all the deities for the weekend.

A Little Coherence, A Little Hockey, A Little Cat

I did manage to go in to work today, where I was told by more than one person that I "looked much better" than I had on Monday. I worked close to a full day, too. The good news is that I will be getting a laptop (anyone want to lay a guess as to how long it will take them, though?). The bad news is that I didn't have it today, when I really wanted to lie down for an hour midday before resuming work. Oh well.

I'm taking it easy tonight, and wishing that the Bruins game was in this time zone (it starts at 10:30, hahahaha). The Bruins have five players going to the Olympics (some teams have ten!), which should make for interesting times both during and after the Games. No Bruins are on the US team, so I guess I'll root for my country, but feel some consolation if Team Canada, Finland, Czech, Slovak, or Sweden medal.

Speaking of hockey, by the way, how about this guy in the stands at a hockey game catching a puck with one hand, while holding a sleeping baby with the other?


In random and unrelated news, I spent a little time on Petfinder recently, since I'm only getting more convinced that Carlos will need company, and guess who? Miri is listed there! Apparently she now loves getting brushed! Yeah, right, suuuuure she does. And if you believe that, have I got a bridge for you. It serves as a timely reminder to take the listings with a grain of salt, and try not to fall in love with anyone before I meet him or her. I'd love to adopt one of Robyn's fosters, but given the many miles to Alabama, that isn't really practical. Time to start casually looking, though.

And, to tie in the cats and Christmas threads, here is a lion who really likes his tree.

The Yarn-and-Muppet Cure

While I am by no means "all better" today, I am certainly feeling better than I did yesterday (not that that's saying much, I spent most of yesterday in bed). I didn't go in to work again today, though, feeling that pushing it too soon would be asking for a setback. I'm reasonably sure that I'll be able to go in tomorrow. Heck, I've been sitting at the computer for several minutes now and I'm sitting up, not leaning forward with all my weight on my arms, and yes, folks, that's progress. Sadly. Anyway, I spent part of last night and more of today knitting on the couch while watching dvds of The Muppet Show, and the laughing hasn't even sent me off into major coughing fits. It's a miracle!

I decided that if I could sit up long enough, I could write about the Christmas presents that I knit this year, since I know you've been on pins and needles to see. I should apologize for the photos, which are not all great; the stress of the season, when I figured getting any picture was better than no picture. How my standards slip in December.

The type of item I mostly made was the cotton washcloth, given with various bars of soaps, from Apple Festival and the like. I made some that were patterns like pictures, and others that were textured. For instance, in texture, I made a couple like this (one for my mother and one for my grandmother):

Also one in black, for my brother.

He got another one, with a picture of a skull, obviously.

My Hawaii-loving aunt got a picture of a palm tree:

And she also got a different "textured" one, knit diagonally for a little variety. Like this:

It ends up square, of course. Or, you know, square-ish.

For my friend, a shaped flower one that would make a nice doily:

Or make two and sew together for a pillow cover, perhaps.

Then there was a different flower, another for grandma.

One more for my mother, and this one is an "oh, is that what that is" item that requires explanation, I'm afraid. Take a look:

Okay? Flip-flops. I know, you have to use your imagination. Or look at some of the projects in Ravelry, some of which seem more obvious than mine. No matter, she liked it.

I was getting pretty tired of knitting with cotton by the end there, and didn't make more even though there were a couple of other people I could have made one for (so if you want one, you can ask!). I did make one more last week, however; not a Christmas present, but a birthday present for MaryEllen. Cupcake with candle!

Beyond the washcloths, I knit up a couple of little things more for Mum. A snitch for my fellow Harry Potter fan:

A crab, not because she is crabby but in tribute to a crab we saw on vacation years ago, an enormous inflatable one over the roof of a restaurant:

And finally, another one that needs a little explaining. It's a heart, that much is clear. But if you look at the pattern photos, it's much clearer there that it says Mum.

 

In my case, I wanted to use the yarn left from the shawl I made her last Christmas, and it turns out there isn't enough distinction between the two for it to be clear. But she doesn't mind. Mothers are good that way.

I'm starting to wobble again, so I'm off to rest more. Another time, I'll get into other gifts given, and happy gifts received. It was indeed a Merry Christmas!

Vastly Unfair

I know that life is not fair. But two weeks of congestion/coughing/extreme tired, followed by going to the doctor, should not be followed by feeling worse. It isn't supposed to work that way.

Going to lie back down now.

A Pretty Pointless Question

I went out today and ran some errands; though I was only gone about four hours, I'm totally wiped out, plus Carlos is feeling all abandoned and wants attention (I'm getting more and more sure he could use some cat company, not desperately, the way Harold did after Pan died or Miri did after Harold died, but still, needing company). So, let me ask you a question, not an important one but just because I'm curious.

When I was visiting my mother, I watched her getting ready to go out and noticed that she put on one sock and shoe, then the other sock and shoe. I always put on both socks, then both shoes. Which way do you swing?

A) By foot, aka my mother's method: sock-shoe, sock-shoe
B) By item, aka my method: sock-sock, shoe-shoe
C) Other (please explain)

Bonus question: If you bought an item that said on the packaging,

"Should last a lifetime."

What would you think about that?

Yes, Sargent!

I thought about blogging, and found myself thinking, "No, I just don't have anything in me right now," and then had to laugh at myself because I sure do have something in me right now: snot! Sorry, but the congestion rages on, and I am dragging. I was able to go to a museum with friends today because someone else drove and all I had to do was let myself be toted along, and I enjoyed it a great deal but I am wiped out. Boy, I thought I normally didn't have a lot of energy, but this is low.

Still, if you have a chance to get to the MFA and see the Sargent exhibition, I do recommend it, and it's there for two more weeks. It was super-crowded today, but such amazing paintings. So here you are, some crappy* photos of amazing paintings.
*I couldn't even get straight on to some of them. Crowded.

They also had a few Brits in there for some reason, and I quite liked this Ruskin.

And not forgetting the Chihuly in the courtyard.

And that truly is all I have. Good night!