No, Really: Mumps in the NHL

Have you heard that the mumps are going around the NHL? Strangely enough, it's true. Apparently in the US last year, there were 584 cases, but so far about 13* players in the NHL have it, a number that now includes Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who looked like this on Friday as he said that, no, he didn't have the mumps, he wouldn't be practicing if he had the mumps, come on.
*According to the Globe and Mail today, anyway.

Sunday the team announced that he in fact has the mumps. Okay then.

Now, the exact math escapes me, but if 584 out of 317,292,487* people get a disease, and 13 out of ~500** people get that disease, well, it's against the odds, isn't it?
*US population at the end of 2013
**30 teams, 20 players on each roster; even with changes, it wouldn't be over, say, 650.

Math people, help me out. Am I right?

2014, Q1 Review

While I don't quite have the time or energy to do a full month-by-month blog-year-in-review, I thought it would be interesting to do some looking back at the past year, and see what I remember and what I'd forgotten. As I get ready to leave in just over a week for Christmas in Florida, it's fun to look back at last year's visit, anyway! And since I wrote that summary on New Year's Day, it counts.

Other January notes:

• I came back with that bad cold or whatever it was, so I was still dragging when I went to the MFA for the Sargent exhibition.
• I wrote more than once about how I was sure Carlos needed cat company. It's a little disturbing for me to read, knowing how rocky the year has been in that respect. Not quite like yelling "don't go in there" at the movie screen, but along those lines.
• There was the day we had the mouse in the office, ew.
• A really cute cat video!
• Also unnerving to read about applying for jobs I know I won't get, but it made me smile to read how I was hoping to have two W2 forms when I do my taxes for this year, "the one from this job and one from the new better job I will get this year!"
• I knit a shawl for Grandma, and was pleased with how it came out.
• Brought home a cat! (Guess what? It didn't work out for us. Sigh.)

And February:

• To quote myself, "If 2014 is The Year the Migraines Weren't a Big Thing for Me Anymore, that would be so amazingly awesome, words fail me." And it's been pretty close to it, really; at least, Much Less of a Big Thing. I just looked at the numbers: in 2012, I had 31 terrible-headache days; in 2013, I had 18; to this point in 2014, I've had 6. JUST SIX! ... Words really do fail me.
• The (old) job finally gave me a laptop, so I could work from home during storms. Of which we had so, so many.
• Winter, and the lingering cough I'd had since Christmas, were getting me seriously down.
• I had hopes for the cat integration. (Guess what? It still isn't going to work out. Sigh. Too bad, he was a cutie.)
• I went on a spirit-lifting mission to the greenhouse, to remember non-winter. Oh, the color!
• I realized that with the company laptop, I could work from home ... any home ... my mother's home ... Florida, here I come!

March!

• I am really, really hoping that this coming winter does not hit me like last winter did. Or I may in fact have to move to Florida sooner than later.
• I decided that I was going to have to give the new cat back. Still sorry about that, though it was for the best. Especially for Carlos.
• In a break from the relentless winter-and-job complaining, I had a great time yarn crawling!
• And by complaining about winter, I mean things like this:

...30 with a brisk wind on Sunday, if by brisk you understand I mean, "Step outside and you will lose all feeling in your face, as well as your will to live."

• I went to Florida, yay!
• And came home to the baby, and that was March.

It only gets better, I think. We'll see how Q2 goes.

Phew, Friday

It really has been quite a week for me; how about you? I'm not sure if it's because of adding Christmas things to everyday life things, or whether I may actually be fighting off a bug, too. The only "symptom" I have, other than being so tired, is some congestion and a little sneezing, which could just be related to dry winter air ... it's hard to be sure. It was dispiriting to be so super-tired yesterday, after 10 hours of sleep; today wasn't actually quite that bad. Weekend should help, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A random thought:
Why is it that when I get into work on a Monday, I can hardly remember what I did on Friday, and yet, when I read the name Milton Packer, it made me think of Milton Bradley, which made me think of Parker Brothers, and suddenly the commercial for the board game Bonkers, which I adored in about the 5th grade, is running through my mind, word for word? How can I remember that, but not where I parked, or what I had for dinner last night?

Leftover pizza, by the way. But you know what I mean.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been wrapping Christmas presents tonight, though rather than the usual Christmas carols, I was listening to an audiobook instead. (I love the audiobook of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, and keep borrowing it from the library; if the Overdrive app could talk, it would be saying, "Seriously? Again? Don't you have this memorized by now?")(The answer to that is, only here and there.)(Ahem.) All the things I've ordered have come (except for cards, which I delayed deciding on*, but they're on their way), and it's time to get things in the mail already--there are almost two weeks to the holiday, but I leave in just over a week, so time to get it done. Which is the fun kind of work.
*Should I or shouldn't I? I like sending cards, but I haven't the last couple of years, it was just Too Much. Decided to compromise and do photo cards this year. I'll show you when they come.

When I say "all the things I've ordered," I mostly mean presents for others, but a few things for me slipped in. It's hard not to, isn't it? Here's what really tripped me up: I get catalogs and emails and notifications from all sorts of companies that make things I like, and just like everyone else, they have sales at Christmastime. So I'm browsing online for others and whoops, 30% off, that's such a great deal, how can I resist that? Or I'm ordering something from Amazon and, to get the free shipping, I throw in a book I've been wanting for myself. It's an easy trap to fall into. No wonder I usually have to tighten the fiscal belt in January. And I found out this week that my condo fee is going up next year, too. Lovely.

Well, let's not get too depressed tonight. I have some photos to take tomorrow, when I'll get to see daylight and maybe even sunlight again (not only is there work during the week, but it's been cloudy all week, often raining or snowing, and I miss the glowing thing in the sky). Pictures! Yarny things! Yay!

And no alarm going off in the morning, almost better. Ahhhh...

Funny, or Heartwarming?

I offer you both! In the spirit of hockey, since the Bruins are playing tonight after 4 days off. In fact, with last week's late games, I've been able to watch about three games in the last few weeks, which is Not Enough. (And of course tonight, even after 10 hours of sleep last night, I'm still tired enough that I'll probably listen to the third period on the radio, from bed. But still.)

For the funny, remember the goalies who did the leapfrogging recently? Well, one of them, Julius Hudacek, did the Macarena with some fans on the ice after his latest win:



Ever think you'd see that? Me either. (Oh, you did not.) Also, how about those adds all over his uniform, even on the rear end?

For heartwarming, here's one of those "talk to your soldier husband from overseas, oh wait, actually he's here" moments.



Gets me every time!

What. A. Week.

I woke up around 3:30 this morning to go to the bathroom, nothing unusual there. I had a very slight headache and upset stomach, nothing that notable ... except I couldn't get back to sleep. Could. Not. And those few hours of sleep time? I needed them.

Plus today I had a 4-hour meeting/class/conference call/thing, and it killed the brain cells I had left.

Which means that it's 7:15 and my brain is ticking with fatigue. If I'm to hit my goal of being in bed by 8, I have to get going. So here's something completely random for your amusement.



I like that the cat is smart enough to figure out how to make the water come out, but then doesn't understand why there's water running down the front of the machine...

Don't Burst My Bubble

Tired tonight. So tired. Watch this (as seen on the Juniper Moon Farm blog). Made me smile.



You too? (If not, don't feel you have to tell me. 'Tis the season to be fragile.)

Ugh, Monday

I stayed up too late last night (10:30, ooh, rebellious), and as a result had a dragging kind of day. It didn't help that I had one of these moments this morning:

I know, I know, it isn't even "winter" yet! But, hey, do you really want to call 18 degrees and snow flurries "fall"? I don't, because that makes me feel like I hate fall, and I don't, not the morning chill but trees changing and sun and crunchy leaves image that fall likes to project. Damned trickster.

Anyway, good night, all. May tomorrow be better.

Trying to Avoid Facing Sunday Night

Last night, while watching the Bruins game (which they won! holy cow! As Stanley Cup of Chowder wrote on Facebook, "Wait, what does it mean when the Bruins have more goals than the other team at the end? Has that ever happened before?" Exactly), I realized I hadn't gotten on the exercise bike yet. I didn't really want to (not that I ever do), but I looked at the calendar and saw that I'd only done it four days that week.

Now, I never said I'd do it every day (that's asking to fail), but I've been doing really well lately, five and six and seven days a week. The last time I "only" did four days in a week was the week I went to the conference and basically walked my legs off. I didn't want this week to be below that, so I got on the bike. And hey, it was as hateful as always, but I was really proud of myself for doing it anyway. Plus I got past the cuff of the second sock. Yes, I finished the first sock of this pair in about a month, by far the fastest I've done on the bike. Woohoo!

I'm now looking Sunday night in the face, with the usual amount of pleasure at so doing. Time to think of happy things. Like, little tree!

Hooray for the little tree. I will be ornamenting it, yes, but for tonight I'm just happy to have it.

Another happy thing: I just caught a glimpse of the full moon, ooh. It's pretty damned cold out, but I'm in now and it's nice to look at.

I did go out earlier, to have coffee and knit with friends, and look what one of them gave me!

Mmmm, pretty. (My own gifting is not quite ready, and although I'm not knitting for anyone I am doing something that I couldn't show you yet anyway, but I look forward to showing you some things, after they're given.)

I got a new phone! Not a smart phone, but a slightly less dumb phone. Touch screen, even!

I switched from Verizon to AT&T, getting slightly more at the same price as Verizon. And the people at the AT&T store were so much nicer than the VZ people, it's amazing.

Time to go off and finish my weekend, doing some of this and some more of that, and eating and biking at all. Here's hoping we have a good week, every one.

Saturday Night, and the Weekend's Flying

After a three-day weekend, two work days, and a five-day weekend, I found this very a propos today:

It's been a good-busy day, but still, I feel the pressure of time upon me. So much yet to do! Yet, while I wait for the last of the laundry to finish, I'm knitting a hat for the charity tree at the library, and watching Christmas specials. A girl can only do so much laundry, dishes, errands, and tasks in a day. Though I have a little seasonal task that I'm also working on (shh, it's a secret).

Speaking of seasonally appropriateness, I got a little tree today, a tabletop size according to Whole Foods; I'll take its picture for you tomorrow.

Later I'll be watching the Bruins game, nervously. Will they manage to win one game on their road trip? Last chance! And while I stand by my statement of the other day regarding the Bruins (i.e., you must score goals if you are to win hockey games), unfortunately the Bruins showed that it isn't always that simple, losing Thursday night 7-4. Good news: they scored four goals! Bad news: they allowed 7. Sigh. I hope they win for me tonight. Yes, for me. It is all about me.

Isn't it?

Hockey, and How?

Two thoughts for tonight.

First, here's something the Bruins need to realize, as they head into the third game of their western road trip tonight: no matter how well you play, if you do not score, you will lose. Every time.

Second ... how does this work? How?

As the Boing Boing page was headed, "Physics, or sorcery?"

Instead of Here

I've been knitting: started a new sock last night, after I got to the toe of second sock of the last pair while waiting for the doctor's appointment. Had a "good" long meeting today, plus the wait for the chiropractor, and bang!

I've been knitting: I started the cast-on for the sweater. May not even finish casting on tonight, but starting feels good.

And I'm going to be knitting: after being off the bike the last two days, it's time to get back on. Cramps are only an excuse when you have them...and I want to finish that sock, as well as the purse ones. Better get going, time passes and I need sleep tonight, too!

I Won't Let Me Get Started

If I start writing tonight, it's going to be grinchy and grouchy, what with the cold and the cramps and the late Bruins games this week (and they lost last night, to add insult to injury; it should make me feel better about not seeing it, but somehow it doesn't), so instead I'm going to do a little sharing and linking, and then go eat chocolate and knit.

First, amusing and possibly covetous for knitters, today the Yarn Harlot put up the first of her annual gift ideas post. I don't even want everything she lists, but I enjoy the opening note, which starts out, "Dear Non-knittter who loves a Knitter". I'd be lying if I said that the needle sorter/storer isn't very cool, though, and I've favorited the Etsy shop that sells the nice interchangeable cases, for future window shopping. Fun reading overall.

If you don't agree, no judging here. May I offer you some hockey amusement, specifically goalies leapfrogging? Don't mind if I do. Via Puck Daddy, of course.



You're welcome.

Finally, I saw this on Facebook tonight and just loved it (I only wish the image was more clear, but click on it to see it bigger). If only everyone would! Down with offensensitivity.

Happy merry to you!

...Oh, Monday

Last night wasn't quite as bad, in terms of end-of-weekend-regret, as the end of a regular weekend, although there was a fair amount of I-didn't, I-meant-to, oh-wait-I-have-to going on. I did two bouts on the bike instead of three, but I got the week's pills sorted out, and my lunch for today put together (I'm still at the leftovers, yum! stage), and finished the dishes--I normally run the dishwasher about once a week, and running it three times in less than that, and still having lots of hand dishes, well, enough already.

This morning was always going to be rough, the Monday morning after all that time off, but it really outdid itself. First, after I woke up around 3:30 to use the bathroom, I couldn't get back to sleep for a long time due to awful cramps*. I even got up and read for a while to try to distract myself from all the sleep I was missing. Lovely/not.
*I called the doctor's office today to make an appointment; this has to stop. Pill fail. I'm going in tomorrow. We'll see.

Then, when I did get back to sleep, I had weird, vivid dreams, like one where I was trying to see the cats because Carlos was actually standing up to Belmont's hissing, except I congratulated Pan instead, and then I saw three cats so I was trying to turn the light on to see who they were, but the lamp was a strobe instead, and finally I saw three ocelot kittens (cubs?) ... I mean, weird.

And then, while I was showering, I heard a series of thump-bang-smash noises, and the picture that had been on the wall fell into the shower (hello, adrenaline rush!), and it turned out that on the way down it had hit the wall shelf I had under it, just so, knocking it off and sending everything on it cascading onto the floor. At first glance, I didn't lose any of the important jewelry, and I think I'll be able to glue the broken pieces back on the bowl, but mercy, what a start to the day.

Mind you, someone I talked to today had an even worse Monday than I did, so, you know, everything's relative. And there were lots of pretty Christmas lights up tonight. But overall, I'm ready to crawl into bed now.

Truth.

Yes, I Have Been ... What's That Word? Knitting!

It get dark so early this time of year, which is annoying in many ways, but particularly when you think of taking pictures of something too late to get good light. It makes a good excuse, anyway, for what are pretty crappy pictures. For I have knit many things recently, and I want to tell you of them, crappy photos to the contrary notwithstanding!

Socks are a given: one in the purse, one on the bike. The bike sock is nearing the toe:

And so is the purse sock, though that one is the second of the pair, meaning that soon it will be time to choose The Next Yarn.

What will it be? Decisions, decisions.

I did get a picture in daylight of the little cashmere scarf I'm working on:

It's delightfully soft, but I have to pay just enough attention to the pattern that it doesn't make good social knitting, so it's stayed home. Where, this weekend, it got put aside for the wedding-present blanket, upon which progress is being made.

I know it doesn't look exciting yet, but I'm happy with it so far. Trust me.

I've also swatched for the sweater I want to make for myself (the I-haven't-knit-a-sweater-since-the-Bruins-won-the-Cup sweater), and I like the fabric I got, so I'm going to cast on with the same size. Some time.

Then there are the 2-in-1 socks, which are getting near the point where I have to decide when it's time to start the toe, too. I'll get more pictures of those before I cast off, since when that's done, they will transform from cool, magical knitting trick into socks that probably won't fit all that well. With this pair in particular, the magic is in the doing, not the being done. Which is okay by me.

We Agree

A quick follow-up to say that if you think I'm the only one who was bothered by the Friday Bruins game not being a matinee, Jack Edwards would like you to know that's not true (via Puck Daddy).



So there. (I'm not certain the video is going to show up; if it doesn't show for you, click the link to find it.)

The Bruins managed to win last night in overtime, but it wasn't much of a game. And now they go on the road for their west coast trip, meaning the games start so late (eastern time) that I won't see another game until next Saturday. Urgh. I hope they straighten themselves out in that time. And don't get the mumps.

No, that's not a joke, that's a real thing in the NHL lately. Three or four teams so far. Crazy, right?

Running Some Thanks By You

From Sandra Boynton's Facebook page, yesterday:

Right?

There was a moment mid-day today when I realized that I'd been off work for two and a half days, and there was another two and a half days before I have to go back to work. What a treat! Add that to the list of things to be thankful for.

And that's a long list.

• I'm thankful for "basic" things like food and a roof over my head and heat and power. 
• And speaking of food, I'm especially thankful for Thanksgiving reruns today. Turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and angel salad! (I wish I'd thought to buy cider, though. I may have to go out tomorrow for that.)
• For friends and family and no big losses this year. 
• Also for a better job than this time last year, my goodness. 
• For enough money to pay the bills and still buy some treats. Yarn and books and chocolate keep a girl sane. Or closer to sane, anyway.
• For time to knit. And read. And watch hockey.
• For two cats who aren't friends but can at least live in the same house without fur flying. And who purr, at least separately.
• For not having to do any shopping today, other than for cat food and litter (and for a PetSmart store that isn't in a crazy parking lot, so that I *could* go today without going crazy).
• Even for in-building laundry machines! (I have to go fold towels soon.)

And much more. It wouldn't be me if I didn't have some complaints, of course. Winter's barely started and I hate it so, so much. I had to clean snow off my car yesterday and again today, and I get all hot under my coat while my face flash-freezes, and wow, get ready for some complaining this winter. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

But today, that's only a passing thought. Like my bitterness at the NHL for allowing NBC to bully them out of the Bruins having their traditional day-after-Thanksgiving matinee (so that all eyes would be on the Rangers game that NBC showed this afternoon; my eyes were elsewhere, so there). They play tonight, and if they win I will forget the grave insult.

Go, Bruins! Go, thankfulness!

Bonus! "Snow" Day

At work on Tuesday, we were told that the office would close at 1:30 Wednesday for the holiday, which sounded nice to me! Last night, as I was on the exercise bike*, my phone rang, and it was the boss's exec calling to let me know that because of the incoming storm (which was forecast to be rain in the morning but turn to snow midday), the boss decided to close the office for the day. Surprise!
*I like to think it was a karmic reward for exercising.

The storm, by the way, has been mostly sleet here so far. It was rain until maybe two before switching over, but by the map I've been right on the snow-sleet line ever since. Who knows what will happen overnight.

So instead of getting to bed early, and going to work half a day, I stayed up late, slept late, and have had a pretty damn good day. I did some lazing around, some getting-things-done, and now the angel salad is done and in the fridge, most of the dishes are done, and I need to do the rest, plus more biking  (albeit gently, as I have a sore muscle in my leg that I don't want to exacerbate) and who knows what else. I watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special on the iPad while I made the angel salad, so I don't have to suffer through the commercials tonight, and it leaves me free as a bird. Off to be thankful! I've put this one up before, I know, but anyway.

(Not one of my cats, but it reminds me so much of Harold...)

A Few Notes and Videos Before I'm Biking

When I bought my little condo (back in 2006, ahem), I noticed a plaque on the front of the building announcing that it was built in 1745* and thought, "Wow, I should check with the library or historical society and see what they can tell me about it."
*Which is super-old in the US. Pre-Revolutionary War!

And, almost 8 years to the day since I moved, I finally did! Thanks, Mary Ellen! It's pretty hilarious stuff: when I tell you that the form says it's an "altered Queen Anne" style, all I want to add is, if this is altered, you could say that dynamite alters what it ignites. I look forward to studying the papers at leisure. Mum, I'll bring it along at Christmas so you can see.

In other news, someone shared this awesome story on Facebook of Neil deGrasse Tyson answering a question from a 6-year-old:



And someone posted one of those quizzes, this one what's your 70s anthem. I was a kid in the 70s, but I have some fond music memories, so I tried it. I'm not dissatisfied with my result (who could be unhappy with Bohemian Rhapsody?), but I was secretly hoping to get December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).



The video is (delightfully) campy, but for whatever reason or none at all, I love this song (be glad you can't hear me as I sing along). Do you have any songs like that, ones that aren't your style and you just can't explain your love of?

Put your head on my shoulder...

You no get up now.

Quick Words on Wegmans, the Weekend, and the Bike

Quick note: Melissa asked if Wegmans really wasn't that crowded, and I know, I'm surprised, too. But I felt that it was, although busy, not crazy-busy. I was there late morning, and wouldn't even have guessed it was the week before Thanksgiving, let alone that it was a new Wegmans. It was busy, sure, but not nuts. The cashier was ... clearly new, but it was fine. Two thumbs up. I doubt I'll go again before January, what with Christmas and all, but if I could go during the day on a weekday, I probably would. In the new year, I expect to be able to go on weekends without needing a cold compress afterward, and if that's true, it will be my regular stop for groceries.

My weekend has been a good one overall. I didn't get everything done, but I did a fair bit, plus a fair bit of sitting, reading, petting cats, and all that. Plus lots of sleep! And no big headaches either, whew. So while I'm never happy to have a weekend end, the end of a long one facing a short week is fairly painless.

I need to go get on the bike, as that's one thing I haven't done today (30 minutes Friday, 31 yesterday, must keep rolling), so I'll be off to do that. The sock that I started on the 10th is at the heel turn already.

I'm proud of that. I never, ever feel physically better after exercising, as I understand some people do, but having sock progress to look at helps. And not feeling that rush makes even more proud of myself when I do it anyway. Go, me.

Ahhh, Bonus Weekend Day

I'll have to take Fridays off once in a while: it's a great feeling, after a day of getting some extra sleep and getting a few things done, plus cat snorgling, to have another two whole days of weekend to come.

I'm making a list of things I want to get done, as if I don't write them down, they evaporate when I try to remember later. Oh, the kitchen table is messy enough to be seen from space, I'm not going to forget that! But it's good to have a list so I can assess which thing I feel like doing most, at the given moment.

One of the things I got done was a doctor's appointment, the latest follow-up on my blood pressure. Want to hear something crazy? The latest medicine seems to be helping! Isn't that nuts? Only the third one we've tried. We'll see how it is in six months; it's nice to have that long to not think about it.

Another thing I got done was grocery shopping (necessary pre-angel salad, of course), and it was only exciting because it was at Wegmans. They opened a store in Burlington about a month ago, well within the distance I'm willing to go for them*, and I'd said I would wait for the frenzy to die down before going, and go in January. But given the opportunity to go on a weekday, during the day, I decided to chance it. It was good (I mean, it's still grocery shopping, it's not like it's ever fun-fun, but everything's relative, and for grocery shopping it's great), and even better? It turns out they built a two-story parking area, meaning that in winter, one can park in the lower lever and not have to deal with the snow! This is very exciting, though today it was only cold, not precipitationing in any way, thank god. (So cold, though, around freezing and then a substantial wind chill.)
*As opposed to Northborough, which is a solid hour away plus traffic, too far for regular visits. Unfortunately.

So I got those and some other errands done, quite satisfying, even if I did strike out at LL Bean. The fleece-flannel shirts I wanted to see were nice enough, but I didn't love them enough for that price, and they do have a pajama-shirt look about them, which isn't ideal. Then the lined jeans just illustrated what's wrong with clothes sizing. I took off the pair of jeans I was wearing, size 18 in another brand, and couldn't zip the size 20 Bean jeans. So I put them back and looked around, and found a pair of cords on the clearance rack in size 22W (I'm guessing it was a mail-order return, since I didn't see plus sizes anywhere in the store). And they were much, much too big. So not only are the sizes between brands not similar, but even within Bean they vary widely. Crazy.

I got home after the doctor in plenty of time to make scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner, yum, and the Bruins game, though up and down, finally ended in a (stupid shootout) win for my guys, so it's a good end to a good day. Even if my legs and rear do hurt from half an hour on the bike. The bike sock is at the heel flap already: I'll try to think about that part instead.

There, 2000 Words

What a week! I finally made it to the end (since I worked Sunday), and am so relieved to think of sleeping in tomorrow. I have a few things I plan to get done, but sleeping is job one.

In lieu of comprehensible content, I have two pictures to share from today. The first is to show you Belmont's new hangout spot in the living room.

Guess where the heating vent in the living room is? Yes, behind the couch. You can't see it in the picture, of course. She's a small cat, but she spreads.

The funny thing is that the vent isn't even open all the way, but apparently it's warm enough to be appealing (this wasn't so amusing the other morning, when she threw up back there; that was a challenge to clean up). She isn't always back there, but frequently. In fact, I think she was there when I got home: usually she's underfoot and yowling for food as I come in, before I have the door closed behind me, but tonight it was a solid 1-2 minutes before she ambled out.

The other picture is from a book I'm reading, a lightweight but quite entertaining mystery. I generally find it super-annoying when I find someone's corrections in a library book, but this made me laugh out loud.

We all have our things, don't we, our areas where we hate to see mistakes? And someone just couldn't stand it that this "error" (which I wouldn't have known was an error, but I guess you don't nail in a bracket?) made it into print.

People are funny, aren't they? Have you ever found a funny correction in a library book? Or wanted to correct one yourself?

Not Blogging, Knitting

Tonight I did that pesky "living life before blogging about it" thing and went to my other knitting group, meaning I got in late and am trying to do All The Things before getting to bed at a decent hour. So, yeah. Bye!

Zzzz, or Brrrr, or Wait, What?

I continue to be confused about what the day of the week is; I work one Sunday and I'm all thrown off. This morning, I read about a player who would not be available for Tuesday's Bruins game, and drew a blank as to when that was going to be, before I realized, that's tonight! (Brad Marchand, who according to the coach was not injured "per se" in Saturday's game, is apparently uninjured in a way that prevents him from playing tonight. Interesting.)

Somehow it was harder to get up today than yesterday, though, and it doesn't seem like a coincidence that I saw this on Facebook this morning.

I was also more sore and achy than I was yesterday. It's not like I did a ton of standing or walking Monday, so I don't know why that got worse. Aging, man. Full of fun. Still, I wasn't quite as dead-tired at work today as I was yesterday, when I thought I would nod off mid-afternoon.

In addition to the day confusion, I have season confusion, as no matter what the calendar says, today is winter. No, fortunately not like a lot of places are getting now (wall of snow, really, Buffalo? Be sure to scroll down and look at all the pictures there), but it is C-O-L-D COLD out there, with the bitterness of wind chill factor that I haven't yet felt this season. I didn't miss it.

In other words, I may not wait for Santa: I think I'm going to need this shirt from LL Bean before then. I can't imagine why Bean is advertising a fleece-lined flannel shirt on my Facebook page, can you? I may also need some fleece-lined jeans ... time to shop, I think. Not tonight, but soon. Brrrrr.

So, so tired

I am so tired.

This has been me, all day.

I much prefer a regular schedule, finding that it is less of a rut and more of a scaffold for me in getting through life. For this reason, it is disconcerting to start Monday after having worked Sunday: it throws me off. I'm already looking forward to being off Friday, and having a long weekend to help make up for it.

(And then next week is a 3-day week before Thanksgiving. You'll never hear me complain about long weekends, for all my love of routine, but I know December will be hard to adjust to!)

I did my first bit on the bike, and am off to do the second (the seat hurts my rear so much, I can't do more than 10-15 minutes at a time, but I can do it twice with a break in between). I wish all this exercise did me some measurable good ... other than the socks. Thank god for the socks.

Never Did I Think

My day at the conference went fine, more or less; I had some camera battery issues, but overall I got what I went to get, so it will do.

And hey, I never expected my career to bring me to a point where I would be wearing something like this:

Black and gold, even! How about that? Too bad it's not to the Bruins...

I'm not quite as dead on my feet as I was after the other conference day I had, but I am tired, and I need to eat, so that's it for now. See you soon!

The Baby, and Sock Progress

"You think I don't know whose picture keeps showing up on Facebook?"

"Not mine, is it? Unless you're making fun of me. For caring."

"Fine. Whatever." Sigh...

It feels later than it is; I'm still not used to what the time change does to sunlit hours, and dwindling light before 4 PM is disconcerting. But it means I have some time left this evening, and I am done with the laundry at last (and kind of never want to walk up stairs again, but today at least, I don't have to), and the Bruins managed to win this afternoon too.

I even managed to finish the purse sock, since I realized this morning that it was close enough to make it less than helpful for tomorrow, when I'll have knitting time between sessions that I'd rather not spend trying to find a place to try on a sock and see if it's time to start the toe. This is where it was this morning:

And now that one's done and the next is started, ready for the purse. (The yarn is one of the ones I got in San Francisco, Annapurna from A Verb For Keeping Warm, and it feels very cushy; I look forward to wearing it.)

I also photographed two pairs of finished socks, as I finished the last purse socks and the last bike socks almost simultaneously. It was funny, to be feeling like I just turned a heel as I turned a heel. Mind you, I started the purse socks on September 28, and the bike socks on May 20, so it's only at the end that they synchronized. (And mind you too, the first pair of socks I knit on the bike took me 9.5 months, and the second pair, 9 months, so 7.5 is better, and I will expect pair four to be better still.)

Purse pair, in Glamour Gams from Bittersweet Woolery:

And bike pair, in Fleece Artist's Somoko:

What I found really interesting is that, although they are similarly sized, they took very different amounts of yarn. I always weigh them, to keep track of how much yarn I have left, and they took 67 and 92 grams, respectively. Big difference! Can't wait to see how differently they wear.

And, yes, I started new bike socks, since I can hardly ride the bike without knitting. As if!

The yarn is Classica, by Mad Color Fiber Arts, and it's maybe a bit darker than it looks here, black and red rather than red with darker bits. Bike knitting under the Ott light is a good way to work with dark yarns.

If I'm going to get on the bike tonight, after all those stairs, I want a little rest and stretch first, so pray excuse me. Have a happy weekend!

It Should Have Been ​Laundry Night

...but I don't feel like it. Tomorrow will have to be laundry day, though, as I am in fact going to the conference on Sunday, and as I did not get any laundry done last weekend.

The only thing I want to say about the Bruins games the last two nights is that I hope they don't play that way tomorrow. I may end up being glad to have to go downstairs on laundry duty.

I saw this on Facebook tonight:

Seriously. What?

TBT, But Not So Far Back

For this throwback Thursday, I thought I would look back not quite as far as I did last time: basically, to the early days of my having a digital camera. I threw a Hawaii picture up on Facebook, but you're getting Pan and Harold. Remember them? How long have you been reading this blog?

It surprises me that it still hurts to look at pictures of Pan. I loved Harold, too, but for some reason, it isn't as painful to look at pictures of him.

He was a cutie, and so sweet. But, my baby.

I miss him, hard. Time to go hug Carlos.

Say It With Me

A while back, in August, I turned off the word verification on this blog, and I immediately started getting spam comments, lots and lots of them. Blogger's spam filter caught them, but even so, I get comments emailed to me, so I would be getting these emails all day long.

From August, through September, and into October, spam. Most of them, amusingly, on the Amusement in Spam post I wrote in 2012 (as like attracts like, apparently spam attracts spam).

On October 21st, I received 46 spam comments, in fact, and then they stopped, boom, just like that.

And today, they started again, and I've received five so far. Weird, right?

I never read them all, not at that volume, but sometimes I would notice a particularly fun one, like the ones that, themselves riddled with errors, called me out for mythical mistakes of my own. Or the ones that were all oddly flowery, like this: "Tired of all the people running around with mishmash emblems of skulls and fire and wings."

Anyway, the topic makes me want to put up this:



Be sure to watch the credits.

How we're feeling around here

I went to the dentist this afternoon for the first half of a "deep cleaning" that I supposedly required, and now my face is sore. Since I already had a headache, it was not an ideal day (although there were workers in the office doing something involving periodic drilling, so I wasn't sorry to leave that early).

Carlos, as always, wants me to come to bed more or less as soon as I get home. Mmmrp?

And Belmont? She wants me back where I belong. This morning, she settled on my lap instead of her more usual position of "next to"--and was not pleased when I got up. "Work? What's that? How is it more important than my needs?"

Basically? We're all fine, but we all feel put upon.

On the other hand, the Bruins are winning after two periods. Here's hoping they can keep it up!

Well, You Know

The period pain was barely there today, but the head has been up and down. At times, it was hardly painful, while at others, I felt like the individual bones in my head were throbbing separately. I got some things done, including making dinner for the friend whose husband died last month; someone set up a site for friends to make dinner for her and the kids, a couple of times a week, just to help out, and I'm glad I was able to do it. I wish I hadn't had to do it through a headache, but it happens. I haven't had as many headaches in recent weeks, which is a good thing, but not one to be expected to last forever.

Right. Clearly coherence is beyond me. Look, go watch the video of the Bruins fist-bumping a little fan after warmups last week. It's very cute. Hockey players rule, man. They are awesome.

Early to Bed

Today hasn't been anything like as bad as yesterday, fortunately, though I have been limp as a rag, needing frequent rests between bouts of very minor accomplishment. And now I'm getting ready for bed. But around this time last night, I looked up from my book* and realized I didn't feel terrible-horrible, so that's good.
*The benefit to feeling awful from cramps, versus feeling awful from headache, is being able to read through it.

Unfortunately, I did have to cancel plans with friends today, and I'd been much looking forward to seeing them. There was no denying that it wasn't a museum day for me, though. Even apart from the energy crisis, my calves still hurt from all the walking I did on Thursday. What a wimp! A mere three or four miles of walking and it flattens me for days...

Just Ugh

I feel like shit.

The cramps were so bad today that they were distracting*; this level of "discomfort" is the reason I went on the pill in the first place, back in the day, and the kind of pill I used to be on helped with that a lot.
*Seriously, with the amount of codeine I took in, I shouldn't have been doing Lamaze breathing through the day.

Now that I'm on the new pill (did I mention this? my GYN retired last year, and the new one wouldn't give me the same kind of pill, because of my age + migraines + blood pressure), it doesn't seem to help as much, plus the predictability (my second-favorite thing about being on the pill) has been lacking. On the old pill, my period started on day 25 or 26, no exceptions. In the three months I've been on the new pill, my period has started on day 26, 29, and 23. This is not acceptable.

Please excuse me now; I have a "hot" date with a heating pad. Urgh...

Oh, My Feet .... and everything

I didn't get home from the conference until 7:15. It was a good day, but so much walking. My feet hurt, my hips hurt, my legs hurt ... oh, and I have cramps, because mother nature's timing sucks as always.

When I got home, I collapsed on the couch, then decided that I had to put my feet up for a bit. Belmont was very confused by this.

What's going on here?

Why are there legs here? This is my spot.

Finally, we compromised.

And eventually my stomach got me up. But it was fun while it lasted.

But Not Tonight*

I would think twice about going into detail about the meeting I had today anyway, given my preference for avoiding topics that could lead to trouble at work (no one I currently work with knows my blog, but I like to keep it in mind as a general rule), but in fact I have yarn to wind and things to do tonight to get ready for going into Boston tomorrow, plus the Bruins game is on soon, (no it isn't...wake up, ccr) oh, and I kind of want to eat, and, well, there we are. I'm here to say I'm not here.

Because the good news about that meeting is that I finished knitting my sock before it was over**, and it was the second sock of the pair, so I have a toe to finish and to cast on a new one for tomorrow. And as long as I'm getting out the swift and ball-winder, my bike sock is at the toe, so I might as well wind the yarn for the next pair of that at the same time. Photos to come soon, hopefully, but for now, good night!

*I got in the car after the chiropractor and Depeche Mode was playing on the radio, which is a rare thing. Not this song, actually, but it seems to have put it in my mind.

**I looked around the meeting, and saw two people on their laptops, four on phones, one brainstorming her novel (she's doing NaNoWriMo), and me knitting, as we all listened to the speaker in California. Funny world, isn't it?

Yeah, Yeah, I Voted

Sigh. I know, civic duty and the price of freedom and the power of democracy and all that. All I can say is that it left me feeling like "at least that's over" rather than anything more positive. Like this, from Facebook:

Actually, one positive is that the calls will stop, the ads will stop, the flyers will stop coming. Government can settle down and figure out what it's doing, hopefully. And I get a break from all that nonsense. The Bruins games have even had ads--and some were for New Hampshire races! I'll be glad to get back to the usual, equally stupid but not political, ads tonight.

One of my colleagues was all excited about the process. She wore her democracy outfit (a blue dress with red on it, and red belt and shoes and lipstick), and had someone take her I-voted picture. I don't know, I'm not saying she shouldn't be excited, but I'm not saying I should be, either. I look at it like the flu shot: something I should do, and I did. Done. Hopefully the voting won't leave a painful aftereffect like the flu shot did. (Yeah, my arm is still sore.)

 Unrelated, but also good to share: a realistic map showing how the oh-my-god-ebola-panic actually relates to Africa (thank you, Boing Boing).

Be sure to click on it and make it big enough to read the small print: it's worth it.

Random Thoughts as They Bounce Around My Head

It will take a while to get used to it being dark when I leave work now. I do hate being jerked around by Daylight Saving Time. And that jogger I saw, the one wearing all black? Clearly had a death wish. Sir? It's dark, plus the drivers aren't used to it being dark at this time. Don't be an idiot.

Didn't go to stitch and bitch tonight, as several regulars couldn't make it (plus, you know, it's dark)(have I mentioned that it's dark?). I'll have to pick up knitting at home, though. Given that it's over a year since I finished knitting something for myself that wasn't socks, I think it's time for some me knitting that way.

I would just like to say that when I bike tonight, it will be the 12th of the last 14 days that I have done so. Go, me! I am patting myself on the back, all right.

Though not with my right arm. I got my flu shot on Saturday, and my arm was tender by that evening, and a little red the next day, neither of which surprised me. I am a little surprised that it's still red and tender now, though. Not worse, and I feel fine, and I'll call them if it gets worse, but still, go away already. By Thursday, for sure: I'm going into Boston for a work thing, and the last thing I need is to worry about getting jostled on the T. I dislike the T enough without that.

Despite the T, I'm looking forward to going in: it's a good opportunity to learn more about the process of what we do. It's the part I don't do, and will likely never (or almost never) do, but I'm interested in it, and I'm going in with someone who knows what she's doing, so I should learn a lot.

The Dalai Lama was in Boston this week, leading to a very odd photo juxtaposition:

...He's a Bruins fan? Really?

I did not expect that.

Dark, and Light

I hate how dark it gets, so early, after the time change in the fall. I think that's the majority opinion, don't you? I did work with a woman once who claimed to like it, because she felt freed of the feeling that dark meant the evening was done: if it was dark as she left work, she still had the whole evening ahead of her. Or something like that; I don't claim to understand the reasoning. And this weekend, when the weather has been largely filthy, having it dark already is just insult added to injury.

Not that it's been a bad weekend other than the weather. I've gotten a fair bit done, and had some nice relaxing time, too. It's just never enough. Still, on the plus side, I have my plane tickets to Florida for Christmas, which is exciting to look forward to. Although it's coming up alarmingly fast: I'm leaving the Sunday before Christmas, and that's seven weeks from today. Lord! It seems impossible.

I wanted to share a nice flash mob variant that I was sent today. I love Tchaikovsky anyway, so for music students to flash-mob to it, at a hospital, just charms me. Bringing light into the world.



I particularly like the man who was still looking at his newspaper, but was conducting along with the music.

A Step Forward

How many times have I written here about wanting to get my home office/craft room organized? I don't even want to know; though a glance shows me talking about getting rid of the futon last December, so this is overdue. But the futon is gone today (I put it on Craigslist midweek, and a woman came and took it apart and got it in her SUV, along with her 6-month-old daughter, she was pretty impressive actually).

The office feels much less crammed with the loveseat out of it, and now I have some thinking to do, to decide how to handle the space and my desires for it. Should I move the desk-I-don't-use-as-a-desk in, put the computer on that, and use this table for craft stuff? I had thought of getting a chair to sit on, and it's an appealing idea, but I'm not sure that's how I would actually use the room.

I'm going to take my vague ideas and the sketch of the floor plan in the living room, to ponder while I watch the rest of the game. Come on, Bruins! You can do it!

In separate news, Carlos turned out (unsurprisingly) not to be a fan of the lion's-mane wig/costume that a friend gave me (her puppy outgrew it a month before Halloween).

Why?

 Why you do this to me?

 You know my ears are sensitive.

 Seriously?

 I just don't believe you sometimes.