16 Random Things

December 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Rebecca tagged me with her 16 random things. The deal is, you write 16 random things about yourself, and then tag 16 friends to do the same. Unfortunately, the aforementioned Rebecca, is one of the people I would normally tag first with such a task.

  1. My earliest gymnastics memory is of Mary Lou Retton hitting her perfect 10 on vault at the 1984 Olympics.  That Christmas I - and everyone else on my gymnastics team - got a Mary Lou leotard. You know, the one with the stars on one shoulder and the stripes on the rest of it? I think that was the only 3/4 sleeve leo I ever owned.
  2. I only see doctors I really like, and I’ll drive a long way to get to them if necessary. I figure if they aren’t going to listen to me, or they consistently diagnose the wrong condition (a la House without the almost dying part) they aren’t worth my time or money. Some of the pickiest people I know have asked me for MD references, and as far as I know, no-one has been disappointed yet.
  3. I hold a first degree black belt in Tang Soo Do (that’s TONG SOO DOH) and I regret every day that I’m not still training. I miss my fellow students and the training and sense of community within a school, but I try to live my life by the basic eastern principles that are taught with traditional martial arts. Some day I hope I’ll find the right place to train again.
  4. When I started college, my major was pre-med. I changed it to computer science after I took my second programming class. I have no idea what possessed me to take a second programming class because I hated the first one so much. Some Most days, I wish I hadn’t switched.
  5. Over the years I’ve tried about every craft or art out there. Sewing, quilting, painting, writing, throwing pottery, collaging, crochet, cross-stitch and finally knitting. I think knitting is “the one”. I enjoy it more than any of the others, but I still dabble often. And I’d still love to take a class in large scale metal sculpture.
  6. I am falling apart. I’ve ruined tendons in both ankles, had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and now there is something unknown going on with my shoulder.
  7. I wish I lived on Castaway Cay — only with out the hummingbird sized mosquitoes at night.
  8. I have an enormous capacity to forgive wrongs against me, but will hold a grudge forever against those who hurt my loved ones.
  9. In my junior year of high school I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Until the diagnosis - and sometimes even after - my teachers and counselors insisted to my mother that I was on drugs. My grades fell drastically and I dropped from the top 10% of my class to the bottom half.
  10. I love my house so much that I never want to move.
  11. On the last day of my senior year in high school, my English teacher told me that I am the most sorry excuse for a human being she had ever met. I left the classroom because I didn’t believe I had to sit around and be treated like that. But a cop in the hallway stopped me. When I told him what had happened and that I was going to the office, he pulled my teacher from the classroom to confirm my story, and she ADMITTED it was true. What a dumb ass!
  12. I dream about staircases to nowhere on a regular basis. These dreams are often so terrifying that I wake shaken for the rest of the day.
  13. I went to college out of state, and I’m still paying for it.
  14. The older I get, the more I look like my mother. I found a picture at my aunt’s house a few years ago. It took a second for me to realize that it was of me at about 1 yo sitting on my mother’s knees and not me holding my daughter.
  15. I totally can’t work a fax machine.
  16. I met my husband on America Online. He was chatting with me about how to break up with the jerk I was seeing at the time.

What I Do At Work…

December 4, 2008 | 1 Comment

Yesterday Chris and I had this conversation… I had considered writing based on the conversation, but it is just so damn funny as is. And before people start bitching about goofing off at work, John told us to yesdterday. In a meeting. With slides and everything.

Names have been changed to protect the innocent gift recipients

me: godI could so easily spend $75 on yarn to get free shippingno comment?Chris: nope, I understand how that worksme: :)wellI put the fawn in the cart  then went looking for kid friendly machine washable wool…found it$10/skein… 1 skein per kidChris: cool me: so that’s like 35 bucksbut then… I started lamenting giving my new petting yarn awayeven though I bought it for xxxxxxxChris: there is a blog in here somewhereme: oh godyou’re rightexcept your mom reads itso the question iscan I justify spending $44 on yarn that I will likely just pet?Chris: in the long run….  it’s cheaper than a cat me: LMAO  that is so greatI just want you to tell me to buy it even though I was bitching about money this morningChris: thank you, I’ll be here all week, enjoy the buffetbuy it even though you were bitching about money this morningme: hehdid you cut and paste?;)Chris: pretty muchhighlighted and draggedme: I’ll probably kick myself on 1/1… but I can pet my new cat and feel betterChris: definitely a blog in thisme: good thing google auto saves these conversations

Why would anyone choose to vote on paper instead of the computer? If it’s simply an “I-don’t-trust-those-computers” thing, then I have news for them.

1) If the government was going to screw with your computer votes, they could just as easily mess with the paper ones.

2) The paper ballots are scanned BY A COMPUTER. So essentially, you’re just creating more work for someone by voting on paper.

If there is some other reason, please let me know, because I’m completely baffled.

Socks!

January 3, 2008 | 4 Comments

socks2.jpg

I did it! I finished my first pair of socks. Well, my first adult sized pair. Two at once is definitely the way to go for big people socks. No second sock syndrome. It didn’t really even take me that long. Maybe a week or so?

socks3.jpgAnyway, they are far from perfect. There are so many accidentally picked up stitches that I later had to “decrease out”, so the stitch rows are all a bit off. And the short row heel has a bit of a hole on one side on both socks. I guess I didn’t pick up enough stitches there? Still, I really like them. I’m wearing them right now, in fact. So soft and snuggly on my always cold feet. You can’t see it, but I finished them off with a pretty long 4×3 ribbing on the cuff (cuz I have an odd number of stitches foot size).

booties2.jpg And check out the cute little tiny socks I made for a friends (upcoming) baby. I swear they are sooo teeny. I think I cast on a total of 20 stiches - on size 1 needles no less!! I based the size on Alexis’ newborn foot print, so I hope they aren’t too big for the new baby. I can’t stop playing with them. They’re only as long as my index finger (which is small to begin with). I love making them walk and dance. I know, I’m a giant dork. But they’re so cute!

For those of you interested in such things, the yarn is two balls of Knit Picks Felici Arugala and I used two circular needles (also from knit picks). I had plenty left over even after the baby booties.

And, like Susan, I’ve been sucked in once again. After much looking I found a single ball of Regia Cotton Surf 5410. Why does no one have that? I have looked EVERYWHERE, and you know where I finally found it? On Etsy, of course. I hope I don’t hate it. I’m not very fond of cotton yarns, but this one is mostly wool, so I’m hopeful.

How am I supposed to get any real work completed when there is so much slacking off that must be done? I mean, hell, there is shopping to do, forums and email to be read, and (most importantly) blogs to write. Dammit, there is even bubble wrap that must be popped. And don’t forget the on-line crosswords, jigsaw puzzles and - who’s the genius that implemented this? - sudoku. I also need to chat with my friends and Stumble! some. By the way, if you’re not stumbling, then you have no idea how to waste time.

As my co-workers will tell you, there are always cards to be played. One of our key requirements for new hires is that they can shuffle large decks of cards quickly.

The lunch wheel must be spun NOW. Eew, no not that place spin again! No, again! Deciding where to go for lunch can take a good half hour. And after lunch we’re heading over to the bookstore for some research - on novels and comics and craft magazines.

I must checkout the kitchen to make sure there is no new free candy or something. I need to get countless bottles of water and cups of coffee. I need to stand around the brewing coffee pot and shoot the shit with my friends. Oh and now I have to pee 20 times in a day because of all the coffee and water I just drank.

I’m sorry that I fell asleep in that meeting last week. I forgot my laptop so I could hide behind it and plan my next 5 vacations. It takes serious scheduling to get 5 weeks of vacation out of the 3 weeks I’m given. Now that’s time management!

I’ve got phone calls to make, evites to check, appointments to schedule and errands to run. There are TV shows to review, video games to play, parties to plan, and websites to write. And someone should really solve that Rubik’s cube, it’s been sitting unfinished for a couple of hours now.

Don’t go on vacation, because then I’ll have to deface your cube in some way, and that takes planning. Do you know how long it takes to collect enough post-it notes to cover your entire workspace? Coming up with an original idea is just too much work, better to just google it and steal someone else’s prank.

Whew, I’m tired. I think tomorrow I’ll work from home.

* If you’re my boss and you’re reading this. It’s all a joke. Really. Besides, don’t you have a meeting to go to or something?

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