Things I'm thankful for...

It's come to my attention that these days, it's hard to find something to *not* complain about. Our jobs stink, our paychecks are even stinkier--even the traffic due to construction at 11:40 pm on the way home from work. But there are things, sometimes little things, that keep me going. A random list follows:

1. Yarn/knitting. This never fails to calm me. There's nothing like turning the heel on a sock to make you feel like you've accomplished something.

2. I may not live at home anymore, or even in the same state, but I swear, even at 27 years old, nothing beats a hug from my mom. Maybe because those hugs are further and far between now, I have come to relish them more.

3. Making breakfast with future hubby. To balance out all of the meals I make, he makes breakfast for me sometimes on the weekend. He's in charge of the eggs and I make the coffee. Nothing to me is sweeter than smelling coffee brewing and seeing my sweetheart flipping my omelet.

4. Waking up and seeing the trees outside the window blowing in the breeze. I roll over onto future hubby's side of the bed where it smells like him (in a good way, of course, like his speedstick and pert shampoo) and watch the sun shine in.

5. Making dinner for people. I cook for future hubby a lot, but we've had people over for dinner three times now, and I love having everything in the meal come together and nourish people I love.


These things all make the tough stuff worth it.

Local Swap!

Where for art thou, Jersey Purl?

Alas, I am a Jersey Purl no longer! So many things have happened since my last post it's incredible, and write of all of them would make this incredibly long. Possibly epic. So instead, here comes a list:

1. I'm engaged to Boyfriend. So I guess his name is technically Fiancee now. Or Future Hubby.

2. I got a promotion! Yay for medical insurance!

3. I moved to New York! This is the most recent change; Future Hubby and I have been living together for just about two months now. While we spent a lot of time together before the move, actually LIVING in the same space is proving to be trying at times. We're both incredibly stubborn people who have been used to living on their own for several years, so deciding whose cups and plates get used and whose get put in the attic (yes, attic! In our apartment!) has been an ongoing battle.

In knitting news:
Precious little, lately.

However, for Christmas, nearly everyone received knitted gifts! My mother got a pair of socks, my brother finally got the scarf I'd promised him years ago, and my future sisters-in-law got neckwarmers. Even future hubby received a scarf for his birthday at the beginning of December. It wasn't easy trying to meet the deadlines of the holiday (I believe my mom got one sock on Christmas, and the other by mid-January), but I do believe it was easier on my wallet. And everyone was super thrilled by their handmade gifts (which definitely makes it a possibility that I'll knit for everyone again). Right now I'm working on a pair of socks for Future Hubby that have been a WIP for quite some time now. I'm trying to make a dent in the stash though, since the NY Sheep & Wool Festival is only four months away. I'm unbelievably lucky to have found a man who doesn't mind coming along for the ride while I buy yarn and such.

Okay, I'm off to relax a little before I've got to get ready to work. I believe a little sock knitting and past episodes of Cook Yourself Thin are in order.

Favorite Things Swap Package Received!

Holy Crap. I just participated in my first swap and the person who had me is a crafty genius. I can't believe the beautiful stuff I got! Amazing! She made the bowl, the doilie, the origami, the card and bookmark...B.E.A. YOOTIFUL! Yarn to make a hat, candles, rocks from Arizona and Brazil, tea, bodywash and lip balm, candy...So amazing. I tore into the package (tied up with string!) like it was Christmas in October. Since we're nearing the season of thanks, I just want to give thanks for sarah for caring enough about a total stranger to put together an amazing package that meshed both of our favorite things. You're awesome!

RHINEBECK!

This is the sight that Boyfriend and I walked into when we passed through the front gates of Rhinebeck. Had I actually taken the time to see him from the front, I'd have seen a little joey peeking out of his pouch. But no. I was in much too much of a hurry to buy yarn! And buy I did.

Boyfriend and I happened upon a stall where the colors were vivid and eyecatching, the colors blending with each other and I just knew I had to have some of them. The ones above and below are from www.creativelydyed.com, and let me tell you, this woman has a following. I had no idea until I came home and checked out her website; all I knew was that these colors were amazing and that I HADTOHAVETHEM for socks. I'm so proud of myself. I bought stuff that I loved and thought was beautiful--turns out it's kind of famous.

And these two below are for Boyfriend. He picked out the colors that he liked, and I, for some reason, bought two hanks. Maybe he'll get thigh high socks. Or two pair. Or one pair of socks and a hat. Well. We'll see.

And this...oh, my, and this. This is my favorite. I saw this and I had to have it, price be damned. She was coming home with me, dang it, she had to. It's from Great Adirondack and it's got some bamboo in there, which is why you see a little of the sheen happening. It's absolutely gorgeous, and it's going to be a pair of fingerless mitts and a neckwarmer. It's going to be the first thing I cast on for myself after holiday knitting has been completed. If that's not the carrot on the end of the stick that'll get me to finish holiday kntting, I don't know what is.

These are the buttons that Boyfriend spied. "Hon," he said, holding one out in the palm of his hand, "Doesn't this match the yarn you've got a death grip on?" And by golly friends, he was right. The picture doesn't do them justice; when you moved them they change color, to just about every color in that hank from Great Adironack up there. Now honestly. If a man can pick out buttons to match your yarn...you KNOW he's a keeper (Not that I didn't know before.)

Lastly, the mate to my finished sock is in the heel gusset stage. We're in the homestretch after a couple of whoopsies (thank goodness for Lisa at www.theyarngirl.com) and I can't wait to wear them! I think I love knitting socks a little, and when I get more proficient, it's bound to get quicker, and therefore, I will have tons of socks.

Dudes. Knitting rocks.

blargh...

Spectacularly little knitting going on lately. Between work and school I'm finding that I want any of my free time to go to sleeping instead of knitting, or you know, shaving my legs. I wholeheartedly want to cast on the mate for the sock I already knit, but I know I have such little time that I've been devoting what time I can to the holiday knitting I've already got on the needles. *Sigh*

I'm also wickedly ill. I came down with a cold Sunday night and managed to make it through work yesterday but today was a different story. Once I woke up and started moving around I got so incredibly nauseous I spent a good amount of time hugging the toilet. I feel bad about calling out of a job that I just started working at about a month ago, but what can you do? I didn't think vomiting over all the books in the store would be a good career move. Plus the thought of driving to work while dizzy and sweating didn't sound like a fun experience.

So I'm here, in one of my semi-lucid moments (thanks Dayquil! And mom, who brought tissues and chicken soup to a girl in need!) drinking tea and trying to not feel so guilty for being sick. Ironic, isn't it, since I didn't exactly have a say in the matter...

Alliance Ghost Hunters

Okay, get over your shock at having two posts in one day. This is important enough to warrant it:

http://www.southbergenite.com/NC/0/1719.html

It's an article on my brother's most recent investigation into the paranormal. He's the founder and lead investigator of Alliance Ghost Hunters (of which I'm an occasional investigator-in-training). It's an awesome article with an awesome slideshow to boot. Check it out. And if you're looking for someone to investigate some paranormal schtuff happening in the tri-state area, check out his website:

http://www.allianceghosthunters.com/


And it's pro bono, so there's nothing to worry about on your part.