I can’t help but marvel at the fact that a person can make it through college (presumably with very good grades) and be admitted to medical school and STILL not understand the concept of flushing the toilet in a public restroom. I mean, aren’t these people supposed to be smart or something?
It’s just gross.
And now for something completely different . . . I have no knitting pictures to show, and you know what that means, right?
That’s right! Cat picture!
For a while now, Hub and I have been talking about how much fun it would be to hike and camp and stuff (once the weather gets cooler, of course) . . . and for our anniversary we went to REI and bought some badass hiking boots.
So, we’d talked about starting out with some short, easy hikes — something along the lines of “walks in the woods”, really. We have several state parks not too far away, so it seemed pretty do-able.
Then one of my coworkers mentioned Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, which I’d never been to . . . it’s a park right in the middle of suburbia, and I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. But we figured it might be worth a visit anyway, since it’s practically in our backyard.
We got up early on Saturday morning and grabbed some sunscreen and mosquito repellent and took off for Arbor Hills, not really knowing what to expect. I honestly thought it was going to be nothing but paved sidewalk winding through a big pasture, maybe with some trees here and there. Boy, was I ever wrong!!
There was a big paved trail, but it winds through three distinct ecoregions, and there were unpaved trails leading off the paved bits every so often. We of course took the unpaved routes, which wind through some very remote-feeling areas . . . it was easy to forget that we were in the middle of a residential area!
Hub on just one of the trails we followed
It got pretty hot early on, so I don’t think we explored the whole preserve, but I estimate we hiked about 4-5 miles, and a lot of it was up and down hills and some rocky areas. In some places, the plants on either side of the trail were taller than we are!
One of my favorite bits was when we came over a hill and saw a field of white . . . I’m not sure what kind of plants they were, but it looks like some sort of sage?
I got a couple of close-ups . . . Julia, can you help me out with identifying this?
My other favorite picture from the morning? This little green grasshopper guy, all camouflaged on his leaf:
We also saw a bunny, but only for a split second before he hopped away. Oh, and a big-ass spider in a perfect web (Hub took a picture, but it came out a bit fuzzy), but I don’t like to think too much about the spider — it squicks me out.
All in all, it was a great little walk in the woods! We saw a few people (runners mainly) on the trails, and even though it was hot and sticky, it was really fun. And nice to know that we can always go there for a quick hike!
. . . that I finished a couple weeks ago!
I alluded earlier to the fact that I made a deal with the devil traded the Purling Pirate some knitting services in exchange for a bunch of really nice yarn . . . the dratted Monkey socks in the last post are part of this bargain (a word of advice: never bargain with a pirate! 
).
I can’t remember if I mentioned the Anastasia socks I was making for her . . . it was that long between blog posts. In any case, this lovely Lorna’s Laces yarn started out as a Jaywalker, which didn’t fit her. So rip, rip, rip, and I switched to Anastasias. The first sock flew, and then I totally stalled out on the second one.
So, it is with great happiness (as well as extreme envy for the Pirate’s great taste in footwear) that I present . . .
Cotton Candy Pirate Feet!
The color in the photo is a bit off due to the lighting at Panera, but I think y’all get the idea — they’re PINK. And they go perfectly with her adorable kitty maryjanes, dontcha think?
(just for the record, it took all my willpower to not rip those shoes off her feet and run away quickly, claiming them as my own, my preciouses. well, willpower and the knowledge that she and I don’t have the same size feet.)
I used to maintain that “monkeys are always funny (except when they are flinging poo)”. But now? I know that statement to be untrue.
I didn’t even have a chance to take a picture of the monkey socks I was knitting before disaster struck . . .
Here’s how it went down: I started some Monkey socks out of some gorgeous Claudia’s Handpainted sock yarn to fulfill a deal with the devil yarn trade with the Purling Pirate. Size 1 addi turbos, etc, etc. Flew through the cuff, enjoying the pattern all the way . . . turned the heel, and was just beginning the gusset decreases, when I thought, “Hmmm, maybe I should try these on right quick — the cuff looks a little big, and I wouldn’t want it to be too baggy on P-la’s ankle”.
Oh, how appearances can be deceiving . . .
Apparently the lace pattern for the Monkey socks doesn’t have as much, um, ,horizontal give as one might think . . . as a matter of fact, the lace pattern isn’t very elastic at all, much like the Jaywalker socks. I had a VERY hard time getting the sock-in-progress on over my heel and instep onto my leg. Hmmmm.
So I put it on hold and waited for knitnight so that P-La could try it on for herself . . . I wouldn’t have been terribly surprised if were just my cankle or something getting in the way, and that it would fit her fine.
No.
Such.
Luck.
Just as I feared, it was a struggle for her to get the sock cuff on over her heel and instep.
And so I ripped. And ripped. And ripped some more, until I was left with a nice soft jumbly ball of Claudia’s yarn.
I didn’t cry, but I did curse a little bit.
I’m gonna try them again on one size bigger needle and see if that does the trick . . . and I’m gonna have P-La try them on BEFORE I turn the heel. And if they don’t fit the second time? Well, let’s just say that I might be visiting the Land of Stockinette Socks and swearing off the monkeys, no matter how amusing they are.
I’m with Kathy . . . that last template with the pink and blue and red and green was awful! Mainly it was just a placeholder for me to play with, and I think I have it semi-sorted. The new one is still pretty blah, but at least it’s not vomit-inducing!
Other than playing with the blog a bit, not a lot going on here . . . the job hunt continues (with a possibly good prospect that I’m not going to talk about lest I jinx it), and the current job continues to suck my very soul out through my left eye socket. Despite a raging case of short-timers bubbling just below the surface, I’ve been working hard and trying to not slack off (except for playing with the blog template — shhh!).
Knitting is happening, and I just turned the heel on a Monkey sock! No pictures yet, especially because I just developed the (very realistic) fear that it might not fit the recipient. I’m hoping to have access to her foot tonight (or at least a reasonable substitute) for trying-ons. I didn’t realize as I was knitting it that the leg part is not all that elastic (a la Jaywalker — do I really need to link that?), and may not fit over the heel effectively. Sigh.
Last week I finished the first sleeve of my Everyday Cardigan . . . it’s been a fight. I love the color, I dont’ mind the yarn (though it’s a bit splitty), and I really want the sweater that will hopefully result, but I have to admit that I really am not enjoying knitting it. No idea why, really (maybe it has something to do with that number of stitches in sportweight not-really-soft yarn). ANYway, last week at knitnight I bound off the first sleeve, shoved it unceremonially into the bottom of my knitting bag, and didn’t even bother to take a picture of it.
Here’s what it looked like last time it got the camera treatment:
I think I’m going to have to take Good Girl Purl‘s advice and just keep it next to the TV and knit on it whenever I’m watching a movie or something.
OK, it’s back to work with me!
Yesterday Anne asked for more cute kitty pictures . . .
I think I can manage it . . .
Miss Mardi was sooo cute the other day, lazing in a sunbeam while I was sitting at my desk . . . and unlike Abby, she seems to like the camera, and didn’t even squint at the flash!
I got nominated for a Rockin’ Girl Blogger, not once, but TWICE! Jen and Steph both nominated me, which is amazing, not because I’m not a girl (I am!) or not rockin’ (well . . .), but because I’ve been such a lazyass slacker of a blogger for the last six months!
Anyway, I’m thrilled and flattered, and I get a cute button, too!
Thanks, y’all! I think I’m supposed to nominate some other people for it . . . but I’ve seen it making the rounds a lot, so I’ll have to go and figure out which blogs I read that haven’t already gotten it! (again with the lazyass slacker thing — I’m way behind on this particular bandwagon)
Apparently when I hit “reset” in the previous post, I went a little to far . . .
I tried to get rid of one little thing on my sidebar, and somehow I broke the whole blog! I just spent almost an hour trying to fix it, which is pretty funny considering that I am NOT in any way or form a web designer, nor do I know more than very rudimentary html.
Anyway, my breaking the blog necessitated reinstalling a very rudimentary template, so please excuse the “blah” appearance . . . hopefully I will get it all fixed up soon!
EEP!
Sigh. I know, I’ve gone and done it again — neglect the blog. I dunno what is up with that — it seems like 2007 has been the year of nonblogging for me, and I really didn’t mean for it to be! It’s not like I’m that incredibly busy, or whanot. And I don’t want to shut the blog down or anything . . . it’s not that at all. Maybe it’s been so long that I can’t catch up or talk about all the things I’ve been up to without it taking me a month to put together a monster post with links and pictures and all that schtuff, and now it’s overwhelming and I don’t know where to start, yadda yadda yadda.
Maybe I just need to do a quick recap and then just sort of hit “reset” and get on with it, yeah? Yeah. So here’s what I’ve been up to lately, in list form, with no links, and not necessarily in chronological order. No need to complicate it any further, right? Some of these topics I may revisit later and expound upon, some not. So there.
Since I last blogged, I . . .
Read the new Harry Potter book.
Knitted some socks.
Started a sweater that might just suck the life out of me if I let it.
Joined Ravelry (I’m “skitter” if you wanna look me up)
Found out that my current job is ending in September (position being eliminated).
Went to a bunch of job interviews.
Drank quite a lot of wine.
Went to see some movies (Harry Potter 5, Stardust).
Had a flat tire.
Took the cats to the vet (Abby for a checkup, Mardi for a spay).
Incurred about three billion four hundred mosquito bites.
Swam in NanC and Matty’s pool.
Went to a kickass birthday party for my Knitter friend Aubyn.
Had a couple pedicures.
Ordered some new glasses off the internet.
Re-read some of my childhood favorite books.
. . . and that’s not all! But it’s all I can think of right now, so it’s all you get. Hah!
Okay, so now, here it is . . . get ready . . .
RESET!!!
(ah! now I can get back to more regular blogging of the minutiae of my daily life . . . )