Lalala…

I can’t begin to thank everyone that commented, emailed & IM’d me after my last post. I wanted to let you all know that I’m well and the bruises and aches have all faded away. We’ve settled with the other driver’s insurance company on the Beetle and I’m still waiting on information on my medical settlement. The Beetle is completely totaled. I’m glad I thought to yank parts while I cleared out my personal belongings.

A new Beetle will be joining the family this weekend. It’s going to be a bit of an adjustment going from Sundown Orange to Platinum Gray, I must say. The husband scoured the country looking for another Orange Beetle for me, but the same factors that made me love the car (seldom seen color, turbo, black leather) made it nearly impossible to replace. We found one similar car in Nevada, but didn’t want to take the risk of going all the way out there to find something was misrepresented by the private seller.

Beetle v.2, a Turbo S, was located at a dealership in Missouri. I’m trying to remind myself that I initially wanted a Turbo S, with its higher horsepower, 6-speed manual transmission and body kit. In the end wanting Orange won out. In tribute to v.1, I’m going to put orange racing stripes on the car. I’m also contemplating which interior panels could be painted orange. In a sudden eBay fit, I bought a new flower for my bud vase. I have a white plush flower, but I can’t see myself putting it in the next Beetle. I’d seen the orange one before on a German site for 24 Euros. I love my car, but even I’m not that crazy.

My hand/eye coordination seems to be back, so I’ve picked up my knitting and playing with clay once again. There were a few incidents (red silk blouse plus load of mostly white shirts & one sweater, managing to spill a cup of coffee in the space between the counter & fridge by misjudging the location of the counter, near catastrophe with a batch of peanut butter cookies right out of the oven) during and after my Vicodin haze that convinced me to just sit still and not try to do anything. Nothing crazy has happened in the past few days and I even figured out how to put the Litter Locker together that my sister sent me without doing damage to it or myself.

This is how she packed the box, btw. It’s some random 70/30 Turkish acrylic and wool. I hear her cats “helped” pack. I wound three balls of yarn before admitting to myself that I would never knit with it.

It was cold enough over the weekend that I did some knitting. I even finished Ariann. She currently blocking in the spare room. I’ll try to remember to take a few photos when I get home. Also, one Pomowhatsit down, one to go. Oh, and I’d meant to post this pre-accident and it slipped my mind. I found a very squishy package in my mailbox from Stitch DC. The culprit could only be one person. Once I blow through some merino I picked up a couple weeks ago at Knitch, I’ll head right to this.

Incidentally, Rebecca, I have found the perfect umbrella for us.

There are some who say that the Lady Fortune
has a wheel, and all men are fixed upon it.
The wheel turns, and the men rise, or fall,
with the turning of the wheel.*

I’m very happy to say that I start work at a brand-spanking new place is Tuesday. I mentioned in a post at the beginning of the year that I thought this year would be an interesting ride, and thus far, I seem to be correct. I received a call out of the blue Monday from someone with whom I worked at a previous job. The office manager at the jobsite where he works is leaving at the end of the month and he thought the position was something I could fill. He’d gotten my number from my old boss (“my old boss” always refers to the wonderful woman who gave me my first “real job” as a receptionist in a corporate office, not the most recent boss) and didn’t even know I was in dire need of a job; he simply recalled that he’d enjoyed working with me years ago.

I emailed him my resume, which he forwarded to his boss. I got a call from the boss bright an early the next morning and set up an interview for the following day. I left the interview with a promise that a decision would be made by the end of the week as I was the third person to interview for the position. Two hours later, he called offering me the position.

I spent Thursday and Friday filling out an application and providing additional information for a background check. Even though the dress code is casual since the “office” is a series of trailers just off a construction site, I picked up a couple pairs of slacks and several shirts. After all, I’m nearly 30 years old. As much as I like my jeans and t-shirts, perhaps it’s time to update to a more adult wardrobe.

I am crediting all of you and your positive vibes in helping me stay upbeat through this whole process. I wasn’t really happy in the last job and I believe this will be a much better fit. I’ll be working at Georgia Tech campus, which amuses me to no end. When I went for the interview, it took all I had not to park in one of the ungated, permit only lots like I used to as a freshman on campus. I remembered at the last minute that I had legitimate business on campus and I could stand to pay the couple dollars to park in the visitor lot.

Can I tell you the best part about working on campus? Junior’s Grill. I have been craving Junior’s chicken tenders basket for ages, but it’s nearly impossible to park on campus. I’m pretty sure I ate way too many meals at Junior’s, but I’m willing to hike into the heart of campus from the office for those chicken tenders and spicy fries. That’s right, I’m thanking all of you for Junior’s! It’s a good thing I’ll have to walk halfway across campus and back again to do so. I’m sure the exercise will be good for me.

Why yes, that is knitting! It’s even Project Spectrum blue. I’ve also been working on Ariann. By “working” I mean that I’ve been ignoring it for stretches at a time, followed by fevered all day knitting sessions. One sleeve and the body up to the sleeve join is complete. The color of the yarn isn’t even remotely close, btw.

I’ve knit a row at a time, days apart on the second sleeve. I just kinda carry it upstairs and downstairs, telling myself that I’ll pick it up if it’s always around. The color on this one is much better.

There was an incident with some kool-aid, a crockpot and half of the merino/silk fiber I picked up at Distaff Day last month. Then I tried really, really hard to force myself to spin a thicker yarn. This is unbelievable soft and sproingy.

Then I had some funds in PayPal burning a hole in my pocket. Something about use it within 30 days or we’re taking it back. Oh, I used it. Etsy can be a dangerous place.

*This is from an absolutely wonderful book I read growing up called On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia Voigt. The previous book in this Kingdom series, Jackaroo, was similarly stunning. I didn’t know she’d written two more books in the series, but I’ll be sure to give them both a read.

One thing was often repeated by the relatives while I was in Mississippi a couple weeks ago, “you look just like your mother.” I turned to my sisters and they agreed with the chorus. I turned to my husband and he said I looked more Asian than my sisters. I examined a picture taken of us during the repast. What do you think?

The people behind us in the photo, as well as these people…

and these people…

these, too, along with more in the hallway and those that did not come to the repast. Yeah, they’re all family.

In knitting news, there has been knitting. I started a Pomowhatsit from the Blackberry Lorna’s Laces (thanks, Jennifer!) in early December and was on track to finish the first sock after a week of sporadic knitting. Then I realized I hadn’t shifted a set of stitches five rows back. I promptly shoved the sock into my bag and ignored it, never mind that I could have a finished pair of socks by now if I’d just ripped back when I discovered the mistake.

See it? I don’t either, but I promise it’s there. Half a foot and the toe left to knit and I’ve stalled out.

So of course I needed a different project. I stopped in at Whole Nine Yarns after Christmas and picked up seven skeins of a dark green heathered Cascade 220. Ariann and I are having the best time together!

Then I got an email saying the entire store was on sale New Year’s Eve and I cursed myself for having bought the yarn when I could’ve gotten it for 25% off. Then I went to the sale and there wasn’t a single skein of this color to be found and I stopped cursing. I bought 14oz of combed Alpaca With a Twist Handspinner’s Dream in natural and black at 25% off instead.