I find it hard to believe that my last blog post was in February. Work intruded and any kind of writing, even the fun stuff, felt like...well...work. So no blogging, and really, not much of anything else, except work. And that makes for a very boring blog.
However, the "all work and no play" aspect of my life is changing. I hired a technical writer at work, which will relieve me of a lot of the work I've been doing and given me time to focus on other aspects of my job. And after my husband and several friends threatened interventions, I will put boundaries around my work. I have to, to preserve my marriage, my friendships, and my health (multiple migraines a week are not fun).
So twice a week, I need to leave work early to come home and fix dinner. It will be, by necessity, simple: grilled fish and vegetables and a nice salad. Every other Thursday I leave a little early to teach a knitting class. And I will not work weekends unless it's critical.
Creativity
One thing that I realized is that it's absolutely critical to have a creative outlet in my life. Yes, knitting is creative, but when you think about it, it's still kind of a left brain activity (can you say "math"?). Even with my knitting, I could feel that I was getting stuck--paralyzed by color, afraid to try new things. The knitting was just too familiar. So when I read on the Squam blog that Alena Hennessy was teaching an online art workshop, I ignored the fear and plunged in. I haven't done any painting or drawing since I was in elementary school (and that was a very long time ago!). I bought the art supplied (india inks come in such pretty colors!) and anxiously waiting for the class to start. Once the class started, I was surprised to find that I like what I was creating. And the process of creating was liberating. I was wholly engaged in making art--time stopped, my concentration was focused, and everything just flowed. The workshop didn't focus only on creating art; Alena included breathing exercises, photography, and self-care (long hot baths, tea, flower essences). The students shared their work and writings on a private Facebook group and the support from the group was amazing. Some of the art created was stunning. I enjoyed the class so much that I signed up for the next Squam online art workshop Pages and Paint. That workshop is focused more on mixed media (Alena's class was sort of mixed media) and looks like it will be fun!
Knitting News
Despite the 60-hour weeks, I did manage to get some knitting in. I started a knit-along with my 11-year old niece in April. We're knitting Clapotis, and are using the same yarn base (different colors). It will be interesting to see how our Clapotis differ.
I'm still plodding along on the Elizabeth R shawl from the Shakespeare in Lace shawl club. I think I might have enough yarn for a 6th repeat (I'm on repeat 5 now, so am almost done).
I knit two Baby Surprise Jackets for co-workers. Amazingly, even though the babies were almost four months old by the time they got their jackets, the jackets fit! I wasn't sure, since I don't have any babies laying around the house to see if the fit was good. And two more coworkers are expecting babies to come into their families, so I get to knit two more BSJs. The BSJ is a fun knit.
So before it gets too late, I'm going to post this and start knitting Elizabeth R. In my next post, I'll blog about Spring Squam...there was Shetland lace, vintage patterns, wild garter stitch, bears, loons, owls, and more. It was awesome!
Happy knitting!
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Beach Bloggin'
This post comes to you from the beautiful Outer Banks, North Carolina, where we're spending a week with Tom's family, as we do every year. Our numbers are somewhat reduced this year--the three nephews aren't here and the two nieces didn't bring boyfriends. The days are spent on the beach, reading (or if it's too hot, inside reading), with much good food, good drink, and good conversation (assuming we aren't all engrossed in our books). My mother-in-law doesn't spend time on the beach, but she brought several puzzles and spends her day reading, putting together puzzles, and crocheting.
Sadly, I've been spending most of my days working. What starts as an innocent attempt to stay caught up on email ends up as almost a full work day. Yesterday was particularly bad, with the whole day spent tethered to my laptop. Today is better; I'm done with work until the afternoon (when I'll check email again and finish one small task for the production migration tonight).
Despite spending time working, I've made additional progress on the stealth project and Madeline's Cleite shawl is moving along (although it might move along faster with lace needles, which I've ordered). I'm on the first repeat of chart 2 and despite being off on the intial stitch count for the first row (which I handily fixed by increasing), it seems to be going well. I can see why lace can be addictive and find it oddly meditative (until I find that I'm not where I'm supposed to be and have to tink back). I think this pattern will make a beautiful wedding shawl.
That's it for now. Stay cool and happy knitting!
Sadly, I've been spending most of my days working. What starts as an innocent attempt to stay caught up on email ends up as almost a full work day. Yesterday was particularly bad, with the whole day spent tethered to my laptop. Today is better; I'm done with work until the afternoon (when I'll check email again and finish one small task for the production migration tonight).
Despite spending time working, I've made additional progress on the stealth project and Madeline's Cleite shawl is moving along (although it might move along faster with lace needles, which I've ordered). I'm on the first repeat of chart 2 and despite being off on the intial stitch count for the first row (which I handily fixed by increasing), it seems to be going well. I can see why lace can be addictive and find it oddly meditative (until I find that I'm not where I'm supposed to be and have to tink back). I think this pattern will make a beautiful wedding shawl.
That's it for now. Stay cool and happy knitting!
Friday, July 15, 2011
How'd It Get To Be July?
Well, it's been quite a while since I posted. I owe you all a Squam Art Workshops trip report (it was very cool, in more ways than one). I owe you some photos of finished objects, especially the Corinne sweater. One day I'll get all these things done.
Work is occupying a large amount of my time, although I'm working much less than I was earlier this year. But the writing and the emails continue and that makes writing and emailing outside of work feel like...well...work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is to sit down at a computer. So the blog suffers and my correspondence suffers.
But I do have some random bullet points for you!
And now I must spin a little Rambouillet so I can say that I did spin today. Today was the mountain stage of the Tour de France and the suggestion was for the spinners to spin something challenging. My challenge is simply to get to the wheel and spin!
Happy knitting!
Work is occupying a large amount of my time, although I'm working much less than I was earlier this year. But the writing and the emails continue and that makes writing and emailing outside of work feel like...well...work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is to sit down at a computer. So the blog suffers and my correspondence suffers.
But I do have some random bullet points for you!
- We have ants in the house, a lot of tiny ants
- At first we had only black ants; now we have some tiny pale red ants too
- EcoSmart, window cleaner, and vinegar and water are all effective ant killers
- But they don't keep the ants at bay
- It's highly annoying when they have the audacity to crawl on you and bite you
- Also, is it too much to ask that the dishwasher actually get dishes clean?
- Tom and I got it working better, but I still have to rinse the items on the top rack after the dishes are "clean."
- Grrrrr
- Bosco has turned into quite the hunter of shrews
- Shrews are beneficial to the garden
- Bosco is working hard at decimating the shrew population
- He likes to catch chipmunks, too
- Fortunately, we've been able to rescue the chipmunks
- We've started harvesting tomatoes, zucchini, and hot peppers from the garden
- Some critter takes a single bite out of each ripe tomato
- Grrrrr
- That's why we stopped growing tomatoes several years ago
- I joined the Tour de Fleece this year
- And I've actually been spinning every day (except one day when I forgot)
- I think I'm going to finish spinning 4 ounces of Rambouillet!
- It only took me four years
- Work on the large stealth project that will contain approximately two pounds of wool when it is finished continues apace
- I can't watch "Poirot" and knit at the same time
- Too much ripping back
- I love David Suchet as Poirot
And now I must spin a little Rambouillet so I can say that I did spin today. Today was the mountain stage of the Tour de France and the suggestion was for the spinners to spin something challenging. My challenge is simply to get to the wheel and spin!
Happy knitting!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Coming Up For Air
Work has been unbelievably...crazy. For the last several months, I feel like all I've done is work. And my investigations yesterday proved that it's true. It's been nine weeks since I've had an entire weekend off; I worked both days three of those weekends. I've averaged about 52.25 hours per week for the last 11 weeks. Now in the grand scheme of things, that's not too bad. I don't have to work that many hours in order to make a living wage. And there are people who work many more hours than I do. However, I'm at that point in my life where the rewards for working like that just aren't there.
But, I got the biggest part of the project I was working on out the door and am hoping it doesn't come boomeranging back to me for additional revisions. The revisions for the remainder of the design document should be relatively minor, if only because each appendix is well under 100 pages. I have about another week of solid work and everything should be done. It's been a long haul on this...many, many months of writing and revising. The original author did a fantastic job; the bones of the design are solid. It's a shame that the client is extremely particular about language and formatting.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and for once, I don't think it's a train.
As a result of work, I feel like my life is pretty much in a shambles: the dust buffalo herd is totally unmanageable, the cats have scimitars for claws, I've been packing on the pounds because I'm too tired/it's too dark/too cold/too wet to run, and the knitting is languishing. It's hard to believe that just over a year ago, I ran the Boston Marathon. Now I'm lucky if I can eke out an 11-minute mile over six miles. Or that two years ago, I was running ultra marathons. I need to knuckle down and get back to that level of fitness. But I'm tired/it's too dark/too cold/too wet to run. And soon it will be too sunny/too hot/too humid to run.
Another result of work is that I haven't taken any time off and all of my PTO is pretty much at the maximum accrual level (meaning that unless I take time off, I don't accrue any more)(which is so not right...working long hours for the good of the company and I get penalized because I can't take time off?!). But the vacations, they are a-coming (note the use of the plural).
First up is a two-day spinning workshop with Maggie Casey at Maryland Sheep and Wool (MDSW). In my younger days (like about almost 30 years ago(ack!)), I started spinning. I had this sweet little top whorl drop spindle made from a dowel, drawer pull and cup hook, and I spun my little heart out. A year or so later, I saved up my pennies (or most likely went further into debt; this was during those very lean post-college years) and bought an Ashford Traditional. I continued to spin my little heart out. But I was pretty much self-taught and only knew how to produce a rather tightly-spun worsted yarn. And as time passed, the spinning (and weaving; I wasn't knitting then) lapsed.
Over the last couple of years, I've been eyeing Judith MacKenzie-McCuin's class at MDSW, but it always seemed to fall at a bad time. So this year, I jumped at the chance to take the workshop (even though it wasn't Judith's class). It was touch and go for a while because they had too many registrants for the class. But I got in and I'm so excited! I'm hoping to take my spinning to new heights...er...lengths.
A couple of days after Maggie's class, I'll be driving down to North Carolina to spend a week at the beach with Tom's sister-in-law. That little trip will be pure bliss...beach, knitting, spinning, eating, talking. Right after I get back, Tom will run the Massanutten Mountain Trail Run, which is 100 miles of rocky, steep, gnarly trail. I had better be well-rested because I'll be pulling an all-nighter plus to support him during the run.
And if that wasn't enough, right after Memorial Day I'm driving up to New Hampshire to attend the Squam Art Workhops. Two classes by Cat Bordhi should pretty much do me in. In July, we've got a week at the beach with Tom's family. In August we're headed to Seattle for Tom to run another 100-mile race. And then in October we're at the beach again for my nephew's wedding. Whew! It will be busy but so much fun! And best of all, I won't be working.
I'll try to post again this weekend. I've got a couple of knitting projects that are getting started. I'm almost finished with the obligatory swatches (and amazingly enough, seem to have gotten gauge) and hopefully will be able to cast on this weekend.
Hey, I get a weekend...what a novel idea!
Happy knitting!
But, I got the biggest part of the project I was working on out the door and am hoping it doesn't come boomeranging back to me for additional revisions. The revisions for the remainder of the design document should be relatively minor, if only because each appendix is well under 100 pages. I have about another week of solid work and everything should be done. It's been a long haul on this...many, many months of writing and revising. The original author did a fantastic job; the bones of the design are solid. It's a shame that the client is extremely particular about language and formatting.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and for once, I don't think it's a train.
As a result of work, I feel like my life is pretty much in a shambles: the dust buffalo herd is totally unmanageable, the cats have scimitars for claws, I've been packing on the pounds because I'm too tired/it's too dark/too cold/too wet to run, and the knitting is languishing. It's hard to believe that just over a year ago, I ran the Boston Marathon. Now I'm lucky if I can eke out an 11-minute mile over six miles. Or that two years ago, I was running ultra marathons. I need to knuckle down and get back to that level of fitness. But I'm tired/it's too dark/too cold/too wet to run. And soon it will be too sunny/too hot/too humid to run.
Another result of work is that I haven't taken any time off and all of my PTO is pretty much at the maximum accrual level (meaning that unless I take time off, I don't accrue any more)(which is so not right...working long hours for the good of the company and I get penalized because I can't take time off?!). But the vacations, they are a-coming (note the use of the plural).
First up is a two-day spinning workshop with Maggie Casey at Maryland Sheep and Wool (MDSW). In my younger days (like about almost 30 years ago(ack!)), I started spinning. I had this sweet little top whorl drop spindle made from a dowel, drawer pull and cup hook, and I spun my little heart out. A year or so later, I saved up my pennies (or most likely went further into debt; this was during those very lean post-college years) and bought an Ashford Traditional. I continued to spin my little heart out. But I was pretty much self-taught and only knew how to produce a rather tightly-spun worsted yarn. And as time passed, the spinning (and weaving; I wasn't knitting then) lapsed.
Over the last couple of years, I've been eyeing Judith MacKenzie-McCuin's class at MDSW, but it always seemed to fall at a bad time. So this year, I jumped at the chance to take the workshop (even though it wasn't Judith's class). It was touch and go for a while because they had too many registrants for the class. But I got in and I'm so excited! I'm hoping to take my spinning to new heights...er...lengths.
A couple of days after Maggie's class, I'll be driving down to North Carolina to spend a week at the beach with Tom's sister-in-law. That little trip will be pure bliss...beach, knitting, spinning, eating, talking. Right after I get back, Tom will run the Massanutten Mountain Trail Run, which is 100 miles of rocky, steep, gnarly trail. I had better be well-rested because I'll be pulling an all-nighter plus to support him during the run.
And if that wasn't enough, right after Memorial Day I'm driving up to New Hampshire to attend the Squam Art Workhops. Two classes by Cat Bordhi should pretty much do me in. In July, we've got a week at the beach with Tom's family. In August we're headed to Seattle for Tom to run another 100-mile race. And then in October we're at the beach again for my nephew's wedding. Whew! It will be busy but so much fun! And best of all, I won't be working.
I'll try to post again this weekend. I've got a couple of knitting projects that are getting started. I'm almost finished with the obligatory swatches (and amazingly enough, seem to have gotten gauge) and hopefully will be able to cast on this weekend.
Hey, I get a weekend...what a novel idea!
Happy knitting!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Breaking Radio Silence
Well! I've been much quieter than I planned. My goal was to post a blog entry at least once a week this year. Clearly, I've not succeeded. I blame work and nothing but work (and my inability to do anything other than stare into space after I get home from work).
As they say, all work and no play makes Teri a dull girl. I've just started running again but missed my goal of running a 50K this weekend by a long shot (a 10K distance leaves me huffing and puffing, even at a slow pace). I've got a sock on the needles (a rather dull brown sock, with a streak of orange for excitement) and I can't seem to get past the heel. I'm ripping it out for the second time (the instructions ambiguously said to inc 1 after each decrease until there are 22 sts left; I should know better that if you decrease 1, then inc 1, you don't decrease). The "inc" mean "including". Sigh...
The herd of dust buffalo is impressive. I managed to cull the downstairs herd last weekend, but the upstairs herd is threatening to stampede if their territory is not increased. I simply must cull them next weekend.
There are bright spots. We've acquired some new gadgets recently (and not so recently). The big purchase in July (and one I forgot to blog about) was a new car: a Subaru Outback. The air conditioning in the Volvo was shot and given the heat this past summer, the commute, and the age of the car, we decided it was prudent to replace it. It found a good home with my step-niece. And even though I loved the Volvo, I really love the Outback. When it comes down to it, I'm a station-wagon kind of gal. It was the family car until all us kids were grown, My first two cars were (small) station wagons. The Volvo was my first (and only) sedan.
Other recent purchases include an iPhone (very cool, but it would be nice to combine the best of the Blackberry with the best of the iPhone), the new MacBook Pro, and an iPad. Tom uses the MacBook and iPad the most. What really surprised me about the iPhone was how much I would use the iBook and Kindle apps. I've been skeptical. I mean, how good can reading be on a little screen. The answer? Surprisingly good. What's best is that there are tons of free books out there by authors I love: P.G. Wodehouse, Edith Wharton, Jane Austen, Mark Twain. Plus I can sample other authors like Trollope, without having to buy the book (or make a trip to the library). Who knew?!
The final purchase was a new high efficiency washer. I'm in love. Seriously. This washer washes clothes like nobody's business. Old stains come right out. It uses very little water and very little soap. It's quiet. In short, it's amazing.
Maryland Sheep and Wool is fast approaching and I'm debating whether to take a spinning 101 class offered by Maggie Casey. I think I might. Immediately thereafter, I'll head down to the beach with my sister-in-law. And then a couple of weeks later, I'll be on my way to Vermont for the Squam Art Workshops, even though I'm sure that two classes with Cat Bordhi will make my head explode (in a good way, of course). A month later, another trip to the beach, followed by a trip to Washington state the following month for Tom to run a 100-mile race. And then at the end of October, we'll attend my nephew's wedding. And of course, there's work to contend with, which promises to be even more hectic than it is now. Whew!
I wonder if I'll be able to finish that single brown sock?
Happy knitting!
As they say, all work and no play makes Teri a dull girl. I've just started running again but missed my goal of running a 50K this weekend by a long shot (a 10K distance leaves me huffing and puffing, even at a slow pace). I've got a sock on the needles (a rather dull brown sock, with a streak of orange for excitement) and I can't seem to get past the heel. I'm ripping it out for the second time (the instructions ambiguously said to inc 1 after each decrease until there are 22 sts left; I should know better that if you decrease 1, then inc 1, you don't decrease). The "inc" mean "including". Sigh...
The herd of dust buffalo is impressive. I managed to cull the downstairs herd last weekend, but the upstairs herd is threatening to stampede if their territory is not increased. I simply must cull them next weekend.
There are bright spots. We've acquired some new gadgets recently (and not so recently). The big purchase in July (and one I forgot to blog about) was a new car: a Subaru Outback. The air conditioning in the Volvo was shot and given the heat this past summer, the commute, and the age of the car, we decided it was prudent to replace it. It found a good home with my step-niece. And even though I loved the Volvo, I really love the Outback. When it comes down to it, I'm a station-wagon kind of gal. It was the family car until all us kids were grown, My first two cars were (small) station wagons. The Volvo was my first (and only) sedan.
Other recent purchases include an iPhone (very cool, but it would be nice to combine the best of the Blackberry with the best of the iPhone), the new MacBook Pro, and an iPad. Tom uses the MacBook and iPad the most. What really surprised me about the iPhone was how much I would use the iBook and Kindle apps. I've been skeptical. I mean, how good can reading be on a little screen. The answer? Surprisingly good. What's best is that there are tons of free books out there by authors I love: P.G. Wodehouse, Edith Wharton, Jane Austen, Mark Twain. Plus I can sample other authors like Trollope, without having to buy the book (or make a trip to the library). Who knew?!
The final purchase was a new high efficiency washer. I'm in love. Seriously. This washer washes clothes like nobody's business. Old stains come right out. It uses very little water and very little soap. It's quiet. In short, it's amazing.
Maryland Sheep and Wool is fast approaching and I'm debating whether to take a spinning 101 class offered by Maggie Casey. I think I might. Immediately thereafter, I'll head down to the beach with my sister-in-law. And then a couple of weeks later, I'll be on my way to Vermont for the Squam Art Workshops, even though I'm sure that two classes with Cat Bordhi will make my head explode (in a good way, of course). A month later, another trip to the beach, followed by a trip to Washington state the following month for Tom to run a 100-mile race. And then at the end of October, we'll attend my nephew's wedding. And of course, there's work to contend with, which promises to be even more hectic than it is now. Whew!
I wonder if I'll be able to finish that single brown sock?
Happy knitting!
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