Wishing All of You a Gentle Weekend

I am excited because after work today, I have a three-day weekend, and few things in life are better than that, at least at this moment.  As far as I know, the only thing I *have* to do is show up tomorrow for my haircut appt, so I have no plans and a million plans, if you know what I mean.

And I'm on board with that.  Lately, I'm feeling tired of the world.  Mostly because I find it tiring these days when everyone is worked up about everything.  When nothing and no one is good enough, active enough, smart enough, sincere enough, feminist enough, and on and on. 

I am of the firm belief that most people try their best most of the time.  That may be naive, but I truly do believe it.  It's hard enough to get up every day and face the universe.  Even people who seem to lead charmed lives still have something that is a struggle for them - maybe it's internal, or maybe they are just good at keeping it in the undertow.

In addition, everyone chooses their own battles to fight more intensely than others.  This is what seems to me to be what has been lost.  And you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.  For example, I have a close friend who works non-stop to prevent hunger.  She has decided that for her, that is the focus of her existence.  I admire her commitment, and I know that she sacrifices time with her family to help others.  And as far as I know, they understand and are OK with it.  Recently, she was asked by someone in her kids' school PTA group to run for office in the PTA, and she explained that she felt that would be overextending herself.  Now she is getting all kinds of blowback from other parents and some of the school faculty, asking why she cares more for strangers than her own children and their friends and their well-being.  Someone told her she "doesn't care enough" about kids at one of the PTA meetings.  She got up and explained her reasoning, and that she *does* care, but felt that her current efforts with the organization where she volunteers would suffer if she cut back on her time, and that would have a direct effect on those they try to help.  Apparently, she was then criticized and mocked for thinking she was "so incredibly important." 

And that is just one example of the kind of thing that is making me tired.  What business of anyone else is it if we decide that we prefer A to B?  Unless A is serial killing, and B is fighting for women's rights?  How is it up to others to decide how much we do, how much we care, if we are "enough"?  And if they don't like our explanation, why does that deserve to be criticized and mocked as well? 

I feel very strongly about certain things.  That doesn't mean I ignore everything else.  I will do whatever I can to stand up for what I think is right or wrong, I will defend others until the cows come home if I feel they are worth it (and I will defend the cows if they decide not to come home, if someone is mistreating them!).  Like everyone else, I have a certain amount of energy, certain things I have to do, and a certain number of hours in a day.  Unlike most people that I know, I have a very low tolerance level for double standards and crap.

So this weekend, other than getting my hair cut, I'm gonna be gentle with myself.  Because I'm tired, and I haven't done anything wrong.  My way is not your way, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong, or that I don't care.  And I hope that you will treat yourself gently as well.  Know that not only can we not be everything to everyone, but that it's fine.  Most people try their best most of the time.  If you are like most people, give yourself a break.  Smile and enjoy what you are lucky enough to have, for those around you that you care about.  Don't worry if you are "enough" of anything.  Just be.  Do.  Think.  Laugh.  Help.  Look.  Be gentle.

We deserve it.

Have a gentle weekend, my friends.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day (or rather, "Valentime's Day" as I called it as a kid), and always have.  It was always a fun day in our house - my parents would give us cards, and usually some kind of treat or little package.  It was always just a day to be happy and try to make someone feel better, rather than a day when you had to be part of a couple, or give elaborate gifts. 

The Tim and I have pretty much the same kind of observance, but with a birthday party added.  Four of our cats over the years had their birthdays on Valentine's Day - not that it was their actual birthday, as far as we knew, but based on what the vet would tell us when we went took them the first time, it seemed like they were born in February - so why not February 14???

Our only Valentine birthday kitty now is Pip, and he was quite pleased with himself this morning.  He'll likely have a good day, since The Tim is home today, so Pip can provide constant narration to the various happenings at home.  Then tonight all of the furballs will get treats, and Pip will get a catnip heart I found the other day (well, it will be *given* to him, I'm sure it will be community property pretty quickly).  The Tim and I will celebrate with birthday cake!  It's win-win for all of us.

Then there's only one more day of work until a long weekend for Presidents' Day.  Works for me. :-)

A True DUH Moment!

Hello all - finally, a morning with no precipitation on the walk to work!  And - there was even a bit of sun, so I've decided that's a good sign even if I have to be at work today.  I'm just tired of "wintry mix," and wish it would just make up its mind, I have no patience for indecisive weather.

Anyway, today is Unraveled Wednesday, and I have decided to play along, because I am of course reading, and I had a true DUH moment about knitting the other day.

My reading:

I have about 50 pages left, which should be done today at lunchtime.  It's not a long book, but since it's my lunchtime book it takes longer than it would otherwise.  I'm determined to finish it to see how/if things resolve.  Parts of it have been funny, but I think I don't "get" it, so I am not enjoying it as much as others have.  It has great reviews, so it might be one that just isn't quite for me.

Your mileage of course may vary.

Regarding knitting, still none - AT THIS POINT.  You may recall that my appt with the orthopedic surgeon a couple of weeks ago didn't happen due to an insurance mess.  At that appt I was planning to ask her if it was OK to start knitting again.  Well, the insurance issues will supposedly be cleared up this week (I have to call tomorrow to check, cross your fingers for me), and I have rescheduled the appt for February 25.  Which is not that far away, but it's still another week plus some change away.

Well, the other day, it occurred to me that I could just send one of those Non-Emergency Messages to the nurse and ask her to check with the doctor to see if knitting could start happening again.  DUH - why did this not occur to me before????  I am glad I finally thought about it, but I wish it had entered my brain sooner!

So who knows, I may get the green light before my appt and I can pick up my needles again.  That would be VERY exciting!!  :-)

Am I Ambitious or Delusional?

OK, probably delusional because I will admit to not being a very ambitious person in general.  But then again, hope springs eternal where crafts are concerned, and I do have some ambition in that area.  

Case in point:  This past Saturday, The Tim, Hamlet and I headed out to Manayunk to visit my friend Lisa at her yarn store, Hidden River Yarns.  I enjoy going to Manayunk and to Lisa's store, but we don't make it there very often because even though that part of Philadelphia is not technically too far from us, it's also not very close, and we are lazy.  Anyway, we arrived and found a fairly close parking place (parking there is as tricky as anywhere else in the city), and started our walk down Main Street.  Hamlet thought this was all wonderful, because a) car ride, and b) new smells!  He got *really* excited when we saw the Dog Bakery - and yes, of course we went in.  I thought he was going to explode with excitement.  We didn't stay long because he was being ridiculous, but in honor of it being National Pizza Day, we bought him a treat in the shape of a slice of pizza.

Then, on to the yarn store.  My primary reason for wanting to go was to purchase a copy of this book.

Strange Brew, from Tin Can Knits, is a hard one to find, and when I learned Lisa had gotten a shipment, I asked her to hold one for me and said I'd pick it up this weekend.  It's not hard to find because it's a rare, old book, but rather because it is so popular.  And if I could get it from Lisa, that would be not just shopping locally, but saving on shipping fees.  

We had a good visit with Lisa, and Hamlet got a lot of cuddling and petting, so he was happy.  But he was just so excited about everything, he was kind of out of control, and annoying.  I gave him his treat, and that was successful, but he was still too excited for us to stay for very long.

Then I noticed that there was also a basket of Crazy yarn sitting there ... I had bought two skeins a year or so ago, but had not yet used it.  Lisa showed me a project she was making that used three skeins and OMG I loved it!  The pattern was The Shift, by Andrea Mowry.  I'd seen some iterations of the pattern on podcasts, but none of them looked as amazing as the one made with Crazy yarn!  I decided to take a look and see if another skein spoke to me.  It's been quite a while since I bought yarn, so I wasn't going to get it just to get it, but rather I had to find one that just simply had to come home with me.  And I did.

GAH!  I love it soooooo much!  Look at those colors.  To be 100% honest, I don't clearly remember what the skeins I already have look like, but I'm not worried because I know they are colors I really like.  

So, to review - I went to get a book, and came home with this:

I don't feel bad, as far as buying the yarn, but I have to admit that even before I got the book, I wondered about my state of mind.  I have done very little colorwork, and have made very few sweaters, none of which had colorwork yokes.  However, seeing projects made using this book and reading reviews of it made me think it was something I really wanted to own.  Because I kept thinking about it, I decided to find a way to get a copy for myself.  Because ... someday, right?  Not anytime soon of course, since I am currently waiting for the OK to knit again, and I want to finish the projects I had underway.  However in my ambitious/delusional state, I'm thrilled to think that my future could involve something so different from anything I've tried before.

I'm really excited about the yarn and the project I want to make with it.  I have done well not buying yarn lately, and though of course I would love all the yarn in the world all of the time, I haven't been feeling deprived or upset that I was not buying anything.  But I know I would have gone home and wished I'd just bought this if I left it in the store.

And that was the exciting part of my weekend.  I feel like I may be coming down with a cold or something similar, so I spent most of the rest of Saturday afternoon sleeping, and a good portion of yesterday also sleeping.  Which is very unusual for me - I'm not someone who can take a nap unless I'm not feeling well.  But I would like to think that maybe by sleeping so much I have headed off whatever it is, or at least kept it from being really bad.  (In reality, it probably makes no difference, but I like to give myself a pep talk like it does.  Don't judge me.)

Now of course it's Monday - and one filled with slush and the dreaded "wintry mix" to boot.  Though I guess it's appropriate, since both things are faced with a certain amount of dread ... ;-)

In any event, have a good week - we're already working on Monday, surely it will be all good from here!

Friday Funny

I don't know about you, but I could use some laughs for today, and going into the weekend.  Here are some things I've come across during the week, and decided to share with you today.

Hilarious.

I'm proud to say this is the case with me.

True story:  My brother-in-law thought Facebook and MySpace were the same thing, and he called it MyFace.  He would say things like, "All of my daughters are on MyFace," and they would say, "DAD! Stop saying that!!!"

If anyone knows where this is, please contact me directly!

Mind = Blown

I love this so much.

My favorite.

Have a great weekend!  I hope you find some things to make you smile and laugh.