In Which I Ask: What Was I Thinking???

If you have been a reader of the blog for even a short time, you know that I am not exactly a knitting machine, cranking out things like crazy.  Which I'm fine with, I enjoy knitting, and though there are things I wish I had/would finish(ed), I'm not really in a race with myself.

But I really do have to wonder sometimes.  Take the past two weeks, when - besides working on the Cranberry Waffle socks - I have taken on more projects.  Why?  You may well ask, as I have wondered myself.

Let's review:  I have a pair of the aforementioned Cranberry Waffle socks on the needles, and a long-time-on-the-needles project of my Mallard Sweater, and my Turquoise Narragansett, which I have vowed to finish by the end of the summer.  And there are other bits and pieces along the way.

So ... WHY in the past couple of weeks, have I felt compelled all of a sudden to start knitting:

1)  What I am calling my Lemming Shawl.  It's a KAL on Ravelry by the Loop Group.  I wasn't going to even think of trying it, and then others started posting pictures of their completed ones.  Of course, I bought the yarn and got started.  As a matter of fact, I bought two more skeins in a different color to make another one at a later date!

2)  But Oh, I wanted to make something for my new[ish] great nephew Parker, who lives in San Francisco.  His parents are not much for homemade things, but I have made something for all of my other great-nieces and -nephews, and wanted to make something for him.  I decided a toy was a good idea.  So I started the Baby Bobbi Bear:

and then, 

3)  I decided to try to do something for the Ravellenic Games (formerly the Ravelympics).  Of course, there is a "team" for those who want to finish WIPs, but did I join that one?  It didn't occur to me, as clearly I didn't think it through at all.  So, I have started Caeles:

I have until the end of the Olympics (roughly two weeks) to finish.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  

Dear Diary:

What was I thinking?  Why would I do all of this - or rather, try to - all at once?  Oh diary, I fear that I have done something foolish here.  Hello, my name is Bridget, and I have a problem ...

Love, Bridget

****************

In other news, Pip finds that the Olympic Women's Cycling Road Race can make one quite tired.

Furball Friday

Milo in shadow

May 2012

Enjoy the weekend, and stay cool!

In Which I Take Stock

Do you remember this post?  The other day it occurred to me that it was nearly the end of July, and I hadn't really stepped back and taken stock of how/if I was remembering to be kind - well, to remember to try to be kinder, really.  So I decided that there was no time like the present to do so.

So, as former NYC mayor Ed Koch used to say, "How'm I doin'?"

Well, I have to first admit that I have not - for the most part - been consciously remembering to try to be kinder.  In that, I don't get up every morning and ask myself how I will be kinder on any given day.  Actually, I get up every weekday morning and take Dug for a walk, which does give me a chance to think of what might be ahead.  And I have taken the advice from nearly every magazine article I've read about sleep, and I now get up when the alarm goes off, and do not ever hit the snooze button.  Actually, I set the alarm for 15 minutes earlier, so that I can wake up, hear a weather report on the radio, and take my time getting up.  So maybe I'm being kinder to myself, you know?

Overall, I would say I'm doing OK.  I am learning to keep my mouth shut more instead of saying something unkind.  I am resisting the urge to tell other people to shut up, and instead finding ways to either remove myself from the situation or think happy thoughts (i.e., the kitties and Dug).  I am trying more seriously to see God in other people (this one is the absolute hardest thing of all, if you ask me).

I have decided that I have definitely been making progress, even if in increments of baby steps.  I will never change how I am hard-wired, but learning to control myself and deal with my immediate feelings about someone/something is definitely doable.

Oh - and I decided that it was time to treat myself to another "prize" and bought myself this necklace. I think it is doubly appropriate because of the reminder about my word, but also because of the bee - since I work with a lot of entomologists!

Finally, I have been truly tested lately with the Penn State situation and the shootings in Aurora, Colorado.  I cannot bear it when people decide that they have taken the moral imperative, and will not even consider other opinions.  It annoys me when others pass judgement even though they are not immediately involved.  Case in point:  all of the people in an uproar because young children were at the "Batman" movie, and stating that those parents are terrible parents.  I think that absolutely NO ONE has the right to criticize anyone else's parenting.  If someone asks your opinion, or if you are counseling someone, than go ahead and say what you think.  But otherwise, just decide that you won't do whatever it is with your children, and move on with your life.  I posted on Facebook that I thought it must be getting pretty crowded on the high ground these days.  And that is something I just cannot stand.

Regardless of the situation, I think everyone would do well to remember that but for the grace of God, it could be any or all of us facing these horrible situations.

So yeah - no kindness there, I'm afraid.  I'm pretty sure that perfection is not slated for me in this lifetime ... and I'm just fine with that.

Old Photo Friday

Baby ME!

(Not that I'm old .. just the picture ...)

Hope your weekend is only full of good lies that you tell yourself.  :-)

Lost Weekend

Well, this weekend sucked big time for me.  I was sick the whole time. Only ever left the house to take Dug for walks.  (Fortunately, he is no more fond of the current weather than I am, so we wouldn't stay out long.)

Not that I lead an exciting social life, but I enjoy leaving the house on weekends and being able to leisurely walk around, or take myself out to lunch.  The Tim has had to work both days of the past few weekends (short-staffed at the moment), so I haven't even had him around to annoy.

I did get a little bit of knitting done on my Cranberry Waffle Socks, so it wasn't a total loss, but it wasn't what you could call a WIN either ...

And the Phillies won (those poor guys, they are having a sucky season so far), so that certainly made my day look up.  And I did get to look at this face, so all is not lost.

I'm sure I'll probably feel better tomorrow - after all, it's time to go back to work.  Grrrr ...