Still Reading ... and, HOORAY - Back to the Needles!

Well, hello there.  Here's hoping your week is going well and even if it is not, at least it is Wednesday, so we're probably all going to make it, right?

My exciting news is that I am finally allowed to knit again!  I can't believe that I forgot to mention it here right away, but I think I was so excited, I just somehow figured that everyone knew somehow, I guess via osmosis??  Well, in any case, you do know now.  :-)

I'm only supposed to knit for an hour or so, and build up from there.  It was so exciting to get back to my projects, though it also felt weird.  Fortunately, it seems that I have the same gauge as I did before, and it's starting to feel "regular" again when I pick up the needles.

So that is my knitting news, and sorry I have not taken any photos lately, but once I make some more progress, I'll share some.

In reading news, I have finished two books in the past week.

Highly entertaining, if completely unbelievable.  But even if it had been incredibly awful, I thought the dedication page was *brilliant*:  "Thanks, Obama."  That right there is what my friend Lisa calls fried gold.

This one suprised me - right at the beginning, I thought I had it all figured out, but kept going because it's very readable, and I wanted to be proven correct.  Well, guess what?  Much like Jon Snow, I apparently know nothing.

So that's what is going on with me.  If you are so inclined, head over to Kat's for Unraveled Wednesday and see what others are reading and making these days.

Old Photo Friday - Last Friday of February Edition

This guy is a native of a *real* place we visited - Trujillo Alto in Puerto Rico.  This is from a trip we took for my niece Julie's wedding in 2008.  Since we were going there anyway, we turned it into a little vacation.

One day when we were eating breakfast, I dropped a piece of orange and in record time, someone else claimed it.  :-)

Hope your weekend is full of unexpected treats!

Oh The Places We Go!

Hello on a Thursday!  The almost-always-good-day-because-tomorrow-is-Friday day of the work week.  This morning it occurred to me that you might enjoy learning of some of the places we have travelled recently, for Three on Thursday.

There is a good chance that you are not familiar with these locales, and to be honest, we didn't know about them for a long time ourselves.  How did we discover them?  Well, I think I have said many times here that Pip the cat is quite the talker.  We call him The Narc because he has to comment on every single thing that The Tim, myself, the other cats, and/or Hamlet do.  And he just has a lot to say in general, particularly when he is waiting to eat.  So a while back (who remembers when), I decided that he wanted to know where his food was coming from.  From there, I decided he would like to try things from other places, so as I was fixing his food, I'd tell him where that particular dish (which is technically always the same thing, as you might imagine) originated.

You are probably not surprised to know that The Tim finds this to be a questionable endeavor, but occasionally plays along, often asking me for details about the various places.  Here are three recent though not necessarily well-known places that provided the origins of Pip's meals.

1.  Pipton-on-Koodle.  This is a very small, somewhat remote town just over the border from England in Scotland.  In the election a few years back, 100% of the eligible population voted for Scottish independence from England.  The primary industry is tuna fishing.

2.  Furballstadt (there should be an umlaut over the "u" but I don't have diacritics on my keyboard).  Furballstadt is the capital city of Crunchova, a former Soviet republic that is now independent.  It is a very tiny principality that is known for producing the best string in the world.

3.  Tabbahtoum.  This city was formerly known as Stripestantinople, but was renamed when the famed military leader Kataturk was installed as its leader in the early 1920s.  Some say that Kataturk was the inspiration for the statesman who created the modern Republic of Turkey.  Tabbahtoum has some of the most famous pawprint friezes in the ancient art world, and was known as the vacation destination of the ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet.

And there you go.  If you like geography as much as I do, you too may want to seek out little-known destinations and learn about them.  I always think that even if I can't afford to travel, learning about the world opens up my thoughts and ideas.

;-)

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. :-)