Nutcase 101

Your Nutcase101 experience (and if you’re getting an experience out of reading this blog, let me give you the number of a nice therapist I know) because I’ve been on vacation. Yes, we went to LA and I have a post about that somewhere but it’s not writing up like I want so I’m not comfortable posting it. Words aren’t capturing the relaxing/fun/wonderful time. So, we did that and then I’ve been going solo since B had to go back to work.

And Knitting. And running grown up errands like having my car serviced by five men.

Yes, at one point there were five men on my baby. I didn’t know if I needed to be ashamed or start filming the servicemen on car action and try to sell it to some perverted group on the internet. Obviously, I didn’t go with the money making route.

My car has recovered from her experience and I’ve also been poked and prodded. In the eyes. But the eyes are good. So are my teeth. And tomorrow I find out how my back is doing. Which I already know, shitty. I’ll be talking to the doctor to schedule another round of epidurals for a spinal block of glory. I loved the results from the last round, which lasted two years, and if this round is just as grand I’ll be a happy camper.

But back to the knitting, because really, that’s the intriguing (ie boring) part of my life. I’m working on a sweater for my mom – no pictures yet. And socks (in progress – toes only right now) that are in ode to my 80’s childhood, Rainbow Brite.

And here is the pile of yarn that I’ll be using to make said knee highs.

Now, for the serious subject. What would you all (five of you) think if I stopped Nutcase101 and made a new knitting blog? Nothing has been decided but maybe I’ll do something 50/50 – rant and knit or as often known in the knitting world as “Stitch and Bitch”.

For the past thirty years I’ve been walking. I started walking young and typically I can do it was some sort of grace. Even when I broke my foot in March, I kept on walking – albeit with tears rolling down my cheeks but dammit I kept on walking.

But today was the day that I decided that walking was too hard and made this decision in front of others.

Was I committing an act of Tom Foolery? No.

Was I trying to exercise on my way to my office? No.

Was I simply doing something that I supposedly mastered approximately thirty years ago? Yes.

I wiped out in the hallway in a full blown, You Tube worthy method. No, there is no video. At least I hope not.

Oh God, I hope that security camera was there for show.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see that I post a lot about yarn. And a lot of people don’t believe that yarn work is the coolest hobby in the world or don’t understand why I could get so excited by a hank of fiber.

This weekend I got to go to Stitches South, where my yarn dreams came true. There were a lot of little mom & pop yarn shops where they make one batch of a yarn in a specific colorway and that’s it. I’m now the proud owner of a lot of different sock yarns that will knit up into some wonderful gifts for people.

Of course, when I got home, I had to get approval of my purchases.

And, the ‘Reeling Machine’ is a yarn swift, a nice little tool that helps a hank of yarn convert into a nice yarn cake when used with a ball winder.

(PS. If anyone is looking for a wooden tabletop swift – non-umbrella type – mine is up for sale, email me for the price.)

Saturday I did something that I don’t normally do, I was social with strangers. Not in the “Get out of my way” in the grocery store manner but a nice “How do you do?”

The week before I had decided to be adventurous and check out a new local knitting store that is right down the road from our apartment. (B, sorry, that means a lot more yarn is going to be adopted and making it’s home with us.) The owner had converted an old craftsman style house into a yarn store but kept all the warmth of walking into someones abode when you crossed the threshold.

You walk into a livingroom that happens to house yarn on the shelves instead of family photos and books. The dining area is ready for you to sit down to supper but the china hutch bursts forth with color of cashmere, not Grandma’s fine china. This repeats from room to room, except for the kitchen where tea, coffee, cookies and cupcakes await to be eaten.

Basically wants to make a knitter/crocheter fat and happy.

Anyone who walks in the door is encouraged to bring in their knitting, sit on the couch and just chat. So, this past Saturday I did. I was bold enough come in (and spend a pretty penny on some Cascade Ultra Pima), then work on the hat that I’m making for B. I met some wonderful ladies, learned about the various classes and had people complement me on my knits.

And the good news, I survived. I put myself out there to interact with strangers and it wasn’t too bad. I’ll definitely be back.

If you’re awake and reading this post, you’re probably aware that 2009 has passed us by and 2010 is now what we’ll be writing on checks (if you still write checks).

This year, I do have resolutions and by putting them in writing and allowing public scrutiny, maybe I will actually execute said resolutions. Let the resolution games begin!!

- Organize the boxes of stuff in the my closet and guestroom closet. These boxes belong to both B and I pre-relationship and they (in my case) have not been opened in YEARS – at least four. A lot of the stuff either needs to be given away, sold or thrown away. Obviously we don’t need most of the items because we haven’t cared enough to pry off the lid.

- Exercise once a week. Just once a week, really how much ass power will that take me? I could say three times a week and be sorely disappointed with myself but once a week will wet my whistle for exercise and possibly cause me to go to the gym more. Because I know me, that once I get into the pattern/habit/addiction of exercising, I’ll want to go and will miss it when I don’t.

- Cook dinner at home twice a week. I’ve been incredibly slack in the area of cooking for B and I, relying on fast food, quick dinner restaurants to be our source of nourishment. This has caused both of our waste lines to expand in ways that make us sad puppies. Also, all my pots and pans are threatening to leave because of the neglect.

- Only buy yarn or fabric once every two months and the purchase amount has to be less than $25. I need to take pictures (once the closets are organized) of my yarn and fabric stashes. I think I have enough fabric to make 10 king size quilts and enough yarn to make all friends and extended family a nice warm scarf or a pair of socks. It’s ridiculous.

Four is a nice even number and none of the resolutions are overwhelming by any means – completely doable. And hopefully, I’ll do them. Let 2010 begin.

I don’t know why I decided that this year I should make as many gifts that I could for Christmas.

I wish someone could’ve told me that I’d have no time for me.

Beat some sense into my noggin with my knitting needles.

Thankfully, some of my IT geek came through and I made a time line with all of the projects I need with the estimated time needed to cut, sew, knit and wrap said gifts. Now I’m in the process of execution and exhaustion. And I did at least fit some time in there to have Thanksgiving and go home to Florida. And thankfully, the apartment has walls thick enough for my neighbors to not be subjected to my cussing and the constant whirring of the sewing machine.

Unfortunately, B is not so lucky.

And on December 25th, I’ll be the one opening presents with a perpetual hunchback and carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands.

Okay, so, I may have written about Valemont once or twice.

I may have twittered about classes, houses, fights, people, etc, several hundred times.

And now all of the webisodes have been released. You can find them at MTV or on Valemont Commons, where you can find out what really has been happening at this elite university.

And you’re probably wondering why do I keep talking about this? Well, because, it’s a lot of fun to play pretend as an adult. Get involved with people from all over the world who take an interest in the Vampire lore told in a new and exciting way. It doesn’t hurt that one of my friends, Nina, is a direct contributor to the development of the game part of Valemont or that I’ve been working on the fansite as an RA all semester.

I can’t wait to see what the future of Valemont will become and that there is still a week left to the current semester and finals are ahead of us. If you haven’t clicked over, go now and apply to be a part of Valemont University! There is a lot of fun to be had and you never know where being a Valemont student might take you.

I have some really awesome friends who get to do really cool things that just blow my mind – like my friend Nina, aka Slackmistress.

Nina is an author, television writer (ever heard of a little show called Lizzie McGuire?), and is amazing in anything her creative brain encounters. Her current project, Valemont, is about to debut on MTV – you know that little television channel that we all watched at teenagers, I think it’s mandatory.

Valemont revolves around the death of a student, Eric Gracen and the mysteries that campus holds. Tomorrow night, two webisodes will be shown: one before The Hills and one after The City. The webisodes are in conjunction with the online content at ValemontU.com. ValemontU.com will lead viewers to different clues that reveals the secrets that students and administrators don’t want outsiders to be know.

Since Eric went missing and then his body has been found many tweets have been traded to determine who would commit this heinous crime and why? There is a Valemont Study group on Facebook for those who have been admitted to Valemont to discuss clues and happenings without watchful eyes, along with Valemont Commons, a fan administered website dedicated to solving the mysterious happenings that Valemont doesn’t want investigated.

So, what are you still doing on my site? Go. Click. Apply and join us at Valementu.com

Master of none.

That phrase has really been a motto of my life as I’ve identified one area of interest, pursued it with zeal and zest, bought a ton of the necessary implements and taken the classes only to lose interest within five minutes of completing the first x,y,z project.

Piles of crafts and supplies are in unmarked boxes in my closet and take up space to the point that I whine that we need a bigger place. But what I need is to get off of my currently crocheting/knitting/sewing duff and go through that shit.

This also applies to my work life because I’ve set a record for myself: longest held position. Now, I’ve stayed with companies for years, five years being the longest. But actually staying with a position, 23 months is a unheard of for me. Not that I’ve been fired or terminated (there was that blasted lay off – pure blessing in disguise) but typically, I’m promoted after 10 months and new job onward. And that was mostly due to the fact that I’d get antsy, feeling like I’ve learned everything that I needed to know. People would be coming to me as the master of information and skill. And in my eyes, that meant that I needed to move forward or I’d get bored with the tedium of doing the same thing, over and over again. Anyone sensing a pattern here?

But, truly, I’m happy with what I currently do and I have yet had a day where I don’t want to go work. And I didn’t realize that it had been so long until I looked at the calendar and saw that my two year anniversary was rapidly approaching. I have a ton more to learn and even though I’m getting a lot of questions shot my way, I still have to research the queries and see where that road leads me.

And with the approach of my anniversary, it also means that in two months I will have been writing Nutcase101 for three years. Honestly, I never thought I’d make it past six months. I never thought that I’d have my own domain (only for vanity reasons – it’s cool to be able to say “My website”).

Wow. Maybe I’ve settled down in my old age (haha) and finally found something that’s made me happy and want to keep on trucking.

After my post to Jennifer Weiner, per usual, I sent out the link over the twitter airwaves for all to peruse.

And all did peruse, including the author herself!