Extra! Extra! Somebody's getting married! Somebody's getting married? HEY, somebody's getting married! Whoa, somebody's getting married!

Somebody's getting married???

Somebody's getting marrrrieeeed!

Somebody's getting married! Somebody's getting married! Somebody's getting somebody's getting somebody's getting somebody somebody somebody somebody...!

(The Muppets Take Manhattan)

First of all, thank you everyone for the congratulations! I just can't stop smiling this weekend. We have basically been snuggling and watching the Simpsons and hiding from the rain. Last night our friends took us out to a really nice Italian dinner and I had the most amazing creamy pesto pasta.

Because of the slight chill in the air the past couple of days, I was actually inspired to pull this back out. If you'll recall, I had 8 skeins of Noro Kureyon. This square now represents 4 total skeins used (it is about 20 x 20 inches). 8 is not enough for a blanket. Kevin and I came up with the radical idea of buying more Kureyon (yay!) in a completely contrasting color and sewing together 4 logcabin squares. It won't be a big blanket, but it will be a nice lap sized one for chilly days. And even though I found an online place selling Kureyon for $6 a skein (damn, I should have book marked that!) it was cheaper to pay $8.50 a skein to Webs because of the percentage discount and cheaper shipping.

Oh, and all those peppers. The storm really did a number on our plants. 3 of the pepper plants were ok, but the biggest one last 3 branches and thus a total of 18(!) peppers. So we'll try to ripen them inside, and if not, they'll just be a little less spicy. 6 of the tomato plants were nearly up-rooted when they blew over and we lost a lot of tomatos; some we're hoping will ripen inside, but some were too damaged. Hopefully, the plants will bounce back and we'll get a late harvest.

I hope to find some time soon for a real post and update. The semester started last week, so I'm still trying to figure out my schedule, which will probably take another tailspin next week when the semester starts at the new job too. I'm hoping by the end of the month to have at least established a schedule that I feel more comfortable with, instead of the current plan of "oh crap class is in 15 minutes!"

Part of the lack of blogging has been being to busy, but it is also because I haven't been knitting much. If I had kept on the pace I was on before the semester started, the Argyle vest would probably be finished.

It isn't so much that I'm too tired to knit, but in the evenings I've just sort of plopped in front of the TV and stared at it. I haven't touched the Argyle vest in over a week. Maybe I'll get inspired again this weekend.

I have worked a bit on my second Noro Logcabin square. Ain't it purdy? Unfortunately the rainy weather and crappy camera mean the colors aren't quite accurate. But I think 2 blue squares and 2 pink squares will ultimately make a nice blanket.

In other life news, I'm really looking forward to next week because even though my level of busy will quadruple, I will actually have a schedule to stick to, which I hope will make the mountain of things I need to accomplish by the middle of October much more manageable. And once I get to October 14th, everything should be much smoother (still ridiculously busy, but a few BIG things, like giving a talk at a conference ack!, will be out of the way).

On Monday I officially start my "second" job. I say officially because I only signed all the forms on Wednesday even though I had been working on stuff at home and going to some meetings. We had a training meeting on Wednesday that fortunately lasted less than 2 hours, and hopefully the weekly meetings will be similar in length. I'll have to take my camera with me one day and get a picture for you of my office, it is pretty amazing compared to what my graduate student office is like (let's just say that about 3 of my current office could fit into the one at new job). And there's yarn store that's only a 10 minute walk away! Fortunately, it is kind of small and I'm fairly familiar with their stock, so there shouldn't be too many impulse buys.

I just signed up for Socktoberfest 2006.

I want to make these. In the left hand column, she has the pdf for the pattern. And check out this one. And that one was even cool enough to be featured on the Harlot's blog (scroll down a bunch). And while I was checking out the Knitist's sock, I followed her link to this. It isn't pirate, but it is totally freakin' awesome. (Especially since Kevin and I started on Lego Star Wars II).

Kevin and I have been joking about potential themes for our wedding (we're thinking of a date in October or November '07, so Halloween is definitely in the time period). So far we've got:

--Pirate

--Viking

--Star Wars

--Metal (i.e. Guns n Roses video for November Rain, but without the depressing death part of the video. Kevin really likes how in the video Slash just needs to step out and play a solo in the middle of the ceremony. I like the girl's dress with the long train and mini-skirt front.)

--Costume (i.e. no guest admitted without a costume)

Got any fun suggestions?

Onions are not your friend. You thought they were good and they sure tasted yummy on that sandwich last night, but then your belly hurt all night and even this morning you can still taste them. Damn onions!

My camera has stopped functioning properly. It maybe a batteries issue, it may be worse.

Students are whiny.

I'm whiny.

Got an email yesterday regarding my research that had me fuming. Basically I'm in a holding pattern that is screwing up my entire plan.

If my camera worked I'd post some knitting pictures. Grrrr!

frustration that is. It seems the camera just needed fresh batteries as the rechargables have recharged and failed. It is tentatively functional, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

Since I am sort of a commuter now, I figured I ought to start a new project for commuting. I knit on this Monday and today on the train, and it is about 8 inches long. The yarn is 127 Print and is 100% wool. I really like the intervals of random colors between the red blocks. The pattern is a simple K1, P1 on the right side, P all on the wrong side (although if you know me at all, that means knit backwards, so no turning!). Other than the panic of rushing to the train in the morning, taking the train has been pretty relaxing and the walking to and from the train stations certainly adds a nice extra bit of exercise to my day (which I'll probably hate once it starts getting cold and snowy).

Now that my camera works, I need to go take some more pictures for blogging fodder before the camera dies again!

Props to Cordelia for finding this!

After almost two weeks, I'm starting to feel more comfortable with my new schedule. Taking the train is simultaneously annoying and fun. Fortunately, the afternoons on the train are much more efficient so I get home quickly. If I miss the shuttle in the mornings, I have an extra 30 minutes of knitting time, so I guess it isn't too bad (at least until it gets cold!).

That's a picture of my office. It is very barren because I'm only there three days a week and I don't have much stuff to move in. It is bright and roomy and I actually don't mind being there (unlike my other office which is cramped and tiny and shared).

This picture is showing the building that the class I'm working with meets in for the lecture portion. (I'm not lecturing, but I have to sit in twice a week, which isn't bad because the lectures are only 50 minutes and I'm getting good ideas for my own lectures). The arrow is pointing to the window in the room this class is in. And there's a similar window on the other side. The classroom is a lecture hall (with a balcony!!). It is old and has character. The good kind of character, not the kind of character the classroom I teach in has (the "oh there's five more broken desks this year and someone drew with marker on the projection screen and the temperature is the complete opposite of what you want" character).

I probably shouldn't complain so much, but after my ordeal with the parking office here (not at new job, they were nice) and the financial aid office (on hold for over 40 minutes and then talked to a woman with zero interpersonal skill who ended up hanging up when she felt the conversation was over), I'm a little bitter. And besides, new job is near a yarn store (walking distance near)!!! That simple fact makes it a zillion times better. I need to keep this in mind during my job hunt...

I finished my train scarf, I just need to wash it and take a picture. I started a new train scarf because apparently I'm in a scarfy mood.

**Oh my god... Kevin and I just started watching The Office. I bought him season 1 for his birthday because I heard it was kind of funny. We watched all of the episodes in one night and then the next day we bought the second season on dvd. Steve Carrell is a genius!