October 2006 Archives

So Kevin and I treated yesterday an an extra Sunday since our weekend was so busy. The nice thing about Monday Sundays is that you can do the typical Sunday things without the Sunday traffic and crowds because it is Monday!

Which meant we went on a little shopping trip. For a long time we've needed a new couch. Our current one is old and probably the cause of much of our constant backpain. After getting the hamster last week, we were finally spurred to really consider upgrading our living room. We decided to replace our current couch, recliner, and glider with the Ektorp and 2 Poangs. (Yes, we went to Ikea!)

These items are being delivered next Thursday, which means we have 9 days to figure out how to get rid of our current furniture.

In addition (because how can you get through Ikea without buying more than you intended!), we got 2 Diktads. They are really nice chests that we placed at the end of our bed (after 2+ hours of construction). They are currently empty, but we'll fill them quickly. And we bought a new cover for our comforter. If my camera decides to cooperate later, I'll try to get a picture.

At the end of Socktoberfest, I have less than 3/4 of a sock complete. I guess I wasn't the model participant, but it has been fun looking at everyone else's socks!

4 parties in 3 states in 2 days with 1 zombie Lincoln and 0 digital pictures.

Let me s'plain. Wait, there is too much, let me sum up.

1. My digital camera seems to be dying. I need to try the very scientific strategy of hitting it against something to see if that fixes it, but even new batteries don't seem to be helping.

2. Saturday we went down to Delaware for a house warming party for an old friend of Kevin's.

3. Then we drove up to Philly for a Halloween party and picked up our friend zombie Lincoln. Kevin and I just went as ourselves because we didn't know we were going to be at a Halloween party (something came up and we couldn't make it to the party on Friday night, so didn't make costumes, and then found out last minute about the Saturday party).

4. After the Halloween party, we drove to my parents to crash and arrived at the second 2am.

5. Sunday we attended an Eagles game party and then a birthday party both in NJ.

Yeah, so today we are exhausted and taking an extra day off.

In knitting news, I finally turned the heel on Kevin's sock. Maybe I will finish 1 sock for Socktoberfest!

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT give out your name and phone number to ANY wedding related people (photographers, caterers, bakers, florists, etc). They will call you EVERY day. They WILL NOT let you get off the phone if you make the mistake of answering. My mom and I went to a bridal show and I put my name and number on little slips of paper that were supposed to win me prizes. The only prize is ENDLESS phone calls. I just got off the phone with a VERY pushy woman wanting me to set-up a free photography consultation. The only way I could get off the phone was to say I was at work and ask if she could call back in the evening. Even then she wouldn't let me go right away! ARGH!!!!! I can't answer my cell phone anymore!

Oh and don't get me started on the emails...

Last night we visited the Petco and purchased some new digs...

This afternoon we traveled to a different Petco that was hamster-less, and so ended up at Petsmart and found this cutie...

(Sorry for the blurriness, but he's not the most people-friendly right now, so that was the best that I could do.)

He's been spending a lot of time hiding. We learned at the store and when we got him home that he is very squeaky when upset. Right now he is being called hammie. We're waiting for him to do something interesting to inspire a real name.

And because I have nothing else interesting...

Clearly, the movie is "License to Drive" with the Cory's. But the caption is "License to Kill", which is a Lifetimey movie. Good job cable company!

Oh and lastly just because it annoyed the hell out of me...
In class today we had a pop quiz. After the students finished their quizzes they were supposed to bring them to a box in the front of the room. All of this was to take place silently. I was keeping time and suddenly heard someone talking loudly. I looked over and a girl who was waiting in line to turn in her quiz was TALKING ON HER CELL PHONE!!! I went over and told her to get off the phone and took her quiz. She will be getting a zero.

So I currently have no internet access and no way to actually post this on the blog (but hopefully if you are reading this [and by you, I mean not me] then at least one problem has been remedied).

I hate for Mondays to be "train" update days, but the more annoyed I am with the train, than the more likely it is that y'all gotta read about it. Let's back up to last Wednesday. Miraculously after posting my open letter on Monday, the Wednesday train was only about 5 minutes late. 5 minutes late isn't bad, but it does mean that we arrive at the station with just enough time to watch the transfer train pulling away. Amazingly, super assertive lady (I've seen her on the trains before) complained to the conductor about the trains being late (she apparently does this on a nearly daily basis) and this time the conductor was sympathetic and called ahead and asked them to old the transfer! So I (and all of the others) made it to campus at the earlier time that we should all make if the damn 8:45 train was consistently on time. On Friday, the train is only 3 minutes late. I get on thinking, "wow, we'll make the transfer with no problems." Well, don't you know I jinxed it. About 5 minutes outside of the stop, the train decides it needs a rest. So it stops, completely, for NO GOOD REASON!!! No other trains had to pass, there were no cows on the tracks. Just random stopping. And as you can guess, we all missed the transfer. To top off the ridiculousness of the whole thing, less assertive lady (who I hadn't seen before) asks the ticket collector lady why they don't hold the transfer when the train is late, especially because it was on a few mintues late. The ticket lady said that every day the 8:45 is late. They have no idea why it is late, but it is always late. None of the other morning trains are late, just that one. In a logical world, you'd think that they'd change the scheduled time of the 8:45 train to be more in line with when it realistically shows up, but no, NJT does not use logic. Now this morning, I got to the platform at my usual time about 10 minutes before the scheduled time when the train would come. Almost immediately, they are making announcements about all of the trains being "significantly" late. Other announcements suggest the train I want is about 15 minutes late (in reality it was 30 minutes late, which sucks when it is too chilly to knit). The announcement about significant delays does attempt to explain why, but the woman making the announcement has zero ability to enunicate. To me it sounds like, "the trespassers are on strike". Once I got to my office and had a moment of internet access, I found out that what I heard was at least partially correct. On the NJT website there is a brief and vague message about delays because of a trespasser. Well, doesn't that make me happy that because some moron decided to walk on the train tracks, I got to freeze for 40 minutes and arrive late to work.

Maybe Bitter Girl would be a better title than Sour Girl (but I was listening to that song this morning and it is now stuck in my head).

Or maybe cranky girl, this weekend was a bit too sleepless for me to be functioning happily.

Friday evening we drove to upstate NY for Kevin's cousin's wedding. We didn't leave until around 7pm and so didn't make it to his parents until 1am. While I did snooze a bit in the car, it was a late night. Saturday we had to get up and get ready to go to the wedding. It was a nice wedding, but we got a lot of ideas of things we don't want to do. 1. Catholic church ceremony... waaaaaaaay too long and boring. 2. Sit-down dinner... food was more fancy than edible and took very long for everyone to get served. 3. DJ... loud and annoying (although he did play every song I requested! Shakira, Bon Jovi, N'Sync). 4. Wedding cake... blech! But I don't want to sound like the wedding wasn't fun, because it was certainly very fun. We had a great time dancing and chatting with Kevin's immediate and extended family members who we don't get to see very often. We had a great time dancing to a lot of fun songs. I got to impress everyone with my Justin Timberlake "Bye Bye Bye" dancing. After the reception, we went out to a local bar with Kevin's siblings and their girlfriends. Mandy and I actually sang "You Give Love a Bad Name" since it was karaoke night at the bar. Afterward I realized that I only sing karaoke with people named Mandy and to Bon Jovi songs (last karaoke was with grad student Mandy and "Bad Medicine").

Sunday after a late breakfast, we headed back to NJ. As we passed the NY State Fairgrounds they were flashing a sign for a big Alpaca festival and we passed two trucks pulling trailers that were labeled "Alpacas"! So all you Rhinebeckers, I'm dying to hear how it was and what y'all got!

i need to go watch that whale video a million more times

So yeah, Cordelia totally reminded me in an email today that I haven't reported on the conference or the Mets game. (Sorry I didn't email you back yet, I've been ignoring my email because it keeps filling up with stuff I don't want to deal with. Probably not the smartest plan for getting the inbox to shrink).

Anywho...

I drove to the conference Friday morning (first time driving solo in Philly... the worst part was the B.F. Bridge). I found where I needed to go (or so I thought) pretty easily and parked in a lot right outside of the hotel (or so I thought). I walked into the hotel and started to look for the 2nd floor (where the conference was located). No second floor. Hmmm... that's interesting. There was a conference on the third floor. It was the National Hemophiliac's Conference or something like that. I decided to go back outside. Sure enough, the hotel I wanted was across the street (damn you google maps!). Once in the right hotel, I found everything quickly and sat in on a few talks before my session.

I got to go third (out of three) for my session. The first two women were pretty good although their powerpoints were rather plain (I like jazzed up, but not obnoxious powerpoints). Then it was my turn. I took a deep breath, somehow channeled my teacher-mode loud voice and dove in. Other than the fact that my video didn't appear on the screen and I had to act it out for the audience, everything else was a bit of a blur. I think I hit all of the important points with enough emphasis. Afterwards I got some interesting questions and one crazy unending question that my advisor was impressed that I handled. After the session was over, several people came up and asked some more questions. Today I got my first "hey I saw you at the conference" in-person greeting as well as my first "hey I saw you at the conference" email.

After eating some lunch (including yummy cheesecake!!), I hightailed it out of there to make it to the Mets game. It was awesome to be in a packed stadium and there was a great vibe throughout most of the game. Ultimately they lost, which meant for a depressing ride home on the subway. We didn't get home until 3am, which meant I didn't get back to the conference on Saturday.

Since then, this week has been busy busy busy. We're going to a wedding this weekend for Kevin's cousin, which means no Rhinebeck for me! Boo! So be sure to take lots of pictures of the pretty yarn and tell me all about it!!

And closing today with a meme stolen from Carrieoke!

48 Things You Could Care Less About

1. FIRST NAME? Kim

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? I don't think so. I think my parents just liked the name.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Hmm... probably about a week or so ago.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's getting better. And by better I mean less legible.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Roast beef definitely, followed by turkey. I hate hate hate lunchmeat ham.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably, although it would take a while. I tend to be shy, so it would be hard for alternate universe me to get to know real me.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? The blog, but otherwise no.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Yes, if I had someone to do it with. Not "with", like both attached to the same bungee cord, but "with" as in "we're both doing this today!"

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Frosted Mini-Wheats. But I don't really eat cereal very much. If I do in the morning it is probably Cheerios or Rice Krispies. Something plain.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Heehee no laces, baby!

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes and no. I like to try to do things myself, but I can recognize when something is to heavy or hard.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Mint chocolate chip.

14. SHOE SIZE? 5 or smaller.

5. RED OR PINK? Depends. When I was a kid, there was no way I liked pink.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I wish I was more outgoing in social situations.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? That's a tough one. Some of my college friends, maybe.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? If you do it, let me know, but otherwise it doesn't need to be "sent."

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans, blue tank top, blue flannel shirt (Kevin's), white socks.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Chicken tacos. Very yummy and very spicy.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The Mets game of course! I'll be watching in a few minutes, but right now my back is to the TV.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Blue.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Garlic.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Kevin.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Face and smile.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Yeah, I love reading Carrie's blog and she seems really nice from the two times we've briefly met! Knitters are great people!

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Coca-cola.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Baseball (watching of course, I have no skills at it).

29. EYE COLOR? Brown

30. HAT SIZE? According to my Mets hat, medium, but I don't know what that means exactly.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Kevin's chicken pot pie or Kevin's pasta sauce or Kevin's pork tenderloin with yummy vinegar sauce.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Neither, I like Fall.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Chocolate kisses?

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Homemade blackberry sorbet.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? What?

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? What?

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? "The Stories We Live By: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self" by Dan P. McAdams

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? Iron Chef! No seriously, I have an Iron Chef mousepad. Hold on, I'll show you.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Mets game.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Bon Jovi!

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Rolling Stone, but I probably know more Beatles songs.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Florida?

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Knitting (although maybe that's not so unique)

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? In the USA.

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I stole it from Carrieoke.

Ok, this isn't knitting related and it is kinda gross. But the logic of the people thinking that they could dispose of a whale with explosives... genius!

Holy crap! I was wearing these lovely sock pal socks and stepped on a nail!!! Thankfully, it seems that it just pulled the yarn and didn't rip a hole, so I was able to pick and pull it back into place. Then I made Kevin hammer down every nail in the house!

pic removed (to be put back later!)
Kevin's sock is growing. It is about 7 inches long and I probably need to get to around 10 inches before starting the heel. The cable is really cool because it expands into circles when it is stretched. The Dale Baby Ull is knitting up great on the size 0s, so great that I might go back and pick up some more if it is still on clearance.

And goodbye to the Deep V Argyle vest. I hadn't knit on this in a couple of weeks mostly because I knew there was a big problem... too small. I tried it on the other day and while I could get it on, it was a bit tight, which doesn't allow for wearing much under it. Not the look I was going for. So Kevin helped me wind up the yarn after I ripped the argyle part out. I kept the ribbing and started on a plain brown vest based loosely on the same pattern. Interestingly, my gauge is all wonky and loose, which is weird because usually I'm an average to slightly tight knitter. Worst case, I figure that I can lightly felt it. It is an easy and mindless knit for now.

Time to check if my pecan bars are done cooling!

Dear NJ Transit workers,

I don't know if you remember me, but I was the girl in the black jacket freezing this morning waiting for the train while the announcements kept saying the train was delayed later and later, but "we apologize for the inconvenince." (Yeah, that makes things better.). No, you don't remember me specifically because there were many freezing girls on the platform this morning. Good point. I was the one with the knitting. Anyway, that's not important at this point. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but are you all morons or just plain evil? No seriously, are you? You see, for the past 5, yes 5, Mondays the 8:45am train has been late. Every Monday. Not just randomly a couple, but every freaking Monday. This is not the way to start people's weeks. At least a couple of those Mondays were because of "signal problems", whatever that means. But there have been others that the train is just late, no explanation given. And this morning... when it is actually cold for the first time, the train was 7 minutes late, and then 11, and then 17. Funny though, when you announced it was running 17 minutes behind schedule, it was actually already over 20 minutes late. And so NJT, you make what should be less than an hour commute, nearly an hour and a half. You'd think maybe I'd learn that I shouldn't show up so early for the 8:45, but I still hold out that hope that it might be on time. For some reason the people who work for you on Wednesday and Friday often make the train come on time. Oh wait, I see. Is this a psychology experiment on schedules of reinforcement? No, it isn't. Well, it is a good example of random interval reinforcement for my class, I'll have to remember that for Thursday. As it is, things work beautifully with the train for the ride home (please don't let me have jinxed myself), but the mornings need a bit of work. And now that the weather is getting colder, please try to make the trains run on-time. Thank you.

Sincerely,
The cold girl in the black jacket with the knitting

The sock grows!

A knit in progress is frogged! Which one was it? Stay tuned to find out later tonight!

I've been slowly plugging away at Kevin's sock. It doesn't look much different from last time. Otherwise there hasn't been much knitting in these parts.

Yesterday was my first of two presentations this week. It went very well. I was disappointed by the lack of faculty turn out, only my committee showed up. But there was good support from the other grad students (probably because of the free food). And two of my fav knitting buds came and knitted in the back (which was surprisingly relaxing for me to see audience members knitting).

Last night we were supposed to go to the Mets/Cardinals game 1. When we got on the train into the city, some guys who were also decked out in Mets gear were saying they just heard the game was cancelled (this was at 5 and the game was supposed to start at 8). We got into Penn Station and heard some other rumors of cancellation. But we got on the 7 train anyway with lots of other hopeful fans. Rumors kept spreading through the subway car until finally one guy announced loudly that he just got off the phone with his friend who was in the parking lot and the game was cancelled. It was funny then to see everyone getting out their cell phones and trying to connect to the internet or call someone who could check the information. As soon as the train pulled up to Shea, they made announcements over the PA system that the game was indeed cancelled. We had to find Kevin's friend who was meeting as at the Stadium, and as we were trying to decide what to do next, it was funny listening to all of the rumors of when the game was going to be made up. It seems the game will be on Friday, although they still aren't posting a time. This means I will likely hop back in my car right after my presentation tomorrow morning and drive up from Philly to get to the game, and then drive back down early Saturday morning to attend a bit more of the conference.

ARGH! I hate the rain!!!

Nervousness: Giving a presentation to the department on Wednesday (yes, I'd rather stand up in front of a class of 400 than a group of 20 peers and professors)

Fear: Giving same (or modified) presentation on Friday at a conference in front of very important people

Ambivalence: Brea Bag

Not quite what I was expecting. It wasn't a bad knit. The moss stitch gusset was a pain and I had to resew it twice. I think it could probably still use a resewing, but at this point I don't care too much. I may or may not actually use this bag.

Whiny: I have a cold. It sucks. Mostly just nasal and sinus congestion, but it makes me cranky. But I guess it is better to get it out of the way before my presentations Wednesday and Friday.

Happy: A new project!
pic removed (to be put back later!)
This is a sock that I'm making up as I go. It is ribbing with a little cable. The yarn is Dalegarn Baby Ull in dark blue that I got for 25% off. These socks will be for Kevin, althought it might take a little while because I'm knitting them on size zeros. The cables will be on the sides of the leg, not the front and back, but it is easier right now to have them positioned front and back.

Ecstatic: The Mets are going to the Championship series and I'll be there on Wednesday night!!!!!!

Sleepy: See whiny above. Also add in lots of work during the week causing a lack of sleep.

I signed up for Socktober-fest with the hope that it would get me back on the sock bandwagon. So we'll start with Lolly's sock questionnaire...

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
I knitted my first and second pairs of socks in July '04. Both used Lion Brand Magic Stripes. Jody taught Kathy and I how to knit socks on two circulars at knitting night (after we broke off from the main group and formed our own).

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?
That first pair is still intacted and I wear them occasionally, but the yarn isn't the softest.

What would you have done differently?
I'd suggest starting with a great, soft yarn.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
I've enjoyed hand-dyed yarns in unique colors. My fav is Toasty Toes, but I still haven't used Trekking or Koigu yet. Regia is nice too.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
Two circs all the time. I'm trying to get into knitting 2 simultaneously.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
Short-rows are more fun and easier!

How many pairs have you made?
To date, 18.5 pairs. I have 2.5 on the needles at various stages of completion.

Check out my socks in my Sock Gallery!

What girl can't use a new bag? Especially when it is a quick, easy knit. This has been my pseudo-train knitting (because I've been knitting it at home too).

The yarn is Valley Yarns in Amethyst. I'm knitting on size 8 needles with just one strand of yarn. I just started the gusset, but I need to decide what to do for handles, any suggestions?

Here is the train scarf that I completed a while back:

It still hasn't been washed because I've been too busy (and too lazy!).