Kevin and I took a little weekend getaway out to Jim Thorpe, PA. Since we didn't do anything for our official anniversary and before the hecticness of the holiday season arrives, we wanted to get away from the same old same old and have a relaxing weekend away. We set a 2 hour radius from where we lived and ended up picking out a B&B in Jim Thorpe.


The B&B was certainly interesting, but then again I find most of them odd and interesting. The woman who ran the B&B was older and a bit kooky. She apparently was a singer in Manhattan for much of her younger life.


We got out there late on Friday. Saturday morning ate the B&B breakfast (and decided to skip it on Sunday, which gives you an idea about it, and that's all I'm gonna say). We wandered around the town of Jim Thorpe. All of the stores, shops, restaurants, and B&Bs seem to be housed in old mansions, which was really cool. We took the scenic train ride along the Lehigh River, but didn't see any black bears. After an afternoon nap, we ate dinner at a steakhouse and dessert at a cafe (pumpkin pie! yum!). Then we hung out at a local bar for a couple hours.


And now I'm back at work with a stack of papers that need to be graded sooner rather than later. And I'm all confused about what time it is because of the daylight savings.


I did finally finish the body of Scabbard and I have about half of one sleeve completed. Depending on how grading these papers go over the next couple of days, I might have this sweater finished by the end of the week.




*Mauch Chunk was the name of the town that is now called Jim Thorpe. It was an Indian name that meant sleeping bear.

I came into work early today so that I could get some work done before my classes, since I'll be zooming out of here in the afternoon to go vote and will lose that working time. But instead, I just spent 20 minutes on this silly meme.


The “Favorites” Meme

1.Political show – Countdown with Keith Olberman.

2. Picnic food – PB&J.

3. Mixed drink – Margarita.

4. U.S. President – Aaron Burr, oh wait. He was only Veep. But he was in a duel, and I knew a real life Aaron Burr once.

5. Kind of student to teach – Enthusiastic, motivated freshmen.

6. Hobby you do or wish you still did – Knitting, of course.

7. Sports commentator – Keith Hernandez. Ha! Just kidding, I love Gary, Keith, and Ron!

8. Sport to watch on TV – Baseball.

9. Animal to have as a pet – Cat, though I don’t have one.

10. Halloween costume you have worn – Vampire. Sophomore year of high school, I think it was. I was wickedly frightening.

11. Kind of dessert – Cheesecake.

12. Comic strip – Calvin and Hobbes.

13. Style or make of footwear – I love many, many shoes. Although a nice pair of black heels is perfect.

14. Ice cream flavor – Mint chocolate chip.

15. College or university president – Hahaha! No one would understand my answer. I don’t think any of my college buds read this. I did impersonate a college professor in a comedy skit… actually I did that multiple times, but again, I don’t think anyone would know who she is.

16. Internet news source – The Onion.

17. Vacation spot – I don’t know. Anywhere cozy, without a lot of sand or nature.

18. Wine – Reds.

19. Way to waste time instead of working – Browsing Ravelry.

20. Student excuse for late work – hmmm… I haven’t run into a good one yet. I think I scared them enough about getting it in on time that they don’t even bother in many cases.

21. Reality show – Project Runway.

22. Jewelry on a man – A watch, maybe?

23. Pizza topping – Yuck! No toppings. I like my pizza pure.

24. Children's movie – Princess Bride.

25. Celebrity you wish would retire – Britney Spears. And by retire, I mean vanish off the face of the earth. Oh, and while you are vanishing Britney, why don’t you take Bill O’Reilly with you?

Did you see Stitch Diva is having a pattern sale?


I'm so in love with Scabbard that I just purchased my next two sweaters. Between Loppem and Scabbard, I think I have resurrected my sweater knitting mojo. I just finished the first sleeve of Scabbard and I can't wait to wear this sweater. Depending on how late I stay up watching election coverage, I may get the second sleeve started tonight.


So which other two patterns did I download?


Simple Knitted Bodice (ravelry link).


Sahara (ravelry link)


Obviously I need to finish Scabbard first, and my Koigu fingerless gloves, and I promised to knit Kevin new gloves and a pair of socks. But I got a little (huge) birthday at the end of the month... hopefully there will be some yarn moneys among the gifts.

The college is having a professional photographer come in next week to take faculty photos (if you want one) for use on the college website and other PR stuff as needed. I've been thinking about getting another haircut for the past couple of days. So I just scheduled a haircut in the morning and my photo for the early afternoon. I'm gonna look pretty!!!

• First off, Obama, I'm glad you won and all, but your first move to have a news conference at 3pm and preempt half of General Hospital (one of my few guilty pleasures), not a good move.
• I watched a woman who decided to drive her kid to school this morning, back into another car. As in she just completely backed into the front corner of it as though she didn't even see it there. I stood there and watched her, she didn't get out to check to see if she did damage or anything. Just completely didn't care. I looked it was bumper on bumper, so the other car was ok. I was half tempted though to run over and claim it was my car and get the lady in trouble.
• Why do I suddenly enjoy data analysis? Why do I decide to play with data instead of doing the work required for my classes?
• Scabbard only needs half a sleeve!!

Type "grading hell" into google and you'll get 516,000 hits. Here is number 516,001.


I think instead of reading these papers, I should use the system depicted here:

• Grading hell is never ending. I finished the papers that were overdue on my end. Now I have another set of papers, exams, and notes to grade. I graded the multiple choice part of the exams yesterday because that is easy, but I was so depressed that my easy exam was apparently impossible that I gave up on grading them.
• I got my haircut today! The hair stylist didn't recognize me (it has been several months), but as she was cutting my hair, she recognized my hair. She kept telling me over and over that my natural color was beautiful and that I have no reason to dye it. She even got the color chart and told me that I am officially a dark blonde (or little brown). I love love love my new haircut. Hopefully I look good in the faculty photos that I had taken today.
• I am really excited about my research. I have over 900 participants. I only analyzed the data from about 600 or so, but that results are interesting and extend what I have found before. I submitted two poster proposals (and while I'd love for both of them and the third that I'll send later to be accepted, I'm not sure how I'll afford to attend three conferences... especially with one in California).
• Oh and one last bullet on research, if my idea for a study in the Spring goes well, I might have enough to write up an article to submit for publication over the summer. Woo!
• Scabbard is still chugging along. A busy weekend meant that I didn't get to knit much. I am about 40 rows and a bind off away from completion.
• I ordered yarn for another sweater. I ordered enough to make short-sleeve versions of either of the two I posted a week or so ago.
• I'm eating Mexican tonight!
• Kevin and I took our first excursion to Trader Joe's on Monday. Spinach/artichoke dip is the greatest thing in the entire world. I wish that I could eat it constantly.

So I just ordered home delivery for the NY Times on the weekends. We'd been just buying it at the local bodega, but realized that can save money through subscribing. The first delivery was last Sunday. The second was supposed to be this morning. Bounce out of bed excited to get the magazine section early and take a crack at the crossword puzzle. Walk up all around the perimeter of the building and up and down the driveway. THERE'S NO PAPER!!!!! So either it wasn't delivered (which I find hard to believe) or it was stolen (which I find less hard to believe). And so now instead of a happy, relaxed morning, I'm angry. I called the Times and requested that they send another paper, but who knows when and if that will show up. And even with we get Sunday's paper with no problems tomorrow, it is missing all the best parts because those come on Saturday!!!!!!! Maybe I should just give up on today and go back to bed.

So yesterday started off crappy with the missing paper. It apparently has been noted in my account, but no word on if (and when) they send a replacement (which at this point is really worthless, who wants old news?) or if they give me the money back for that paper or neither of those. You'd think in a dying physical newspaper industry they would bend over backwards to keep subscribers happy.


The day proceeded to get crappier with us losing power, not once, not twice, but three times. Two of those three times were for significant amounts of time. In the morning for 3 hours and then in the evening for three hours.


My relaxing Saturday turned into a frustrating and annoyed day.

I don't mean to be an only complaining blog, but I just got an email about the yarn I ordered a week ago and was anticipating would arrive today or tomorrow. Apparently it is back-ordered and won't arrive at the store for another "week or so" (thanks for being specific!), which means I won't get it for what 3 weeks at best?! The website said nothing about the yarn or color or quantity being back-ordered. And why did it take a week for them to inform me? I would have been more understanding if I had received an email after ordering that said it was back-ordered, or even the next day. But a week later?!


I'm going to go cancel that order. Hopefully it won't take them a week to give me my money back.

Today was goal day on Wii Fit. It has been 6 months since I started. When I started in May, I set my goal to reach a BMI of 21.30 by mid-November.


Sadly, I didn't reach that goal, but I did decrease my BMI from 25.07 (on day 1) to 22.31 (today). That is a loss of 14.9 pounds, so I am super happy.


Yesterday I wore a new pair of work pants that I bought last weekend at Kohl's (Vera Wang's... don't worry it was on sale and I had a coupon) that was a size that I haven't worn since college! I'm back in the third hole from the end on my belt (although I still often wear it in the second hole because my jeans, which are too big, get too bunchy when the belt is in hole three). Also, I need to alter a few of my dressy shirts that are now too big.


I set a new Wii Fit goal for another six months from now to lose another 7 pounds. That will get me back to my weight in college and be squarely in the healthy range. If I achieve that goal, I'll focus on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.


In addition to the Wii Fit (which I do about 36 minutes of 5 days a week), I have also been doing a 20 minute aerobic DVD 5 days a week. I've been more careful about the food I eat and how much. For lunch at work, I eat an apple, a hunk of cheese, and a couple of handfuls of walnuts and drink an 8oz can of Coke (and sometimes a granola bar or a few M&Ms). I've increased the amount of water I drink. I still allow myself to indulge, and so I don't limit what dinner is and when I eat out I still order a soda or beer with the meal, and of course order the meal that would make me happy. I still eat some dessert after dinner. I'm careful, but I don't restrict or deny myself things because that would just backfire. If I really want an extra snack, I'll have it.


But so this post wasn't meant to be bragging or seeking out congratulations. I'm just proud of myself that I made a plan and I've stuck to it.





Your reward for reading this far (or scrolling down)... I present the finished Scabbard!





I finished on Saturday during the power outage (the earlier one during which there was light from outside by which to see). I wore it on Sunday to a family football party and then again yesterday to work. The pictures are from yesterday after work. I really want to wear this sweater everyday, that's how much I love it.

Can I wear Scabbard to a wedding on Saturday? With jeans and be comfortable?


Probably not, right?


This wedding would be a good excuse to buy a new dress if I had either a) the money or b) the time. So instead I'm going with something I already have. I have a couple of options; they aren't very fancy though. And so to decide if any of them would be appropriate, I went through my own wedding photos and scrutinized the outfits of the women. I'm sure the style gods (Tim Gunn and that Stacy lady from TLC would not think this an appropriate strategy... hey, come give me a new wardrobe!! Maybe I should start dressing even worse and my students will call them to come rescue me from bad style...) I think my options will work, even the dress I'm currently wearing for work (it just might have to be paired with heels instead of knee-high boots.). Which makes for an interesting contrast... knee-high boots are ok for teaching, but not for a wedding. Discuss.








Well, typing that up didn't kill as much time before class as I had hoped...

LAYER ONE:
* Name: kim.
* Birthday: 11/29.
* Birthplace: Missouri.
* Current location: NYC.
* Eye color: brown.
* Hair color: dark blonde (according to my stylist).
* Height: 5'2".
* Righty or lefty: righty.
* Zodiac sign: Sagittarius.

LAYER TWO:
* Your heritage: human? I honestly don’t really know.
* The shoes you wore today: Very comfy black flats that are falling apart and I can’t find a replacement for.
* Your weakness: Procrastination and selfishness.
* Your fears: snakes, spiders, creepy-crawlers
* Your perfect pizza: plain, thin-crust, slight hint of garlic.
* Goals you’d like to achieve: appearing on the Colbert Report or Countdown with Keith Olberman.

LAYER THREE:
* Your most overused phrase on AIM: hmmm… haven’t used AIM since I graduated college.
* Your first waking thoughts: if I keep my eyes closed while Kevin gets up, maybe I’ll fall back asleep.
* Your best physical feature: brain.
* Your most missed memory: if I missed the memory, wouldn’t that mean I don’t remember it to begin with???

LAYER FOUR:
* Pepsi or Coke: Coke.
* McDonald’s or Burger King: Neither. I haven’t eaten at either of those in about 6 years.
* Single or group dates: single, although I don’t do much dating now.
* Adidas or Nike: Sketchers.
* Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: I don’t like tea.
* Chocolate or vanilla: In what sense? Cupcakes… definitely vanilla.
* Cappuccino or coffee: I don’t like coffee either.

LAYER FIVE:
* Smoke: Never. It’s disgusting and dirty.
* Cuss: Probably more than I should.
* Sing: Alone in the car.
* Take a shower everyday: Yes. Although sometimes there is pajama Saturdays in which no shower is needed.
* Do you think you’ve been in love: I am now.
* Want to go to college: There are interesting classes that I see on the schedule that I’d love to sit in on.
* Liked high school: Parts of it.
* Want to get married: Well, I did, didn’t I?
* Believe in yourself: Mostly.
* Get motion sickness: Yes, though usually only if I try to read or knit in the car/bus.
* Think you’re attractive: Some days more than others, some days less than others.
* Think you’re a health freak: No, but I’m trying to at least be healthier, not freakier.
* Get along with your parent(s): Yes.
* Like thunderstorms: Yes, but not at night. I get very scared if I’m woken up by thunder.
* Play an instrument: Does Guitar Hero count?

LAYER SIX: In the past month…
* Drank alcohol: Yes.
* Smoked: No.
* Done a drug: Nope to dope.
* Made out: Yes.
* Gone on a date: Married type dates.
* Gone to the mall: No. There really isn’t one nearby.
* Eaten an entire box of Oreos: I don’t think I’ve eaten an Oreo in a year or more.
* Eaten sushi: Yes! Yum!!
* Been on stage: Does giving a talk count? It wasn’t on a stage per say, but there was an audience.
* Been dumped: No.
* Gone skating: No.
* Made homemade cookies: Yes.
* Gone skinny dipping: No.
* Dyed your hair: No. I’m letting the last one grow out, so that I can get some highlights.
* Stolen Anything: No.

LAYER SEVEN: Ever…
* Played a game that required removal of clothing: No.
* Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yes (as recently as Saturday… but it was an open bar at a wedding in the hotel that we were staying at… it couldn’t be avoided).
* Been caught “doing something”: In terms of ever, I’m sure that I have.
* Been called a tease: No.
* Gotten beaten up: No, but I almost got into a fight in 8th grade, but I walked away.
* Shoplifted: No.
* Changed who you were to fit in: Doesn’t everyone to some extent? We all put on different selves for different groups.

LAYER EIGHT:
* Age you hope to be married: I was a little older than I thought I’d be, but there wasn’t really a “hope” element.
* Numbers and names of children: Zero.
* Describe your dream wedding: I didn’t have a dream in mind for my wedding. I liked what I had. The most important things were good food and good music.
* How do you want to die: Peacefully and not for many decades.
* Where you want to go to college: I’m starting to think I’m too old for this meme…
* What do you want to be when you grow up: Dr. Girlfriend.
* What country would you most like to visit: Greece.

LAYER NINE:
* Number of drugs taken illegally: 0.
* Number of people I could trust with my life: Probably more than I would think or could count.
* Number of CDs that I own: I don’t want to count those.
* Number of piercings: 3 per ear.
* Number of tattoos: 0. If I could think of something cool and timeless, I would get one.
* Number of scars on my body: Couple of scrapes on my knees and a few old chicken pox scars, but nothing sizable.
* Number of things in my past that I regret: Regret isn’t a useful emotion. What’s past is past, so I just move forward.

Remember back on the 18th when I complained that my order for yarn to make another Stitch Diva pattern was apparently backordered. And that while I had ordered it on the 11th, I hadn't been given any indication that the yarn was not in stock until the email a week later. So I responded that I wanted to cancel the order and be refunded my money. Now it is the 30th and I have received no further communication, no refund, and no yarn. I just sent another terse, but polite email that I would like to know what the situation is and whether I am going to receive the yarn (which is paid for) or my money back. I have never experienced such terrible customer service from a yarn store.