I feel like I'm 13 again...

60 hours down- 9940 to go

Eclipse comes out tonight and I'm really excited about it. Initially, I read Twilight because the high school girls (that I teach) begged me too. They told me it was so good. Then, for Christmas my high school aged cousins bought it for me. Then, I had surgery and I couldn't do much so I finally read it. I don't understand why I put it off so long, because I knew it wouldn't be a time consuming read. I think sometimes I have to shun the popular. (I swore never to read Harry Potter, but in college I had to read The Sorcerer's Stone for a young adult literature class and fell. in. love. Also, I think Harry Potter is far superior to the Twilight Saga, but they both fell into the "I don't want to read it because it is popular" theme.)

I don't think that the Twilight Saga is by any means great literature, but they are captivating and well-written books as far as I am concerned. As for the movies, well, I can't read a series and not see the coordinating movies, and what is more fun than lining up at midnight with all the fanatics?

Oh, and Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson are hot. I tried to touch Cedric Diggory's costume when I went to see the Harry Potter exhibit in Chicago (it was at the museum of science and industry-- but I think it is traveling) until my husband jokingly pushed me toward it and a guard gave us both the death stare. I know that Mr. Lautner is just barely 18, but anyone that works that hard on their body deserves a look and praise. Mr. Pattinson is a tad more age appropriate, and his mystery (both on and off screen) makes him a little hotter. I'm still sorry Voldermort killed his character during The Goblet of Fire though.

A rant and a plan

58.5 hours down- 9941.5 to go

First, a rant- feel free to skip :) -
* In February we started the process to refinance our house. We've only owned the house for four years, but the rates are so good and our payment would drop so much we were excited to do it. We thought we'd use the extra money (from the skipped month of mortgage) to pay for the Spring Break trip to Florida that we didn't really have the money to go on. It wasn't done by April when we needed the money. It is now the end of June and tomorrow they are coming to appraise our house again before they can sure up the loan. There have been some speedbumps in the process: the original guy we worked with got fired, we have an 80/20 loan and our current lender wouldn't sign off on the 80 if we didn't also move the 20, and I think that many of the people who work at this lending agency might be morons. I mean really almost 5 months is about 4 months longer than I've seen anyone wait to refinance.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I feel better.

On to more exciting things!

I've made a "tour de Fleece" plan. I'm not a spinner so I'm going with the Knitmore Girls' idea of handcycling. I'm such a poor judge of what a good goal is in terms of finishing things so I've come up with my own plan. Every day during "tour de Fleece" I'm going to work on EACH of these projects-- the fish blanket, the snuggie, and the to-be-cast-on baby surprise jacket each day. Hopefully, throughout the tour I'll finish something and in that case my third project will be replaced with the sock yarn blanket squares. I'm not going to join any "tour de Fleece" groups because my plan is so random, but I think I'll try to document each day via this blog. I also would like to kick off my Jane Austen summer during the tour as well. I really want to read all of her work, but I put it off continually. So, I think I might add that to my tour goals!

Vacation is a win, but yields no knitting

56.5 hours down- 9943.5 to go

I had a great time in Vegas, and we even came back with a little money to put back in the bank which makes it even a little better. There was time by the pool, time to gamble, delicious food, and of course some free drinks.

I didn't even knit on the plane. I took a new project to start (I think I'm going to start a baby surprise jacket) but I didn't cast it on.

Tonight, as I start getting things cleaned up from vacation I'll be knitting again though :) There's a time and a place for everything, and for me Vegas isn't a knitting city. There's not enough sitting around!!

Wow, this post is boring...

56.5 hours down- 9943.5 to go

Today, I got home from cross country practice (where the student I often run with and I ran 14 seconds faster than yesterday) and I sat down and worked on stuff for a solid 6 hours. I mean, I ate and whatnot, but all told I spent 6 hours knitting. Well, some of that time was spent putting fish together, and let me tell you putting the fish together eats my soul. I do so love how the fish look put together though so I'll keep doing it. The fish don't lay very flat and I think even if I block the crud out of it they still won't, but I'm pretending that makes it whimsical and fun.

... and then I felt guilty.

So, I went outside and cleaned limbs out of the yard-- I even had to cut a few branches that broke during the storms-- and mowed the lawn. Our yard is pretty small so mowing doesn't take long, but I was bored so I made up a new game.

Speed Mowing
Speed Mowing is played by seeing how quickly you can mow the lawn. I mapped out the quickest route, or what I thought was the quickest route, and then tried to mow as fast as I could. My thought is by the end of the summer I can mow even faster than I did today. I was totally jogging behind the mower sometimes, but then sometimes I just had to walk. Maybe by the end of the summer I can mow the yard in nothing flat and get a good workout in.

I also cleaned the kitchen, made "brinner", and got the rest of the stuff together for the "finance the Vegas trip" garage sale taking place this weekend. Sadly, I was able to do all of that in a very small time period, but at least I did something today.

The sky is falling

50.5 hours down, 9947.50 to go

The weather around here has been nasty. Green skies, crazy winds, and sideways rain have been the norm the past few evenings. I don't get freaked out by storms, but my 80 pound dog becomes a giant cry baby when thunder hits-- so I'm over the weather.

Nothing like having three big projects on the needles to make you want to cast on EVERYTHING, but I'm sticking true and trying to finish at least two of the things before I cast on anything new. I've been splitting my knitting time between the snuggie and the fish blanket. It will be a while until they are done, but at least I can see progress!

47 hours down- 9953 hours to go

Yesterday, my sister, husband, and I made lunch for my parents and grandparents. It was fun, a little hectic, but completely delicious.

Today, I did nothing. It was fabulous. I woke up too early, went back to sleep, and then proceeded to sit on the couch all. day. long. I've been knitting and reading on and off and we had good lunch and dinner.

That's really it, but I love days like today.

to nap or not to nap...

43 hours down- 9,957 to go

I'm frustrated with everything. So, I'm going to vent with a quick list and then go on.

1. I went to tutor a homebound student today and the teachers didn't give me everything I needed before they left for vacation. I hate looking stupid in front of a healing student who is busting her ass and wants to get done.

2. I don't like crocheting (I don't think it counts as crochet, but I'm using a crochet hook to sew the pieces so...) the fish together. I don't like sewing/crocheting anything together so this is not a surprise.

3. I didn't go to cross country practice this morning because of tutoring and they played ultimate frisbee and the other coach told me how much fun I missed.

4. We're making lunch tomorrow for my parents and grandparents in a "Top Chef" style -- so we're competing-- and my sister and husband have their menus planned out and I don't.

5. I want to take a nap, but I know if I do I'll be out for hours.

6. My house is WAY too messy for someone who isn't working right now.

7. There's nothing good on TV to pacify me while I try to fix #6.

Now, on to nicer things.


Things I'm not cranky about:

1. I like how the fish look once they are put together, and I've been smart enough to start putting them together now as to not be extra cranky at the end.

2. The snuggie I'm knitting is SO soft that I might make myself one.

3. There is an awesome trail I'm going to run later since I skipped practice.

4. There is NO laundry to be done; all my clothes are clean.

5. There are lots of podcasts to get me through since TV is crappy during the day.

6. I'm in love with the tea blend I made-- it is cherry limeade sun tea and it is THE BEST.

7. I found lots of things for my "fund the Vegas trip" garage sale next weekend.


Seven is a random number to stop on, but that's what I got. Since my brain didn't work enough to write a paragraph I think I AM going to take a nap.

Woo Hoo.

Fishies!

Fishies!,
originally uploaded by erincolleen27.

40 hours down- 9960 hours to go

I'm a lazy picture taker. I know this, but these are the first six fish (in all the colors) for the fish blanket. The fish seem to fly by even though they take longer than you would think. I realize that makes no sense, but in my head it makes sense.

Summer break is officially upon us and today was the first day I had to get up and go to cross country practice. I ran a very slow 3 miles, but I feel phenomenal now. It was really early, and I'm really out of shape, but I feel good now.

I have 7 different "themes" in my head for summer goals and each day I'm trying to accomplish one thing under each theme. So, today holds ripping out bushes, making laundry detergent, making an outline for the zombie novel I want to write, running (accomplished!), making fish and a sock blanket square, and planning the first week back to school, and pricing things for the "finance" my Vegas trip garage sale. (If we make $50 I will be delighted.) Last summer I think I wasted too much time and I was totally sluggish when I had to go back to school, so I think this year being busy and doing all the free home improvement stuff I can is the answer.

Sock yarn blanket- the more I think about this the more I realize that the real answer to making this cool is to put a quilt-ish back on it. My thought it I'll sew the backing on around the edges of the blanket and then make those little quilt tie- things (my quilt knowledge is amazing, no?) at the corner where 4 squares meet. This makes sense in my head-- does that come across and make sense to anyone else?

Fish and Squares

37 hours down- 9,963 to go

I finally found some time and my knitting mojo so I have square and a fish (yes, I bought the yarn- but I ended up getting 60 dollars worth of yarn for $10 because of gift cards and rewards-- so yay) finished. The fish aren't really cool on their own, but I think once they are together they will be cool. At least, I'm hoping this since I've knit one and I need about a gajillion more. The second square for the sock yarn blanket it really cool, but I'm sure you can't see all the little cabley-bits here.

The one great thing about the fish is they are kind of addicting. I sat down to just start one and all of a sudden I realized that instead of doing the cooking and cleaning I was supposed to be doing I had finished a whole fish. Oh well. Everything will get done eventually!

Wait, aren't I supposed to have some free time?

36 hours down - 9964 to go

It is the second day of summer break, and I'm up early and I have to be out the door and gone all day. Why, why do I do this to myself? Yesterday, my day was spent getting our one track girl prepared for the state meet that is this afternoon. (There were lots of track girls, but only one made it to state.) Today, I had originally planned lay low until 3 when I have to go to the meet, but then I agreed to do some other stuff so I'm up early and I need to be headed to the shower.

Hopefully, I can figure out a point in time today to hit my lys and buy yarn for the fish blanket. (Yes, I haven't knit in almost a week, but I NEED this yarn.)

I did sell some yarn on ravelry this week, so I feel like this is almost fair...