Big Ol' Bummer

Since my last post, the knitting has taken a turn for the worse. I got stuck on a few things and had to call Jenny for help a couple of times. The pattern is frustratingly vague (or it seems like it to me). Anyway, I had a few issues and while most of them were worked out without serious problems, I do have a small hole on one side of the heel, which always seems to happen when I try to knit socks. There's also some looseness on that side, which I hope will go away with blocking and wearing. Anyway, I'm back on track and will post pictures when I find Pat's camera.

I've been a little down lately because of money and not finding a job and not knowing anyone out here. And now I have to realize that I may not get to go to school this semester and that's making me quite sad. I did have that interview Friday and that went pretty well, but my hopes are not high. I have a long list of places to apply this week, so I guess it's good that I have some prospects. I should start praying more. That's probably what's going wrong.

Ali

Proselytizing

I am almost positive you need to see this. How do you know if the 'you' mean is actually you? If you like Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris, Violet the Potential Slayer, random musical outbursts, supervillains, homeless people, science, evil horses or frozen yogurt, then you'll definitely like this.

And the rest of you probably will.

-Jenny

Since Monday...

Monday I started two things.

I started knitting the Browns socks that I've been wanting to knit for awhile (like a couple of years...), although I decided to knit them for myself instead of a gentleman. They're a little bigger than I had expected (apparently my gauge is too big or some shit) so I may have to hand them over anyway, but I doubt it. They're not quite that big. Just a bit baggy. Anyway! The point is that I started them on Monday and I'm just about ready to start the heel. (May I point out that this is sock yarn and these are size 1 needles, so I think that's pretty darn fast.)

I also started reading Garden Spells, which Jenny recommended. I am about 3/4 finished with it. It's a quick read, but I'm still impressed at how speedily I am doing things this week. (I'll leave out the part about me not doing dishes because the sink is leaky and how I've only done a couple of loads of laundry and how I haven't really cleaned except for picking up a few things that were in the middle of the floor.)

My other news is that I have a job interview on Friday. I'm not entirely hopeful because I don't even know what the job is, but I apparently applied for it, so maybe it'll be good. I'm going to wait and see and keep looking in the meantime.

Now I'm going to stop procrastinating and go to the grocery store. Or knit some more...

-Ali

Cooking!

I need to invest in some sunscreen. In the past couple of weeks I've burned my face at least 3 times. I'm going to get the cancer if I don't wise up.

Today, Pat and I went golfing (I did better today, but I was miserable from the frickin heat) and for dinner I made something from Every Day with Rachel Ray. It was grilled marinated steak with "deconstructed guacamole". Basically, the steak with big chunks of grilled avocado and onion with tomatoes and cilantro. I don't know that Pat loved it, but I did. It was amazingly delicious. Ironically, the cilantro was my favorite part. I need to grow some.

Ali

Golfing and Bitching

I am officially a golfing fool. Pat got me to try it and it's now my favorite hobby. I'm still pretty horrible, but it's fun. Unfortunately, I tend to get a little frustrated when I don't do well (which is most of the time) but it's still fun. And it's my favorite way to get exercise and a tan. Pat and I are supposed to go golfing this afternoon, so hopefully we can.

I have a bit of a beef with the Fafsa folks. I filled out the stupid form and I'm not eligible for assistance, but that's not what irritates me. Half of the form is dedicated to questions about my mom's financial situation but I was never asked if I live with her. Or off of her. I think that's messed up.

-Alison

My life in snippets:

-Still engaged. It's already stressful and I haven't done anything but think yet. In fact, I'd prefer not to think about it at all until some other areas of life sort themselves out, but the matriarchy wants answers and doesn't like that they aren't forthcoming.

-I still can't find my camera. It's pink! How can someone lose a bright pink camera?!

-I got my WiiFit a few weeks ago and I love it! I'm kicking some ass at the Hula Hooping but I'm tired of the snide comments about my balance. I know I have bad balance! That's why I bought you, you stupid machine! Ironically, I'm not bad at yoga poses. Apparently my balance is fine if I don't have to move.

-How am I supposed to go to Portland if gas prices continue to be this crappy?

-Jenny

Cedar Point

Pat and I went to Cedar Point Wednesday with our friends Dustin and Casey. At the time, I was slightly upset because we had absolutely no game plan and I generally like to plan things ahead of time. But, in the end, I'm actually glad we were so unorganized. We walked back and forth across the park so many times that I got a great workout. It probably would have been better if the sun wasn't beating down and we had plenty of water, but still.

We rode the Maverick first and I have to say it was really good. I wasn't expecting it to be very thrilling because it doesn't have any huge drops or anything, but it was surprisingly exciting. I also rode Maxair for the first time and that was probably the scariest ride of the day. That or Power Tower, which still scares the crap out of me.

The longest line we encountered was Maverick which was about 2 hours, then after that, everything was under 1/2 hour. It was strange.

It was a nice trip. Oh! And Pat won me a stuffed bear holding a heart! I feel like I'm in high school, but it made me happy. (Yeah, I'm sappy like that.)

-Ali