Startitis has struck again

So I haven't posted about anything crafty for a while. I think I need to start updating my WIPs more often solely for accountability's sake. I try really hard not to have too many things going on at once because then nothing gets finished, but somehow I have like 12 projects going on right now. Here's the rundown:

Hexagon Blanket. I've been mainly trying to focus on this. I like working on it in spurts and then making smaller projects inbetween, which had been working. Now it seems like every time I pull it out one of the cats thinks its cuddle time, and I can't say no to them. Ever. So progress is slow. I only have 6 blue/purple hexagons left for this round, and then I start the purple/purple ones and start making it rectangular.

A Hat for Paul-John. I started this right after Stitches. After spending all of last winter trying to make one for him and running into lots of problems (fit, color choice, writing my own color chart) I decided this year it was going to be easy. That meant size 10.5 needles and ribbing so it would have to fit. It's one of those hats with ribbing all the way up and you fold the brim up. Paul-John said he wanted a tiny brim, so I made a tiny brim. After he tried it on he decided he wanted a bigger brim, so I had to frog and now it only needs, seriously, an hour or two to finish.

Curtains. Before I started working I decided to start on the curtains for the kitchen because I've had the fabric since June. Things were humming along quite nicely but then I decided to put it aside to work on my next project...

Sewing Skirts. My job requires that I wear either a skirt or dress everyday that comes below my knee. I decided that since I was so into learning how to sew, and shopping wasn't really working for me, I would make a bunch of skirts. I got a fantastic book about designing patterns and have one skirt that is almost finished, but I need to buy a zipper foot for my machine to be able to sew the zipper in.

Mittens. Technically I haven't started these yet, but now that Thanksgiving has passed all I can think about is how much I want some super cute stranded mittens this year and have been pouring over patterns on Ravelry trying to decide which ones I like best, so its already been a time waster for me.

Swann's Way. I know this isn't crafty, but it is something I initially wanted to devote an hour a day to. I haven't picked it up in maybe two weeks, all because my bookmark fell out and I'm not sure where I was. I'm just over 100 pages in, and I really need to get back into reading this at least 3 or 4 times a week.

#18

I am officially no longer unemployed! It is a really great feeling to finally be working again. For two weeks, I have been working as a part-time secretary at the Chabad House in West Hartford. It's a small office, with three rabbis, one full-time secretary, and a guy who does payables. The first week was really awkward, but on Monday one of the rabbis told me I was fitting in really well which gave me a much needed confidence boost.

All in all, the job seems to be exactly what I need right now. It is easy, but I am also learning a lot about Orthodox Jewish culture. It also gives me enough free time that I will either be able to go back to school next semester (yikes!) or be able to really start volunteering somewhere. This job isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life, but it is going to give me the time I need in order to take the next step.

#6

This weekend Paul-John and I quite unexpectedly were able to cross something else off the list: #6, buy a piece of art. The two major things our house is lacking to make it feel really homey are curtains, which I am slowly plugging away at, and stuff hanging on the walls. While we do have some photos and mirrors and clocks we want to hang, currently we have nothing hanging on any wall in any room of the house.

We spent the weekend in Newport and Saturday afternoon we walked around downtown with the intention of only buying Christmas presents, which were able to buy a couple. One art store that we went into was having such a big clearance we knew we had to buy a couple things for ourselves. Here is the larger one that Paul-John picked out for the living room:

The second painting we put in our downstairs bathroom.

The frame we picked out really goes great with the tile.

Wordy Post, but with a rewarding finish

Today is my last day of unemployment, and I am very excited. I had a great last week. It included a celebratory dinner at El Sombrero with Paul-John and then meeting up with Mike and Tim at the Dugout for more celebration; going to New Haven to watch Laura in the New Haven Symphony which was fantastic; eating at O'Roarke's and going to a dive in Middletown with Mike and Paul-John; and lastly, going to Rookie's to watch Drop Dead Sexy with a bunch of people for Josh's birthday, followed by six of us heading to Gotham in New Haven for an hour of dancing.

As awesome as that whole week sounds, it unfortunately ended with a small incident that immediately brought to mind this piece. Driving home, I found out Kim had a similar experience. I am really not a club person. I am much more of a dive bar, cheap beer and playing pool than going out dancing person. I wanted to go to Gotham because I do enjoy dancing occasionally, even if the music isn't quite my taste, and figured there would be no random getting groped by guys you don't know. Wrong! The six of us get there, two gay couples and two straight girls. When two guys starting dancing with Kim and me, I figured it was just for fun, after all, we were in a gay club. When it got a little uncomfortable for me, I excused myself to get some water. The guy followed me, and luckily bought water first and let me drink it first when he opened it, because later I found out it was 5dollars a bottle! I digress.

So I start talking with guy. He asks if I'm straight. I say yes, and he says me too! I was stunned, and felt really creeped out. First, I was just slightly uncomfortable with touchy dancing, but assumed that it was in a very non-sexual context. I was so stunned, that all I can muster was, "I'm married." Guess what! He is too!

So the rest of the night meant trying to dance with Kim and avoid the bizzarro straight guys, which never lasted long, and then either breaking up Josh and Paul to dance with them, or going off to sit on the couch and smoke a cigarette. The worst thing about it was that there were about 4 straight guys and they just wouldn't get the hint. If they tried to dance with us once, no big deal, but I was surprised at how persistent they were. Kim said she enjoyed dancing with her straight guy, but got frustrated after he made multiple attempts to make out after she made it clear that she was just there for dancing. We were both shocked at the persistence of these guys. From the linked-to post: "So if you speak to a woman who is otherwise occupied, you’re sending a subtle message. It is that your desire to interact trumps her right to be left alone. If you pursue a conversation when she’s tried to cut it off, you send a message. It is that your desire to speak trumps her right to be left alone. And each of those messages indicates that you believe your desires are a legitimate reason to override her rights."

Nothing like this has happened to me in a very long time and it really pissed me off.

To make all of us feel better about this sorry event, and because I realized that I have not shared any cat photos in quite some time, I think we need some cute cuddling cats. These are all from my phone, so the quality is not the highest.

On a Roll

I was on quite a blogging roll there for a bit, and now I feel like I haven't posted in forever when it's only been about a week. Good for you guys right? I think maybe I've finally got this whole regularly updating thing down!

So remember that guy we found in our backyard? When I was raking the leaves, I found him a new best friend!

I wish his eye was actually glowing, but its just the reflection of the flash in the window.... I think I even like this guy better! I should really name them both.

in other great and exciting news, I got a job! I start next week, doing office work at a synagogue in West Hartford. Yay! I just now need to buy lots of skirts/dresses.

#58

This weekend Paul-John and I tackled #58: Paint and furnish the mudroom. This was a fairly easy project: painting a 5'x5' room doesn't take any time, and we had bought the coat hooks and chalkboard back when we had a zillion home depot and lowe's gift cards. The only thing that's missing is a place to put shoes, but since that really only requires cash and all the hard work is done, I'm marking this off as complete.

We based our color choice on the stone floor. (Also, please note, it is very hard to photograph such a small room well.)

"Clearly, the truth I am seeking is not in the drink, but in me. The drink has awoken it in me, but does not know this truth, and can do no more than repeat indefinitely, with less and less force, this same testimony which I do not know how to interpret and which I want at least to be able to ask of it again and find again, intact, available to me, soon, for a decisive clarification. I put down the cup and turn to my mind. It is up to my mind to find the truth. But how? Such grave uncertainty, whenever the mind feels overtaken by itself; when it, the seeker, is also the obscure country where it must seek and where all its baggage will be nothing to it. Seek? Not only that: create. It is face-to-face with something that does not yet exist and that only it can accomplish, then bring into its light."

The passage above is from the middle of the madeleine scene in Swann's Way by Marcel Proust. I started to read this almost two years ago and at best only got 100 pages in. I decided that the way in which I had to read this book was going to have to be intense. The only way I would be able to keep track of the story and long descriptions* would be to read it for long periods of time every day. Since I feel my unemployment will be soon coming to a close, I felt I couldn't waste this opportunity and had to start reading it again.

*In the introduction, I learned that "less than one-quarter [of the sentences in Swann's Way] are very long - ten lines or more."

Thanks, Josh!

I wish I knew how to embed video