Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Where Oh Where Have I Been?

Why, right here of course! Ever since Christmas I've been bitten by the woolly knitting bug. I swear it's like an addiction. I see knitted things on people and think about the type of yarn and stitches used to make the garment...and not to myself but out-loud! I can't help it; now that the weather has actually turned seasonal it's nice to cuddle up at home in front of the tv with a warm ball of yarn on my lap and a cool thing being made by my own hands. Currently, I'm making a scarf. Oooooh, you're so impressed, but honestly I think I'm the only knitter that hasn't knitted up a bajillion scarves. I made one for a sister, one for me, one for Tim's sister, and one for my niece. Hers is way cool and what inflicted me with my current crafty urge.

Why knit? It's very relaxing and I like getting something out of it! It is yet another creative outlet--besides teaching. I don't think you all realize that knitting is the thing right now. I mean, check out this scarf. Who the heck would pay that much for a scarf that can be knitted with maybe $30 of yarn?? And, yes, I can so do that. With pompoms. In any color.

As fun and cool as knitting is, and in spite of the many free patterns and charts on the web, I've learned that not everyone is as dorky as me. For example, I wanted to make a purse with a rat on it but couldn't find any rat color charts to follow. :-( I will have to make my own someday. Perhaps my next project because...


...I'm knitting a DNA scarf! OK-it's not what you think. I wanted to do that too, what you're thinking: two skinny scarves with matching nucleotides, joined together in a double helix...but that's too hard. I settled on just a black scarf with all a small fragment of the DNA sequence to hemoglobin. One strand with pink letters and the other in white. I think it'll look good and will have to post a pic for you when it's done.

Other than that, I'm finally getting over a headcold and I got a new student teacher.

Oh, and the kids are growing on me. A little. A last.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Everything I Need to Know About Life I Learned From My Rats

Life Lessons from my personal gurus. Some you may have seen before.

1) Eat the good stuff first.

2) If someone else is eating it, it must be good.

3) Family and friends keep you warm and are nice to have around.

4) If there's room for one, there's room for me as well!

5) When stressed, drink a lot of water and take lots of naps.

6) Everything is better with avocado.

8) Everything is forgivable if enough treats are involved.

9) It's nice to let your people know you appreciate them.

10)Special attention and cuddles are needed everyday.

11)Being nice and clean is very important.

12)Since you never know when or where you'll get hungry, it's important to have snacks stashed
everywhere.

13)Being cute will get you places. Maybe not everywhere, but at least out of your cage.

Reflections circa 2006

Well, this time of year has me (OK, everyone) looking back at life and setting goals for the year ahead. Upon reflection I can see that I've changed a bit these last 365 days. Changed in a way that can only be described as being weird.

It's Kinda Weird that...

1) a 5k is a nice, short race.

2) any run that is less than 2 miles isn't worth doing.

3) I am now a smaller size than when I was in jr. high.

4) I feel pretty good about myself as a teacher. Granted, I still have lots of room for improvement but I am starting to feel like I know what I'm doing.

5) I signed up for another half marathon. Guess the last one wasn't punishing enough. This race takes place in Agoura Hills on March 31 2007.

6) I like races because they motivate me to exercise regularly. In other words, I race to train! Speaking of training, I just ended Day 2 of my 12 week training schedule. Based on past experience ...

7) I feel that it is important to include more hills in my runs. I can't even believe I'm saying this!

8) I do fartleks now.

9) I have an alter ego! She calls herself the Knuisance Knitter and foists handmade knitted objects onto friends and family! Consider yourself warned.

10)I realize that there are many more patterns out there I want to do than actually need. I mean, c'mon, I've just finished my 3rd purse. How many handmade knitted purses does one person need??

11)I'm not done with my current knitting project, but have begun to collect yarn and patterns for my next 2 (or 3, or 4).

12)A half marathon is not enough. I want to become a better triathlete this year.

13)ha! am just now thinking about my students!