Knitting 101 & A Day At Home

Curses on my friend Melody for inviting me to her abode last night and teaching me to knit.  I have a staggering  amount of work to do but all I can think is, I could sit down and get off a few rows.  I want nothing more than to pop in a movie I know well so I don't actually  have to watch it, plop myself on the couch with my yarn and needles, and not move for the next two hours.

That will be my late afternoon treat if I am a good writer and productive for the rest of the day.  I am SO HAPPY because I squeezed in a few appointments late yesterday afternoon and so I get to stay home today.  No 40-minute drive into GSO - yippee! I got up at 5 today and went to my 6 AM yoga class, came home, showered, and put my sweatpants and t-shirt right back on.  There are few pleasures in life as great as dressing like a sloth on a work day.

Tile guy could not make it out yesterday and so is absolutely going to be here this morning.  I'll hold off on further commentary until tomorrow.

Back to knitting--I am not a natural.  No shock there.  I've never had strong hand/eye coordination.  But I'm looking at this first piece as purely a practice piece and so am not getting down on myself if I add a knot or make a mess.  This is the learning scarf and worst case, I'll give it to the cats.  But I enjoy the process.  It's the methodicalness (is that a word?) of it that I enjoy.  Same movements, over and over, and slowly you see the fabric growing before your eyes.  So much of what I do is long-term--write an article, send it out, wait 6 months for it to appear--that it's appealing to do something that produces immediate results. 

Like I said, it's not looking pretty at this point, but I'll get there.  I'm hoping Melody (and I take back my earlier curse on her, because she was so sweet and patient with me) and I and other knitting friends can get together every now and then for practice.

And now I must (knit a few rows...), no no -- work!

No More Work!

Lucy has been meowing at me all morning, hopping up on the desk, trying to get my attention.  Finally, in a last bid attempt, she draped herself over my current project.  Who said people without kids never experience Mommy guilt??

Decorating Diaries--Tile Today???

Oh boy, everybody cross your fingers and say a prayer.  Word on the street is the tile people are coming TODAY. That's right, there is the chance that I may wake up tomorrow morning with a tile floor in my master bathroom. 

They told my general contractor they would be here this morning so I called at 9 AM to firm out a time.  That's when they said (and really, couldn't you have predicted it by this point?) that they might not be able to make it out until the afternoon.  Fine, except for one thing.  I won't BE HERE this afternoon and my General Contractor is at another job.

So after some phone calls, it has been decided that tile guy will try with all his might to get here before 1pm when I leave, but if he can't make it, he will absolutely be here in the morning.  

I'll keep you updated... 

I'm Better Now

After being late yesterday morning to Triad Networks, I just could not let go of it.  I was jittery and distracted as I started my writing session with friends Bernie and Claudette.  "I am always on time--early--for everything," I told them.  "I can't stand people who are late and I don't like being thought of as one of those people."

"Well," said Bernie kindly (because, God love her, she feels the same way about being on time as I do), "Then maybe this is the Universe's way of telling you not to be so judgemental of other people and their time issues.  You never know what the reason is for someone being late."

Oddly, I felt much better after she said that and was able to concentrate on my work.  Turned into a fantastic writing session for me where I churned out close to 8 pages of handwritten work.  Then I nailed my Toastmasters speech, which heightened my mood.  

The rest of the day was up and down as some of my appointments were wonderful (and on time--<grin>), while others forgot I was coming, or couldn't meet with me.  So it was a day of highs and lows.

Turned into a loooong work day.  I left the house at 6:50 AM yesterday and finally dragged myself away from the computer at 9pm saying, "Enough."  Today is swamped too, but the highlight is I'm meeting my friend Melody at her house for dinner at 5, and we're doing at least an hour's worth of knitting--my first lesson.  I have no business taking two hours off with the work I have piling up, and that's exactly why I'm doing it.  Trying to bring some balance back to life.