Alive, on Ravelry, and the funk is beginning to lift!

My cold has finally said goodbye (yay!), parent conference week from hell has ended (double yay!), I got my invite to Ravelry, and started listing my stash (I need pictures, and a Flickr account, but it's a start, anyway), and I do believe my knitting funk is beginning to ease up. I've been eying some gorgeous royal blue Lang Venezia, wondering what I can make with just six balls of 130 m each. It says it knits 18 sts/4" on 8s, but I haven't swatched yet, so I'm not sure. It's 50/50 mohair/acrylic, and it feels incredibly soft against my skin. Maybe a pullover vest?

I don't wear scarves or hats, or mittens or gloves, for that matter. I mean, this is SoCal. Not much use for those sort of things. (Not much use for wool or mohair or alpaca, either, but that's never stopped me. I just wear them to work, which is air conditioned on the cold side.)

My Masters program is eating up a lot of time. It's crazy, to be honest. This is just the first course, one course! ( A 6 unit course, but still), and it has 2 to 4 assignments each week, as well as 3 to 5 required discussion posts, and feedback requirements for those posts, as well. Seems like a lot to me, considering this is a program for working adults. But I haven't been a student in a long time, so maybe this is normal, and I'm just out of touch. I have about 500 -1000 pages of reading each week, which has to been done before assignments and/or discussions, and I'm finding that I have to give up being online much at all in order to complete the readings, as well as having no time for recreational reading or blogging. With this past week being conference week, and me never being home before 7 pm, it was a very tough week.

A week ago Friday I had a personal disaster. I walked outside to go to work that morning, and my car was gone. I immediately thought it had been stolen. Talk about panic! When I called the police to report it, however, they assured me it hadn't been stolen. It had, however, been damaged in an accident very early Friday morning, and they had towed it to a towing yard. When I called there, they would only confirm that they had it, but couldn't be bothered to tell me what condition it was in. He just worked in the office, you know? I scrambled to write emergency lesson plans and emailed them to work, scrambled to call in for a substitute when none of the numbers we'd been given for the new system worked (I finally logged into the new website, and was able to request a substitute, but no one ever showed up. My kids were taken by a 4th grade teacher all day ~ that woman deserves a medal for coping with 35 5th graders on top of her 35 4th graders!), and then finding someone who would give me a ride to the police station for a release, and then to the towing yard. Where I found out my car wasn't just damaged, it was totaled. Completely. Whoever hit it (I'm still waiting for the police report, so I have no idea who, or how many, hit my car, or whether they were insured), after smashing the backend into my backseat, flipped onto the roof, crushing it, blowing out the back window, and fracturing the front, which held in place a million fragments, but leaned inward onto the steering wheel. The roof was resting on the seatbacks. One rear wheel was parallel to the ground, instead of vertical, and the front driver side wheel tilted at a 45 degree angle. The driver side passenger door was bent badly enough not to be able to be opened, and that window was also gone. The front end was crumpled, but not that badly considering the rest of the car. It's a total loss

I had the towing yard tow the car to my mechanic, who agreed that it was a total loss. I had my ride drive me to a car rental place, where I was able to rent a car for the week (and now a second week). I drove (the same car like I had, in a different color) home, went inside and threw up. I was a bit stressed, I think. Then I just sat down and cried for a while. My insurance company won't do anything until I get the police report (10 days, they say), and we find out who hit me and if they're insured. (Please, God, let them be insured. I need a break!)

So, my life has been a little strange lately. And it's likely to continue being strange for a while longer. But after all this, my knitting funk is beginning to lift, and that makes me feel hopeful. Something I haven't felt in a while, and have missed, greatly. Now, if I can just find the perfect project for that Venezia!

Apologies

Okay, so I'm not much of a blogger. I'm sorry. My life has been so hectic lately, I've had no time to do much of anything blogworthy. My Masters program has started, and I'm knee-deep in reading, writing, and researching for that. I just got made the PTA president, when the former president unexpectedly resigned. I'm on the Leadership team at school, and am responsible for researching and recommending a new vocabulary program for our school. Parent conferences are coming up in a week. I've had the cold from hell for the last two weeks, and it hasn't yet shown me it's leaving.

I haven't knitted a single thing in weeks. I haven't even thought of knitting anything in weeks. I have added to my stash (Webs had their sale, you know, and it's sacrilege to ignore it, right?), but even that hasn't inspired me to pick up a needle, or even search through my voluminous supply of patterns and stitch dictionaries. I'm in a funk, and I don't know when it's going to end. And with the amount of work my Masters program seems to be generating, even if the funk ends, I may not have time to do anything about it.

So, I apologise to any readers who may have noticed my absence. I have no FOs or even UFOs to share. I have no knitterly advice, no knitterly questions, no knitterly progress. I just have way too much to do, not enough time to do it all, and no knitting mojo at all.

Random Thoughts

Well, someone obviously had a talk with the weather ~ Thanks! It's cooled down, and life has returned to almost normal. This is my crazy month, with school beginning, parent nights, reorganization (we just got told we have to pick two kids to move to a combination class, teacher unspecified. Like I can choose two of my kids to move! I am already very attached to all of them, and I don't want to lose any of them, dammit. I might be okay giving up the kid who just started on Friday, but I can't give him up, since Friday was only his second day in the US, and he doesn't speak any English ~ well, almost no English)

My partner 5th grade teacher and I had our Back To School night on Thursday (while our principal sat in his office writing the surprise memo about reorganization and didn't tell us in time to alert the parents). Our BTS is about 3 weeks earlier than the official one. Who ever heard of waiting 6 weeks to have a BTS? About half my parents showed up, so I guess the other half are content to wait the 6 weeks. Or do I really have half a class full of parents who don't care enough to come to BTS? Yikes, I definitely hope not.

This week we have the official meeting for our DC trip. The travel company rep comes down with all the info for the trip, including the price (which I think is going up $100, but we added a day so that's really reasonable), and will answer all our parents' questions and concerns. And then I have a PTA board meeting this week, too. I'm the Programs chair.

I'm also getting ready to begin my first class for my Masters degree, which begins in October. I just checked my university bookstore, and the books for just this one class are $185. For one class. I think there are 8 ~ 10 books listed, but they're all required. Looks like I'll be doing a mountain of reading in October. I downloaded the syllabus for the class, and that's on my reading list for later today. September is so busy for me, I'm trying not to look ahead too much, but it's hard.

I finished the vest from Classic Knits, but it's still sitting here staring at me, not sewn together. I really should get that done, because it's wearable now (if the Weather Gods don't have a really twisted sense of humor, of course), and it turned out to be pretty cute. I haven't even thought of knitting this past week, what with all the work related craziness. I do want to get back to my mohair/cashmere comfort sweater, though. Hopefully, I'll do a little work on that this evening, as I wind down from all the school paperwork and planning I'm doing today. I passed up an all-expenses-paid trip to the Fair today, to work on school stuff (and finish up the paperwork on my Masters program), so I'm feeling virtuous (or is that just "sorry for myself"?) The LA County Fair is the largest county fair in California, and possibly the country. I usually go for all the crafts, and the animals. I've never yet seen a sheep shearing, but I did see, and fall in love with, angora goats one year. They are so cute!

Ah, well. Time to get back to lesson plans and creative activities for 10 year olds.

Someone Tell the Temperature God That I Give Up!

I have nothing knitterly to report. SoCal has decided to become an oven, and it's been hell waking up to an apartment that is close to 100 degrees, even at 5:30 am. When I am home, I'm sitting in front of a fan that simply blows hot air on me, or in the shower letting cold water run over me. Mostly I've been not home, since home is hell.

I've gone back to work, officially. (I actually went back to work on August 13, but I don't get paid for any of the setup work my classroom requires, so it's not "official"). A useless day of inservices on Monday, a (boring) staff meeting on Tuesday, followed by "meet the teacher" bits all afternoon. And the news from our principal that first, for some unknown reason, all of us have to teach 10 45 minute lessons from an anti-drug/violence curriculum before 9/14. So, during the first 3 weeks of school, when I normally focus on rules, policies, getting to know my students, instead, I'll be force-feeding them interminable lessons from a program most of us find ineffective and cumbersome. Good idea, badly done. And then, I get the news that I'll be out of my classroom 2 consecutive days, on the 12th and 13th, for yet another inservice on a writing program that's good, I suppose, if one wants to produce technical writers.

Finally, on Wednesday, my students came to class for the first time. Well, all except one girl, who was still in Mexico, until Friday. I have 35 students. So does the other 5th grade teacher (yes, we're a small school, and there are only 2 5th grade teachers. And 2 4th grade teachers, as well). And we have a waiting list. As usual, back in June, our district decided that our enrollment would be down in September (from 298), so we had to let one teacher go. So, our enrollment in September? 348, with a long waiting list for every grade, except 4th. (Until the first day of school, both of us in 5th grade had 38 students on the roll. Fortunately, 6 of them moved.) While I don't like having 35 students (It's way too many for me to be really effective with them, no matter how hard I work), I do like all 35 of the kids I have. They're cute, they respond well to direction, and for the first time, they all seem to be okay with turning in their homework (or the stuff that passes for homework, the first week of school).

I had to rearrange my plans for this week. First, to accomodate the above-mentioned drug program. Next, because of the weather ~ I don't think it's healthy to do outdoor activities in 110 degree heat, so several activities have been postponed until SoCal returns to livable conditions. If it ever does. Thank God all our classrooms are air conditioned, and all of them seem to be working (which is generally not the case the first few days of school).

Because of that blessed a/c, I'm going to spend some time in my classroom today and tomorrow. I could do most of the work at home, but with this heat, I feel completely sapped of energy, and it's hard to work with multiple pieces of paper with a fan blasting you, so I'm heading to my classroom to get things done in blissfully cooler air.

I may also spend some time wandering around Lowe's, looking for a small a/c unit that won't overload my already full circuit board. (I live in an old building, and it was never designed for a/c, window style or otherwise.) But I live in hope. Besides, Lowe's is airconditioned, too, so it's just one more place I can spend time avoiding the heat.

Wow, we're having an earthquake! Not a major one, of course, but my bed just started shaking, and my computer monitor was dancing a bit, and it went on too long for it to be a reaction to some heavy truck on the road outside. I guess life is never dull in SoCal!

Lunch with SK and Barbara

Wednesday, Barbara and I met up with Shui Kuen and her mother for lunch at Ocean Star, a dim sum restaurant in Alhambra. It was wonderful ~ I love dim sum, but rarely get to eat it, since there aren't many good places for it anywhere near where I live. SK and her mother did all the ordering (no menus, no one seemed to speak English), and they treated us to a terrific array of dishes.

It was great to see SK again, and to see what she's been working on. Barbara had brought both magazines that have SK's work in them, and she was thrilled to see those. SK showed us the Forget-Me-Not shawl she's working on now, knit in Elann's Kid Silk ~ simply gorgeous! She also had with her a terrific cabled cardigan she'd made some time ago ~ although I doubt she's had any chance to wear it here, with our extreme heat.

Barbara brought her Comfort shawl with her ~ it's absolutely gorgeous, and feels yummy as well. Between SK and Barbara, I almost feel compelled to knit a shawl, even though I never wear one and have no use for shawls in SoCal.

After lunch, we all went back to SK's mother's house, where her mother tried to feed us more, and SK brought out all the goodies she's working on. We had a great time, and I regret that SK lives so far away (in the wilds of Canada!) that we rarely get together. If she lived nearer to me, I swear I'd just sit at her feet and learn from her ~ she's one awesome knitter!

I didn't have anything to show, unfortunately. I'd been working in my classroom before I left for the meeting, and I forgot to take anything with me when I left home (before 7 am!). I didn't even remember to bring my camera, so the above were graciously sent to me by Barbara, who did remember to bring hers, although she forgot until we were getting ready to leave. Bless her for sharing.

An Almost FO

I finished the knitting portion of the tank top from Classic Knits last Friday. It takes no time at all to knit, using Big Wool and size 17s. I think I spent a couple of hours on it Thursday night, and finished it Friday evening after I got home from organizing my classroom. It's cute, but it's still not sewn together. I really like the Big Wool Fusion I used ~ it's pink and cream, sort of swirled together, and knits up really nice. I even made it longer than the pattern called for, and made a larger opening for my arms, since this has to be worn over something, not by itself. It's a satisfying very quick knit.


I've been busy at my school, getting my classroom set up for the new year, which begins next week. I'm down to 35 students as of today, from a high of 39 at the beginning of last week. (35 is the max I'm allowed to have, but our district keeps enrolling students even when we've reached our max, thinking they'll shuffle kids once school begins. Ask me how stupid I think that is!) Anyway, I'm pretty much done with setting up, but still have my "first day bags" to fill, and some activity sheets to run off. And my "Parent Handbook" to finish assembling, too.


My school is air conditioned, which has made me glad to go in to work, even though it's unpaid, this past week or so. It's been hot as h*** here, over 100 each day, and not cooling off much at night, either. Which is partially why the tank top isn't sewn together ~ it's just too hot to hold all that luscious wool in my lap while I sew it together. It's supposed to be cooling down a little bit this week (I'm still waiting for that to happen ~ it's 6:30 pm and 91 degrees right now), and if it does, I'll sew that tank top together and be done with it.


Tomorrow, I'm having lunch with Shui Kuen and Catbookmom, my Elannite friends. SK is down from her home in Canada to see her mom, and she and Barbara and I are having lunch somewhere in Alhambra. I think SK's mom is joining us ~ she's a knitter, too, but she doesn't speak any English at all. SK is a very talented designer ~ her shawl patterns are beautiful and very, very well written. I recommend them all. Two of them are in magazines right now, in Elann ads. The first one out was the Champagne Leaf and Acorn Lace Shawl, on page 115 of the VogueKnits Anniversary issue out now. The other one is called Forget-Me-Not, and it's on page 103 of the new Fall issue of Knitter's. She is just amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing what she's got on her needles now, and Barbara is always fun to get together with, so lunch will be a blast. I'll try to remember to take my camera, and actually have pictures for this blog! (I just need to put the camera in my school tote tonight, since I'll be going in to school before I go to meet them)

Well, it's hot and I need to see about something for dinner that doesn't include turning on the stove or oven. Even the microwave puts out hot air, so I'm really limited in what I can make. But turning on anything that adds heat to this already overheated apartment will kill any appetite I might have, so I'm going to go get creative in the kitchen.

Absolutely No Knitting Content

Some things just make me so angry. There's a newstory on AOL today, about a Texas church that canceled a memorial service for a dead veteran 24 hours before it was scheduled because (they claim) they just found out he was gay.

"Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service," said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off. "It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you,"' she said Friday.

Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.

The church's pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men "engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing." (His sister said there were no pictures like that in what she gave the church.)

"Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there."

There is just so much wrong with this that I don't know where to begin. This is a Christian church? Heh. If so, haven't they heard that only Christ forgives, only God judges? And how does burying a dead veteran endorse homosexuality? The hypocrisy of most "Christian" churches makes me sick.

I respect everyone's right to believe in the religion of their choice. I do not respect religions who pervert the Bible to make it say it's okay to hate people based on their lifestyle, sexuality, skin color or choice of religion. I think there should be mandatory truth in advertising for churches ~ and any church who usurps God's sole right to judge, who denies Christ's right to forgive, should be forbidden from calling itself Christian. Perhaps they could call themselves The Church of Bigotry and Hate. That would at least be truthful.