drive-by blogging

like the venerable yarn harlot, i have a habit of overestimating what i can achieve in one day.

aside from personal issues, by 7 pm i thought i was a bit behind, but still had the finish line in sight. reading accomplished, clear thesis picked, arguments planned out. all i should have had to do at that point was sit down and write the damn thing, which should have taken three hours, four at most, allowing for time to find all the proper citations, of course.

real life interfered.

i may have started something completed unrelated just to take the edge off. (seriously, i have to stop reading the harlot before i blog, she's way too influential).

the colors aren't as bright with a stupid cell phone. i'm pretty sure this is "I love this Yarn" and the colors are more similar to their Autumn Stripe, but it think it's been discontinued.

anyway, i still have yesterday's paper to finish on top of everything else on my list for today, so i can be ready for tomorrow.

let space-warping commence

i think i found a way to make it through. i just have to set reasonable goals and stick to them (and perhaps still ignore the housework?)

count update: three dotees, three papers, and two shirts done by monday!

today's list:
go to post office
start reading for paper
cycle while reading to keep from falling to sleep
intersperse reading with making of bleach stencils
finish reading
do shirts
start paper
intersperse paper with crafting on one dotee
finish paper
finish dotee

most people at this point would give up hope of crafting, or say it's not as important as school. this is true. it is also true, however, that my forum is my community, and the place i go to show off my stuff, and i don't want to be locked out of it for not meeting deadlines.

tomorrow's list:
finish other two dotees (after class, of course)

saturday's list:
read and write paper #2
intersperse said reading and writing with holiday crafting, just to take the edge off

sunday's list:
read and write paper #3
enjoy myself at halloween party!

let it begin! (sorry i don't have any pictures to show)

anyone know how to warp the space-time continuum?

today is one of those days when i realize my lifestyle, while it has certain benefits, can sometimes bite me hard on the hind parts (i borrowed that phrase).

for example, by monday, i need to have three papers, two edits (with responses), three art dolls, one knitting needle roll and two halloween costumes done.

problem is, since i get by fairly competently in class by paying attention and taking good notes (i may also occassionally glance at the reading), that i never really end up doing the reading. so, to do these three papers, i have to catch up on all my reading. normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but the reading is either medieval texts (only some of which are translated out of middle english and into regular english), theoretical essays on shakespeare, or unfiltered literary criticism essays, which draw from everyone from nietzsche to freud to derrida. unfiltered. unabridged.

it also doesn't help that my sewing machine is broken, and that i will probably have to neglect all housework and probably a fair chunk of sleep just to get this all done.

see? if i had just kept up with my reading, i'd already have a fair chunk of this knocked off, or at least started. it doesn't help that i'm a master procrastinator as well. i think it comes from being overly controlled as a child. i didn't rebel by getting drunk, or high, or chopping off my hair and turning it green, or wearing all black and getting weird tattoos and piercings. instead, i haven't made my bed in seven years and never do things when i'm told. i get them done eventually, just not when i'm told.

i'm not even going to think about my christmas crafting list.

a cutey pair of booties

I love it when friends have babies. It means i get to make all sorts of cute stuff.

I mean, my one friend has a 1.5-year-old and a four-year-old, and they're a hoot and a half (I love Sheldon), but there's nothing quite like newborns.

My T.A. friend and his wife had their baby boy on Thursday night! So Friday afternoon I whipped up some casseroles and brought them over, and I finished up this tiny pair of booties today.

And one of my husband's friends will have another baby boy in about six months! Here's one of those places where and impulse buy from Houseworks can pay off - I bought a bag that had pretty green fabric in it one day, to match something else I already had in my stash, but, lo and behold, it wasn't fabric, but flannel, and there were kiddie animal prints in there too!

Somebody's getting a rag quilt for a baby gift.

Oh, and I'm thinking about writing a book... On top of the three papers and two swap packages I have due next weekend.

i've been gone awhile....

so, here's some stuff i've been working on since august:

wedding afghan #1:

 homemade macaroni and cheese recipe:

wedding afghan #2:

commissioned necklaces:

scarf recplica (crocheted): it's a christmas present for someone, but i'm not telling who!

homemade meatball and cabbage soup recipe:

coca-cola sleep shorts!

crochet owlets (that's a quarter for reference):

mi frist amigurumi! link from zelda (he got sent away in a craft swap and has a happy new home now):

another in a long line of christmas presents - a cutesy fuzzy hat for a friend's daughter:

i've got about a dozen projects in the works right now, and for today, i cleaned the kitchen so i could cook, put on a roast, started the laundry, and i'm in the process of cleaning our bedroom so the laundry clothes can migrate from the hallway, clearing up the hallway for the as-yet-unpacked boxes from the game room, so we can get the old couch out of there, so the boxes can go back in and hopefully be unpacked, so we can move the big green chair in so the new loveseat can come in from my parent's garage.

i'd rather be knitting.

plus side is we had some $ for furniture as a wedding present from my parents. my brother and his wife chose to get a leather sectional couch, but we waited until we saw a store going out of business and we got a new coffee table, 2 matching end tables, a couch, a loveseat, and a dresser and mirror for the same price. it was pretty awesome. the one end table and the mirror is in storage right now, but we managed to find room for the rest. we got rid of the old tables and gave the couch to a very deserving family we know. the old couch from the game room and dresser are on their way to being sold - we might even turn a profit on the little couch.

*sigh* commercial break over. back to work.

cupcake of the month club?

the problem with cable is you can watch stuff.
distracting stuff.

i love cupcake wars, chopped, iron chef, etc. etc.

and i really like baking, so i might make a different cupcake every month. right now i've come up with, like, 16 flavors, and i hear cupcakes are on the downfall, but really i don't care. miniature cakes, what could be better? i might make my first batch tomorrow. i'll invite the girls over for knit night. see what happens. ironically i'm so possessive of some of these flavors, even though i know for sure some of them have been done elsewhere, but i'd like to think i have a few original ideas.

we'll see.... what's first?

ahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! moving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

last time we checked in with our domestic operative, she was frantically trying to get things done before the big day. so, how is she faring now?

well, ok... i guess. i'm down to 17 squares on the one wedding afghan, the other one is started, progress is being made on the baby 'ghan, and all wedding crafts were completed in time! some of the other stuff has hit the back burner for now, but once i'm done with all these stupid blankets i'll be ready to just finish something off nice and quick already.

the move is, um, interesting. going from a 2-story, 4-bedroom house with separate kitchen and living areas to a small, 2-bedroom condo has been an experience. a good one, though. we got rid of $500 worth of stuff (through garage sales and resale) and used that plus some of our wedding money to upgrade a lot of our kitchen and living area things. i've got a quilt in the works for our bed, so we really didn't blow any of our money on that stuff. we got all new dishes and cookware (yay!) and a bunch of small appliances, and we bought an endtable for our bed, new lamps, pillows, blankets, storage... and i couldn't find a shower curtain i liked so i'm making one. seriously. the only damask-green shower curtain i could find was $90 from some online boutique. i bought ivory and green damask from joann's for $15 and a strip of mottled gray for the bottom for $4. now i just have to sew them together.

well, that and put away a ton of stuff. our dining area is currently invaded by a ton of boxes. i wouldn't be surprised if more of them hit the resale store, or, if they won't take it, goodwill, or barring even that, the garbage. downsizing is good for us. really, it is. funny thing is we got most of our furniture in, but it still didn't quite feel like home until all the books were unpacked and i started hanging things on the walls and cooking dinner in our new kitchen. tonight we had morrocan chicken and couscous.

Heat a burner to medium heat... coat a medium frying pan with a thin layer of olive oil. place in two thawed chicken breasts, sprinkle liberally with morrocan spice mix and sparingly with cinnamon (cardamom would really be better). drizzle with a bit of soy sauce, and spoon in 4-5 canned apricot halves and a few tablespoons of juice. when the chicken is done, remove them and the apricots to a serving dish and turn the burner up to high to reduce the juices down to a nice thick glaze. serve with couscous!

then, we were thinking the couscous was such a nice mix between breading, rice, and pasta, that it would be really good to stuff meat with. so now i really want to try stuffed pork chops with couscous, garlic, lots of fresh basil, pine nuts and a bit of olive oil. mmmmmm.

i've been itching to can lately, but i have shoes to put away. sort of a non-sequitor, but completely true.