Its just one of those days

Posted on by Jennifer GB

You know the kind. Nothing goes right no matter what you try. Last night it was knitting related. I was trying a new pattern, a shawl for a co worker that I got the design off of Ravelry. This is the pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/18-petale-de-rose
I started at lunch at work attempting this pattern. My friends have told me if I can do socks I can do anything since socks can be complicated. So, what the hell! I believed them and picked this up. Ordered the yarn for it off Amazon which took forever to be delivered because, come to find out, it was being shipped from Turkey. I really wish it would be more prominently displayed on Amazon where the item you’re interested in buying is shipping from. So I started the pattern during my lunch hour at work. I think I tore it out at least twice during that time and said I’d consult with my expert friends when I got home. So, I preceded to try again, tore it out. Tried a second time and was frustrated. Took a pic and sent to my friends. They’d never done it so, they were unsure either. Tried again two more times (so this is 6 total since lunch) and failed again. I growled loudly, tore it out again, wrapped it up and threw it across the room, giving up. Then I promptly poured a LARGE glass of wine and logged onto World of Warcraft and killed things in there for about two hours to burn out the frustration, then went to bed still stewing over it.

Technically a day is 24 hours so, this continued to this morning. Slept like crap after waking up in the middle of the night with a bought of acid reflux (probably from the wine) and had to take meds for that but took some time to get back to sleep so when the alarm went off, I was still exhausted. I’d have just called out but the lady I assist needs me to drive her to meetings today so, that wasn’t an option. Was doing prep for SCA Coronation this weekend, digging out some fabric to take to work to cut out (conference room table is huge and great for this) and was discussing it with my friend on her drive to work phone call, when she questioned how the drive for me was less than the drive for her to the site. So I then looked up the distance and drivetime to the event, which I planned on day tripping because I can’t afford a hotel room to stay up there when I’m going on vacation on the 10th with my kids to Florida, to realize it was almost four hours one way to the event site. Well, maybe 15 years ago I could gung ho it for almost four hours each way for an SCA event but not anymore. I annoyingly admitted defeat to myself, told my friend I guess I wasn’t going to be able to come and stopped digging for fabric to cut out at work. Hung up the phone and went to my computer to post on the group page I couldn’t attend. When I hit post, it marked it as spam and set it to pend for approval. (Anger amped up 10 fold). I have had this ongoing problem for about three or so months now that all my posts to groups I am a member of on Facebook are marked as spam and go to pending for approval. Even if the group does not have the posting settings set that way. I have contacted the help center, entered a bug report multiple times, found an email online where I can report a bug but got no response from that. I get no write backs from FB saying why its happening nor have they notified me that I had done something wrong to deserve what is happening when I post. (anger amped up another 10 fold) I don’t know about you reader (if there in fact are any out there) but this is the point where I messaged my friend and told her not to count on me to assist her during this reign because of the placement of events being all up north and not having the funds to constantly get hotel rooms. That my participation will most likely be all virtual because of it. And then, like a 10 year old having a melt down I typed to her that at this point with all the other issues I have dealt with in the SCA (posted on it previously) that I am at the point of being ready to quit it entirely and just say fuck it all.

So here I am, sitting at work typing out my frustrations instead of actually, you know, working. I leave in fifteen mins to take the counselor to the school for her meetings. Another counselor came in to tell me about work that has to be done ASAP (which all her work seems to have to be done that way) in my minute amount of time i have when I’ll actually be in the office and the only thing I actually want to do is go home, put on my jammies, crawl back into bed, have a good cry and go to sleep till 2025. Or at least till I leave for Florida on the 10th. I am so tired. But instead, I’m going to get the forms the counselor needs for the meetings, grab my sock knitting for between the meetings (because socks apparently are the only thing I’m good at knitting and should give up trying anything else), snag one of the energy drinks I have in the office fridge and drive to the local high school for the meetings and try not to fall asleep during them. If anyone has any energy to spare, please send it my way. Until later my friends

Ciao.

Life, The Universe and Nothing…

Posted on by Jennifer GB

Nothing really new that is, really. Well, not anything greatly big anyway. I can see it’s been some time since I’ve written. I’ve always thought because of my love for journaling I’d do this more often. I journal in a hand written journal and online but I find that my time to do either is nil. Nearly a year ago I got a promotion in my office to be a counselor assistant. My old position of office assistant has yet to be filled so I’m pulling double duty for tasks on a daily basis. They had hired someone but two weeks before her start date, she backed out, so now I’m doing these tasks for the foreseeable future. It’s really super frustrating.

The summer is over all too soon but there were many days of swimming and floating in the pool, BBQ on the firepit hubby made, family and friends visiting and starry nights stared up at with my hubby while sitting in front of a glowing fire pit. Our garden was very abundant in its growing of string beans, tomatoes, peppers and herbs. Sunflowers also grew to dizzying heights of at least 12 to 14 feet. They’re at the point of cutting off and roasting the seeds in the oven. The corn didn’t do as well. It grew the tallest I have ever seen in my life. Hubby is 6’3 and when he stood next to it and raised his arm straight up (8 ft) the corn was a good 2 feet above that. Though it grew tall, the ears were small and not very full. Not sure if it was all the rain in the beginning of the summer or what. Tried growing purple beans but they were not nearly as productive as the green ones. I swear we picked no less than 50 pounds of beans and there are some on there now that are beyond eating due to age. I’m going to let them dry and plant them next year. Lots of jalapeno’s, so much so we are going to try pickling them. Italian oregano regrew from last year as well as the thyme. We also had basil. We tried onions and carrots but they didn’t do well. We waited till mid July to plant the squash and pumpkins trying to avoid some vine boring bug that killed them last year. I think planting them that late has made them not grow as well. Banana squash, baking pumpkins, Hubbard squash all have fruit but not as big as it should be by now. Normally you plant it in May but the bug comes out of the soil shortly after that. I read online some where it said to wait till mid July to plant to avoid those bugs. Next year we will try mid June and see if that avoids the bug but makes the fruit produce better. I found it amusing a pumpkin i had at the stairs by our drive way that rotted some and collapsed before I cleaned it up, must have left behind some seeds and now there is a pumpkin vine growing there tracing up the wrought iron hand rail to the steps and snaking along the lawn. There is one decent size pumpkin already turning orange there. Something was eating the flowers earlier but no longer. Hopefully they grow. We grow these and bake/puree them and give to the dogs with their food for fiber. They love it. So much so they became snobs and wont eat the canned pure pumpkin we gave them when we ran out of what we grew from the previous year. Silly corgis.

I was given my own office at work finally. It is VERY decorated with dozens of pictures of my family and friends on one wall and on top of the filing cabinets, a tapestry on the wall behind me that looks like the forest and on the left of my desk is a cork board with documents I need to reference on a daily basis. There is a waxing/waning moon in a filigree cut out over my door and a tapestry bell pull I made of Iris hanging in the side light window next to the door. Its a very eclectic room. Very cozy and inviting is what people tell me when they came in. I love the privacy and not feeling like I am sitting in a fish bowl any longer. While I don’t have a window, I do have a sky light that straddles the wall between my office and my neighbors and it brightens the room significantly enough I don’t need to have the overhead light on.

NY Sheep and Wool is fast approaching and I am excited about it. I honestly don’t need any yarn (Yes, you heard me)but I enjoy the time with my friends, who are traveling out from western PA and Ohio, walking around, looking at patterns and notions and of course there is always the fair food that is just yummy. The specialty places come out like roasted Brussel sprouts with melted cheese, fried artichokes, lobster rolls, etc. I always pick up new insoles for my hubby’s boots made of sheep’s wool which are excellent for padding and warmth in the winter when his construction jobs keep him in the cold. In March we had a knitting weekend at the friend’s home that lives in Pittsburgh and we went on our own yarn crawl to stores around her town. And we also agreed on a poncho we were all going to make with our own color choice and started it. They are wonderful friends that broadened my knitting knowledge with new stitches and how to color change, lace knit, etc. It was a wonderful bonding weekend and I look forward to spending more time with these ladies in a couple weeks.

I must run, things to do and all. Ill be updating my embroidery blog next. Until next time….

Ciao!