Happy July everyone, sorry it's been awhile.  I have much to report.

Daybreak Shawl

I accomplished most of my knitting projects in June: a pair of socks, a hat, and two shawls.  I have most of my sweater vest complete, I just can't seem to get motivated to finish it.  For July, I am planning on at least two pair of socks and maybe a pair of fingerless mitts.  Maybe I'll get around to the vest, but I promise nothing.

Mairead Hat, in Another Crafty Girl Squishy Aran in Poppy

My notable June cooking endeavors included fried ravioli and a glazed lemon blueberry bread.  I also made two different peach cream pies.  In July I'm thinking a berry pie would be delicious (warm, with vanilla ice cream...yum).

Lemon Blueberry Bread, pre-glazing

My garden exploded this past month!  My lettuces are just about ready to harvested, my carrot tops are nice and bushy, the radishes are sprouting, and I have plenty of beans and peas growing.  My herbs are all doing well, except for the cilantro which has gone to flower.  I love having a little garden on my balcony, and knowing that the food I'm eating is home-grown and organic.  Once I've pulled the greens, I'll plant another round, and once those are done, I'll do root vegetables (parsnips, turnips, more carrots). 

And on a personal note, I'm burned out.  I'm burned out on work and hating people and hating myself and keeping up appearances and uncontrollable events.  July is my month of independence: I paid off my dental loan and my credit cards this month.  I should be excited, and I kind of am, but I'm also scared.  Now I'm going to have all this money available to me and the opportunity to get a new credit card and I don't want to mess it all up again.  I want to be responsible with my money now, but I'm scared of this freedom.  I've spent the past several years struggling financially and now that it's done, I'm exhausted.  If I can give advice to anyone, it would be: don't get sucked into the whole consumerism thing.  Yes, we all need to spend money to keep the economy going, but the lines society feeds us about needing the newest gizmo or car or clothes or makeup or whatever are all LIES.  In the end, trying to make yourself happy with objects will only make you more unhappy.  Don't base your worth on what you possess.  What matters in life are your character and your relationships, so put away your credit card and spend time with your loved ones.  I learned this the expensive way.  I was brought to my knees by silly spending, and when I was down there, none of the things that I HAD to have brought me any solace.  It was then that I finally realized my value as a daughter and a friend and a wife and a woman, not as a consumer.  Now I'm off my soapbox.

Sunday is my favorite day of the week (yes, I realize that today is Tuesday).  Sunday is the one day that Randall doesn't work, and so it's the one day that I try not to work, and we actually get to spend a day together.  Other than sleeping in, we also like to do a decent breakfast (either out or I make something that isn't cereal) and do our grocery shopping.  My favorite part of my favorite day is our drive to Trader Joe's in Glen Ellyn.  Randall likes to drive on the side streets through the neighborhoods, and we each point out the houses that we like (but could never afford).  I've started making a list in my head of my "must-haves" in a house:

-A good kitchen.  "Good" does not necessarily equal "huge".  I would just like a lot of counter space and a lot of storage space.  Also a 50's turquoise refrigerator and stove.

-Big windows.  And lots of them.  Like, in EVERY room.  Closets would be excepted, if necessary.

-A room to be strictly used for knitting.  No pets allowed.

-Hardwood floors, so I never have to vacuum again.

-LAND.  Lots of land for growing food and raising various animals.

-A claw-foot bathtub.

None of that's too much to ask, right?

Speaking of Trader Joe's...they have the most AMAZING cookies ever, Maple Leaf Cookies.  They're shaped like leaves, have a cream center, and smell like pancakes.  They're just so perfectly...Canadian.  Love.

Happy June!

Hooray, it's June!  I don't have any particular fondness for June generally, but this time, it's a fresh start.  And what a beautiful day for a fresh start it is! I have lots of pictures for this post; even though it's only 11:30 in the morning, I've been a busy bee.

I have a few knitting projects planned for this month, and because I finished my May ones with time to spare, I got a jump start on my June projects.  I'm about 75% done with a sweater vest for myself, and nearly halfway done with a sock.  I would also like to make a shawl, and maybe get started on some Christmas knitting (yes, it's time to start thinking about that!).

Hermione's Everyday Socks in SweetGeorgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in China Doll

I also baked a pie this morning.  Believe it or not, this is my first pie of 2011!  I made a cherry pie as a good bye treat for two very dear coworkers, Jen and Brian, who are both leaving for bigger and better things.  I used a different crust than I normally do, and while I think it's going to taste good, it was very crumbly to work with.  I think after this I'll stick with the crust I usually use.

Rosemary, Cilantro, and Thyme

This past weekend I helped set up a garden of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and eggplant at my parents' house.  This morning I worked a bit on my own garden.  My balcony is pretty decently sized, so there's plenty of room for containers.  I have two window boxes of herbs, two pots with bush beans, one pot with peas, one pot with a pepper plant, a cedar planter with greens, and of course, a pot with cat grass.

Oregano and Basil

Carrots, Spinach, Arugula, Green Ice Lettuce, Bibb Lettuce

Orange Bell Pepper

Tom Thumb Peas

 

 

 

I have another window box that I need a hanger for, but I would like to put sage, mint, and lavender in that one.  I also want some hanging baskets of flowers, and then I'll have a little garden paradise right outside my door!

Besties

I just have to say, having a friend who you can share everything with makes or breaks life.  I am blessed to have such a friend, more of a soul mate really, someone who takes me as I am and loves me anyway.  Sarah, I love you and I can't thank you enough for never giving up on me.  You're my rock and my sanity!

Really quick before I head off to bed, a May knitting update:

Horrible sweater is still horrible.

Socks are FINISHED as of 5 minutes ago!

 

 

 

Cotswold Socks in Dream in Color Smooshy in Happy Forest

I also finished a sweater that I had started back in February.  This has been seamed up and basically finished for about three months.  All I had to do was pick up and knit the neck band, which I finally got around to doing today. So, as of today, I have six sweaters done of my "11 Sweaters in 2011" self-challenge.

Phinny Sweater in Berroco Vintage in Dried Plum and Sloe Berry

Still here...

So I didn't get raptured yesterday, which is good, because now I get to put all my post-apocalyptic (read: crafting) skills to use. Huzzah!

I finished my May green sweater (I'm still working on the socks, but I have time), and I have to say...I HATE IT.  $72 on yarn and 3 weeks of my life and it is something I will NEVER wear.  The back is cute, I like the back.  But the front!  The way the lace stretches over my boobs makes them look saggy, and then the placement of the gathers under the bust is horrible, because two big folds come right out of my now-saggy boobs.  The whole sweater is too short, which is bad news because it hits me in my thickest spot, my poochy tummy.  From the front, I look blah, just a woman in a too-short sweater with deflated breasts, but from the side...oh lordy, the side!!  This sweater instantly put at least 50 pounds on me. So frustrated!!!

On the plus side, I joined a knitting group this week, and I LOVE IT!!  It was my first ever knitting group, and I'm so happy I went because everyone is soooooooooo nice.  We're meeting again next week, and I can't wait.

My back seems to be better, I am still being careful with it though.  My upper respiratory garbage seems to be on the mend too.  I'm still coughing a bit (but it's productive) and I'm blowing my nose less.  Now all I feel is completely exhausted and achy.

I won't pass judgment on the guy that was predicting the rapture (I definitely have no place telling anyone they're crazy or not), but I'm pretty sure we all knew it wasn't going to happen.  And yet, a teeny voice in my head said, What if it does?  I mean, every idea that we accept as truth now (the world is round, it spins around the sun, giant dinosaurs once roamed the earth, gravity, the existence of germs and viruses, etc) was once thought of as crazy. Anyway, it got me thinking about endings and death in general and I kind of (well, more than kind of) felt anxious.  What if I don't get done everything that I want to get done??  There's too much too knit, too many books to read, too many things to do!  This why I make notebooks full of lists.  It's a control thing.  At least I can bring some semblance of order and control to a life that is completely uncontrollable. If I can't get everything done, at least I can make sure I get done a few things.

With all this in mind, I am very excited to hang out with the Bloomies tonight and stuff my face with pizza.  Pizza and foosball and kick-ass coworkers fix everything, right?

Well, I survived the week (but barely).  A recap:

Monday night we dropped Dieter off at the VW dealership to be repaired Tuesday.  We looked around a little at all the cars we can't afford, then headed home to wait.

Tuesday we got a call from the dealership.  Dieter needed new rear brakes and rotors, a new rear caliper, new inner and outer front tire rods (and therefore an alignment as well), an oil change, and a coolant flush.  All told, approximately $1500 of work (this included a coupon for $350 off the total).  They needed to order some parts, so he would not be ready until Wednesday evening.  To occupy my worried brain until I received that call, I worked on cleaning the apartment: loading the dishwasher, starting the laundry, gardening, cleaning the bathroom.  You may not know this, but it is scientifically proven that a bathtub used by a man is 500 times scummier than a tub used solely by a woman.  As I was scrubbing this scum, I threw out my back.  I have had back pain before, but never this severe.  I couldn't stand up straight.  It hurt to bend over, to stand,  to walk, to sit.  All I could do was lay in bed and putz on my laptop, playing Fortune Bingo on Pogo.  All chores lay in whatever state I had left them.  And then came something more painful than a messed-up back:  dependency.  I had to depend on Randall to help me stand, to fix my food, to get my medicine, to finish the chores I had started.  There is nothing more torturous to me than to not be able to take care of myself.

Wednesday I dropped Randall at the train station and borrowed his car to go to work.  I awoke feeling stiff and sore, but certain that I could handle my highly physical job.  Not so. Working at a bookstore requires you to sit and do a cash count, stand, walk, lift heavy things...all the things that 12 hours before, I was incapable of doing (and apparently still was).  I made it till noon, then moped home and crawled into bed for six hours.  That evening, we met my dad at the dealership and picked up Dieter.  My parents are amazing for helping me out with this (and for everything they do).  You are never too old to think of your parents as superheroes.  And Dieter was beautiful.  They washed him, so he looked at slick as he ran. 

Thursday I closed, so from the time I left work Wednesday till the time I had to be in Thursday gave me about 24 hours of good, solid rest.  I had felt supremely guilty about leaving early Wednesday, but Tom was very understanding, and even made fun of my old-lady movements throughout the day.  I have to say, I love to be made fun of.  To me, when someone makes fun of you, it means they like you.  At least, I only make fun of people I like.  It's a sign of fondness.  Also, you know you can do that with friends because when you cross the line, you know a friend will forgive you. 

Friday was a day off (yay, more rest!).  I had a hair appointment in the early afternoon, then I met Sarah and Drew for dinner and drinks in the evening.  It was a great evening of reconnecting with old friends! For a few weeks I have had this bizarre nasal drainage thing going on.  A slight sore throat, but no sinus pressure, no nose-blowing, just stuff running down the back of my throat. Finally on Friday, it turned into something.  Constant sneezing and blowing my nose, and a whammy of a sore throat.

Saturday morning, I went to the Dream in Color seconds sale with Jessie. So fun!  I scored some incredible deals on a ton of yarn...jackpot!!  Saturday evening was work.

And that brings us to today.  I felt like poop when I woke up this morning.  Randall went out and got me some Mucinex, my personal wonder-drug.  After I took it, I fell asleep for an unknown amount of time, and when I woke up, Randall made me tea and toast.  Food always tastes better when someone else makes it, yes?  We hit Trader Joe's for groceries, then home for pizza and disaster movies. We also stopped at String Theory Yarn Co in Glen Ellyn.  It was my first time visiting the store, and I loved it!!  Everyone was so nice, and though the selection is small, it's good stuff!  I picked up a skein of Miss Babs Yummy Monochrome Sport and Sock 3-ply in Aubergine, and I couldn't stop petting it in the car.

And so in a nutshell, survival.

As far as my knitting projects are concerned, I haven't got much further thanks to my general inability to sit, but now that I'm on the mend, I'm back on track.  I still believe I can finish both this month.  I have also recommitted to opening my Etsy store before the end of the year.  I'm thinking hats, fingerless mitts, coffee cozies, maybe scarves.  I'm hoping I can rangle the Bloomies into doing some modeling for the photos.  I'm also thinking about picking up my camera again.  It's been a few years...

So Randall and I dropped Dieter off at the VW dealership tonight for them to work on tomorrow.  I'll be all anxious and tense until I get a phone call tomorrow.  While we were there, we perused the cars there.  The new GTIs and the Golfs are so cute!  And they have plaid seats!  And the Jetta...HOT!  One of the salesmen tried very hard to get me to trade in Dieter, especially when he heard that he was nine years old and only had 60,000 miles.  But I won't be parted with my baby, not even for plaid seats.

I've been busy, cooking-wise.  The other night I made potatoes, carrots and onions roasted with olive oil balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary, and thyme.  For Mother's Day brunch, I threw together a veggie strata.  And last night I made pecan pie muffins.

 

 

 

Balsamic Roasted Potatoes

My knitting projects are going well too.  I'm halfway through each one!  Maybe this month I'll be able to fit in another pair of socks, or maybe a vest...

And lastly, for your viewing pleasure, a naughty kitty.

Family

Hands down, my parents are THE BEST parents in the world.  It blows my mind that after everything I've done to them, after the person that I have been, they continue to be the most caring, kind, generous, and giving people I have ever or will ever know.  Mums and Dad, I love you so so so so so much.  I can never thank you enough for being my safety net even when I'm adult and should know and do better, and for your unconditional love, but I'll say it anyway: thank you.

STRESS

I am a worrier.  And a control freak.  If I can't control what's going on, I worry.  Like right now, I'm freaking out about my car.  All I can think is, "I don't know what's wrong with Dieter!  What if it's more expensive than I can afford?  What if it's unfixable?  What if he craps out before I can get the money together and something horrible happens?  What if the mechanic judges me and my poor car-care tendencies? What if this bonus check is a pittance and I can't afford to take him in and have to keep driving this way?  What if..." Before I know it, I've worked myself up to being physically sick to my stomach.  The problem is, I won't know what's wrong with him or what it will cost until I take him in, and I can't take him in until I get my paycheck and bonus check, and I won't know how much money I have until those come.  Essentially, everything is UNKNOWN.  And for a control freak like me, that is a nightmare.  It's all a waiting game, and if there's something that I'm really not good at, it's being patient.

Fortunately, there are two things that help me chill: chocolate and knitting.  Knitting is my glue.  Each stitch grounds me just a little more than the last.  And chocolate?  Well, we all know chocolate is the universal cure-all. Time to hunt me down some chocolate, stat.

The Beginning

So here it is.  My blog.  A place where I will chronicle all my crafting and cooking and growing, and all the bizarre goings-on in my life, and maybe the boring, not-so-bizarre ones too.  You may choose to read or not (at this point, I'm doing this mostly for my own sanity), but know this:  if you know me, you will mostly likely be mentioned in here at some point.  With that said, allow me to introduce the cast of characters:

Me!
Randall: My husband of 1 1/2 years.  A bear of a man.
Riley: My fat kitty, a total momma's boy.
Scooby: Three-legged hard-luck case, a cat's cat, answers to no one.
Fritz: aka Monkey, aka Scheisse Katze, aka Shitzie, aka Naughtiness
Mom: She's my mom.
Dad: He's my dad.
Chubbs: My little brother, not chubby at all.  Lives in upstate New York
Murphy Malone: My mutt-dog, who must live with my parents because he hates my husband
Sarah: My bestie, my doppelganger.  Has husband, Joe, and daughter, Sadie.
The Bloomies: A motley crew of bookish people, and probably the greatest co-workers anyone could ask for. I will introduce these wonderful individuals as they come up.
Dieter: My 2002 VW Golf

                                                                                     

Idlewood in Green Mountain Spinnery Maine Organic Dark

Now on to the crafty stuff.

I recently finished a short-sleeve cowl-neck sweater in a very sheepy wool. I was excited to finish it, but thought I would have to pack it away until fall.  Not so.  May surprised the Chicago area yesterday with yet another cold and rainy day!  So I wore my new sweater and thankfully, no one said I smelled like a farmyard.  But after a personally heinous March and April, May is now here, and despite being chilly, it is an opportunity to start fresh.  It is the time vegetarians love, the Time When Things Grow.  And so in the interest of fresh starts, growth, and optimism, I am knitting all things green this month.  I have a green sweater on the needles, and a green pair of socks in the planning stages.

Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Grove

 Also in the vein of freshness and change, I have cleaned up my eating.  My diet will mostly be vegan, but I will allow myself one meal a day with dairy or egg (I really do love both of these and could never give them up completely).  I have also replaced soda with water and tea.  I think this will be good for my conscience and my waistline.  Plus, a lot of vegan foods are really delicious.  Have you ever tried almond milk? SO good!!  When the farmer's markets open up, and when my garden gets going, it will be ON.  A veritable vegetable Valhalla.

In other news, Dieter is in major need of repairs.  I don't know what that metallic grinding sound is when I brake, but I'm fairly certain that it can't be good.  Keep your fingers crossed that he can hold out till next payday!  Oh, and my printer died.  Dear Stuff, quit crapping out.