Bike Racing

Kathleen-
Long time no blog! the house-hunting on top of a full-time job and a very busy summer (including an exciting visit for you), leaves very little time or inspiration for blogging.

This weekend is packed, but last night we went to see one of the races that is part of the Minnesota Bike Festival. A friend of Mike's from HS is racing in the women's events, so we went with friends to cheer her on.

Having never attended a bike race, much less a crit (where the riders do many laps on a short course), I didn't know what to expect...though I certainly did not expect the convertible/front car:
Because they raced on city streets in Uptown, including tight corners, measures were taken to protect the racers from obstacles such as fire hydrants:


Here are the leaders rounding a corner:

The pack spread out behind them:
Mike's friend Anna zooming by (she's the one with #71 on her back):
And the finish:
It was good fun, and lovely way to spend an hour on a Friday evening.

And what bike race would be complete without a visit from the mascot of the Minnesota Wild?
Because as a spectator, you get a minute or so break every lap during which there are no bicyclists going by, I brought along my knitting, and got lots done on my Sunshine Socks (Rav link)

What a Suprise!

Kathleen-
What a fantastic surprise!

Like Kathleen said, we went to the zoo, where I snapped this picture of Kathleen and Mike:


As well as this picture of Kathleen's favorite animal (that's a moose, for those who aren't up on their ungulates)


And of Kathleen with a statue of her favorite animal:

I ended up buying the yarn we picked out for 2 pairs of stranded mittens, and started the first:

(I can't resist the cute picture of our friend Sue's cat playing with my yarn:
And we threw a successful baby shower at knitting, where I gifted the mom to be with the TINY baby booties I made while you were here:
Apparently Minnesota decided it's not spring yet, as we're supposed to get a rain/sleet/snow mix, so I leave you with this sunny picture of a leopard from our trip to the zoo.

Water, Concerts, and History.

Kathleen-
This is the scene outside my front door as I type:

When Mike left to run errands today, he called to tell me there was a water main break across the street. I dutifully called it in, and was told that water mains were breaking all over the city (it's comparatively warm, and apparently that means we find out what broke during the cold snap), and that it would be a wait, since water wasn't flowing into houses. Fair enough.

Several hours later, they finally showed up. By then, Mike and I had gone down to look at the low spot near our house, where there was better than 1 foot deep of mixed water and ice. As cars drove through the water/ice combo, they were spraying water all over the nearby parked cars. I don't envy those people when they try and get into their cars.

They've closed the street outside, and they're currently using a backhoe and drilling up our street. (The house is shaking). On the positive side, we haven't lost water pressure yet. I'll let you know how it all turns out. Oh my. The drill just hit something very loud and hard.

On an unrelated, but important note: I watched yesterday's webcast of the We Are One concert, and I have to share my two favorite moments. The YouTube Links seem to be dead, but if you can find them, they're well worth watching.
1. The opening song, Bruce Springsteen backed by a gospel choir, singing one of my favorite of his songs, The Rising.
2. The second to last song of the concert, Pete Seeger, his grandson, and Bruce Springsteen leading hundreds of thousands of people in a sing-along of This Land is Your Land. I cried buckets.

Tommorrow, I'll sit in my office and watch history happen. I can't wait. I truly think that no matter who someone voted for, they can't help but be moved by the sight. (I'm also pretty excited that for the first time since I was old enough to vote, the candidate I voted for is the one who will stand up and take the oath of office).

Knitting Goals, 2009 Edition

Kathleen-
I got so wrapped up in actually seeing you in December, I actually thought I'd blogged when I hadn't!

I thought I better put my goals up in writing, in an attempt to create pressure on myself.

Goal #1: Knit up some of the stash. I'm not taking a "no new yarn" pledge or anything, but I'd like to use up at least a sweater's worth of my stash (as well as some of the other yarn!). This leads nicely to...

Goal #2: Knit another sweater in committee. I've got yarn in the stash for, and am considering, a bunch of different sweaters...I'll do a little preview in my next post.

Goal #3 Finish up some languishing projects. I've got some stuff that's been on the needles for far too long. To that end, I recently picked up my Rogue again (that's a Ravelry link), and am making good progress. The body is done, one sleeve is done, and I'm working on sleeve #2:
I'd also like to finish up the vest I gave my mom (on the needles!) for Christmas. And then I have a couple of shawls and scarves on the needles I'd like to finish, as well as a couple of pairs of socks. I did have to start a new pair so I'd have some mindless knitting for concerts and movies and other dark places:That's J.Knits sock yarn I bought in Texas this year. But I worked yesterday on my Lighthouse Gansey socks (Rav Link) that have been long stalled, in an attempt to get my patterned socks up to speed!

And then there's some other long-term projects, some of which must remain secret for now.

It was lovely to see you in December, and I can't wait to see you in June in MN!

Plan B

Hey Flan,

So somehow I thought that with a transcontinental journey, I would somehow warp the space/time continuum. Somehow, the SEVEN Christmas projects I needed to work on would get done by space warping, creating eight of me- one to drive and seven to knit- all whilst speeding up my general knitting rate until it fit in to the time allotted.

However, it seems the general fabric of space and time chose not to follow my plan. This means the knitting is NOWHERE near where it should be. To top it all off, I am so tired and on the brink of illness I have COMPLETELY STOPPED CARING.

Yup, don't care any more. I'm seeing YOU later this week! BIG HORAY!
However, do you think I could find the needles that I need to pick up around the neck for your supersecretproject?
Nope.
Do you think I could get The Mommy's Cardigan out of the bag and slog along the body- straight stockinette which should be good for illness?
Nope.
I have ONE legwarmer for The Sister completed. I had her try it on to see if she liked it. She did. Now I have the other one to do. Think I can be bothered?
Not in the slightest.

What am I working on? A Swallotail Shawl for LittleBabyGirl to be wrapped in while christened. I decided non-white was better than white, so it's indigo. Very pretty, very soft Malabrigo lace. The thing is... THEY DON'T HAVE A DATE FOR THE CHRISTENING. It could happen at any point - or at NO point. CHRISTMAS, on the other hand, has a definite date.

PLAN B:
Have decided to warp the space/time continuum my own self. Have decided to deny that Christmas has a definite date and am going to classify it in the "wedding" category. According to Emily Post, a person has a year after the wedding in which to give the gift.

I will have 364 days from this December 25 to get this year's gifts completed and they will STILL not be late. At some point during the next year, mysterious packages wrapped in holiday paper will arrive at their destination, hopefully bringing joy and really "keeping Christmas throughout the year". Merry Christmas! It's July and here's some Wool! Festive, no?

Bartlett for President?

Kathleen-
I got to work Monday, and my students told me that Martin Sheen (aka Jed Bartlett, my favorite president ever), was visiting campus Tuesday.

So I arranged for my lunch break to fall during his visit, and heard an impassioned Mr. Sheen talk though a power outage (which meant no microphones, he just projected). He was funny, smart, and compassionate, and even though it was Martin Sheen, and not Jed Bartlett talking, I couldn't help but think of how much hope and eloquence I found in the West Wing when it was on tv.

Here are the best of my pictures from the event (you can tell which Senate candidate he's campaigning for by the backdrop).



Given the election, I suspect there'll be more political posts from me in the next few weeks, and I think anyone who knows me can guess that I'll be voting for Obama...but I still sometimes wish that someday I'll walk into the voting booth, and see Jed Bartlett's name on my ballot.

I'm a Bad Blogger

Kathleen-
Ugh, apparently this wasn't my best summer/early fall for blogging. Summer busyness combined with an early start to the school year here, the RNC, and Fall travel season have completely killed my will to blog. But today, I want to blog, so we'll go with it!

Since my last post: I turned this:

Into this:


and filled my freezer with fresh pasta sauce.

We went to an excellent concert:

Went frisbee golfing in northern MN:

Played with bumper boats:
We had a great baby shower for Maya:
for whom we made a fun group blanket, and I made the tiniest and most adorable baby booties (if I do say so myself).

I had occasion to drive into downtown Minneapolis before dawn:
I just got back from Texas (ack, Texas!) where I saw a giant statue of Sam Houston on the side of the interstate.


I also explored 2 yarn stores in Houston, one of which I just saw the sign for out of the corner of my eye, the other of which I sought out. Both were great, both contributed to my stash.

And somehow, by the time I got back from Houston, it was Fall in Minnesota.
Nothing like autumnal weather to get the knitting going. I'm working on Christmas presents, a long abandoned scarf, and itching to start something new for mindless knitting.

September Already?

Hey Flan, Wherever the summer went I do not know. I sort of remember a work induced haze of screaming children and angry parents. Thankfully, all the "little darlings" are back in school and work is back to the regular chaos and insanity and not the extra strength version.

We dodged the bullet on Hurricane Gustav and are now watching for Ike. Who knew that so many people could discuss the potential doom and gloom for so long? My co-workers and customers alike had one topic of discussion and all the focus on what "the storm" could do was very freaky to those of us who had never experienced one. My preparations largely centered on having enough wine in the house. I was told not to buy anything that had to be refrigerated, so I bought red instead of white. Then I decided that might not be enough and bought some gin as well. Our part of the Gulf Coast was fine and in our little section we didn't even lose power. Fingers crossed we are lucky enough again.

We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary by going to the Georgia Aquarium and looking at all the fishes. Apparently, fishes are romantic. Seeing as I am generally terrified by all things aquatic, I felt that inviting The MIL along would be a fine idea. She had a great time and the fishes are rather impressive.

Naturally, I knit on the way up, the way back, and a little whilst we were there. Delightfully, The MIL asked if I would like to go to a yarn store and I got a little trip to Knitch. There was some beautiful yarn that I got to make a little something for my future niece and a lovely time was had.

Sadly, my knitting mojo seems to be sputtering. I picked up stitches along a neckline and, when I had over 100 too many, decided it would be fine. 450 stitches at 1x1 ribbing and an inch and a quarter later it's not fine. That one's on time out.

I got some knitpicks Crayon and made all the bits of a pullover and then lost interest in making up, so that's on time out too.

I'm working on a project for the future niece, but it's worsted wt on size 6s. Very slow going. Bribe myself to work on it.

Started the Cables & Os from "No Sheep for You" for The Mommy's Christmas present. Started a sleeve as a swatch. Found out that the guage I have is 1/2 an inch too small. Time out again.

In sheer desperation, I started the February Lady Sweater for me and had to rip back and start again. So far, looking ok, but now I'm paranoid and overly cautious.

I have had to delegate the laundry basket for all of the items on time out. There were too many when just lying around the house. Today, I am going to try and organize a bit. Hope everything is going well.

J

is for Jam. Yes, I'm still behind, but still working on catching up. I grew up making jam with my mother, who made it with her grandmothers. It solves a perennial gift giving dilemma, and provides a delicious taste of summer in the midst of a Minnesota winter.


This is my jam total so far this summer (minus a few already given as gifts). On the table for this picture are 78 jars of jam.

There's raspberry
Peach
Blueberry
Strawberry
and Rhubarb (this is more like spread than jam as it was an experiment that didn't quite set).
Still to come? Grape Jelly if the concord grapes survived our weird summer of weather.

Most of my jam lives in closed boxes to keep it out of the light. But I keep a selection in our little corner cabinet to grab quickly for gifts:
Seeing all that jam on the table makes me feel a great sense of accomplishment for the hours spent prepping fruit and cooking jam. Plus I know how much I'll appreciate the fresh fruit taste come winter. Store bought jam just can't compare.

I

is for iPod.

Mike and I gave each other iPod Nanos for Christmas last year, and though it may not be the most romantic gift ever, it ranks up there in the most used for both of us. My blue one accompanied me every day during reading season, allowing me to block out noisy coffee shops, office chaos, and concentrate on my files.

It also was key when I was training for the Grand Canyon New Years hike, getting me through quite a few long workouts, both at the gym and while traveling.

This fall, my iPod will travel with me to at least 3 states, making plane rides and airports more bearable, and catching me up on books I've not had time to read.

Which brings me to one of my favorite things about my iPod. Although I'm capable of (and regularly do) knit while reading from either a computer screen or a book, there's something very pleasant about listening to an audio book while knitting away. So I is for iPod, my faithful companion.


PS: See that extra layer of plastic on this thing? Those that know me are aware that a) I am a klutz who drops things and b) that I like to be able to just throw things in my bag and not worry about them. The hard plastic protective case accomodates both of these tendencies.

H

....is for Hedgehog. When I was a kid, my family took care of the science department hedgehog (creatively named Sonic) for an entire summer. What I remember the most of that is the snuffling noises Sonic would make.

A couple of weeks ago, Jen brought her hedgehog, Mina to Knit Night. She was on her way somewhere else with her, and it was too warm to leave her in the car, so we had a special guest at Knit Night. As you can see, we were all enchanted with her.

Here she is with Carly:
With Maggie:
In close-up:
And finally, with Jen:
(oh, and my memories of the snuffling? Totally accurate.)