I'm Going Home..

..To the place where I belong...

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

Love ya!

And Happy New Year..If I don't see you before then..

Be back January 15th!

Bored out of my Gourd

This is The. Longest. Week. Ever.!!!!
Oh my goodness, will it ever be over?
I am going crazy from studying and taking study breaks where I have nothing to do because for some reason this week, I cannot find any new blogs to read or books to look up on amazon.com...
Is it Friday at 10:00 yet??

So Darn Productive...

...I just don't know what to do with myself..

Two finals down, three to go, and one of those is a take-home final I've finished typing, just hafta proofread and print!!

Here's that little house I was telling you about..I was more than halfway through with it, and it was definitely cross-stitch, not embroidery, if that gives you any idea of how long it's been since I worked on it..

Red on white cross-stitch just makes me crazy! Love it! Not sure what I'm going to do with this yet..Doubt I can find a frame to fit it right..Christmas tree ornament, maybe??

Also crazy is this weather..Tomorrow it's going to be 80 degrees! Christmas in Dixie, lemme tell ya..I'm wearing a t-shirt and flip-flops on my trip to C-ville and Target..On my list of things to make right along with Lucia is another Posie-inspired project: Red puff paint on white candle..I'm all about all things Scandinavian-ish right now..

I miss making stuff

I miss knitting. I just really have no desire or drive to knit anything right now. I taught myself how to knit 4 years ago this Christmas, but this semester I've been going through a dry spell. i month or so ago I started a ballband washcloth just to show that I still could knit, but I got through 2 repeats and I was over. it. A year ago I was popping off miters and warshrags and procrastinating myself to death, but this year. Nada. Part of it is that I seem to have no money to spend on yarn..If I was going to knit anything, I would want to make a bigger mitered square blanket or maybe a log cabin blanket with a bunch of squares I could mattress-stitch together. I do so love to mattress stitch.

I haven't crocheted in the longest, either. I made squares and crocheted them together for my own little Babette (and by little, I mean Really Little), but I didn't like the way they were joined, and I didn't have the heart to take them apart. That was last July.

I really want to make Santa Lucia dolls. That may be my first craft project when I go home next Friday. If I get a lot of stuff done today and tomorrow, I'm going to take a mini-road trip Tuesday to Tarjay (one of my favorite places)and the Hobby Lobby, too. It's about 45 minutes away..and I'm doubtful about finding the doll pins and head beads that would fit together in my Wal-mart..

I did embroider half a house from my Japanese magazines I got earlier this semester..It's now buried in a stack of about ten magazines beside my bed..Seriously, I think I might have a magazine problem..I haven't worked on the house much because I need really really good light, so it's really not conducive to watching movies, which is how we chillax around these parts..

So yeah..I'm sorta in a not-so-chipper mood this afternoon..I've been around a person or two far too much this weekend..but in a week, I'll be home for a month, and I can get reenergized and refreshed and hopefully I'll make something, because I miss my friend! (Come on, who knows that song?)

Seven

I have hit the proverbial brick wall.
I feel like I have hit the literal brick wall.

One week!

Time to start jumping over walls..

Note to Self

Betsy-Do not open until Thanksgiving Wednesday, 2005.

November 21, 2001

Betsy,

I just thought I'd write myself a little note. How are you? How's everyone?

Our house is coming along good. We hope to be in it by Christmas. I can't wait!

So how did the band's festival season go? Are you drum major? I hope so, or at least leadership! Keep flutie traditions running! I am a C-I am a C-H...

I'm trying out for District and All-State Band two Saturdays from now. Wish me luck!

Well, I need to go practice piano. Are you still in piano? I hope so. Is Sara?

Gotta go,

Love,

Betsy

Dear Betsy,

I just found your letter in the bottom of a box of snowman stationary. Seriously, did you really think you would find it four years later? I guess a little over six years is not so bad. You know, I was 13 when I wrote that note..Pretty obvious, huh? And I was 17 when I was supposed to find it..

You didn't get moved into the new house until Groundhog Day '02..Just a month or so after Christmas..It was so worth it, though, to have your own room after sharing with your brother and sister since you were 3..

The band season went pretty well..You didn't get drum major, but you didn't really want it by the time auditions came around..You did conduct from backfield for part of the show..And you were band captain your junior year..

Also, you totally bombed your district audition..you were shaking like a leaf!

I'm still taking piano..Sara quit a few months ago..She's taking baton lessons now..Maybe she'll be a majorette in a few years..

Well, I need to go practice piano (some things never change, huh?) Actually, I'm going to do some studying and get to bed..Did you know that you wanted to be a vet when you wrote that letter? You changed your mind about 15 times between then and now..Haha..

Love ya kiddo,

Betsy

Fab Four

the best of Summer Reading, '07 edition

1. Three Cups of Tea by G. Mortenson and D. O. Relin If you have not read this book, you must go out and get it..Trust me, it will change your life..Seriously, I do not think that there are that many books that I can say that about, and I do not say it lightly..Definitely one for the Christmas list.

2. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith I absolutely adore this book; I reread it this semester..Every summer I take part in Barnes and Noble's buy two-get one free table, and this was one of the books I got this year..It's so good; definitely my favorite fiction pick for the summer..

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling Definitely the most anticipated book of my summer..I picked up my copy the morning it came out, but didn't really get started until after lunch..and finished at 6:00 that evening..I did absolutely nothing except devour that book and it was amazing..

4. All the Jane Austen books I read Mansfield Park and Persuasion for the first time this summer and loved them both, and I reread Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, both also amazing..I think that you have be at a certain age to really appreciate Austen's books, and it's different for everyone, of course..I read some of them when I was a few years younger and I liked them, but I didn't really start to love them until summer before last, when I read Northanger Abbey..I need to read Emma again, I haven't read that one in a long time (by which I mean, three years..feels like a long time, though!)

The moment you've all been waiting for..

The last ten books! The fourth entry in 4 days! Friday afternoon and only 2 more weeks of school! YAY!

Work with me here, folks..


1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
2. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
3. Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott
4. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
5. Twentysomething by Margaret Feinberg
6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
7. Passionate Patchwork by Kaffe Fassett
8. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
9. Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy! by Barbara Johnson
10. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

French Fries are my drug of choice..

Which has nothing to do with the content of this entry, but sounds more interesting than "Part 3". Is anyone still reading this? I wouldn't blame you if you weren't..Hang in there, I've only got one more installment after today. Then maybe I'll do some reviews..I've definitely got some blog fodder for a while yet..

1. 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
2. Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
3. The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares
4. Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol
5. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
6. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
7. Persuasion by Jane Austen
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (again)
9. Essential Crochet by Erika Knight
10. Knitting without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Part Two

Have I shown you this picture of all the books my bff's and I took on our high school senior trip a year and a half ago? Can you say nerds?!

11. Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares (again)
12. I Know why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

13. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
14. Betsy and the Great World by Maud Hart Lovelace
15. Betsy’s Wedding by Maud Hart Lovelace
16. The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America by Carrie A. Hall and Rose G. Kretsinger
17. A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 1: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
18. Dating Mr. Darcy by Sarah Arthur
19. Hiking Georgia by Donald Pfitzer
20. Every Young Woman’s Battle by Shannon Ethridge and Stephen Arterbum

T-3 weeks and counting..

One of my favorite procrastination techniques is to read book reviews on amazon.com. (Maybe if I spent less time reading blogs and reviews of books, I would have more time to read real books..or I might get all A's..) So if you need to procrastinate, here's part 1 of the list of books I read over the summer in order that I read them..Time wasting options abound..(I definitely procrastinated in posting this list.)

1. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
2. The Pact by Jodi Picoult
3. Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
4. The Alphabet Sisters by Monica McInerney
5. The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
6. Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser
7. Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
8. Through the Shadowlands by Brian Sibley
9. Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
10. The Redemption of Sarah Cain by Beverly Lewis

Over the River and so forth

I have had soo much I would've liked to say over the past couple of weeks, but no time to get it down..

That picture is from last year's gathering of my high school friends for our annual Thanksgiving feast..This year will be our fourth time to have it, and I'm hosting..
That said, do you think it would be a little Too Much to try to whip up 8 (ish) cloth napkins between 3:30 tomorrow and 2:00 on Wednesday?
Let me add that I'm also preparing the turkey (4th year running) and a couple of sides (I'm afraid we're going to be a little dessert heavy)..and cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming..
I think maybe I can handle it...We'll see..

Fall is my Favorite

Yesterday was absolutely too beautiful not to take an hour long walk..Here are some pictures and not so many words..
This is one of my favorite places on the trail..It's very "The woods are lovely, dark and deep"..don't you think? Maybe not in this picture, you just hafta see it in person..

Hello babies..You're not scared of me, are you? No..
Ahh..
I have always wanted to be able to take a picture like this, all focused in the front and blurry in the back..success!
Another Robert Frost moment..shouldn't be too hard to figure out..
Yes, it is fall now isn't it!

One mile down! Time to turn back..I'll tackle the other two another day..

More pretty pictures are here.

3:36(+24) and all is well

So..yesterday I wrote out this long entry to let it be known that I haven't dissolved into a little puddle..and then I came very, very close to posting it on the "No End in Sight" Ripple-Along blog..Today I retrieved it and here it is..

Hear that? It's me breathing a big sigh of relief; I made it through this day..Thanks for the encouragement, I needed that. And I needed to vent a little. I think I did ok on the test, all things considered..
I told myself that after I took that test, I would go and get whatever I wanted to eat for lunch. Turns out I wanted an Oreo Blast from Sonic. Then I decided that ice cream was not lunch, so I went to Central Park and got some fries and a Dr. Pepper. Yum. Maybe not the wisest of decisions; I didn't feel too good afterwards, but it was fun to 'splurge' a little (sad day when that is considered splurging..)..

I tried to upload a picture of the turkey votive candle holder I got my mom for her birthday next Saturday. It's cuter than it sounds, and I think she'll really like it. I really like it. She wanted this pilgrim people, but they were gone! There was like, 1 little stand of Halloween/Thanksgiving stuff at Hancock Fabric, where we saw the pilgrims. It was all 50% off, which was nice, except for the fact that there was nothing left and it's a solid month til Thanksgiving. Me and my mom are all about celebrating fall and Thanksgiving. We love Christmas, but not until after Thanksgiving.

Can I just tell you something? Listening to a cd of Frank Sinatra love songs makes gluing pictures of old statues on index cards feel romantic. It does not help you memorize the dates on those index cards.
JOSH TURNER'S NEW CD CAME OUT TODAY!!!I think it goes without saying that I've already got it. It came with a dvd. (Wednesday: I have now listened to it 2 1/2 times and watched the dvd..)Looking at Josh Turner AND listening to him talk and sing? It doesn't get much better than that. I have a feeling that listening to Josh Turner is going to make registering for classes in 15 minutes a lot more pleasurable. It might make up for classes I can't get into. Sigh.
I was at Wal-mart (buying the Josh Turner cd and granola bars--see, I eat a healthy breakfast, at least) and I think I've figured out what I'm going to get all my family for Christmas. My mom wants the book that Alan Jackson's wife (Denise) wrote. My dad has read every John Grisham book, and I saw a new one today. Yay! He's always the hardest person to shop for. I may or may not get my brother and sister "The Dangerous Book for Boys" and "The Daring Book for Girls". I flipped through them today and they looked really good. I dunno..depends..

Ok, I'm gonna go register for next semester and work on my time managing so hopefully I won't have any more self-induced breakdowns. (Did I mention that I've stresed myself into a cold? Love that. Probably my recent eating habits are not helping.)

Melting Down

Sorry for the stress-fest it's been around here lately, but that's my life..
Just wanted to let everyone know that I am going to bomb my art test tomorrow..
I've been having a mild headache and a panic attack all evening and now they've decided to burst and there's nobody here and I'm kinda freaking out here and it would be real nice to have someone tell me it's going to be okay but my roommate and I have an uncanny knack for NOT being here when the other one needs her.
Okay, I'm sorry. I have to go pray for a miracle now..

One of those days..

The weather reflects how I feel.

Swamped. Drenched. Flooded.

But trying to be grateful. I'm grateful:

• For my snack this afternoon
• That I have a chance to recycle and (hopefully) improve the grade of the test I did real bad on. (and that this blog is not graded on grammar, cause I'm sick of grammar!)
• For the rain which we do so desperately need
• That my art presentation is over and I don't have to worry about it anymore
• That the two tests I have next week are next week and not this week
• That tonight is college night at the Chick-fil-a at the mall
• That tonight is my small group meeting with my 3 bff's
• That I finished the paper that is due tomorrow
• That Friday is Payday
• That my headache from yesterday has not come back full-blown
• That I had an umbrella today, for all the good it did..(ok..that was bordering on not-grateful)

That's all I've got for now..Hopefully tomorrow will be better?

And Breathe

I've found, over the past 24 hours, that if I try to think about everything I have to do over the next two weeks, and two months, and two years..I kinda start to Freak Out. I can't even handle the next two days. The next two minutes, that's as far as I can look.

Also, Head, I know you hurt, but we can't take a break here..You hafta keep working; I need you..So please..stay with me..

I don't see much craft time making its way into my next two months..Hate that..

But for now, it's two minutes at a time, baby.

Another sky picture, and some words

Soo..I want this book so bad I can almost taste it. And I went to Barnes and Noble today, I was going to buy it, but it cost more than I remembered, and I wimped out. Sigh..Someday. I'm not that good at sewing right now. I think I will get better once I have more practice. I mean, I've sewed for forever, but I don't think I've been doing it the Right way. I really want my own sewing machine. My mom's is older than I am, and there's really nothing wrong with it, except that it hates me.

No, really, it does. For example, I can never, ever get the bobbin to work right. Can't wind it, can't thread it. Never. I am nineteen years old, I have tried to do this umpteen times over the past 19 years. It never works. Then, I finally get my mom to come in there or she finally gets off work or whatever and Of Course it works the first time. No problem.

Whatev..

I went to Michael's after B&N and I was looking at the embroidery and cross-stitch stuff..they have linen cloth to embroider! It looks really nice! They have this thing that clamps onto the side of your sewing box and winds (ok, by hand, but Still!) your floss onto those little bobbin things! It only costs $1.29!! They have boxes to put your little floss bobbins in all organized by color! They have little DMC number stickers for your bobbins! Maybe I have just never really looked at all this stuff very well before, but it looked like they had some awesome stuff. I have this book on hold at the library, and it should be here Any Day Now..so forget finicky sewing machines, I'll just sew by hand, thank you very much!

Also, there are only about 6,000 people in line in front of me to get on Ravelry! (Last time I looked there were about 10,000) There are more people behind me than in front of me! Yay!

And finally, how Awesome is "Chuck's" wardrobe in "Pushing Daisies"? I want to be good at sewing so I can make all the adorable clothes she wears! I promise this is not going to turn into a "oh my gosh, pushing daisies, oh my gosh, gossip girl!" blog, this is the last time! Promise! (Ok, I don't promise, it's my blog, darn it) But man. Swoon.

Knitted Gun Cozies..nice..

Oh my gosh, I am loving "Pushing Daisies"! And it's only been on ten minutes..soo funny..
And since I finished my Educational Psychology take-home midterm, I have a "Gossip Girl" date at 9..
Wednesday night t.v. is the best..
And..fall break is this weekend! Ahh! Yay!
Okay, commercial break's over!

The Motto is "Made for the Water", right?

'Cause I had to ford a couple of rivers to get back up here. But I am definitely not complaining, I was actually more like, "Thank You Jesus!" the whole time; goodness knows we need this. Now that I'm all comfy-cozy in my sweats, I don't want to move. I think I'll read for a while..Yay Rain!

Yes Ma'am

Hello, goodbye, thank you very much.

My current study music

My current study break I cannot stop watching this; it's sooo hilarious..Seriously, you won't regret it..These boys are insane..

My current study food..oh wait, I ate at The Cheesecake Factory this afternoon; I'm never going to be hungry again..

Happy studying!

It clouds up, but it doesn't rain...We're about 2 feet below our normal rainfall for this point in the year. Droughts are not so much a good thing. Also, when is it going to be fall? Because we're still stuck in the mid-upper eighties. Like..everyday..It's a little ridiculous.

Soo..last night I watched "Pushing Daisies" on my computer on the recommendation of Alicia. Seriously, if Alicia Paulson told me to jump off a bridge, I think I'd do it. She has such good taste. (Just for the record, however, I was loving Gossip Girl while she was still on the fence.) Pushing Daisies is weird..I was like "gasp, sigh, tear, gasp, laugh, aww, gasp" the whole time. I think I should get my mom to watch it. We watch some strange tv together. She likes "Arrested Development" (because she likes Jason Bateman). I absolutely love "Ugly Betty". I haven't seen all of the first season yet, so I haven't been watching the 2nd one, but I'm probably going to ask for it for Christmas. (Can you believe it's just a couple of months away?!) A couple of weeks ago I came home for the weekend and she was watching this movie (Lifetime, maybe) about this girl who was like possessed by the devil..she kept killing people..It was seriously disturbing. I mean, I had to leave the room a few times..haha..I was like, "Mama! What are you watching?!" We also like watching LeAnn Rimes' new music video to the song "Nothing Better to Do" and trying to figure out what she's saying. And singing along with Reba and Kelly Clarkson.

Oh dear. This has become so random...I am tired, kids. Y'all have a GREAT weekend, I know I am, and I'll see ya soon.
Also, in the back of my mind, there's a new knitting project floating around..What? Knitting on a blog? How Novel! What a Unique Idea!
Okay, seriously. Time for bed.

Ants!

In my room! On my desk! Gah!
Driving me crazy..can't see where they're coming from, blend into the stupid carpet, stupid too small to squish ants..
Smiting ants left and right
with the all-powerful antibacterial wipe

ants inspire spontaneous poetry
vacuum time
where else am i supposed to eat, darn it?
and how am i supposed to sleep in here, really?

Moth

Today I went to the fairgrounds to drop off my entries in the "homemaking" building...At the registration table was a man who was in charge of this high school leadership program I was in about four years ago. I was pretty surprised when he remembered my name, since I was quieter and more painfully shy then than I am now..I was wishing I had straightened my hair..and put on some make-up..and could think of something to say..Then this other woman came in and he started talking to her (these chamber of commerce types know everyone, huh?)..She was pregnant and had a bag with jars of jelly or jam or something that she was going to enter..And I was suddenly really jealous. I had this inexplicable urge to be about ten years older and all cute and preggers, with jars of jam and adorable maternity clothes..not all lumpy-ponytail awkward college girl.

Usually, I try not to care what people think about me. And I try to be content with where I am right now, and not wish away the present dreaming about what may or may not happen. I tell myself that I may never get married or have kids, and that's okay, I'm okay with that (having teenage siblings at home makes me okay with that), but sometimes, there's nothing I want more. Sometimes I forget that God has the best in store for me, and his timing is always perfect.

I also have this habit of thinking that people don't notice me or know who I am. College has made this much more pronounced than it used to be, I think. Sometimes I feel invisible. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I actually like it most of the time. I like passing under the radar, I don't want to draw attention to myself. I'm basically a jeans and t-shirt girl anyway. I've been known to hide from/avoid talking to people I know in the Wal-mart (I get this from my mother--we do this shamelessly and frequently)..

I am very happy not being in the spotlight. I can't tell if I'm getting quieter as I get older or not. I think that maybe I am. I just wanted to get this out there. Sometimes you just need to talk, ya know? I don't care if anybody reads it or not. It really is what I feel, though, and sometimes it's easier to put it out there on the internet for everybody (or nobody) to read than it is to talk about it with the people you know.

Who am I? That's one secret I'll never tell...

So..I definitely just watched last night's episode of "Gossip Girl" on my laptop while eating chocolate chip cookie dough...
I think I might be getting kinda hooked on that show..I've never read the books, and I probably never will, cause I don't really like books like that..Apparently I do not have these qualms when it comes to t.v.
It's really kinda addicting..Like, you know these people are jerks and snobs (well, I mean, not these people in particular, since they're made-up, but there are people like them, I think, I don't really know, but I have it on good authority--this show and "The Nanny Diaries", to name a couple of sources), but you just keep watching...it's like this whole other world that I know I'll never see or be a part of, and that I would never want to be a part of even if I had the chance, but it's really interesting to watch and see what it's like...
My favorite characters are Dan and Jenny, the brother and sister from Brooklyn..Dan is so cute in his awkward crush and the crushing of his crush, and Jenny made her own party dress, how cool is that? And I just love the relationship they have...I always wanted an older brother..
And of course, Blake Lively was great in the traveling pants movie (i heard they're making a sequel?), and I love her in here too..

Okay, that's about enough of that..
You know you love me. xoxo

This is Just Sad

The contents of our fridge. Wal-mart, now!

Oh, I found the viking. Finally. After coming up with the same blog entry half a dozen times, I figured out that it was mentioned in the comments, then it was just a matter of finding the right entry on the other blog. So yeah, I was pretty much stoked to the max. Because how cute are these guys. (And how much did that sound like Junie B. Jones?) (By the way, my school mascot is a viking, hence the interest in finding this one again)
Okay, time to go move my car out of 30-minute parking before I get (another) ticket..
Later, gators!

Viking Hunt

Can somebody help me out here? I remember seeing on someone's pretty crafty blog a handmade stuffed viking toy that they had bought from someone's pretty crafty online store...I think it was in a post about their little boy's birthday party?? But I can't remember where it was, and I was wanting to look at that vike for inspiration for one of my own, for when in twenty years I have a chance to make something again...If anyone has any idea where I might have seen it, I would be much obliged...or anything similar that might help..Yesterday I googled it, but didn't come up with anything..

Also, I promise that someday I will write a real entry with maybe (gasp) a picture or two...

Thanks..Love you guys!

Betsy Is..

..back at school, has been for a little over a week, actually.
..loving her classes..so far..
..not planning on making anything except the dean's list this semester.
..falling out of her chair looking at all the cute Japanese books and fabric on superbuzzy..why is she just finding this? why does she not have a credit card/paypal account? oh yeah..because she would spend all her money online..
..getting ready to watch gilmore girls..hopefully..
..wanting to go to barnes and noble and buy books..she has a very extensive list..
..ready for fall..and pretty leaves, and scarecrows, and sweater weather, and the fair, and football season (even though she did go to a football game last friday), and thanksgiving..
..pretty amused that a slight variation of point 4 is her status on facebook..
..contemplating putting a list of all the books she read this summer on here..but that might be a little overwhelming..
..angry that "becoming jane" never came out in this one-horse town with its 3 movie theaters..
..needing to spend more time with her little sister..
..thinking about changing blog name and venue..
..done with this..

A Midsummer Midday's Post

That would have sounded cleverer if I could have written this at night, or in the afternoon. But it's lunchtime and I'll take what I can get!
Ahh..I love summer! And I'm especially taken with this extra long college summer.
Here are some numbers:

Books I've read (so far): 25 (or 26? can't remember offhand; have the list at home)
Stitches knit since starting my job: 0 (sad day..honestly, I haven't knit in about six or seven weeks)
New hobbies picked up since started my job: 1 (I'll show you my embroidered pillowcases when I post with my own computer)
Days until my birthday: 6 (!!!) (how old I will be: 19)
Teenagers who played Ultimate Frisbee at my cousins' house the 4th of July: 8
Average age of winning team: 15
Average age of losing team: 18 (and they said oldest four versus younger four wasn't fair!)
Days until Harry Potter 7: 12 (!!)
Movies I've seen: 1
Movies I've wanted to see but haven't (yet in some cases): 7
New blogs I'm reading: 2
Hours a week I work: 40
Days left working this much: 5 1/2
Blankets I want to crochet: 3
Times I've seen my college friends: 1
Times I've seen my high school friends: 1

Put a fork in me, I'm done!

I'm finished!! I made it through my first year! Ahh..I'm so excited!
I'm about to finish packing up my car, then I have to pack for a weeklong service trip to the beach..ahh!
There's knitting..some ballband warshclothes
And there's reading..some summer reading selections..aka someone has high hopes for this summer...
But right now, there're no pictures..
But there's packing!
Have a great summer, kids!!
After the trip, I'll be back home in the land of dial-up, so it may be a while before my next post. Whenever I get to Chick-fil-a or Krystal or Panera or wherever I can try this wi-fi thing..
Love you guys!
Have a great one!

Like a swarm of mud wasps, always gotta be a buzzin' about something

It's prom season. This is the view from my window. It's probably about a fifth of the people that have descended on my home.

If you're going to prom, you must have your own entourage to take your pictures.

A year ago, I was out there doing this.

I'm the one in the pink. Pale is the new tan (really? no), but if you don't want to end up the same color as your dress, you should really wear sunscreen. Or get a spray tan, as did my two amigas to the right who are normally the same shade as me. Nikki, the girl in the black, is Dominican and almost naturally that shade.

Cool is...

Doncha hate when you read something and you can't remember where?? Especially when you're trying not to plagiarize??

Since I'm not writing my English paper, look at my new shoes!

(Yes, I know there are three pairs of shoes in that picture. No, I do not think that this constitutes a problem.)

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Friday is my last day of classes; a week from Wednesday is my last final (history! agh!). And after that, I'm selling my textbooks and going to Barnes and Noble and stocking up on lots of good reads.

Ahh, to read again! Okay, so the last time I read for fun was actually Saturday. But for real, this semester, I'd say I've read about, oh, 3 books for myself.

This summer, on the other hand. Well.

I've got three books at home on my list. Three or four at B&N I'm staking out in my mind. And for 7 weeks, I'll be volunteering in the children's dept at the downtown library full time, so that's endless literature on my hands. It's gonna be great. I cannot wait.

I am a reading fool. Like, whoa.

In elementary school, I was famous for having so many Accelerated Reader points. I broke records. I got comments about it in my junior year of high school.

The picture at the top is all the books and magazines my friends and I took on our senior trip. (And only two of those are mine, plus one Teen Vogue). I still remember the different books I read and where I was and such.

So, I read Prep. By Lauren S...?? Anyway, I didn't like it. And then I read The Devil Wears Prada, the chick-lit made into a movie that summer. The book was okay, but I like the movie better. (The chick-lit-soon-in-theaters-this summer is The Nanny Diaries, and yes, it's on my list of books to buy). TDWP was my friend Cindy's. I took it to the beach and the tide came in and it got all wet, but she wasn't upset like she would've been had it been, say, Don Quixote. Umm, what else? Oh, I read Northanger Abbey. I was reading that one on the trip home, when we broke down on the side of the interstate and were stranded for approximately four hours. Good times. NA was my favorite book last summer, is my favorite Jane Austen book, and might be flat-out my favorite book ever. It's right up there. There was also this book published by MTV(???what?)..I don't remember the title, and I didn't read much of it, but I read bits and pieces cause the main character's name was Betsy. The Da Vinci Code was on the trip as well(It belonged to Lauren, as did the other copy of Prep up there in that picture). I didn't get around to reading it until we were back (I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, okay?). I remember that I read it in the urgent care waiting room when I got pink eye. And without all the sacrilege, I would've like it a lot better. But whatev.

This summer, the classic on the list is Jane Eyre. Cindy hates Jane Austen with a passion, but loves the Bronte sisters. I adore Jane Austen. We'll see what happens.

So, summer reading '07..we'll have a list and picture next Wednesday post-exam; it'll be my last post of the semester.

Love, Basically

I love buying pocketbooks

because they always fit.

Maybe that's part of the reason I love making blankets, too. You don't have to worry about gauge and needle sizes and yarn weight so much. You just pick something you like and go with it. And blankets are useful year round. I love that! Sweaters, not so much. And the same with socks. Sweaters and socks are great, don't get me wrong. I don't go around just making blankets; that's not what I'm saying. I mean, maybe if I lived in Canada, I would be all about the wool sweaters. But I live in Georgia. I own one sweater that's about 20% wool. I actually think I might be allergic to wool (forgive me, I know that's a horrible thought). But I love cotton. And cotton is great for blankets. Layer them up in the winter so thick that you can't move underneath, or just put one light one on top of the sheets in the summer. Perfect for spring picnics and fall football games. A blanket is always useful.

But it doesn't have to be made out of yarn that should have gold listed on the fiber content cause it costs so much. That acrylic yarn that everybody loves to hate can make a pretty darn good blanket, and it doesn't matter where you drag it (and a little boy, one of the most dedicated and adorable blanket lovers, will drag it everywhere!).


Can you picture anything more precious than a little baby wrapped in a beautiful handmade blanket? At the church I go to when I'm at school, they have a baby dedication almost every week. I love babies; I want a baby so bad I ache inside sometimes. But for now I just make baby blankets to give away, hoping and praying that someday I'll be making one for my own little baby.

I have this picture in my head of my own little house someday. I like to dream about it, rearrange the furniture in the rooms in my mind. And I have this vision of a little linen closet with a shelf of blankets folded and stacked nice and neatly. It's like a scrapbook of my crafting life, you can trace my progression. There are blankets I have made and some that I haven't even thought of yet. They're all just sitting there, waiting for a guest to come so I can pull out the couch-bed and spread one across it. If I'm going to have this closet shelf of blankets in a few years, I figure I'd better get started now.

A handmade blanket is like a big hug. It's love, basically. And whether it's a precious heirloom in perfect condition or a worn-out, fraying scrap of cloth, the underlying sentiment is there. Someone loves me. Or, I love myself, which is something I have to remind myself every now and then.

I suppose that's enough blanket love for now. I hafta go work on filling up that linen closet!

Now What?

Remember, back at the end of September, when I started this thing??

Look how far we've come since then!

I sort of wimped out on the border...I "cro-Kayed" all the way around, and decided that I liked the way it looked, and I really really really did not want to rip out and do something different, so I'm leaving it like that. For now, at least.
I like how it doesn't take away from the psycho effect.

Hah! Like it could.

And I'm glad to be done, I really am. But now I don't know what to do with myself. It's weird not be working on this. It's weird to be done.

I mean, I've got other projects I'm working on. But it's not this. Sigh.

Little Found Things

Did the Easter Bunny come to your house?

'Cause he made it to mine!

I walked into the living room yesterday morning and sat down on the couch glasses and contact-less and didn't see my little basket until my mom pointed it out to me. Love the Disney princess eggs! I ate an untold number of mini Snickers this afternoon after work; I was so hungry and tired. One thing that always makes me feel better on days like this is to go to Barnes and Noble. Look what I found:
This is a birthday card. I adore Oreos, and the expression on this little girl's face is priceless. Beverly Lewis is another favorite:

I have developed a pattern in reading series of books. I usually get the first one a while after it comes out. If I like it, I'll get the second one, which may or may not be released just depending on how long the first one has already been out. Then, by the time the series gets to the end, I'm counting down the months, weeks, days, and hours, calling bookstores to see if it's in, analyzing ads that announce a book's arrival in "early spring" (that's so vague!). I've done this with Beverly Lewis, Harry Potter, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and am getting there with The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (although I am still pretty behind in those, I've read 4 of 8). This book doesn't exactly fall into that category; it was originally published before any of the Beverly Lewis books I've read. This is just a new edition, and it'll go really well with the rest of my B.L. collection. Plus, it's probably a really good book.

If anybody's still here, they're probably wondering when I'm going to get around to talking about the gorgeous work of art that these various items have been sitting on. Well, here it is!!

All seamed up and in desperate need of a border. My roommate talks to this blanket. Things like, "I remember when you were just one square." I'm pretty much obsessed with staring at it myself.

I've got one more picture for you. Saturday evening I felt a strange urge to go outside and take pictures of the trees and the sky. This dogwood tree is outside my bedroom window at home. Beautiful!

Happy Easter!

Just a quick update before I go home for the weekend. Looking forward to a long weekend of seaming..Hopefully I'll have the seamed blanket to show ya'll on Monday!

Argosy, Bikini Edition?

So, I know Vyvyan said she was quitting after the baby blanket version, but I'm with Alan Jackson: "Too Much of a Good Thing is a Good Thing".

Ha, ha..Kidding! This is a washcloth. My Mother it looked like underwear at this point, but I assured her that it was not. I needed a little knitting mixed in with all that seaming, which is almost done, by the way. I decided to nix the "miter posed on the bedspread" pic in this post, but just wait. Soon there will be no end of the blanket pictures. You'll be wishing I'd go back to knitting my undies.

I wanna talk about me...

MeMeMeMeMeee-ee: A lot of the ones I left plain I haven't heard of. If you know of one I haven't read that you think I should, leave a comment.

Look at the list of (100) books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicize the ones you want to read.
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
Movies don’t count.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) (I'm reading this right now, so I just bolded it a little bit)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant) (I think I might want to read this one, but I'm not sure)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) (I started this one, but hated it, so quit partway through)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) (maybe)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) (another maybe)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

If You Give a Knitter a Spring Break...

If you give a knitter a spring break, she'll probably finish knitting the squares for her psycho blanket.



Then she'll probably want to block them. If you can even call what she does "blocking". She'll dunk each square in the bowl of water. She will feel like a Southern Baptist minister. She'll probably start to say things like "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Then, as if that's not sacriligious enough, the yarn fumes will really start to get to her, and she will make up some new ones, like "I baptize you in the name of Ann, Kay, and Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee", or "I baptize you in the name of knit-two-together, slip-slip-knit, and stockinette stitch."
While the squares are drying, she'll have to look online for directions for how to mattress stitch.

After she does that, she'll stack them up all nice and neat and admire the general splendor.

Then, being the devoted daughter that she is, she will probably make her dad a birthday cake. She still needs to practice the icing part, but she's getting better.

Once all the blocks are dry, she will spread out a sheet on the living room floor and figure out the arrangement. It will take her an hour because she was pretty random when she was making them. Then, she will discover the magic that is mattress stitch (oh mattress stitch, how I doth dote on thee!) and sew up 5/6 of the blocks before she goes back to school. By then, the spring break is over, and it will take her almost a week to sew up 1 more block. But that, dear friends, is what happens if you give a knitter a spring break.

....

This week, I just don't know if I can do it. One day at a time, one day at a time...
Pictures and a real entry??? Well, I planned them out all last week when I was without access to real internet (dial-up is not real internet, fyi)..and now, I'm so completely swamped I dunno when it's gonna happen. Saturday, maybe. Sunday at the latest..
But I am NOT stressed. I am Not Going to Stress Out. I am going to write the two body paragraphs of my paper that are due tomorrow, and do my quiet time, and worry about the other 5 pages of the paper and the three tests three days in a row Later. Tomorrow..And I'm going to stop griping and get off of here and Get It Done. Period.
Have a great week!

i'm going home

i'm going home, i'm going home...i made it, i didn't get sick...i didn't skip class, because i'm just not that person and i don't think i'll ever be that person, but i went and i made it and i even took notes and now i'm going home and i'm just SO excited! and i may not post for a week, cause i'll be on stinky slow dial-up, but when i'm back, it'll be a block party..blocking party, rather, cause i've only got three squares left to do on my blanket!
see ya'll in a week!

Walking Time Bomb

So I'm thinking that Friday cannot come soon enough.
Here, imagine a picture of a half-completed mitered square. Really, I don't feel like boring ya'll with another picture of a miter. And I don't feel like getting up to take another picture of one.
It's terribly quiet and lonely here, because my roommate was sent home yesterday for the week..with mono, of all things! Ack! I called her earlier tonight and she seems to be doing ok, she's just really weak. So far, I'm not sick, although I'm awfully paranoid about getting sick, especially since there's also a nasty stomach virus making appearances around campus. At least one girl on my hall has been throwing up. There's another virus going around the school where I work.
Seriously, if I can just make it until Friday, it'll be spring break, and I can handle that. I really truly do not want to get sick. Today I made some great plans to meet up with a bunch of my high school friends for lunch Saturday. I haven't seen most (any?) of them since Thanksgiving, so I'm really excited. And with my luck, I will get horribly sick. And stay sick for all of spring break, but get well just in time to come back to school. Ahh..

Is It Spring Yet?

Because my plant thinks it is!















Last night we made Rice Krispie treats in the micro-go-round and watched Ella Enchanted..Which is a corny movie if there ever was one...Night before that we watched Grease...I hadn't seen it in a while; I'd forgotten how weird it was..Seriously, that ending..I remember the first time I watched it I thought that was the worst ending of a movie that I'd ever seen..haha..

All these movies are perfect for knitting..I only have 9 squares left!

Man, my desk is cluttered in that picture...