I think I need a good long sleep. I'm starting to feel this depression (about money, job, etc.) creep into my head like it seems to do every 3 or 4 months and I think I need a good sleep to wake up with some positive feelings.
I've been staying up way too late. Normally, I'm in bed by 12:30 (late, I know) and I wake up around 8 a.m. to get to work by 9 a.m. This week, I've been staying up until 1:30 - 2:00 a.m. every night, even when I know I need sleep. Wednesday was the worst. I stayed up until almost 2 a.m., went to bed and couldn't fall asleep until almost 4 a.m. Rich had to have a sleep observation study that night (possible sleep apnea) at Cedars, so he was gone, but he came home at about 5:45 a.m. He had to call and wake me up to get in because I had locked the deadbolt and for some reason, he doesn't have a key to the deadbolt (never mind that we've lived in this apartment for 8 years). I fell back asleep and woke up around 8:30.
Whenever I get stressed or depressed, I get insomnia. It's the worst thing in the world, especially after a few days. I explain it to people that it's like my brain is having a conversation with itself and it won't shut up, even when I want it to. I think about knitting patterns, work, puzzles, just about anything that you don't want to be thinking about at 3 a.m.
But this lack of sleep has contributed to a lot of crocheting. Last night I finished the Pretty Princess sweater. I have pictures, but I haven't downloaded them yet. It turned out even cuter than I had hoped for. The body is a hot pink cotton, and the blanket stitch edge is a bright green. The blanket stitch has an interesting story because I had finished the stitch all around the edges and the cuffs before I realized I was using the wrong yarn. It was 1 a.m. on Wednesday night and I couldn't figure out why the green yarn looked so yellow. Well, I was accidentally using the yarn for the Japanese sunburst tank, which is a greenish gold (think 70's Harvest Gold). It looked awful against the pink. So I had to cut it out and redo it. Hence the staying up until 2:00 a.m. Last night I added crocheted ties to the front and a white crochet flower to the lapel. I promise pictures on Monday.
And, because I'm psycho, I started another baby sweater last night. At least little Miss Margaret Allison is giving me a reason to go through my stash. And she's giving me something to do while I'm not sleeping.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
money makes the world go 'round
money comes in, it goes out. Unfortunately, it seems to be going out faster now than it comes in. $250 for Deano's latest vet bill. $100 last night for groceries (what the heck did I buy? I mean, I know we had steak last night for dinner, but come on...). $620 for airplane tickets to Seattle for a wedding in 2 weeks. $600 for the lodge in Tahoe over the 4th. We want to go back to New Mexico for vacation in October, so that's at least $500 in airfare.
Oh, and Richard is finally getting some medical issues looked at (which is a good thing), but his crap-ass insurance coverage means we'll be out a few thousand dollars. The future doesn't seem any brighter than the present.
And both our cars have more than 130,000 miles on them, so we should be looking at new (new to us, at least) vehicles. And, we really want to be able to buy a house/condo/refridgerator box within the next couple of years, so we need to save at least $10,000 to cover closing costs (I know more would be better, but $10,000 seems impossible already). And we need to make considerably more money to afford the $2,300 a month mortgage/PMI/HOA. And we're also planning on starting a family within the next two years, and god know that babies aren't cheap. And did I mention that I'd like to not have to work full-time once we have kids? Yeah. And, one more thing, we want to go to London next year for vacation, since that is one of Rich's "Have to Go Before I Die" places and we'd rather do it without kids. And the weak dollar isn't exactly helping our bargain shopping (thanks for nothing, Bush).
It's all a bit overwhelming. We need to make some sacrifices if we're going to be able to pull all of these things off, but neither Rich or I are very big on giving things up. I want to enjoy my life. I insist on multiple vacations every year so that I don't burn out (anymore than I already have). I'd rather use Noro than TLC. Now I don't mind buying my Noro from eBay, but I still want Noro.
Maybe I need to borrow Crazy Aunt Purl's budget worksheet. This is definitely no fun.
Oh, and Richard is finally getting some medical issues looked at (which is a good thing), but his crap-ass insurance coverage means we'll be out a few thousand dollars. The future doesn't seem any brighter than the present.
And both our cars have more than 130,000 miles on them, so we should be looking at new (new to us, at least) vehicles. And, we really want to be able to buy a house/condo/refridgerator box within the next couple of years, so we need to save at least $10,000 to cover closing costs (I know more would be better, but $10,000 seems impossible already). And we need to make considerably more money to afford the $2,300 a month mortgage/PMI/HOA. And we're also planning on starting a family within the next two years, and god know that babies aren't cheap. And did I mention that I'd like to not have to work full-time once we have kids? Yeah. And, one more thing, we want to go to London next year for vacation, since that is one of Rich's "Have to Go Before I Die" places and we'd rather do it without kids. And the weak dollar isn't exactly helping our bargain shopping (thanks for nothing, Bush).
It's all a bit overwhelming. We need to make some sacrifices if we're going to be able to pull all of these things off, but neither Rich or I are very big on giving things up. I want to enjoy my life. I insist on multiple vacations every year so that I don't burn out (anymore than I already have). I'd rather use Noro than TLC. Now I don't mind buying my Noro from eBay, but I still want Noro.
Maybe I need to borrow Crazy Aunt Purl's budget worksheet. This is definitely no fun.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Picture page, a picture page
Aha! I have finally uploaded some photos, so now I'll throw them at you all at once!
First and foremost, some photos of my lovely Deano. He was meant to be a model -- anytime I break out the camera, he looks right at the camera and poses. He actually waits to move until he sees the flash!
Even when he's not feeling well, he is pretty darn adorable. Actually, he's probably cuter when he's sick because he just wants to be around me because otherwise Doyle just wants to attack him.
Ok, you're probably bored of the cat photos by now, but I had to post one more. Non cat people probably think I anthropamorphize (sp?) my animals, but doesn't Deano look like he is so over the whole photo thing?
Ok, on to other, more crafty shots. Here is a photo of Allison in her Spinnerin shrug up in Tahoe. Isn't she cute? I know she doesn't feel cute right now, but I think she looks adorable,
And here is the Seraphina shawl the day we left Tahoe (note the scary duck quilt -- gives me shivers just thinking of it).
And this is the Japanese sunburst tank. It's turning out nicer than I thought it would and it was super quick -- I did all of this Sunday. Doing this tank has really helped me realize how flexible crochet is for creating beautiful garments. I mean, I've crocheted for years now, but this is the first piece I've made using draping techniques (I started by following the pattern chart, but then made drastic changes to make it work for the yarn I chose and my body, which is very different from the teeny Japanese models).
First and foremost, some photos of my lovely Deano. He was meant to be a model -- anytime I break out the camera, he looks right at the camera and poses. He actually waits to move until he sees the flash!
Even when he's not feeling well, he is pretty darn adorable. Actually, he's probably cuter when he's sick because he just wants to be around me because otherwise Doyle just wants to attack him.
Ok, you're probably bored of the cat photos by now, but I had to post one more. Non cat people probably think I anthropamorphize (sp?) my animals, but doesn't Deano look like he is so over the whole photo thing?
Ok, on to other, more crafty shots. Here is a photo of Allison in her Spinnerin shrug up in Tahoe. Isn't she cute? I know she doesn't feel cute right now, but I think she looks adorable,
And here is the Seraphina shawl the day we left Tahoe (note the scary duck quilt -- gives me shivers just thinking of it).
And this is the Japanese sunburst tank. It's turning out nicer than I thought it would and it was super quick -- I did all of this Sunday. Doing this tank has really helped me realize how flexible crochet is for creating beautiful garments. I mean, I've crocheted for years now, but this is the first piece I've made using draping techniques (I started by following the pattern chart, but then made drastic changes to make it work for the yarn I chose and my body, which is very different from the teeny Japanese models).kitty update
For those of you concerned about Deano's health, he's now doing fine. $250 in vet bills to find out he was just constipated (doctor visit, x-rays, urinalysis, and enema). I can't begrudge it, because even "just being constipated" could have turned into something bigger and more complicated if it hadn't been treated, but the bad kitty mommy part of me still thinks, "there went that iPod I wanted..."
On the crafty front, Hi, my name is Sara, and I have a problem. I keep starting new projects before I finish the old ones. To be fair, I started the Japanese sunburst top because I figured that the Seraphina is easy to do while talking to others, so it's a good project to bring to SnB meetings. Now I've run out of the chocolate brown Goa (my sister Jenny is sending me a couple of balls from the store she works at, Knitting Arts in Saratoga), so I can't finish the back of the Japanese tank until it arrives. What to do?
Well, my good friend Allison (the recipient of the Spinnerin shrug), called yesterday to say that the doctor is pretty sure (although not 100% because the baby's foot was in the way during the ultrasound) that she is having a girl! As soon as I heard, I broke open the "Candy Babies" book (cutest crochet stuff for babies) and looked for stuff to make. I had to start immediately. So now, I'm about halfway done with the Party Princess baby sweater (using the pink Blue Sky Organic Cotton that I originally purchased for the Marc Jacobs imitation purse -- I guess some things are more important than fashion. OMG, did I really just type that? Who am I?) I can't wait to finish it. It's bright pink and will have lime green blanket stitch around all the edges and lime green tie front. And maybe I'll add a small white flower to the front lapel. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but this is going to be so cute.
On the crafty front, Hi, my name is Sara, and I have a problem. I keep starting new projects before I finish the old ones. To be fair, I started the Japanese sunburst top because I figured that the Seraphina is easy to do while talking to others, so it's a good project to bring to SnB meetings. Now I've run out of the chocolate brown Goa (my sister Jenny is sending me a couple of balls from the store she works at, Knitting Arts in Saratoga), so I can't finish the back of the Japanese tank until it arrives. What to do?
Well, my good friend Allison (the recipient of the Spinnerin shrug), called yesterday to say that the doctor is pretty sure (although not 100% because the baby's foot was in the way during the ultrasound) that she is having a girl! As soon as I heard, I broke open the "Candy Babies" book (cutest crochet stuff for babies) and looked for stuff to make. I had to start immediately. So now, I'm about halfway done with the Party Princess baby sweater (using the pink Blue Sky Organic Cotton that I originally purchased for the Marc Jacobs imitation purse -- I guess some things are more important than fashion. OMG, did I really just type that? Who am I?) I can't wait to finish it. It's bright pink and will have lime green blanket stitch around all the edges and lime green tie front. And maybe I'll add a small white flower to the front lapel. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but this is going to be so cute.
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