Quandry.

I have about half a dozen intelligent, successful, driven single female friends. We own houses, pay our bills, work hard and we're decently hot chicks.

We have brains, opinions, bank accounts, goals, accomplishments, morals, ethics and values.

Why is dating such a challenge for us?

Throughout the day I have had conversations with 4 friends of mine that drive me to say - What is wrong with men?

Maybe this is more of a complaint than a quandry.

I am very thankful for and proud of the amazing group of women I surround my self with both personally and professional.

Half a pair complete.

I'm finding the love for sock knitting - or at least trying to.

Through many delays and cancellations of flights in the last few weeks I finished a sock. My second sock ever completed but unfortunately not the match to the first sock completed.

Not the best picture as I took it with my camera phone but a picture nonetheless:



I haven't started the second sock just yet as I had to focus on work tonight post kitchener stitch but I will make the second sock. I only have the second sock and my branching out scarf on the road with me - the sock is my mindless project.

I understand second sock syndrome as I wasn't a huge fan of this color way - I'm not thrilled to knit the second sock but I will. The color way reminds me of two distinctive color ways thrown together.

I will have one skein leftover as it took one yard shy of a skein to make a sock. I have a great pattern for baby booties and a hat to make out of the leftover skein. I just happen to know of someone pregnant with twins...

And we felted the night away...

In the current heat wave facing Des Moines (it was a measily 1 degree this morning as I left to get coffee) Nancy and I decided the best thing to do was to hang out in my pseudo warm house (warmth is relative to which room you are in) and felt some knitted items.

The first of my army of hedgehogs:


A side view:



He came out so much cuter than I expected. He still needs eyes, nose and stuffing but that will be next Friday night’s activity.

I plan on making a few more – they will make great quick gifts.

So I carefully maneuvered out of bed this morning, as my back is very tender. I start doing house chores and prepare to leave town - laundry, packing, charging up the ipod and cell phone, etc.

I go to let the dogs out and realize I can't open the door easily - there's was some snow in the night and a snow drift has formed. The dogs going plowing out through the snow and run out into the yard. While they are losing themselves in the snow, I realize my car is buried in snow and the snow is rather deep in the driveway - I figure I can plow my car through the snow, just as I did a few days ago when it snowed (who needs to pay money for someone to plow their driveway?)

In the meantime, Zoey gets literally stuck in the snow as she is now in snow past her legs. I get her out the drift and back into the snow she went.

I continue with house chores and packing, taking time to lie down in between activities as my back is very sore.

I go to check in online for my flight and get the message to see a representative as I cannot check in online. This is code for "Your flight has been cancelled". So I call United and spend about 30 minutes on hold waiting to speak to a customer representative. Since I live relatively close to the airport I decided just to go and check in and then come back home and continuing packing.

I warmed my van up for about 30 minutes and was able to get all the snow off of it. It still didn’t occur to me that I had about 7 inches of snow in my driveway from last week’s snow plus last night’s snow plus the wind that moved the snow. I plow through the snow full blast and make it about 2/3 of the way down my driveway. I’m now stuck in the snow. I go backwards and again attempt to go forwards. Not my brightest idea – I’m even more stuck than before. I back up again and just aim to put the van to the side of the driveway so I can try with my jeep in 4 wheel drive to get to the airport. The van ends up half in a bush, half on the driveway.

Fine. I now walk through the deep snow, with my sore back, swearing at myself for not hiring someone to plow my driveway. I then try with my jeep in 4 wheel drive and manage to get through the driveway, leaving my van stuck for the time being – my flight being cancelled was a higher priority. My van wasn’t going to go anywhere.

I arrive at the airport and manage to get on different flights. At this time 2 of the 5 outbound Chicago flights have been cancelled (I should have read the warning signs better). So I have my new boarding passes and head home to finish packing.

I pass the van in the driveway which is now being shoveled out by a friend of mine. Eventually we dug the car out of the bush (my back is now throbbing).

I monitor my flight online while I finish packing and see that it delays. It delays enough to miss my connection and United called me to tell me they booked me on a later flight out of Chicago but that if the flight continues to delay I will not make it to Boston tonight.

At that point, they also tell me that 4 of 5 outbound flights to Chicago have been cancelled but they are pretty sure mine will leave, that it’s just a bit delayed.

So I go to the airport really early to get my new boarding passes, have some lunch, have the extra time to deal with my ever spasming back and just knit. Before I left for the airport, I saw online that my flight was about an hour and a half delayed. By the time I got to the airport it was 2 hours delayed. I had a cushion of about another 30 minutes before jeopardizing my connection.

At 4PM they tell us the plane we are taking to Chicago is coming from Denver and it hasn’t left Denver yet and that they were sure it would leave soon. My cushion has just diminished and I now will miss my connection. I had the choice – go to Chicago and stay there tonight but not be able to get to Boston until 12:30 as the early morning flights are sold out OR stay in Des Moines and fly out tomorrow and arrive in Boston at 12:30.

Hmmm, easy decision. So 5 hours in an airport, 4 cancelled flights, missed connections and I’m back home, back in my pj’s and back on the floor nursing my back.

Not a typical Sunday but it could have been worse. At least I get one more night at home. I can’t control the weather or flights so I have to be flexible and adjust as things change.

I did learn a few lessons today:

1) The van is not a 4 wheel drive vehicle
2) The van sucks in snow
3) When most flights are delayed or cancelled there’s not much one can do (knew this lesson, just like to reiterate it)
4) My job will eventually ruin my back
5) I didn’t waste a Sunday at the airport, I managed to knit the heel flap of a sock (it’s all in how you view the situation)

4 cats, one mouse and an upset owner

As I'm home working from my couch today, I notice something scurry past out of the corner of my eye. To clarify that I wasn't seeing things, I got up to look and a little gray mouse ran across the floor right in front of me.

My four cats, count them four, all lined up to watch the mouse run across the room. When I first moved into my house 5 and 1/2 years ago, I figured cats would prevent me ever seeing a mouse. I am aware that I live in the woods and have corn fields so field mice are expected. Expected in the basement and garage, not in my house. 4 cats have been fed, loved and cared for over 5 years in the exchange of me never having to see a mouse.

If only I had a picture to capture the 4 cats lined up sitting next to one another, their heads synchronously watching their sworn natural enemy having free run of my house.

A week on the couch...

For the second time in six months, my back has given out and is forcing me to stay home for the week. Although I appreciate the quiet time, I am going a bit stir crazy just staying on the couch.

Kudos to the parents for housing me this weekend and waiting on me hand and foot. Sometimes it's nice to revert back to being a kid and having parents who bend over backwards to help you feel better. I had home cooked meals three times a day, snacks in between, watched good movies, got good advice and just relaxed. Parents are great.

My dad even shovelled out my car this morning and warmed it up so I could go to the doctor.

Knitting is a bit of a minimum at the moment but I do have some things to report: I FINALLY finished my dad's black big wool sweater. It was three years in the making and finished yesterday. I have no explanation for why a bulky sweater made on size 15's took 3 years to complete. It only fit him ok - not great. His only feedback was "Wow, this is a really warm sweater." I hope he wears it - in today's weather it would be perfect.

I started (and almost finished) a felted hedgehog yesterday. I can only knit for short amounts of time as it hurts my back to sit. I had a minor resolution to learn w&t and this was the perfect project to practice the technique. I have lots of tails to sew in and then his furry back to do - then felting and stuffing. Fun and quick project - I will probably make at least one more.

Back to my couch for the time being.

The Irony

I was informed yesterday that one of my submissions to speak at a global software user conference was accepted (I'm 1/1 so far out of 7 submissions - I'm hopeful the others are declined for the amount of effort required). It's an absolute honor within my company and within my industry. I'm excited for the free trip, the time to network with new and old clients and a week off of a client site. It's in Orlando at Disneyworld and the city of the Donald Pliner shoe outlet (the shoe outlet is so much more exciting than Disneyworld).

So that's the good news. For those close to me, you'll never believe who is the secondary speaker on the selected submission...all I could say when I saw the email was "Oh, crap"...

Grasshopper does it again!

My favorite client and good friend Lisa sent me pictures of some FO's she finished last year - they are so cute!:

New Year’s Resolutions

2007 will be the year of me – yeah, it sounds selfish but that’s the point. I am focusing on me this year. I have broken down my resolutions into the following categories: health, financial, professional, knitting and other.

Health Resolutions:

1) Limit caffeine (I would aim for eliminating but I know me and know it’s just not going to happen)
2) Get more sleep
3) Visit the appropriate doctors I have ignored for the past many years
4) Lose weight
5) Exercise – starting slowly and hopefully building up to the 5K Run for the Cure that I shook on with the Knit Wits. I don’t aim to walk, my goal is to run all of it. Even in my prime, I could never run long distances so this is a “reach” goal.
6) Use my Y membership

Financial Resolutions:

1) Create a Budget
2) Stick to the Budget
3) Limit expenses where feasible – primarily Starbucks and yarn
4) Meet with a financial planner
5) Re-evaluate savings / investing plan

Professional Resolutions:

1) Work smarter not harder
2) Delegate and push back
3) Limit the amount of 20+ hour days (correlates to health resolution #2)
4) Continue to learn from those around
5) Challenge myself more

Knitting Resolutions:

1) Knit a project requiring a zipper
2) Complete one crochet project
3) Complete one intarsia project
4) Complete one entrelac pattern (incorporate knitting backwards)
5) Knit from my stash, knit from my stash, knit from my stash.
6) Challenge myself somehow – aran sweater, free form, my own design – something.

Other Resolutions:

1) Continue piano lessons
2) Try dance lessons
3) Be more honest with people
4) Say no more often
5) Dress better
6) Spend more time with my family
7) Take all 5 weeks of vacation time
8) Avoid drama
9) Balance out professional and personal life
10) Try something new
11) Don’t take on other people’s problems – just work on mine
12) Learn to cook – or better yet – learn how not to burn food

It’s a lot of resolutions but I believe in carrying over resolutions – many of these resolutions are from last year and I’m sure many will carry over to next year.

To a new year and a clean slate – this year has to be better than last year. It’s my last week in San Diego and although it’s sad, I’m very much ready to move on to my next project. I will be spending some time at the beach this week and enjoying the beautiful weather. I leave for Boston on Sunday and will arrive to many familiar faces and some very new challenges.