I can't believe I missed it!

I was reading some blogs and I noticed there are quite a few 1st Year Blogiversaries (for those that don't know blogspeak, this means blog anniversary) in July. Then it hit me... I started my blog in July! I went back to my archives to my very first post and sure enough, it was July 15th. Does this mean I get to have a big slice of chocolate cake to celebrate? hee,hee!

Speaking of other knitbloggers (sort of), I met with a bunch of 'em last night. I'm horrible with names, so I'm hoping our photographer Sarah will document them on her blog at some point. But I can tell you that Pam, Alison, Heather, Mel, Illana, and Leia (I hope I didn't mispell her name too badly!) was there. One of these days I'll bring my camera with me so Sarah won't have to get stuck taking all of the pictures (and because she never gets her own picture taken and that's just not right). And speaking of posting pictures of herself, I discovered that Alison, whom I met in person for the first time last night, had pictured me a lot older. I really need to start providing more pictures of me so people won't get the same impression. (Oh, and just to set the record straight, I'll be 34 in October.)

Of course, I can't just post gratuitous pictures of myself. They need to involve knit items. So I suppose I should get to work, huh?

Now *this* is what I love about Arizona

This has been a pretty good week. We found a rental in Chandler, so the "official" move can now happen in early August - and I can be reunited with my hubby! In other good news, I had lunch with Eva and Karen yesterday. We all work somewhat close to each other, so I'm hoping that we can make this a regular thing.

And to top it all off, the monsoons have moved in. Hooray! I love the monsoons. I especially love the smell of the rain here. I don't know how to explain it, but when it rains here you smell the dirt in the air. Anyway, I stood outside for a minute tonight smelling the rain. It almost makes up for the oppressive heat during the day.

I've also returned to my knitting this week, although I'm almost at the same point I was before I started back. sigh... I began working on Klaralund in Rowan All Seasons Cotton. I thought I was making the 38" size, but as I got about halfway through the back I realized it was only about 18" across. Although math wasn't my strongest subject in school, even I realized this was only going to be 36" around. Well, my gauge was right, so I looked at the pattern instructions again and realized that the amount of stitches they had me casting on would only come out to 36" at the appropriate gauge. For those who have knitted Klaralund (I know Nathania has. Anyone else?), I'm wondering if this might be because the yarn that is called for in the pattern (Noro Silk Garden) is a drapier fabric than the ASC? Anyhoo... I ripped it out and started again in the next size up, which according to my calculations will actually come out as the 38" finished size.

I also worked on sewing up my Nothin' but a T-shirt. This is my first real attempt at set-in sleeves (aside from a couple of baby sweaters) and I had to rip out the first sleeve about five times before I got it in correctly. I still have to sew in the other sleeve, but I'm hoping that I learned from the first one and will only have to rip out twice. (C'mon, I might as well be realistic, right?)

Edited to add: Two thoughts to add actually. The first is a quick shout out to Sarah, who made a donation to sponsor me in the 3 Day Walk.

The other thought continues in the spirit of thinking of others. After I finished posting I read some blogs. Sadly, I discovered that Kerstin's brother-in-law, John, was recently killed in an car accident. If you're like me, you'll remember reading about John's wedding last year and what a great guy he was. If you'd like to honor his memory, Annie is coordinating a Blanket Project. I'll definitely be make a square.

My drivers license says that I have red hair...

I survived the Motor Vehicle Department this morning and I am now an official Arizona driver. For those of you in California, and especially those of you who haven't dealt with the DMV in another state, use and appreciate the appointment system that the California DMV offers. See, in California, you can call or go online and set up an appointment to come in and take care renewing your drivers license, taking care of registration issues, and whatnot (I love that word, whatnot). In Arizona, you stand in a long, long, long line. In the lovely summer sun. For an hour and a half. Yuck. But I'm done and that's the important part! (And another fun fact for those outside of Arizona - my license doesn't expire until 2036. The Arizona DL expirations dates will always crack me up.)

So, when I first started coloring my hair red, I continued to put my real hair color of blonde down on my drivers license description, because I wasn't sure if I would like it enough to keep it. After several years as a redhead, I decided that it was time to start describing myself as such and that's what I put down on my description today. However... I am a true blonde at heart as I displayed yesterday at work.

One of my assignments right now is to do some research on legislation that has a proposed amendment. I found a bill that was recently passed in another state that had a small section that applies to the proposed amendment here in Arizona. I clicked on the print icon and I received a window that I don't normally receive when printing from Westlaw. Did I bother to actually read the text inside the window? Pshaw! I clicked ok and went out the printer to see if my document started printing. I should explain that the reference librarians and patrons all print from the same printers. This can be annoying at times, but works for the most part. Anyhoo... my document wasn't printing. Hmmm... I went back to my desk and clicked on the print icon again. Before I could go check on my print job I received a reference call and momentarily forgot all about it.

I eventually had to go out to the reference desk to grab a book and I discovered a patron having problems with the printer. She claimed that she kept sending her print job but nothing was coming out. We quickly discovered that the printer had run out of paper. As we put more in, the patron pointed out a printout that was almost two inches thick and told us that this had been sitting in the printer. I picked it up and saw that it was a 482 page document that had only gotten around to printing about 200 pages before running out of paper. Then I saw the cover sheet. It was the print job that I had forgotten about. I made the biggest rookie mistake when using Westlaw. Before printing, you should always check the number of pages a document contains (I can't tell you how many law students I have chastised for making this same mistake). My supervisor and the other reference librarian were extremely sweet about the whole thing and told me that they had both done this at some point in their career. (In case you're wondering, print jobs that originate from Westlaw aren't routed through the network the same way as when you print from Word or something. So while I could have eventually figured out a way to kill the print job, it would have been close to finishing and we decided to just wait it through.)

Anyway... this poor patron stood by the printer as my behemoth print job continued on its merry way. Eventually we started counting down... 480... 481... 482... At last! The printer began printing the next job in the queue, which I grabbed out after the first couple of pages. I looked at the top corner and it said "1 of 482." That was when I remembered... I had sent the job twice! I'm telling you, you can take the hair color away from the blonde, but you can't the blonde away from the girl.

:-)

Counting down the days

I need a massage. I have never needed a massage as badly as I need one right now. Ok... that's sort of a lie. My last semester of school was probably a lot more stressful than this. But I think that the fact that I didn't get a massage during the semester means that I deserve one even more so, don't you? I'm too cranky to go into specific details, but I on a larger scale: I miss my hubby, it's freakin' hot, I haven't knit a stitch since in a couple of weeks, I had to endure an a boring day of new employee orientation today and am looking forward to another day of orientation tomorrow (yes I'm being sarcastic), and I just want to know that I have a place to live.

Ok, enough of my pity party. My life is turned upside down right now, but so I know that once things settle down my outlook will improve.

On the bright side, Chelsea is an awesome blogger whom (who? that?) has sponsored me in the 3 Day Breast Cancer walk!! This gets my total donations up to $1755. WooHoo! Thank you soooo much Chelsea!! (If you've never stopped by Chelsea's blog, you should go over and check out the Candle Wrap that she's just finished. It's bee-yoo-tee-ful!)

I'd like to tell you that the next time I post I'll be in a much better mood and will have more positive stuff to tell you about. However... I'm going to the DMV (or the MVD as it's known in these parts) to take care of my license, title, registration and stuff. Cross your fingers that if I have to wait 8 hours that I get lucky enough to get a chair - indoors (I've heard horror stories) - so I can at least spend the time knitting. The thought of that perk almost makes me look forward to it...

Trying to get settled in

I've survived my first two days at my new job. I gotta tell you, working in a public library really shows you how messed up the world can be. It's a bit depressing, but I feel better when I know that I'm able to help some of the people that come in (well, I'm not really able to do much right now other than track down another reference librarian who actually can help, but I'll eventually be the one helping).

While I've been slaving away at work, my two cats have been lounging around in an air conditioned house with ceiling fans. Rough life, huh? I'm going to be checking out a couple of rentals tomorrow night. I only hope I can find a place that meets their approval.

Other than my new job and the heat, I don't have much to talk about right now. I attempted to knit a swatch for a sweater the other night, but my gauge is way, way off (I've gone down three needle sizes and it's still too big. I think I'm gonna have to try blocking the thing and see if I can get it to shrink or something). Anyhoo, I'll hopefully have something more interesting to tell you about soon, 'cause I'm even boring myself right now. ha,ha!

Ready or not

We made it to Phoenix. It took thirteen and a half hours (that's 13.5!!), but we made it. The cats are still a bit confused, but they seem to be relaxing a little bit today. The vet gave us some X@n@x (for the cats, not me) and although I don't know if helped their anxiety over the ordeal, it sure has given me some amusement. After taking this stuff, they become little drunk kitties. They weave and stumble and are the most loving cats I've ever seen. Even Mom Cat, who's not normally a lovey-dovey kind of cat, comes stumbling into my lap and looks up at me as if to say "I love you man!" (You have to picture this being said by a really drunk guy in a bar, and you'll know what I mean).

Aside from the kitties surviving the move, my laptop and my dad's internet connection are playing nice together, which means I'll be able to check my email and blog while sitting on my bed. Unfortunately, it's freakin' hot (as expected), so I probably won't be sitting like this for long periods of time. But I'll be doing it more so than I have been over the last month, so I expect that you'll be hearing from me more often (and I'll actually get to do some blog reading!).

Now I just have to get myself ready for starting my new job on Tuesday. I've been so preoccupied with the actual move this weekend, that I almost forgot the purpose. I also have to find a place for me and my hubby to rent. So, for those of you living in the Chandler area (or a similar area, preferably close to a freeway that will get me to downtown Phoenix in a reasonable amount of time), let me know if there are any houses available near you. We could be knitting neighbors! :-)