Still Recuperating...and a Meme

While I promised more regular posting, I'm starting off with a shaky start. The day after I got home, we drove to Seattle to meet up with my parents and brother for a family weekend. It was a good weekend and the weather was amazing. We took a 3 mile walk around Lake Washington Saturday morning, did some shopping (2 yarn stores included!), and ate some amazing food. Saturday night we went to an Italian restaurant (Serafino) and I seriously would have been happy just with the fresh bread and the garlic olive oil for dipping. Probably the best olive oil I've ever tasted. And then I ordered lavender lemonade (too tired for alcohol) which was delicious! I have quite a bit of lavender growing here, I just never seem to harvest it in time for cooking purposes. I'll have to make sure of doing that this year!

Otherwise, the return to feeling human has been slow along with the desire to return to knitting or anything creative. I picked up a WIP last night and realized that knitting during stressful periods is pretty similar to knitting under the influence. I have quite a bit to rip out since it appears I didn't count my increases right and ended up going down a size for the bust. This makes me even less excited about knitting at the moment. So hoping to get motivated, I thought I'd do a WIP review as a post for tomorrow or Friday. Put it all out there!

In the meantime, Kim tagged me for a meme and though I still have another that I haven't done, this was easier so it gets done first.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
It's a bit startling to think that 10 years ago I was pretty much in the exact same place, just a different degree. I was about 10 months into my Master's at the University of Idaho (just across the border from WSU), had just finished a semester of classes, and had just moved full time back to La Grande.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
1. Start entering 3 years of data that I've neglected cuz it's not my PhD research. I was in a meeting this morning and was 'kindly reminded' that they are waiting on it!
2. Make a new To do list for finishing up May and on through June. I need direction! (is it wrong to put making a to do list on a to do list?)
3. Cook dinner (pasta with homemade basil pesto from last year's crop!)
4. Exercise
5. Go through my WIP's and decide the fate...with a post to follow.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
cheese and crackers, chips and salsa, roasted almonds, a bag of fresh cherries or grapes...

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I see this meme around on other blogs and the answers to this question are interesting to me. No way would I stop working...I love what I do too much. But what I don't love is relying on soft money and not knowing if I have money for my job, let alone my research, from year to year. So with that kind of money, that job security worry would be gone and I could fund my 'dream' research. I'd also use some of it for traveling (for example, to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas before it's too late), for making sure my family and friends are financially stable, and I'd start a research foundation that offered grants for wildlife/environmental research. Finally, I'd buy the land/facilities that would ensure the safe-keeping of 'the girls' for the rest of their lives.

5) All the places I have lived:
Bunker Hill, WV
Lexington, KY
Louisville, KY
Front Royal, VA
Moscow, ID
Pullman, WA
La Grande, OR
and seriously, the amount of time I have spent there, I'd have to include:
the back of my truck.

6) Peeps I want to know more about: anyone who wants to participate

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Now playing: 'Skinny Love' by Bon Iver (via Mel who so graciously sent me an AMAZING mix of songs last week!)

Home Sweet Home

So, I made it. A 161 hour push in 9.5 days (yes, I counted) and the lab work is done (not entered and ready for analysis mind you, just physically done). I feel it. I ache and the muscles in my back and shoulders are knotted to the point of being visibly inflamed. But I'm home so all is good!

I wanted to thank everybody for their support while I've gone through this stage. The supportive comments and emails and gifts from both my family and friends (blog pals and others) were so much appreciated and indeed, made life so much more bearable.

I had my ups and downs, disappointments along the way, but as I was driving back last night, instead of focusing on the negatives, I started to think about the positives. I made a few new friends...mostly other graduate students in wildlife and they were a great support group. We could sit around and vent to each other about the trials and tribulations of our work and it helped ease the pressure and the stress by letting it all out. I hope that those friendships continue because they meant a lot to me.

And one of the biggest positives was what I learned. I'm not old by any means...but it's been almost a decade since I've been in classroom setting. And during 90% of that time away, I was living in the woods doing research. While that is stimulating all in itself, I had moved completely out of a world where I was keeping up with the latest research in journal articles, going to conferences, learning new techniques etc. I can admit that I felt a little bit of fear about getting back into that setting...and whether or not I could 'learn new tricks'. My project is a large, complicated one and from the beginning, I knew I had a very steep learning curve in front of me if it were to be successful. No problem on the field work and data collection...it's what comes after that! I've always had doubts on whether I could learn that amount of information in time. And while I love my job and my research, having all these doubts about my abilities put a damper on my excitement for this research.

In fact, these 9 months went a long way to putting my fears to rest. I'm still amazed at what I learned, and I'm so much more confident that I'll be able to handle what's left to come. It was tough, and I put many aspects of my life that I so enjoy on hold to do it, but it was worth it I think. I can honestly say that I really made the most of my resources up there and that overwhelming feeling that always sits on me, night and day, has been slightly less heavy lately. I still have too much to do in too little time so that feeling will never go away, but I have some confidence back and with it, a renewed excitement for my research and the amazing work I get to do.

So remember the list? How'd I do?
The first column was for classes and so it's a given I had to finish those up! The second column was my PhD related items and I did really well getting most of that done. The third and fourth columns were things to do for research I'm involved in, but are not 'my' projects. It was wishful thinking to put those on the list and I didn't get to most of it. Those columns will be my focus for the next few weeks before I make up a new list and get back to my own research. Folks have been patiently waiting for me to do that work!

Now that I've lost most of you to boredom, I'm going to end, start unpacking and re-organizing my highly disorganized office and space, and clean up the house a little. Imagine leaving YOUR husband alone in the house for 9 months. Yeah, some cleaning is in order. He actually did pretty good after we had a discussion about covering things in the microwave, but there is a very distinct odor about the house now and I have to figure out where it's coming from.

I'll be back to blogging more regularly now, I'll respond to some comments that I've gotten lately but haven't had a chance to email back, and I will catch up on the past 2 weeks of your posts that I've missed! Looking forward to being back!

Sometimes it's a good thing...

When things don't go as planned...

I took my last final of my graduate career on Friday afternoon. Notice I don't say test because the dreaded pre-lims will be coming up this fall...the mother of all tests. But finals are over and for me, school is over except for a one credit seminar I'll take from afar next spring semester.

But I still had about 10 days of lab work left to do, so my intention was just to push through, not take a break, and get it done as quickly as possible so I could move home as quickly as possible. Trouble was, I've been pushing myself lately to a point where my body was physically telling me that enough was enough, I needed a break. I was choosing to ignore the signs because I just wanted to get done and get out of here. But on Friday, the machine I've been using for my lab work final gave out and a new motor had to be ordered. Being Friday, there was no way that we could get the part before Monday so I made the decision to go home for the weekend. I felt guilty about using the gas, but in the end, I think it was the best thing I could have done. I worked in the yard and in the garden, went to see 'the girls', unpacked most of my stuff, knitted a few hours (the first time I've picked it up in 3 weeks!), and let my body recuperate a little bit before coming back and making the final push. And my brain and my body feel much better for it.

So nothing to show you in terms of knitting or anything else...I'm itching to get back to the needles, to pick up a pencil for a drawing, to start a new gourd, but it will have to wait just a little longer while I get the rest of this finished up. So instead, I'll leave you with a picture I took over the weekend...in my opinion, one of the coolest birds...the great grey owl. There are a few that live up where we keep the elk...2 or 3 times a year, I get the privilege of getting visuals on them. This time, I got a photo...crappy though it may be!Have a good week everybody!

Now playing: I Hear The Bells by Mike Doughty

Earth Day

My ceiling the sky, my carpet the grass,
My music the lowing of herds as they pass;
My books are the brooks, my sermons the stones,
My parson's a wolf on a pulpit of bones.

--Allen McCanless

Back to My Old Ways

...of dropping from sight for weeks at a time. It's been a bit busy and I have been having a hard time staying afloat. The next 4 weeks are going to be the same so it's doubtful I'll be posting much in that time. I have 2 more weeks of classes, finals week, and then I'll need to stay an extra 7-10 days to finish up that labwork I talked about earlier. Then moving home!!

But I did get a much needed day and a half at home this weekend. It was the first time I've been able to get home in a month and my sanity needed restored. We finally had beautiful weather and I spent the time working outside in the garden, cooking, going up and visiting 'the girls', and just enjoying some down time. I also finally did a little bit of knitting to finish up my socks that were on the needles. For a couple weeks now, I've only had about 16 rows left on one sock to finish it up but I haven't had the time for even that if you can believe it. So I went outside on Saturday, sat in the warm sun, and finished the thing up.

Pattern: River Rapids (pdf) from Sockbug

Yarn: Lorna Laces Shepherd Sport Multi--color-way Tahoe. Used about 1.5 skeins doing 3 pattern repeats on the leg, and 3.5 pattern repeats on the foot.

Needles: Knitpicks Nickle Plated dpns, size 2. This was the first thing I've knit with these needles. I liked them a lot...the weight and the smoothness. I'm not sure which I prefer, these or bamboo, but these worked great with this yarn and pattern.

Modifications: None

Verdict: These are my second pair of socks and I'm very pleased with how they came out and how the pattern looks. I took the advice you guys gave for avoiding the hole at the heel and this time had a clean join. I also ended up with a nice neat toe and am more comfortable with the Kitchener stitch. Although it seems a little bit like magic to me. Going in and out of stitches, yarn sort of going every which way, yet when you pull the yarn through those last few stitches, it's amazing the result. I'm a little bit in awe of that technique if you can't tell!

Have a good week everybody.
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Now playing: Gillian by The Waifs

Mamma Mia!

Some of the work pressure that has been on us the last couple weeks has finally lifted, albeit briefly. And so when we saw that one of our favorite plays was touring and coming through Spokane, we decided to take a much needed break and jumped on the chance to get tickets. Mamma Mia is hilarious and if you like Abba music at all, I'd highly recommend trying to catch this show. Me, I grew up listening to Abba and I love the music. It just makes me smile to hear it. So when I heard that a musical play was based solely on Abba, I knew it would be a favorite. We first saw it in D.C. about 4 or 5 years ago when we went 'home' to WV for Christmas and neither one of us could wait to have the chance to see it again.

But. The best laid plans. Our life doesn't quite work that way. These late March snowstorms hitting the northwest that you may be reading about in other blogs dumped enough snow that the drive for husband to get to Spokane from NE Oregon would have been pretty bad. So he made the decision not to make the drive and I ended up taking my roommate up with me instead. Same great show and I'm so glad I got to see it again--I just really needed to laugh like that. As anyone reading this for awhile knows, it's been a hard 7 or so months lately and laughter seems to be non-existent from my life. It felt so good just to laugh, relax, and forget about the pressures for a few hours. But I really wish J could have been there. He appreciates the music and that kind of entertainment more than my roommate...and he needed that break, that laughter, as much as I did. So this morning I started searching for some other events I know he'd like...trying to find something coming through Boise, or Portland, or Spokane at a time we could go. I've got some possibilities so wish me luck I can make something work out!

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Now playing: Super Trouper by Abba

Overcoming obstacles.

I have an FO...one that's been done for a couple weeks but I couldn't post about it until the recipient got it (btw--yes, these are still too big for me...'V' has bigger feet).

There is a story behind these clogs and one I decided to share on the blog. Interestingly enough, about the time I thought about sharing this, Mel posted this and it really struck a chord with me. This is my story...

I officially started to knit about 4.5 years ago. I've always liked doing things with my hands but I'll admit that the main reason I decided to do it was to have something to keep me occupied during my elk capture season. When we catch elk, we spend not only long hours in the car driving from site to site, but we also stay in hotel rooms night after night. I felt like I was wasting time...like I could be doing something productive instead of zoning out in the car or zoning out in front of a television. And I was physically too tired to read or do any other form of art at the end of those days. So I asked my mom to teach me. I admit it was a slow start. She taught me a few things but I didn't have any pattern so I forgot about it for another couple years until I befriended a couple folks in town who wanted to learn as well. We went to the local quilt/yarn store and I relearned to knit about 2 years ago. I did the requisite easy hat (two of them) and I did two scarves in that first year or so after these classes and that's about it. This was pre-blogging, pre-Ravelry and I think I was just uninspired by the few patterns that could be found in the local store and really didn't know what existed out there.

And then along came the felted clog pattern. I loved it, and at the time, loved the idea that my stitches would be forever hidden by the felting process. I wasn't yet 'mature' enough to understand the stitches are what makes the knitting--I was in the 'constantly screwing up' stage. I was so excited by this pattern that I got yarn enough to knit 3 pairs of them. And I sat down to start. I couldn't do it. Maybe it was my confidence, maybe I just tried something a bit harder than I was capable of. But 4 or 5 starts and I gave up on them and I gave up on knitting.

Months later a good friend got pregnant and I knew I wanted to knit something for her so I started looking at patterns again, gave up my fear, and jumped back in. And it seems like that was the turning point. I didn't have any help (still pre-blogging) and I pushed through 'what the heck is a frickin' YO' and all the other problems. And I got some confidence.

But I never went back to those clogs. I had this strange fear of them...ridiculous given some of the other things I knit in that space, but they call it irrational fear for a reason. This year, with the help of Ravelry, I decided to make up a Knitting goals list for 2008 and I decided that I would put those damn things on the list to be knit as a gift for one of my best friends. And so I started them one night. About 7 hours of knitting later, I had two complete clogs...so very easy, so very quick. Nothing to be afraid of.

Thinking of my own story, and reading Mel's post made me think about why I knit. One of the main reasons to this day that I love to knit is that it relieves stress. And given my day to day stress, I almost crave that feeling. When I go through stages of insomnia from stress, if I make myself knit half an hour each night, I can sleep. It's totally amazing to me. But the other reason I knit is I have reached the stage of loving the process...finding the patterns, searching for yarn, learning new techniques, challenging myself. While I feel that 2007 was the year that I actually embraced this craft, I feel like 2008 will be the year I become a knitter.

So to the knitters out there reading, I'm curious: At what point did you call yourself a knitter?
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Now playing: The Wind by Cat Stevens

Brace Yourself, Actual Knitting Progress...

Remember my fit of startitis from a few weeks ago? Well, I am happy to say that I have actually progressed on a few of those items (and one is completely done but I still have to wait to post about it). Much of the progress shown on these two things was done on the drive to Wyoming, but I'll admit that I experienced 2 nights this week when no matter how much I had to do, I simply couldn't handle the office and homework and deadlines anymore. I often WANT to take breaks from it all, but when it switches from WANT to NEED to take breaks for my own personal sanity I have learned to listen. This week was one of those weeks. I've had a lot of pressure on me lately with work stuff that I won't bore you with, and I had a feeling that I was going to crack if I didn't get some time away from it. Interestingly enough, stress seems to make me knit faster.

For those folks who don't have access to Ravelry, I figured I'd post a little more information about these projects this time around. The sock is the River Rapids (pdf link) pattern from Sock Bug and I'm really enjoying this knit for my second pair of socks. I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable with this whole sock thing and I'm feeling the addiction creeping in as you all knew it would. I am pleased to say that with this sock, I felt like I grew quite a bit in my skills. The lace pattern wasn't hard and after knitting a couple lace shawls and scarves, I wasn't worried about it. But I was still worried about the heel and toe. This heel looks so much better than the heel I did on my own for the last pair. NO HOLES thanks to all the great knitters who offered me suggestions. I picked up an extra stitch and that seemed to work great. I also ended up with a 'perfect' toe and I was so excited to see the result of a Kitchener stitch when it was done right (we won't discuss what I did last time!). Very nice. And the best part...it fits! I haven't cast on the second sock but I'm sure it will happen soon. And hopefully I'll have a pair of socks to model relatively soon (though don't hold your breath...in my world, that means weeks, not days, if you haven't figured that out!).

The second item is flying by and I wish I just had a few hours to sit and knit on this because it would be done. I am loving the pattern, the yarn, the color. It's the Back-to School vest from Fitted Knits and I'm doing it in Cascade 220 color way cordovan. While I'm typically not a big vest fan, this one I really like...the design, the style...the fit. Since my progress on Marc has stalled due to lack of interest (I will finish it), I wanted to complete one garment before moving to my big garment goal of the year--Rogue. I figured this would be quick, easy and painless, and so far it has. Look for these finished shots 'soon' too.

Okay--I guess it's time to get back to work. Hope everybody has a good weekend!
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Now playing: Greenback Dollar by Kingston Trio

Wide Open, WINDY Wyoming...

First things first, thanks to all who played along with my silly game. Guess I owe some answers! I will say that I watch a lot of movies and have so many that I love from so many different genres that it was hard to narrow the list to 10. So I just picked the 10 that came to mind first...

1. The Fisher King -- A movie that it seems very few people have seen but one I love and watch over and over again. R0bin Williams and Jeff Bridg&s.
2. Juno -- one of the latest ones I've seen and just really appreciated the humor (Mel was the first to guess this one as I knew she would!).
3. Silence of the Lambs -- what to say about it? Anth0ny H0pkins in this role is genius.
4. The Brave One -- Another recent favorite. I just thought it was a powerful movie. And that quote in particular struck a chord with me. San got this one.
5. The Big Lebowski -- I am a HUGE fan of the C0en brothers and their dark humor. It was hard to limit to just one but TBL pulls ahead of Fargo by a hair I think. And this line cracks me up every time I hear it...'The Dude's' head is being shoved in the toilet as he says this line. Adrienne got this one.
6. The Wonder Boys -- Another favorite for it's humor. Not a huge fan of M. D0uglas normally but he really plays a pink bathrobe wearing, p*t smoking, writer's block author pretty well. Throw in R. D0wney Jr and Fr@ncis McDerm0tt and it's a kick. San got this one...she had better of!
7. Amelie -- LOVE it. Lots of folks got this one but Jennifer (#1)was the first.
8. Leon-The Professional -- I have this weird obsession with Gary Oldm@n...I think it stems from him in a top hat and sunglasses in Dracula. Anyway--violent movie yes, but powerful and strangely enough, very sweet...a young girl who falls for a hit man. My only suggestion if you haven't seen it is to find the original, NOT the Americanized version. Jennifer (#2) got this one.
9. High Fidelity -- John Cusack. Need I say more. Again, lots of folks got it (Phoe was the first).
10. Shawshank Redemption -- Beautiful movie.

Otherwise, the capture went well...Just too much driving. It was 800 miles to get to Cody so last week between going there and going to and from school, I was in a vehicle for about 2100 miles. UGH (and it ended great when I had a blow-out on the way back to school today...luckily after driving on logging roads for 8 plus years for fieldwork and changing more tires than I can count, I didn't need any help...cuz being on a road 20 miles from a town, no cell reception, and not a single person stopped to offer help. Gotta love it). I did get some knitting done on the drive to Wyoming but not as much as I had planned. And unfortunately, the next 10 days are going to be hell and I probably won't get to do much more knitting for awhile. I'll try to post progress pictures this week sometime of what I have accomplished...little though that may be.

In the meantime, I leave you with some pics of where I worked which was really beautiful if not really windy! We had to shut down the first day cuz gusts were hitting 40 mph. The feeling one gets flying in a helicopter with those kinds of winds is very similar to a roller coaster. When flying along well above ground level, that's fine, but it's the landing and such that is problematic...once you get close to things that you can hit if the wind hits strong enough and just right. But we got the work done fairly quickly and I did get a little bit of time to relax at home. Judging at how my body seemed to just crash suggested that I desperately needed that time. And now it's back to the grind!

A few landscape pictures...just past these hills is Yellowstone Nat'l Park...and the valley we worked in was Sunlight Basin.

Just some of the elk herd where we were working...have to look close!

I love these next two shots...after we reverse the cow, they get up and haul away from us. Can't really blame them. But in wide, open Wyoming, they don't have much to hide behind. This girl got up and took off and I guess decided she needed to hide. The rock was her only choice. I love her ears peeking out from behind that rock!

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Now playing: Good Day, There it Goes by Judith Edelman

Quick info on a contest worth entering...

Just a quick post before I head out. The mother/daughter duo over at Enchanted Yarn and Fiber are requesting opinions on what folks like in a yarn shop...as they are in the middle of a construction effort to open one! As an incentive to get feedback, they are hosting a contest. The prizes they are offering are amazing so that's one reason to head over there and answer some simple questions. But a better reason is just to give them as much input/helpful advice as possible as they start this adventure. I've been reading knit blogs for a little over a year now and have seen that everyone has a different idea of what constitutes a good local yarn store. Head over and give them some of these ideas will you? I think they are accepting comments until March 18th.

When I get back, I'll post the list of movies those quotes correspond to. So far, we have the correct guesses of:

#2 Juno
#4 The Brave One
#6 Wonder Boys
#7 Amelie
#9 High Fidelity

I feel like offering a hint on #5 since it's such an ambiguous quote (though one of my favorite lines of the whole movie). Think toilet. ;)
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Now playing: Broken Bottle by Laura Gibson