Jan 31

My Shuffle is nothing but the newest Celtic Women album. And I am in no way complaining about it.

What I am complaining about is the stupid site where I am suppose to be getting my out of book readings. The blasted thing keeps freezing up on me. It is much too frustrating.

I am desperately praying for the roads to be clear in the morning. It is a buddy’s birthday and I have been at ends to finish the scarf. It is finally finished. Though my Dad’s present is about 85% done and my StepMom’s is 50% done (I ran out of yarn and have not been able to get to the store to get another hank of it.). Maternal Grandmother’s has not even been started and another buddy of mine has a birthday sometime next week. Why do I get myself started on this stuff? Because I like to do it. I truly like doing it.

Good news, homework is done. Mom got home in time for me to get in bed at a decent hour—a vender was in town and bought her and StepDad’s dinner tonight. The Twins were good until the last half hour when tired caught up with them.

And I have resigned myself to believing I have lost the Christmas gift my StepBrother bought me. I thought I packed it in a box to be shipped, but it is not in there nor in any of the bags I brought back. It must have gotten thrown out with the paper. I hate that, as it was a cool little speaker set for my Shuffle. Nothing is good on the radio, except traffic and weather reports, and I am stuck listening to the same 10 songs. If I had the little speaker set, I could be listing to good music on the way to school and not some idiot rambling about what was on TV last night. I am going to have to go shopping for another one. My luck, no store in driving distance will have ever heard of it.

Jan 28

My Puppy is doing much better; she has been helping me with homework all afternoon. But then, the Cat did as well—if you call sleeping helping. I suppose I should be thankful he does not like sleeping on my papers and books.

All that is left of my homework is a paper and an article. I would like to read the rest of The Spanish Tragedy but the portion I had to read for Tuesday is done. And it took about 5 hours of readings before my head pleaded to stop. So I suppose I am getting use to Graduate School.

I had dinner with Mom, StepDad, Twins, and the Boy Twins’ family. Our church had two sets of twins born less than 5 months apart created in the same test tube facility. Creepy, yes; but no signs of triple 6s on their skulls. And I got to dance with their little brother who is almost 2. He liked to spin around quickly. The only down side was he refused to quit tasting his fingers. One of the Boy Twins was very worried that the Elder Twin (one of my half-sisters) did not want to marry him, “…and she’s 5.” I told him he had 13 years to talk her into the idea but he is still concerned about it. Then he danced with the Younger Twin, so he got over his fear quick enough. My StepDad did not like any of it.

The scarf I have been knitting at church is almost complete; I should be casting off in the next few days. My Blue Cobweb is almost 2/3 of the way complete. Hallelujah. I cannot wait to wear it.

And every advertisement I saw today promised Celtic Women’s new CD on Tuesday. Too bad I am in class when the stores open, but a copy should still be there at lunch.

Jan 27

Puppy is sick (a very upset stomach). Took her to the vet this morning just before they closed, and was very glad they saw us. She has longed around the house all day and has currently desired me in favor of my Maternal Grandparents. My sweet Benedicta.

Homework is half done. Yea! Now for the other half. Monday night’s class will be dropped this week. This week being tomorrow afternoon.

The Twins went to a My Little Pony Live show; I sat that one out though Mom did say it was like a rock show for 4 and 5 year olds. Why am I so glad I missed out?

Turns out my StepMom is highly allergic to wool. Is it lamb wool, Peruvian wool, or Marino wool? Because the sipper socks I made her were in Marino wool. I turned out the same sock in acrylic yarn today, but the question remains. I’ll send her a sample to see how she reacts to it. Until then, and perhaps afterwards, it is acrylic.

Jan 24

What did I do yesterday? Had another wonderful day of academia. So what if one prof post over 60 pages of articles and poetry 20 minutes before class to be read (and write 1 abstract and 1 response paper) for Thursday? I mean, that is 48 hours. Then there was an article for another class to read and respond to. Who needs sleep? I do, so I buckled down yesterday and laid under a pressing stone today. All that is left is half a page and printing.

The people at the yarn store I patron tried to talk me into buying $80 worth of yarn for a sweater. Not. Going. To. Happen. Nice try. I think it was mostly the owner being in the store and noticing I was the only one there not working on that sweater that prompted it to being with. Hey, I follow the rule: use the yarn you buy there and you can knit as long as you want. If they don’t like it they can change the rule. And I will change yarn stores. It is that simple.

In addition to reading an insane about of material, I also dragged Mom to the doctor. That was odd, but she needed to go so I took her. And no, I did not watch while she got 2 shots. But I held her hand until the nurse came in.

And tomorrow is yet another long day on campus. Really long, as my carpool has one more week of late class. No big, I need to read for next week.

Jan 22

I am quite pleased with myself. While getting blood drawn for blood work, I only cried a little and that was towards the end of it. A second nurse had to be called in to find a vein and even she had trouble finding one that worked. Afterwards, I knit for 90 minutes and went to class. For future reference, parking in the lot across the street is wonderful. I did not have to wait for a train before crossing the track nor did I have to wait for traffic to lighten up to cross the street.

As for my Research Methods of Writing class…it was the first class I have ever sat through and knew it is not the class I need to be in. This is coming from someone who took Art History, Rhetoric Theories of Cross-Culture Communication, History and Structure of the English Language, and Golf just for the heck of it. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Only one of them was required. Granted, I have left classes wondering what I was thinking when I signed up for the class and there have been times when I did not know what my name was (out of shear confusion). But I knew I was in the right class. I always knew I was enjoying myself. Not tonight. I plan on talking to the prof on Thursday during his office hours.

Thus far in my University career, I have never dropped out of a class. (Not even French.) In truth, the only class I have ever dropped out of was AP English and that was because I did not think I could sat through another year with that teacher. I picked up Honors English and learned a great deal about writing, literature, and dealing with picky expectations. And yes, I loved every second of it.

Jan 20

For future information—Aristotle is much easier to read than Freud. I have read both since Friday and the former was more enjoyable.

Yesterday was not so bad, minus the Freud. I was an aid for the afternoon for a class of special needs; the local school system has a teacher and two aids for each of those classes. Is this a federal or state law? I am unsure.

Today’s good point thus far is Aristotle, the weather has changed and my head is feeling trice over. It is sad that I enjoy reading a dead Greek guy’s thoughts about drama even with a migraine. But I have two new books! The Maternal Grandparents went out to lunch and his favorite bookstore is moving. They picked up two anthologies: one is English Drama from 1580-1642 and the other is 17^th and 18^th century. How cool is that? And I actually know why the former book's dates are important; the year the first stationary stage was constructed and when the state closed the theater for good as opposed to temporary for plagues.

Jan 18

Yet another wonderful day of classes. So my brain was fried after 90 minutes of intense reading before going into 3 hours worth of lecture/discussion. I needed knitting therapy. Within 15 minutes of mindless knitting, I felt like a new person. Somehow, I am going to convert my profs and knit in class. At the least, I shall have to start knitting between them. Despite the taxing of brain, I absolutely adored the classes. I cannot wait for Monday night.

The whole carpool thing is going to be fun, now that my buddy only has class on Tuesday night. We agreed to spend an hour or so on campus after her last class to study from next week on.

Oh, I broke down and bought a night parking pass. Now, after 1630 I can park in the lot across the street from my building. This is much better than over the railroad tracks and across a street from the same building. I justify the $25 dollars to assuage the fears of the Maternal Grandmother and Mom; I am reasonably sure the Paternal Grandmother worried over it as well but she is less vocal about it. Besides, I got my excess aid check yesterday. Yes, I have to pay it back but it solves today’s crises.

I am sub-ing again tomorrow. I plan to get there early to read some of my assignments for Tuesday’s classes. Every moment must be utilized to the fullest. Benny Franklin would be proud.

Jan 17

First day of class—wonderful.

Being the Art sub of 4^th & 5^th today—not so much.

Starting from the top:

Medieval Lit is going to be most excellent. What are we going to talk about? The portrayal of bodies. I know, but the prof is really enthusiastic and other stuff will be involved. Abstracts due weekly.

Renaissance Drama, here I actually know sorta what is going on. We are reading Mystery Plays for a little background before getting into Shakespeare before reading other stuff. Once more there are discussion questions and small weekly papers with a short paper (5-7 pages) and a long paper (approximately 11 pages).

History of Critical Theory the title makes me queasy but the class material makes me giddy. It helps I know two thirds of the class. We meet once a week, and yep, you guessed it, we have a 2 page paper due every time.

My head was swimming by the time I got home, but it was one of those moments when you realize that there is no where else you want to be.

Substitute teaching for an intermediate school was not a day in class as a grad student. One class kept ratting on each other, even about what a girl said about me. Like I care if a 10 year old thinks I am fat—though it was the first time anyone has ever told me this. Ah.

The Maternal Grandfather let me bind an article for Medieval Lit, so I look and feel like a legitimate student. Last semester my Af/Am Lit class loved him for knowing most of the materials and the history bits I passed on from him. This semester, my goal is for my buddies to want to adopt him.

Jan 15

Classes start tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow.

I am just a little excited, in case no one noticed. My backpack is packed. My assignment is printed, as are everything my profs have sent via email. My Shuffle has been loaded and charged (Celtic Women and Helmut Lotti’s Classics are appropriate for the occasion). And I have a book list of texts I need to buy in the morning. Now all I need is lunch money.

Have I mentioned that classes start tomorrow?

Jan 14

And the wedding is completely over with. Friday morning, I was ready and willing to drag the bride down the aisle and an hour before the ceremony on Saturday everyone else was in agreement. She wasn’t the problem and everyone there working was great, it was just a long process. Some people from out of town stayed to help take down but they slipped out after the auditorium was finished; leaving the people that had been there since Thursday and had set up, to take everything down in the gym. There was the normal chaos of ‘who does this belong to?’ but that was not as bad as I thought it would be.

There has been very little time to knit in the past week but I did manage to finish Dad’s birthday present and the StepMom’s is half done.

I cannot wait for classes to start on Tuesday; in fact there is already a reading assignment for Tuesday night’s class.

Jan 9

Plans have changed; big surprise. I am leaving a day early to help set-up for a childhood friend’s wedding. Which means, tomorrow is going to be fully booked with errands before leaving in the afternoon.

I discovered that two skeins of my Gray Whatever do not match. There is a slight change in hue, had I kept the yarn information this would have been prevented. As it is, I hope to finish soon—else I’ll frog the entire thing. It has not been packed for the trip. But my new clear yarn bag is fully stuffed. I am taking it instead of my house yarn bag since it has zippers and a strap. Practical as always.

Really, other than that things were slow today. The true highlight was my Norton Anthology of Theory which came in the mail today. Well, at least it was exciting for me. The bookshelf for my semester textbooks is slowly filling up and that makes me happy.

Jan 8

Always wear good walking shoes when going to a University for anything requiring human contact. There were two unforeseen emergencies when I went to ask for someone to translate my Spring Invoice. Not only had my Fall loans not gone through but somehow I lost my ‘instate tuition’ status. Everything is cool now; not only did I walk over 40,000 steps today but the Gray Whatever gained 3 inches. All the problems prevented me from going to lunch with The Crew at Chucky Cheese’s. Dang.

Jan 7

The StepPaternal Grandmother and I saw Night at the Museum this afternoon, it was light but cute. We both agreed it was vastly different from last week’s movie. Sadly there is nothing either out or coming out that we want to see anytime soon.

I started trying to teach the Maternal Grandmother how to knit last night when the Younger Twin was throwing a tantrum over a movie. Her VHS copy of Sleeping Beauty is horrible but she did not want to see the DVD copy I had. She cried; we left the room. While I was struggling to teach a cable cast-on, we heard her laughing. Drama queen. She went home and the Older Twin spent the night.

Everyone keeps asking me what I’m knitting at church and I honestly do not know at this point. The goal is to use a skein or two of some Lion Brand Homespun yarn in my stash. What it is, I am not sure. It will probably end up becoming a wrap for the charity ball if it is long enough by then, if not it goes in a box to use as gifts throughout the year. Either way, it has become the project I keep in the car for stoplights and church.

Jan 6

Yea, the birthday party is over. The Twins received many books and only a few toys. Everyone seemed to like the Library Party, especially making their own books. And we only got loud once, which really was not all that horrible. Sadly, the kids do not have much experience with musical chairs. The good part was the attempt was hilarious, from the one kid who never left his chair to the kids who rejoined the game after being eliminated. Like anyone cared.

My throat is doing much better, but I am still tired. Though that could be from the party, shopping for hair bows, and sitting beside the Younger Twin during lunch.

The Preacher’s Daughter is getting married this spring with a budget of only $1,000. With such a small amount, much of the food will be done by family and the ladies at church. Mom volunteered me to take informal pictured during the reception, which I would have probably done in the next few days anyways.

How is it that my blue cobweb shawl has been put aside? Oh, yeah; family birthdays next month. Thankfully, I started and finished a hat yesterday for the charity ball at the end of the month. Now, do I want to make mittens to go with them? Hmmm. Creative Knitting had a knitting knowledge quiz in their recent e-newsletter. I only missed 2 of the 12 questions. Now I feel like the knitting dork that I am.

My Shuffle now has Helmut Lotti’s Red Album and Celtic Women’s first CD. StepSister number 2 does not understand how I can listen to music if I do not understand what they are saying. Some things need no translating.

Jan 4

Yesterday’s shopping trip with the Maternal Grandmother was fun; we both found what we were looking for. Cleaning out the utility room after going shopping was not fun. However, she claims the room looks better and that is all that matters in the end.

I spent the day with Mom. The goal was to get a new cell phone number and see the family medical person(s). I have serious issues about needles, and it helps if someone is there to restrain me, so I usually only see a medical person when it is possible for another family member to come with me. Turns out, I have strep throat. They gave me a shot (no surprise there) and sent me home.

But why is it, that after knitting nearly consistently all day the project has only grown maybe one inch? This happens even when I am not sick, but bothers me more when I am. And somehow I have been volunteered to knit something for a charity ball at the end of the month. For about a week, the only project I thought I needed to knit were for the three family birthdays in February—three pairs of felted house shoes. I am well over half finished with Dad’s and was happy that they knit up so fast. I thought that getting so far ahead of the deadlines was a good omen for the new year. Getting finished with February birthday gifts in January meant that Christmas would be done by September. But if it was not the charity ball it would be something else, and they do not care if I just throw a pair of mittens together instead of a sweater.

Jan 1

Christmas is over.

I’m back from DC.

The wedding was beautiful.

I am ready for life to go back to normal.

Sure, seeing the Portrait Gallery with Dad was cool; but I missed sleeping in my own bed. The one I had in DC did not come with a Puppy. I really missed her this time.

After I slept and went to my knitting place, I found out that my buddy’s wedding had some interesting developments. Such as the kitchen coordinator had to step down to have surgery leaving Mom not only the wedding coordinator but also taking over the kitchen. The ceremony lasted half an hour, the reception lasted 2 hours. Wow, no wonder I took close to 300 pictures for the mother of the bride. We did not run out of food, but the end of the barrel was in sight. I am still getting over that event, and I am still behind on my correspondences. That is tomorrow’s problem, since the rest of today has been booked. First a family portrait then I am taking the StepPaternal Grandmother to see that Mayan movie.