Nerd Wars

I've talked about NerdWars before.  It's a 3 month long knitting/crochet/weaving/spinning game/contest.  It's actually helped me come closer to my knitting goals, because when the end of the month looms, I pic up my project to finish.  It has been great helping me finish projects - both because of the end of month deadlines, and because so far, every round three has had a finish a WIP challenge.  Since every month includes a "giving geeks" category- it has given me new places to donate my craft.  ( I should say I love to knit, but socks, fingerless gloves, some shawls and bags are all I keep for me.   I don't really wear hats or gloves or sweaters,, and I have enough throws to last my life - so most of my knitting gets given away) Plus, I have made a bunch of friends in the group. Second only to my NASCAR knitting friends.

Some people get confused when I tell them about NerdWars.  They think for instance if you are on the Star Wars team - all you can make is lightsabres and deathstars and yoda hats.  Or if you are on the Harry Potter team - all you can make are owls and brooms and golden snitches.  That isn't really how it works.  There are 6 challenges every month.  You can do one, you can do all - While there is a badge  for "melting the cube"  doing all 6 projects it isn't necessary or expected. There is also a badge for insane over achievers like your's truly for doing all 18 -

But really the challenges are sometimes simple sometimes not.  There was a square challenge under giving geeks.  I put together a lapghan - not in time for the original charity I had in mind- so I donated it for Christmas for a local nursing home to give to a resident who didn't have gifts or visitors.  Some people just made squares and donated them to warm up america or other put squares together charities.  One person made rectangle kitty toys for a local shelter.  Another challenge was for the number pi.  Some people knit/crocheted pies, one person spun a yarn of beige, red & white - the crust filling and whipped cream of a cherry pie.  I made a tea cozy with stripes of 3,1,4,1,5 (pi in stripes) and fastened it with a pie shaped button.

You get extra points if you tie it into your team, but that's like extra credit when you were in school.  For example - the lapghan was the colors of the stripes on Ernie's shirt from Sesame St.  I made the tea cozy when I was on Team Bazinga for the Big Bang Theory - and Sheldon has been trained by his mom to offer tea or a hot beverage to people.  Really they are quite liberal with what they allow as  a team tie in.  Multi colored stripes were tied to the rainbow Connection from the original Muppet Movie.  Fingerless mitts were perfect for Scooter - the backstage manager to wear at the Muppet Theatre.

There is also a dissertation.  This is a larger project which is going to take the better part of three months.  Again this is optional.  Some people do a dissertation but none of the monthly challenges, some do a few challenges and the dissertation. Some (yeah there goes my type A personality) do both.  I like doing a dissertation because it gives me added incentive to avoid the startitis I can sometimes get and actually finish a larger project.  For example, I don't think I would have finished my Hey! Teach sweater in three months other wise.  And believe it or not - the wedding dates of my sister and brother wouldn't have been enough for me to finish the wedding shawls - they would have gotten them by their anniversaries ( the 8th is shawls right? LOL)  And like other things - we so love out badges - and there is a silver participation badge for getting over 50% and a gold one for finishing.

Last tournament I volunteered to be the manager of a team.  I'm pretty good with behind the scenes stuff -  even at work I make the most awesome of support staff.  I had told the captain that the end of November beginning of December would be kind of tough because of said weddings - but other than that I was there with her.  Unfortunately real life and internet issues kind of took her out for the second half of the tournament.  I didn't realize how long she would be gone - and how much a void that created until I think it was a bit to late. Some of the team splintered off to form a disney team - and some seemed to wander away entirely.  Those of you that know me well - know this sort of thing causes me to go into an analytical, fix it, better plans for next time mode of thinking.  I stalked the more successful teams to see what they were doing.  And I have a plan.  ANd I inherited the captaincy, and I have a awesome co-captain to help keep the tram chatting and happy, and there.  But for this I need a team.  As of Monday, our team still needed a nudge to get enough players to field a team. Not an all out panic recruitment, but a nudge.  This is my real issue.  I suck at recruiting.  I hate recruiting.  (almost as bad as I suck at & hate fundraising) That's what our old captain was great at - recruiting.  I am trying, but I hate and suck at every minute of it.  We have a great team concept.  Jim Henson.  There is so much to tie into -

I really hope we can field a team.

Two Thousand and Mine!

Ok, not that kind of mine! Here it is the middle of January already and I have never explained my two thousand and mine theme. It was inspired by my friend Grace who was calling January - Meuary. ( By the way grace if you are reading this - let me know how that is coming) She was going to work on knit projects for her to actually use, and projects that she wanted to make, not just because she should or someone asked for something. The problem with that is shwe can knock out a killer shawl ( designing a killer shawl I should say) and have a sweater done in a couple of days. Me, not so fast. And not just because I chase my daughter around and work 45 hours a week. I'm just a slow knitter, with some form of ADD that bounces me between way to many projects to finish anything quickly. So Meuary won't work. I do have to go back to the joy/zen of knitting though. In the fall (2008) I found myself with way to many ongoing projects with deadlines. And knitting became work - guilt crept in - I should be working on x right now.

So, after a lot of thought ( if you guys haven't figured it out by now I do way, way , way too much thinking) I came up with Two Thousand and Mine. It ties in closely with my " BE THE BEAR" theme. Be the Bear is a lot harder than it seems. I come home some days and tell my husband that I lost the bear by 430 am. Other days are a "Fozzie" day! Back to 2000mine. I want to enjoy this year. It is the last full calander year before Angie goes to college, and I want to enjoy her. Too many things have become "work" and "must do's" and "shoulds".

Starting with knitting. I am going to knit things for me. I have a bunch of sock yarn just waiting to become socks. I love having handmade socks on my feet. I made a stole for me. I made 2 felted bags. I am currently making nightinggale gloves for me. I am working on an off-season afghan for VJGC. but not exclusively. it should be done in time, but if it isn't it's not going to be the end of the world. I am going to make more for the regular season, but only one at a time and not to the point of only being able to work on them. I am not going to knit with yarn that I don't like or that annoys me. ( no more boucle) And if I don't like the pattern, I am going to frog without remorse. I am not saying I won't be knitting for anyone else. (I don't actually wear a lot of knits) But only if I love the yarn, love the pattern and knitting it makes me happy.

I have also decided that I need to do things, for me, because I want to. I am not currently sure what those things are or if curt and angie can tag along. The only thing I do for just me right now is my Mara's knitting group. I have a lot of fun eating, having coffee, laughing, talking ( sometimes even actually knitting) The only other thing that is "just me" is my nail appt. every other thursday. (although angie tags along when she's not in school) I rarely if ever wear makeup, jewelry is really a hazard at work, I wear mostly jeans , t shirts or turtlenecks with sneakers boots or crocs, don't always have a purse with me and that's all good. Without my nails looking good I don't feel like a girl. I can't even flirt properly if one gets broken. (fortunately - knock on wood - in 18 3/4 years I've only broken 2 nails at work, both when someone else dropped something)

That's all I have for now, I will update randomly when the mood strikes ME!

Be the Bear!

So it was an 11 hour day for me. Mixed surprise, I got a carpet delivery. Apparantly we not only cancelled the 2 friday's appointments, but because the appt is really at 3 and Dan was leaving at 3:30, and their was no night crew, they cancelled last Wed too. I still am not sure why this stuff wasn't delivered last Monday, but I was really happy to see C when he showed up. Really didn't have the time to unlad him, but hey a girl's gotta have fun right?? So yes, i unloaded the truck and that added 45 min to my day.

I went in and tried to have a good day. I've decided to make Fozzie Bear my inspiration. When things go wrong he bitches at kermit a while and then lets go. Regardless of the absolute chaos going on around him, he goes out and does his thing. He always has a big smile on. He knows Waldorf and Statler are going to be negative whether his act is good or bad, but doesn't let it bother him, just goes out and does his best.

So I have been wearing glasses for less than a year. It took me a while just to get used to them at all - when I first got them they gave me a weird vertigo/seasickness. Currently they still bother me, in that if I'm wearing them, I can't see anything closer than 6-8 feet. So if I wear them driving, I can't read the dashboard. And at work I go from looking up, to looking at my screen and I'm either doing a backwards (what i call little house on the prairie look) sliding them down my nose and looking over them at the screen, putting them up in my haiir like a headband, putting them down on my cart. In the summer I had been sliding them on the neck of my shirt- but this doesn't work as well in a tutrle neck. So they weren't scratched so much as nicked from falling off the cart/my head and hitting the concrete floor.

Today, I guess the inevitable happened and some time between 10:30 and 2:30 a lens popped out I don't know where and is gone. I had 8 people walking up and down the aisles. looking in my clothes and hair- everywhere. couldn't find it. So I went back to the eyeplace. They wanted $110+tx for 1 lens. Now really this would mean 1 clear lens, 1 nicked lens. So why did I pay for insurance? Well if I lost the glasses it would be 50% of the 2 lenses + 50% of frame. So if I say I lost them for another 40-50 bucks I get a new pair? What if I say I lost them, and want to use an old frame?? (like we all have a sanford & son style drawer of glasses) They said the insurance requires new frames. Which is bull, because curt lost his a month before he could get an exam and new pair so he used an old pair and paid 1/2 for the lenses - but he goes to a different dr.

I was mad, and since we switched vision plans on Jan 1, I could get an exam and fix the whole near/far thing. So I went to lenscrafters tonite. Had an exam. paid the 56 for those 2 tests the insurance doesn't pay for. Got new frames, with the coatings and the scotchguard and the invisible lines for the bi-focals $480 for $72. ie - less than $110. $128 with the extra 2 tests. The only problem is I like the glasses w/o the metal on the bottom part of the frame. So they won't be readyy in an hour, they'll be ready on the 19th! great! sigh. Be the bear. Good thing I still have my binoculars. seriously. that's why I went for glasses to begin with. I was using them more and more.

Now if that wasn't bad enough, they did some tests the last eye dr. didn't. They took a picture of the back of my eye. One of the holes for my optic nerve is noticeably bigger than the other. I could see it. Everything else is fine.But she wants more tests done because it could be an early warning for glaucoma. Are you frickin kidding me? I'm only 42! She also said it could cause headaches on the left side - that's where I get my migraines! So I have to call my regular dr for a referal to a different place to get more tests and a baseline for the possible future issues. Sigh. i swear whenever I see a dr for one thing, the by the way part just kills me. be the bear. be the bear. be the bear.