the offWhites

Come visit.

Really, now. I should update more often.

I think that perhaps this blog has found the end of it’s natural life. That isn’t to say I’m going to stop blogging. Or that Seth is going to stop bogging. It’s just that now that we’re back home, day-to-day life isn’t nearly so blogable as before. I’m thinking I’ll go back to a knitblogish format. Seth is cooking something up, too.

In the meantime, know that I’ve got a problem. It’s a serious addiction.

It’s cheese.

When you’re working a toe-up sock, remember that the patterning only goes on half the sock. Otherwise you’ll realized 20 rows in that walking around with cables on the bottom of your foot may not be the most comfortable thing in the world, and then you’ll find yourself ripping back to the beginning of the instep to start again, this time without putting cables on the sole.

Yeah. Ask me how I know that.

So, just as I got a new job, the blog went dead. Partly, I suppose, I was just overwhelmed by two jobs.  At the same time, though, I think I needed to take a break - we were dealing with the finding work, transportation, an apartment, and just getting out lives put back together after Tawain.

But here I am now. With yet another new job, a new, new apartment (as opposed to the new apartment, which happened 3 months ago, that we’ve already moved out of), and even a new scooter!

I feel like there’s too much to write all at once in one big post, so I’m going to cut this one off here.  I’m back, though, so you’ll be hearing more soon enough.

Woo! I’ve got a conditional job offer from those interviews I had last week! The condition is only that I be able to pass a drug test and a physical capacity evaluation at a level high enough to please the company that provides the workerman’s comp coverage for the library.

I’ve been offered the position of Public Services Specialst in Youth Services at the local library.  I am super, super, stoked. I’ll be doing readers’ advisory mostly - being out in the Youth/Children’s sections of the library, answering questions, helping people find materials, blogging (sweet!!!), and possibly even helping some of the programming if there’s time (it’s only a part-time gig, and I work all day Saturday, which I’m told is a pretty busy day).

The best part, though, may just be the schedule - I’ll be working Wed, Thur, & Fri nights from 5-9, and all day Saturday.  This means my Mondays are open, and I’ll be able to squeeze in trips to KC for the Sunflower Knitting Guild, which I’m planning to join. Heh. Like I said to Jo and Carmen in the comments of the post I linked earlier, the power and awesomeness of gathered knitters was something I’d only read about before - now that I’ve experienced it in person, I’m not sure why I never went seeking it out before! The little taste I got just at the vendors market for KITH (as the cool kids all seem to call it) seems to have hooked me!

I had planned to post some pictures today.  I even took them and everything.

So.

Has anyone seen my camera’s usb cord?

So, this job of mine.  It’s not exactly the goldmine of blog fodder like the last one was at times.  But, it keeps me busy, and one of these days, I’ll even get paid for it (monthly paychecks! what rotten scheme is that?). It’s interesting, though.

I’m working as a para at an elementary school. I work with special needs kids in a so-called self-contained room, although almost all of the kids leave the room as often as possible to join their peers in the classroom. Our students are mostly dealing with either Down’s Syndrome or autism, so it can get a little weird and shouty and stubborn at times (like, around 1:15 in the afternoon, almost every day). It’s okay, though, since I get to do fun stuff like put one of my kids into a top so he can spin around. Seriously. It’s a big top, maybe 2.5 ft across at the top.  He just plops in like  you do in a papasan chair, and then he can roll around, almost like his own personal Tilt-a-Whirl.  It’s not an everyday thing, but still.  There’s a top, it is large enough for a 4th grader to sit in, and he spins around.  Cool, huh?

Just some prints I found on Etsy that I’m liking today:

A bright and colorful abstract from Etsy seller Terrace Gallery.  Mmm…bright colors help me remember that spring is coming, even if it’s acting like a bashful toddler hiding behind the legs of winter.

Good Night Possum from Etsy seller Poor Dog Farm. Notice the baby possum on the far left is clutching her teddy bear.  I like details like that. Apparantly, it’s a painted print - she prints out the line drawings and then paints on the color individually, so it’s a little more individually special than a standard print.

Hope you like these. I’m planning to try to be more scheduled with my posting, and I think Tuesdays are going to be my Etsy day - probably it’ll usually be art, since that’s what I most covet and can least afford.  Maybe when I have a real grown-up job again I’ll be able to start buying smaller pieces like the possum print!

Years ago, when I was working in the instructional resource center for the education department in college, I read a lot. Like, all the time. I had shelves and shelves of good YA lit at my disposal, and new books coming in all the time.  One of the first books I picked up didn’t seem to fit in too well - it was a mass market paperback that looked pretty un-YA, and the back cover copy made the book seem more adult-ish than YA-ish. I picked it up to read anyway, since it still sounded like a good read.

It was. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. Literally. My boyfriend of the time, who was used to my nose being stuck constantly in a book, was complaining about my not putting it down. I just pretty much devoured the book without even stopping for dinner.

A few years later, I started hearing about the book again, as well as the two sequels that completed the trilogy.  It was getting fantastic reviews, and now I was seeing it in trade paperback format, with redesigned covers that made the books look more like the YA they were.

Well. I finally got around to reading the sequels. I re-read The Golden Compass early last week (again, could not put the thing down). I finished The Subtle Knife last Friday (started it that morning and finished it that night), and will be to the end of The Amber Compass very soon.  They’ve all been a treat to read, but I think the last of the three is the weakest of the trilogy, based soley on my ability to put it down. I know I’m probably the last to tell you, but if you haven’t read the trilogy, or at least the first of the three yet, well, get thee to a library already!

Sheesh. Where did I go? Again?

I don’t know - something about living at home (i.e. Mom and Dad’s house) makes me a bum.  I mean, sure, I’m working and trying not to eat too much of their food, but still, I seem so very unproductive.

I had two interviews, though! They were both for the library, one in adult services and the other in children’s. They both seem like really cool positions, and I really hope I get a call for one of them - I don’t really have a strong preference either way.  The interview with the adults services people seemed to go better. Not that the other one went badly, it’s just that I was a lot more on for the adult position.  So, yeah.  Those of you that sent the good mojo - thanks! Feel free to keep on sending it my way, since I won’t know (they won’t decide?) until sometime this week.

In other news, I may have found some knitting mojo again. Maybe.

Last night, Seth and I were eating out in KC, and 4 or 5 tables near our booth were being pushed together. Seth asked if it was a prom party coming in (it’s that season, after all…), and the waitress said “No, I think it’s a bunch of knitters…?” Immediately I recalled Stefanie Japel announcing she’d be the Featured Artist at the Sunflower Guild’s convention, and realized that this must be what’s going on.  So, after meekly eavsdropping for a bit, I asked one of the ladies about her sweater, and they were all “Whhaaaa? Are you a knitter?!” and told all about how I should come the next day to the convention.  I couldn’t afford it, I insisted. So then the knitter who I’d originally asked about her sweater said, “Well, come on into the Vendor’s Market, at least! You don’t have to pay to get into that much!” Heh.  She’s good.  She’s reeeaaallll good. Because you know I did. And you know I bought some yarn. And a book. And some stitch markers and a little project bag.  And that lady who was so sweet to tell me all about it? Yeah…some of that was purchased from her. Like I said. She’s good.

The haul was good, though - I got some sock yarn and Cat Borhdi’s New Pathway’s for Sock Knitters. And some other yarn that is destined for giftitude for mom, who does read the blog, so that’s all that’ll be said about that for a while. And, of course, the project bag and stitch markers. So, now, I think I may go dig in and see what I can start!