Eastburn Adventures

This morning I finished my Wendy's Southwestern Socks using Claudia's Hand Paints in Peppermint Mocha. Zarah introduced me to this pattern, and it's a quick, fun, easy knit - perfect for a first pair of socks for beginners, if you need to teach someone. Then I immediately cast on for another pair of socks - this time I'm making a pair of the Basket-Weave Ribbed socks from Sensational Knitted Socks using Duet Middy in Chocolate Crunch. While at The Spring Fling last weekend, I also purchased some Fiesta Baby Boom in Mochachino. On my Loopy Ewe Wishlist, I have items saved such as Numma Numma in both Brown Sugar and Cinnamon and Baba Ganoush, Bellamoden in Chocolat, Keegan Lane in Mint Chocolate Chip, All Things Heather in Truffle, and Seacoast Superwash in Chocolate and Caramel. Hmmm. Is there a reason all the yarn I have or want is food related?

Usually when the Yarn Harlot talks about something on her blog, there's a stampede of knitters scrambling to obtain the exact pattern or yarn that she's working with. Don't get me wrong, I adore the Harlot; I think she's a wonderful writer and has some brilliant insights into this world of knitting that we're a part of. She is a fabulous ambassador for our craft, and I'm appreciative of the fact that her influence will help keep yarn stores across the country in business for a long time. But for example, recently the Harlot knit the Must-Have Cardigan and the Ravelry forums were ablaze with ISO posts - the pattern was sold out everywhere, nowhere to be found (although patient knitters could have just ordered it - it wasn't even out of print). Zarah and I were talking about this phenomenon - we were like, yeah, it's a nice sweater, but it's just a cabled cardigan - there are zillions of cabled cardigan patterns out there. But because the Harlot knit it, it became in high demand.

I wasn't interested in the Must-Have Cardi because 1) the pattern wasn't written for my size and I didn't want to rewrite it, and 2) I'm not really a bulky cardigan kind of girl. But something else happened. I succumbed to the Harlot's influence on something else. Way back when, she posted about the Duet Sock Yarn in the Chocolate Crunch colorway. Now, I am not a pink person at all, but there's something about the combination of pink and brown that I am unable to resist. It's like Kryptonite - or as Darth Vader would say, "resistance is futile." Normally I try to buy my all my sock yarn at The Loopy Ewe, but they didn't have the color. Big surprise - things sell out fast. Plus, because the dyer is an indie, chances were that we'd never see that colorway again (this is why I don't feel bad about having a decent sized stash - you never want to regret not having bought something that spoke to you.). But I took a chance and e-mailed Angela of A Swell Yarn Shop, inquiring if we'd see that colorway again. She said she didn't usually repeat colorways, but said she'd make an exception for this one. I signed up for her e-mail newsletter, found out when she was restocking, and quietly purchased my Chocolate Crunch.

It lived in my stash for while, playing nicely with the other non-pinkish colors, till finally it told me it wanted to be a pair of Basket-Weave Rib Socks. I've knit this pattern before, for my sister's Christmas socks, and enjoyed it, so I said, "sure, why not?" After a minor gauge issue (which sent me back to my size 0's again), we are getting along just fine, even in spite of the pink. I think these are going to be a favorite pair once they're finished. Thank you, Stephanie, for the suggestion.

Dear Mexican Villa Waitress:

Thank you for your excellent service to my husband and me last night in your restaurant. I really appreciated you tracking down some limes for my Diet Coke, and you were very quick to bring the refills. I think, however, that we may have given you the wrong impression and that you might be under the assumption that we are, well, poor. Not that we are wealthy by any means, but we can certainly afford to eat in your establishment without it being a hardship. I can understand where you may have gotten your misconceived notions, so let's clear this up now, okay?

First, when you came to the table and I was busy with a calculator and our checkbook, I was not anxiously calculating whether or not we could afford to each have our own meal. My husband and I both were out of town this week on separate business trips, the 15th was payday, and I hadn't had time to pay the bills yet. Finishing up at dinner was a matter of convenience.

Second, I ordered the $4.60 half-size Sancho Enchilada Style because I wasn't that hungry and we had errands to run after dinner, so that it was not feasible to get a full-size order as the leftovers would not have kept in the car. My husband always orders a $4.00 plain burrito because that's what he likes. We weren't deliberately looking to order the cheapest items on the menu.

Third, when my husband requested more mild sauce for the chips, and we balked when you told us the "first one is free, but others would be $0.35 each," it wasn't because we couldn't afford the additional salsa - it was rebellion against the principle of the matter, because we believe in America that complimentary chips and salsa in a Mexican Restaurant is an absolute right. We do, however, appreciate you bringing us an additional bowl of the mild sauce, under the table, at no cost.

Last, again we really appreciate you trying to look out for us, but it really wasn't necessary to ring up our two Diet Cokes as waters, and thus, not charging us for the soda. Although we usually order water in restaurants because the soda game is a high profit margin and it usually costs more for one glass than a two-liter does at Wal-Mart, we both happened to want the caffeine last night, and so decided to "splurge."

Total on the ticket - a little over $10. We paid with a twenty - keep the change.

Wow. I know I made a random post the other day, but I have not been doing a great job at keeping up with everything - the blog, Ravelry, the podcast, even knitting.

First, Robert and I both had business trips out of town the same week. He went to South Carolina, and I headed to Miami. The conference I attended had some very good sessions; other details were overlooked, like they didn't provide sodas for the afternoon sessions. Gee, like no one was gonna need caffeine not in the form of coffee after lunch? I was not at all excited about the prospect of going to Miami, and it did not fail to disappoint. Overall, I found South Beach to be a dirty, smelly, nasty place, and did not see the appeal of it at all. I did, however, get to enjoy the beach for a few hours, and when I wasn't watching a catfight between 3 girls (yes, this really happened) or accidentally realizing that it actually was a topless beach (thank you to my boss for warning me about this possibility in advance) - ick - I did enjoy wiggling my toes in the sand and letting the waves crash over my feet. Back to the topless issue for a moment, can someone explain to me why a girl who is free enough to remove her bikini top while laying on the beach towel had to put the top back on before she went into the ocean? I don't get it.

Moving on, I didn't get much knitting done at all while I was gone. I did finish my first of the basketweave socks, but haven't started its match yet. Nor have I worked on my sweater, or thought about future projects. I've been in a bit of an organization mood lately, which started with the flood and has motivated me to work on other parts of the house. I have removed all of the ugly wallpaper that was in our master bathroom, and am almost ready to paint.

Yesterday was the annual Fiber Fair in Marshfield, Missouri. It's a very small fair, but it was a beautiful day to hang out with friends, and I did buy some random roving for my beginning fiber stash - for the "someday" when I get my wheel. "Lola" always enjoys looking at the Fair's wares, and I was enamored with a beautiful cashmere goat.

I've pretty much given up on getting caught up. I had almost 1,000 unread blog posts when I got home from Miami, and used the "mark all read" option pretty freely. I went through about 120 personal e-mails, 100 work e-mails, and am now being very selective on the Ravelry forums I'm reading. So if I've missed commenting on my regular blogs that I read, or replying to a podcast e-mail, or not responded to a Rav post, forgive me. I'm entering my busiest season at work for the next two months, and have 2 more trips scheduled in June and July which will take me out of the office. I'm giving myself a free pass to not put undue pressure on myself. Summer's comin', and I'm going to enjoy myself!

So much for me getting back on track keeping up with the blog, so as a brief diversion, I'm going to post my answers to the Peeps I Want To Know More About meme, and claim that Wendy tagged me, since she said in her answers that anyone could answer. It's okay, my Junior Stalker pin is in the mail. :-)

1. What was I doing ten years ago?

I was working as a registered sales assistant in the investment division of a local bank, and made my first trip to Alaska.

2. What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

1) Update the blog; 2) go to Knit Together; 3) Buy paintbrushes at Wal-Mart; 4) finish the bloody basketweave sock; 5) E-mail chat with Zarah and Kate

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Ice cream is definitely my downfall. Gelato runs a close second. Then of course, there's chips and salsa, but it's got to be either Mexican Villa's sweet sauce or Red Cactus salsa - yum. Oh, and chocolate. Really good chocolate.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Tithe. Pay off the mortgage (and start planning to build our dream house). Travel to all the wonderful places I've read about and haven't yet had the opportunity to go. Give a lot of the money away to family and friends - have a lot of fun with random acts of kindness.

5. Places I have lived:

Springfield, Missouri. With the exception of one 2 month period in an apartment, I have lived in the same zip code my entire life. Although as Robert says, I did own property in Battlefield, Missouri when we got married because he hadn't sold his house yet.

6. Jobs I have had:

Final inspector and shipping clerk in a photo lab. I've seen a lot of wedding and senior photos. A bank teller and registered investment sales assistant. Paralegal in a labor and employment private law firm representing management (see, Wendy and I have something else in common!). Accounting clerk in a software firm. Operations manager and compliance officer in a local independent broker-dealer/investment adviser, and my current position as Compliance Officer for a non-profit religious financial institution.

7. Peeps I want to know more about:

The usual suspects.

In spite of all the recent stress of daily life, in spite of all the stuff that remains on my to do list, and in spite of the fact that our air conditioning is on its last legs, today was one of those milestone days. First, to get the knitting news out of the way, I finally finished the basketweave socks. I've made 6 pair of socks this year, in 5 months, so I'm a pair ahead. I still love the color of these socks, but am a little disappointed that they are fraternal socks, and not identical. Oh, well. No one's really going to know but me. I'm so ready to move on to something else, but I'm going to try to focus on my sweater and finish it up. Right now it's my only project on the needles.

A completed pair of hand knit socks don't really make today a milestone day. What makes today such a great day is that Robert and I have completed Step 2 of Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, and we are DEBT FREE except for the house! It's taken us almost 3 years, but a lot has happened during that time, including us being able to afford Robert to leave a job he hated and begin to do something he loves, even though it was a significant pay cut. I can't recommend Dave's plan enough - we had previously bought into all the myths about credit, and today we have been released from the bondage of debt. Even though it was a little anticlimactic because now we're going to have to save up and shell out about $4k for a new HVAC system, we know that it's only going to take a couple of months, and it's really just an annoyance rather than an emergency. The best thing about Dave's plan is the change in attitude about money and "stuff." We are so blessed, and now have a level of contentment we'd not really known before. If anyone has any questions about the plan, I'd love to share it with you.

Oh, and I also made Dave's blog here, and you can hear us call in on Dave's archived shows - I'm the first caller in hour 2.

FREEDOM!!!!! And, as Dave says, "Remember, the only way to financial peace is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus." Amen!