Done!

So, I'm officially DONE with my Central Park Hoodie! YAY! It's awesome. Although, it has probably given me a false sense of how fast I can get a sweater done, since I did it in only 7 weeks! (Mom says this is the fastest she's ever knit a sweater. I'll take her word for it!) I really feel like I can do anything now!

Here's a picture: (And no, Tobi, you can't have it! :-) )



I don't know what's been with me these past few months, but I've REALLY gotten into knitting - big time! Before, it was fun to do small projects here and there, but I was never obsessed...not like I am now! Now, I have about 80 projects that I can't wait to do (My next will be the February Lady sweater as seen here.). Damn you Ravelry! Plus, mom and Sarah have totally gotten me hooked on sock knitting. I only have one pair done, and I've already got yarn to make FIVE more pairs! Well, I should say I have one and a half pairs of socks done, cause I just finished this one a few nights ago:



Isn't it so pretty? Crystal Palace Yarns just came out with this yarn about a month ago. I have it in 4 different colors! Enough to make three pairs of socks and a pair of fingerless gloves! Phew! Also, since I know most of the people who read this blog love Twilight, I discovered this yarn last week:


It's called, "Rainy Day in Forks!" How cool is that? The company also has one that is called "Edward's Locks" that is a brown/bronze color. I'M GONNA HAVE TWILIGHT SOCKS! Hehe...I didn't even know that was the name until I brought it home and did some research! It called to me in the store - Edward wants me to knit cool socks!

Speaking of Twilight, they start shooting for New Moon in a couple of weeks!!! And in about a month, we can all have Edward in our homes, so we can watch him as many times as we want!!! And no one will look at us like we're freaks!!! :-) I'm seriously thinking about getting the Blu-Ray disc too...but it's only being sold at Target and Best Buy, so I'd have to pay full price. Which is ok, I guess, since I got the Special Edition DVD from Amazon for free - thank you credit card rewards! *Sigh* I actually haven't read the books in a while, ok, a month...but still, that is a long time for me! I'm actually thinking about going and grabbing New Moon off the shelf - just for a refresher, you know?

I can't wait until I get my next paycheck...I've been working overtime, and it's been hard, but it will be so worth it when I see that fat paycheck! I don't really have anything in mind to buy...well, I was looking at TV's, but I don't have a specific one picked out yet...ok, I'm looking at Samsung - but I don't have a model picked out yet! I don't know why I'm obsessing about a TV...I have a perfectly good Samsung flat-screen...it's not the best Hi-Def set, but it does its job. I guess I'm just a gadget girl at heart. Plus, then I could put my old TV in my bedroom! (Which would probably be a bad thing...I might never get out of bed!) I dunno...I'm gonna do my research, and take it slow. But I just kinda think it's stupid to have a PS3 and Blu-Ray player if my TV can't really show the Hi-Def features of those systems.

I know, I'm babbling. I'm gonna go knit a sock now...see you!

SOCKS!

Socks are officially the coolest thing ever - hand knit socks, I mean, not the ones you buy at the store. I finished my first pair on Friday, and I felt like I had accomplished something huge... I know, they're just socks. My mom and my friend Sarah have dozens of pairs of socks, but still. It was so hard for me to get into sock knitting, and now that I am, I'm hooked. It's a good thing that between my mom and Sarah, they have the coolest sock pattern books, or else I would be on KnitPicks buying obscene numbers of books...

Anyway, here thay are! The Uptown Boot Socks:

They fit perfect, and they are soooooo comfy! I'm afraid they're going to get worn out very quickly!

Beside socks, I've been working on my Central Park Hoodie. It's going very well, I'm really loving the pattern and yarn! I've got most of the back complete, and will probably be starting on the sleeves next week!

I'm going to go take a nap now...I got called off of work so far tonight - THANK GOD. I had greasy McDonalds for breakfast and it did not agree with me! I was up this morning at 11 with a stomach ache and nausea, and then, when I finally got back into bed, the kids next door decide to start screaming and banging on the walls. I seriously considered slamming on the wall right back. Or maybe I'll just so that at 3am and see how they like it!

Anyway, I'm off to snooze land - pray that I get the whole night off work, k?

It's been a long time!

Wow...so it's been well over a month since I posted anything. I'm not trying to ignore you! I'm just lazy...and a lot had happened! Every time I sat down to write a post, the task just seem too daunting, so I would quickly think of something else to do. Well, today I'm out of things to do...the apartment is clean, the dishes are done, the laundry is folded and put away, even my knitting "homework" for this Friday's Central Park Hoodie class is done!

So, I'm curled up on the couch, watching Definitely, Maybe, waiting for the maintenance guy to come unclog my shower drain - what better to do than write a super-duper, annoyingly long blog post?

Well, I guess I'm gonna start with from the beginning: TWILIGHT!

It was an awesome weekend! The weather did not cooperate too well, but that wasn't going to stop us! I was a little worried about the crowd at the movie (mostly chatty teenage girls), but they ended up being pretty good. My friend Jill went to a different theater and had a hard time hearing anything over all the talking. The movie was...great! It's just so nice to watch Robert Pattinson...he's, like, the prettiest guy in the world! Oh, and, BEST KISS EVER! We ended up seeing it again the next night! It gets better every time I see it! Here's some of my favorite pics from the weekend:

The snow starts...we got an early start to the night, so we could get to the theater on time.

The crowd in the theater...this was about 45 minutes BEFORE the show even started!

Mom, Jeri, me, Tobi and Michelle after the show...

Michelle and Heather - isn't this a cute one?

Tobi, me and mom showing off our shirts!

Aww, Tobi and Michelle lookin so cute!

And here's the weather after the movie - about 4 inches of the white crap!

Yay! We found the truck! Now we have to dig it out!

As you can see, it snowed a bunch... But that wasn't going to stop us from seeing Edward!

That brings us to the long, yet remarkably fast month of December. I interviewed for a normal 40 hour per week job in surgery - which would have been wonderful, but I ended up not getting it. Too bad, but I'm not too upset. I just have to keep looking for something to come up!

Next was our Stitch and Bitch Christmas party... It was my first time traveling out to Dana and Ryan's new place in Grand Rapids. I was so proud of myself for driving all the way out there - alone! (Not like it's that far...but still!) Anyway, we had fun...lots of good food, good drinks and good laughs! Ryan drunk is a hilarious sight! It was great to see Dana and Ryan and Meghan again! I missed them a lot! We stayed up until about 2am playing Scategories, and then I drove home.

The gang, hanging out at Dana and Ryan's!

Kristina and Sarah having a drink...

I don't know what was so funny, but we all seem to be having a good time!

I think this is a cute one of Sarah, but I don't know what the hell I'm doing in the background...Ben was having fun with my camera at this point...

Next would be the big day: Christmas. It just so happened that it was my only day off that week. However, I got called off Tuesday...but got called in at 9. And then was called off all night on Christmas Eve. Which kinda sucked, because I didn't make double time and a half. Then we drove down to Indiana on Christmas morning - I slept all the way there... We had a good time. The kids loved their presents - both Emma and Ethan got Nintendo DS's. Of course, Kien wanted one too...maybe next year Bean! It was nice to be with my family, but we had to leave the next day because I had to work - again. I took tons of pictures, but I'll just post my favorites here:

Emma cuddling with the puppies...

The boys wrestling with Papa...

Tobi, mom and Emma

Emma and Ethan on their DS's

Mom and Emma

Kien and Papa goofin around

Mom and I both ended up getting some kind of stomach flu Friday night - ick. I was back to work on Saturday. Monday night was our Stitch and Bitch Secret Santa exchange night. I got the Twilight calendar!!! It's so awesome! I don't know how Anna found one - they were sold out everywhere I looked! I stare lovingly at it whenever I can...

Kristina's awesome Campbell's Tomato Soup can beach towel from Claudia (who JUST finished her internship with Campbell's...)

Anna, who happened to be my Secret Santa, being goofy...

Sarah and I like to take pictures of each other taking pictures of each other...does that make sense?

Laura, Dana and Kristina - miss you guys!

New Year's Eve was very boring - I had to work. At least I made double time and a half though...the bills are starting to come in! Thankfully, I'm back to my regular work schedule again!

Well, it's almost 3pm and I have to get a nap in before I work tonight! Thanks for stickin with me on this long post! See you all later!

Feeling better...until I looked outside...

I have been feeling better. I applied for a new job - haven't heard anything on it yet, though. I hung out with my friend, Sarah, on Friday - had a great time. And then went to Threadbear with my mom yesterday. Signed up for the Central Park Hoodie class that starts in January - can't wait to start it! We had to order our yarn, so it'll be about a week or so before we can start anything. My hoodie is going to be a kind of burnt orange color:


Mom's hoodie is going to be a pretty charcoal color:


But, in the meantime, I'm knitting a pair of awesome mittens! My first foray into fair isle knitting...it's going well so far. I got the cuff done last night:



They should look like this when they're all done:



I love the colors, even though they don't really go with anything else that I have - they're still totally cute!

I'm really hoping I get called off today. 1) It's snowing and I just want to stay inside and knit, and 2) I just really don't want to work tonight. So there. (Now that I've said that, I'll be working all night, and we'll be busy...)

And, just because I have to mention it in pretty much every blog post - TWILIGHT PREMIERES IN FOUR DAYS!!! I saw a few days ago that Summit had bought the rights to New Moon and Eclipse - YAY for sequels! I've been online pretty much every day watching interviews of the cast. Rob Pattinson seems like such a nice, humble guy. I just love listening to his voice!

Ok, well, I'm going to go knit some more, then take a shower...and hopfully get a call from work - pray for me!!!

Blech...

I've been feeling incredibly lazy and gross lately. I've been sleeping a lot and just hanging out on the couch for about a week. Blech. I'm not even sick! I think it's the weather - all cloudy and snowy. You know, the first snow of the year isn't suppose to stick...and it did...and it was depressing...




I was actually going to do stuff today. But, instead, I watched an hour long video of the Vanity Fair photo shoot featuring the Twilight cast. I didn't even realize it was an hour long until about 30 minutes in to it! Something is seriously screwing with my internal clock...

Anyway, I applied for a position in Surgery today. It's an 80 hour per pay period, 7am to 3:30pm every day position. Nights, weekends and holidays are rotated on-call - meaning I wouldn't have to work unless I was the one on-call and someone needed emergency surgery. I always shied away from going to days because I really like getting a $2.50 shift differential! But, working an extra 8 hours a pay period kind of takes care of that. I'd be making, like, $40 more per paycheck.

But I'm not doing this for money, or because I don't like where I work. I love my co-workers. They've become great friends, and have gotten me through a lot of stressful times. And I'm the first one to admit that working on Pediatrics is a cake-walk compared to regular med/surg floors. But, working with some of the families and patients we get is emotionally draining. I really respect those nurses who can do that day in and day out, and who have worked at the hospital for years and years.

I always knew going into nursing that I could never work in a hospital for my entire career. I'm a person that thrives on routine - a daily routine. I think high school was such a cake walk to me because I had such a good routine that I didn't have to think about things like when I should go to bed to be able to get a good amount of sleep before work, or having to lay out my schedule months in advance to be able to make one freaking dentist appointment, or burdening my family with making holiday plans revolve around my schedule. (Which DID allow me to over-worry about everything else - hence, all the anxiety during my high school years. But, dammit, I got good grades!)

I think that's the biggest reason why I'd like to switch over to a normal, every day schedule - my family and my friends. It kills me when I'm sitting alone at work on the holidays. I hate it. All I want to do is be with my family and not have to worry about work. I want to be able to go to at least SOME of the parties my friend's throw, especially now that we're all split up and can't get together very often. I'd love to be able to have a job like my parents, who usually take the week of Christmas off.

I feel bad, kind of like I've betrayed my unit and my friends/co-workers. But at the same time I'm super excited. I probably won't get the position - if anyone with more seniority than me wants it, they'll get it. But I think a lot of my anxiety and weight issues have to do with the wacky schedule I work. My schedule, and the fact that I'm the least self-disciplined person on the planet makes it so that I just eat when I'm hungry and sleep when I'm tired and never exercise - all very unhealthy habits. I NEED a routine to be healthy.



Wow, that was kind of a depressing post...sorry. But it feels good to get some of this stuff off my chest.

Much More ROCKSTAR!

Well, today my hair looks much better. They key is less. Less is ALWAYS more...




Also, I'm getting very, very excited about Twilight...EVERYTHING is making me think TWILIGHT! Case in point:



I almost wanted to pull up beside the car and see if Edward was in it...





...you say I'm obsessed like it's a bad thing...

HA!

I'm sorry, but I thought this Piece of Flair was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time...

Obviously not smart enough...go back to school and learn the difference between "to," "too," and "two" dumbass!