Legos and Knitting

I had no idea how tricky it would be to mail a package to Canada. I usually use USPS click-n-ship on the USPS website, but when shipping to Canada, you must fill out a detailed account of every item contained in the package. Description, value, weight. It would've been helpful to know this before I carefully wrapped and taped the package with all the items inside, so it was a little more challenging due to my unwillingness to rip open the packaging. Then, I got really confused because USPS said I needed a special international envelope. I didn't have one of these, so I became afraid to go through with the online process. I printed out my detailed list of contents and put the package in my car to take to the local post office, which I anticipated being a nightmare, as usual.

Once at the post office, I actually didn't have to wait too long. It was only about ten minutes, and then I discovered that at the post office, they don't make you fill out an itemized list for the package--just a general summary. Additionally, it ended up being MUCH cheaper than it would've been online (a $10 difference), so I was happy. I am even happier now that it only took one week to get to my Lego Swap pal.

So, here is a picture of the package's contents. She likes the color green, so I made slippers (a necessity for walking around in the vicinity of legos), and a washcloth that is supposed to be reminiscent of the flat, green lego baseplate that is the typical lego building surface. There are also some lego-shaped soaps and some legos that have been repurposed as refrigerator magnets. (I nabbed these from my brother's lego stash, but I figure it's fair since a lot of the legos he has first belonged to my sister and me.)

Rural Weekend

James's parents gave up living in the city for good last year, and I envy them each time we visit. To me, there are different degrees of "rural living," and theirs is perfect: far enough from your neighbors that you can't see their house from your own, but close enough that you could walk to their house on a nice day. Also, being within five to ten miles of at least a grocery store and a post office is important. They have a lot of land surrounding their house, which is set back far from the county road, and it just feels so secluded and serene. It's really an interesting contrast from living in the city where I am constantly aware of other people being around me from the moment I step out of my apartment (and frequently even when in my apartment).

One of the major perks of visiting the in-laws is that we have to drive through Waco, Texas. Now, I am not a big fan of Waco, Texas, but I am a big fan of two things you can find in Waco. The first: my friend, Amber; the second: peanut butter milkshakes from Health Camp. Don't be fooled by the name; this little restaurant serves a bazillion different flavors of milkshakes in addition to greasy burgers, fries, tots, and my new go-to burger replacement: grilled cheese sandwiches. Nothing healthy about it. And the peanut butter milkshakes are amazing. We each had one on the way there and one on the way back. Dangerously yummy. It's a good thing I'm not aware of where to get these in Dallas.

Remember when I mentioned the guy trying to protect the Bluebonnets from the mowers? Unfortunately, he failed. When at the park last week, we noticed that the mowers had mowed down all of the Bluebonnets. Fortunately for us, though, we experienced Bluebonnet-overload this weekend. Here's a few pictures I took of the many, many wildflowers we saw. A great deal of them were on the in-laws' property. The Indian Paintbrush is my favorite wildflower. There are a few more pictures in my Flickr photos, too.

We had a really nice, relaxing visit, and I had a lot of time to just sit and knit, which means I finished the sock I've been working on and started sock #2. I should have the pair finished by the weekend, I think.

All of this nice weather and being outdoors has really put me in a hurry to go camping. We have three trips already planned, and two more in the works. Yay!

Painting

A few weeks ago, I volunteered myself (and James) to help my mom paint the exterior of their house. They've lived there for ten years and in that time, it's never been painted. Here's one of the "before" pictures that my mom emailed me to show how it looked last week.

Here is that same side of the house after scraping of most of the flaking paint.

The first section we tackled was the part of the house adjacent to the deck. It's hard to tell, but the new paint is a very pale, buttery yellow. I think it looks very nice. I won't comment on Steven's expression in this picture, but feel free to draw your own conclusions.

I luckily didn't get any paint in my hair, but Mandy's ponytail was not so lucky. James and Steven also had significant amounts of paint in their hair.

James and I are going back in two weeks to (hopefully) finish the rest of the house. I think it will look super-nice when done, and I'll try to have some good before-and-after comparison pictures.

I know that people aren't supposed to enjoy painting, but I had a lot of fun. Being outside in the beautiful weather probably had a lot to do with that. I didn't even miss my knitting at all.

Yesterday I finally made it to a knitting meetup, and after unsuccessfully trying to work on a traveling scarf, I worked on my new sock and turned the heel. Once at home, I decided to try on the sock-in-progress. (Believe it or not, I usually do try on my socks-in-progress while still on the needles.) Um, it didn't work so well. I snapped one of my needles, and now I cannot continue the socks until I get some new size 2 DPNs. I gave in and worked on the traveling scarf.

Shades of Gray

I have been knitting with shades of gray and black lately, and I am just about sick of it. For the John Hughes Swap package I worked on this weekend, I made a gray purse...

And a mostly black (with some gray/white) scarf...

Both of these projects turned out to be pretty quick (probably since I was working on them like crazy from Thursday night to make sure I finished by Monday), and I was completely finished with the swap package by Saturday evening. I totally forgot to take pictures of everything in the swap package, but I think unless you're obsessed with The Breakfast Club, the other stuff wouldn't really interest you anyway. (I've been putting off posting these projects until my partner got her package, and she did get it today. She seemed really happy with it, which makes me happy, so it was all worth it.)

After finishing those items, I resumed working on my ribbed shrug, which is made using a yarn twisted with plys of black, gray, and white. The last few rows were taking twenty minutes each to complete, so even though I only had twenty rows left, I didn't finish the thing until Tuesday night. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and I wore it to work on Wednesday, as shown below. I tried five times to post a different picture that shows the shrug up close, but the computer is not cooperating, so this will have to do. There are other pictures of it in my Flickr sets, though, if you care to see.

I'm already thinking of making another one...maybe in a really soft, black merino wool.

Now, I am working on a sock pattern that has just been published by a fellow Raveler. I am actually the first person to make the sock, so I'm pretty excited about it. My only disappointment is that the yarn I am using is starting to stripe. I would normally choose a different yarn or different pattern, but I am so excited about being the first person (well, second, if you count the designer) to make this pattern that I going to suck it up and keep going anyway. I've already done twice as much as shown below, but here is a sample of how it is looking:

Rent vs. Buy

I have done a lot of research on buying a house, and James and I have had many, many discussions about it. We have mostly decided the how/when/where/why/what of that whole issue, which won't happen for at least a few more years. We both know that is the right decision for us, so I'm not really debating this issue anymore, but...

I still want to buy a house anyway. I am guilty of frequently looking at real estate listings and pictures and telling James about what I find. I want to be able to relax in a room all by myself. (This is currently impossible living with two pets and another person in a one-bedroom apartment.) I want to have a spare bedroom so I can have houseguests (and a place for tubs of yarn and sewing stuff). I want a big kitchen with a pantry where James and I can both fit simultaneously. James wants a backyard where the dogs he plans to adopt can play and run around. I also want to have a vegetable garden and maybe even a chicken or two. I think of all these things most days and dream about the future in our multiple-bedroom house with a yard.

And then some days, like today, I am so thankful that we just rent an apartment. I came home at lunch to find some of the carpet ripped up in the dining room with a fan blowing on the damp sub-flooring. The apartment complex's maintenance man explained that the leak I called about yesterday meant that the part of the wall between my apartment and the one behind ours was water-damaged and would have to be repaired over the next few days. Fun. And then I think about how our building's water heater crapped out last month. And about how many times I've called this guy to come fix plumbing issues and replace the garbage disposal. And about the microwave going haywire. And how I never really worry about any of that stuff, because I just call this guy, and he fixes everything, no problem.

So, yeah, I don't look forward to the maintenance and resulting added expenses of owning a home. And reminding myself of this every so often makes it a little easier to be content renting until the time is right.

A Walk in the Park

Just on the outskirts of our neighborhood, there is a nice little park that is mostly hidden from view. It's an interesting location: it borders a branch of a river, an undeveloped wooded area, the intersection of two major freeways, and--just on the other side of a hill--the high school belonging to our neighborhood. Soon a mall, which is in the early stages of development, will be located across from the high school.

The park has been there less than a year, and it's not quite finished. James and I have frequently been going there to walk around the half-mile concrete trail loop. Yesterday, we walked ten laps (five miles), and I hope the weather allows us to continue to walk that far more often. If you can ignore the occasional unpleasant occurrences (a whiff of the polluted water, a helicopter flying overhead, the noisy traffic, and that cyclist whirring by who didn't have the common courtesy to yell 'on your left!'), the park is very peaceful and relaxing. It's hard to see much nature in the city, and though this park has but just a tiny amount, it's as good as it gets for a daily walk. I have even seen mice and armadillos on more than one occasion.

On our walk yesterday, I saw two interesting things. First, James and I noticed a man collecting sticks from the woods. He was alone, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and rollerblades. I did wonder what he was doing, but I also thought that he might be an eccentric stick-collector. I mean, what good reason could a person have for doing that?

On our second lap past this man, James pointed out that there were a bunch of sticks that had been stuck in the ground along the area where the man had been on the previous lap and leading up to where he was now standing, sticking more sticks in the grass. I started looking at where he had placed the sticks, and I noticed that they were all marking the same type of small plant. I didn't recognize what type it was, but it seemed he had marked every place where one of these plants was located. I was very curious.

As we approached where the man was standing, he said 'hi.' He looked nice, so I asked him what were the plants that he was marking. He explained that they were bluebonnets (aha!) and that he was afraid that the city would mow over them before they could bloom, which would cause them not to reseed and reappear next year. He iterated that is is illegal to mow or pick bluebonnets (which I--and all Texans-- know), but he was concerned the city mowers wouldn't pay attention. Frankly, I wouldn't have paid attention either because I didn't recognize these tiny plants as bluebonnets. My logic tells me that it is probably only illegal when the flowers are budding/blooming (which these weren't), but I really thought it was a nice thing for him to do. I thanked him before we continued on our way.

We also saw three people with a small remote-controlled helicopter sitting at a picnic table. Each time we were approaching them, I would hope that they would have the helicopter in the air, but I was disappointed each time. Finally, just as we passed them on our last lap, the helicopter zoomed up into the air, and James and I watched it fly around for a while. It was the one time I was not sorry to see a helicopter flying overhead at the park.

Socks, Scarves, Swapping, Sewing, and a Shrug

I finally finished my pedicure socks last night, and I like how they turned out. I even wore them for a while around the house just because I could. (My toes were cold, though) These socks were very easy, and I at first thought they would make good gift projects, but I think I have changed my mind. The original pattern shows these socks being worn with flip-flops, and I could not find a single pair of flip-flops (I own at least ten pairs) that would easily slide over the top of these socks without the socks bunching up or the flip-flops being too tight. Ugh. Perhaps my feet are just extra big, but they are certainly not much bigger (if any) than most people I know. At least they are cute, used up leftover stash yarn, and have been verified to not make suitable gifts now rather than after being given as a gift.

I also worked on two traveling scarves this week after a slight dryspell. We are at the halfway point already, and it hasn't even been two months since our official start date. We are fast! Here's the two scarves I sent out this week, belonging to blizzy and galtan on Ravelry, both done in only green yarns.

James got a new video game tonight, so I am going to be amusing myself most of the weekend. This worked out rather conveniently, though, because I am going to be working on an angel package this weekend for the John Hughes Swap on the Odd Ducks Group on Ravelry. If you aren't aware, John Hughes wrote/directed many 1980's movies, such as The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and many others. I had a really difficult time trying to come up with an ideas for the package because it's been years since I've seen these movies. After some thorough internet research yesterday, I at least know what I'm going to knit, and I should be able to finish it this weekend. A shopping expedition will also be required to get the other package goodies, and my plan is to have the package in the mail on Monday. The way I see it...the recipient has already been let down by her assigned partner and has been waiting much longer than the person to whom she sent, so I feel really motivated to get her a package as quickly as possible. I won't post any pictures of the package until I know she has received it, just in case she reads my blog since she does know who I am.

I have also been working on a shrug, and I could work on that if I finish the swap package. It doesn't have too much left on it. I also have that beautiful sundress fabric, so making one of those is another possibility, though in all honesty, I think I'll be lucky to finish the swap package with any time at all to spare.

The $64 Lesson

Last night my friend Sara and I went out to dinner, and afterwards, we went to Jo-Ann (fabric and craft store) to look around. The first thing I saw was this really pretty, colorful sundress fabric that I had seen last time I was in. It would be super-easy to make a sundress out of this because one edge of it was what I think you called 'smocked' (?), so you just hem the other end and sew a seam up the middle. I had resisted it last time, but this time I decided I would make one using each fabric--one for Sara and one for myself. Pretty huh?

We had to wait a while for the fabric counter to be available, so in the meantime we looked at yarn, fabric that might work for a (Sara's) wedding veil, and rhinestones. When my number came up, we scurried back to the counter (visibly displeasing the lady whose number immediately followed mine) and I asked for two yards of each fabric. I purposely asked for more than I needed in case I screw up, which seems highly probable. As the lady made up my ticket, she asked if I had a 'mailer.' I think she meant a coupon that comes in the mail, and she seemed distressed when I told her that I didn't. When she handed the ticket to me, she said, "Please don't shoot me." I thanked her, and as I glanced at the ticket, the "$32" jumped out at me. It was more than I thought, but not too bad. I took the fabric as well as a spool of matching thread to the checkout counter.

Once my items were rung up at the checkout counter, the little display showed that I owed $72! I was so shocked that I asked the girl to check the ticket again, and she showed me that EACH fabric was $32, not $32 for both! That's a total of $64 just on the fabric to make two very simple sundresses! I was a bit blown away, but I bought it all anyway because it was completely my fault for not even looking at the price of the fabric in the first place. An expensive lesson, but now I'll be sure to be more cautious in the future.

Afterwards, we walked next door to Old Navy to look around. Of course, the first thing we see is a rack of fabulous sundresses--much nicer than anything I could make--and they are all $34. Go figure.

Shocked!

Whenever it is dry and cold, I am the victim of a stinging electrical shock every single time I get out of my car. I've gotten so used to it that I usually brace myself for the first contact with my door, and then first touch my fingernails against the window, which will sometimes cause a less shocking shock. Once the shock has happened, I feel relieved and relaxed as I get out of my car, knowing that a second shock won't happen. For some reason, my car seems to be worse about this than James's car; we have both noticed this.

I am also frequently shocked in our apartment, especially when touching James, the cat, or a doorknob. I won't include the Scat Mat in that list since those shocks happen on purpose and the purpose of the Scat Mat is to shock. It seems that I feel the need to frequently verify that the mat is still working even though 1) there has been no evidence of it not working and 2) there has been no evidence that the cat has been on the table. No, I don't think that's weird. James does it, too.

Yesterday was a particularly shocking day, and I had the great idea of scurrying around the apartment, rubbing my feet on the carpet to build up a good charge, and then touching my fingertip on James's nose/ear/chin. This was pretty amusing for a while, but then I decided I wanted to really see the sparks. We turned out all the lights (the shock from the kitchen light switch was unexpectedly strong--I must have been really charged before I got the idea!) and then I continued shocking James in the dark. Very cool to see the little spark between my finger and James's. Highly amusing if you're really bored.

I tried to pet (shock) Sugar, but she apparently has a great aversion to being shocked, because she was avoiding me at all costs after the first time, and I didn't even have her great enemy (the spray bottle) in hand!