Some Great Reward...

Wednesday was Administrative Professionals Day. In past years, this day would be celebrated by my boss covertly handing me a card with a $20 giftcard to Bed, Beth and Beyond. (hmmm, was my boss trying to tell me I looked tired and was stinky???)

Now, working with the fabulous University, we Administrative Professionals are treated very nicely. This is a picture of the booty haul I got:



From L-R: A BU lunch bag, a box of raspberry tea, a bar of extremely lovely rose-scented soap, a box of assorted Jelly Belly jellybeans, a BU portfolio notebook, a Mikasa candle holder, a set of notecards with my initial, a lovely dishgarden. Not pictured, a free lunch from the cafeteria (I mean, c'mon, it's cafeteria food), a bunch of balloons, a bouquet that I won at the brunch, and the brunch itself.

Oh yeah, and a half a day off. Much needed in my getting ready to go out of town.

More rewards. These are for making it through my first round of clinicals:



"Lavish Lace," "Folk Shawls," and the ever popular "Fisherman's Sweaters." I so want to make Inishmaan and Mystic. Anchors in cable form. Yeeeee!!!!

Only 3 more hours and it's off to the Land of Mouse. However, there will be no mouse visiting this time around. Instead, there will be this:



and this:



Squee!!! Til Monday!

W. :)

We're not gonna take it....(hide your eyes. you have been warned)

This is my hair in it's natural state, blown dry and no styling products.



I could be a member of an 80's hair band. Twisted Sister? Or better yet is this:



"You know when I was a little girl, my father used to say to me, Rosanne Rosannadanna, never go out with out silicone products in your hair."

After straightening:



Speaking of changes, here is the progress on the sweater:



I discovered a mis-crossed cable and tried to drop the stitches back, and well, let's just say that didn't work out so well.

Time to meet the family:



Aren't they charming?

And finally....


Heaven, now available in your grocer's freezer.

W. :)

Eeeek, a "B"

That refers to my final grade for Fundamentals of Nursing. Now on to Med/Surg, which is the real meat of the nursing program. This is where one learns about disease processes and all the fun things nurses do, like IV and catheter insertions.

Now I get three weeks of unadulterated knitting bliss. Throw in a little water park action, a swimming pool, some hotel nookie and I'm in heaven. Only thing that could make it really perfect would be the next HP novel, but I suppose I will have to live with "In Her Shoes" instead.

The first sock is coming along. Doesn't look like much, but it is something.



The sweater looks like this....



That, folks, is 11 cables. But look at my faboolus center cable.



Good thing it doesn't ever get REALLY cold in Miami, where I would need to have this completed by a certain date. I guess when Hell freezes over would be soon enough.

And this is the shawl. It's just a close up, but really there is not much more than this.



Hopefully, by the end of my school hiatus, there will be much more progress to note.

I need to get a "Blogging for Dummies" book, if such a thing exists. I can not for the life of me, figure out how to get my links to work. Grrrr.

Fuzzywool, I am pretty sure I am just as clueless regarding this blog thing. But as for the picture, I stuck the "< img" thing in the title field. I probably redid the template thing like 20 times last week. Now about those darn links.....
W. :)

Three tests down.....

This past Saturday, I took three exams for my Nursing Fundamentals course. One was a comprehensive test, a critical thinking exercise and finally to write a care plan. We have studied and studied and studied. We have written 11 care plans over the past clinical round. We have done 7 critical thinking exercises in the past 17 weeks.

Still, I felt totally unprepared. I passed the comprehensive exam, just barely. Which, totally pissed me off. I am sure I passed the critical thining exercise. The care plan.....not so sure. Only because I totally blanked on the teaching portion. I could only think of two, and I needed three. I kind of just flubbed the last teaching item, and hope for the best. I mean I didn't put something totally irrational, but it may not have been the best choice.

So, until this evening, I will be a wreck. Speaking of this evening I have my final exam. Hopefully, good news to come.

With all of the above, and a flu that I suffered with this weekend, no knitting was done at all. I so can't wait for this night to be over.

W. :)

The new IK was is my mailbox yesterday when I got home from study group!!!! Joy!

I want to make a bunch of these as Christmas tree ornaments and to use with gift tags.



And I want to make this:



and this:



Though I am not 100% sure about the cardigan. It looks cute in this picture, but kind of baggy in the full-on front shot.

Also in my mailbox, the new KnitPicks catalog. Yummy yarns!

My current projects will keep me plenty busy for now, especially as I get to knit about an hour a day (maybe less), and two of them have 150+ stiches per row. Right now I am making this:



Because, one's very first sweater should have as many cables as possible. :)

And a simple triangle shawl in Berroco Suede, just because.

And socks. My very first pair. I have about an inch before I get to the heel. I am terrified.

Three finals tomorrow and one on Monday. EEK!!!! Then three weeks off, and mini-vacation, and not waking up at 5:00 AM on Saturday mornings for a bit. Aaaahhh!

W. :)

The End is Nigh!

So you may have seen the new Knit Kits in Target. Well, the end all be all that knitting is now TOTALLY mainstream would have to be what I witnessed this morning....

Knitting kits being sold at ..... duh-duh-duh...... WALGREENS!!!!! Hello?!?! Knitting supplies at the pharmacy. What's next? The grocery stores? Right next to the toilet paper, I suppose.

The kits are from Lion Brand, and are the basic scarf/hat things. But still.....Walgreens.

I guess if I ever lose my #11's I'll know where to go.

W. :)

ThingsAbout Moi!

1. I have lived in Miami for 29 of my 35 years on this earth.
2. I hate it here.
3. 5 of the other years were spent in North Carolina as a child, and the sixth year I spent in Europe.
4. I lived for a year in Sweden when I was 19.
5. I haven't been back to Europe since.
6. The places I most want to visit are the Canadian Rockies, Scotland, Ireland, the Western
United States and as many lighthouses as possible.
7. I fell in love with lighthouses as a small girl living in Cape Hatteras. That is my favorite
lighthouse.
8. I am currently in nursing school.
9. I want to be a labor & delivery nurse.
10. I currently am a secretary.
11. Nursng school is hard. I love it.
12. I was in the Navy Reserves for 8 years.
13 I was Honor Recruit for bootcamp. Bootcamp was hard.
14. I loved bootcamp.
15. I taught myself how to knit 2 years ago.
16. I am left handed, and I knit backwards.
17. I have knitter's A.D.D.
18. If it takes a long time to knit something, I will usually frog it.
19. I also have startitis.
20. I currently have 3 projects on the needles.
21. I crave nearly instant gratification in my knitting.
22. That's why I am learning to knit socks.
23. I love DisneyWorld.
24. I have been more than 20 times.
25. I love marine biology.
26. When I was in high school I wanted to become a marine biologist and work at SeaWorld.
27. My son was a surprise baby.
28. We were told I wouldn't be able to conceive.
29. 8 years later and he still continues to surprise me.
30. I love him more than anything in the world.
31. I have been married for almost 13 years.
32. I am still crazy about my husband.
33. Marriage & motherhood is hard.
34. I love it.
35 I am claustrophobic and afraid of heights.
36. Not much else really scares me.
37. However, I do avoid watching scary movies.
38. I have a tattoo of a dolphin.
39. I want another tattoo.
40. Actually, I want several more tattoos.
41. I am very impatient. I hate waiting.
42. I think it comes from working in banks, doctors offices and in retail.
43. I know there is really no good excuse for waiting.
44. I love Harry Potter.
45. I have read all of the books.
46. I would rather watch PBS, Discovery Channel or TLC than anything else.
47. I am the official tour guide and map holder for my family at DisneyWorld.
48. According to my husband, I look like a muppet while doing this.
49 Cleaning sucks. I do it as little as I have to.
50. Cooking sucks, too.
51. As a child my family kept trying to domesticate me by giving me "cleaning toys."
52. It didn't work.
53 I have a lot of pets. 2 dogs, 2 cats, a bird and a crab
54 I want to own a farm, so I can have sheep and alpacas.
55. I never want to live far from the ocean.
56. I rarely go to the beach.
57. I love chick-flicks and chick-lit.
58. I am totally not a girly-girl.
59. My favorite color is pink.
60. I hardly ever wear make-up.
61. I have 9 pairs of Chuck Taylors.
62. I love to go to concerts. I go to at least 2 a year.
63. I blew my whole concert budget this year to see Duran Duran.
64. I really want to see Billy Idol again.
65. I am obsessed with most things Scottish.
66. I want to get my Puerto Rican husband a kilt.
67. I used to collect stamps. Did I mention, I was a nerd?
68. I love to play Trivial Pursuit.
69. I suck at strategy games.
70. I have met several famous people.
71. The most famous person I have met is President Jimmy Carter.
72. I was on the front page of the newspaper shaking his hand when I was 7 years old.
73. I have been on TV.
74. I used to wear antebellum style dresses to church.
75. I am a dork, and not a bit afraid to make a fool of myself.
76. I am NOT a morning person.
77. I am NOT a night owl either.
78. I would say I am a 10 am-10 pm person.
79. I work in the Athletics Department at a University.
80. I am so not athletic, but I wish I were.
81. I wish I played softball, because I can bat like a mofo.
82. Unfortunately for the catcher, I also have a tendency to throw the bat behind me.
83. I gave a girl a black eye with a bat in Jr. High.
84. I took bellydancing for 2 years.
85. I got pretty good at it.
86. I believe high-heels are the work of the devil.
87. So are pantyhose.
88. I refuse to work in a position where I have to wear either.
89. This is one of the reasons I am going into nursing.
90. At one time I wanted to be a doula.
91. I have been working since I was 8 years old.
92. I think it is time for my 8 year old son to get a job.
93. Not really. But it is time for him to learn to do the laundry.
94. I have lived on my own since I was 19.
95. I totally miss having my own place.
96. The weekend I found out I was pregnant with my son, I made a full-size quilt in 9 hours.
97. I also once made a suit with a jacket the consisted of 48 pieces in a weekend.
98. At one time I wanted to be a fashion designer.
99. I rarely wear what is in fashion. I have my own style.
100. I am unable to hold a grudge.

Let's see....

My very own blog. For anyone who may read this, welcome. If not, welcome to me. :)

I really should study, so I will.

W. :)