Concateknit

National Elisa Thinks She Doesn't Run Day, Except Apparently She Does

Or, isn't it fun to talk about one's self in the third person?

Actually, I find it a little creepy when people talk about themselves in the third person so I will try to never, not ever, not ever never, do that again.

But I probably will.

SO!

I am running a 5k on Thanksgiving morning. No one is more surprised by this than I am (and yes, I do remember hitting the "register" button and yet I'm still surprised). Not only am I running it, but my WHOLE team at work is running it too, and someone keeps telling people about this 5k and suggesting that these people might also want to run it, and these other people keep saying "Hey - that sounds like a great idea, how do I sign up?" and OH MY GOD it is ME that keeps telling people to run with us, because apparently I need the spectre of public humiliation to complete a health and fitness goal.

Honestly, though, I had this realization recently that to really live a fit and healthy life, I can't relegate exercise to a single 35 minute session per day, even if that session happens six times a week. To be healthy and fit, I have to live an active life, and to me it seems that I need to do that in addition to workouts that require special equipment or gyms. I need to be more active - walking the dogs, working in the yard, going for hikes (except - no hills - hills displease me mightily) - just generally using my body MORE and my remote control less.

Also, I have believed for pretty much my whole life that I. Can't. Run. And then realizing that just the idea that I couldn't run has kept me from running really pissed me off, and so - POW - I'm running a 5k.

(Are you also starting to think that this is sounding like a Flogic post? I am. Oh boy.)

I'm sneaking up on this whole running thing by doing the Couch to 5k program, and here's the really fun thing - I'm doing it with my herd of little dogs. Yep - imagine - Concateknit who really has no idea how to run, interval training with three little dogs. The fact that the little dogs don't really have to run in order to keep up with me? Well, we're not worrying about those kinds of details right now. We're also not worrying about how I look running with three little dogs (who can keep pace w/out running) while carrying bright purple "LOOK I AM A RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER I HAVE PICKED UP THEIR POOP FROM YOUR LAWN" bags in my leash-carrying hand.

A minor aside: One awesome thing about interval training with a herd of little dogs (at least, with MY herd of little dogs) is that my little Miss Rosie girl greets every morning  now with three (little dog) big barks, and then immediately starts to run. She's at least 9 in dog years, people, and totally kicks Zorro and Dezi's butts at the whole running thing. I start off every run with a big laugh at her silly exuberance.

But! Also! So! Later this week I will get to do my whole "kind of running, but more like jogging, okay, let's be honest, it's really more like a quick weird shuffle-step" thing in San Diego on the water and I am totally looking forward to making myself look like an ass, which y'know, is a good thing, because I do that whole "look like an ass" thing on a pretty reliably regular basis.

I don't run, but I guess I do. Or something. #POW.

 

Let's See How Things Go, Or NETSM, V 2.0

I've spent some time re-reading my archives, and let's just say that it's clear to me that I have been off my game for a long time. Like, for years. I have a birthday coming up in about a week and a half, and I am determined to say good bye and good riddance to 36 and to welcome 37 in with open arms.

So...how to do that?

I think it means I have to start thinking things again.

Make no mistake - it's not like I've ever stopped thinking things, but if I had tried to put thoughts to blog for the last...oh, like three years, they'd probably come out leaving you feel like maybe you needed to come visit me to make sure I hadn't totally lost my last hold on my sanity.

But, y'know what? Screw it. Let's start thinking (wierd, I mean fun) things again.

Because it is my month and I make the rules, this year October will be the month that I Think Things. I've been making lists, and taking notes, and even laughing to myself a little bit when I think of a thing I want to Think About.

Maybe by 37 I should be more of a grown up. But I've felt decidedly old and grown up the last few years and let me just say - I am DONE with that nonsense.

I certainly hope that you'll come along for the month of October - it should be...well. It'll probably be nuts. But a much friendlier kind of nuts that I've felt for the last few years. So, there's that.

Edited because SO MANY TYPOS.

 

Oh, The Randomness...

1) The Netflix Watch Now feature is the best invention ever.

2) I am chilling on the couch with the Goofies watching Netflix "watch now" stuff.

3) I just finished Rockford Files, Season 1.

4) I squeed when I saw that 30Rock, Season 2, had just been added to the Watch Now stuff.

5) Netflix is teh awesome. :)

6) Are you going to Rhinebeck? I'm going to Rhinebeck and I'd love to see you there!

A Meme...

Amy posted a meme for today and told anyone who felt like it that they could consider themselves tagged (okay - not those exact words, but you get the point). I've got so much to tell you that it's felt like I've had word constipation - lots to say, inability to get started.

So, I'm tagging myself for the meme, with the hopes that this will act as a big old glass of metamucil.

(How's that for keeping a metaphor consistent?)

1. Where was I 10 years ago.

Hmmm...summer 1998. I was planning my first wedding. We were married in August of 1998. I had eaten half of California, and was panicking about losing enough weight to fit into my wedding dress (I did, plus some).

2. Five things on today’s to-do list.

**Look at houses on my lunch hour.

**Email my friend Kim for advice on the E Platt house.

**Use the elliptical machine.

**Walk the doggers.

**Make a list of possible restaurants in San Francisco for Mike's 40th birthday celebration (July 12th)

**(A bonus sixth thing) Find a dog sitter for Mike's birthday dinner. We're renting a flat in SF for the week and taking the dogs  with us (thank dog for pet friendly vacation rentals) but we're likely going to a non-pet friendly restaurant for dinner on Mike's birthday, so I need to find the equivalent of a doggy baby sitter. Suggestions are more than welcome.

3.Snacks I enjoy

Homemade granola and trail mix, locally grown fruit. These items can be found in my house or in my lunch bag almost every day.

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

Pay off my debt and my closest friends' debt. Buy a beautiful house. Spend all my time with Mike and the doggers. Get a lot more knitting and spinning accomplished. Travel and spend time with my friends.

5. Places I have lived.

Santa Clara, San Jose, Fremont, Campbell - all in California. Boston, Brighton, and Allston, Ma. I live in the foothills of the Central Valley now, but will likely be moving into town (meaning Fresno) within the next six months.

6. Jobs I have had.

Oy. Pizza maker, shoe salesperson, telemarketer, telemarketing supervisor, HR specialist, office manager, assistant building manager, tutor, grant manager, office coordinator, proposal writer.

7. Who would I like to know more about.

Everyone. You're all just so fascinating. Seriously.

Hi

Do you ever read through your own archives? Sometimes I do, and I'm always...surprised, I guess. I find myself surprised at something that makes me laugh, or reminded of something I had completely forgotten, or wondering how something cleverly written possibly came out of my brain. Ultimately, what I get from reading my archives is an opportunity to get to know myself better, to remember my own life and adventures, and to gauge just how much has changed since I started blogging in 2004.

It's also interesting to find themes in my own writing, and to see how those themes influenced some of the major decisions we've made, whether we were aware of the themes or not.

One of the major themes in my life for the last two years that I lived in Boston was crazy work stress. When we moved, I had a blessed few months off, and when I accepted my current job, I did so knowing that the responsibilities, stress (and pay), would be much less than I had with my job in Boston. I found it hard to adjust to my new job - I felt at loose ends, it was weird to have to start building my reputation here from the ground up, and I felt very alone. In Boston, I had a great support system and was surrounded by friends, and when I started my new job, I was painfully aware of just how few people I knew here. I not only felt alone - in many ways, I was alone.

Now I've been at my job here for almost six months, and certainly I feel much less alone than I did. One of the reasons that I took this job was because I knew that I'd have a great boss, one who could potentially be a friend, and lucky for me, she felt the same way. I've met some great girls via Ravelry, and I know that if we lived in Fresno I could be a much more active member of the fiber community here. We're beginning to put down roots here - getting invited to events, learning the neighborhoods, spending time with friends, and feeling more connected to the people here.

And yet...I read through my archives, see pictures of our old apartment, think of all the good times we had there, together and with our friends and family, and I can't help but feel some sense of loss. I live in a gorgeous area, I ate lunch outdoors in 70+ degree weather today, I have a cute little house, two amazing dogs, and am beginning to put down roots here by making real life friends, and yet...I feel pangs of loss for the wonderful community that I left when we moved to California.

I try not to dwell on the past, but I do think it is important to understand the themes and events that lead to us make major decisions, because even though I still believe that moving to California was the right thing to do, I want to be sure that our actions are deliberate and thoughtful, not reactionary.

Probably there's not much point to my post except I wanted to get some of these prickly thoughts out of my head and preserve them for posterity. I also just kind of wanted to chat with you today, too. So, hi. How are you?

Just a Little Drive By

Okay, I still totally owe you a post about Where we Stayed at Cummington and How Jackie Outed me About the Bacon Thing Three (3) Times but since I've got to pack for the weekend (more on that in a bit) I'm just going to do a little drive by of a post.

Here we go!

I bought my first fleece at Rhinebeck last year - a Shetland lamb named Mojo. It was a sweet little fleece, and tiny (just a little over a pound) and I knew I'd love Mojo a lot once he was processed and my spinning skills were a little more consistent. When I bought the Victoria at Cummington, I knew that I wanted to spin Mojo on her. Last weekend I split the fleece into three sections and I've spun and navajo-plied the first third. Isn't it lovely?

I can't stand it. I really can't. This makes me happier than I thought it would, and I am really looking forward to spinning the rest of this fleece. When I'm done I should have about 700 yards of a dk weight yarn. Lovely stuff.

So, if I don't talk to you before, have a great weekend. I'll be up in the White Mountains for my stepdaughter's high school graduation. We're leaving tomorrow around noon and will be back sometime Sunday. I'm looking forward to a weekend away with my honey in the mountains (and with my lovely Victoria) and I'm certainly looking forward to my stepdaughter's graduation.

I'm also looking forward to a half day tomorrow. I mean woo. And also hoo.

Even My Money Insults Me

Peeps. Let me tell you. It's been a work eleventy-million hours in three days with very little to show for it kind of week.

And today? Well, aside from waking up exhausted and sick but with no choice but to drag my sorry ass to work, I end up getting insulted by the change I got at lunch.

Is it wrong that my first (and consistent) reaction to getting this $10 bill today is a desire to buy a label maker so I can perpetuate this kind of tom foolery on other strangers?

Because really? This totally pulled my day right out of the crapper.

Dudes.

Sometimes You Can't Win

Knitting and spinning have forced me to broaden my color palette. Before I knit, I wore black almost exclusively, and accessorization wasn't really an issue because - everything I wore was black, so I bought black coats and black shoes and black fancypants handbags. Everything down to my underwear was black (okay, not ALL my underwear was black, but A LOT of it was).

Then I started to knit, and I knew that I wasn't going to knit with all black yarn all the time. I started incorporating more colors into my wardrobe. I had to buy a coat that accessorized with brown (because people? black does not go with brown in my world). I had to buy handbags that accessorized with browns, reds, greens, and blues, I bought non-black pants, non-black tops, I bought red shoes, and pink corduroys, and although I didn't wear those last two things together (at least I don't think I have, but I guess anything is possible) I started experimenting with color. I started wearing non-black socks - it was wild.

So, right now I am bursting out of my fat pants and I refuse to buy more. I'm not punishing myself really, I'm just cheap, and I'd rather buy thinner pants to celebrate than buy fatter pants to accommodate. You may disagree with me, and that's cool, but that's where I am with the fat pants.

I did, however, buy a black turtleneck (because it will still fit fine when I'm thinner, where my pants will just get, well, weird) this past weekend, and I wore it to work yesterday.

And I got more compliments than I *ever* do when I am wearing non-black.

So much for broadening my color horizons, hmm?

Beep! Beep! Beep!

We interrupt this, er, knitting blog to bring you some, er, knitting...and spinning...

The camera came. And I love it.

So today I did something I haven't done in a good long time - I took pictures of my knitting. Okay, I should be more specific, I took non-crappy pictures of my knitting for the first time in a long time.

The first two shots are of the cable detail on the hood of my Rogue, the last shot is a full view of the left side of the hood. I finished the hood today just so I could take and post some pictures. Happy.

   From left to right: Spunky Eclectic Silk/Merino in "Popcicle"; spun on my Ashford Kiwi and navajo-plied; Some random merino, spun on my Kromski Prelude and navajo-plied; Barnswallow Farm alpaca, spun on my Prelude and triple-plied.

Yay for new cameras. Yay!

For Maryse

I dug this out of the archives just to help Maryse with her project.

Although you can't see it too well, I am wearing hot pink sushi socks with light pink pants with flowers and such all along the cuff.

And yes, I did go out in public like that (not for the whole day, these are pajama pants, but still).