Namaste Zuma

For my birthday, my in-laws gave me a beautiful, fabulous new purse/knitting bag. Well, actually they gave me money, which I used to purchase this fabulous new bag, the Zuma by Namaste.



As you can see it is beautiful, but you may ask what makes it so fabulous? Well, I am happy to tell you.

Fabulous Feature # 1
It is a combination purse/knitting bag. This all but guarantees that I will always have my knitting with me. It also means that I don't have to make the choice between either hauling both my purse and knitting bag, or taking a knitting project in its individual project bag and knotting it to my purse handles.

Instead, the center compartment is large enough to carry not one, but several knitting projects, along with patterns and notions (which were always a pain to cart around). In addition to safely carrying my knitting projects, notions, and patterns protected from the elements, the inside pocket is also big enough to carry my reusable bags, my checkbook and my camera. I could also toss a book in there is I wanted to. Heck, I could carry my laptop in there (but remember I have a pretty little laptop).



The front pocket has enough room to carry my wallet, change purse, iPod, cell phone, and lip gloss. And the back pocket has enough room to carry my work keys, name tag, and car keys.



Fabulous Feature # 2
Despite having all of this storage, the bag doesn't look super huge or bulky. Granted, it is a good sized purse, but I've owned bigger ones that have not held nearly as much.

Fabulous Feature # 3
It has a cool, almost retro doctor's bag look. It doesn't look like a knitting bag. Not that I'm ashamed about being a knitter, but many traditional knitting bags look like they should belong to a 90 year old woman who knits toilet paper cozies and sweaters for her 53 cats. And there is the added benefit that if no one knows it is a knitting bag, no one will think about mugging me for my handmade socks and squishy wool yarn.




Fabulous Feature # 4
The center pocket closes securely, but does not have a zipper. Zippers are a dangerous thing on knitting bags, they snag your yarn. Instead of a zipper, this bag has 4 magnets, pretty strong ones. The design of the bag allows me to hold it upside down when closed and shake it and nothing will fall out.

Fabulous Feature # 5
The main pocket opens wide and stays open. This makes it easy to find things when I'm digging through the contents of my bag.


Fabulous Feature # 6
The bag is made of a vegan material that looks and feels like real leather. Granted, I have no problem with leather, but I would imagine that this would be a selling feature for some people. It really does look and feel like leather, I've had people doubt me when I told them that it is not leather.


Fabulous Feature #7
It comes in a variety of great colors. I selected the eggplant color for myself, but the variety of color choices could meet anyone's taste. I had a hard time selecting between the eggplant and the peacock blue, which was made easier by the fact that I discovered the blue was sold out. The colors of the Zuma coordinate with the rest of the Namaste bags.

In all, there are very few things that I would change about this bag (I'm listing them because I used reviews that came up on blogs when I googled the bag to make the decision and I'd like this entry to help the decision making process for any other consumer that stumbles across my blog). I'd like the main compartment to have some better pockets for organization. There are three pockets on the inside, but they are all too little to be of much use to me. Also, I wish the bottom was a little more sturdier. I feel like the bottom sags a bit when I carry it and a firmer material in the lining of the bag would help that.

Otherwise I would recommend this, or other Namaste bags for knitters looking for a good, stylish, knitting bag. The Zuma is the smallest of the purse/knitting bags collections. I also have the Namaste Buddy Case to hold different notions, which I love. Come to think about it, the Zuma would probably also make a great bag for the non-knitter who hauls a lot in their purse.

Thanks again to my in-laws!

The Sleeve Fiasco.

The Christmas deadline for Silas's cardigan has now passed. Before Christmas, I was plugging away at the sweater, and became concerned that the sleeve (the one I had completed) was too long.  Because I was under a deadline, I just continued plugging away on the sweater, trusting the pattern.

Showing the partial sweater at Christmas gave me an opportunity to try the sweater on Silas and confirm that the sleeve was way too long. I ripped off the completed sleeve and modified the pattern to make a shorter sleeve.

See the difference? The sleeve on the left is a better baby size (I made note of the length when I tried the sweater on Silas). 

Now I just have to finish the damn sweater...

Graduation!

Okay, so it has been over a week since graduation, but a really busy week. I'm on Christmas break this week, so I'm only working at the store (as opposed to working at the store while student teaching). Hopefully, I'll get caught up on some stuff, including writing.

Anyways, Saturday, December 19 was my graduation day from UWEC. So now I've graduated, but I'm not done, as I'm student teaching until the 22 of January.

So I managed to make it through the graduation ceremony without falling asleep, saying anything too inappropriate, or tripping.

After the ceremony with Jeff. Doesn't he look proud? Or excited that some day I might get a real job with a real paycheck? Or maybe just tired, and glad the long boring ceremony is over. Or perhaps he's a little concerned that one of the first things I said to him after the ceremony was, "I'm thinking nursing school would be fun for degree number 3."

And with my diploma, well actually my diploma holder, I have to finish all the student teaching stuff before they give me my actual diploma.

And my attempt at being artistic,

Now, I just need to survive until the end of January...

Snow Day!

One great thing about going into the field of education, you never outgrow the fun of snow days. Last night a storm came through and dumped a ton of snow (about 12 inches or more) on us. This succeeded in shutting down pretty much all of the local area schools, including mine.

This gave me the opportunity to finally sleep in (and it is a sad, sad world when I consider getting up at 7:30 as sleeping in). Then I settled in and got some wrapping done, so basically all my Christmas gifts are ready to go.

See? My Christmas tree has all kinds of gifts under it, plus the Seattle Christmas box is all packed and ready to be mailed. The gifts under the tree also have the added bonus of keeping the cats out from under there.

I also made sure to take some time to take Pippin out to play in the snow. First he took a moment to take in all the snow (I also think he was looking for his doggie friends that live behind us).

Pippin loves the snow.

After that, I came back inside to get some more stuff, like laundry, done. And as luck would have it, one of the hoses on the washing machine came loose and my bathroom floor ended up covered with water. But we've got that all fixed. To end the day, I made a big pot of Chili Chicken Couscous, which is a delicious, hearty meal that's perfect for a cold, snowy day (and has the added benefit of producing lots of left overs for me to eat for lunch the next couple of days).

Love it or hate it, (and I for the most part love it) winter in Wisconsin is here!

Things They Forgot to Tell You in the School of Ed (or they did and I wasn't listening)

Don't get me wrong, I'm very pleased with the quality of the education I recieced while at UWEC, but the more time I spend student teaching the more things I learn.

Here are a few of the highlights:

1. You will always get excited for snow days.

2. Thank your parents for the little things, like clean clothes, meals, and enforcing your bedtime.

3. If you have a spare moment, use it to go to the bathroom. Trust me, when a student has a blow up during your prep time, you'll be glad you did.

4. Despite what everyone says, middle schoolers are pretty much the same as when I was in middle school (they just have cell phones and iPods now).

5. The teacher's lounge can be great, but it also can be a breeding ground for negitivity. It sometimes is best to avoid it when having a bad day.

6. While your students will take out bad moods on you, it doesn't work the other way around.

7. Field trips are no longer fun.

8. Never EVER mess with a general ed teacher's prep time ( which is in stark contrast to most special ed teachers who are just excited when they have a spare 5 minutes to pee.

9. Even when you're in the worst mood ever, one of your students will say something that makes you laugh.

10. No matter how much you fight it and deny it, the world of education will make you a morning person.

11. Between students, their parents, and coworkers, you can count on having good stories to share.

12. Take the rubber band away from the student right away, nothing good will come from letting the student hang onto it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It has been awhile since I posted an update on my knitting (or actually an update of any kind for that matter). I've been slacking on the sock knitting front, putting the sock on the back burner, for what I consider to be a more immediate need.

First there is this...

Can't tell what it is? It is a scarf, a long, thin scarf that can be wrapped around my neck several times. The yarn is a sock yarn dyed in shades of black, gray, and white. There are also threads of silver spun into the yarn. It gives it a little sparkle without being too much.

After the scarf, I needed some mittens, enter these...

And up closer...

They are from the book, Knitting New Mittens and Gloves, and called Sheltie Mittens (there is the first sign that I would have to make them). The mittens, roughly inspired by the dual layer coats of Shetland ponies and Shetland sheepdogs, have an outer layer of regular wool (I used Knit Picks Wool of the Anders) knit in an open design so that the inner layer of soft, fluffy alpaca shows through. My inner layer is made using Knit Picks Suri Dream. The inner yarn hasn't fluffed out quite like I had hoped, but they are on the blocking mat right now, so I hope that helps a little bit.

Lastly, I've been doing a little Christmas knitting,

A cardigan sweater for my nephew. The design is called Dax's Jacket published in the Weekend Knits edition from Interweave Knits. The body of the sweater is done in ten row stripes with the mistake rib stitch pattern. Here it is up close.

Of course the colors never photograph too well, it is actually deep jewel tones of blue and green. I've got the front left done, and am working on the decreases for the back. The sleeves, when I get to them, will be done in plain old stockinette stitch with two row stripes. I'd like to find some fun buttons for the front, but I'm waiting until I get to that point before I make a decision on them. I'm hoping to get it done in time for Christmas, but we will see.

New Toy

Okay, so I have a new app on my iPod that allows me to write blogs on it. This post is to test it out to make sure it works before I spend a lot of time working on a post that gets lost out in cyberspace somewhere. And it will also be a short post since I have to be at work at 5 am tomorrow.

Stuck in the Middle with You

I have survived my first week at the middle school (okay, it was only four days, but I'm going to call it a week). So far, so good. My students seem pretty good, there are a couple that struggle with motivation, and a couple of little behavior issues, but nothing too terrible. With all of the horrible things that you hear about middle schoolers, I think I've got a pretty good group of kids. I know that frustrating times probably lie ahead,  most likely in the area of motivating the students, but I am looking forward to the challenge.

The days don't seem to be quite as intense as at the early learning center. It is amazing how big of a different the independence level of the students makes in your day. I'm no longer needed for bus duty or lunchroom duty. I don't have to make sure that a student doesn't over stuff his mouth and choke, and physically prevent students from licking the tray. This also brings the added perk that I have sucessfully made it through four whole days of student teaching without getting food or bodily fluids spilled, spat, wiped, dropped, or smeared on me. I also have time to use the bathroom every now and then (no kidding, at the early learning center, there were days when I only got the chance to take a bathroom break during my lunch) and a I have time to sit and relax a little while I eat my lunch (as opposed to gulping down my food as fast as possible so I could get back to my classroom.

Most of the four days was devoted to meeting the students and staff, trying to learn names, (I'm actually doing pretty good) and adapting to the new routines. I'll begin teaching math lessons this coming week, so I've brought the math curriculum home to study and write lesson plans over the weekend (but on a cheery note, I do remember more algebra than I thought that I would).

The highlights of the week were probably one of my students, Justin, coming in to class early after lunch to discuss Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (he is reading the Harry Potter series for the first time), and playing hangman with Cory, our deaf student, during in-house (it is just like homeroom) so I could practice my ASL alphabet (which is improving, I'm sure that I will learn some more signs as the quarter progresses). Gilligan Thursday during in-house was also a pretty fun time (on Thursdays my cooperating teacher allows his students to watch Gilligan's Island on dvd during in-house). 

All in all, a good start so far!

Halfway Point

Yesterday marked my last day at my elementary school placement. Monday, I head over to the Middle school. I'm not sure what I expected on my last day, but it felt a little bit anticlimactic.  I received lots of well-wishes from the teachers and staff, and hugs and goodbyes from my students. I'm not sure that all my students really got that it was my last day and they weren't going to see me everyday anymore. (However, I'll be back for conferences on the 17th, and I'm still in the district, so it's not like I'm going too far away. I'm going to miss the students and staff, but I am looking forward to starting at the middle school on Monday. I've exchanged a couple of emails with my new cooperating teacher and am looking forward to working with him. I'm a little nervous about making the switch from working with early elementary students to working with middle school students. It will be an adventure, though. I'm sure I will learn lots and enjoy the middle school as much as I enjoyed my first placement.

Quarantined!

I figured it was only a matter of time, I spend my weekdays working with small children and my weekends in the grocery store, and last week it did. The dreaded H1N1 caught up with me. So, starting last Sunday, I spent five days in my own little quarantine chamber of my house. And, for those who might be thinking, something along the lines of 'hmm, that might be a nice little break,' it was not. A high fever and a hacking cough are not good times. 

To put this in perspective, I was too sick to knit for most of the week. That is pretty sick for me. But, by Thursday, I was able to finish my newest socks in a bright, cheery colorway.




The pattern is called Hermione's Everyday Socks and the yarn is Yarn Love Juliet in the Belle colorway.I'm impressed with how they turned out and how quickly they went despite my being sick.

Friday I left the house for the first time since Sunday, heading to work for an eight hour shift, followed by another eight hour shift starting at 5:45 on Saturday. The two shifts went alright, but left me too exhausted to participate in any sort of Halloween type festivities.

I still have a bit of a hacking cough left over, but I'm excited to get back to my students at school. Especially so, as it is my last week with them before I head to the middle school for the remainder of my student teaching. It is hard to believe that I'm so close to being finished with my first quarter of student teaching. Time is flying by so fast!

I've cast on for another pair of socks, I'm using a stitch pattern from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knit Socks called purled ladders. I'm using Stroll sock yarn from Knit Picks, which I just a renamed version of Essential sock yarn. It is a great yarn, holds up nicely in the wash, is super soft, and comes in a bunch of great colors. I'm currently using a colorway called Aloha Multi, which is a combination of browns and teals. 

I'm also planned on starting a sweater for my nephew for Christmas from the Weekend Knits Issue of Interweave Knits. It's called Dax's Jacket. I'm making it with royal blue and emerald green stripes. It should turn out super cute! Once I get going, I'll be sure to put up some pictures.  

A Little Litter Experiment

For those who don't know, husband and I have cats, a lot of cats. Well, what some people would call a lot of cats, we call it 5 cats. And, as you can imagine, 5 cats means a lot of cat poop. Husband and I have three litter boxes that get changed on a weekly basis (every Monday to be exact, Monday is garbage day) but despite this diligence, there is always room for improvement. 

Three litter boxes means we go through about a bag of cat litter a week, depending on who is changing the boxes (husband doesn't use enough litter in the boxes in my opinion, and I would guess that I use too much litter in his opinion). We usually buy Tidy Cats Immediate Odor Control for Multiple Cats (anyone who has experienced Minerva passing gas can understand why we need odor control), but I was in the store yesterday, and noticed that Tidy Cats also carries a litter with antimicrobial odor control. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not too sure what good antimicrobial odor control cat litter is going to do, but it was a 25 pound bag for the 20 pound price, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.

Now, the geek in me does wonder if there is any different, so I used some of the remaining litter to run a little experiment. Of our three cat boxes, the one farthest in back has only the immediate odor control litter, the one in the middle is a mixture of the two, and the one closest to the door has only the antimicrobial litter. I'm going to keep an eye on the litter boxes to see if there is any different between the litters and post an update next week. (I would imagine that if you do not own cats, this entry is of no interest whatsoever to you except to confirm that there is indeed something wrong with me.)

First Snow of the Season

There's something about the first snow of the year, it is like catnip to small children. It doesn't matter if the snow stays or not, expect children to be nutty when the snow starts flying. It's been a long week (that is not over yet). Kids have been nutty all week long, lots of behavior issues, lots of meltdowns, and to top it all off, at least three cases of H1N1 at the school. Fun, fun, fun!

I started the week off with a bang, when I realized that the red wine stains on my pink sweater that appeared to be gone in the lights of my bathroom, were in reality not gone in the harsh lighting of my school. (Not that they were all that noticeable, but still). From now on, I must remember to look at clothing in better lighting before leaving my house. 

With all the flu hullabaloo, I've now realized that kinders spend lots of time with their fingers in there noses.

On a brighter note, I finished the Gillyweed socks for sister's birthday. I've now cast on for a new pair of socks, using a pattern called Hermione's Everyday Socks. It is a simple stockinette pattern with a few purl stitches thrown in every couple of rounds. I'm using the Juliet Sock Yarn from a company called Yarn Love. The colorway is called Belle and is a combination of yellows, browns, purples, and greens. A nice springy colorway for these cold dreary fall days. 

Kerplunk!

What's that sound? Oh yeah, it is the sound of me falling flat on my face during my Language for Learning lesson today. Not just a stumble, not just a could have been better lesson, nut just a bad lesson, but a complete and utter failure of a lesson. I couldn't get the students' attention, couldn't keep the students' attention, couldn't get the students to do a  single thing that  wanted them to do. Heck, I couldn't even keep one of the students seated at the table. By the end of the lesson, banging my head repeatedly against a brick wall seemed like a better choice for how to spend my time and almost anything seemed like a better career choice. Yup, I was feeling like a failure, as a teacher, and as a person.

However, I dealt with it. I did not bang my head against a wall, I did not yell and scream, and I did not curl up in a ball and cry. I tried my best to shake it off and keep going with my day. For me, that meant gathering the thre students up and getting them to go on their bathroom break and milk break. And of course they were difficult about that too. But I hung in there. I'm determined to sit down with the book and make tomorrow go at least a little bit better. And it is that determination that makes me think that maybe, just maybe, I can do this. 

...then again, maybe not.

It would save alot of time if I just put the pictures in when I posted.

Here's the promised picture of the Veil of Isis. It has started out pretty well, I think.

And a little closer...

I was a little nervous about the Veil of Isis pattern, because it was my first true lace knitting and the pattern was not terribly clear. However, now I think I have things pretty much figured out, and know what I'm doing. The lace knitting hasn't been too tough so far, the pattern is just a combination of yarn overs, knit two togethers, and slip, slip, knits. It is also great because it is knit in the round, so there are no purls. Considering I'm still working on the Lily Cardigan, which is in stockinette and knit flat and involves long rows of knits followed by loooong rows of purls, it is a pretty fantastic project combination right now. However, I'm totally and completely sick of working on the Lily Cardigan and am tempted to chuck it across the room. But, I will keep plugging away at it, and I will finish it. (Mostly because I'm sure that if I set it aside for awhile, it will get neglected, end up in the bottom of my knitting basket, and will not be thought of again until it is so damanged that I need to rip it out and toss the yarn--not that this has happened).



And the first of sister's Gillyweed socks.

 

My final knitting project for right now involves a knitting student (yes, I'm a student teacher, a religous education teacher, and now a knitting teacher, I'm a bit of a one hit wonder). One of husband's cousin's daughters has asked if I would teach her knitting, and I gladly agreed. Honestly, I think it is a pretty good use of my limited free time. I've put some thought into it, and I figure it's a good way for someone to learn. I have enough spare needles and stashed yarn that she can find out if she likes it before investing in her own needles and yarn. If she does take a liking to it, perhaps some of my yarn that is just sitting there can go to a new and happier home (and for that matter, some of my old needles, too) and I have plently of patterns and books that she would be more than welcome to borrow. However, I've also come to the conclusion that if, after a lesson or two, she decides that knitting is not for her, it is not an insult to me. Knitting is not for everyone and it is nothing personal. Either way, it should be a fun time.

To Whoever Set off the Fire Alarm Today...

I woke up this morning thinking, "Boy, do I hope I get the opportunity to traipse through the muddy school yard in the rain. I hope I can also take some time to stand under dripping pine trees while we ensure that the building is not really burning down.  And it was a tremendous treat to have three special needs students that I finally got to settle in and focus on their math interrupted, especially so close to lunch. Also, to add to the fun, I was wearing flats, which ensured that my pants ended up more than a little bit wet and muddy. It really made my day.

Aside from the unexpected fire drill, I'm adjusting nicely to student teaching. Lessons with my first grader have been going well. It is difficult for her to sustain attention, so I feel like I'm spending at least half the lesson redirecting and reminding. However, the student is sweet, and easy to work with. It provides a nice break from some of my more challenging kinder students. My co-operating teacher will be gone this Thursday and Friday for a conference, so there will be a sub. It will be interesting to see how that goes. Also, on Friday, my university supervisor will be visiting for an hour. I'm pretty nervous about that.  Thursday will bring its own amout of fun as well, I will be an extra pair of hands on the first grade field trip to the apple orchard in the morning (hope for good weather, the group that went today had rain) and after school, I'll be driving to Eau Claire for my student teaching seminar. There was a brief moment of hope earlier this week that it might get shifted to next week, but that hope was dashed today. Next week would really be better for several reasons, including a. Jeff has both golf, and Lions this week and it would be nice to have an extra evening to spend at home; and, more importantly b. I'm pretty sure there was some sort of assignment I was supposed to complete, but haven't even looked at it yet. 

When all else fails, pray for a fire drill

When you go to the first meetings about student teaching, when you first get your assignments, and before you start, people warn you that the process is exhausting. I believed this was true, but never realized just how exhausting until I did it myself.  I'm consistantly waking up earlier than I ever have before, (a fact which is augmented by the fact that work seems to insist on scheduling me for the 5:30 am shift on the weekends) and I'm both mentally and physically engaged with what I'm doing all day long, with the sole exception of the 20 to 30 minute lunch break.

The students on my caseload are great, but present their own level of challenges. I have a student who occasionally likes to flop down and lay on the floor and requires physical assistance to redirect him. I'm concerned about him, because he always seems to be very tired all day at school. I know a little bit about his home environment, and have to wonder if he is getting enough sleep. The other kids on my caseload range in abilities, but all of them have unique and usually wonderful personalities.


I'd adjusting to my  school and my relationships with the teachers and staff at the school. I'm trying to force myself to come out of my shell, but with me, it is always a fight with my shyness. However, I''m trying to make progress and to foster relationships with the people of my school. 


My personal goal for this week is to add stops at the gym to my daily routine. My current plan is to go tomorrow, but that would mean that I have to pack a gym bag tonight. I know for a fact that if I stop home first, I won't go to the gym at all. I want to get back in the habit of going to the gym again, and I think it would provide a little mental downtime after finishing out the school day. The problem is getting myself to start doing it. I also have to work on getting things done when I get home from the school day. I've been giving in to the seemingly constant state of exhaustion I've been feeling, but I need to stop doing that and get things done around the house. 


The lunchroom also provides a whole new dimension I never expected. It seems like almost every day I come home with some sort of food product on some part of my clothing. It can happen innocently, like when I leaned on the syrup-coated table while eating breakfast with one of my students, or can happen less innocently, like when that same student wiped his oreo-coated mouth on the knee of my khakis. Either way, doing a spot check with stain remover before chucking the clothes in the hamper has become part of my routine. 


On a bright note, I seem to have done a pretty good job at assembling my "teacher clothes". Each day, I stretch and bend to make sure nothing is showing that shouldn't be. At this point, Old Navy should give me an advertising job for their perfect khakis. I wear a pair pretty much every day in either capri or pants form, in some color or another.

 

Mind Challenges and Mindless

My knitting these days can be combined into two categories. I'm attempting to do lace, The Veil of Isis, and though I'm faithfully following the instructions, I'm not quiet sure that I understand the pattern. I'm somewhat afraid that this is going to end badly. On the other hand, I'm very pleased with how it has turned out so far, I'll have to post some pictures of the work in progress. The yarn is Knitpicks Gloss Lace in the Mermaid colorway a beautiful light blue color.

My other knitting is pretty mindless. I'm working on adding inches to my Lily Cardigan. My initial goal was to have it done for nephew's baptism, which is this weekend. It was overshadowed by the sucess of my Shawl that Jazz wrap, which I decided to wear with my baptism dress instead. Right now the work on the cardigan is all stockinette, knit a row, purl a row, over and over and over. It is the prefect relaxation tool after a long day of student teaching.

Of course, I also have a pair of socks on the needles. They are for my sister, I'm planning on sending them out to Seattle with her birthday present the beginning of November. I've finished one sock, and have a couple of inches done on the second sock. The first sock went fairly quickly, so I'm not worried about finishing it on time. By November, I should have finished that pair and moved onto another pair (or two).
Student teaching is consuming my weekdays right now. I'm at the school by 7:15 every morning, and home around 4 every afternoon. But, by the time I get home, I'm pretty exhausted. It is nice to be able to enjoy knitting where I don't have to think about what I'm doing. I'll begin to take over lessons starting next Monday. There are good days and bad days, but so far I have not doubted that I've chosen the right career path for me. 


My weeks are about to get a little bit busier as well. I've just talked to the Director of Religious Education from my church. I'll be teaching religious ed classes on Wednesday nights. I'm teaching eighth grade, the same class level that I taught the first half of last year. This means I do have some lessons already planned. I do want to look over the lessons and make some changes. I have a meeting with the rest of the religious education teachers next Wednesday evening.

One Week Down, Seventeen More to Go

I've officially survived the first week of student teaching with students (not a full week though, that won't happen until week 3). No major disasters, and really no minor disasters either. I've spent a lot of time assessing phonemic awareness in the kinder classes. It surprises me how many kinders have trouble with rhyming. I'm also a little surprised by the variety of skills present in the kinder classroom (some students cannot rhyme, and others can segment words into their individual sounds). It seems like the teachers have a wide variety of abilities on their hands. 

I'm ending each day feeling exhausted, but usually pretty good. The days are very long, and I'm putting a lot of hours in for no pay. I'm settling into routines for several parts of the day, arrival of the buses, lunchtime, and departure. The days begin with me meeting my students as they arrive (most of them get off of the bus), I can either stay outside until all of the students arrive, or go downstairs into the gym while some of my students eat breakfast. Lunchtime involves getting my kinders through the lunch line, getting them sat down, and providing assistance while the students eat. Once the students go outside for recess, my cooperating teacher and I get a lunch break. On a good day, the break might just be thirty minutes, but it usually works out to be less. At the end of the day, I head to one of the first grade classrooms, collect one of my students, and get him to the bus. Then we stay outside supervising the bus loading until the students are gone.


I haven't really had much time for academics, the responsive classroom model followed by my school tries not to pull out students during the first couple of weeks of school. My co-op has said that we will start pulling some students this coming week though. She's developed a tentative schedule for the day, and will begin figuring out which areas I will start to take over first. I'm nervous about the concept of running a classroom by myself, but also looking forward to the challenge. 


Time is really flying by for me, even though it sounds cliche. My weekends will be consumed by work and my weeks are consumed by student teaching. Hopefully I can make it through the semester.


 

First Impressions

Today marked the students' first day of school. I've been in many placements in different schools, but I still wasn't quite sure what to expect from this. My last first day experience in a public school would have been the first day of my senior year back in 1999 (yeah, I'm old). The school where I am currently placed is for students from early childhood to first grade. This meant the students' arrival was filled with chaos, craziness, and tears, from both students and parents. I spent the first part of the day with three of my kinders, helping out in the classroom. Lunchtime brought along a whole new experience, teachers and aids assist in the managing, supervision, serving, and clean-up during the lunch process. You completely forget how helpless kinders are until you have to help a large group of them get trays filled with food, eat the food, and dump the tray. And then there was the applesauce situation. For some reason the individual servings of applesauce where impossible to open. After assisting in opening a large number of these applesauces, my hands were sticky, and I'd stuck my thumb in more containers of other people's applesauce than I would ever care to admit. 

After the students finished eating lunch I finally got a brief break to scarf down some of my own food before heading to a meeting. The meeting covered the new crisis response system the school is attempting to impletement. Attempt would be the key word here because it had already been violated earlier that morning when I student was removed from the classroom and sent home (and yes, to my sister's delight, the incident involved chair throwing). The afternoon flew by and ended with my escorting one of my assigned bus students to his bus (the second was the student that was sent home earlier) and then helping with the all school bus duty. If you want a good time, watch about 200 students all under the age of 8 trying to find their bus or their parents.

I think the day was a sucess. I'm still planning on going back tomorrow, so it couldn't have went too badly, right?

Things I've learned today:

• Take advantage of free moments to go pee. It is very possible that you might not get another chance to go to the bathroom for a very long time.
• Applesauce containers were very clearly designed as a revenge for some sort of terrible misdeed done by the staff of my elementary school.
• A crying kinder will not hesitate to use your shirt as a tissue.
• Kinder gym class is really, really boring. (Sorry Mr. Gym teacher, but it is)
• Some parents will not hesitate to point out that they cannot afford to pay for gas to drive to school because they can barely afford to buy their Marlboros (yup, they really will).
• Always, always carry an extra napkin or two, and some hand sanitizer
• I really do like teaching and students (really I do)!
  

The Students are Coming!

Tomorrow is the big day, the first day of school for students. I guess it is a victory to say I don't feel completely unprepared to meet the students. On the other hand, I definitely don't feel completely prepared.I now have a couple of inservice days under my belt, and I'm feeling more and more comfortable with the staff at the school. I really feel good about the special ed teachers, they've all been great. 

However, Friday brought my first student teaching seminar, which just about gave me a panic attack. I've got a long list of things to do in my classroom, including making an audio recording of me teaching. I also have to complete an IEP (individualized education plan, any student recieving special education services has to have one), complete two different progress monitoring tasks, a behavior change plan, and some formal and informal assessments. And that is just the list for the first quarter, come second quarter I have to do it all over again, plus complete a Professional Development Plan (PDP), prepare my Gate 3 materials, and give a presentation on one of the ten Wisconsin Teaching Standards (WTS) (and the standard is assigned, not chosen). The road ahead seems daunting, but hopefully I can accomplish all that I need to. 

Day One Done

Today was my first day student teaching at my elementary school placement. Actually, it was an inservice day, so I didn't really do any teaching, that won't happen until next Tuesday.

My day started early, with me arriving at my school by 7:20 am. I met up with my supervising teacher, who gave me a tour of a couple of other district schools. Then we wandered about our school for a little while, where she introduced me to many, many staff members. And I can barely remember any names.

Next, we had the school faculty meeting. I was then officially introduced to the entire school, met many more people whose names I will hopefully learn before the quarter ends. I also got to meet the other student teacher, a future art teacher from UW Stout, and then proceeded to spend some time helping my supervising teacher with classroom set up. I also went over the IEPs of some of my students, trying to get at least a little familiar with the names.

This afternoon we had the first round of parent conferences. Between meeting with the parents of some of my students, I assisted parents with filling out forms, and then proceeded to help sort and organize the forms.

The day ended at 6:30 this evening. Tomorrow, I'll be back at the school at the same time, and then head over to the high school for a district wide kick off breakfast and meeting. I'm hoping to get an opportunity to at least meet my supervising teachers for next quarter from the middle school while we are at the district wide meeting. There will also be another round of conferences tomorrow starting at 3.

Finished!

With less than a week to spare, niece's airbender hoodie is finished. The sweater has been washed, blocked (it took forever to dry, forever), folded, wrapped, and presented to niece, who was quite happy with it. She calls it her "air nomad sweater." I have to say, I'm pretty thrilled with how it turned out.



This also gives me the chance to return to knitting other items. I'm still working on the little shell rib socks for Danielle. Progress has been slow, considering my knitting has been focused elsewhere, I've just finished the short row heel and am working on the leg of the first sock. Hopefully I'll also finish up the Lily Cardigan. I'm down to adding length to the bottom, which means rows and rows of stockinette stitch. I'm itching to start another project, but I also know if I start too many other things, I'll never finish the Lily Cardigan. I'm allowing myself to cast on for a second attempt at a large lace project. I'm going to give the Cheshire Cat Stole another go, but with different yarn. I've ordered some Misti Alpaca Lace in the Mojito colorway. The last time I attempted the stole, my needles broke after a couple of inches, then the project got all tangled up, forcing me to abandon the project. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this time comes out better.

The End is in Sight!

And we're getting down to the deadline for niece's birthday sweater. She arrives in Wisconsin tonight and leaves again on Thursday. So the gift has to be done by Wednesday evening, or I'm going to have to come up with an emergency last minute gift.

However, the outlook is good. I've finished the back and hood, and am a little over halfway done with the first sleeve. If I keep pressing onward there should be no reason that it cannot be completed in time. (However, if I keep getting distracted by other things...)

So, back to the knitting and I promise an update with pictures once the sweater is done.

Tunnel Vision Knitting

Currently, my knitting is focused on one thing, Sophie's birthday sweater. Progress is going good. I decided to switch from knitting in the round to knitting flat to make the colorwork a little bit easier. However, this means I will have to do more seaming. Knitting the front and back flat and the sleeves in the round is the current plan, but we'll see how it pans out. I've finished the front which, after ripping it out and starting over once, turned out pretty good in my opinion.



The three spirals are the symbol of the air nomads. The blue color is a little more purply than I would like, but is was the closest color I could find in the yarn line that I wanted to use. Ideally, I'd like to have the back finished by the end of the weekend. I think it should go faster than the front because instead of the spirals, there is only a single stripe running up the middle. This means taht I don't have to follow a chart. The ulitmate plan is to finish the entire project by the end of next weekend. Husband leaves for a golf weekend in Hayward on Thursday and alone time usually equals knitting time, but my mother has me playing in a golf tournament on Saturday. It's a fundrasier for breast cancer awareness and there is another non-golfer on the team, or I'd never be doing it.

Once finished with the sweater, it'll be back to work on the lily cardigan. I'd like to get that done, but I'm also itching to start some new projects. I'd really like to make a new purse. I've got the yarn and a couple of different patterns, but I really should finish the cardigan.

My portable project is a pair of socks, of course. I'm knitting them toe-up using the willow band stitch patter from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks and their for my sister. She picked out the yarn, Plymouth Happy Feet in shades of green and brown, when I was visiting her in Seattle. I'm a little worried, however, because the yarn is pooling in a way that almost creates a camouflage look. I'm not sure that sister is going to be pleased with the results. But I'll keep on working on them, and if she doesn't like them, I'll find somebody that does.

And I'm Off . . .

Finally!

The pattern arrived for Sophie's birthday project. I'm not certain whether or not I can complete it in time for Sophie's birthday on the 29th, but I'm going to give it my all.

For those who need a refresher, Sophie's birthday project is a hooded sweater designed to match the tattoos on Aang, the main character on one of Sophie's favorite television shows, Avatar: The Last Air Bender. The sweater is in a beautiful silvery-gray color with blue arrows on the sleeves and hood, which match air bender tattoos. The chest of the sweater has three spirals, the symbol of the air nation.

The pattern arrived on Tuesday, just as I was leaving for work, of course. I did some designing and swatching and was ready to cast on by the next day. But wouldn't you know it, my old pal fate had to intervene by giving me a nasty chest cold. I've been sleeping a lot, which severly limits the amount of time that I can spend knitting.

Photos, as Promised

Just like I promised yesterday, here are some new photos of my latest knitting projects.

Here are the legwarmers for Petra. They turned out adorable, and I love the colors. They are actually much more vibrant than they appear to be in this photo:


And here are some updated photos of the scrap sock yarn blanket. The first two rows are really coming along nicely. It has a patchwork quilt look that I really love.


And here is a little closer view of the a few of the squares:


Someday, in the far, far future this will turn into a lovely blanket.

And, in case you're wondering, no, the pattern for Sophie's hoodie has not yet arrived.

We Interrupt My Regularly Scheduled Knitting

When I returned from Seattle I had all my summer knitting planned out. I was going to continue work and finish my Lily cardigan, I was going to complete the Shawl that Jazz wrap, I was going to finish some more socks, and I was going to make an Avatar inspired hoodie for Sophie's birthday in the end of August.

Now the end of July approaches, and I've completed a pair of socks this summer and the Shawl that Jazz wrap. The Lily cardigan is still in progress, but the other day I managed to step on one of my beautiful wooden Harmony size 6 needles and, because it was made of wood, it broke. Now the Lily cardigan is on hold until the replacement needles arrives, and as much as I love Knitpicks, their shipping isn't always super speedy. But that is not what is really bugging me.

Upon arriving home from Seattle in June, I selected a style and design for the hoodie for Sophie. I ordered the yarn (knitpicks, of course) and began searching for a pattern that I wanted. I found the pattern and ordered it. And I'm still waiting for the pattern to arrive. As time ticks away until Sophie's birthday, I know that I need to through myself into the project full force when it arrives, which makes me hesitant to start any other large projects. That is also bugging me, as I have several great projects on deck.

So I'm killing time working on little "filler" projects. I knit up a bat shell for Sophie's turtle. I knit Petra a pair of baby legwarmers (which turned out adorable), and now I'm focusing some energy in my scrap sock yarn blanket. It is coming along pretty well, although very slowly. The width is about halfway to where I want it, and then I can start building up the length. While I'm working on it, however, I fret about not getting Sophie's cardigan done in time for her birthday.

I'll update with pictures of the blanket and legwarmers once I get them off of my camera and onto flickr.

Shawl that Jazz and Photo Updates

My first wrap is completed, and I'm a big fan of it.



I used the pattern Shawl that Jazz, and a silk and pima cotton blend yarn. The photos don't do justice to the colors in the yarn, it is a combination of shades of greens, and browns with some splashes of red thrown it.

The wrap was going to be my backup, in case I didn't get the Lily Cardigan finished in time for my godson's baptism, but it looks really good with the dress. It might become the front runner even if the cardigan is finished (unless the cardigan turns out really, really good).

Here it is with my dress.

It looks pretty great, right? And, as I have arrived on the point of the cardigan where I find the sweater incredibly boring, I may never finish. It is a good thing to have the back up done.

It also occurs to me that I failed to post photos of my rpm socks, which turned out great. I think that is the yarn's doing not the knitting. The colors are just beautiful, but again the photo doesn't really capture it. The yarn is a combination of brown, pink, and purple.


And, finally, I have yet to post the photos of my case for my iPod touch, which is truly the greatest gadget ever.


And, yes, it is the same yarn as the socks.

I need to start on Sophie's birthday knitting, but I'm patiently waiting for the pattern for the hoodie to arrive. It is taking a lot longer than seems reasonable. I don't want to start another project until I can start on Sophie's sweater. The wait will force me to work more on the cardigan, or a shell for Sophie's turtle, or legwarmers for Petra...

Third Time's the Charm

I've been working on a new pair of socks since finishing the black lace socks. I was excited about the yarn, (Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock) and wanted to find a pattern that would work for it. So I casted on, and got to the heel turn, and gave up. The I selected another pattern, casted on, worked a couple of inches, and gave up. Then I selected yet another pattern, RPM from Knitty, and viola, new socks! I finished the pair in less than two days. It is amazing how quickly socks go when I am enjoying the pattern and the yarn (not to mention when I don't have silly things like classes and homework to take up my time).

I'm continuing on the Lily Cardigan, and have just finished the waist decreases. I'll keep plowing away on that, but Sophie wants some new shells for her turtle, Danielle wants some legwarmers for baby Petra, I promised some socks for Sophie, and I have Sophie's birthday knitting to do. I'd also like to cast on for Shawl that Jazz, a really cute wrap pattern that I already have the yarn for and am set to go.

I'm also trying to decide whether or not to make a shower gift for my friend, Kari's, baby shower. But, since the shower is the beginning of August, I'm leaning towards buying a shower gift and possibly making something for when the kidlet is born at the end of October.

Ah, Summertime

Many people are big fans of summer, however, I am not. I absolutely detest hot weather, and it is only June and the highs are already in the upper 80's. Add on top of that the insane humidity that comes with and I would take the cold of Wisconsin winters, with 30 below windchills over this any day.

To combat the rash of crankiness I experience during the summer, husband and I decided to go out tonight and get a little portable air conditioner. It has been running for a little over an hour and already it is feeling better in here.

The heat is also hampering my progress on my knitting. The last thing I want to do is to think about sweaters, socks, and wool when it is this warm. I'm hoping that the air conditioner helps to further my progress on my projects.

I've finished the sleeves of the Lily cardigan and am now working on the waist decreases. I'm beginning to worry that I will run out of yarn, but I still have five balls left. I thought that I ordered at least one extra ball when I ordered the yarn, but I'm still concerned. Also, I have an official timeline. The date for Silas's baptism has been set for September 19. I'd like to have the cardigan finished to wear over my dress on that day. (besides having the extra time, not having the baptism until September also makes it more likely that the weather will allow me to wear the sweater.

I'm still working on the mad color weave socks. I have a couple more pattern repeats before the heel flap of the first sock to go. Without school and traveling, my progress on socks, which I deem my 'travel projects,' has slowed. It will become my breakroom knitting for days I work a shift that gives me a real break.

I'd like to make progress on these projects however, I am positively itching to cast on "Shawl that Jazz" in a cotton and silk blend from Misti Alpaca. The yarn I have is a hand-dyed colorway aptly (for me) named Wisconsin. Actually the name is pretty fitting, the yarn is a combination of hues of brown and green, all which are present in the Wisconsin country side, with a little bit a red mixed in, which reminds me of cranberries. The yarn should produce a shawl that would also look great with the brown dress I have for Silas's baptism, so maybe that is reason enough to cast on.

Avatar Knitting.

After a brief trip to Seattle and a four day intensive summer class, I am just know beginning to feel like summer has actually started. And how am I celebrating the first day of true summer? Drinking coffee and watching Avatar, a cartoon. My oldest niece, Sophie is a big fan of Avatar, and I'm searching for inspiration for a knitting project for her birthday at the end of August.

Currently, I'm leaning toward a grey hooded cardigan with arrows down the sleeves and on the hood, and the symbol of the air nation on the chest. (The arrows will match Ang's markings on his head and arms.) Now, I've just got to figure out how to engineer the whole thing. I'm not even sure where to start, but calling my sister to get Sophie's size sounds like a good start. I also might try to make a flying six legged bison stuffie for Sophie as well, but I'm not sure about that.

I also searched ravelry and found a blanket design with the four element symbols. The main problem is that it is crocheted, but I think I can use the photos to create a knit chart for it. For that process, I'm thinking of modifying some double knit patterns similar to Petra's baby blanket. But I'm leaning toward the hoodie right now.

Progress on my Lily cardigan is slow going. I'm almost done with the sleeve decreases, which hopefully means that I'm almost done with the sleeves. My original goal was to have the project finished in time to wear to Silas's baptism. The date hasn't been set for the baptism has not been set, but I'm still not entirely confident that the cardigan will be done on time. (Especially if I get distracted by a project for Sophia.

Thankfully, I have managed to finally finish my clover lace socks. Knitting black socks is so boring! I'm not sure if I would have ever finished them if I hadn't had the plan ride to and from Seattle to work on them. I'm now casted on a pair of mad color weave socks (rav. link), using Three Irish Girls Adorn sock yarn in Maureen. Those are going much more quickly than the black socks.

Awww!

Chi-Hi Thank You Frame
Originally uploaded by ColeyAnn

The placement I just finished was at Chippewa Falls High School. One of the classes I assisted in was a vocation ed. class that ran a business called "Cardinal Creations". As a good-bye gift, they gave me this 5x7 picture frame. It has the word "friends" all around it in different fonts and also says, "Thank you for all your help. Good luck, Mike, Amanda & Chi-Hi students." (Amanda was the teacher I worked with and Mike is a shop teacher that co-taught the Cardinal Creations class) I think this frame will be perfect to sit on my desk someday when I get a teaching job, don't you?

And I'm done!

As of about 6:30 yesterday evening, the Spring semester of 2009 is over. All that is left to do is wait for the grades to be posted, which should be by next Tuesday. My SPED 401 final should be the last final I will ever take in my undergraduate career (I'm assuming that a four day summer class will not involve a final, but I can't be sure until I start the class). All that is left is the four day summer class, student teaching, and the student teaching seminar. The seminar should only meet about 7 times during the semester, so that shouldn't be too terrible.

I'm trying to work out a time to meet with my cooperating teacher for next semester. I'd like to get a chance to see the school and have some idea of what I'm getting into. One of my placements is an early learning center, with about 400 students all aged 7 or under. That could be a bit of a test for me, but I'm looking forward to it anyways.

I've got some plans for the next couple of weeks before I leave for Seattle. I'd like to get the house a little more organized than it is, give it a good, although belated spring cleaning. I would also like to get some knitting done. I have been neglecting my hobbies in the craziness of this semester, only finishing a couple pairs of socks since finishing my Christmas knitting. I have the current cardigan and a pair of socks on the needles. I think I'm also going to cast on for Sheldon the Turtle today. I would like to have one finished to take out to Sophie when I go.

I've also decided, instead of creating a second blog to write about my student teaching experiences, I'm going to combine it with this blog. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to write one blog about, well, about nothing in particular, and write another about something.

Changes and Student Teacher Placement

As this long semester, which followed a first long semester draws to a close, I finally feel like there may just be an end in site to my seemingly endless pursuit of education. This is my last semester spent filled with classes. I finally will be student teaching next semester (and to prove just how good my education actually has been, I edited out student teachering, knowing that teachering is not a real word). I'm soon to be done with driving to Eau Claire an average of four days a week. That added up to 12 hours in the car a week, which means I spent the equvilant of two full days out of every month in my car. That's a depressing thought if I ever had one. But those days are done.

I will go from spending 12 hours a week in a car to spending 5 hours a week in a car. That's a big improvement in my book. A huge improvement, a monumental improvement. I'm gaining 7 hours a week. That's seven hours a week that I can spend knitting (or more likely writing lesson plans).

In the course of getting things done, I'm haven't been putting the time and energy into knitting that I should be. I've been focused much more on school (understandable, but depressing). However in another week and a day, I'll be able to devote much more time to my creative endeavors, and much less time to academic persuits. Well, until that stupid summer class, that'll take up a good portion of a week.

I've managed to create some more squares for my sock yarn blanket, that is about all that fits into the windows of spare time I can create right now. I've knit only about two rows on my black socks and done next to nothing on my cardigan.

Even though I have yet to contact my cooperating teachers, I've already started making plans for my student teaching next fall. Not so much the lessons I want to teach, but more of planning for time managment. My goal is to spend the summer organizing my class materials so that I have resources available to me when I start. I also want to chronical my experiences, so I'm

going to be adding those posts to the infrequent posts I make on here.

Starting now...

So, Monday I recieved my placement information, and it would be difficult to make me too much happier (well, thus far, I've yet to actually talk to my cooperating teachers). I'm only thirty minutues from home. Instead of the usually student teaching placement, split into quaters, I will be dividing my time three ways, between three teachers. I'm left with the freedom to work out how my time will be divided with my teachers.

Two of my placements are with students with cognitive disabilities. One at the early elementry level, grades 1 and 2, and the other at the middle school. The third placement is also at the middle school level, working with students with learning disabilities. I'm reluctant to add any more identifiers to the description, out of respect for the privacy of the students and teachers (yeah, yeah, I'm such a professional).

I'll be contacting my cooperating teachers on Monday. I'm nervous and excited.

Scrap Sock Yarn Blanket

Sockblanket1
Originally uploaded by ColeyAnn

I've been looking for a way to use up the unused remains of sock yarn that I just can't seem to throw away. After searching ravelry, I settled on the Scrap Yarn blanket, which is made up of a bunch of little squares that require very little yarn to create. I started working on my first couple of squares, and have been pleased with the results.

This is a great project for me because: 1) the squares take very little time to knit, great for my short attention span, 2) I can set aside this project for extended periods of time and pick it up again with little thinking, 3) I can make a blanket without spending any additional money, 4) the finished project will be fun, pretty, and brightly colored, 5) it is a perfect excuse to knit a lot of socks.

However, I failed to consider: 1) these squares are little, it will take FOREVER to make this blanket, 2) they don't use up much yarn, so it will be awhile before I am able to finish off any yarn, 3) after I create enough squares to make the first row, I begin to join squares together, which will make the project pretty non-portable, 4) there are going to be a TON of loose ends to weave in, and I hate weaving in ends, 5) because there will be multiple squares of each color, and because I'm building the blanket as I go, there are going to be groupings of each sock yarn color, which may make the finished product look bad (or good, I'm holding out for good), 6) I'm going to have to knit a lot of socks.

At any rate, it is going to keep me occupied for some time. As I start a new project, I can't help but consider that right now I should be spending less time on knitting, and more on finishing the semester. Each evening it seems like I have less and less time to spend on knitting. But the end of the semester is fast approaching, and summer should see a dramatic increase in the amount of time I can spend knitting.

The end of the semester cannot come soon enough, though when I think about the amount of stuff I have to do, it will probably also come too soon.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Basic (or Boring) Black (Project Talk)

After a day of Doctor Who, homework, and knitting; (more knitting than homework...perhaps I would be less stressed if I prioritized better) I've finished the Show-off Stranded Socks. They turned out absolutely beautiful, perhaps they will be my favorite socks. The yarn and pattern worked wonderfully together. I'm also including finished photos of the finished baby blankets for my niece and nephew. I'm pretty happy with how they both turned out.














So, finishing one pair of socks of course means that I will be starting on another pair. Instead of using one of my many, many beautiful handdyed sock yarns, I'm making ones out of some basic black sock yarn. (well, actually kettle dyed sock yarn, so there is some variation in the color of the yarn, but not much) I'm going to do a cloverleaf lace rib design to add some interest, but these socks have the potential to be very, very boring. I'm also continuing to work on the Lily cardigan, I'm a few rows short of dividing the body from the sleeves. I'd also like to get a start on the blanket I'm going to make out of all my scraps of sock yarn. It is basically a patchwork of little diamonds. It will be a long term project, but it is a good use for my scraps of sock yarn. I am anxiously awaiting summer so I have more time to devote to my knitting. I've got a pile of projects on my to do list.

And the probability that I will be bald by the end of the semester increases

s the end of the semester draws nearer, my workload and stress seem to be increasing. So, I am doing the logical thing, of course, by using my free time to complain about it instead of working. Well, in all fairness, I'm flipping back and forth between this screen and another so I can search for articles while I complain, I'm not happy unless I'm multitasking. At any rate, I feel the intense desire to pull out my hair many times a day.

Tuesday, everything piled on me at once and brought about a huge panic attack. I've been expecting this attack to come for some time now, but I actually thought it would manifest last week, when I had two presentations in one day. But like all good attacks, this one waited until I wasn't expecting it, then struck. I suppose it is not an attack if I can predict its coming. Anyways, so I found myself in my car, on the side of the road, crying, and feeling like there was no one in the world for me to talk to. I've been feeling isolated a lot lately, and that may have added to the panic attack.

It is just beginning to feel like there are less and less hours each day. I'm also really beginning to resent the hell out of my drive to Eau Claire and back four days a week. I used to find it relaxing, but now I spend it dwelling on the things I could be doing if I was don't spending almost three hours a day in my car. It probably also does not help that I'm currently listening to the world's most annoying audio book, and I can't stop listening to it because I can't not finish a book. And, to top things off, the will be no new episodes of The Bugle for the next two weeks. There goes my reason for getting up on Monday mornings. (okay, I should remember that I have several previous episodes stored on my ipod for just such an occasion, so if I get desperate I can always revisit monkey news or a 60 foot roof penis. God help me, I'm a married twenty-seven year old woman, and I still find a story about a kid painting a giant penis on his parents roof funny...that's why I love spending time with middle school students).

So, even though it is spring, I'm convinced that the days are getting shorter, not longer. Meals at home are a rare occasion. Most likely if you went into the kitchen, you would discover the only appliance not covered in dust would be my coffee makers. Yes, coffee makerS. I am the proud owner of three coffee makers, an espresso machine, a french press for everyday use, and a regular drip machine for days when the french press isn't going to make enough coffee.

At any rate (found 1 article!), I'm recovering from the panic attack, and feel better that when comparing notes with classmates, discovering that many of them feel as overwhelmed as I. This makes me feel (found article 2, now I just need two more and I'll be set for next week). If I'm going to be mired down with stress and work, its good to have company. So with the pile of abstracts, papers, summaries, chapter problems, assessments, essays, exams, website building, lesson plans, transition planning, and other tasks to accomplish by the end of the semester comes due, I can rest assured that I will not be the only one burning the midnight oil in the computer lab, or panicing while working and watching Doctor Who (okay, still might be the only one doing that, but what can I do, I'm a nerd.)

And it's time for class. Hopefully, I'll get a tighter grip on things and be able to post more, cheerier news.

Spring Cleaning

In an effort to better prepare for 2009, (I know, nothing like getting an early jump on things by planning for 2009 in March of 2009) Jeff and I spent a good part of Saturday doing some cleaning/ unpacking/ decrapping of the house. While this is not an ideal way for me to spend a rare Saturday off (which was only finagled by begging people to switch around their shifts), it proved to be a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday, not every Saturday, but every now and then, it doesn't hurt.

After sending about 8 boxes of clothing to Goodwill, and realizing exactly how little of my wardrobe I actually wear, I set about attempting to organize my knitting. In the spirit of cleaning out my closet, I took a hard look at a couple of my projects, and determined that I would be more likely to restart the whole thing than ever finish the current one. Sadly, one of the projects that fell into this category was the banded peasant blouse, which, despite my enthusiastic start and overall love of the project, was over shadowed by my poor yarn selection. The yarn did not work with the pattern, and I ended up throwing the whole thing away with only about five inches left to go. I may restart this someday, with a better yarn choice, but we're going to put it on the maybe pile for right now, and not even add it back to my ravelry queue. Another such project was my Cheshire Cat Stole, which was going reasonably well, considering that it was my first real lace project (and my first project with beads). However, the process was set aside first for the move, then for Christmas knitting, then because I stepped on and broke one of the needles, then for the baby blankets, and during all the setting aside time, someone, (I suspect Minerva) take the project and remove half the stitches from the cable. I couldn't bring myself to sort out the mess of dropped stitches, and thus gave up. It actually felt like a bit of a weight was lifted off of me, by allowing myself to give up on these projects, I eased the guilt I was feeling about not wanting to work on the projects.

Progress on the new projects is going well. I am about halfway done with the raglan increases for the lily cardigan, and have just finished the gusset decreases on the second diagonal rib sock. I've chosen the next pattern (show-off stranded socks) and yarn (Sunshine yarn's twist in Weezley Wizard Wheezes) for my next pair of socks, which provides the motivation to keep working on the current pair of socks. (I may not have much self-discipline, but I only allow myself to work on one pair of socks at a time.

I'll update with pictures of the latest projects soon!