Booga Too!

I'm making a second bag, this one's for Brandon, who wants a project bag, and though he didn't want one in the fuscia and grey, I did happen to have this blue/black kinda tweedy yarn that Larissa gave me when I visited her .. which is also when she taught me to knit. I came home with an extra suitcase full of yarn when we left Michigan that May. Jason was just glad I didn't have to buy much yarn then .. though I've bought -much- more yarn since I picked the knitting back up again last fall, before I even bothered picking up the yarn she sent me home with.

But here's the progress thus far. I'm making this one a lick bigger than mine, and I'm going to be a bit more careful in the washing process so we don't felt the shit out of this one.

I'm just at 4 rounds through the body of the bag .. the bottom I made at 40 stiches and 40 rows, so it's just a wee bit bigger. The upshot of this is, I like this bag so much I'm definitely going to go check out the rest of the bag patterns at Black Sheep Bags and pick up one or two.




I have spent the morning after our Weight Watchers meeting and dropping Jason off at work downloading the podcasts of Cast On and knitting on the Booga for Brandon. I'm enjoying listening to Cast On, immensely. I'm up to episode 2 right now .. I especially liked the 'bonus' podcast entitled Snow Day .. it made me tear up a little actually, because it just sounded so beautiful. Yes, I'm a sap .. build a bridge and get over it, already.

I lost another 2.8 pounds this last week, by the way, for a total weight loss this month of 10.4 pounds. I'm halfway to my first goal of 20% of my starting weight. I'm perfectly on track to have lost that by my birthday, if not well before. I want to lose a total of about 70 pounds though, so that'll be a while. I'm still happy though if I keep at this losing right around 2 pounds a week!

Friday Five & Saturday Sky

Many areas of the United States are having a heat wave. Global warming, anyone? Look on the bright side of melting glaciers and enviro-destruction by taking a crack at the Friday Five:

1. What's the high temperature today where you are?
Actual high for Friday, July 28: 96F

2. Favorite way(s) to beat the heat.
Going to the beach and sitting with my feet just in the water. Going to the pool and not getting out (with waterproof sunscreen of course!). Going to the mall and walking and knitting. Sitting inside with my remote control and some diet soda and fresh fruit.

3. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Evaluate this statement.
Actually, I find it to be kinda true. Down here it gets extremely humid, and walking outside when it's humid is like walking into a sauna, it kinda takes your breath away, and it's harder to breath.

4. Discuss one or more of the following: sauna, hot tub, sweat lodge, warm-stone massage.
I had a hot-stone facial once, and I have to say, it was about the most incredible feeling ever. It was incredibly relaxing .. I can only imagine that a hot-stone massage would be even more incredible and relaxing. I still remember the girl that did it .. Cricket. And she reminded me of one a little .. she was oddly shaped .. large hips and thighs, but small everywhere else.

5. Hottest you've ever been in your life.
Uhh .. very likely the time I went to school with a temerpature of 102F, though I claimed I 'wasn't sick' ... I had strep throat and it was lucky I went to the school nurse when I did.

Non-temperature related bonus: In your opinion... who's hot?
Besides my husband, who is the hottest thing ever .. Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Janelle from BB All-Stars. (I'm sure there's more, but I can't think right now.


I've eaten now, and I can finally post my Saturday Sky Pics.

More Booga

I got poked at by Kelly, who reminded me that though I posted pictures of the finished Booga, I didn't get good enough pictures because of Isis interference.

So I managed to get some more pictures, since the feline beast of cuteness is perched elsewhere at the moment ... I'm not completely sure where, but I'm certain it's someplace warm.

The colors are a little less bright than this .. I blame the horrible lighting in my house. Someday, I'll replace this awful fixture with a good overhead light.


A couple shots of the strap, which doesn't show it perfectly, but more or less, this is how it looks. The grey kinda got lost in the fuscia .. probably because the grey yarn is much thinner .. almost laceweight I think. I'd have to double that with a strand of the fuscia to get them equal I think .. I'm gonna play around with it and see what works best before I make the second one with this yarn.

Today is a blog catchup day for me, as I've been busy getting things handled for my new job, like consenting to drug and background checks, and going in to the lab to fill a little cup. I think I'm the only person I know that can burn herself at a drug-test. The lab tech warned me gently 'Careful, the water gets really hot.' So I'm thinking "How hot can she mean? I'm used to hot water .. I felt stuff!" So I turn the water on, soap up my hands, and when I went to rinse them off ... Yeouch! I scalded my right ring finger . Their water indeed gets very hot .. like, boiling temp right out the faucet!

Other than that though, things are going well. Now I just have to wait, probably until Tuesday/Wednesday, for the results of the background check and drug test so I can get my training started. By this time next week I expect I'll be busy busy reading the training materials and reaquainting myself with a Telzon gun.

We're still following Weight Watchers religiously .. except for me forgetting to eat all my fruits and vegetables half this week, and being so tired I didn't eat all my points one day. The one-month mark comes up tomorrow, so I've got my extremities crossed for a good weigh-in. Things are fitting much better, so that's a good sign.

On the knitting front, I'm still working on finishing a quick boa-scarf for my other niece, and a Booga for Brandon. His is in this yummy blue/black tweed-ish merino I have, something Larissa gifted to me when she taught me to knit. Once that's done I hope to make another Booga in the Pink/Grey for Larissa. She has gotten back into knitting, though that girl has ventured into garments, whereas I stick with accessories for now. That's just being smart though, I think. I mean, I'm losing weight .. I don't want to make myself anything that won't fit me a year from now!

Like probably most of you all, I'm enduring ungodly heat hereabouts. This is the hottest summer I can remember .. and I've been in the South for 9 summers now. I've been hearing bits and bobs of things trying to explain the heat. Some have said the last big 'quake was preceded by a massive heat wave. Lots of people call it 'Global Warming' .. though without seeming to really know what they're talking about. I'm of the opinion that it's a natural cycle, and that the world isn't going to come to an end just because it's gotten hotter. We may have helped it along, sure, but we didn't cause this cycle. That's just pure arrogance.

Isis and the Booga.

First things first, everyone should go read Gretchen's post
about her friend Erin. Erin lives not far from me, and is raising money through the Charlotte Heart Walk in remembrance of her two little angels whom she lost to congenital heart defects. Gretchen is having a contest for anyone that donates even a little. Being in the Charlotte area, I'm thinking I might do one better, and sign up to walk. It's only three miles, and it's for a phenomenal cause, and I should be in shape enough to walk it by then. If you're close to Charlotte, please consider joining the walk, or at least donating!

This is my completed Booga, with the beginnings of a second Booga in some blue/black tweed on the circular in the foreground.



Isis, being the queen of cuteness trying to figure out what this strange thing is on her perch.

See? Her perch. Hers. Upon which she is quite happy and comfortable. I need to make her a kitty bed soon though. Just because I must.

Good News - Not Knitting

As you probably know, I have been jobless since February of 2005. At the time, I was very happy about it, but lately .. in the last six months of so, I've been getting anxious. I know that until Jason gets through another year or so in the car business, money might be iffy at times .. because it's the car business, and it's often shitty like that. So I've been trying to find something part time, that'll pay for my car and maybe give me a little spending money ..

.. but nothing has been going well. Even the grocery store I applied at didn't want me, and it had been getting very disheartening. It's hard being told you're not even good enough to work at a grocery store for Lady's sake. So when Jason sent a posting to me last week .. wait .. 4 days ago actually ... I wasn't very hopeful, but I sent in my resume anyway. Yesterday, I got a phone call from one of the company's recruiters, saying that I had the qualifications and he wanted to have the District Manager call me. So I waited for her to call .. and when she finally did I was very happy. We arranged an interview for today, and the usual anticipation and nerves began.

I was late .. only a couple minutes but still late .. for the interview, but luckily it was understandable, as I was driving in an unfamiliar area, and she didn't seem troubled by it. The interview went well, I thought. I was personable, charming, and not too needy. And to be honest, the job is something I actually enjoy, merchandising, so I appeared interested .. because I am. So we filled out the paperwork (I-9's and W-2's and such) she'd need to get done and she gave me the form for the drug test I'll have to take, and told me she'd be mulling things over on the way home, and that I'd know by tonight.

So then, I drove home and began the arduous wait for 'the phone call'. I tried not fretting about it, but I hate getting my heart set on a job only to not get it. It's hard for me. 5pm came around and I started getting anxious. But I knew she had a bit of a drive, and I tried to not think about it. I finished my Booga bag I knitted, and started working on Brandon's Booga. Jason's dad called to find out how the interview went at 6:15 pm, and then three minutes later, the district manager called .. offering me the job!!!!

Yes, that's correct, I got the job. It's permanent part time, 12-15 hours a week, working Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, no more than 4 hours a day in the local Best Buy store, handling their DVD department. My title is Merchandising Specialist. basically, I make sure the DVD department and any other displays in the store are arranged according to plan, and that stock is kept on the floor as it should be, and keep track of the ordering and such. I have to have a weekly conference call to discuss the weeks focus and challenges, and a weekly review of the plan on the company website and a quiz on said site. And I get paid for my mileage if I end up covering another store other than my own. I already know that coming up in September I'll have two projects coming up that will be more than the usual hours, which will be nice for money too.

It will be nice to have something to do. Nice to have something going on in my life other than .. well .. lounging around the house. It's no more than 4 hours on any given day, which means I can easily keep the house still .. and with Jason's change in schedule, it'll be nice because I am flexible in the time I need to go in.

So tonight I filled out the online paperwork I needed to get done, and now I wait for them to get me my employee number, and then I can go take my pee test, and then I wait some more, but only for them to send me my shirt, and my little inventory gadget, and my nametag and such. Then I get some online training, and then 2 days of in-store training, and then I'm on my own!

First of all, I just love this video.

My Booga bag is going to be so cute I think. It's not Noro, but it'll be just as good. As soon as I finish the strap, it's going into the washer today. At least, that's the plan.

Completed Booga Body ... shown next to my needle case for scale.

Closeup to show the beautiful stitches, not to mention the colors .. oh, I love the colors!

This is the strap in-progress. I don't have dpns to use, so I'm having to use the same circ I used to make the body. Ugh! Making i-cord on circular needles is not fun! Neither is changing colors .. but once it's done, it'll be done!!

Edit:
Jason asked me why I wasn't just double-stranding the yarn for the icord, and he's so right. Duh! So I frogged the few inches I had done in two separate blocks, and started again, double stranded. I think it looks much better now.