11/17/2006
Still here........
I am still alive and kicking, haven't completely fallen off yet. There are things going on with work and life, but I need to wait before I post about them. I have been knitting and one of these days, if I can get home from work and not feel like I have had the life sucked completely out of me, I will take some pictures and post them. Right now, work is so mentally and emotionally draining that I come home, veg out, eat food, and then sleep. All of this before 9:30 at night. It is very sad. I have been keeping up with my blog reading, kind of. There are expecting mommies, teddy bears, hats for charity, and socks galore. Really, I promise, stick around and things will get very interesting and I can give you all the dirt and gossip. Until then, good night and sleep well.
08:35 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
10/05/2006
Thank God for 5 Day Weekends....
Today is the start of a 5 day weekend here in Taiwan. So I have no excuse for not blogging today. Tomorrow morning I will be flying to Cambodia for a few days. It hit me last night, that it is kind of cool that I can go to Cambodia for a long weekend and see this and this and this. I can't wait. If I had more time, I would like to see this and this as well. Time is of the essense, so I am focusing on the temples right now. If I am lucky, I might be able to fit a day trip in to Phnom Pehn. Next week, lots and lots of pictures.
I have been slowly knitting as well. The scarf for the International Scarf Exchange is finished and about 10 feet long. My pal said they wanted a long scarf. I have a few more goodies to pick up and then I can mail it off next week. (With it being a long holiday, the post offices won't be open until Wednesday of next week) 
I have another scarf that I made for as a late gift for a friend that will get mailed off on Wednesday as well. 
There has been some hat knitting as well. 
If you take a close look, you can see there is a lot of finishing that needs to go on. The gray hat is make with yarn my sissy Liz sent me and left overs from my Jaywalker and Mock socks. The little scarf is also made with yarn from my sis. I am going to make a flower so I have more of a neck warmer type thing. And the hat was made with merino I got here in Taiwan. My goals for today. Get the photos I will need for Cambodia immigration tomorrow, pack for my trip, complete the finishing on my knitting, and pack up the two scarves to send out. I get back Tuesday afternoon and I will just want to unpack and wash clothes then. Maybe send an email or two.
There has been another baby born as well. My friend Annie gave birth to a little boy, Jacob on September 28th. He is gorgoues and they are both doing well. 
22:43 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
08/22/2006
I actually have pictures now
First of all, my Jaywalker socks, finally finished. I do have more knitting, but they need to be blocked and mailed off to my nephew. Who is doing quite well by the way. As soon as I have more time, I will download the latest pictures I have of him and post them. This weekend I climbed the highest mountain in Taiwan. It is called Jade Mountain and is almost 4000m high. I only hiked the last 1000m of it. Though. The last 2.5 k up the hardest, especially when you start out at 2:30 in the morning and your headlamp doesn't work. 
Two days later and my thighs still hurt some. They are starting to feel better. 
I don't know who the other people are in the picture with me. And the last photo is one of my new roommate Seal with a big fake bear we found when we where hiking last weekend. 
And finally, some pictures of my new room that I got to paint purple. 
How cool is that?!?! As soon as I finished getting my room organized and find some free time (I have to work on Saturday) I will be catching up on my blog reading and commenting.
08:53 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
08/10/2006
Short and sweet
I still haven’t hooked my computer up to the internet yet. I should just go ahead and try it to see if it works. I have finished my Jaywalker socks finally!!! I don’t know what it is with me and knitting socks. Being motivated to knit them is up is hard, but I love wearing them when they are finally finished. So I need to wash my Jaywalkers and then take pictures of them.
My little nephew is doing great. Have pictures of his first bath to post as soon as I get connected. He is so cute is all I have to say. I love being the aunt. And I almost have his knitting finished up. Working on the last thing now and then I can take pictures and mail it off. And the new room is almost finished as well and is deserving of pictures too. But all of this requires me to get off my arse and get some work done.
At work right now, so must make this quick. The plan is to be connected by this weekend so I will have lots of pictures to show off.
22:01 Posted in Friends , Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
06/27/2006
Empty
It is the last week of the semester here in Taiwan. While that means that I am done with weekly paperwork until August, I still have to take my classroom apart. So, while my kids were coloring and being generally obnixous and not listening, I started taking everything off of the walls. My room is naked. It took a year to get it in order and half a day to take almost everything down. I have the calendar and helper chart on the wall still and the friendship tree is still up. But other than that, all the other stuff is in the recycle box or on a spare table so we can sort through it tomorrow and the kids can take all their papers home. The palm trees for International Week-recycle box. The solar system model that we made and hung from the ceiling-on the spare table. The totem poles-recycle box. The paintings of different foods for our class garden-waiting to be sorted. I am happy that the semester is almost over and looking forward to a new class next year. I am counting down the days (4 teaching days and 5 days until I am in Thailand) but it feels so strange to be in a naked classroom again. I will start in an empty classroom again in August. Time will be spent making charts and posters to hang up. My new class will spend time working on projects that we will display on every inch of wall possible. But it is hard to see right now. I went through the same thing last year at the same time. All my personal teaching supplies have been sorted into two piles; the stuff to take home for the summer to it will not be messed with and the stuff to stay here for storage. Every night this week, I will be taking stuff home and keeping it in prepartaion for next year.
This whole process of ending the school year has left me feeling quite befuddled. I have a plan at the beginning of each day of everything I need to accomplish at work and at home. Especially with this vacation thing, I need to get organized so I don't leave a scary, messy room with a pile of dirty laundry behind. I do well when I am at work making sure I accomplish everything I need to. Once I sign out and am on the bus home, the plan for the day goes out the window. I forget what I need to bring for work the next day. I forget everything I am suppose to finish so I can be ready for vacation. I have tried list making, I am tried a plan of what to do in what order. Nothing works. All I have to say is that this is a dream and in a few minutes, my alarm clock will go off and I will be getting ready for cooking school in Thailand. Yes, I go on vacation so I can be a student again. Then there is the week at the beach and this work thing is all just a dream.
Today my kids had a blast before the insanity of taking the classroom apart. We spent a month making volcanoes. Each kid brought in a bottle and we used newspaper, glue, paper towels, paint and a month of art classes to make them. Today we exploded them-the old fashioned way with baking powder and vinegar. It was very hot this morning and the kids were complaining about the heat (compounded by the fact that the air conditioning on the 4th floor isn't working and it is about 90 with the windows closed, blinds closed, and lights off) as soon as we walked out. Once the first volcano exploded, the heat was completely forgotten.
03:26 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
06/19/2006
Time to take a breath
Saturday was the graduation ceremony and it went rather well. Only had one kid absent, but knew about that ahead of time. So the insanity at work has slowed down and I am finally catching up on all the domestic stuff that has been slacking around these here parts. Tonight I finally got caught up on laundry and got my room cleaned and have real food to eat. Not that stuff that has been in the frig for a week and looks kind of iffy. Had lovely, fresh pasta salad for dinner tonight.
There has been some knitting going on around here as well. It has been slow lately due to that thing called work. My Bettie vest is coming along nicely. Have the back and one side done and have started on the other side. 
Since I want to be able to wear it in Thailand, I have been focusing most of my knitting energy and time on it. The shawl is coming along slowly. I love how the colors are coming out. I am in love. 
Talked to my best friend on the phone the other day for almost 2 hours. Knitted on my Jaywalker sock and now I am ready for toe decreases. 
I love absent-minded knitting. I found out that if I try the sock on when I am not sweating, it is easier to get on. 
Lisa gave me a bag of scrap yarn. I am going to use some of it to make another Mr. Dangley. But I am going to double or triple the yarn and use bigger needles. That way I will have a bigger monkey.
There is a card game here that consist of beetles. You remember those from science class? It is like Pokémon. The boys around here love to collect and show off their beetle cards. So while on my walk Friday, I found this. The kids absolutely loved it. 
Talk about a perfect specimen. Well, it was starting to smell, so I took it outside today and left it in the bushes that are surrounded by railings. Less chance of the kids re-finding it to bring back. But the kids named it Hercules and we have written a story about it and the kids are going to make a book about our rhino beetle that Ms. Walton found. Total coolness.
06:53 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
05/22/2006
Updates........
Got an email from Davi today and Rhi is going to have to be on bed rest for the next 14 weeks. Which is going to be really hard for Rhi, but I know she can do it. Went to see the Pimp tonight and he is feeling a little better. He at least looks more like his normal self tonight than he did last week or even last night. Tomorrow he finds out exactly what is going on and the doctors will have a better idea of what to do. Thank you all for the good thoughts and wishes. They are working so keep them coming.
Well, made it to Ilan just fine on Saturday after getting the ticket thing straightened out. Actually had to call one of my roommates to tell the lady at the train station to just give me the ticket, that I didn't need a seat. I got to Ilan about 1pm on Saturday. So that afternoon we went to the Ilan winery museum, the old Ilan city office building, and the Museum of Traditional Arts. The old city office is actually a Japanese house. Before KMT took over Taiwan (which was during the Cultural Revolution in China) Taiwan was occupied by Japan. So there are plenty of remnants of the Japanese occupation included houses. It had bamboo mat floors, sliding doors, garden, and plenty of other traditional Japanese elements. It was nice, just wish I had more time to look around.
Feeling rather blah and down in the mouth right now because of everything that is going on. So more on Ilan and more about knitting as life and work take a break. Actually feeling kind of homesick right now because I feel like I should be there for Davi and Rhi and instead I am here in Taiwan. As much as I love traveling and living overseas, it is moments like this when I wish I didn't have this particular addiction. (Traveling really is an addiction, an expensive one at that too. But I love it and can't believe how much is out there to see) Because of all of this, I have probably spent and excessive amount of time at the hospital with the Pimp. He is the only person I can check up on and it gives me some sense of control over uncontrollable situations. Even if it is a false sense of control and makes me feel like I am helping out.
What I don't think the Pimp understands is what a loop he has thrown my life for. I wasn't planning or even really wanting to have these feelings for someone while I was in Taiwan. Was going to wait to start with the whole relationship/dating thing until I get back to the States. But here he is and I have all these feelings and I am not sure what to do with them. A little background about when I lived in Scotland. There was this guy that was one of my house mates in Edinburgh. My feeling for him are as strong as my feeling for the Pimp. The difference is that I never told this guy how I felt because I thought that keeping him as my friend was better than telling him the truth and possibly losing him from my life forever. So this time around, I am trying to make a different set of mistakes, one of the main reason I told the Pimp how I feel about him. But I don't think he completely gets how strong my feelings are. Which is partly my fault because I have problems communicating effectively. And half the time I am not even sure how to read the Pimp or what to do or even what to say. At a complete loss, really. Like the past two nights. Last night we just talked and talked and he even walked me to the subway station. Today, another co-worker showed up and I felt like I was put on the back burner. Granted the Pimp and this co-worker have done plays and other stuff together, so obviously they know each other better. I just need to listen to my brain more and the rest of me less. At least attempting to type this all out has helped me to feel better.
09:51 Posted in Family , Friends , Life in Taiwan , me, me, and me | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
05/21/2006
Requests, request....
So this weekend, two of the roommates and I went to Ilan for the weekend. I will post about that later, along with some knitting content, because this is, a knitting blog. So what is a knitting blog without knitting. And I so need to catch up on comments. Like Anne, Amanda, Sandie, Elizabeth, Mia, Jan, and Latoya. Really, promise, pinkie swear that I will leave comments by the end of the week. I have been really slacking, I know. I think I can blame work for this.
The real reason for this post. My best friend (Davi) and her sister (Rhi) are both pregnant and due three weeks apart. Davi's pregnancy is going great and everything is good with her and baby Brandon. Rhi is having difficulty and went in the hospital having contractions at 25.5 weeks. The doctors were able to stop the contractions and are giving Rhi steroids to help baby Kirstin's lungs to grow. And the Pimp is in the hospital here in Taiwan. He is going to have stay at least a week. He has been sick for 6 months and the doctors haven't been able to find the right antibiotic to give him to help him feel better. So Rhi, baby Kirstin, and the Pimp all need the good, positive, feel better thoughts you have. What ever it is you do; pray, dance, sing, you name it, they all need some right now. Baby Kirstin needs to stay in mommy as long as possible and the Pimp needs to get better. Did go to the hospital tonight and took the Pimp some food. Talk about a well-trained whore, right here bay-bee.
The trip to Ilan was a trip within its self. I should have know that it would be off to an interesting start when I went to buy my train ticket and the lady wouldn't sell me one because there were no seats available on the train I wanted. But it is normal to sell tickets even when there are no seats available. I have done it before. Ilan is only 1.5 hours from here on the express train. I had to call Lydia to translate that I just wanted a ticket, not a seat. More of the travel saga in a day or two. Going to see the Pimp again tomorrow at the hospital.
10:05 Posted in Friends , Life in Taiwan , me, me, and me , Whoring | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
05/10/2006
We finally cracked........
Today is it. We finally broke down and cracked. We turned the air conditioning on in the living room this evening. The highs here have been upper 80's and lower 90's F. And unless you have spent time in South East Asia, you do not understand what humidity and some of the worst smog in the world can do to a person. But we finally succumbed. I know that I am going to have to start sleeping with the air conditioning on as well, soon. I can't sleep when I am hot and I am starting to wake up in the middle of the night.
Mia commented about CSI-the only show I watch faithfully in this country. Stokes has finally shaved that stupid mustache off, what the hell was that all about? And the girl whose father kidnapped Stokes, overdosed Monday night. The seasons here are a little behind the United States, so please don't spoil anything for me. But Grissom and Sarah just need to get over the age, boss, whatever thing they have going on. For crying out loud people! We all know that they are head over heels for each other. Just go for it. (This coming from the girl who took HOW LONG to tell a boy that she liked him? Let's not discuss that right now)
And I am a bad, bad knitter and fiber lover. My panta accidentally got tossed into the washing machine the other day and I didn't notice it until I was hanging everything up to dry. (Dryers are not used here, to expensive) It didn't felt and we only have a cold water hook up to the washing machine. So other than a little stretched out, it looks pretty good. Though I was planning on washing it by hand. I need to be grounded from all fibers until I have learned my lesson.
And finally, a picture of my baby that is at my mom's house right now. She is so cute. She was rescued from an abusive family (that is why she only has one eye) But she is the sweetest, more loving baby ever. I just love her and miss her so much. 
07:12 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
04/19/2006
Absolutely Fabulous Part 2 (Very picture heavy)
Today, let's start with Taroko Gorge, a marble gorge here in Taiwan. It is one of the two places in Taiwan that I wanted to see before I leave. The first one was Green Island, which has one of three natural sea water hot springs in the world. Another place that is totally worth the trip. Back to the gorge though. Here are plenty of pictures. I apologize for the poor quality. It rained the entire time I was in Hualien, but that didn't dampen my spirits at all. The gorge was still beautiful. 
The clouds resting on top looked just like it was a setting from a JRR Tolkien book or a fairy tale. The temple is to commemorate the 200+ people who died during the building of the road through the gorge. It was built using nothing but man power and dynamite.
07:24 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
04/18/2006
Absolutely Fabulous Part 1
This weekend was just wonderful. I took a small trip to Hualien, which is a city in the east of Taiwan. It is famous for Taroko Gorge, a natural marble gorge. I spent most of Saturday in the gorge. My trip started on Friday afternoon, I left work and went straight to the train station. Not realizing it, because the train schedule site does not work, I timed it perfectly. Waited in line, bought my ticket, walked to the platform and had to wait all of 3 minutes for the train. And not only that, it was an express train, so it only took me 2.5 hours to get to Hualien. Then the hostel I stayed at had a pick up service, so I had didn't have to pay for a cab to travel for 10 minutes from the station. And the hostel booked the tour of the gorge that night for me. Everything was so easy. Hualien is much smaller than Taipei with fewer people. On Saturday, as the bus was driving around picking people up from their respective hotels, this is a view from in the town of Hualien. 
That is a rice patty in town. The rice is still young and green, a color you don't see very often in Taipei. And if you look closely at the apartments in the background, they have real wood balconies. Real wood people, not metal, concrete, or plastic but wood. Huelien looks very different from Taipei with real doors on the front of buildings and the buildings are clean. It really was a breath of fresh air. Yesterday at work, someone said that a little vacation is good for the soul and for me, it is the truth. Tomorrow or the next day, the gorge, the highlight of the trip. I don't have time to type all the details of the trip. And besides, I want to get as many posting out of it as I can. :)
On the trip I got some knitting done. I finished up a pair of socks and even wove the ends in. They are the socks that I knit using the Knit Picks yarn from Mia. Currently, they are drying and the plan is for them to make their debut tomorrow. Exciting!!! 
Now you must be very quiet or they will run off. Here at Chez Insanity (still haven't found the custom agent with my sanity) these are endangered knitting creatures that don't appear very often. Shhh! They are coming out for a bit of sunshine. 
(Quiet whisper) In the more sane knitting habitats, they are called swatches. It isn't amazing they have graced us with their presence. If we remain quiet, we can observe them before they head back into hiding. (Actually they are the swatches for my Dad's gloves. The one on the left is in St. st. and the one on the right is to see if I like 1x1 rib or 2x2 rib for the cuff. They are hanging out with the socks waiting to finish drying)
08:05 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
04/13/2006
Semi-Mission Accomplished
If you remember (I am too lazy to link to a previous post called Mission Impossible), Lisa gave me three different yarns to use in one wearable item. I have done just that. It is a scarf, I think pictures are most appropriate at this point. First a full shoot and then some close up of the details, unblocked of course. But it is currently sitting in a cold water bath and will be dry by the end of the weekend. 
I have also completed three scarves this week, which impresses me to no end. First is the Harry Potter PoA mini scarf, the pattern is on The Blue Blog. (I am just too lazy to put any links in tonight. Using my remaining energy to get ready for my day tomorrow and trip this weekend) Used some alpaca I found here in Taiwan. Then there is the Scrunchable Scarf knitted in Rowan Kid Classic which was brought back by the Pimp. Even my kids love the softness of the Rowan. And the third scarf is my stash scarf. It is a simple 3x3 rib scarf knitted with 4 strands of worsted weight leftover yarn from my stash. 
I am working on socks made with the Knit Picks yarn that Mia (my secret pal) sent me. 
This is the third time I have knit these socks, but it is finally working out and fits me. I have the first sock finished and the second sock started. They will be my train knitting this weekend. 
And check out the short row heel. It is definitely getting better, but I am still not satisfied with how the wrapped stitches look. I trying to find a different way to do a short row heel. And then a little random stash busting knitting. Don't have a clue what it is yet though. 
So while Mission Impossible is finished, the mission to knit my stash is still under way. And I haven't bought any new yarn.......yet. That will probably change soon though.
This weekend is my trip to Hualien. I am almost completely packed as well. Just have to remember to toss my hairbrush in tomorrow morning before I leave for work. I will be going straight from work to the train station tomorrow. I am totally excited about it. So my next post will be pictures of the marble gorge and the town of Hualien.
This week at work, we have been doing Easter activities. Today was the Easter egg hunt for the different classes. We got to choose when and where to have the egg hunt for our class. Well, Weds at the staff meeting, the Pimp asked me (a first let me tell you) if I wanted my class to join his class because "we have the same playtime" What do you think I said. We talked about getting real stuff for the kids to find. So I texted him yesterday about what to buy. Got no response when I got home so went to the store and bought mini individual bags of candy and big boxes of Oreos for BOTH CLASSES people. At 11:30 last night my phone starts beeping. First reaction was, "Why is my alarm clock going off, I just went to sleep!!!" Then I realized that it was my phone and thought it was my sister Elizabeth. She regularly texts me at odd hours due to the time differences. Looked at my phone at it was the Pimp saying he just now had time to get back to me. Who is the real whore?!?!?!?! :) The kids had fun and the Pimp has been sick the past week or so. I am such a sucker, but I am still enjoying it. Have to finish laundry and stuff so I come home to a clean room on Sunday and all I have to do is some grocery shopping. Yeah for mini-vacations!!!! And I promise to answer comments and emails asap. Work has been insane this week with everything going. That is my excuse for now. Please bear with me.
09:17 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan , Whoring | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
03/26/2006
I really have a good excuse this time.......
just give me a minute to think of it. Oh, wait, that is it. Life and work and the Pimp. Not necessarily in that order though. Changes from minute to minute. Let's start with some knitting content first. I have been knitting. My goal is to knit up my very small stash before acquiring new yarn. I have a list of things to buy yarn for and knit up. First up on the list is Brandon Scott. My best friend found out she is having a boy and they are going to name him Brandon Scott, I love that name and I am totally excited about having my first nephew. I have a whole separate list of things to knit for Brandon. Back to the stash knitting. First up, progress on Mission Impossible. 
Here is a small sample of it. Next up is a sock using the Knit Picks yarn my Secret Pal sent me. This yarn does not want to be knit. I have knit these socks three different times and each time with a different pattern. The first two times, the sock was just too small for my monster feet. I took this picture this morning and have since finished the first sock except for weaving in the ends. 
Then I had this random yarn in my stash that I thought was just pretty, so I knit a scarf. Even after washing it and giving it a good conditioning, it is too scratchy for me. So I am going to take it to work and put it in the costume corner. 
In an attempt at stash busting, I am taking some random leftovers. I have leftover purple from Mariah, leftover cranberry from my Hourglass sweater, and some reddish brown stuff. So using a strand of purple, a strand of cranberry, and two strands of the reddish stuff, I am making a jumbo 3x3 rib scarf. Sandie emailed me about a scarf she saw an lady knitting and that is where I got the idea.
And finally, I am using the Rowan Kid Classic to knit a Scrunchable Scarf. I really like the way it is turning out. 
It is really soft. Sorry for the crappy pictures, but this weekend has been busy as well. As I finish these projects, I will post better pictures. And to continue with the stash busting, I went through all my yarn and now everything has a project. I am hoping to everything knitted up sooner rather than later.
Work has been really busy too. Last week, my classroom became Hawaii for the week. Here is a picture of me on Friday. One of my students took it, so it should be better than the usual stuff put up here. 
As for the Pimp, we are just friend right now, getting to know each other. He is leaving Taiwan in three months to spend a year traveling around Australia for a year. Then he is going to head back to England to get his Ph.D. (Which means in three months I can post a real picture of him) So just friend for now. Which makes sense, but still disappointed. But there has been talk of dinner and a movie sometime this week. That is what I get for sitting on my arse and waiting forever to tell him how I feel.
Alright, time to quit stalling and finish up lesson plans for next week. Work just gets in the way of knitting and fun stuff.
Edited: Had to crop the last picture as I noticed there was a student in it. Don't need to be asking for that kind of trouble right now.
07:35 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
03/14/2006
Yeah, yeah, yeah....
Once again, it has been like forever since I have posted. I swear, I have been busy though. You know- work, knitting, the Pimp, life, therapy, everything. First some knitting pictures. And as always, unblocked because I have no patience to wait for it to finish blocking before I post too much excitement from finishing a project. I finally finished Tubey this weekend. She is patiently drying right now.
I used Rowan All Season Cotton for Tubey. While it is a lovely, lovely yarn, too much stretch for this pattern. And I should have knit a smaller size. I followed the suggestion of the cross back measurement. But I will knit this sweater again.
My Secret Pal has spoiled me again with a little gift. There was an iTunes gift card (already spent on Tracy Chapman), evil monkey gum, a happy monkey, and a beautiful card. It made my day. I received it at work and my kids kept trying to steal everything from me! Thank you SP.
This past weekend was amazing. Saturday was really busy. Had shopping and to meet with my private student. But several people from work and I went to see the Vagina Monologues. If you have never seen it, especially if you are a woman, GO SEE IT!!!!! It is amazing and empowering. I got to sit between the two most handsome men in the whole theater-the Pimp and another male co-worker. After wards we went to a restaurant/bar for some drinks. There were five of it and it was really nice. I am a pub girl and not a club girl. So sitting around with our drinks and just talking was fabulous for me. Then we went to this big club (Luxy) here in Taipei. There was suppose to be an invite only after show party there. I didn't have a ticket and neither did several other people. But we paid the regular entrance fee and were able to get in. I had a rum and coke. There I meet up with another co-worker. She and I danced and I got hit on by the Taiwanese boy (I have more arm hair then this guy) But it was actually nice. Then Sunday I finished knitting up Tubey. Tomorrow is therapy and I can't wait to talk about everything that has happened since my last appointment.
06:25 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan , me, me, and me | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
02/21/2006
Until next time
This is the last post I will be putting up for at least 8 days. See, I am taking this test thing, called the GRE in 8 days and I kind of need to give a little more attention to my studying. (Do more than plan to study or read the book because I have having problems falling asleep.) So everything but work is being put on the back burner for the next 8 days. Knowing me, I will probably need a day or two to recover as well. Since on the day I am taking the GRE, I have an appointment with my therapist, then to work, and then taking the GRE. Hopefully, if I am really nice, the Pimp will give me a ride from work to the subway so I don't have to pay for a cab. The Pimp is a super nice guy, so there is a good chance. But time for cool knitting news. I finished two scarves over the weekend (now that spring is here in Taiwan. This is the mildest winter since I have been here.) This first is a simple drop stitch scarf made with a skien of Noro Kueryon. The second one was made with the yarn sent to me by my Secret Pal this month. Speaking of Secret Pal, here is the scarf I am making with the Rowan Kidsilk Haze she sent me. I am using the stitch pattern from the camisole and cowl from Weekend Knitting. I have done more than what is shown in the picture, just have been busy and unable to post in a timely fashion.
The Pimp also brought my yarn on Friday. He brought it down during playtime because our classes have play time at the same time. I had to rip open the packages and start feeling the yarn. He started laughing at me when I was rubbing the Rowan Kid Classic on my cheek. He doesn't understand at all. But here is a sample of what he brought me. The Noro I ordered is already a scarf. The Rowan All Season Cotton is going to the Tubey from Knitty.com. The big skein of Wendy Aran yarn is awaiting its friend (which is on back order) to be knit up into another Hourglass Sweater. And the Kid Classic, a scarf knit in the round. I have cast on Tubey and have about two inches knit so far. Want to get the Kidsilk Haze scarf finished and blocked before I dive headlong into Tubey. 
06:41 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
02/02/2006
All you need are pictures.......
and a crazy girl who is too lazy to type anything out. So enjoy the baby booties complete with buttons, one angora bootie (pattern from Last Minute Gifts) and the beginnings of Orangina from Glampyre. 
And I got my hair done today as well. It is now a blonde thing going on. I got my hair done instead of going to the psychiatrist to get anti-depressant meds. But I will be going tomorrow morning to do that. Did meet with my therapist today though and have to go back next week. But pics of the new hair, apologies for the crap pictures. Not good at the self-portrait thing. 
03:09 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan , me, me, and me | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
01/31/2006
Somedays............
actually think that I really like this country.
08:22 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
01/27/2006
Happy Chinese New Year....and Studio Saturday
21:13 Posted in Joiner , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
01/12/2006
Procrastination and insomnia
This past week has been a blur. It is end of the semester here at work (Taiwan put a cap of a max. of a 100 days per semester) and the paperwork just seems to grow no matter what I do. I have stuff I should be typing up right now. But not me, super procrastinator. I am blogging away and answering emails. But it hasn't helped that I haven't slept in a week either. Since I not the emotional eater that I use to be, I am now an emotional sleeper. Not happy news is being sent and just stress of work and life in general. But because of the lack of sleep thing, I have gotten two hats knitted in 9 days. One hat is just simple stockinette and the other is Shedir from Knitty.com. All those cables took a while. Both are for the Pimp. He asked for Shedir and the other one is a thank you gift for all the yarn he is going to bring back. All his parents have told him is that there are three boxes waiting. But he has sewing for me to take care of as well. Lucky that he has his own personal whore for all of this.
The past few days have put the world kind of in perspective for me. It really is a small world. I went to high school with one of the guys killed in the mine explosion in W.V. I haven't talked to him in over 10 years, so it isn't overwhelming grief, just kind of a Wow! six degrees of separation thing. We went to school with his first wife, she was three (or two) years behind us. I don't know anything about his current wife or his kids. But he and I were in at least one class together every year and we belonged to some of the same clubs. It just feels strange. With all the billions of people in the world and I am in Taiwan, what can I say other than it is a small world.
Time to get off the net. Have work stuff to finish typing, GRE studying to do, and my sister's birthday knitting to finish up. And hopefully tonight I will get some sleep.
Edited note: The whole point of this post, see procrastinating again, is to say HI! to my secret pal. My questionnaire is a few post away. To lazy and busy to put it as a link in the sidebar. Tomorrow, I promise. :)
06:10 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan , me, me, and me | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
12/27/2005
Ignore..
that last post. A little too much holiday at once mixed with other factors. I am in a much better mood now. And I hope Davi and Rhi now that I am truely happy for them. This means more yarn shopping! Yeah!!!
19:54 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
12/26/2005
Depressing ahead...or why I owe so many emails.
Yesterday was probably the worst Christmas of my life that I can remember. This latest year in Taiwan has been emotionly and mentally draining on me. Work is difficult at times, but not that bad. Student teaching was worse, trust me. Dr. Berryhill was a butthead of the nth degree. But I am 6000 miles away from everyone I know and love. So much has happened since I have been here and a lot of it feels rather surreal. I don't think I will believe the changes that have occured until I get back and see for myself. My internal clock is set for Christmas. At this time of the year, the weather is suppose to be a certain way, stores look a certain, rudeness in said stores increases, blah, blah, blah... But my body is set to that and it isn't like that here. The closest I get to that outside of my classroom is the Christmas tree in the McD's window that is decorated with Happy Meal boxes. After my third Christmas here, my body still hasn't adjusted to the "abnormal" feeling. Here are a few of the big things that really got to me this year other than I live in a country that doesn't celebrate Christmas. When I called my mom's house, I only got to talk to my brother. Everyone I wanted to talk to was out shopping, working, or hadn't arrived yet. The person who was suppose to call me Christmas morning my time, didn't. When I called them this morning my time, I was too upset to try and talk to them while they were in such a happy mood, so I hung up. Sorry. Must not have been that big of a deal though, because they haven't called back to leave a message or anything. I did get to talk to my dad and my best friend though. My best friend's sister is pregnant now too, about 3 weeks after my best friend. They live next door to each other, so it must be something in the water. And while that is exciting, wonderful, happy news (Her sister has been trying to get pregnant for as long as I have known her) it is also a depressing reminder of where my life is and where I would like it to be going. Which are completely different paths right now. So I keep heading down the path I am going and hope that I will end up in the place I want to. But all of that is not going to happen while I am living in Taiwan. While living overseas is an exciting and educational time, I am doing this all by myself. I go home to the cat at night. I have to make phone dates to call people. I have the equvilant of single serving friends here. And while this doesn't get to me all that often, this holiday season is especially bad for me and compounded by all the wonderful news of my friends' and their expanding families. And I am happy for them and looking forward to meeting all these new little ones when I get back. I love the baby knitting. But will be even more excited when it is for me. There is so much more stress in my life with the GRE coming up and applying to grad school and all that other stuff. But I really don't need to add even more stress, sadness, and depression to my life. I think I need to go shoe shopping.
Onto happy knitting news. I re-did the zipper in Mariah this weekend. It is much more even now. The bottom is a little uneven, but doesn't look that bad. I can totally live with it. My scarf exchange scarf is almost finished too. I will have it in the mail by this weekend. Advantage of living in a non-Christmas country, less Christmas/holiday craziness to deal with. Miyuki's baby knitting is coming along nicely. I have changed the sweater pattern I was using for a larger gauge and it should go faster, if my math is right. Well, I am at work and nap time is almost over. So, if I owe you an email, give me a few days to get over this holiday slump and I will email you. No one wants all this depressing stuff in thier in box.
00:45 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
12/20/2005
Hypothetically speaking here
Now, I would NEVER talk about work on this here blog, so all of this is just HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING, please keep that in mind while reading this. And just for clarification, I am a teacher and not a parent, so take it with a grain of salt. Suppose you have a child who just happens to be in the cutest class ever. (They are! Trying, frustrating, nerve racking cuteness, and the best huggers as well) And said child in said class has been practicing for almost a month to sing a Christmas carol in a hypothetical Christmas show, and this is the first performance this year. Wouldn't you make an effort to come see this hypothetical Christmas show, which might or might not be held on a Friday afternoon? Of said cutest class of the best huggers EVER, 3 students have parents who are not attending. I can't believe it. The excuse of one parent is that the school is too far away. FROM WHAT???? The moon? Sadly, said three students are so far ok with this and this lack of parent involvement seems to be the norm. Maybe this is a cultural difference that I have not come to understand, but I would think that at least one parent for every child would show up. I just don't understand. Maybe it is due to my lack of first hand knowledge of being a parent. Oh, well. Had to get it off my chest. And remember, it is all HYPOTHETICAL, because I wouldn't talk about work here.
CORRECTION, Miyuki emailed me and said that her baby is not due until January 17th, so I am not quite as panicky as I was the other day. Now, I may be wrong, and I know first babies are generally late, but I have a gut feeling that Baby Girl Brown (who is still in need of a first name, get with the program Dan! Gee! ) will be here by the 17th, I could be wrong though. And I do not want to be held responsible if she comes after the 17th. So in order that my first girl will have something hand-knit when she is born, I am going to knit some simple stuff and mail it off and then finish the sweater. I am making the sweater in a 6 months size, so she should be able to wear a few weeks after she is born. But everyone knows that babies go from newborn to size 12 months in about 2 weeks.
On the knitting front, the Pimp has agreed to bring yarn back from England for me when he goes home for Chinese New Year. He said as much as I want. Ok. "Are you sure?" I asked. What he doesn't know, and I am not going to tell him, is that there are currently 18 balls of yarn on their way to his parents' house. Got a little crazy, found some Rowan All-Season Cotton on sale. And bought my first skien of Noro. Excited, let me tell you. So I will have yarn for Tubey, the second Hourglass Sweater, and two scarves. Just have to see how everything works out. Got a little carried away with the credit card though, so I can't buy any more yarn for myself for a while. Only gift knitting until I finishing knitting everything up. Which, isn't a lot really.
06:25 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan , Pissed off ranting | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
12/13/2005
Get your
whores right here people. I am now the Pimp's personal seamstress, and soon to be knitting, whore. (Keep reading Dad, I explain everything) The Pimp is the name I will give to a co-worker of mine so to try and keep some sort of anonymity. And since I am the seamstress whore, that makes him the Pimp. I sew and have a sewing machine here. A very old sewing machine, but it works. The Pimp regularly asks me to repair clothes for him. Monday morning, he sent one of his students up to my classroom with a note, some work related paperwork, and a request to please fix (another) shirt for him. He has also asked me to knit a sweater for him and he is designing something for it. Now I have talked to him about the importance of the baby knitting. I think he understands. But he is going home to the U.K. for Chinese New Year and can get some wonderful yarn there. The Pimp is not the only person at work I have done clothes repair for, but he is the only regular. And he asked me to knit a sweater for him. I love knitting for people who really appreciate hand knit stuff. Plus he is nice to look at (eye candy) and smells good to. What can I say. And the Pimp is artistic and can draw, I can't. I have a design in my head for a sweater with color-work. He is going to draw the picture for me so it will look great. And he has volunteered to get some yarn for me while during Chinese New Year. So I am thinking about some Rowan for Tubey.
But I have actually knitting and yarn porn to show off today as well. First, the finds of my yarn shopping the other day. Everything for baby knitting, Scarf Exchange knitting, and even some sock knitting. 
Then there are the scarves I am working on for my self. But they have been put on hold because I want to finish my Hourglass Sweater. But I have the body and almost one sleeve completed. I will have the other sleeve completed by Thursday evening so the weekend will be devoted to putting the sleeves and body together. Blocked on Monday or Tuesday and then dry in time to wear on the 23rd. But here is the progress so far. 
And I forgot to photograph the sock I currently have on the needles. But eventually that picture will be up as well. And finally, Alley inspecting the boxes I used to mail Christmas presents in. 
They all received her paw of approval.
06:59 Posted in Friends , Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
11/26/2005
Mariah and Studio Saturday all in one...
Lisa took some great pictures of Mariah today while at work. So all the lovely backgrounds are the campus of my school. Yes, I had to work on Saturday. Yuck. And I have plenty of time to play around with this post tonight because Lazy Ass is in the bathroom, washing her clothes, again today. I had to get up at 5:45am this morning to get to work on time. SHE WAS IN THE BATHROOM WASHING HER CLOTHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Washing her clothes is the only thing she does around here. She works the least of Lydia, Sandy, and I (I know she hasn't paid rent for two months) and yet she does the least work around here. Must be nice to be so lazy and inconsiderate of one of your roommates, who has a full time job. My bedroom is sandwiched between the bathroom and the laundry porch. So if I am not listening to her do laundry in the bathroom at odd hours, I am listening to her do laundry on the porch at 3 in the morning. Need to talk to her, but must calm down before I do and find a very passive aggressive way as well. If I could time it so I was talking on the phone complaining about her while she was here, the embarrassment might work. I doubt it though. She is my age and probably pretty set in her laziness. Ok, enjoy roommate complaining!!! Time for good pictures of Mariah!!! It was an absolutely beautiful day today after 1.5 weeks of rain. 
I will be redoing the zipper on Mariah in about two weeks. I have to work next Saturday as well, so next weekend is down the drain already. But the weekend after that is all for me. (Maybe I should block the front this time around?) Block, schmock I say.
10:35 Posted in Joiner , Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
11/24/2005
Holiday Homesickness...............
I know it is Thanksgiving in America. Davi is preparing for her in-laws and family. My mom is cooking up a storm. My brother has two days off from school and my friend Mandi has two days off from work. I am sure my friend Chris is really busy with her 3 (Jacob Raymond weighed 9lbs 1oz.! I can't believe Chris had such a big baby. But he is so cute and looks just like his brothers) boys. Me, I had to work and try to get through a day with 20 over excited 5 years. Especially since I let them vote if they wanted to do math yesterday and fun stuff today or math today. Let me just say that there was no book work today. The kids had fun. Coming home from work though, I got homesick. Watching everyone out the bus window hurry home from work like every other day. Kids going home in their school uniforms and every sign that it is just another day here in Taipei. It will be the same way with Christmas too. The only reason I get Christmas off is because it is a Sunday. We did have a Thanksgiving lunch at school today, but, alas, no cranberry apple pie. Sad, sad, sad, sadness. But there was pecan pie and chocolate today. So we will not discuss the mass quantities of calories consumed today and we will return to our regular eating tomorrow. And we did get an hour of Ashtanga yoga in today. But Happy Thanksgiving to all and enjoy your time with your family and away from work.
08:10 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
11/15/2005
Blah, Blah, Blah.....
Which is just about how I have been feeling lately. I am behind on emails and pretty much everything else in life right now. I take the school bus home and didn't get off the bus until 6:30 tonight, so no yoga for me. Class starts at 6:40 and I need 10 minutes or so to get there.
I do have knitting news, no pictures yet. Will post them in a few days. I have offically completed my first sock. I am so happy. The experience was a lot easier than I ever expected. Sandie told me about a great beginners pattern and gave me encouragment the whole way. And the mate is on the needles as we speak. And I am finished about the first 6 inches on the hood of Mariah. Today was cool enough that I wore a scarf to work. I wore my Clapotis out for the first time this year. Very excited about it. Of course it is raining, which is the only reason the tempurature has dropped this low. So I have some extra motivation to finish her up quickly.
Roommates are good, sometimes. They help share the bills and are suppose to help with the cleaning and stuff. But then they decide to be 3 and you just want to slap them. Get home today after Open House day (parents are allowed to come in and watch part of a morning lesson). Go into my room to put stuff down and consider what to make for dinner. Here the buzzer ring and Elaine talks. Rings again, she talks. This happens about 5 times. Then she goes into her room, shuts the door, and turns the life off. And then the door bell starts ringing. I am in my room frogging the Tasha bag and not particularly interesting in answering the door as I am wrapping the yarn around my feet. Finally, I get up and answer the door. It is Elaine's boyfriend. He won't come in, but sits down on the hall steps and calls her. So I close the door and go back to frogging. Then he starts this, "lets see how long we can ring the door bell for" shit. I go out again, say "She not coming out so get over it" in a angry, teacher's voice. So then he just starts calling her on the phone. At least she had enough common sense to turn the damn ringer off. After I am finished completely frogging, she comes out of her room and says sorry. I should just smack her. If you want to act like you are 3, go ahead, but don't piss off the roommates.
07:36 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan , Pissed off ranting | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
11/05/2005
Sweet November
I have been looking at the pictures on other blogs and the internet at the lovely pictures of winter. I am a winter person, I love cold, hate summer. I always feel warmer than everyone else, so summer is miserable for me. It has been so long since I have seen snow or even felt comfortable for more than a couple of months a year. It is Saturday, November 5th here and this is what I wore this morning to the gym, my sandals are on the porch. 
What is wrong with this picture?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? In knitting news, I am ready to start the hood on Mariah! I am so happy. I will have her finished in time for the "cold" weather of Taipei. I haven't felt like being on the computer much this week. Mainly I come home and sit down in front of some uninteresting T.V. and knit for a little while. Then I get to bed early. It is nice to feel like I am accomplishing something. I have one ball of yarn worth of knitting on some birthday knitting, my sister's bag, and the practice sock to finish up. My sister's bag is going very nicely and I am loving the yarn I am using. In fact, it is so nice, that I am going to buy some more to make socks with, I think. And definitely some to make a nice pair of mittens for my Dad. It is a wool, alpaca blend and really lovely to knit with. This week, knitting has been my calm and therapy. And I have been getting a lot accomplished. I am really happy about that.
02:01 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
11/03/2005
Thank Goodness Tomorrow is Friday............
For your viewing pleasure, finally a F.O. on this so called knitting blog. I call this Insomnia because I started it during the last typhoon here. It was about 2 in the morning and I couldn't sleep for some reason. So I took 2 things of Caron Simply Soft and leftover Rowan Kid Classic and knitted up my variation of the Yo! Drop it Scarf from SnB Nation. I really like it. I think I am going to leave the fringe uneven, just the way it is.
The last picture shows the colors the best. Can't use my flash with the mirror. Last weekend I went to Tesco. My little slice of heave is going to disappear soon. Tesco and Carrefour are going to exchange stores. I decided to stock up a little bit. I think I will have to go back soon for more of the hot chocolate. I already drank all of it this week. 
Ignore the sock in the picture, I have been. Poor sock. But it is on the list of projects that must be finished before I can start anything new. And a little Taiwanese life for you. 
06:09 Posted in Knitting , Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
10/10/2005
A little slice of heaven...........
One word people..............Tesco. Enjoy.
03:08 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
09/30/2005
Don't give a rat's ass.........
I don't know what my problem has been the past few days. I had a sinus infection a few days ago, but it has cleared up. But honestly, I don't feel like doing anything. I haven't even gone for a walk in the past three days. Any one who knows me, knows that I have lost a lot of weight in the past year. But I can't even be arsed to go out for a walk right now. I am hoping that with a few days off, I will start to feel guilty and get up and do something. The one thing I have been working on the past three days is Mariah. But I am too lazy to take pictures tonight. But I do have some cool pictures to show you. For 350 days a year, Taipei is a smog covered, depressing area of grayness. But for over a week, 10 WHOLE DAYS IN A ROW PEOPLE, Taipei has looked liked this. 
This is looking down from my job into the city. It was just wonderful. The view is starting to get back to normal and I can't be arsed to take pitures today to compare. Maybe next week I will have something. I am hoping to get out of the stupid funk soon. But the weather was so clear that I got this great picture of the 101 building, which is the world's tallest building at the moment. This view really puts the size into perspective for me. But remember, I took this pictures as I was riding on a bus. Stopping for pictures is not something the psycho bus driver will do. 
On a happier note, work makes me happy, I have two cool pictures of neat things my students made. Sorry for the bad crop job, but must not show student faces or uniforms. Can't be too careful.
Stayed tuned for hopefully something better than my half ass crappiness of the past three days. (Tomorrow I am hoping to head to the pool for a short swim. Need to practice that and then yoga. Yoga makes me happy too.)
06:40 Posted in Life in Taiwan | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
09/19/2005
Sorry..........
First off all, something is wrong with my email and this site. I did not receive email notices about the last two comments I get. I don't get many comments, so I get all excited when someone does leave a comment. And the last two were really cool. One was from Davi, my super cool friend, and the other was from The Crochet Dude!!! I stalk his blog everyday and it is really cool that he left me a comment. And it isn't working!!!!!! AAAHHH!!!!! Ok, enough of that. I am not a self potrait kind of person and not really joining in, but I though I would add this on Tuesday anyway. Just feels right. The upper elementary grade have formal lunch at the school I work with. Everyone gets dressed and there is a fancy lunch were everyone gets to practice their Western table manners for about 45 minutes. I am not a fan of formal lunch and would rather spend the time taking care of my students, but not my choice. So here is my "formal attire" for the lunch yesterday. 
You can't really tell, but I've got the whole 80's tie