Knitting up a storm...

In Blowing Rock, NC is a great little yarn shop named Dee's Yarn Nook. While there I bought three different yarns in order to make two scarves. I'm hoping that as scarf making should be easy and go quickly that it won't take me long to whip these out...we'll see. Anyway, on sale for only $3 a skein was the Berroco Quest yarn. I purchased the Rose Glow and Hot Toddy colors.


Quest - Rose Glow


Quest - Hot Toddy

There was only one skein of the Hot Toddy left so I've decided to try and make a striped scarf. Not with horizontal stripes, but one with three vertical stripes. The middle stripe will be the Hot Toddy, and the outer stripes will be the Rose Glow, they complement each other very well. With any luck, it will look something like this....


(taken from my new scarf book)

The other ball of yarn that I bought was not on sale, but I couldn't resist. It's Prism's Trieste yarn, and the color is Woodlands.



I love it, and I'm going to make a special scarf for my mom, a zig-zaggy one! These are pictures from my new scarf book, Scarves - a knitter's dozen by XRX Books (ISBN: 1893762238). I think it's going to be an awesome scarf to go with jeans.



This is a close up of the scarf. Doesn't it look fun?



We'll see if I can get this done by Christmas...I mean, I have plenty of time, but who knows what can happen between now and then. I'll start on it soon though. Wish me luck!

Mountain inspired project plans....

I went to the mountains again and stayed with my sister, sigh, it was wonderful to sleep with the windows open. We had a great time cruising around Blowing Rock and Boone, looking at all the fun little shops with everything imaginable and artsy. While in Blowing Rock we visited a yarn shop and picked up some great skeins of on sale yarn that I am going to whip up into three scarves. One is for my sister, one is for myself, and one is for my mom. I'm not sure when I will get these done (I still haven't finished my sleeveless summer sweater that I've been working on for months, bad me) but I can't imagine that finishing my sister's and mine will be much of a problem. After all, they are going to be very simple. The one I am going to knit for my mom is a different story. I am going to knit a zig-zaggy scarf! I found this awesome scarf book at the yarn shop that shows you how to knit a scarf that looks rather like a very long lightening bolt, and I think it's the greatest thing ever. Can't wait to see what it's going to look like :) I think my mom will enjoy it, especially made out of the awesome yarn I bought for it. I'll take pictures of the book and all the yarn and post that tomorrow I think, just so you can get an idea of what I'm yakking on about. Trust me, it's amazing stuff.

The other thing that happened while we were shopping round here and there was dreaming of buying this cute miniature house shop we ran across that is for sale. My sister and I discussed that if we bought this incredibly cheap shop that we could rent it out for a year while creating our own shop inventory until we could set up everything and sell our wares. I think we could come up with a ton of fun crafty things to sell. Covering the mortgage payment each month with sales should be easy as it's so inexpensive. I keep wondering if I should just do it, just buy the shop and work everything out along the way, hoping it's a good investment. I know I'd be happy to make things to sell and that I could trust my sister to run it for me. Right now it's just a great dream to develop in my head, we'll see how things pan out. Who knows, maybe she'll just bite the bullet and buy it and I can share it with her. It doesn't really matter what happens, it's fun to daydream about for the moment.

Sorry that I've been so lazy about keeping this up to date...I'm trying to do better. Expect pictures tomorrow and hopefully good news on Friday. Friday is a special day, I have a schedule and important people to meet. I just hope that the situation works out for me and that I have good news to report sometime soon as a result of Friday's adventure. More on that later....

Heat debate

So this morning I went to get my ordinary cup of coffee across the street from work at a cute local shop called Reverie - A Coffee Den. This place is adorable. Not much larger than 18 x 25 feet or so (of course I completely calculated those dimensions in my head and that means they are most likely absolutely wrong) this coffee shop offers wondrous Larry's Beans brand coffee.

This stuff is rather like the elixir of life for me most work day mornings. I usually get a medium of whatever the daily flavor happens to be, with lots of room for my cream. People like to say that I like a little coffee with my cream. I like to say that I like my coffee like I like my men, very white (which is so true in the case of my fair skinned red-headed man, but not a general statement to be misconstrued in any way). Cream just makes coffee better in my opinion, but please, no sugar...unless it's added in by way of chocolate, hahaha, and then I'm all for it. Mmmm...dark chocolate mochas....so yummy.

Anyway, this morning I ran into a terrible dilemma. It was ridiculously hot outside on the walk over. If I'd been an ice cube, I don't think I could have been in any worse shape than I was when I finally made it into the coolness of the Reverie coffee shop. When trying to select my morning caffeine fix, I was torn between whether or not I should get a hot coffee or an iced coffee. An iced coffee was what the heat of the day required, but once I got back into the library I was sure to be subjected to the subzero temperatures of my work environment. So what should I do? Get something for the moment and the walk back? Or prepare for the inevitable inhospitable temperatures of my day ahead? I couldn't believe what a difficult decision this was to make.
Blended ice coffee wonderment?

Or rich creamy warm liquid caffeine?


It took me several minutes of going back and forth before I decided to be smart and plan for the future. I went for a hot cup of French Vanilla with my normal third cup of half and half to whiten it up. It was a good decision.

What would you have done?

Yesterday...

I had a job interview yesterday afternoon. I was really excited about it, because it was the second interview for a position I've applied for in the area. I am looking for a new job because I am trying to use my Master's degree and get on to my career path, that and because money makes the world go round, I need a raise. I applied for this position two weeks ago. They quickly called me and set up a phone interview that happened last week on Wednesday. On Thursday they called me and set up an in person interview that happened yesterday. I had thought that would be the deciding interview as I haven't been through an interview process with more than one interview, but at the end of this interview I was told that I had a panel interview to look forward to next. I love panel interviews so I'm excited about this next one, and I really want this job. It is exactly the kind of position that I need. They want someone who can come in and help them set up their records management/archival system, and with my background I am exactly the right candidate for this job. I have done tons of research to catch up on specific regulations that they have to adhere to, and I did some background research on competitive systems to help them create a stable infrastructure. I found out yesterday which system they decided to go with, and now am trying to familiarize myself as much as possible with the structure and functions of it so that I can ask specific questions and understand exactly what will be expected of me on a microlevel.

I can only hope that they appreciate my enthusiasm about this employment opportunity and recognize me as the perfect person for this job. If not for common courtesy, they could call and have me there tomorrow if they really wanted to, I am that interested and excited about the position. We'll see what happens though. Either way, I'm excited by the possibilities!

just laziness...

So, I haven't had anything to talk about or report in the last week, well nothing definitive. Hopefully by the end of the business day tomorrow I will have some news to share. Or at least I'm hoping so, and if not, blah, I'll come up with something I guess. Job hunting...when will it be over? Please...Tomorrow! By 5 p.m. to be specific.

Mooning around...

I don't think anyone says that anymore, "mooning". According to dictionary.com it means:

1. To wander about or pass time languidly and aimlessly.
2. To yearn or pine as if infatuated.
3. Slang To expose one's buttocks in public as a prank or disrespectful gesture.

It is safe to say that number three is not applicable here. The other two, however, are equally viable. I am being a little aimless and languid today, although I'm not sure why exactly. I am also quite infatuated with my man, but while infatuation, foolish or all-absorbing passion, doesn't completely cover everything in that area, it is a fairly good assessment of my state of being at one extreme on occasion. Anyway...I'm being a bit listless and thought I should take the time to update my blog. I've abandoned it for a week! I'm sorry!

The only thing I can think of to report on is seeing the Bourne Ultimatum.

It was very enjoyable, although not as good as the first two, it wasn't half bad. However, the experience of seeing it was less than desirable. We arrived three minutes before it began and found the theatre completely packed. The only seats left together were on the third row. Yes...so far forward that I had to lean my head all the way back on the head rest in order to barely see the entirety of the screen. I do not wish to ever repeat that movie viewing experience in the future. It was way too close and left me with a krink in my neck, but the movie was good enough to overlook it. The seating made me distinctly aware of the way that the director, Paul Greengrass, tends to move the camera around when filming, and the extreme close-ups he employs too often that before never bothered me. It was amazing the difference a closer seat can make on a film experience.

Anyway, I recommend the movie. I enjoyed it and you might too.

Spider Cat!

This is hilarious! I bet my boys, Bosley and Charlie, could do the same thing.

Spider-Cat Does whatever a spider can!

Biltmore beauty

I have finally gotten around to uploading my pictures from the Biltmore Estate weekend my boyfriend planned for the two of us. I am going to tell an abridged story of the events through pictures.

First, we decided to check out the River Bend Farm before we went horse back riding on day 1. The farm was rather beautiful. The stable, blacksmith shop, and equipment were all housed together in a rustic tin roofed stucco building.

The tractors were majestic even in their retired states.

The resident 7th generation Norwegian blacksmith had a forge outfitted with original equipment.

It took him about 7 minutes to make a single nail, and I got to keep it!

The farm looked especially picturesque towards the end of day after it had rained.

Next we went horseback riding! I've never seen the Biltmore Estate from the back at a distance, and it was breath taking.


Jim didn't have that bad of a time on the ride, which was strictly an endeavor for my sake I think. He made a handsome Red Sox cowboy ;) (even when Poncho halted for a pit stop)

After the ride, and while it was raining, the winery was fun to tour, seeing the casks and wine tasting. However, the best part of the winery was our romantic stroll out to the car under the arbor in the chilly drizzle. The chilled air and cool rain made it movie moment like. I loved it :)

The next day, we actually walked to the house. We started with the vista, which offered a great view of the house.


A little ladybug thought so too.

First we walked down the expanse of the vista. Jim looks great with a Biltmore backdrop.


Then we explored the gardens.


The reflection pools were works of art.

Every detail was eye catching.

But the lion was no match for my man ;)



After the Biltmore Estate, our next adventure was the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had never been on it, and it was wonderful! We ended up going to the highest point east of the Mississippi River, Mount Mitchell. As a mountain man, I could just eat Jim up with a spoon, hahaha :)

I had never seen such a view. I won't forget it.


It was an absolutely wonderful trip.

The Biltmore is beautiful...

It was amazing, beautiful, the perfect weather, and endlessly romantic :) I'll get some pictures up sometime soon I promise, but I just wanted to put it out there that it was everything I anticipated and more, far more. More on that later though, with pictures to illustrate the comments.

Yay! Mountains!!

Guess where I'm going this weekend?!? I'm going to the...

Biltmore Estate!!

I'm so excited! My man and I are going to see everything there is to see on the grounds, and we're also going to take a horseback riding tour as well. It's going to be an unbelievably wonderful vacation, and he was the one to set it all up! I've only been once, and it was ten years ago, so I'm ecstatic about the whole trip. All the Biltmore that I can stand and more!

I'll post pictures when we get back!

Butterfly effect...

I was cut off by a Painted Lady butterfly on my walk into work this morning from the bus.

Vanessa cardui [Linnaeus]

He flew right in front of me as I was trudging to work through the brickyard and whisked away as he passed the "going to work" fog that had engulfed me. Suddenly I heard the cheery trill of a bird somewhere above me, and witnessed the sunlight streaming though the trees with its Midas touch, turning the leaves to gold and painting the bricks in the brickyard with a warm plated sheen.



I was suddenly aware of what a beautiful day it was going to be. A light breeze ruffled my hair as one might tousle the hair on a small child's head with a hand, and I felt privileged to have crossed paths with my fellow morning commuter the Painted Lady. He had seemed like such a rude little fellow to heedlessly tear across my path without warning, but he had actually done me a favor. He brightened my morning and raised my spirits. I shall have to thank him for the kind gesture if we ever cross paths on another work day morning.

Anonymous!

I addressed your comments and left one for you.... :)

Perhaps I should have put that here in a new entry, but I'm lazy. I did the comment first and then this, and that's good enough for me.

What?!?

Ok, so yesterday I put a question out there...How do you balance your life and end up floating contentedly around for a period of time? The answer that I got from an anonymous person is that "[I] might try Zoloft." What? That's ridiculous! I don't need to be medicated! I just want a little peace from the different aspects of my life that are pulling me in opposite directions!

I got that peace last night, thank you, and not from some pharmaceutical company's excuse to make millions (I know that some people do need these sort of medications and that there's nothing wrong with that, but it's part of my current rant, sorry), but from walking across the street and going to my friendly neighborhood Whole Foods, where I walked around in the organic goodness and bought ingredients for delicious and wholesome meals. I was serenaded during my shopping by the mightiness of Nature's power in the form of a severe thunderstorm with torrential downpours and quarter sized hail. It was awesome, and then I used my environmentally conscious cloth bags to carry my groceries home in the newly refreshed outdoors. That was what I needed, some interaction with nature (meaning the storm), and a wholesome environment to further and support by my patronage (meaning Whole Foods). I came home feeling great and revitalized, and ended up cleaning my apartment to compliment my cleaned up attitude.

Now I respect people that work in the pharmaceutical business (Casey and Dennis ROCK!) but why be so quick to suggest medication to provide the wonderful zero gravity experience I was after? Hey, Anonymous, what's the deal? Sorry to attack you like this, but I'm just a little put out by the comment. Hey, I love the little Zoloft circle that is questing after happiness...

All alone...

realizes he's alone...

finds hope on the horizon

Zoloft!

happiness :)

normality...

...but that's not me. However, I hate to get all over you without even knowing who you are. Defend yourself with another comment if you feel like it, and I'll not judge you, as I've worked out my feeling affronted by your comment with this reaction.

Blah...

I don't have much to say at the moment...I'm in a bit of a downward spiral as far as sanity goes. There are some things dragging me down, and some trying to rocket me to the moon. How do you balance these opposing forces and end up in zero gravity? That's what I want to know. That's what I'm putting out there for the world to answer. How do you balance your life and end up floating contentedly around for a period of time?



I need a zero gravity experience right now.

Eek! It's Friday the 13th!

Bah, who cares? No such thing as Friday the 13th bad luck, and especially not today, it's my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday, Mommy!

I'm not going to brag about how old she is and how amazing she looks, but my mom is beautiful and still young in my eyes, though sometimes she complains about being old. Another birthday is the celebration of another year that I have had the best mom that ever lived. I hope that when I am her age that I am as beautiful as she is, and as accomplished as she has been. The woman had three children and raised them well, even with myself as the youngest! Moved the family across the US three or four times, and was a great single parent during my teens.

My mom is my best friend, and I couldn't ask for a better one. I hope that I have made her as proud of me as I am blessed to be her daughter.

Migraines...

I've been suffering from ridiculously bad migraines. It feels like I have my head caught in a vise, and someone is hitting it with a hammer at the same time.

I went home early from work yesterday and just slept, which seems to be the only thing that really works when I get an especially bad migraine. On top of the migraine, I had hiccups at least three times yesterday that made the migraine even worse.

I won't complain anymore about it, no migraines today, and that's awesome. However, I'm not in the mood to ramble on for any longer, and I have lots of work that I should be doing after my afternoon break is over.

Missing the mountains...

I am missing the mountains. I want to live there. I want to buy a cute little mountain cabin or cottage, nothing big, just enough room to live in and not be too cramped, and a lovely view. I have always loved the mountains, and maybe someday I'll get a chance to wake up everyday with the sun bathing mountain peaks and forested valleys as the view from my kitchen window while I enjoy a cup of coffee.


My interview is over, it was in the mountains that I am longing to live among, and it went well. I think I did a very good job, and I looked very professional in my new suit, but the institution that I interviewed with apparently hires people in at the bottom of the pay scale range for a position. That is very tragic, as I currently make as much as the middle of their range for the position. I was hoping that they would hire in according to my qualifications and experience, and somewhere near the top of the range, but not the top, would be enough for it to be reasonable to take the job. However, I don't think an HR dept. that is used to hiring people in at the bottom will want to hire someone in somewhere near the top when they can find another person to work for less. I was really disappointed, but I'm sure there is a reason for it. There must be a better job, more suited just to me, even though it might not be in the mountains that I love and want to dwell in. Sigh.... I really wanted to live in the mountains.

Fourth of July frenzy...

I went shopping yesterday for shoes to go with my interview suit (my interview is tomorrow!) and of course no one else had anything better to do with a day off in the middle of the week than go shopping too. I did find some nice shoes, but because I had no one to tell me what might look best, I bought a few pairs and will get my mom and sister to tell me which one is best and return the others. The stores were packed, and good help was hard to find. I'm just glad I made it out of the mall alive. Kind of reminded me of Dawn of the Dead...

...not the eating people part of course, hahaha, but the milling around in crowds looking like they didn't know where they were going or why they were there. That clip shows the most people in the mall from the 1978 movie that I could find on YouTube, so that's why I snagged it. However, I've never seen the actual movie, original or remake, just a game based on the story line, Dead Rising, and this is a great little music video using images from the game, hehehe....

Anyway, after surviving my shopping experience, I went to my boyfriend's house, went out to dinner, and then we braved the crowds of people trying to find any place to park in a shopping center near Regency Park to watch the fireworks. We actually found a legitimate parking spot, with lines and everything, not just taking random space out of a lane or getting up on a grassy median (which we could have done in the jeep), and then we got to sit on a bench and watch the fireworks with lots of other people. When it was over we got caught in the exit frenzy, but we made it through in a reasonable amount of time.
July 4th - food, fireworks, and frenzied crowds. Yup, sounds about right.

I hate Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC's State Employees Health Insurance!

YES, I said it...I hate BCBS of NC's State Employees PPO plan. I opted to pay for the most expensive one because I'm a diabetic and I need more health care coverage than most people. The prescription drug coverage that goes along with this plan is absolute crap!

I'm an insulin dependent diabetic (Type 1), and I need test strips, insulin, and needles at my disposal at all times in order to regulate my sugar levels and be a good diabetic. By Thursday of this week, I will be out of test strips. I am only allowed to get 450 during a 90 day period, and I have already reached that max. The next day that I am eligible to get my test strips is on July 17th, fourteen days from today. And if I use their average allotment of test strips during that period, I will need 75 just to make it to the 17th.

Let me explain some of this to you. Test strips are a necessary evil, you have to have them to know what your blood sugar is so that you can give yourself enough insulin to regulate those levels. If you don't have them, you can't check your glucose levels and can't regulate your diabetes. Some diabetics use them only before they eat meals, or just in the morning or evening. If you check every time that you eat, and have a snack between each meal and one before you go to bed, you'd need at least 6 test strips a day to do a decent job taking care of your diabetes. Insurance companies only allot you on average 5 per day in a 30 day cycle.

Unlike most diabetic care items, you can actually buy test strips without a prescription, because how can you use them to harm yourself in any way? You can't. (Unless you're ridiculously stupid and some how prick your finger to test your blood sugar in a way that causes you to bleed like you cut an artery and lose enough blood to kill yourself in the process...or if you start using their sharp little plastic edges to cut your wrist...or you eat them and die of some weird toxic plastic poisoning...in any of those cases the human race should be glad to be rid of such a complete idiot.) However, if you decide to buy these things on your own, without a prescription, and I don't know why you would need them if you couldn't get a prescription for them from your physician, they are only a dollar a piece. Yes, these tiny little strips come in containers of 25 for only $25. That will last you perhaps 5 days if you are careful and your blood sugar miraculously stays regulated with no problems or fluctuations due to stress, exercise, and other outside factors.

Wait! There is a way that this limit on test strips can be overridden. If your doctor contacts your insurance company and gives them prior authorization for going beyond the established allotment, you can get more test strips. No one bothers to mention this to you until you find out that you can't get anymore when you try to refill your prescription at the pharmacy, which people only do when they actually need the prescription filled! When you call to find out how prior authorization works, BCBS tells you that the doctor will need to answer a few questions about your medical condition (meaning if he doesn't say that you are a brittle diabetic, meaning that you could die any moment without excessive help in controlling your condition, then you are screwed because you won't meet their definition of someone who needs more test strips than they think the average diabetic needs) and that this process can take from 7-10 business days to finalize.

Excellent! Not only am I almost assured not to get the prior authorization unless I warn my doctor that I really do need more test strips than they let me have because I'm a good diabetic who likes to check my sugar often and keep on top of it and that I won't sell my extra test strips (which could be lucrative if you could find a buyer and sell them for 50 cents instead of a dollar), but I'm still not going to have any test strips for at least a week and a half, which is the 7 business days, even if they do approve the authorization!

CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! I hate stupid health insurance companies who don't give a damn about their customers true needs! I'm a diabetic who wishes to live a decent life with fairly regulated blood sugars, but go ahead, make my life harder than it is already with a disease that could kill me with just a few missteps in its regulation!