Hectic

Wow! Ever since I got back to school I have been moving nonstop! I thought only taking 9 classes this semester would help me slow down but I guess I was wrong. I am taking three music history courses this semester out of those 9 classes and it is tough keeping everything straight. However, I really need to take them all this semester since they are not offered next semester and I want to take my Praxis II in the summer.
I have no time to even breathe on Tuesday and Thursday because I have so many classes and they are all back to back. Monday, Wednesday and Friday don't have as many classes, but I go to the gym in the morning before those classes and do homework all afternoon and evening. I start my work study job tonight and will probably end up working Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
I went home this past weekend since it was a long weekend and helped my mom finish putting in the fence we started building this summer. I also discovered that my dog had been injured while I was gone. Mom took her to the vet today and told me that it is a bulging disk in her back. It will go down and she'll be ok but it will never completely go away. From now on she needs to get a lot more exercise (something she doesn't get when I'm not home due to my mom working all day, my dad sleeping all day and working all night, and my little sister either in school or hanging out with her friends). Hopefully they can work out a good schedule so that she gets more walks because she is loved by all of us and is as much a member of our family as the humans of our family.
My knitting has come to a stand still for now. I get a few rows done on my dad's scarf every few days but until I work out my schedule there isn't much time for knitting. Once I settle into a more concrete schedule the knitting will find its way out of the drawer again.

On The Road Again

I think I have nailed down the projects that I want to take on my trip to St. Louis this weekend. I am going to start and take one of the pillow covers for my bed. I am also going to take cotton yarn for washcloths. AND I am going to take the beginning of the Batman blanket. There are 63 rows of nothing before the symbol starts so I can work on that mindlessly. I already have 14 rows down but it still leaves 49 for the trip (I know I won't get all of it done). The new car we got has AC that works a little too well so it will be nice to feel this growing in my lap. Due to my knee problems I have shotgun the entire way.
Now, about this Batman Blanket. This is the first time I have ever designed a pattern on my own. I used an Excel spreadsheet and made many many MANY mistakes before I decided that it was good enough to try. The background of the entire thing is a dark grey. I have it as the Bat symbol being cast from a building up into the sky (beam of light and all) there are 4 buildings of various heights in the foreground with a two lane road running across the bottom. I am doing the blanket it stockinette stich so I have a border of garter stitch around the entire thing. I know it is a VERY simple pattern and will be pretty painless to execute, but I can't help feeling quite proud of myself for creating it.
My stash reduction this summer has worked wonderfully and I know only have the amount of yarn that will fit in the two drawers I am allowing for it in one of my 3 drawer organizers (the top drawer is filled with fabric and shirts for making shirts for my sorority). Now, when I move in on Monday I need to find a good place to hide this blanket once it gets bigger. It's for one of my college friends that is always coming over for dinner ( I love to cook and he loves to eat) so I need to make sure it is hidden so he doesn't find out about it until I give it to him!
On yet another tangent, I have lost 2 more pounds! I tried on the dress for my cousin's wedding today and discovered that it is quite big on me in the midsection. My mom is going to help me tack it so it doesn't hang funny now that I've lost the weight. I treated my parents to a dinner out tonight with just the three of us since I am leaving next week and I felt ready to explode before I was even close to halfway through my entree. It's a nice feeling to actually feel full without actually eating a lot.
Well, for now I am off. I'm hoping to get a little more packing done ( I did quite a bit of laundry today so I can pack most of my clothes) before I head to bed.

MILEstone

This event is definitely blog worthy! For the first time in my life I ran a mile without stopping! I used to be in terrific shape but for the mile run at school you tried to get the best time so I would run as fast as I could until I got burnt out and then would have to slow down for awhile. Then I had all of my knee surgeries and there was no chance of me running a 1/4 of a mile, let alone a whole mile without stopping. This summer I've been working really hard at finally losing all of my surgery weight. I am very very far from my goal but instead I reached something I wasn't even trying for. In an earlier post I said that I bought the Wii fit. I have been using that as much as possible and finally tackled the running portion of it. You run in place and the screen goes through a landscape based on your pace, as if you are really outside running (much more interesting than the treadmill). I pushed through the long distance run without stopping and now I feel a tremendous feeling of accomplishment! :)
Now I'm off to drink about a gallon of water!

When it Rains....

IT POURS!!!!!! The last couple weeks have just been filled with rain! We have one nice day and then 4-5 days of rain. And for this title to have a double meaning....an earlier post was a rant on boys that just can't make up their minds. Well, I just had another very, very old acquaintance find me on facebook and Yahoo and start talking to me out of the blue. He is very flirtatious and I don't really know where this is coming from!
I find it very interesting that you can go for months/years without anyone seeming to be interested in you and then all of a sudden everyone is paying attention! It's very weird for me and I am definitely out of my element here. I'm just gonna go with the flow on this one and see what happens.
On another note, I am heading back to school in 2 weeks! I'm a little nervous for the upcoming semester, but I'm also very excited. I will be living in my own apartment this year so I don't have to deal with roommates. I also have a much lighter schedule than usual and am looking forward to the free time to do more studying, practicing, knitting, and working out (probably in that order). It will be really nice to actually have some time for myself for a change. I love to work out but never have the time. It's relaxing for me because I can just get away from everything. If I'm mad about something I can just go hit a punching bag until I'm too tired to be mad.

Mini Road Trips

This weekend was filled with mini roadtrips for me. On Friday I went to Erie with my mom for some shopping. I ended up getting a few more things for my apartment and some new yarn for projects.
Saturday we went to Clarion to our camp to see my aunt and uncle. They brought their puppy with them. His name is Tucker and he is a golden lab. I have never seen him, only pictures of when they got him. He is now 4 months old and 50 pounds. He is now the size of my 6 year old dog and does not look like a puppy! But he is absolutely adorable and full of energy!
Sunday we went over to Ohio for a family picnic. On the way I got some knitting done. I completed a washcloth out of my new book and started another one that I have been working on a bit today and am almost done with. The patterns have pictures in them so the first one I made is a frog and the current one is a birdhouse for my mom.
I really need to get better about posting pictures on here and Ravelry! But I never seem to know where my camera is when I'm thinking about it and by the time I find it to take pictures or upload them my little sister has taken the computer hostage!

Boys, ugh!!!!!

I have decided that I cannot date until I am 30, or else I just have to date men that are way older than me! They say that girls mature faster than boys and I fully believe that! I just need a major vent, and what's more perfect than my own blog?
There are a couple guys that I used to have crushes on from high school that have just started talking to me again and both have decided they would like to try a relationship. The thing is, I am no longer into them. We don't really have anything in common, it was only ever a crush, it would never actually work. Then there is an old ex of mine that wants to get back together and says he never got over me. I feel bad, but I have no feelings for him anymore. Then there is a guy that I dated a little bit this past year but we just have nothing in common and to be quite honest, he bugs me to no end. What's a girl to do? I am not looking for my "soul mate" right now, I don't expect to find him at age 20, but still I have no interest in dating these guys. When I try saying that I am told that I have led them on and I'm just playing with them. That's not what I'm doing at all and I don't like being guilt tripped about my feelings.
I love being Methodist but all of this drama is almost enough to make me consider converting to Catholicism, joining a convent, and becoming a nun!
Ok, rant over. Time to go finish making dinner for the one man in my life I'm not completely frustrated with, my daddy!

Chocolate Frogs...a plague on my thighs!

Frogs may have been one of the plagues of ancient Egypt, but now they have come back as a plague on my thighs! I made them for taking to my friend's house last week and they were so adorable and so much fun to make! So of course I will be making them again in the future! Here is a picture of them for those of you that asked.

Heading to the doctor in about an hour and then a hair appointment for my mom. Riding along to get an opinion on me getting a loose perm. I love doing my hair with my spiral curling iron but it takes so long that it just isn't practical in accordance with my school schedule.

After that I think I am heading out for a bike ride with my friend Crystal. Hopefully the storm holds off so that we can. We haven't gone in over a week and we are definitely due for one! Especially after all the frogs I ate!