If I had actually finished this post last week, I was going to talk about how lovely my neighborhood looks with the azaleas beginning to bloom and stuff...and then it got seriously bitch cold.  I scraped ice off my rear window this morning.  This weather is insane.  As I'm sure it is throughout the country, but whatever...

My lack of posts are mostly related to the fact that I am exhausted.  I've rarely gotten more than six hours of sleep a night total in the past two weeks, and it is beginning to wear on me.  I've been experimenting with afternoon naps, which have been antithetical to my nature since I can remember (ask my mother--it was not fun to have a two-year-old who refused to nap because she might miss something).  It does help, but I'm still a bit resistant... Also, I have been really hungry.  The baby is about a pound-and-a-half now, and I've still only gained three pounds.  Yay pregnancy diet, but jeez, I am feeling the need to consume mass quantities.  I bought a whole lot of cheese last week, so between that and cereal and oranges I am still trying to snack healthy...

Much finishing going on here!  The blanket is completely finished, finally, and the sweater just needs buttons.  (I will have pictures once Mark locates the camera.  This is an epidemic here.)  I'm also on the second sock of this pair:



I think I mentioned that I frogged the cowl I made with Felici Time Traveler (since it wasn't warm enough) and decided to make another pair of Rainbow socks...  It's working out quite well.  I had to futz with the pattern for my gauge, but so far so good.  I'm halfway through the leg of the second sock now.  I'm also working on a lace shawl made from a frogged sweater--and am almost done already.  I need a bigger project! :)

I have been hyper-productive today... You may notice that I changed the blog template. I was getting extremely tired of having to change all the default settings for every photo or video I posted because my years-old template was too narrow.  And now I'm orange.  Eh, it's spring.  The template change only took a few minutes, though.  After work I stopped by the new Whole Foods near my house--there were many senior citizens there, and I bought a basil plant for the windowbox.  Then I vacuumed out my car (which I'd been avoiding for way too long) and washed it myself.  When I got home I planted the basil, and noticed that somehow some of the mint from last year survived, so I moved it to a more advantageous location in the box. Then I took care of the compost (which I'd been avoiding as well).  Then I hemmed a pair of pants, and put the machine away.  Then I packed my bag for this weekend--Mark has a meeting in Charlotte tomorrow afternoon and Saturday morning (unluckily concurrent with the NCAA basketball tournament...), and I'm tagging along so we can go to IKEA and buy the crib, and also eat Swedish meatballs. :)  Anyway. Then I filed my nails, since I broke a few during the car washing.  Then I created a spreadsheet for my singing income and expenses (again, avoiding!), so we can finally do our taxes!  (I almost actually made money this year, if you don't count mileage.  Which I don't even bother with, since I need to show a profit.  Especially because this year I probably will have no singing income at all.  Oh well...)

And now I am vegging out for a few minutes before I leave for my lovely knitting group.  I only have one repeat left in my baby blanket, blessedly.  I haven't decided on a border yet, but I may just pick up stitches along the long sides and bind them off, so they'll match the top and bottom border.  I could also do applied I-cord, but the first option will be MUCH faster. I'm willing to experiment.  I just want to be done with it!  I don't like it when projects take more than two months.  I am ready to move on to a shawl!

Speaking of projects, here's one I was pretty happy with in the beginning, but not so much at the moment:

This is the Felted Clogs pattern by the greatly-missed Bev Galeskas.  The construction is pretty weird at first, but it all makes sense in the end, and comes out really cool.  I did have to felt the hell out of them (I used the last of my Noro Big Kureyon for the upper, and KnitPicks WOTA Bulky for the sole).  I really loved these, and wore them around the house every day for more than a month (we have ceramic tile in the bathrooms, kitchen and dining room--brr!), but then the other day I noticed I had already worn a hole through one of the heels.  What the heck?!  So I'm kind of mad at them right now.  (I suppose I should be mad at KnitPicks...)  I'll probably just darn up the hole and buy some soles for them, but in the meantime I've switched to my lighter slippers.  It's going to be 80 degrees or more for five of the next seven days, so I'm not too concerned.

I leave you with the extreme awesomeness of this video.  I literally caught the last word of this on the radio this afternoon, sadness.  Neil Diamond is my Seventies boyfriend.  I have this long-range plan to sing this with Mark at karaoke someday, but he will need some coaching vocally with the higher parts.  Maybe if I just told him to do a Neil Diamond impression...

CIMG5183 a photo by doctorgirlfriend on Flickr.

I started this crocheted ripple afghan in January of 2010. Did I ever blog about it? I don't remember. I made it mainly to use up my nicer leftovers. When I got to 90 rows this past January, I finally decided it was done. (Partially because I was running out of leftovers, and partially because I wanted to start the baby blanket.) It's almost entirely wool and wool blends, from doubled sock yarn to cashmere to bulky Noro. It is very, very warm. I decided to make the ends fringe so I wouldn't have to sew them in, and added some extra cream yarn to bulk them up a bit. There are a few ends to sew in within the rows, but I'm not overly concerned. Overall, this was a great project to work on when I needed something relatively mindless, and is currently very practical since we keep our house at 64 degrees or less during the winter. (Winter's over here, but our house does run chilly.)

Doctor's appointment yesterday: uneventful. I got to pick up my Glucola for my next appointment, oh joy. I've still only gained two pounds (which I gather means I've sort of lost about twelve, in a way--who knew pregnancy would be an effective diet?!), and am hoping that means that I won't have to worry about gestational diabetes. The last things I want are 1. an enormous baby and 2. doctors hovering over me and judging my every choice, in that order. I think the main thing I'm doing is, well, not doing much differently. I just try to snack on dairy or protein instead of carbs. I did decide to take it easy on white sugar for Lent, but that's just lip service anyway--I'm really doing it so I can pass my glucose test, so I'll be left the hell alone! :) My birthday is between now and then, and our anniversary is the day after the test, but I'm not going to be a grinch about that.

Must run to a makeup yoga class, but here's a very bizarre link: crazy bra ads (the nipple one is particularly strange...ah, the '70s).

Because my day job is at a scientific journal, I spend most of my time sending and receiving emails from overseas.  We were supposed to sponsor an award at this conference outside Tokyo later this week, but the convention center is damaged, and the conference is canceled.  Then I was following up on an unrelated issue, and noticed that one of our board members actually lives in Sendai.  I've never met this man, but I cannot imagine what he is going through. It's all just very sad, and I hope the worst is over...

 

On a happier, more materialistic note, we set up our baby registries this weekend.  It was actually kind of exhausting.  I had been doing all this research on strollers and carseats and stuff, and ended up mostly relying on Consumer Reports.  Friday night Mark had a meeting, so I went out to Target to do some preparatory field work.  At least only one stroller fell on my head...it was that kind of embarrassing moment where you're kind of injured, but actually glad nobody was around to see it.  I probably should've reported the incident, but I was not bleeding, so I figured I was okay. ;)  Anyway, we're all set up now.  I'll probably continue to add things one by one as I think of things.  I'm just really afraid we're going to get Precious Moments/Disney princess/"Daddy's Little Angel"-type stuff that I find tacky and/or offensive.  I know I can't really control this (although doesn't my family know me?!  Shouldn't they know that I hate that kind of crap?!), so in the meantime I will practice my fake plastic smile and PRAY that people give me receipts...  Yeah, we also hate things that make noise, and are minimalists.  This should be interesting!

 

Another FO picture, as promised.  I finished this tiny Multnomah in late January, I think... I had a 300-yard skein of Jitterbug, purchased before I learned that it wasn't that great for socks (hence the name Jitterbug...).



Because I had so little yardage, I knew I would have to fudge a bit.  I went up a few needle sizes, omitted the WS decreases because I don't care for crescent-shaped shawls anyway, and started the lace when I was able to do a bit more than ten repeats on each side.  Then I just knit until I ran out of yarn.  It actually works pretty well as a neckerchief, and is surprisingly soft.

 

Must run to PT (I have this gluteal muscle thing...which ironically would make actual running a problem), but I shall leave you with this lovely gem.  Which reminds me:  apparently I still know most of the words to "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough", and even remembered the Don Henley harmony line when it came on the radio this morning.  That fact is much more embarrassing than anything related to the below video.

CIMG5190 a photo by doctorgirlfriend on Flickr.

Pictures!! It took a bit longer than expected, since the camera was absolutely dead... So this is a tiny February Baby Sweater I'm making for the nugget. (The nugget is a girl, by the way, hence the hot-pink sweater.) I just want something light for when we have to go to the grocery store or sit in air conditioning--and Berroco Comfort DK will be a good fiber choice, I think. I took measurements of a 3-6 month cardigan at the store, and sized the pattern down accordingly by knitting it on size 4s.

Speaking of the nugget, she is kicking me like crazy right now. I really don't mind it yet at this point (22 weeks), but eventually it may get old. I don't know yet... I've been doing a lot of research for our registry this week, and tonight Mark had a meeting so I went down to Target to scope out a few things (not for the first time, but this time I actually had a list, and Consumer Reports recommendations and stuff). Other than an infant carrier falling on my head (I thought it had drawn blood...), it was a relatively useful trip. And I may have purchased a tiny Beatles onesie that was on sale. I haven't bought anything else yet (though I'm in the process of making cloth wipes), so I thought it would be okay. They only had a teensy size, so maybe she can wear it home from the hospital. It is awesome.

In non-baby news, I actually got some good singing work done last month. I managed to squeeze in a new recording--one that actually sounds like me (though I suppose I'll never be completely satisfied)--and I coached the Verdi Requiem after learning it in record time. At the moment I'm learning Schumann's Frauenliebe und -Leben so I'll be prepared if I can actually schedule a lesson in the next two months. My voice is actually working just fine, and I got the okay to continue taking Prevacid (my reflux is bad enough when I'm not hatching a pod person). All I need to sing well is enough sleep!

Oh yes, and I've been plugging away on the blanket--I've got less than three repeats left, and then have to decide on a border. It's damn heavy at this point. I've also got a pair of socks on the needles... I decided to frog the cowl I made from my Felici Time Traveler (it was not nearly warm enough, cf. my sad chullo), and am making another pair of Rainbow Socks with the yarn. I'm making some modifications for gauge, and I really like the way the first sock is turning out.

Oh, poor blog, I have neglected you.  For the same recurring reasons--being busy, fatigue, lack of photos despite ongoing knitting and other projects--but also because I've been getting sucked way too much into Facebook lately.  And I don't really like Facebook.  I mean, I like the immediacy, and the ease of sending messages and posting links, but I don't like that it's such a time-suck, or having to hide all the stupid game messages, or posts by people who I'm friends with for various reasons but who are generally INSANE--plus there's the privacy issue, and the fact that Mark Zuckerberg seems like a total jerk.  And I don't like censoring myself.  I don't have to censor myself here, since nobody in my family knows about it, and even my husband doesn't read it.  (Bless him, or else I wouldn't have been able to bitch about my inlaws when it was most cathartic.) 

 

Anyway, I had pretty much decided over the weekend that I was going to try to up my blog usage and minimize the Facebook stuff, when two things happened yesterday that kind of sealed the deal:

 

1.  My mother tried to friend me.  Ack.  She doesn't actually use Facebook except to look at pictures of my niece, so I suppose she did it in anticipation of the nugget's arrival.  When the time comes, I have no qualms about setting up a separate photosharing account just for baby pictures--particularly because you can make everything password-protected, so there's no weirdness about sharing bathtub pictures or anything.  I am not friending my mother on Facebook.  She doesn't need to see every single political link I post to my page, or every off-color comment I make on someone's status update.  I know there are ways to block things by creating groups, but like I said before, I don't really like Facebook.

 

2.  Yesterday I posted a status update:  "The word of the day is:  Santana."  I was making a specific reference to Tuesday night's Glee episode, in which we learn a whole lot about the awesomely bitchy Santana Lopez.  (Great episode in general, despite my feelings about Gwyneth Paltrow's singing, blech.)  I had three people "like" my update--all female relatives in their late 40s.  Clearly they thought I meant the BAND Santana, which is cool and all, but wow, they didn't get it.  And I had no intention of elucidating, since the subject matter of this particular episode (and wow, like, every episode) would have grievously offended my extremely holier-than-thou, homophobic cousin (by marriage).  This woman and I are not tight, and I really don't give a crap what she thinks, but I prefer my internet presence to be a peaceful one, since God knows I create enough drama in real life. 

 

So I believe these two events have clinched it for me.  I can use Facebook to receive messages, to update my artist page, and to look at cute babies, but other than that I'm just over it.  I'm actually writing this as an email (we'll see if it goes through), and will stick with this and Flickr for posting if it seems to make things easier.  Tomorrow I may actually have pictures (we'll see...the camera lives in Mark's car, apparently!), but I will definitely post more.  I wasn't kidding when I said I was busy!  And hopefully, if I can stick with this, I will send a FB message to select people to inform/remind them of the blog, and I can get some more readers!

 

Oh, but here are two links:

 

I recently discovered "Advice Smackdown" on alphamom, and I think I love this woman.  This post and the comments that follow are really touching, and I think I will refer back to it as I get closer to my due date. 

 

Ten ways to save money on gas.  I guess I need to drive the speed limit on 540...