Stressed

Exactly 24 hours from now, I will be having my annual review.

You'd be hard pressed to find a more nervous, tense and generally stressed-to-the-breaking-point person than me right now (except, probably, me in about 20 hours from now, ha!).

Question is, why am I so stressed by this? I am, by all known accounts, a good employee who has vastly exceeded the expectations laid out for her when she was hired. I took on more in my first few months than they likely thought I would have taken on in a whole year.

On the other hand, I come in late more often than not and have gone way over the budgeted hours on a few projects recently.

My rebuttal, should those things come up tomorrow: I also stay late, more often than not, and do work on the weekends; I am younger and newer and less experienced than my colleagues, so it's natural that I am slower at some things. Not only that, but not once has someone told me how many hours have been budgeted for things that I'm doing. So, I end up spending as many hours as it takes!

I'm also dreading this because my boss tends to favor the "I'll ask you questions about your performance and have you review yourself" style of review. I'm notoriously hard on myself, so I'm afraid that I'll spend the 90 minutes trashing my performance over the last year.

inside the looking-glass

i am bad at bowling

baby j crew

(technical details: Caron Super Soft acrylic yarn in Dark Country Blue, Peacock, and Grey Heather on US #5 needles)

baby baseball buttons

"aren't you the guys who came here once and took your shirts off?"

late april snowfall

Unacceptable!

There are no fewer than five Asian grocery stores in my neighborhood, yet not one of them is open past 7pm on a weeknight!

This information was acquired the difficult way, after Ryan and I traipsed up and down Nicollet in the rain last night, searching (vainly, it turned out) for coconut milk.

silly picture face, part deux

smoking kills

i miss that kitchen

broke into the old apartment

my 'silly picture' face

hugs are nice

captain saftey planet

Week in review: April 10th to April 16th

Thursday, April 10th: I had a relatively uneventful meeting with my boss and co-workers, started planning trips to Milwaukee (for the Twins-Brewers series there) and what would be a wonderful visit to Toronto over Labor Day.

Friday, April 11th: Due to the reports of a massive winter storm, I made arrangements to work from home. The storm never fully appeared, but I did wake feeling miserable with a pounding headache, so opted to work from home regardless. I love working from home! That evening, friends came over with beer and Mexican food, we watched the Wild win and chatted, then headed to the CC Club for a few pitchers.

Saturday, April 12th: Ryan headed off to DJ a wedding in Mankato, and I went to the Aveda Institute for a long-overdue haircut and highlight. It was not destined to be a good day for me, though. The student doing my hair did a lovely job of both the highlighting and trimming most of my hair. She failed in listening to me when I said that I wanted a few bangs, about at cheekbone length and instead chopped off a good 1/4 of the hair on the left side of my head! All attempts to "fix" the disaster only made it worse, as it involved cutting more and more of my precious, long, lovely hair. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I spent literally the entire evening sobbing hysterically over my hair.

Sunday, April 13th: Ryan returned from Mankato and was promptly greeted by Sarah's and Nick's warnings that I was a bit "emotional" over my hair. He did all the correct things a kind yet slightly bewildered boyfriend should do: telling me that he would always think I was beautiful, that my hair didn't change his love for me, etc. Full points to Mr Glanzer on successful damage control! That evening we went to Poulter HQ in Bloomington for a family dinner consisting of a four-meat chili (sausage, bison, lamb and bacon) and accoutrements. We got to see the progressing cosmetic updates of my parents' house, which I must compliment them on! I love the very modern paint colors they've selected.

Monday, April 14th: An uneventful day all-around. We finalized the roster for "Captain Safety Planet", our City of Mpls co-rec softball team, and watched the Wild win Game 3 of their playoffs in Denver.

Tuesday, April 15th: Bargain-minded people that we are, Ryan spotted a promising-looking ad on Craigslist offering three softball bats, a glove, several practice balls and a softball carry-all bag for a mere $35. We went to Dick's near my work where I bought cleats and socks, then drove out to Brooklyn Park to make the deal, and grocery shopped in my former hometown and then drove home to Minneapolis to watch the Avs even the playoff series 2-2.

Wednesday, April 16th: A great day! I had my bi-weekly staff meeting in the morning, lunch with my good friend Manda, beautiful weather, then took in the Twins game in the Microboards seats. Ryan and I were on the 'tron not once, but twice! After the game, the two of us, along with Walsh and Sarah, took advantage of the still-nice weather and played catch in our neighbor's parking lot. A team practice, one might call it.

so very long ago

the torontonian

wild 3, avs 2 in ot

not sad to see winter go

familia

memories of the sportsman

vanity exercise

Week in review: April 3rd to April 9th

Why does my week run Thursday-Wednesday? Because it's my blog and I can do what I damn well please.

Thursday, April 3rd: I had my first-ever meeting at a client site with dairy giant Land O' Lakes to discuss a small project I'm doing for them. This is also my first solo project since starting at HTA in March of 2007.

Friday, April 4th: Ryan's brother and pals arrived on our doorstep for Alex's bachelor party. Ryan had ordered a keg of PBR, there may have been some shots, and Jaime, Christian and myself spent a lot of the party enjoying the mild weather on the back balcony, avoiding the mass country music sing-along that was going on in the living room and feeling much older than the other party-goers.

Saturday, April 5th: I cooked a late breakfast for the roommates and Alex of blueberry pancakes, eggs and bacon. We headed off to the Metrodome to take in the Twins' victory over the Kansas City Royals. The victory was made even sweeter by Justin Morneau's first home run of the year. Ryan got some heat from his brother for not going out to the peelers with the bachelor gang, and instead watching 61* with me that evening.

Sunday, April 6th: Ryan and I lazed about the house all day, watching movies and generally being sloth-like. Sarah cooked some delicious bulgogi for family dinner, and we watched ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball while doing a ridiculous amount of laundry.

Monday, April 7th: I had a very solid workout at the gym, and we ordered some delicious Indian food for dinner.

Tuesday, April 8rd: Unlike Monday, I did not have a good workout. I forgot socks at home, and had to take it easy on the bike to avoid blisters. Ryan showed his domestic side by having a tasty dinner all cooked and ready when I got home from the gym!

Wednesday, April 9rd: My sister and her husband came over to the house for chicken wings, beer and chocolate cake, all while watching two very different sports events: The Twins hammered the White Sox for a 12-5 victory, while the Wild lost a heartbreaker in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche. After three periods of very good hockey, it was hard to see the Wild take a playoff loss on a Joe Sakic dribbler.

perfection in size 0-3 months

(technical details: knitted on some "Joann Sensations" brand yarn, 100% wool, on US #5 needles)

another birthday

room temperature apple pucker: worst shot ever

Netflix!

My queue (Bond flicks, Ken Burns' Baseball series, Best Picture winners):

Casino Royale (1967)
Ken Burns' Baseball: Disc 6
You Only Live Twice
Diamonds Are Forever
Ken Burns' Baseball: Disc 7
Ken Burns' Baseball: Disc 8
Ken Burns' Baseball: Disc 9
Ken Burns' Baseball: Disc 10
Live and Let Die
The Man with the Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Never Say Never Again
Octopussy
A View to a Kill
The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill
GoldenEye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Casino Royale (new version)
The Broadway Melody of 1929
All Quiet on the Western Front
Cimarron
Grand Hotel
It Happened One Night
Mutiny on the Bounty
The Great Ziegfeld
The Life of Emile Zola
You Can't Take It With You
Gone with the Wind: Collector's Edition
How Green Was My Valley
Mrs. Miniver
Casablanca
Going My Way
The Lost Weekend
The Best Years of Our Lives
Gentleman's Agreement
Laurence Olivier's Hamlet
All the King's Men
All About Eve
An American in Paris
The Greatest Show on Earth
From Here to Eternity
On the Waterfront
Marty
Around the World in 80 Days
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Gigi
Ben-Hur: Collector's Edition
The Apartment
West Side Story
Lawrence of Arabia
Tom Jones
My Fair Lady: Special Edition
The Sound of Music
A Man for All Seasons
In the Heat of the Night
Oliver!
Midnight Cowboy
Patton
The French Connection
The Godfather
The Godfather, Part II
The Godfather, Part III
The Sting
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Rocky
Annie Hall
The Deer Hunter
Kramer vs. Kramer
Ordinary People
Chariots of Fire
Gandhi
Terms of Endearment
Amadeus
Out of Africa
Platoon
The Last Emperor: Disc 1
The Last Emperor: Disc 2
The Last Emperor: Disc 3
The Last Emperor: Disc 4
Rain Man
Driving Miss Daisy
Dances With Wolves
Unforgiven
The English Patient
Titanic
Shakespeare in Love
American Beauty
Gladiator
A Beautiful Mind
Chicago
Million Dollar Baby
Crash
The Departed
No Country for Old Men

Saved (not yet available on DVD):
Cavalcade
Rebecca
Sunrise
Wings

Ryan's queue (mostly baseball movies):

The Natural
Mr. Baseball
The Scout
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Seasons 1 & 2: Disc 2
The Sandlot
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Seasons 1 & 2: Disc 3
Minnesota Twins Vintage World Series Film
The Pride of the Yankees
The Bad News Bears
Eight Men Out
For Love of the Game
The Rookie
Angels in the Outfield
Major League
Major League II
Rookie of the Year
The Mighty Ducks

tuesday night baseball

sexiness happens

In which I am a huge geek about knitting

I love knitting. I love knitting so much that I've been known to knit while playing drinking games, knit while on the bus, knit at baseball games. I've tried (mostly unsuccesfully) to knit in the movie theatre. I knit all the friggin' time.

Fellow knitters will be familiar with what is known as "stash". Stash is the yarn that you collect over the years, which you buy not because you have a cool project in mind but because you think it's pretty, think it's really soft, it's on sale, you got a bonus, or because you walked into a yarn store without promising yourself: "I will NOT buy yarn." Stash accumulates. I think I've done a fairly good job of keeping mine small enough to fit into a little Rubbermaid container... well, it ALMOST fits. I think the goal of every person who has stash is to one day knit all of it up, mostly so that you can then accumulate more stash.

Anyway, what am I writing about this here for, anyway? I want to knit up as much of my stash as possible. So, I will codify my rules for "stash busting", as it's called, and then itemize my stash, and what I plan on making with it.

Rules:
- No buying new yarn, unless it's to complete a project (only even relevant with one or two kinds of yarn).
- No more than two projects going concurrently.

Stash as of Friday, April 4th:


Stash as of Monday, June 30th:


Stash:
1. Baby pink wool. I bought this about a year ago when I spied it 60% off at Joann. It's beautiful and soft as a cloud. When I found out that Baby A will be a girl, I was so glad that I bought it! I made most of it into a darling little sweater for her. I'm trying to find a pattern for booties that I like, and I'll make those to go with. Completed!
5/13/08 Update But ... I have a whole ball left of this, so I need to figure out what else I'll make with it. I'm making a "soaker" (which I think is just a term for a diaper cover) in a newborn size. I think I'll have enough left to make one in a >6 month size too! The shower is Saturday, 5/17... wonder if I can get BOTH of those done? Got everything done just in time for Abby's birth!

2. Rose pink acrylic. This is leftover from making a hat and mittens set for Jaime as a wedding present. I bought lots because I was thinking about making a scarf as well, except for the fact that I hate making scarves. I'm making a baby sweater in size 3-6mos for Baby A. The shower is on May 17th and I need to finish it by then! I'm making it in the same style/pattern as this, using pink/white/grey instead of blue/turquoise/grey. This might be a bit of a stretch to get done, but I think I can do it! Completed on 5/12! I'd like to make matching booties but that definitely isn't going to happen in time for the shower. I've already told Baby A's parents that they're going to be getting lots of knitted clothes from me. Thankfully, they seemed excited about that! I finished the soaker (with a cute grey and white striping pattern) but I still have lots of the pink left. I'll have to think of something else to make.

3. Navy blue acrylic, white acrylic. This is a project that I think could turn out really cool. Abby's dad is a huge Maple Leafs fan, so I got the idea to make a little faux Leafs jersey. It would be basically a sweater, with a big white maple leaf on the front, and (if I have enough white yarn) the number 13 on the back (Leafs Captain Mats Sundin's number). Done and done--I love it! See it here!

4. Camel acrylic bouclé. I bought this several years ago and made it into a shawl. Six months ago I realized that I hated the shawl that I made, so I pulled it apart. I think I will make a scarf with fringe (since the shawl had fringe) and give it as a gift. Maybe I can find more of the same color and make a hat and mittens set out of it.

5. Light green cotton. Bought this to make another hand towel for my kitchen, just haven't gotten around to it yet. This is pretty far down on my list of projects. Done and done! Here it is!

6. White acrylic. Nasty stuff. I bought it to edge a flannel blanket that I was making and when I'm done doing that, I'll probably throw the rest away.

7. Black acrylic. This was at one time a loosely-woven shrug that I bought at Macy's, but it started to unravel in the wash. I think I might make a hat and mittens set for myself out of it. I made a shrug out of it! Still have a little bit o' the yarn left.

8. Grey wool-angora blend. It's heavenly! This was actually a J Crew sweater that I pulled apart. It's buttery soft and I'm definitely going to make something for myself out of it! Just not sure what, yet.

9. Red cotton. BIG leftover from making potholders for Jaime's bridal shower gift. Everything in their kitchen is red. Maybe I could make something else for them? I'm not sure that there's enough to make a hand towel.! I did have enough to make a hand towel! And I finished off the red cotton yarn! YES!

10. Light blue acrylic bouclé, grey acrylic bouclé. Not much of this left--I made most of it into a scarf and hat set for my sister. I might make a charity project out of it, preemie hats or something. It's been a while since I knitted a charity project.

11. Forest green acrylic. Bought a ton of this in Toronto, and some of it became the first scarf I ever gave as a gift. I've devised a great pattern for a seed stitch handbag with a Celtic knot running up the middle. It's gonna be really nice!

12. Lavender cotton. This is another yarn that at one point, was a store-bought piece of clothing. I hated it as a sweater, but the cotton itself is very nice. I made a hand towel and a couple potholders as a gift for a friend's wedding/bridal shower. I think I might as well make some more potholders, since I have enough yarn. Done! I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

13. Navy blue acrylic, light grey acrylic, turquoise acrylic. Another leftover from Jaime and Christian's wedding present. I'm going to use this, as well as the bits of light grey and turquoise, to make a little sweater for Ryan's nephew, Hudson. I think I'm going to try to do an argyle pattern, with blue as the base, turquoise diamonds with grey running through. I'll have lots of grey left over, so I'll probably do grey edging too. Completed! Still lots of blue left over (this is becoming a pattern) so I will make little booties too. I have until the end of May to complete this gift, and I think I can get booties and perhaps a soaker bottom done in time! This is the completed project. I'm really happy with how it turned out! And best of all? I finished off ALL of the turquoise, grey and navy blue!!!

14. Variegated white-pastel acrylic. This screams "baby" to me, so I'd like to make something for Abby out of it. I'm liking this pattern: Side-Wrap Kimono Sweater.

15. Black acrylic. I bought this a year or two ago, intending to make fingerless gloves. I bought fingerless gloves instead. I have no idea what to make out of this.

16. White acrylic bouclé. I bought this years ago in Toronto. I am going to make a double-knit baby blanket from this pattern: The Hoover Blanket.

17. Purple wool. On Sunday, June 1st, I knowingly broke my promise to myself. I bought four skeins of purple wool from the Knit Nook in Watertown, SD. It's really pretty and soft, and in my defence, it was $5 per skein marked down from $12! I'm making a scarf, hat and mittens set out of it, and it's thick enough that it knits up really quickly! I haven't decided if I'll give it as a gift or try to sell it on Etsy.

New promises to myself: After I finish this stash-busting exercise, I will only buy yarn when I have a project in mind. I will also challenge myself to make something that I can wear!

memories of summer 2k6 in toronto with kate

About Ryan, With Mushiness

I have a wonderful boyfriend who is wonderfully silly.

Last week, we were lounging on the couch, watching a movie or something. I had my head in his lap. He looked down at me, started stroking my hair and singing to me softly: "Go to sleep, you weary hobo..."

Weirdo! I love it.

And yesterday, when we were playing our game of one-upmanship in mushy, disgusting nicknames: "You have the heart of an Eskimo sailor and the soul of an earthworm from heaven."