Just another trip to Tops...

I decided to buy "panniers" or "saddle bags" for my bike so that at school I have a means of shopping without a car.  We drive over to the bike shop and when I ask about the bags I am showed a row of options.  I pick out a handy pair of red bags that looks something like this.  While looking for that link I found this that is a bit more what I was looking for initially but I think what I got will work out quite nicely.  

I hooked the panniers onto my bike and took it over to the bakery and then to Tops.  No problems along the way until I reached the Tim Hortons Corner (dum, dum, dum, dum, DUUUUMMMM!!!).  I pull into the left turning lane and a man who appeared slightly out of it was pulled along the curb.  He calls over some  comment about staying on the side of the road and I politely tell him I  am turning left and therefore need to be in the left lane.  He stated he too was going left but he just went out around the outside.  I instantly start to wonder what happens when we both try to turn left and images of the confusion as a car tries to turn right flash through my head.  As soon as the light turns green and the coast is clear I continue onto Tops.  After picking up the two things I needed I leave the store and there is my friend, reeking of alcohol, watching as I hook my pannier back to my bike.   

"You got that ok?"

"Yup, I'm fine"  I reply though I'm thinking he wouldn't be any help in his drunken state if I did need it. I seriously worry about his ability to stay balanced on a bike and hope he isn't going back the same way he came.

He courteously lets me go first and I ride off into the sunset... no not really...  I jump down the curb send my rear light flying into the middle of the road.  I watched painfully as the light got run over not once but twice. I discovered that though the panniers work great, my light setup could use some work... and a new light.

Thunder

woke me up.

And in 30 seconds Saspy cat is in my bed

Similar I imagine to the way I would run to my parent's room when thunder struck as a child.

Then I realized Dad had tilted open the sunroof last night on the way home from the dance.

And I didn't remember him closing it.

No wonder it's raining.

It always rains when Dad leaves a window open.

Better weather predictor than weather.com

I attempted to find the keys to close the window

they must be in his pocket

I don't have the heart to wake him.  

The rain is gone for the most part so what really can I do at this point?

Sit back and enjoy this lovely Sunday morning.

Book Review: A Long Way Down

I got A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby out of the library because I really enjoyed listening to Juliet, Naked but I was sadly kind of disappointed by this one.  I found it very hard to get into and once I got into it I again lost interest pretty quick.

The book was based around 4 people who all showed up at the same spot to commit suicide on New Year's Eve and don't end up doing it.  The 4 people are very different and are not a likely crew but alas they help each other get through the difficult times in their lives.  I wasn't a huge fan of the characters: none of them seemed to be developed at all except maybe Maureen.  I understand the book was supposed to be a dark comedy and maybe I just didn't get the joke, but it overall had too many unnecessary swear words and not enough chuckles. 

The writing did have some charm to it which makes me decide that it is more the story I didn't enjoy, not so much the author's writing.  There were a few moments where there were ideas being thought of in interesting ways.  Not to give too much away but I really liked the analogy used when the characters realized whether or not they really could commit suicide about suicide always being something saved in a box for a rainy day only to realize that there was nothing in the box when you decide to use it. Hornby of course writes this in a much more concise easy to understand manner and I suggest you read the book if only for that analogy.  It is a different way of looking at death and suicide, I only wish it was written in a more compelling way.

Enjoying the little things in life

Check out this website on enjoying the little things in life.  I think it's important to remind yourself of little things in life that make it a bit more enjoyable each and every day.  Be careful, you can waste hours going through this list.

http://justlittlethings.net/

Works in Progress: August Edition

Some knitters cast on a project and stay faithful right through the end.  I, on the other hand, am a very unfaithful knitter who likes to jump around between projects, possibly leaving a project untouched for weeks or months only to come back and be unsure where I left off.   I've tried to focus more on the already started projects and make some progress on them.

I can't only work on one project at a time because sometimes I want something challenging that requires almost full attention, like Lacy December Scarf:

But sometimes I need something mindless because I'm hanging out with friends chatting and I know I'll lose count of which row I'm on, such as Smittens:

And sometimes I need something that I can start and finish in a day or two because everything else is becoming too much of a chore, like my newest finished object, Cotton Candy Hat (which I'm including in my works in progress because it went so quick it hardly had a chance to be a WIP):

I almost always have a pair of socks on the needles, like Texture Socks, though I messed them up royally and need to restart them:

And when, amongst all the other projects I have on the needles I have the time, I'll cast on with a group from Ravelry to create something that is a mystery right up to the end.  Here is a photo of the first August Mystery project so far:

I have no idea what it is, but my guess is a cat scarf.  What do you think?

What friends are for

Many apologies for yesterday's post.  Some days just don't go your way and I just had to write something for fear that I would never come back if I didn't at least post something.  I ended up talking to some friends and being able to become less frustrated.  It turns out my camera deleted all photos on my memory card so I lost the photos I haven't uploaded.  I'm disappointed that I lost the photos but as Erin said: "Well, I guess we'll just have to go blueberry picking again." 

And that's what friends are for: 

• Seeing the positive when you're too frustrated by or too focused on the negative to really see how unimportant it really is in the grand scheme of things. 

• Being that shoulder on which you can lean and try to explain what's bothering you when it really doesn't make sense to you and saying it out loud makes it seem just plain silly that you're upset in the first place.

• Being the one to simply say "let's go for a walk" and then let you rant the entire time and understand you sometimes just need to get things out in the open and maybe a little bit of chocolate.

I've realized this summer that my friends are the best support group I could ask for.  They have been there for me whether I want them or not (though this summer I've wanted them around more than ever).  They've always said the right things at the right time and been the voice of reason when I was unable to be reasonable on my own. 

A week worth of catching up

I've been MIA for many reasons, but mainly because I haven't turned my computer on for a week.  No, I haven't been completely without a computer for a week, I just used my parent's computer.  I didn't want to upload photos to their computer so I kept putting off updating my blog.  I kept saying: today I will write a few posts and schedule them to go up... but alas it never happened. So I'll give you a quick update on the last week:

My knitting is cursed:

Texture socks went up in flames: second sock pattern proved to be much nicer but I started the sock a size too small.  I've decided to get new yarn to remake that pattern because I'm getting sick of the black, purples and greens and feel I'll go insane if I continue to try and make it work.  I've made notes of what I did for the second sock and will be remaking them when I get new self-striping yarn.

P.S. I am not using this as an excuse to buy more yarn. My dad actually suggested it!

I was doing great on my December Lacy Scarf... until I lost a stitch and had to go back about 15 rows.  I got to confident and stopped using the lifeline regularly and then I messed up.  Again I lost motivation on that project.

Smittens are going fine, though I haven't worked on them in a while because I had done the 3 I wanted to do in July so I took a break from them to focus on the above projects.  I'm not sure I'm ready to get going on August's 3 yet.

I bought some bulky yarn at the sidewalk sale and started making Shroom only to find out that it was too small and wouldn't be comfy so I  ripped that out and plan to redo it.  It is a pretty quick knit, but I had spent most of my afternoon on it and don't feel like spending all evening.  That shall be part of tomorrow's quest.

--------

I went blueberry picking with Maddie and Erin and we picked tons of blueberries.  That night we made blueberry buckle and my dad and I used ours to make blueberry muffins and blueberry pie. Yum!

We went to a few fellow EA graduates' performance the other night at a bar in Buffalo. It was an adventure for sure.  There were 5 bands total: RedBeard was very good as was Arctic Death (the two we knew people in).  The other three had some good numbers but for the most part were mediocre.  Crush, The Everlasting was on right before Arctic Death and were a good band to bring the crowd back to focus.  After 3 bands everyone was getting a bit tired (at least from my crew).  We saw bunch of people from EA whom we hadn't seen in years.  Overall, fun times.

Uncle Sean stopped by for dinner on Saturday on his way through town to go up to Canada for vacation at the cottage.  I get to go next week after Celia's wedding... I'm very excited for both!

... And I would have tons more photos to show you but my camera isn't reading my card.  Ugh. The world is against me today.  Maybe if it starts to work I'll update with photos at a later date.