Domestic Geek

Wow, a whole 5 posts in the past year. I rock. 2013 will be better in the blog posting department.

2012 wasn't a bad year. It's not like the year I lost my mother or the year I had to go on unemployment or the year I messed up my knee delivering pizzas in the snow. I have a job (albeit one I really don't like). I'm fortunate that Marcus still loves me and we still enjoy each others company after 20 years. Our house moved to South Dakota. We finally got a dog.

The biggest problem with 2012 is that it was stagnant - a big waiting game. I'm really itching to get moved up to South Dakota and start a new chapter in my life. It just can't quite happen just yet. Anybody that knows me knows I have very little patience. When Marcus bought the land last December, contractors kept telling us it wouldn't take that long. Our current one said he'd have us up there in six weeks. Man, that was months ago. The project is over budget and on hold for the moment. We're really hoping I can get up there in the Spring. I want to find a new job, but finding one in Denver is pointless when I have no plans of being here long term. We thought for sure I'd be able to move up there before Thanksgiving. All of our stuff is in storage and we're in an overpriced apartment. Marcus and I both hate being around so many people and it is frustrating not having access to our things (like our washer and dryer). I hate this limbo we're in.

I did very little crafting/creating in 2012. I finished a whopping 2 (yes, two) knitting projects. Even the hat I am making for Nina's Christmas present is 18 rows from being completed. I've spent entirely too much unproductive time on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & Ravelry. My poor blog is still broken and my web skills are getting rustier. I haven't tried any new recipes lately and in this apartment, I can't really bake or cook anything other than very basic things.

I know I've spent a good part of the last year depressed. Society doesn't help. The ugly politics. The mass shootings. The ever-increasing amount of stupidity among the general public. The non-apocalypse. Now this fiscal cliff bullshit. I just get so sick of all the nonsense around me.

Anyway, that's why I'm itching to move on. I know I can accomplish really cool things when I set my mind to it. Right now, my mind is too cluttered with other crap. Astrologically, 2013 is supposed to be a year when we can move forward. I'm really hoping this applies to me, as well.

I had planned to write a huge post tonight, but thanks to the nonsense going on at work, that's not going to happen. I am so physically and mentally exhausted that I bought a rotisserie chicken for dinner at Whole Foods and am falling into bed early. Now, if only my insomnia will stay at bay so that I can get some sleep before the dog wants out at 7:20 am. It's uncanny how he always wants up at that time. BTW, we obviously ended up finding "the right dog." That's a subject I will have to tackle this month.

I was going to share a pic, but I must not have something set right on my server to upload pics from this iExpression app. I will definitely have to look into that when I have had some sleep.

Anyway, I have been looking for the Star Trek: TNG Pez set that was released last month. Some folks on Facebook said they had them at WalMart. I have been boycotting them because they were on my "list" (three major strikes and you're on my list - Michaels just got on it). I really needed some thread to repair my pants this morning, so I went against my better judgement and headed over to the closest one.

After much searching, I found their Pez display and they had the Star Trek one! The package said it included the exclusive Locutus of Borg one. I was thrilled because I thought that meant it had an extra one. Nope - the Beverly Crusher one was absent. LAME!

Amazingly, I had to stop in at Safeway on my way back to work after lunch and they had a set. Guess the other one is being returned to WalMart tomorrow. I also saw a set of KISS Pez. May have to get those, too.

*blows off dust*

Man, I've really been neglecting the old blog. Looks like I've made a whopping 4 posts since last year's failed NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) attempt. When I got the email from Blogher the other day about this year's NaBlogPoMo, I figured it was as good a time as any to get back into this.

I'm just realizing what a sorry state things are in around here. I think one of the reasons I gave up on this was because so many things broke after the last Expression Engine update that I did. Also, I let my web coding skills get rusty, so trying to fix things was aggravating.

Anyway, hopefully I can spend the next month getting caught up with recent events and maybe fix a few of the bugs so that I can do another upgrade. Today's post is short and sweet because things are crappy at work (that's a whole post of its own), I got home late and I'm tired.

Marcus has his heart set on getting a Jack Russell Terrier (not a Parsons Russell). Man, they are hard to find to adopt.

We met with a cute dog on our lunch break from work at the Denver Animal Shelter week before last. I fell for her hard, but even though it said it was a Jack Russell on the web site then, it was really a Parsons and not what Marcus wants. He wants the shorter legs, stockier body and it has to have a tail. I've noticed a lot of the shelters use the names interchangeably, but they're actually two distinctly different types of dogs.

I was eventually OK because someone had adopted her. Imagine my heartbreak when she showed up on the site again last night, newly spayed. I'm guessing that means her adoption fell through.

I want to give in and get her, but I keep trying to remind myself that I still really want another Alaskan Malamute and that can't happen until our house moves to South Dakota. I also have to keep reminding myself that, even though it is hard, I have to patient and not selfish. We can only deal with one dog at the moment and Marcus has a specific dog in mind. I can't ask him to compromise - that wouldn't be fair.

So, if anybody is looking for an adorable Parsons, "Misha" is looking for a home.

Anybody who has known me for a long time knows that I'm crafty - not like the Beastie Boys song, though Marcus does sing that whenever I say I'm crafty . The lame thing about me is that I'm extremely fickle with my crafting. It leaves a lot of UFOs (Unfinished Objects) and a huge craft room full of supplies.

When I was little, Mom taught my sister and I how to crochet. I made god-awful granny square (everything you could image - scarves, vests, doll clothes). We also used to sew a lot, too. Those desire waned and were replaced by cross-stitching. I'm not even sure exactly when I started, but I remember that even in college, I had a cross-stitch project every where I went. I even used to stitch during orchestra rehearsals (contrabassoon players had a lot of resting). That gave way to decorative painting (plaster, wood plaques, clay pots). I remember doing a lot of that the year that Marcus and I lived out in Deer Trail. When we moved back to Aurora, I was huge into digital art. I was pursuing my graphic design degree, so I drew, I made digital art, I coded web sites. Not crafty, per se, but it was my method of creation at that time. I started collecting all of my scrapbook supplies at this time, too. It's funny, I've yet to actually finish a whole scrapbook page, yet alone make an album. I think I was more in love with the supplies than the act of producing anything with them (though they do come in incredibly handy for things every now and again).

I've always wanted to learn to knit, but mom absolutely hated doing it, so she wasn't the best teacher. I tried to teach myself over the years (Marcus' mom even sent me a "Teach Yourself to Knit" kit for Christmas) and it never took. Finally, for my birthday present to myself in 2007, I splurged and took a class. The bug had been caught and every spare minute was spent knitting. I spent lots of time perusing yarn stores, I met up with knitting friends every Sunday, I surfed Ravelry a lot. Last summer, though, I was at a quilting store in Rapid City, SD and I found the cutest wool embroidery kit. I was really enjoying hand sewing again, and I put down the knitting. Last November, the Counted Cross Stitcher group on Ravelry started a Christmas swap and, on a whim, I signed up. I hadn't done any cross-stitching since before Mom passed and I figured it was time to give it another go.

The weird thing is now I have absolutely no interest in yarn whatsoever. I drove up to Estes Park today to go to the annual Wool Market. I stopped at the yarn store up there (The Stitching Den) and found absolutely nothing I wanted. It was surreal. I did actually make a purchase there, but it was clip-on magnifiers for my glasses so that I could see my stitching better. I made my way to the local cross stitch shop (a collaborative shop of other area shops that I frequent) and picked up a couple of charts. Wasn't terribly exciting as I've seen all of it before. Then I went over to the Market and thought for sure I was going to be in danger of draining my meager checking account. Except for a print from Sheep Incognito (I buy one crafting-related one each year for my craft room), I only found one skein of yarn I wanted. Unfortunately, it was alpaca/bison and I refuse to pay $60 for 200 yards of yarn. I walked around the vendor barn 3 separate times hoping something would catch my eye. Nothing ever did. Oh, well. Even strolling through the alpaca tent (which was very empty exhibit-wise this year) did not get me excited. I found myself at one point wishing I had just stayed home.

So, I guess I'm going with embroidery, cross-stitching and quilting at the moment. Let's see if I can actually get anything finished before I'm bitten by another crafting bug.