Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Everything is better

While I'm not quite ready to go full-on Emmet and say "EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!!!!!" things are better - or at least I feel better - than I did a couple days ago.  I commented then that I would sooner or later find something to be happy about again, and that's true. One of the blessings of the type of personality I have is that although I may react strongly (some might save over-react) to stuff in the moment, I get over it pretty quickly. (Likewise, I can be pretty good at forgive-and-forget, or at least forgive-and-act-like-whatever-didn't-happen).

And there has been some good stuff:

1. One of my students this morning remarked, "I had been putting off taking this class, because I'm a secondary-ed major, and I was all 'Ecology? Urgh.' but I'm really learning a lot and this is a really fun class." I told her I was happy she was enjoying it and getting stuff out of it - because really, that's the best win of all in my book: people are learning AND they are enjoying the class. (If I can have only one, I would take "learning a lot" over "enjoying." Even if "enjoying" might get me happier course evaluations)

2. Had a good piano lesson today. I have now started on a jazz standard - "Blue Skies" - from a big "American Songbook" I bought a while back. Also, it sounds like once this 10 weeks runs out, my teacher wants to keep teaching; she referred to getting me the next exercise book in the series I've been working from, and also there's no way I can master a piece like "Blue Skies" in two weeks. (or figure out a good way to chord the hymn-tune Cwm Rhondda). Now that she has more secure regular employment, and at a place halfway between her house and mine, I guess it's more cost-effective for her to teach. So that makes me happy. (And that I seem to be making good enough progress for her to want to keep teaching me).

3. My chair had a similar opinion to me on something. It was a case where I thought my opinion was perhaps a bit extreme or maybe I wasn't seeing the full picture, but apparently I was right, at least as far as my chair sees.

4. I ordered a few skeins of "it's a good sale but we'll send you random colors" yarn from Simply Sock Yarn. I actually love grab-bags of this sort, so the fact that the yarn was on sale was even better. The yarn came yesterday....

yarnz

Two blues, a pretty tan, and an orange that is almost blaze orange. At first I was turned off by the orange, thinking "I don't wear orange often enough for orange socks to work for me" and then I thought, No, wait, I need a blaze-orange watchcap for wearing during fall fieldwork.

I don't ever go anywhere where people are ACTUALLY hunting - they close down the areas to pedestrian traffic, of course - but hunting is such a big thing here that having a blaze-orange fall and winter hat makes me smile.

THEN I thought, "Wait, you should do a fancy lace pattern on it. So it will be a ladylike, sophisticated hat....in blaze orange." That kind of thing amuses me so I will start looking for a pattern or see if I can figure out how to make the decreases work out with a lace pattern that I already know. (There are some cool leaf-like lace patterns out there, and with blaze orange, well, it would look like fall leaves). Or failing that, work a band of leafy lace for the brim and do the rest of the hat in plan stockinette.

The other yarns will become socks. I might do the denim color into gift-socks for my mom at some point; she really likes that color.

4. Another thing I ordered came. I couldn't figure out what it was at first (the box return address just said BEARHOME on it).

It was the Sweetie Belle I ordered from Build-a-Bear.

Sweetie Belle
"Can you play 'Hush Now, Quiet Now," in the key of F-sharp?"


(I think Sweetie Belle would probably always sing in a key with lots of sharps)


This was one of those, "You know, you are working this summer AND you have a sizable tax refund in the bank, so it's really OK" purchases. (It didn't cost more than $20 with shipping and the Oklahoma sales tax.

I used to not be a fan of the CMC but they've grown on me a lot recently; I think recent storylines featuring them have been a lot better and their characters have developed a little so they're less annoying.

And this features one of the things I love so much about the ponies - the eyes. The big, innocent, trusting eyes. (At least, that's how I interpret them). It makes me want to scoop them up in my arms and hug them.
***

The one-inch picture frame cuts both ways: when you're stuck in it and focusing on something bad, that bad thing blows up and becomes like a real Godzilla, even though it might not be. But also, when you look at the little good things of life, you can take a deep breath and go, "this did not have to be, but it is, and I am glad that it is."

2 comments:

CGHill said...

There exists a fanfic about a Sweetie from Build-a-Bear who is acquired by a young fellow with a lot of problems. The story is a bit short on craft, but heavy on the "feels."

Upon This Shelf

purlewe said...

A friend knit this in orange and it is her favorite hat: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall07/PATTfoliage.html

I think that would be a lovely hat to make for you. I think it would suit you nicely. Maybe you'd even have enough for some mittens? Or lace edges on mittens. Wait, do you even use mittens where you live in the winter?