Sunday, February 22, 2015

Sunday afternoon stuff

*Hanging out online in the hopes that they will make some decision (well, I'd only know if it were a "closed tomorrow" decision) about my university. It's sleeting heavily out there and there's lots of water on the ground that's just going to freeze overnight. (I confess: I hope I know about any closing BEFORE bed tonight, then I would not have to set my alarm. The little things in life....)

*Baked-potato lunch at church today. We're trying to do last-Sunday lunches to encourage folks to come. Baked potatoes are generally a good choice (I brought salad, as did someone else - we have a few people who can't eat potatoes for various reasons). I like baked potatoes so it was a treat for me. (And they had some leftover, so the person in charge gave me two to take home. Not sure if I'll do like twice-baked with cheese and sour cream, or make soup - but it's nice to have them). It's just nice to have periodic lunches at church. The one I belonged to in Ann Arbor used to do three-weeks-of-the-month lunches (the first week of the month they just did coffee hour). It was always something super simple like soup or spaghetti, and the idea was you tossed a couple bucks in a basket if you could afford to, and whoever bought the food got reimbursed if they wanted to be (and any extra funds went to a local food bank). However, to do that, you need a bigger group than we currently have - the church in Ann Arbor had at least 100 active members when I was there, and several large families with several people who could help cook.

*Worked a bit on the Hagrid sweater this weekend. It grows slowly but will be satisfying to have it finished. The back is all done and I'm maybe halfway to where I bind off for the neckline on the front.

*I want to start another crocheted critter. Am trying to decide between doing Trixie, doing the Maud Pie (That would also take designing a dress for her), doing the Mabel Pines doll, or something totally different...or maybe the OC pegasus book-fan pony I have in mind ("Folio")

With Maud and Trixie I have to think some more as there are commercial patterns I COULD buy for each one, that have less idiosyncratic (more show-accurate) hair than what I could do....but they are larger, and I kind of like the pattern I have been using because all the ponies match then. I will have to think on it more.

I might, while I consider it, start Mabel Pines. I have all the yarn I need for her on hand, and even silver (yes, metallic silver) floss for her braces. (I kind of love Mabel Pines. In a way, she oddly reminds me of myself when I was that age - except she's more confident and more able to NOT imagine people are laughing at her....I was one of those kids who always assumed the other kids were laughing at her. I guess Mabel is kind of like me but more how I wished I was - able to just be my own weird self without worrying whether other people thought I was weird.)

*I also ordered a birthday present for myself. Yes, more yarn. For the Plowman Cardigan (Ravelry link; the Interweave one was pasting a Sprint ad onto the page which makes me suspicious, because Interweave never did that before....my antivirus/antimalware will take care of it if it's a bad thing, but....) I couldn't find the original multicolored yarn so I got similar colors in Cascade 220 (the plain solid) and Dream in Color Classy (the variegated). The bonus with that is I could order from Loopy Ewe, which means I hit one of their "reward" levels (So clever they do this; it does encourage a certain level of loyalty and perhaps spending-more-than-you-might-otherwise. But they have good products and good customer service, so....)

Yes, it has intarsia on it and I kind of dislike doing intarsia but it's not horrible intarsia....just one color. And the back of the sweater looks really cool. (I guess the Ravelry link doesn't show the back, too bad)

It may be slightly delayed as Colorado is one of the places getting hit with bad weather but I don't really care. I'll have it soon enough.

* Well, the local CBS affiliate is scrolling a few closings....all so far in one county to the north and east of me, but at least they're starting to come in. I'll check back a few times either by calling in or checking the uni webpage tonight. (I'm slightly concerned, not so much for me - though I'd welcome a free day - but I have a couple particularly diligent students who live some distance away and I don't want them to take risks coming in if the roads are bad. I tell people that if they judge it unsafe to drive not to try, but some people will try to come in when they shouldn't - just as there are some people who will make excuses not to come in when it's really okay.)

*Heh. That's a childhood memory right there - standing in front of the little black-and-white tv in the kitchen (the one we watched the morning news - Del and Tom - on) and waiting and hoping to see HUDSON PUBLIC SCHOOLS scroll by on the closed list. (Or listening to the radio and hoping to hear the school name).

I guess in some towns, esp. small ones, the tradition was to blow the fire siren at a particular time (like 6:30 am) if the local schools were closed. I didn't have that experience but I remember watching the tv for closings....and getting aggravated when they went to an ad when the list was in the Fs or the Gs.....

(I can't remember WRA ever closing for weather, but then, most of the students actually lived on-campus, as did many of the faculty. And I wouldn't have been as excited for a snow day then - I liked going to school there better, it was more challenging for me intellectually and I had more friends.)

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