Some Saturday stuff

* I have to keep reminding myself "not a linear process." This morning was hard again, because of different reasons. (A dream I had, where I was on some campus, it was like Fashion Camp or somesuch, and it was exactly 3 1/2 hours away from home, and I called my mother because....I don't remember what was wrong but something was....and she managed to show up in less than three hours to get me and I don't know what the dream meant but yeah it makes me miss people again and sometimes living alone is hard.)

* Bell choir performs tomorrow. I hope I don't screw up. I screwed up a lot in rehearsal today - grabbing the wrong bell (like, C sharp instead of the C)  and I really hope I don't do that tomorrow. I'm telling myself the old theater superstition that a bad dress rehearsal means a good performance...but I hope I don't screw up. I can tell my mind is less sharp than it should be.

(I should totally have some breakfast that has protein, maybe get up early enough so I can fix and eat an egg, because protein seems to help me function better).

* I wound up going to Sherman. I waffled on the idea: on the one hand, I had "loyalty money" at Ulta and I will need more concealer soon; on the other hand, I was tired and a little headachey and I thought maybe just staying home (or even going to the office and working) would be better, but now I'm glad I went.

* I went out to lunch. Blew my carbohydrate budget for the day and probably my sodium budget for the month but I went to Red Lobster. Mainly because I wanted a place that was quiet and dim and where I wouldn't be "known" (Cackle and Oink, as much as I deeply love it, and I do, I know the people there and they'd want to talk to me and I wasn't up for talking then). And I remembered Red Lobster as having quiet and attentive but unobtrusive servers.

It was a good choice. I got a good server (I tipped him well, too, a bit more than 25% because I know solo diners who drink soft drinks kinda suck for servers in re: tips). I got the lunch sized portion of shrimp scampi and it came with a salad and I got mashed potatoes and I ate three of the cheddar garlic biscuits which was probably two more than I should have had (the sodium) but I don't really care at this point.

And it was protein (the shrimp, mainly) and stuff that was maybe more nutritious (I need to eat more salads these days) and I did feel physically better afterward.

* Went to the bookstore, they had the new "Simply Knitting" so that's a thing for reading tonight, and I also bought a compilation volume of Cook's Country "regional dishes" because it had a couple things in it (Like the so-called Grandma Pizza) that I might want to have the recipes for close at hand without having to search through my back issues. (Someday, I tell myself, I will cook more involved meals again. I do have plans to do honey-baked lentils some day this week...)

* I also went to Ulta and got my concealer, and the RIGHT kind of hot wax* (the kind I got at Walgreen's didn't work as well) and some bath fizzies and a new nail polish and I spent my loyalty points.

(*For my upper lip. Most fair-skinned brunettes wind up with dark upper lip hair at some point in their lives, often after what used to be called "the change," and some of us are bothered enough by it to want to remove it, and wax seems the most efficient way to me. Someday I may just give up and hire an aesthetician and also have them shape my eyebrows at the same visits... I've tried waxing my legs but holy cow is that a lot of work; in that case shaving is just easier.)

* It rained VERY hard. I drove into it from the place with the bookstore to the place with the Ulta and the JoAnn's and I had to sit in my car for about five minutes for it to let up enough for me to go in. And then I hit the SAME rainstorm (I think) when I went over to the Kroger's later....I might have stayed home if I had known but it was probably good for me to get out).

* So I bought some things at JoAnn's:



That's a new yarn that is designed (it is all acrylic) to absorb heat from the sun so you stay warmer in winter? The idea intrigued me (even if I don't generally have problems with being too cold) and I have a new-ish pattern for long armwarmers that takes worsted weight yarn, so I can use it for those. And it comes in pretty colors. I decided on the turquoise but they also had a coral color, and a really hot-hot pink (given the color name "Bikini") that I admit I ALMOST chose.

And that is a book on making quilts from ties. I think I still need a little time before I can deal with my dad's ties (I mean, emotionally) but I do eventually want to make a small quilt of them, and if I'm REALLY motivated and have enough bits of fabric, I might also make one for my mom and one for my brother's family. I figure once I start cutting for "my" quilt, I could also cut for two more of the same pattern....Most of the patterns are fairly simple, because tie fabric is less crisp and more likely to shift than quilting cotton. (I probably will also need to get a set of finer sewing-machine needles than what I have).

The fabric was a remnant, just a funny candy print. I bought it on impulse thinking "doll clothes" but it's too large a print for my Barbies so either I use it in quilts or save it for when I retrieve a few of the favorite larger dolls from my old collection back at my mom's house...**

(**I keep thinking I should winnow that collection down to like maybe my ten absolute favorite-ever favorites, like Brickette and the Toni doll that came with a trunk of clothes and the Raggedy Ann my mom made me when I was 3, and maybe see if I could sell the rest, either on Esty or, better, sell them as a lot and let someone else maybe re-sell them - I'd get less money that way but it would be less of a headache for me.)

And I got this:



Lion Brand yarns were 25% off and I also had a coupon for x% off your purchase, even on-sale stuff. I'm a sucker for these yarns. These were bought for, yes, yet another ripple afghan once I finish the first one. I just like working on these. That's about 3000 yards of yarn so it should be enough for a sizable one. I just find the ripple afghans soothing to work on - don't take much thought. Maybe I give this one to somebody else. Or maybe I give the one I'm making now to somebody else; green is my favorite color and this would match with my living room more than the pink one would.

And then this. I joked on Twitter that "it's called self-soothing behavior, Karen" (And yeah, I have to be careful not to let "self-soothing" become "self-indulgent") but I have wanted a signboard like this for a LONG time. (And considering that my department now took their old ones down and had them replaced by VERY BRIGHT LCD screens that have things like the faculty-office numbers on it).




So of course I had to test it out:



Growing older is mandatory; maturing is optional.

(I'll put something more appropriate on it later on.)


And I also got mail today. A card from a faraway ITFF friend, and the jump rings another friend (Heather, in Northfield Ohio, not far from where I grew up) and she also included this, saying I needed a "hug":



I'm smiling but also trying not to cry in that photo because yeah, I am moved yet again by people's kindness and generosity. Those are some of my favorite colors (green with a little purple) and I am definitely wearing it - in fact, I might wear it on Tuesday (even though it's going to be hot) when I got to thank my class for the orchid and the card because it might help me keep from tearing up when I do.

(I am guessing she has shawls already made up to send on to people because I don't think even a much faster knitter than I am could finish one like that in less than a month.....and yeah, I guess it is four weeks now, it was Saturday the 27th of June that my dad passed.)

So yeah, those things wound up making it a better day. Perhaps for just a while I need to go out and run around instead of sitting at home so much. Yes, I know, that's distracting myself but at the same time there's only so much you can confront The Thing (I was thinking about it again last last night) without it being really hard and unpleasant and tanking my mood. (And I know, I know I know, my dad would want me to be as happy as I can. He used to regularly ask me "yes, but are you having any fun, too" when I'd talk about work.)


Edited to add: this is more inspirational than "BUTTS"

I didn't have enough Es for what I wanted to do first: "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven" which is a quotation I've been thinking about a lot these days. (Maybe if I can get myself another set of the same kind of letters as those, I can do it some time. I think I'm short of Es and maybe also on As for that one)