New to Me, Anyway

Last Friday I was driving home, minding my own business, when my car started acting funny. When I pressed on the gas pedal, I got no response. The idle sunk really low, and just as I pulled off the road, it stalled.

Uh oh. This is not good.

I managed to get the car re-started and running long enough to get it into a parking spot at the local grocery store. I called my husband and he got in touch with our wonderful mechanic. Mikey (the mechanic) drove his tow truck the 35 miles to get the car. He started the car, got it on the tow truck, got out and announced, "Well - you pooched it." Which is Mikey speak for I killed it. Apparently I dropped a valve in the motor, which is unfixable.

Le Sigh.

So my husband and I discussed it and realized that we needed a new vehicle. Something that would be a solid commuter car for me and comfortable to ride in for both of us. We wanted something the dog would fit in comfortably, too. Oh yeah - and we had to be able to afford it.

We spent the entire day Wednesday looking at used cars. We went to six or eight dealerships, test dove four or five cars, and ended up with this:
A 2002 Buick Century Custom. It's awfully pretty! It rides so comfortably. I love it. I admit we were both hoping for something a little more "age appropriate" - another Pontiac would have been awesome, but this was simply the best fit and the best deal. The guy who sold it to us has been selling cars for 43 years, and was super nice. He puts brand new tires on every single one of the cars he sells, because he believes in doing right by people. Awww! I'm so pleased with this car! Of course, Bear's been driving it all over so I haven't had much of a chance yet, but I will. Here are a few more pics:

Grammie's Shawl

Last year for Christmas I wanted to knit my Grammie a shawl. At 95, she needs a shawl's warmth, and as she basically raised me, she totally deserves it. But I'm a slow knitter, and I tend to overcommit myself during the holidays. So the shawl didn't get finished, and after the New Year it sat largely forgotten in my pile of unfinished knits.

But now that the holidays are approaching, I figured the time had come to get the shawl done. I dug it out, realized I only had about 20 rows to go and got going. I tried to knit one row a day - at 576 stitches, it took about half and hour, but it was at least progress.

Last week I finished the shawl.

Below are the pictures. The colors are off (shawls have to be pinned out when wet to keep their intended shape when dry, so this is the wet color. The actual shawl is a cinnamony-red called "Russet Heather"), but you can hopefully see what it's supposed to look like. The shawl is called Icarus and is supposed to look like a frame with feathers at the bottom.

What do you think?

The downside of time

It's been two weeks now since I've left Rite Aid. I love it. Like really LOVE it. It's so nice to know that once I get home from work, I don't have to leave again if I don't want to. I have time to get groceries, walk the dog, do laundry; I don't have to squeeze everything into the 33 minutes I had between jobs. I really look forward to having time to knit, spin, and design again - as well as update here more regularly, too.

I am finding, however, that having all this time has its drawbacks. I trained myself over the last three years to use any and all time off effectively, since those were my only opportunities to get chores and errands done. Now that I have every evening free I find myself cramming each evening full with as many things as I possibly can. I can't just sit still. I have to be "doing" something, or I feel as though I'm wasting my time. If nothing immediately presents itself as needing doing, I wander from room to room, picking things up and putting them back. I've done more loads of dishes in the past two weeks than I have in the past three months. Because I can, so I feel like I should. I've begun making a long to-do list every single day, and getting everything on it crossed off. Because I can't rest until I've "worked."

Relaxing? Totally not happening.

My fervent hope is that this calms down as my body re-learns how to have just one job. That I can begin to enjoy quiet relaxation and rest again. Because I'm getting really sick of dishes.