A year plus in review

It's almost 2013 and I feel the need to catch up on this here blog for the last six years of my life. Let me sum up: 2006 - move to Boston to attend doctoral program in psychology. my apartment gets broken into, i become dysthymic (aka slightly depressed), and i drown in reading and writing. 2007 - still in Boston, but move to a nicer/safer neighborhood. Still dysthymic. Still in the program (by the hair of my chinny chin chin). Cosmo kitty gets very very sick but gets better with lots of TLC. 2008 - ditto above. except this year I have to take my doctoral comprehensive examinations. Where if you don't pass, you can't move on... and if you fail again, they kick you out of the program. I pass (with distinction). yay me. I can still bullshit with the best. Cosmo gets his eye removed and becomes dashing pirate kitteh. 2009 - i teach an undergraduate class to get used to public speaking and to see whether I enjoy teaching. I become much more comfortable with public speaking, but decide teaching undergrads is not probably something I should do. 2010 - I finally dig into the dissertation. I apply to get the hell out of Boston. Cosmo dies. (sniff) 2011 - Move to Chicago for internship. Eat all of Chicago... except the pizza, steak, italian. What does that leave? Rick Bayless's tortas, Takashi's noodles, TAPAS TAPAS TAPAS (Girl and the Goat, Purple Pig, Davanti Enoteca, Publican,... and more). Danger dies. (sniff sniff)... I still have yet to write his goodbye letter. 2012 - FINALLY move back to Denver. Defend the dissertation. Begin post doc. Adopt two more kitties who are siblings. Little grey kitty named Katie and another black boy named Oliver (Ollie). They're very naughty. For those of you wondering, my father still calls me an unrelenting number of times if I do not pick up. Even if I DO pick up, I"m not safe. He might call again and again and again. He's semi-retired and BORED. I shudder to think how much he'd call had my brother not had some children. ps. These years are all in "academic time." Someone recently told me I am no longer allowed to measure time in semesters, but I agreed to teach a course this spring, so I think I still get to use semesters as a marker of time. pps. pics to come. they're all on my iphone. Wait! I have pics of the new kitties downloaded.

they're awful cute when they're asleep and not climbing up my shower curtain or my screen door or jumping onto my counter tops or or climbing up all my clothes in the closet or stepping all over my alarm clock buttons.

It's so hard to say goodbye

I know this blog is all but defunct. I'm still here, just leading a very boring life: school, school, and more school. Well, I'm lying a little bit. I teach; I test; I research; I study. I'm practically an apple product (ha ha. iTest, iStudy, iResearch.. get it?) I wish I could say iDissertate, but it's more like iAvoidDissertating.

At this point, this post is really more for me. To remember. I've been re-reading my blog for just that reason. And I'm so glad that i blogged my life. I think a lot of blogs have slowed down for some reason, and I admit I have a hard time keeping up with reading blogs. But these last 10 days, I've been SO SO SO VERY glad that I blogged some of my life.

I'm just putting off the reason why I came to post. You would think that blogging/writing would be easier than verbally telling people, but as I sit here and compose this post, I have tears streaming down my face. On July 16, 2010, I had to say goodbye to my Cosmo kitty.

Many of you know that I didn't think we were meant for each other. He and his brother, Danger, came to me as fosters. I agreed to take care of them for three months (summer before junior year of college); those three months stretched out to over 15 years together. I got them in early May 1995- things didn't start well. I had an obsession with vacuuming. They did not really enjoy that about me so much. I was used to dogs, where I could give affection whenever I wanted (picture Elmira here). They got used to it. I didn't really know how to pet them, how to predict their jumping behavior, or how to interpret their body language. But we survived.

Can I tell you a secret? After two-three months together, I decided that though I loved them both, i got along better with Danger. He was a bit less excitable, he was more snuggly when i wanted him to be snuggly, and he didn't gouge my inner thighs out when someone knocked on the door. (Cosmo, if sitting on my lap, would dig in for traction as he ran off like a scared bunny rabbit).

He was named after Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld. While I didn't name him, and he didn't learn his name for years afterwards, he EARNED his name quickly. I remember one night, junior year of college, laying (lying?) in bed reading myself to sleep. Cosmo was stretched out on top of my tall bookshelf. He decided he needed to stretch and did so by pushing off against the wall.

Tall bookcase + carpet floor + new kitty owner + big cat pushing against wall = win for gravity.

The bookcase (filled with books) came crashing down, scaring the living ever daylights out of me. Mostly, i was worried that Cosmo got smooshed underneath all those books and the bookcase. But he was fine. *I* was mad though.

After college, the kitties moved with me to Denver. They rode in the car with me and my parents (who didn't think I could manage to move on my own. I was 22 yo.) I was secretly delighted when they kept running across my dad's head in the middle of the night in the hotel rooms.

In Denver, we enjoyed life. We worked (er, I worked), we went back to school and got a master's degree, and we re-learned to knit! He really enjoyed that last one. He's chewed through almost every single project I've started so far (he always managed to find the working yarn and worked hard at separating the knitted object and the ball of yarn it was connected to...). He liked to sit out on the balcony with me to bird-watch. He loved when the miller moth season would come around; crunch crunch crunch!! He also loved to play a game where he sat between the shower curtain and liner on the edge of the tub while I was, uh, busy, and try to kill my hand as I traced patterns.

Then, someone got the not-so-bright idea to get her PhD. And we moved to Boston. The first year, I was welcomed to the city by some burglars, who stole my laptop, my ipod, and all my jewelry of value. What was I worried about though? The fact that they left the door open and whether my cats had run away, scared shitless. But no. Cosmo had hid himself in the teeniest tiniest corner of the bedroom closet. I felt so bad.

In March of 2008, Cosmo decided he didn't like it so much when I went away on trips. Well, actually, he was sick before I left, I just wasn't aware of it. When I got home, he was lethargic and UNINTERESTED in food. We're talking about the cat who's stolen more food off my plate than either of my dogs. I've caught him with his head IN my bag of popcorn in the past. So, we rushed off to the ER vet.

He was very very sick. Hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, and diabetic ketoacidosis. The ER vet told me it would be best to put him down while I sobbed my eyes out. I told her I wanted to give my baby a chance. Every day, he seemed better; every day, I went to visit him 2x per day. A week later, they let me take him home. He had a lot of meds. He needed a lot of care. He spent a lot of time on my lap. He was really weak though. And fragile. He needed help eating- they inserted a tube in his throat and i syringed food into his belly). The tube looked like an antenna, see?



And here's one with him, his antenna, and his brother Danger. Snuggling like usual.



I knew he was going to recover when I saw his little antenna bopping up and down out of the corner of my eye when I was reading in bed. I had been making his 'bed' under my nightstand. Close to me, but not up on the bed (I was worried he was too weak to jump up and down off the bed to use the potty). I couldn't not let him sleep with me, so I picked him up, and put a box next to the bed for him to use as a stepping stone. He used that box almost every night from then on.

After that ordeal (learning how to give him insulin, checking his blood sugar levels, changing his diet, and tube feeding him and lots of other stuff), we became closer than ever. He always did like to be near me, but now he was practically inseparable from me!





I have tons of pics where he's doing just that... touching the mommy. He loved to sit on me. ALL. THE. TIME. So I tried to train him to sit NEXT to me. And it worked most of the time. But he had to be touching me. I think he figured if he had a paw on me, he'd be alerted to when and if I moved.

For two plus years after he first got so, so sick, we've had a lot of fun together. He gave me some haircuts (he liked to nibble on my hair... trying to give me bangs, I think); he learned he liked to sleep under the covers, curled up in my armpit so he could rest his chin on my shoulder; he started enjoying all the car rides. He recovered beautifully from getting his eye removed and became a most dashing pirate kitty.





He and his brother were very close. I didn't know that cats could be in a 'bonded pair' (I learned this term recently) but if any two cats were bonded, it was these two.






So, we're both grieving. Danger walks around the house calling for his brother sometimes. I cry whenever I have to tell people that he's gone. I cry at night when I would give almost anything to have both of my babies tucked into bed with me.

After all this time (almost 16 years together!), he's left a huge hole in my heart and in my life. Some of you might think I'm crazy for how much medical attention I gave him; but I don't regret one minute of it. I miss taking care of him. I miss petting his shaved belly. I miss our snuggles in the morning as I gave him his meds. I miss coming home to him. I miss how he used to duck his head and shove it up against my face (as if to present his royal pate) when I asked him for a kiss. How do you not miss a pet with whom you've shared your entire adult life?

Making the decision to let him go peacefully instead of watching him struggle was an easy decision, yet one of the most difficult things I've ever done. Knowing I was going to be saying goodbye for the last time was heart-wrenching. I'm not sure I've ever cried so much. Through the last few days together, he sat next to me. (Maybe some of you are wondering why I put him to sleep. He wasn't eating, he had had several respiratory attacks of unidentifiable cause, and I didn't want him to have a painful slow death). I think he knew I needed those last few days, even though I had told him he could go when he was having a respiratory attack on Tuesday (7/13). I don't regret the decision to put him to sleep. I just regret we didn't have more time together. And I'll never regret any of the time, money, or love that I poured into that four legged furry fuzzball of love.

Since this here is supposedly a knitting blog, here's a pic of some yarn. With cat. Who appreciated him some nice yarn.



And his little paw. I love this picture.



Goodbye baby. I miss you. I love you.


I have to give a shout out to the terrific vet that saw us through these last 2.5 years of diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, hepatic lipidosis, heart murmur, chronic kidney disease, and lymphoma... and ascites (another nickname for Cosmo was lemon kitty. I think you can see why. Perhaps you are also wondering why it was a shock to me that he's gone. Yes, he wasn't the healthiest. But he was happy. And he lived through a lot of crap that most cats don't recover from).

Anyway, Dr. Doug Brum at Angell Memorial in Boston has been terrific. He saw us through to the very end. He loved Cosmo too. He guided us through every illness and kept his promise not to let me overtreat Cosmo. He and his team emailed me back on weekends and I trusted him to help my baby. I don't say that lightly. If there's a reason I'll be sad to leave Boston, it's b/c I'll be leaving this terrific vet. If you live in Boston and have a pet who has medical issues, try to see if Dr Brum is taking on new cases. You won't regret it.

*looks around to see if anyone is here*

What did I really want to do after finishing and passing comps?
I wanted a month of vacation, where I could sit and chill with my friends and DO NOTHING. (outside of basic necessities and whatever I wanted to do).

well, as we know, we can't have everything we want.
After the last post, I did go off to Camp Wanna Knit Knit (our 5th camp!!), which was awesome. I seem to remember CWKK lasting longer though. We were at a great house in Breckenridge, and Stacey outdid herself organizing everything. ESPECIALLY when you think of all that is going on with her family. So, belated THANK YOU to her.

Anyway. We got tons of goodies in our goody bag this year. Everyone was 'assigned' to get a gift bag party favor for everyone else. I'd show you pics of things, but I'm pretty sure that the ppl who are reading this? have a goodie bag of their own, or have read about them on another blog.

I got to spend time with my Little Red Headed Monster. Who I need to re-nick name b/c he is NOT LITTLE anymore. WAAAAAAHHH!!! He is gigantic. He is TALL. He is 6 years old. When he sits on my lap, his feet touch my feet. I can't really pick him up anymore (not without injuring myself). And I came to the shocking realization that his younger brother (who was born right before I moved to Boston) is now the same age as Liam WHEN I MOVED. That makes me sad.

A good friend of mine who now lives in DC also happened to be out in Denver at the same time, so it was great to spend time with him and other old co-workers as well. (that part is more for my diary - b/c I know it's not all that interesting to you).

Then, I came back to Boston and hustled to get stuff ready for my annual geek fest (aka the American Psychological Association annual conference/convention) which was in Toronto Canada this year. I was pretty relaxed this time, with no set schedule EXCEPT for my own presentation. I was nervous b/c I HATE public speaking. I got some good tips (speak slowly. when you are speaking so slowly that you think you sound like you're speaking TOO slowly, you're speaking at JUST THE RIGHT pace). I was comforted in the fact that it was scheduled for Saturday at 8am, so I figured there wouldn't be anyone there except my classmates. Well, it had pretty good attendance for a session at 8am! And I got good feedback from the symposium chair.

When I got back to Boston (it's only a 2.5 hr flight to Toronto!), I had to wrap up some loose ends for research. Then, I went to MI to see the family. I was excited to see my niece, b/c I hadn't seen her since she was 5 weeks old! She's 10 months old now, and much more interactive. I finally finished up the Debbie Bliss cabled hoodie, and just in time! it fits her perfectly.


lookit the buttons!

aren't I cute?

You wanna piece of me?

in da' hoodie!

I got to spend lots of time with her!

I'm back in Boston and thankfully it has cooled off. I gotta crack down and prep for the class I'm teaching this year to undergrads, and establish some sort of schedule to work on my dissertation. UGH!!

WOO HOO! it's OVER.

I feel huge relief, finding out a couple weeks ago that I had passed my doctoral comprehensive examinations with distinction (whatever that means...). My pursuit of a PhD continues.

No new episodes of left wrist pain in the last 2 months. Perhaps b/c there has been very little knitting.

My lemon kitty is doing great. Click on pic below for before, right after, and now pics of my baby. You can see how pink/red his third eyelid is in the first pic, how swollen and frankenkitty he is in the second (2 days after the surgery) and I took the last pic yesterday)

Cosmo's eye journey

For awhile, I was calling him Frankenkitty. But now the fur has grown back, and can't see the stitches.

Am currently working on manuscripts for journal article submissions like a mad fool, finishing up overdue assignments, and prepping an undergraduate class I'm teaching in the Fall.

Last: am SO excited for my trip to Denver next week!! Camp, here I come! An old work friend is also visiting Denver at the same time, so hopefully the old gang can do a huge meet up.

Next post... I swear I'll take a pic of something knitterly to share.

Psst! is anyone out there?

Ok Ok. I was the one who was missing. Well, most of you know where I am/was, and believe me, I'd rather be blogging and knitting. Er, knitting and blogging about the knitting.

Surprise (not), that I have no actual knitting content to discuss. I am casting on like a mad fool, with almost no actual intention of finishing any project anytime soon. Recent cast on projects include another sweater for my adorable niece, who has just begun to crawl, the ubiquitous Noro Striped Scarf, and the Modern Log Cabin.

Reasons that I barely knit
1) a belief that I have carpal tunnel or tendonitis in my left wrist. very uncomfortable, which is made worse when I knit for prolonged periods or on larger than usual needles (anything bigger than a US 7)

2)my doctoral comprehensive exams. basically, the faculty assess whether we have learned what we were supposed to have learned in the last three years, by way of torturing us slowly and surely over a period of almost a month. First up, is two days of writing in class, where we are not allowed to use our notes or books, but expected an answer a series of essay questions thoroughly and citing relevant literature. A stupid futile exercise in memorization. THEN, they send us home with a take home portion, a 20 page paper where we address another three questions. THEN, we wait while they read our written portions, and then schedule our oral defense. Three faculty and one student. Where faculty can ask us any question they want. I am waiting for my orals defense, which takes place on Tuesday. Knitting girls beware: if I fail, I'm packing up and coming home, b/c I am NOT doing this again.

3) Cosmo: sigh. My lemon kitty has earned a new nickname. Lemon kitty is still appropos, but his recent surgery has left him looking a little... frankenkitty-ish. He looked like he had an eye infection, but several vet appts discovered that he had a tumor wrapped around his eye, and that he has lymphoma. So, we removed the eye, and now he looks like a rakish pirate.


"Arrrrrggggghhhh. I'm a pirate kitteh!"

so. to sum up. I am alive. and sorta knitting.

Pictureless.

b/c I'm too lazy RIGHT NOW. I'm hoping this weekend, I can show a few pics. of what?

1) birthday presents!! I turned a year older in early-mid December.

A Mat & Nat wallet from my brother/sister in law. I love their stuff that feels like leather, but isn't.

yarn gifties from Michelle, Stacey, Tiffany, Jeni (aka, what I bought at Colorful with their gift certificate)

a holiday mug and sock yarn from Wanda

and a project bag (Stacey) and hand sewn ginormous knitting bag (michelle). Michelle made me my very own birdie swing bag! Not sure if the birdy swing was an Xmas or b-day gift... but gifts are good!

a pretty pad of paper for making lists from my friend Ann.

my gift to myself: a new Offhand Design bag (Weekender in a lovely aqua and brown fabric). Tiffany is a bit evil and a bit of an enabler, and gave me a wee discount to make it impossible for me to say no.

hmm. pic of the "old" weekender (left) and "new" weekender (right)



*both pics from the offhand designs site

No one can tell what my favorite color combos are, can they?

2) Christmas pressies:
tons and tons of foodstuffs. One of my friends made me a huge batch of ground turkey and basil tomato sauce (I normally don't like red pasta sauce, but she doesn't add sugar. it's sooo good!) plus one big thing of her "christmas pasta sauce" which contains beef, pork, veal, and PANCETTA. Yum. She also gifted me with homemade biscotti, and spiced walnuts.

Oiyi surprised me with a box of Christmas goodies! Check her blog to see pics (b/c I already ate most of it) of homemade vanilla marshmallows, some yummy choc. chip pecan cookies, and some toffee! The marshmallows are SO decadent in a big mug of hot cocoa.

and a funny water bottle my friends in NYC got me from the onion. Captioned: "I will never take this camping." ha ha ha.

*pic from the Onion online store.

I also have some FO pics to post. My Hanami made with Woolen Rabbit lace weight, the peapod sweater I made for my niece, and a DB hooded cardi I made for my niece too.

hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!!!

A rare artifact has been dug up...

An FO!! My friend just sent me this pic of her daughter wearing it around her first birthday. Forgive me for not remembering RIGHT NOW the name of this pattern, except it's designed by Libby, and I used Cotton Ease. Used a crocheted scalloped edging at the bottom instead of whatever the pattern calls for. I now wish I had made the straps wider (maybe some thicker knitted I-cord, or some flat-I cord).

Two months and change

And what change!!! I am currently watching some football (let us not speak of Michigan's horrible rebuilding season, ok? I have enough to cry about lately) and listening to the new Will.i.am "It's a New Day" song. And it makes me cry.

Maryse posted a link to these beautiful photos that made me tear up at the coffee shop earlier today. These photos are so gorgeous, and show so much of President elect (i love saying that) Obama's personality.

I've been knitting... still working on Hanami... and have moments of weakness where I feel like ripping it out b/c I chose to use a variegated yarn instead of a solid. Even if it was a tonal variegated yarn, I think it would have been better. Not that I don't love it, I just think the pattern would pop more if I hadn't chosen a variegated. Oh well.

So, Since early October (October 5th) I have been working to vote in Colorado. I still have my condo there, and plan on moving back, so I consider myself a 'student' and my Denver address my permanent address. I sent in my registration/application for an absentee ballot on Oct 6th, and received both email and mail confirmation that they had received it and my ballot would be sent to me. Come October 24th, no ballot. I call and they say, it will be there tomorrow. Nope. Call again. It'll be there tomorrow. Nope. Now I insist on some action. They say they will overnight the ballot to me, but since it is Thursday at 4pm, it might not get out until Friday's mail, and should def. be here by Saturday. Nope. Monday morning, I spend a few hours on the phone insisting on an emergency faxed ballot and spend the day sitting next to a fax machine in order to get my APPLICATION for an emergency faxed ballot, fill the app out, fax it back, wait for the ballot to be faxed to me, and fax it back. Never you mind that the ballot they faxed me was illegible. I could make out Obama's name, and that's all I really needed. VOTING FOR THE PRESIDENT should NOT be this hard.

And guess what I got in the mail today? TODAY?? My ballot. Is it totally paranoid to feel like someone was holding it somewhere? who the eff wants their mail ballot the Saturday after the election??

Prats and Pitfalls of Being a Busybody

I'm trying to be a good, conscientious student. As I told someone last night, I can get work done just by procrastinating... by doing work I would rather do than the work I don't want to do. Work still gets done, and at some point, the work I don't WANT to do becomes work i HAVE to do, leaving me little choice. Which explains why I am at Panera Bread, enjoying soup and free wi-fi while I edit documents, manuscripts, and skim book chapters for class this week.

***POST IS NOT KNITTING RELATED. POST IS ABOUT POLITICS AND ME BEING NOSY. If you do not want to read about my political opinions, you should probably SKIP THIS POST****

A lovely family sitting in a booth across the way are having THE DISCUSSION. About politics. On one hand, I congratulate them for being mature enough to be able to discuss politics within the family. That's not how it works in my fam. I pretend my parents are voting with their pocketbooks, and they pretend I didn't vote for Clinton two terms in a row (though I think that's the closest I got to being disowned).

The son, a physician (they were talking about his job previous to the politics discussion) started talking about how Obama's minister/preacher, Jeremiah Wright is an anti-semite. How he has often had Palestinians and TERRORISTS (how I hate that word) come and guest speak at his church. How since Pastor Wright and Obama are such bosom buddies, that Obama must be an anti-Semite as well...

**convo became to quiet for me to get particulars for a minute**

Then, we move onto how the SON (the doctor) is also pro-life. In my head, I grumble, EVERYONE IS EFFING PRO-LIFE you asshole!! No one is pro-abortion! But I am staunchly pro-choice. oops. Got off topic. My anti-men thing is coming out here, b/c I am not sure that I respect the opinion of men about the topic of the legalities of abortion. Should men get a vote on what a woman can do to her body and reproductive organs? (I had more vitriolic rant going off here... which I deleted. You can tell I'm not happy.)

So, my question to you, (should you still be reading my rant here) is... is any of this true? Is Pastor Wright a known anti-Semite? Should we judge Obama based on this... allegation? Then my question becomes... how come we didn't judge the current Prez on these criteria (judged by associations and their alleged values).

-- off to Stapes to buy school supplies. Pens. Pens with a very very fine tip make me happy. Graph paper for my statistics class. I love graph paper. It helps me take very neat notes... I can be happy with the small details.

Labor of Love

As per the usual (of the past 2-3 years), I just spent a very enjoyable Labor day in NYC. My friends moved (3 mos ago) to a new apartment, and I was excited to see the new 'hood and place.

I took Bolt Bus down, which is as cheap as Fung Wah, but nicer. A lot nicer. Wi-Fi access, air conditioning, and reclining seats. I slept on the way there, but read on the way home (nothing exciting. I read a text that I'm making my students read this semester. Yalom's The Gift of Therapy, if you must know).

Upon arrival, we took the subway to the new place to drop off my stuff. It's a gorgeous pre-war condo that has a partial view of the Park. It's big, by NYC standards, but still so small. We got a quick snack to tide us over, b/c we didn't want to ruin our appetites.

Who here watches Iron Chef America? Then you are familiar with the name Masaharu Morimoto! I knew he had a restaurant in Philly, but my friends let me know that he had opened a restaurant in NYC. I was DYING to go. Every time he battles in Kitchen Stadium, I become a ravenous mess at midnight. Morimoto in NYC was everything I hoped for, and more.

We started out with some drinks. Pretty names, yummy sips. I had the hydrangea, while my friend had the snapdragon (her DH declined, as he wanted to stay sharp for the upcoming Scrabble Tourney). We shared the rock shrimp tempura, which was served in two different sauces (a wasabi aioli sauce, and a korean red-pepper sauce) which were crispy, creamy, and absolutely delish. Then, the surf and turf main course came out, which comprised of a waygu beef in hot mustard (cooked medium rare) and some yellowtail with avocado. The beef was SO TENDER that no knife was needed. At all. You barely needed teeth. The fish was fresh and buttery. On the side were some roasted fingerling potatoes that just melted in my mouth.

We followed the main course with some sushi. Spicy tuna, spicy yellowtail, and spider rolls. Even though we were not yet stuffed to the gills, we decided we should wait it out and look at the dessert menus. Roasted bananas in chocolate creme, with banana ice cream for me. Warm chocolate cake with popcorn ice cream for the friend's DH. Chocolate mousse and ganache with black sesame for my friend. NOW we were full. So full, that we passed out when we got home.

Saturday was spent exploring. We went to the MOMA, b/c a classmate's husband had been invited to design a pre-fab house to show at the MOMA (on the 54th? 56th? street lot). During the exploration of the inside exhibition (more the history of pre-fab homes) I bumped into a professor from my program. Totally random. Going outside to the street lot to explore the five pre-fab homes was incredible. One was built with NO NAILS! (that's the one my classmate's husband made). SO COOL.

we did a walking tour of the west side (midtown and chelsea) to see the neighborhood where Sarah Jessica Parker lives, where her brownstone from SATC was filmed, and just cute neighborhoods. We were way too close to Billy's Bakery not to pop in and have some cake! If you are ever in the neighborhood, treat yourself to some moist, decadent cake while watching the cute cupcake guy sing along to the radio. We enjoyed this, this, and this. Yes, my sweet tooth has been totally satiated. All that sugar helped me to win the big game of Scrabble that night.

Sunday, we did bagels (nothing like a NYC bagel) and then re-arranged the apartment. You know how when you move, you have to arrange the furniture around a few times to see where it fits best? I love doing that. So long as it's not MY apartment.

That's how I spent my lovely 3 day, pre-school starting weekend. Next year, I hope to spend some time in Flushing Meadows too, to watch some tennis.

Sorry for so many links and no pics. My friends are muggles, and unknowing of the blog. carrying around a camera to Morimoto and Billy's would have been strange.

I need a Weasley. Mrs please.

She seems the most useful. If she's not available, I'll take Hermione.

Ok peeps. You know I have my head in the sand (aka school) most of the time, and that I am clueless to any worldly happenings (outside of major hurricanes, tsunamais, etc). So... um, how come NONE of you told me about the TRAGIC news?

That THE MOVIE, the ONE MOVIE, that i've been really looking forward to, has moved opening night from Thanksgiving 2008 to SUMMER 2009?

I am devastated.

I suppose I will have to console myself with looking forward to meeting my niece, also making her debut in Fall 2008 (late october). The baby shower was last weekend, and I was bummed I couldn't attend. I did send along some gifties, of which only one is likely interesting to you all.



ETA: that's the peapod baby cardi, by Kate Gilbert, just in case it is difficult to identify by the teensy tinsy picture. Knit with Frog Tree Alpaca, sportweight.


oh. I need Mrs Weasley or Hermione b/c the start of school is quickly approaching, and I've got knitting committments to attend to!!

1) finish cabled hooded jacket by debbie bliss for my soon to be niece
2) finish BRQ squares for sharing
3) finish (uh... start?) BRQ squares for Stacey's project

I'd also like to knit the Juju for my niece too.... but we'll see how time goes.

I was at the APA (american psych association) conference last week. Am now on 'vacation' which means I just have to finish writing some journal manuscripts before school starts!! WOO HOO!

WHOOSH!

A month goes by so quickly around here. Let's bullet point most of it...

• Cosmo is doing well. Made it through my 2 weekends in a row away from home with no problems. weight is a steady and slim 12.5 lbs (down from his highest weight of 16 lbs, and 14 lbs at time of diagnosis)
  
• Danger is also happier now that the amt of pets and attention is more even between the two cats. I am also happy to report that his kitty chin acne is gone.
  
• This week is my last week of working with clients at the health center. After this week, I have my annual conference, then 2 weeks off!! WOOT WOOT!
  
• I have funny parent stories to share. Stay tuned.
  
• Sadly, my mom's best friend just passed away unexpectedly. I'm feeling really bad for my mom, who's mother also died recently (well... almost a year ago, but it doesn't feel like it's been very long).
  
• I've been knitting like a fiend on the Debbie Bliss Cabled Hooded Jacket (pattern linked here for Ravelers. I'm making it with ONline Kaschmerino, in a deep blood red. I LOVE it, but slow going with the cables and all. I would prefer to finish in time to send to the baby shower, but am thinking it will be a gift for later.
  
• I CLEANED MY APARTMENT. All that is left to do is to file away the last few bits of bills and school paperwork. This item is a bigger deal than you think... my apt hasn't looked this clean since about the first week I moved in.

Ok. That catches us up to this weekend. Where my friend came to visit (the mommy of LRHM- little red headed monster, who needs a new nickname b/c he is TALL). It was great to hang out with her for the weekend, and even though I love LRHM, it's been FOREVER (um, about 5 yrs) since we've had some serious time by ourselves.

She flew in on Friday late night. I had a whole schedule planned for us (I know, I know. None of you who know me are gasping in shock that I would pre-plan the entire weekend). we were SUPPOSED to go grab some yummy Thai food for dinner, but the delay meant we had to grab PIZZA. We shared a calzone, with eggplant (YUM) inside. I LOVED IT. The sauce was great (spicy, not sweet). I'll be going back there. (For others in Boston area, it was Pizzanini at the corner of Comm Ave and Washington. We stayed up until 330am chit chatting and digesting.

Saturday:
Dunkin Donuts coffee and donuts. Stroll around the Boston College campus and show her where I spend the majority of my time. She likes architecture and buildings, so she appreciated the 'oldness' of all the BC buildings. I was a bit upset b/c many buildings were locked, and the souvenir store closed for inventory (wanted to get LRHM a little T-shirt). Then we headed to Brown Sugar Cafe for lunch (Country Style Pad Thai and Thai Fried rice, both extra spicy- YUM ME!) We hopped back on the T to head to Newbury street to do lots of street shopping. LUSH stole our hearts and we parted with some cash to buy some very nice smelling soaps. i got the Sexy Peel and Porridge soaps. Sexy Peel is a lemony smell, while Porridge smells like... a delicious oatmeal cookie.

There are so many shops that we went into, and I can't quite remember them all. My friend has worked hard and gotten into terrific shape, so she tried on some Lucky Brand jeans. My credit card had the worst damage at Filene's Basement, where I bought some new sunglasses, a fall/rain jacket, and some socks. We headed up to the North End for some italian food at Pagliuca's. Gnocchi in fra diavlo sauce, and Chicken Felix. SO DELISH. We pounded out a recipe for her to attempt at home (in the old days, i would be going over on a monday night and we would attempt this recipe together. boo!!). Head down the street to Modern Pastry. We shared a peach ganache and a chocolate dipped cannoli with riccota and chocolate chipss. We brought these home to eat with the Chai cream liquor that she brought me as a gift.

You'd think we'd be done eating right? NO NO. We got up this morning and schlepped off to brunch at Blue Room in Kendall Square/Cambridge (Thank the heavens for the pocket map I bought when I first moved here!). Check out the brunch menu. It is SICK! Even walking around Harvard Square for a few hours did not help the over extended belly syndrome, aka FOOD BABY that I was carrying around. waddling, I tell ya, waddling.

Drove her out to the train station around 7ish, and had to come home to bake cupcakes. Am sad that the weekend is over, but so glad she was able to come visit!!

There... and back again

I know that I have a hard time posting pictures. I will have to hotlink some pics from my friends blogs, when they get around to writing about our recent weekend getaway.

My much needed weekend in Colorado was MUCH NEEDED. More than I realized, and it makes me teary to think that it might be awhile before I get to go again.

You know how you feel at home in certain places or with certain people? This place, and these people, feel like HOME to me. While many think that I make friends easily, I don't think I do. I love feeling like I can kick back and say what I want to say, do what I want to do (and know that someone will want to do it with me!), and be who I am.

I flew into Colorado BRIGHT and early (um, I left my house at 4am), and was greeted by my friend with her kids (one of which was LRHM, who's not so little anymore). I can not believe that he is 5 years old, and very excited to attend kindergarten next year. While I am only an honorary auntie, I am still filled with worry about the fact that he will be RIDING THE BUS to school next year!! The BUS!!

We had a great time at Sweet Tomatoes, and then Kim came to whisk my away to the mtns to meet up with the girls for the weekend. She had me in stitches the entire way up, telling me stories about her kids at disneyworld. (shh!! still a sore topic over there). when we got up to the mtns, it was nothing but hanging out, eating, knitting, and laughing. We ate like QUEENS (fresh made crepes, a hawaiian luau, and a genuine southern breakfast, to name a few highlights). You have to keep up the strength for all that knitting, you know.

Heading back down the mtn on Sunday afternoon, I was sad that it was over, but excited to spend more time with LRHM. He got to stay up a little late (like 2 hrs late!) b/c his Aunt CynCyn was visiting. We went through his picture books from school, and read two books before going to bed.

A side story: We were talking while eating a snack, and I was grilling him about the alphabet. Which letters were in his name? what letter starts his mom's name? Dad's name? (all of these answered correctly and easily). Then I ask, what letter starts my name? "A!!!" I was much puzzled, and asked him again. "A!!!... for Aunt CynCyn"
HAHAHAHHA.

Anyway. I am sad that my weekend in CO is over already. I looked forward to it for months. The kitties were fine w/o me (Cosmo weighs the same) so I'm feeling much relieved. Thanks for all the support everyone!

Separation Anxiety

It's supposed to be for babies/toddlers/young children, right? A sign of "insecure" or "disorganized" attachment, according to some developmental psychology theories. I mean, it is normal for most kids to go through a period of it for a bit, but you're supposed to grow out o fit.

I am having mixed feelings. I am SO happy and excited to get out to Colorado to visit my peeps and to go to Camp WannaKnitKnit 4. But I'm also very nervous leaving my sweet babies again. The last trip I took, I came home to a very very sick kitty. I can't go through that again. I have a cat sitter coming, who will feed and check on them every day. I am telling myself to chill out, chillax, but I probably won't feel completely better until I come home.

Summer classes are over (YAY!, so the rest of my summer looks much better. I will see clients (and get paid!), do research, and... and... have TIME OFF. I am only scheduled for 32 hours per week for the rest of the summer. WOO HOO! I took this week and part of next week off. It's been great to have TIME to do stuff, like buy a couple new pairs of pants, get a pedicure, and go to the bank. Sounds like such little things, but... they make me happy.

ANOTHER post!!

It's hot.

Horridly, horribly, unbearably H.O.T. (aka horrible oppressive temperatures)

I know it's bad for the environment, and I am only contributing to global warming, but I need air conditioning when the humidity is over 80% and the temp is over 90.

My bio bases of behavior mid term went well. Thank GOD for extra credit. Even though I thought the multiple choice and matching would be easiest, I did the best on the diagrams.

Knitting. Still working on the Barn raising Quilt squares. Will upload them to ravlery as soon as i bite the bullet and buy more flickr use. Anyone have a good reason for me NOT to get the pro flickr account?

How perfect is THIS picture for me?


more cat pictures

no wonder I love that site. The cats look like mine, the chair looks like my desk chair, and I have too often seen the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).

Hopefully NEVER when i get to the point of writing a dissertation though.

Hope eveyrone is staying cool. Wish I was going to the Estes Wool Market with my peeps next week!

Updates!!

The last month was a bit crazy. Finals (I HATE FINALS). If finals in grad school still consisted of multiple choice tests or essay exams, they wouldn't be so bad... but when finals means turning in humongo (30 pages!) papers... well. I hatez it.


more cat pictures

Is that not perfect for me? If you know me, you know that I am a procrastinator. Grad school is my punishment/boot camp for getting rid of this habit. A good friend of mine (mom of LRHM- little red headed monster- who's NOT so little anymore!) gave me a plaque as a b-day gift... it says "I have not yet BEGUN to procrastinate."

HAHAHHA.

After finishing finals, I had to give a presentation to the faculty of the research I am working on... THEN summer classes started.

MEANWHILE, Mr Cosmo, my sick kitteh, decided to give me a big gift, and decided he didn't need insulin for his diabetes anymore!! WOO HOO! I still check his blood sugar once in awhile to make sure we're on track, but he's still 'in remission' and is 'diet controlled.' For those of you who own kitty cats, I can not advocate enough for a wet food, low carb diet for your cat. I know that the dry food is super convenient, but it is also very high in carbs and one of the leading causes of diabetes in cats. If you are interested in switching, you can go HERE to find a couple charts of dry food and canned foods. the charts show a comparison of protein, fat, and carb content of the foods. Cosmo (and Danger) are on 10% or less carb canned food so that Danger doesn't BECOME diabetic and Cosmo can stay diet controlled. But YAY! He's doing so much better. We have another vet check up tomorrow, with more bloodwork. Bleh.

In knitting news, I haven't found a lace project yet. Looking for one that is either a stole, or a triangular shawl that is more like ENE (where you cast on a zillion stitches and DECREASE as you knit). I have started some Barn Raising Quilt squares, out of leftovers. A nice, almost non-thinking knit for me right now.

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Cat pics

Absolutely no knitting content. I should knit, since I'm not working on my very last paper for the semester, but I'm stalking my cats for cute pics instead.

I've been meaning to show off Cosmo's shaved belly. He needed ultrasounds during his hopsital stay (of the pancreas, gallbladder, liver, heart, kidneys, etc) so he got a lot o belly shaved.


His belly is so soft and silky right now. And a godsend, b/c its where I inject his insulin. I'm not sure how you do it when there's fur everywhere!!


Then, there's just cute cat snuggly pics. It took a few weeks after Cosmo had come home for them to warm back up to each other. Cosmo smelled and looked funny, plus he was so sick, that I had him sequestered for much of the time. Now, I have to separate them b/c I worry that in the kerfuffle that Cosmo's feeding tube might get accidentally yanked out.

Snuggling on their chair:


Snuggling in bed




Cosmo making trouble:
In this first pic, Cosmo's got Danger in a headlock.

In this pic, Danger is looking at me like... aren't you going to do something? The big blur on the right is Cosmo ferociously grooming Danger.

Care package from down under!!

I would show a picture... but it would be of a ripped open package of Tim Tams, kind of like a bear had gotten into them or something. I'm trying to ration them out at a reasonable pace, but with finals season in full swing, it's tough.

Celia had a business trip to the USA a few weeks ago, she was in San Francisco, Houston, (not sure if there were more cities) but nothing on the East Coast. I would love to actually MEET Celia, since we have become such good friends through blogging. She snuck me a VALUE SHARE PACK of the original Tim Tams, and they are ever so lovely.

She also sent an issue of YARN, an Australian knitting magazine.

Pics for next time. I have to die for cute pics of my kitties snuggling, a finished sock (one Jaywalker done!)...

Not that anyone really thinks I blog on an even remotely regular basis, but just FYI that I am deep in the midst of finals (30 page paper due last week, 15 page paper this week, 25 pager next week, presentation the week after that, then I start summer classes....) I don't remember why I signed up for this torture right now, but I have to trust that it'll be worth it in the end.

Cat update: Cosmo is doing SO much better!! Thanks for all the well wishes. He comes and jumps on the bed for sleepy time. He is in full force with "must touch the mommy" and has, in fact, started to provoke his brother into some fights (which I break up b/c he still has the e-tube). Last night, he was laying next to me on the couch, and Danger was occupying my lap. Danger started swishing his tail in front of Cosmo's face. Cosmo accepted the invitation by taking a big chomp out of Danger's tail, and Danger had to respond by a quick "WHAP WHAP" on Cosmo's head. He remained undeterred and continued to chomp on the tail... another couple "WHAP WHAP WHAPs" and after I was done laughing, I reclaimed Danger's tail for him.

I'll be back with pics... probably sooner than later, since it'll give me something else to do (other than write the papers).

Holy Cat!!

He is kinda holey, since he still has the esophageal tube in his neck. He and I both are ready for it to come out already (he scratches at the bandages incessantly, as the hair growing back makes it itchy, dry skin, healing wounds, etc etc)

Good news; his liver is all better. At the latest vet appt (with an internal medicine vet. My cats have seen more specialists than I have!) they did the full blood panel, urinalysis, and urine culture. Things look good.

He's mostly eating by himself. We're stabilizing the amount of insulin he needs. I'm spending my free time (ha!) researching information about feline diabetes. Found a terrific forum/message board called Feline Diabetes that has many knowledgeable and experienced folks.

School: horrible. I have little motivation. I don't know where it went, but even time pressure motivation is not working for me right now. NOT A GOOD SIGN, as I still have about 2-3 more weeks before I get any respite.

Knitting: what's that? these hands havne't touched needles in weeks!!

Goals for summer:
1) finish up the babette crocheted blanket. I love the colors and pattern. I see it peaking at me from the yarntainer.

2) finish up the socks (STR rare gems, jaywalker)

3) finish hemlock ring blanket.

Now, I realize that I will be wanting to cast on some lace soon! Any suggestions?

Cat-o-centric

I know most pet people think that their lives revolve around their pets. Feeding them, getting them to potty, petting... catering to their every whim. Now, BEFORE the last couple of weeks, I would have said I was a good, but sort of negligent owner. I was happy to leave out the never ending buffet of kibble, scoop their litter box every day, and feed them stinky goodness at night. Being a grad student, our 'quality time' together consisted of me on the sofa with my laptop where a cat should be, and one cat sprawled out next to me (usually... it was Cosmo. He's perfectly happy to lay against my leg... you know... so long as he's touching the mommy. Of course, sometimes, the cat is better than the laptop.


Obviously, this pic was taken a few weeks ago.

He still is happy to let me use most of my lap.



For the next few weeks, my life is going to revolved around him. He's got an esophogeal tube (e-tube) in his neck, b/c he won't eat. See?



I have to feed him (using a syringe) 4 times per day. Between the feedings and the 8 medications he's on (most of which are administered through the e-tube). This procedure (of warming and mixing his food, preparing his medications, and then giving them to him) takes me about 5 hours per day. For breakfast and dinner, it takes me longer b/c of the meds. At lunch and late night snack, it takes less time b/c all I have to do is the food. But that's ok. I'm so happy to have him home and doing better, that I'm thinking of all this time as our 'quality time.'

We went back to the vet on Friday for a check up. They drew blood, and his blood sugar is still high, but his bilirubin levels have come down considerably. When he was admitted on Monday,3/10, his bilirubin level was 4.0 (it should be around 0.1-0.3 or something). On that following Saturday (3/15), it had skyrocketed up to 16!! On Tuesday of coming home (3/18), it had dropped to 10. On Friday, it was 2.8. All signs point to his liver still actually functioning... What I need him to do now is to show that he can eat on his own. And for his toileting to improve (he gets in, but doesn't turn around. This positioning results in his pee going OUTSIDE of the box. Very unfortunate. Luckily, I went and purchased a bag of wee-wee pads. Invaluable.

KNITTING NEWS:
Here are some pics of print o the wave. There are kitty action shots (Danger... 'helping')

Here's a pic of a bigger section, where the stole is actually the focus of the picture.


And my sock in progress.



Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina, converted to toe up.
Yarn: Socks That Rock: Rare Gems
Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbos, 100cm (magic loop)

I also have neglected to show off some Stash Acquisitions... from The Woolen Rabbit. I made the Print O The Wave from her laceweight, and about midway through, I was mourning the loss of this yarn in the stash. So... I bought more!


I bought 2 skeins of laceweight (in Raspberry and Thyme, and Blue Lagoon) and 2 skeins of superwash sock (in blue lagoon and some other purty color I can't remember right now).