Uno a cien.

So Barb encouraged me to do this, and it really proved an interesting excercise. AND I got to weasel things out of my mom that I'd skipped over.

100 Things About Me

1) I am the eldest child in my family

2) I am 5’7”... and the shortest in my family, as my brother constantly reminds me.

3) I have blonde hair.

4) I do not tan. I get more freckles, and in the sun they get darker and give the illusion of a tan. If you ever see me with a great tan, ask me where I bought it.

5) I knit. I swear, it’s the most relaxing thing you could do.

6) I write. All the time. Even if it’s not on paper, I’m writing in my mind. For instance, I’ve been crafting this all day.

7) I play piano... Been playing for 10 or 11 years now.

8) I did Tae Kwon Do for 10 years and am a 2nd degree black belt.

9) Respect is a big deal to me, and in my world everyone deserves it and has my respect. It takes a lot to lose it... So far only a few people have.

10) When I was younger I had such light blonde hair and swam so much that it turned green.

11) When I was 5 I knocked three of my front teeth out and had to have 12 or so stitches in my lip. There’s a lump in my bottom lip that mom says she can feel whenever she kisses me goodnight.

12) I don’t do well in team sports, only because I‘ve tended to notice that when we start to lose, my team gives up, and I can‘t stand that.... No, it‘s not because I’m a bully.

13) I’ve always loved office supplies. Put me in an office depot and I’m right at home.

14) I’m a really visual person.

15) I believe that the moon does have some sort of magical properties. I’ve always been lucky on full moons...

16) We have 5 printers, and currently 2 of them work.

17) I have the coolest purple TI-83 calculator that all of my friends at school are jealous of.

18) My mom used to tell me that I had the patience of a butterfly.

19) I’m determined. I will do it. (whatever ‘it’ happens to be at the time.)

20) At school I don’t have to pay library fines because I spend my spare time helping out the librarian. Shelving books is also one of those really calming exercises and presents a good opportunity to think... It’s nice during all the hustle of school.

21) My nickname at camp was “Cantaloupe”. One of the counselors seriously does not know my name and actually called me “Cantaloupe” all the time.

22) I’ve seen The Fellowship of the Ring 27 times, The Two Towers 39 times, and The Return of the King 35 times.

23) I become obsessive about things VERY EASILY.

24) I still nurse a strong crush on Orlando Bloom (you should have seen my bedroom wall during middle school... Let’s just say you couldn’t see the paint.)

25) I own a Legolas and an Aragorn standup. (Aragorn is in my closet right now.)

26) And a replica of Aragorn’s dagger... And the Evenstar pendant.

27) Lord of the Rings was what started me writing. I started writing Fanfiction, and off I went!

28) I have actually finished writing an entire multi-chapter story. It was called Not Knowing, was something like 34 chapters, and took me three years to write. (It was Fanfiction).

29) Epic war movies make me giggle.

30) I live for the days when I am onstage in the spotlight. Any sort of spotlight on a stage, actually.

31) I’ve been in 6 productions at my school: Midsummer Night’s Dream (I was a random Athenian), Carousel (chorus), The Skin of Our Teeth (random people), The Boyfriend (Chorus), Our Town (Mrs. Soames), and The Bard on Broadway (Chorus and Nerissa from Merchant of Venice)

32) In middle school I was in two plays: Looking Glass Land (I played Humpty Dumpty and the White Knight) and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (I was Mr. Tumnus)

33) I sing. All the time. Everywhere.

34) I won my school spelling been in 7th grade. I got a medal and my name engraved on a plaque. (You can go there and see my name!!)

35) My babysitting job this summer is one of the best things that has ever happened to me in my life.

36) I’m the editor of my school newspaper.

37) I’m also the editor of my school’s literary magazine.

38) I’ve never been on a date in my life.

39) I have duel citizenship. (American and UK)

40) My dad is British.

41) Nobody spells my name right the first time.

42) My brother and I both have middle names of great rulers. (Elizabeth and Alexander)

43) I’ve visited Canada, England, Spain, France, Sweden, and Germany, but never hopped the
border to Mexico.

44) I have type O+ blood. (Universal donor, thankyouverymuch)

45) Rapidly I’m becoming very attached to this cat that I cuddle with while I’m babysitting. I’m thinking of hiding him in my bag when I leave someday...

46) I correct my friends’ papers at school, and constantly correct their grammar.

47) If I could be eternally damned to do some household chore for the rest of my life, it would be hand washing dishes. Something about making things clean just fulfills my soul. (My friend Brandlyn and I have a deal. When we’re older, we’ll both swap houses for a day. I’ll do her dishes and she’ll clean my floors.)

48) I would really like to work at a publishing company someday... Reading manuscripts seems a delightful business.

49) One of my ’happy places’ that I think of when I’m writing is the house that I lived in for a summer in England called The Limes. Something about that house was just magical to me. (It was built probably 300 years ago or so.)

50) I believe history is one of the most fascinating things to learn. However, anything with the numbers 19 at the beginning, while history, are mostly dull to me. Give me Renaissance history ANY day!

51) I do not read books, I devour them.

52) Another happy place of mine is Starbucks. I don’t even have to be drinking coffee, I just love the atmosphere.

53) I really, really wish I could draw really well. (How many ‘really’s was that?)

54) It bothers me when people yawn really loud during class. It makes me want to sucker punch them and say ‘BREATHE NOW! HAH!’

55) I have a soft spot for Indian food. Something about the spices... Yummmmm....

56) I think that if I didn’t have my step mom in my life, I don’t know what I would do. She seems to know a little about everything!

57) I swear that the lady I babysit for is a projection of me in like 25 years. (It keeps me optimistic...)

58) When I’m really tired I start telling people things that I probably shouldn’t.

59) When I lived in England for a summer (it was the year Harry Potter 6 came out) I would sit on the comfy red couch and sip red wine while I read a book every night after dinner.

60) I have probably read Harry Potter more than anyone else and know the most minute details about the books.

61) I can’t go to sleep without some sort of noise going on. So I listen to audio books (mostly Harry Potter, because I can stand to hear that one over and over.)

62) I can pull off a great British accent and often go around fooling people into thinking that me and my friend (who also has a great British accent) are visiting for a few weeks.

63) I was probably one of the first people in America to read Harry Potter. I bought the books while in England when the second book came out, whereas Harry Potter did not become popular until book 3 here.

64) I have recently become addicted to making my yarn stash grow.

65) Apparently I’m a great reader-out-loud...er (?)

66) I love roses and I dry every one that I get. I have a bunch in my closet and a bouquet hanging from my ceiling.

67) I did my friend’s French 1 homework once.

68) I don’t know French.

69) That said, I’d really like to learn.

70) However, I have taken 8 odd years of Spanish.

71) Y puedo hablar espanol mas o menos fluentemente.

72) I have a thing for languages. (Don’t know if you’d noticed...)

73) My favorite type of chocolate (Take note, people!) is dark chocolate with raspberry. (Godiva is wonderful... Mmm...)

74) Every time I say “Hey, you wanna give me a massage?” people run away.

75) One of my favorite memories of my childhood was when my dad and I used to go to the Sam’s club and go grocery shopping en masse. And he would let me push the cart that probably weighed about 3 times my weight.

76) Something else that my dad did with me was go to Central Market. I remember we would buy their fresh tortillas and then end up with just the empty bag to show to the person at the register. And he would let me eat the grapes that we were going to buy (UNWASHED! Gasp!)

77) I will never, ever sing in public the way I sing in my car.

78) I’m not afraid of ghosts, just deeply unsettled.

79) I’m really insecure about my looks a lot of the time. Not in the “will I fit in?” way, but the “am I beautiful?” way.

80) I have a few little OCD tendencies. Such as if I type a word and misspell it, I have to erase the entire thing and start anew. And I hate when I have any spam or junk email in my junk box. Grrrrr....

81) Something about the radio scan button bothers the crud out of me. I have no idea why; it’s such a useful button.

82) If I could add two features to my car, they would be the “search and destroy” button, and the “green light” button.

83) Ellen Degeneres and Monty Python are the epitome of funny to me. Long live the Knights who say Ni.

84) I’m allergic to anything with fur. That includes: cats, dogs, bunnies, and hedgehogs. (I’m starting to suspect I’m allergic to my friend Brandlyn, but I think it’s just because she’s always hugging her dog, Bella.)

85) The only thing that miffs me about my father is that he is so firmly rooted in his beliefs (or lack thereof, in the religious dept.) that I cannot talk to him about my faith.

86) I am a Christian.

87) When I was little, the only way I could remember how to spell ‘Christian’ was to sing that song. (I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.) and then it took me forever to really get the rest of the song. (And I have C-H-R-I-S-T in my H-E-A-R-T and I will L-I-V-E E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y.)

88) I went through a wee little phase that involved reading Nancy Drew. I read 126 of them.

89) Honestly, part of the reason I read historical romances is to learn about 18th/19th century Europe and the culture then.

90) I saved $857 by going to my library instead of buying books last year. However, I probably spent a considerable amount at Barnes and Noble, too.

91) I respond to the names Ivy and Isabel.

92) I have enough freckles to play connect the dots on. But really you can just draw something on me and you’d be connecting the dots anyway.

93) When I was little (and yes, a little now) I dreamed about getting married in a big European cathedral.

94) I saw a picture of my mom when she was like 13 or 14 and it’s kind of scary; I really do look like her.

95) I love lightning. Give me a good thunderstorm any day.

96) I hate bees with a passion that burns with the intensity of a thousand burning suns.

97) I think that that median time between Fall and Winter is the best. The time when it’s trying to be cold, but not succeeding, and it’s hot enough to wear a tshirt, but you get to carry around a jacket with you. I don’t know why, but that time of year is the best.

98) Something about the book ‘Goodnight Moon’ used to bug me when I was little.

99) My mother tells me that she found me in a basket under a palm leaf on the doorstep.

100) When I was two and a half I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. The doctors said I’d never be able to play the piano. (Hah!)

Life hugs

So today is a grand day, indeed. I finished it!!

Just so you can see how big it is, I put the coffee thing next to it. It's my shameless plug (Shop at whole foods! My mama works there!) And no, that's not a monster-sized cup. It's just like the ones you get at starbucks. The coffee thing was just the nearest thing on hand when I was taking the picture...

And here's a closeup!

So tomorrow I'm going to send it off to the family and hopefully they'll appreciate it. I'm proud of myself for finishing the project, but even more than that, I'm proud because it's flawed. There are some holes (don't ask me how they got there) and at one point I started to purl when I needed to knit and then as I was frogging those stitches, I said, wait.


This blanket needs to be flawed.



Yes, it's a gift... but handmade blankets are a representation of the person who made it. It has all the blood, sweat, and tears weaved into it's very being. This blanket is just like me... Not perfect.

The boy who will snuggle up to this blanket is not perfect either, nor will he ever be. When he grows up and is 7 or 8, he'll be devious and smirk and retort to his parents. When he's 12, he'll likely never leave his xbox or playstation, when he's 15, his parents will be 'ruining his life' and he'll be insecure, and when he's old enough to get married and have children of his own, he'll stumble over all the same things he made his parents stumble all over. This blanket, in short, signifies life itself.



Life which he grasps by only a few fingers.



So why shouldn't we take both our hands, our able bodies, and throw our arms around life when we have it?

The clearer picture

Every once and a while I realize something: I'm perfect the way I am.

I don't need to change to fit someone else's bill. I don't need to flaunt myself or my talents or push myself out of my own comfort boundaries to be recognized or to be loved. I am not perfect, but I am me. I don't think I could be anyone else, but often I think I forget my own self.

What reminded me all of this today was this overwhelming response to the spur-of-the-moment idea of mine to knit that baby blanket for the preemie baby boy. The lady I babysit for sent an email to my mom, who then forwarded it to my Gramma and my aunt, who phoned and emailed me to tell me how proud they are of me. And yet, all day I've just been chugging along, doing what I find is the obvious thing. Shouldn't it be obvious, that the most important thing is to show that you care? I've never met this tiny child, nor, I'm willing to bet, will I ever. But I think that this family, who obviously has a rough road ahead of them, needs to know that someone would respond for them and their child.

So I guess that today who I am really shown through. I just hope that people get a clearer picture of who I am than I have. I guess living life isn't just growing older. Living life is learning who you are.

Tiny little things

So I know I'm not a movement, but I kind of feel like one right now.

The lady I babysit for has a friend of a friend (or something like that) who had a baby very premature. like... the baby was born at 23 weeks. When normal gestation is 40 weeks, I'd say that modern medicine is a marvel in this case, because the baby is still alive.

So Barb (aforementioned lady) was asked to make a hat for the baby. And she did. And it's adorable. But I feel like... I dunno. I should do something.

So I am.

I'm making a little baby blanket for the tiny little boy.

And I'm praying for him and his family.

And so I encourage you, whoever reads this, to do the same. Prayer is stronger than you think.

So here I am... a little push of a large wave.

5 inch mile

So here's an update:

It's like five whole inches long!! I've almost used all of the first ball of yarn. Yay!! So guess what? My chocolate melted! (Surprise!!) I've given up on that, but I did buy some jelly beans which I force myself not to eat unless I'm knitting. Good intentions, of course.

While I was babysitting this morning I read a chapter in a knitting book (Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee..... <- What a beautiful first name, right? It would be better with an 'f' though...) and it was all about gauge and knitting a swatch and all the while I'm thinking... Man, if I'd actually done that I would have totally saved six hours of my life. I'm running out of movies to knit to! I guess I could go to my dad's house (where he and my stepmom are HUGE movie buffs and have a collection of 500+ dvds), but my stepbrother occupies that couch. Is there no couch for me in this world?!

I'm going to go fight for a couch now.

Beelike

So as much as I hate bees, I find that I kind of want to be one.

Not to chase people around and sting them for no apparent reason except that they happened to be within a 50 foot radius of you.

But because of that one expression, 'Busy as a bee'. Summer is awesome, yeah, but I find that in the afternoon after I'm done babysitting or whatever, I'm reduced to this bored being who wants to do something (something free, please!) but finds that all there is to do is sit in front of the tv and watch reruns of something old and dull. I love having something to do in the morning (Which by the way, I finally surrendered and played Polly Pockets today with one of my babysitting charges...) and then after I leave I crave something to do.

So that's me. Unbusy as a not-bee.

the 'WHY' key

Okay, so this isn't that interesting, but I find it kind of funny.

My 'y' key on my laptop is disfunctional. Seriously. It pops out after every... oh... seventh use. It'll just dislodge itself from the keyboard and kind of dance around until I realize that I'm tping all the words without the in it and I don't seem to realize wh it does that when it does that (<- note the artfully missing 'y's!0 (It just popped out.) So I've decided to christen this key, not the 'y' key, but the 'WHY' key (<- note the artful play on words!) The fact that every day is full of the randomly disfunction of the stuff that's supposed to work anyway. Like when your blinker light decides to go on the fritz and blink really really fast, but then you hit it and it works fine. Or when your ipod decides that NO IT WILL NOT WORK and then you try and fix it, but finally give up and call tech support, and then they tell you to do the exact same thing and then it works... or... well you get the point. Stuff in life is just supposed to work, but it doesn't. Therefore, the 'WHY' key. (note the artful caps lock)

Frogging

Okay, so I WAS knitting this great blanket that's got this soooooft yarn in it that's to DIE FOR. It's so soft, that you might consider kicking out your boyfriend and just sleeping with it. YES. It is that soft. My friend just referred to it as "orgasmic soft".

Now that you get the point...

Well I cast on so many stitches (136, to be precise) and ended up measuring the length about 5 hours later, and... to my shock it ended up being about 9 feet long. (Honestly, I'm still in shock...) I frogged (ripped... or "rip it", which sounds like "ribbit"... thus, frogged.) what I'd done and started over.

Now I cast on 90 stitches and it will hopefully be about 6 ft or something. Here's the beginning... Hopefully I'll keep up with updating you... all none of you who read this.

Isn't it gorgeous?? (Okay not so much. But remember how soft it is!)

And here's how I plan to finish it:

Chocolate. Chocolate is GOOD incentive!! M&Ms, junior mints, and whoppers. 270 of them, to be precise. Every time I knit a row, I get to eat a piece of chocolate. Talk about motivation! (Now... to see that they don't melt...)

"Can I take that out of your way?"

So, for once I'm kind of glad that nobody reads this because for this blog I might get punched in the nose. (Or severly verbally beaten, in any case.) But last night I had the time of my life volunteering at the Dennis Quaid fund raiser gala/dinner/thingy... I opened wine bottles, I helped do some setup, I bussed tables and smiled at people, mostly because they have oodles of money and are giving it to the cause... but I bussed a LOT of tables... and I discovered that just because I wasn't wearing a cocktail dress and I had a crew shirt meant that I was lower than everyone. I would approach someone and ask politely, "May I take that out of your way, maam/sir?" and they would point at something and wait until I was walking away from the table to continue their conversation.

I dunno, I think if I ever get famous, I'll help the volunteers bus tables. I believe out of several hundred guests, I received around 4 thank yous.

And several spilled martinis on my pants.

Well blogger, I guess I had a point to make and maybe lost it.

Wrist binding

I am officially a geek. Glasses and all. Hahaha.

This afternoon I indulged myself in a trip to Hobby Lobby to burn off a bit of money I've earned this week. -Huzzah!! Moneyyyy!!!- And I bought this sinfully soft and fluffy (and cheap!) yarn from my new favorite yarn brand, the "yarn bee". It's called "Frosting' yarn, and just like its yummy food cousin, it looks good enough to eat. So I did some research on several websites and found some general dimensions for an afghan/blanket type thing. Also, I had to figure out the complex workings of circular needles, which seem quite intricate to a straight-needle gal such as myself. But I figured them out (so I do have a few smarts) and I cast on 136 stitches and started going. Two movies later, I've done what.... 12 or 13 rows? This thing'll take a LONG time. But I was knitting for so long that my right wrist actually started to hurt! So, what would the dedicated knitter do? Of course I bind it and keep going.

So that's why I'm a geek. Because I actually knit myself into injury.

(And because I know you're all on the edge of your seats, biting your nails with worry, I just took off the wrap and my wrist feels fine now.)