Yippee!!

Real post at some undetermined point in the future, but for now...


It's official. I hold a Master of Science in Nursing from Columbia University. Woo Hoo!

Coraline!

I've probably already raved to you about how much I LOVED CORALINE!!! But in case I haven't, let me take this opportunity to make it perfectly clear:

Coraline is the best movie I've seen since I don't know when. Everything about it was perfect. I would watch it over and over if I could (I'll do this when the DVD comes out).

Here's the trailer. I'm glad I didn't see any trailers for this prior to seeing it, because I had no idea what to expect. This trailer pretty much tells the story.

And there's a little song by They Might Be Giants in it. :)

I want to be Coraline for halloween. Maybe I could make a wig out of electric blue yarn. :)

Internal Dialog, 6:05am

One part of my brain: Aha--I'm awake! Gotta pack, gotta pack, gotta pack. Wanna knit, wanna knit, wanna knit. Should write resume, resume resume resume. Oooo! What happened in the Grays Anatomy/ Private Practice tie-in last night? Hmmm, tea...

Other part of my brain: SHUT UP!!! It's only 6 o'clock in the morning. There's plenty of time for all that later. The yarn store won't be open for hours.

Just trying to make the most of my day off. :/

My nose didn't lie!

Thanks, Christine, for passing along this article, my olfactory hallucination explained--I'm not crazy! :)

Knitting: I'm struggling through the top of the Traveler's Stocking. After 10 rows and a few mess-ups, I may have finally gotten the hang of it. It would have been easier if I wasn't knitting at the end of a 12.5 hour work day, but whatcha gonna do? Once I get through this complex cuff (in about 25 more rounds), the rest of the sock should be fairly simple; that is, if I ever get there. :/

Day off tomorrow! I want to go to a movie (Coraline, or He's Just Not That Into You, or Doubt, Or New In Town--I need to check Rotten Tomatoes and see what kind of mood I'm in). But I also MUST mail at least 2 boxes tomorrow, and hopefully pack one or two more. Ugh.

I solved the puzzle today during my lunch break--my fastest Thursday puzzle ever! :D

What's cracking me up today:

My butt just hung up on you. Sorry.

Hahahahahahahha!

What I've been doing: I had a great time in Boston this past weekend. I spent Saturday afternoon with a dear friend from UPS, then went out to the suburbs to visit a dear friend from 4th grade and everything after. It was cold up there, but not unbearably so. Look at all the snow they've gotten!

I was supposed to be in jury duty the past 2 days, but when I went yesterday morning, I found out that I would have to get a postponement because I have this FNP certification review course next week that I cannot reschedule, and if I were to be called for a case, that would be a problem. Lucky for me, I won't be for the postponement--thank you, impending cross-country move!

Speaking of which, the packing has kicked into 3rd gear (we were in 1st for a couple weeks, I anticipate hitting 4th in a week or so).

I've emptied my closet, except for a few shirts to get me through the next 3 weeks. And see that blurry cart? It's been my savior, helping me haul my boxes to the post office. The heaviest one I've taken so far weighed 43 pounds!! I mailed it "media mail" and it only cost $17--what a bargain. :)

I'm not the only one working on packing--look what appeared in the kitchen today:

That's the roomies' moving checklist. We're having our House Cooling party 2/15, so I've set this as a goal to have most of my packing done.

What I've been knitting: I finished knitting the Baby Surprise Jacket; it still needs seeming and buttons, but that can wait. What a fun little project, nice mindless garter stitch, though I'm still annoyed about the dropped stitch. I think it turned out super cute.

On the bus up to Boston I pretty much finished the second Flaming Nuts sock. I used a star toe for this and I really like the way it looks, though I haven't worn the socks for any period of time, so I'm not sure if I'll like the way it feels.

I think I must have knit the bottom sock tighter--the pooled stripes are thinner. Maybe it's just the yarn. The socks seem the same size. I really like this yarn--it's brilliantly colored. Not sure who these socks are for yet. I think they'll enter the gift bank.

Yesterday, Chana and I went to the wonderful LYS and I bought yarn to make thank you gifts for Jamie and her husband for letting me stay with them this weekend. Unfortunately, I underestimated the amount of yarn I would need for their gifts, so I can't finish them until I get back to the LYS on my next day off--Friday. Boo Karabella Aurora 8 for not having more yardage per ball!

In lieu of finishing those gifts, I cast on for a pair of socks--Traveler's Stockings, from Knitting on the Road. I'm using some teal Louet Gems Merino Fingering.

I was a bit wary to cast on for these and I took care to choose a pattern that would offer a bit of interest. I came to a realization the bus up to Boston as I was busily knitting away at the Flaming Nuts socks: I'm tired of knitting socks. I didn't think I would ever reach this point. I think it has something to do with the quantity of knitted socks crowding my sock box right now (yes, I keep all my socks in a box in my closet); and there aren't any holidays or birthdays coming up. But socks make good portable knitting, so I'll probably keep knitting them, as back-burner projects.

What I've been watching: Last Friday, I was among the first people in NYC to see Entre Les Murs (The Class)--I went to the first showing opening day. :) What a fabulous movie! It's a docudrama. This guy wrote a book about his experience teaching at this high school, and he plays himself in the movie adaptation of the book. The whole thing felt very real. This movie's nominated for an Oscar in the category of foreign film. I haven't seen any of the other nominees (yet), so I can't comment on its chances, but it sure was good.

Today I watched Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist from netflix. Better than I expected. Funny, endearing characters; light, amusing fare; excellent music throughout. And look! In this picture, that guy to the right of Michael Sera--

It's Hanschen from the original cast of Spring Awakening!

I have 10 days of work left (dance around!), all in 2 day pairs. I want this part to hurry up and be over; but I don't want my time in NYC to hurry. There are still things I want to do before I leave, but time is slipping away. :( I guess I'll save the list for when I come to visit.

Self-fulfilling prophesy

Ugh. Of course! I wake up on my fake sick day actually feeling sick! Of course!! Grr. But I've loaded up on sudafed, claritin and advil, so hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow morning when I'm off to Boston. I'm wondering if this is a trick of the mind. Last night the roommies were watching the House episode where House and Cuddy are on an airplane from Singapore and one person is actually sick and a bunch of others think they get sick but actually it's just mass hysteria, the mind making the body sick. Or it could be that I got such an butt-kicking at work yesterday that my immune system took a hit and one of those myriad germs crawling around the hospital got to me. Ugh. I just want to curl up in a ball.

But instead I'm knitting! Plugging away at my baby surprise jacket. I'm having a blast with garter stitch. I'm using some yarn that I dyed an odd purple-red-pink mix a while back.

But I did something on this project that I don't think I've ever done before: I dropped a stitch! This has happened before. But what hasn't happen: I didn't notice it until many many many inches later! Ugh. And the dropped stitch happened in the first inch of the project, which means it happened late at night when I was only half conscious, cruising away unthinkingly on garter stitch. I'm annoyed. Not sure what to do about it, either. I don't want to leave a big gap in the cast on edge. For now, I've just put a safey pin through the loose stitches in question. I'll deal with it when my head is less cloudy.

If I can get myself together enough to get out of the apartment, I'm going to go see the movie The Class. I'll let you know how it is. :)

Olfactory hallucination!

I keep getting wiffs of maple syrup smell. I've been smelling it since I left work, about 1 hour ago. And it's starting to drive me nuts! I've read about this smell before, but never experienced it for myself. Which is why I'm afraid it might be an hallucination. I'm blaming the crazy day I had at work.

I just finished sewing the buttons onto the purple cardi and I LOVE IT!