Alli's World

      What follows is a completely self-indulgent post. I watch a videocast, www.youtube.com/user/lifechangesevrything, that follows 6 people through a year of their lives. A couple weeks ago, their prompt was "where did you think you'd be in 10 years and are you there?" So, here's my response.

      Ten years ago, I was a senior at a women's college majoring in Chemistry. I was applying to grad school to get  my Ph D in organic chem. My life plan was to be a chemistry professor in a college like my own. Somewhere small where there wasn't any pressure to publish, just to teach. I'd be married to my long time boyfriend, maybe a kid, definitely cats, etc. Well, I got in everywhere I applied and ended up choosing the school in the town where my boyfriend lived, not really because he was there but more because the campus and the school seemed so similiar to mine. I felt instantly comfortable there.

      So two weeks after I graduated college, I was engaged and starting a summer job in a lab there. That fall was 9/11, and, like everyone else, I was pretty shaken up and reexamined everything. My mother was in NYC that day on a business trip. I didn't know where her meetings were so I had a terrifying hour or so until we heard from her. My fiance was teaching at his high school that day and I could see that he had the much harder day. He had to get those kids through  the day knowing everything in their world had changed.

      By the end of that fall, I had realized that to be a success at grad school, I would have to life and breathe it. It suddenly didn't seem that important anymore. I temped for a while, got a job in a drug company for about six months, got married, got laid off, started substitute teaching, and finally got hired to be a math teacher at my husband's school.

     Now, I have an almost 6 year old little boy,  cowritten 2 grants for my school, one of which was a federal grant which got us our magnet status, become a curriculum writer, and lead my group of Algebra 1 teachers. I often feel like I'm running a free therapy clinic out of my classroom. I also sponsor a kniting club and a quidditch club.

     Am I where I thought I'd be? Heck no! Am I glad the way things turned out? Yep. I love my kids, I love teaching. Getting those kids to graduate? There's nothing more important or as rewarding. As a mom and a wife, that's my funtime. There's nothing better than watching the Peanut giggle. My husband and I have hit the shorthand stage of our relationship. And when we're apart for an overnight, we both miss each other like crazy. Do I have my day to day frustrations? Of course. Would I trade what I have know to be that college professor? No, I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

I cast on the Multnomah shawl last night at 9:02pm. :) The garter stitch was perfect to knit while watching the opening ceremonies. They were wonderful! I think it was especially moving for me having been in Vancouver this summer. I fell in love with British Columbia while I was there. Given the chance, I'd move there in a heartbeat. Last night I got through row 33 on  the shawl and today I made it through row 51. Here are the in progress shots:




The next one has the colors more true to life.



This morning, I cast on the sleeve for the Baby Yours. The yarn is giving me gauge perfectly! It's from the Laura and Kelly at The Unique Sheep (www.theuniquesheep.com) and it's Footprints.



I decided to get the sleeves out of the way first since I tend to stall out on them. This way, they'll already be done. Tomorrow will have to be for grading and cleaning. Maybe I'll find some time to knit in the evening. We'll see!

Ten minutes to go! Here's what I'll be working on:



This is for my high school best friend who is having a little boy soon.


and



This is for me!

Ready set go!

I've never been what I'd consider an artist. I've never been struck and *had* to draw something or write a poem or compose a song about what I've just seen or done. But today, I just had to draw this ceiling pattern. I was convinced I could turn it into a a cable pattern. Let me back up and tell you the background.

I'm in Chicago for my Gram's 80th birthday party. Except, it's a surprise, so shhh! :) My sister and her husband picked me up from the airport and we headed downtown to wander around and check stuff out. BIL hadn't been to Chicago before so he wanted to see what he could. My sis found a place called the Chicago Cultural Center. It used to be the Chicago Public Library and was built in the 1890s. I headed in expecting to look at the art exhibits but instead was fascinated by the building itself. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Cultural_Center

In one of the galleries, I looked up and saw this:



I was enchanted. There's no other way to describe it. I just saw it and instantly visualized it as a knitted swatch. My BIL was sneaky and took the above picture for me. In the car ride back to Gram's, I pulled out my graph paper and started charting. 40 minutes later, I had a scarf pattern . Unfortunately, I don't have any solid colored wool with me. I'm going to try and swing by the LYS in town and pick some up.

I've never had an idea grab me before and not let go. It was pretty damn cool. Maybe this designing thing is going to work out after all!

Look what J's parents brought me for my birthday:




It belonged to J's grandmother who recently passed. It needs a lot of therapy and rehab but it's beautiful. Hopefully by this summer I'll be spinning on her.

I'm going to go be happy for awhile! :)

So the new cat likes to eat toilet paper. A lot. You can't leave a roll on the holder without coming back and finding it chewed to bits.

After coming upstairs this morning and finding snow all over the floor, I decided that something had to be done. Camouflage to be specific.

To fit in with my son's Finding Nemo themed bathroom, I decided that Nemo would blend in perfectly. We'll just ignore the fact that I was tried to hide the tp from the cat by dressing it up as a fish. It made sense this afternoon. By the time I realized the irony, the point of no return had been passed.

So, I went rummaging and found an H hook and the appropriately colored yarn. 3 hours later (my crochet-fu isn't as fast as my knitting skillz) we have Hopefully Hidden Nemo:





I've become one of those people. I've crochet a toilet roll cover. There's no turning back. At least I'll have Nemo for company.

Meet the newest member of our family, Fuzzworth.



You should have heard the vet laugh when they asked me how to spell it. :)




A friend found him in the parking lot of our local Sam's Club. He came home with me Sunday night and fit right in. I took him to the vet on Monday and everything went well and he got a clean bill of health. It is lots of fun to have a kitten in the house again. :)




This is the first of SIX pairs of mittens that I made in the last 13 days. That is 12 mittens in 13 days. I am officially sick of mittens. But my school with have the most authentic costumes for their fall play. I finished with about 6 hours before curtain time. Nothing like cutting it close. :)

And now, I need a nap.

We just lost our kitty, Sean aka Mr. Fuzzy Butt tonight. He has been sick for awhile but luckily, it was all over in a few minutes.

Send some good thoughts and prayers that he's having his head scratched and chowing down on some tuna in heaven tonight. :)

Sorry to have been gone so long. The end of school just wiped me out. I have a bunch of FOs and other stuff to share so I am planning on posting a bunch in the coming days. Thanks for hanging out!

My three year old is in the other room singing, "We will, we will, rock you"

How the heck he knows Queen songs already, I don't know. :)