the sympathetic vibration

May is flying by. 

I’ve been trying to prep for moving in little ways. Selling some books on half.com, knitting almost exclusively from my “stash” (which is basically all this yarn I bought at some point for some project, only to decide not to complete that project, so now it sits around with very little purpose, except maybe looking pretty), and organizing my toiletries “stuff.” I’ve always been the type of person to take the little hotel sized shampoos and conditioners with me when I stayed places. Not sure why, but finally, it’s coming in handy. I’ve collected all these little bottles and have them in my shower, ready to be used and used up. Ideally, I’d be able to live here the last 7 weeks without buying shampoo/conditioner/body wash/lotion, but I think I’ll likely run short on shampoo. Oh well, at least it’s less stuff to either move or feel guilty about tossing without using.

I finally knit one of those Baby Surprise Jackets out of some Wool of the Andes I had laying around. I decided to add a collar and don’t get have buttons, but I’ll be sure to post pictures once it’s completely done. It was certainly a fun and fast project, and I love how the garter stitch stretches in both directions. Not sure how it would look on a baby though, so I’ll have to find one to try it out. No forthcoming baby boys that I know of (the sweater is brown and dark green, so seems boyish, but could be either I suppose) that I haven’t already made something for. Perhaps I’ll use up the rest of the bits of yarn for some matching booties.

I’ve been knitting other stuff, too, but I’m terrible at getting pictures taken of my knits. Especially the sweaters meant for me. There’s no good way to take pictures of yourself if you are trying to highlight the clothing.

It’s Mother’s day! And I want to publicly say how much I love my mother and how much she means to me, even though sometimes we don’t connect in the ways she wants. She has always been there for me, she loves me so much, and she’s an absolutely amazing woman. You should read her blog too, if you don’t believe me.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the other mothers out there that I love as well. You all have big important jobs and you all do it so well.

I’ve also decided it’s time to do something about my weight, which has increased by bits and spurts over the last 4 years. In 2003 when I lost 40 pounds, I felt so great… and then who knows what happened, but I gained it back and plus some. What I learned through that losing process was that I was certainly capable of losing weight, but I had to really be at the right place to do it. Thankfully, I think I’ve finally gotten to that place, so here’s my approach:

1. Have healthy snacks around and have them already divided into containers and baggies of about 100-150 calories each.

2. Aim for 35 grams of fiber a day.

3. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water.

4. Eat reasonably healthy food, but don’t make anything “forbidden.” Instead just take small portions and try to make a healthier choice when possible. Like… jelly on toast instead of a bunch of butter.

So… we’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow I’ll do the first official weekly weighing. I’m hoping to at least be down a couple pounds, even though I had a delightful and filling dinner at Cap City Diner on Friday night in Columbus after my interview at OSU. Yummy!

Speaking of which - I feel hungry. I’ll have to go get a big glass of water and a snack.

So…. it’s Sunday night and time for bed.

Been a great weekend though - Jeff and I spent all day Saturday at a local event called Maker Faire, which is a large scale science fair/craft show/geek fest/playground for people of all ages. From what I understand, anyone who makes anything can apply to get a booth or a space or give a talk, and whatever it is that they “make.” So it might be stuffed monsters, or robots, or burning statues, or art, or puzzles, or motored lazyboys, or life sized muffins on wheels or…. well, really just about anything.

All in all, a great day, although it was crowded (apparently lots of people realized it could be a good time), and I neglected to put sunscreen on my chest and wore a scoopy shirt. I didn’t even think to bring a camera, so I have no photographic evidence of anything, but I saw a number of other people with cameras (what! surprise!) and I’m sure you could find an ever changing slide show of pictures from the event HERE.

It was a HUGE event. We spent over 8 hours there. To the point where my feet were killing me (I wore crappy flipflops - another bad choice like the sunscreen) and I still keep seeing pictures on this slideshow of stuff I don’t think I ran across during my day there.

I didn’t actually SEE this interchange, but it gives a pretty good example of what you might just run across while strolling through the fairgrounds.

Anyway, good times. And then today we stayed out of the sun by watching episodes of Jericho, which sadly I find out was cancelled after only 1.5 seasons.

I head back to Ohio later this week. Crossing my fingers!

I’m back in the office today after being away for a week on interviews, etc.

The local fire marshall has determined that the California Fire Code requires that all doors in a residential area remain shut unless someone is actively entering or exiting. Which means…. all residence halls across campus are being required to immediately enforce a “closed door” policy. All doors in all buildings must be closed at all times, including the rooms that students live in, my office, the doors to the lounges, etc. Needless to say, it’s been a difficult challenge to encourage my staff to work within this new policy (the University has been “pre-cited” for non-compliance, and if we don’t change our policies, they will deem the buildings “unsafe” and will not allow us to house students here), and residents are not happy either. Not surprising since we spend a good part of fall quarter trying to encourage folks to keep their doors open to help encourage community and openness.

Blah.

Lots to do now that I’m back in regards to this any what seems like a million other issues that have come up while I’m gone. My list of folks to check in with has grown quite a lot during the day, and there are lots of projects to go along with it. Still, it’s good to be back! I had a really nice time with my staff on a retreat this past weekend. We spent the night at a resort near Capitola, California, and then got up the next morning to beautiful weather, sunshining on the beach. After some time in the hottub and pool, we headed out to a yummy breakfast at Zachary’s in Santa Cruz, and then on the visit the Mystery Spot on the way home. Good times.

Yesterday, Jeff replaced the battery in my car and then tomorrow she goes into the shop to get some things fixed so that she’ll be ready to be sold. For real, this time. (I know I’ve been talking about selling my car for 3+ years, but now I really mean it). After I get those things fixed, it will just need a good interior/exterior detail and then I can sell it. I’m hoping to get $4500 for the car…. and I’m assuming I’ll need to buy a new (used) car when I arrive at wherever I arrive next, so I can put the money aside for that.

Oh! 5:00. Time to go home.