I’m here still. Really I am. I’ve just been busy with school and knitting. I’ve been knitting a lot it seems. Every spare minute I can manage, I do a row (which consists of 133 sts!) here and there. When I have more time, I knit right up until my hands feel as if they are going to fall off. I started a baby blanket a while back and then I restarted it and now I’ve taken a break because I’m angry with it. So angry I can’t bare to look at it. It’s too small! Why didn’t I accept this earlier and move on? I would have just made it bigger, but the yarn I was using, I bought in England and can’t readily be found here. Now I don’t have enough to enlarge the pattern. Oops.

So I’m on to this new blanket:

It’s much bigger and cushier AND it has got a hood. Perfect to wrap a baby in. The deadline is drawing near, hence the knitting marathon. You seasoned knitters are probably thinking “oh posh…it’s only a baby blanket. I can knit that up in one sitting!”…but me? Well, I’ve got a long way to go and I’ve been at my top speed the whole way through (okay, I started this one a day ago, but it feels like an eternity!). The needles that I am using are so long and akward, I have to balance my left needle on my knee or wedge under my arm to keep at a steady pace and to keep my hands from prematurely cramping. I probably have just a couple weeks if I want my blanket to make it before J & S’s baby does. Wish me luck!

So how have I been spending my non-knitting time lately, you ask? Ravelry!

Yes. I finally received my invite last week and can’t seem to stop exploring this whole new world filled with yarn-y goodness. There are so many patterns to look at, and in turn, so many blogs to read! So excuse me if I haven’t been around lately.

And when I’m not on Ravelry, Joe and I have been watching a newly discovered show- The IT Crowd. It’s a British show, but it’s been picked up by NBC so it will be on the telly here soon…unfortunately. I don’t know why they have to go and change the characters and de-Britify the show. It’s hilarious the way it is. Does NBC think that maybe us viewers won’t get the jokes because they speak with an accent and their emergency number is 999 instead of 911? I’m not sure.

Anyways, here’s a clip. You won’t get some of the story line with Richmond, but the rest is self explanatory. I just love Moss.

Today was a good day. Good breakfast, good workout, good discoveries, good weather, all of it, good.

Today was day two of my exercising. I hate the way my mind works. When I decide I’m going to do something, I’ll be completely wrapped up with it for a few days. It’ll be all I think about, and then I’ll just one day stop. I’ll wear myself out with goals before they even have a fighting chance. I can’t do anything in moderation or for long periods of time. Take my exercising today: after my 45 minutes of jogging and walking, I wanted to keep going. I couldn’t just do the set workout and leave it alone for the day. I was too excited that I had gotten through the workout, that I wanted to do more. I thought about walking across town to visit Joe at his work. I wanted to walk to the library. I wanted to walk to get groceries. All of these things are pretty far. I guess my mind is reasoning that if I’m not sick of it yet, I’ll just keep going until I am. I need to strike while the iron is hot.

I held back…for a couple hours, but then I decided, “well Self, I have to pick up the iodine for the beer and the shop is only a few blocks away, better to walk than to waste gas”. So I walked. When I got back home, I convinced Joe to walk with me to eat out at Classico Pizza, so we had another nice stroll (luckily all of this stuff is a few blocks away). It was nice being outside and exploring, peeking into other folks lives (I’m nosy I suppose, I must take after my grandma).

I came across a strange home that was hidden behind a large wall and a plethora of trees. It was strange seeing a home with that much character in Folsom, where planned community housing is king. I loved it. But I think I loved the wall surrounding the home even more than the house itself! It looked as if it were constructed with nothing more than mud and rocks. It had all sorts of plants growing out of every crevice. I could go back and spend hours inspecting that wall and probably not notice every plant there.

It feels strange to post now that I’ve been away for so long. I’m sorry. Wait, no I’m not. I don’t have to post if I don’t want, right?

So, I’ve been thinking about my level of health lately.

I became painfully aware of how unhealthy and out of shape I am on a bike ride with Joe. Slight inclines seriously winded me (my heart felt as if it were going to beat out of my chest), while Joe just chugs along fine. It’s not like he’s been any more active than me in the past 3 years. In fact, I was the one doing manual labor outdoors for work! What gives? Why do some stay more fit than others?

I’ve decided to start exercising. Although, it’s something that I feel almost guilty doing. I have serious fears that I’ll be accused of being anorexic. I’ve been accused of it before. How can a girl convince anyone that she, who at 5′1” weighs a measley 98lbs, actually eats plenty of food (very fattening food, in fact) and never exercises? How can I justify that I need to exercise and watch what I eat? I’m terribly unhealthy, but am unable to prove it to anybody.

So I decided to begin walk-run intervals and some light strength training into my weekly routine. I officially began today. I walked at a quick pace for four minutes and increased to a light jog for one minute (I will continue to build up my jogging time). Wow. Let me tell you, I’m terrible at this. I really need to work on a good breathing pattern because I get winded so easily. But I’m glad I’ve been motivated enough to start. I only hope I can make this habit stick.

*oh and I’ve decided to try to participate in ‘feet week’ even though I’m a couple days late.*