{"id":200,"date":"2011-06-11T13:15:55","date_gmt":"2011-06-11T20:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/?p=200"},"modified":"2011-06-12T12:57:47","modified_gmt":"2011-06-12T19:57:47","slug":"the-one-where-i-catch-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/?p=200","title":{"rendered":"The One Where I Catch Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yikes!\u00c2\u00a0 It&#8217;s been a seriously long time since I&#8217;ve been able to write.\u00c2\u00a0 Hopefully things are evening out a bit now so that I&#8217;ll be able to insert regular writing back into my routine.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the highlights:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The new job is going blissfully well.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;m even getting to the point where I really feel like I know stuff.\u00c2\u00a0 Which, seriously, is a major thing considering I knew zilch about these systems when I started.\u00c2\u00a0 The learning attitude really helps.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;ve been in sponge mode since Day 1.\u00c2\u00a0 This week I got to switch over to training mode, to train my backup person who is also new, so the sponge-brain got to give back a little.<\/li>\n<li>The wedding planning thing has me feeling like I have two jobs.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;m definitely ready to get back to the life where the most serious decisions are about what&#8217;s for dinner and what I am knitting.\u00c2\u00a0 At least for a little while.\u00c2\u00a0 We can already see that the next big decision will be about which neighborhood we want to settle in for the next handful of years (at least).<\/li>\n<li>Related to the neighborhood question is the fact that I am commuting at least 2 hours per day.\u00c2\u00a0 That is if it&#8217;s not rainy, or sunny, or there&#8217;s a special event, or a stalled car on the bridge.\u00c2\u00a0 If you aren&#8217;t familiar with the layout of the Seattle metro area, go ahead and pull up <a title=\"Lake Washington, Seattle, WA\" href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Lake+Washington,+Seattle,+WA&amp;aq=0&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=28.943777,56.513672&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Lake+Washington&amp;t=h&amp;z=10\" target=\"_blank\">Google Maps<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 There you will see that Seattle is divided neatly in two by a very large Lake Washington.\u00c2\u00a0 There are two bridges across this body of water, and I have to cross one of them on my way to and from work.\u00c2\u00a0 When it&#8217;s rainy the drivers kind of freak out, which is seriously funny since, you know, it rains here a lot.\u00c2\u00a0 When it&#8217;s sunny everybody gets the heck outside.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is to say, they leave work on time and clog up the bridges and interstates in a mad dash to get home before the sun goes away.\u00c2\u00a0 The other two scenarios are self-explanatory.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, the commute takes forever.\u00c2\u00a0 Since my office is on one side of the lake and Fiance&#8217;s office is on the other, one of us will have to make this trek.\u00c2\u00a0 It is unavoidable, unless we take up residence on a boat in the middle of the lake.\u00c2\u00a0 Which I don&#8217;t see happening, do you?<\/li>\n<li>I have not been wasting these 2 hours each day.\u00c2\u00a0 At least 30 minutes of them are spent walking.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than transferring between the bus and the streetcar, which is the Metro&#8217;s answer to getting me right to the door of my office, I&#8217;ve been walking to and from the bus station.\u00c2\u00a0 This translates to ~2 miles of walking each day.\u00c2\u00a0 Score one point for managing to insert exercise into an overlong commute.\u00c2\u00a0 Score one more point for arriving at the office alert, happy, relaxed, and ready to start the day despite the alarm going off at 5:3o.\u00c2\u00a0 Score another point for all that walking being a boost to the weight loss effort.\u00c2\u00a0 I think it&#8217;s a win win win, and I&#8217;ll keep it.<\/li>\n<li>The other hour or so of the commute has been spent going through personal emails, catching up on my reading, and knitting.\u00c2\u00a0 I figure that since I have a smart phone, and I can&#8217;t manage to find time to use the computer for emailing anymore, I might as well use the phone for email catch-up on the bus.\u00c2\u00a0 If you send me an email, it&#8217;s likely I&#8217;ll be answering you that way.\u00c2\u00a0 Handy too for the wedding planning thing.\u00c2\u00a0 Ain&#8217;t technology grand?\u00c2\u00a0 Though if the sky is especially clear, which is getting more frequent lately, I&#8217;m staring out the window at the fabulous ring of mountains and the monstrous big volcano visible from the bridge.\u00c2\u00a0 Not to be missed, no matter how many times you&#8217;ve seen it.<\/li>\n<li>So far I have finished <a title=\"Amazon: Water for Elephants hardcover\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Water-Elephants-Novel-Sara-Gruen\/dp\/1565124995\/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1307907738&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\">Water for Elephants<\/a> and <a title=\"Amazon: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo hardcover\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Girl-Dragon-Tattoo-Stieg-Larsson\/dp\/0307269752\/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1307907811&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 I thoroughly enjoyed both and can&#8217;t believe it took me so long to pick them up.\u00c2\u00a0 In the case of Water for Elephants, it&#8217;s been sitting on my bookshelf since my aunt gifted it to me back in 2008.\u00c2\u00a0 Sorry Aunt Alice, I know you know what I&#8217;ll enjoy reading and there&#8217;s seriously no excuse for this kind of enjoyment delay.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;ll try harder.\u00c2\u00a0 I have also started reading the Kindle versions of <a title=\"Amazon: Super Sad True Love Story Kindle edition\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Super-True-Love-Story-ebook\/dp\/B0036S4BSA\/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&amp;qid=1307907918&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\">Super Sad True Love Story<\/a> and <a title=\"Amazon: Blood Engines Kindle edition\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Blood-Engines-ebook\/dp\/B000WCWVIU\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&amp;s=digital-text&amp;qid=1307907985&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\">Blood Engines<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 I keep having to put Super Sad True Love Story down periodically.\u00c2\u00a0 It&#8217;s a painful read.\u00c2\u00a0 But again, Aunt Alice says it was a book worm for her, so I&#8217;m trusting it&#8217;ll be okay in the end.\u00c2\u00a0 Blood Engines was an accident&#8230;I downloaded it forever ago and didn&#8217;t mean to start it now, at least until I&#8217;d gotten through another few books on my shelf, but I clicked it and it sucked me in with the first few pages and I can&#8217;t put it down now.<\/li>\n<li>I cast on for a pair of <a title=\"Ravelry: cpermc's Spinach Socks project page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ravelry.com\/projects\/cpermc\/lace-and-cable-socks\" target=\"_blank\">spinach green socks<\/a> (Ravelry link) as a commute-only project.\u00c2\u00a0 They are just the right size to toss in my backpack and not take up too much elbow room in execution.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;ve finished the toes and am about to start the simple cable and lace pattern that should be just interesting enough to be fun without making me crazy on the bus.\u00c2\u00a0 Plus they&#8217;ll look good with my new favorite mary jane shoes that I wear to work nearly every day.\u00c2\u00a0 Hand knit socks need shoes that show them off, after all.<\/li>\n<li>The wedding dress is going swimmingly.\u00c2\u00a0 I am now on the final few rows of the skirt &#8211; which I may get to complete tonight.\u00c2\u00a0 Then I&#8217;ll definitely be adding sleeves.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;ve got my subconscious brain noodling on that design problem, so the solution should be available when I get ready to start.\u00c2\u00a0 Nifty trick, that.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;m thinking a smaller, simpler version of the pattern for the sleeves.\u00c2\u00a0 We&#8217;ll see how it goes.<\/li>\n<li>I mentioned above that one of the bonuses of walking every day is a boost to the weight loss effort.\u00c2\u00a0 I know, I know, all of you are thinking my weight is just fine.\u00c2\u00a0 Several docs and I don&#8217;t agree with you.\u00c2\u00a0 I needed to shed about 10-15 lbs to safely get back within my &#8220;healthy&#8221; weight range, to stop the cycle of adding several pounds per year, and to keep avoiding most of the family health issues.\u00c2\u00a0 So, I&#8217;ve been trying to do just this for the past oh 3-4 years.\u00c2\u00a0 I do well for a few pounds, then along comes a holiday and I put them back on.\u00c2\u00a0 You know how it goes.\u00c2\u00a0 Not this time.\u00c2\u00a0 As of this morning, I&#8217;ve lost 7 lbs since the start of this year.\u00c2\u00a0 Woo!\u00c2\u00a0 I am now at the upper limit of the healthy range and my clothes are starting to fit much better.\u00c2\u00a0 I&#8217;m not going to be losing any dress sizes, but to see the muffin top disappearing and to see my fatty parts smoothing back out is bliss.\u00c2\u00a0 5 more to go and I&#8217;ll switch to maintenance mode.<\/li>\n<li>We finally topped 70 degrees last weekend.\u00c2\u00a0 It was an event.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody and their brother went down to hang out at the many grassy parks along the shores of the lake and soak up the sunshine.\u00c2\u00a0 I flipped my closet and got out all of the summer things, even though actually being able to wear those things is still several weeks away.\u00c2\u00a0 We can be optimistic though.<\/li>\n<li>We think the rain has finally tapered off for the summer.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a huge deal.\u00c2\u00a0 It means that it will likely only rain ONCE per week until Fall returns, rather than 4-5 days per week.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, that also means that every growing thing will begin to turn brown from exposure to sunlight.\u00c2\u00a0 Ah well, it&#8217;s a trade off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whew!\u00c2\u00a0 That&#8217;s a lot of catch-up.\u00c2\u00a0 I think I&#8217;ll pick up later with new post(s) on the rest.\u00c2\u00a0 We went on a car adventure over the mountains and through the woods that I&#8217;d like to share.\u00c2\u00a0 Then there are the pics of the beautiful flowers that have been gracing our yard.\u00c2\u00a0 More later!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yikes!\u00c2\u00a0 It&#8217;s been a seriously long time since I&#8217;ve been able to write.\u00c2\u00a0 Hopefully things are evening out a bit now so that I&#8217;ll be able to insert regular writing back into my routine. Here are the highlights: The new &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/?p=200\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,35,52,5],"tags":[55,44,29,9,22,30,28],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-knitting","category-life","category-wedding-2","category-work","tag-books","tag-creativity","tag-crochet","tag-knitting-2","tag-outdoor","tag-seattle","tag-wedding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}