First Socks Finally

I finally finished those socks I started six months ago the other day.  I must say, it was incredibly satisfying to get over second sock syndrome and get those done.  They aren’t my favorite, they are pretty boring, but I think I did a good job and I’m proud of them.  Now I am so ready for an exciting sock pattern, with a challenge.  I’m thinking about tackling this pair from knitty called Outside In.  They are very pretty and I have some pretty blue sock yarn that would be great for them.  That’s something I’m really trying to do, use up some of my stash.  I don’t have a job yet (argh) so I don’t want to go crazy buying all sorts of yarn I don’t need.  My exception to that rule is that I can make things for Madeline with new yarn. 

While I’m on the subject, here are some new pictures of Madeline, along with my first socks.  Enjoy!

New life… new kitty!

Well so its been a few weeks now, and we’re starting to get settled.  The apartment is still a bit of a mess, but its more like we live here now, although we still don’t have a dining room table.  I always forget how much moving sucks until I have to do it again.  It’s awesome to have all of my stuff back, (especially my yarn!!) but I hate having to think about where we are going to put all of our stuff.  I never thought I’d say that I miss Willowtree in Ann Arbor, but I do miss the closets.  We have two, and it is not enough.  I need more places to hide things.

Anyway, back to the point of the post.  Yesterday, we took a trip to the Humane Society and picked out a new little buddy for Orbit.  The Humane Society here is a really nice place, all the animals live in little houses that are open air, so that’s nice for them.  I only have two complaints.  First, they are not very organized over there, we waited about twenty minutes long than we should have because their receptionists sort of sucked and didn’t notice our cat and one other cat waiting to go home with someone.  Also, they just walked off with about ten people waiting to be helped, for seemingly no reason and were gone at least ten minutes.  My second complaint is that they aren’t very thorough about who they allow to adpot animals.  All I had to do was give them my name, phone number and address.  When I adpoted Orbit I had to bring a copy of my lease so that they knew we could have a cat at our apartment.

Moving on, he’s a little orange tiger kitty and we named him Hilo.  I wanted to give him a Hawaiian name since he is Hawaiian, but none of the “names” I looked up worked.  Hilo is the name of a city, to which I’ve never been, since its on the big island.  I just liked the way it sounds, I think it goes well with Orbit.  As far as I know it doesn’t mean anything, but its cute.

Even though he’s supposed to be a buddy for Orbit, she doesn’t like him too much yet.  It hasn’t been 24 hours yet, though, so I’m hopeful.  Already today its a bit better.  Orbit has come out from hiding to observe Hilo and even came and slept on my lap for awhile, so she can’t be too mad at me.  We’ll see how it goes.

Well here are a few pictures of my new baby:

Danica Finally Done!

Woohoo!  I finished the Danica scarf I’ve been working on for what seems like forever.  I’m super excited to have another FO, but even more excited that I don’t have to knit this anymore.  It was fun at first and interesting since it was a bit different; but at the end it got seriously annoying.  I had to rush and cut the scarf a bit short so that it would be done before we left for Hawaii and I barely made it.  I took it to work and put it in the recipient’s folder at work about two hours before A and I left for St. Louis.  I’m a little bit peeved actually, because I haven’t heard anything from her about liking/appreciating it.  Whatever, though, I didn’t pay for the yarn so I guess its ok.

I will say that the pattern isn’t bad, its well written and easy to follow, I just think doing those tiny squares over and over and over again really sucks.  I will stay away from entrelac patterns in the future.  Here are some pictures of the finished product:

Days 2-5

First of all, I’m sorry for not posting pictures and updates sooner.  The internet at our hotel is basically non-existent, so we are currently at a Starbucks paying for internet and waiting for our appointment to look at an apartment.  The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind.  We haven’t exactly been busy, but we’ve been all over the place.

Day two was a quick introduction to the post by the other lieutenant in A’s troop, Jacob.  He showed us around Mililani, the town near Schofied and Wheeler where we are looking at apartments.  It’s a nice town, its definitely quiet and more residential than the other places we had seen on the island at that point.  It’s probably the one place that seems closest to towns on the mainland.  I like it, but its not super close to the ocean, or to other things to do.  Then he took us into Schofield to get gas (it’s much cheaper there) and then we drove all over Wheeler so A would get to know it a bit.  At that point, A had to go meet his commander.  His name is Seth and I guess he is a big OSU fan, so he tried to give A a hard time the entire time he was in his office.  A really isn’t much of a football fan, so he didn’t bite.  While all of this was going on, I sat in the outer office like I was in the principal’s office waiting for a punishment.  I was practically the only person in the room in civilian clothes and I felt out of place.  Several people introduced themselves to me, mostly NCO’s, but they were all nice.

After we left there we went back to Jacob’s apartment to wait to meet his “girlfriend” Leigh Ann (I won’t even go into why that’s in quotes, but they aren’t into labels apparently).  She was nice and seemed friendly, but we didn’t stay long.  We just went back to our hotel, got some take out and passed out again.  We really haven’t been able to stay up late since we’ve gotten here.  It could be jet lag, or it could be that our first day here we were going all day from 5:30am to about 9pm.  Either way, we are kind of lame that way for now.

Thursday was our day to start looking for apartments.  First we went to a realtor that Jacob had recommended, but she was not very helpful.  She only asked us whether we wanted a one bedroom or a two bedroom and then started trying to push a few places on us.  It wasn’t until I mentioned that we have a cat that she even seemed to notice that we might have other ideas about what we were looking for.  At that point, we became difficult clients for her, since she didn’t have many units that would take pets.  I tried to also point out that we were looking for help in what cities to consider, but she just wasn’t up for offering us any advice whatsoever.  I was thoroughly disappointed and we will not be going back there.  So with that a bust, we went to a Starbucks near our hotel and cruised craigslist hoping to find places to look at.  I think we called 3 or 4 people that day, but only two have gotten back to us so far.  We’re seeing one today (which is why we are hanging out in Mililani at a Starbucks) and the other tomorrow.  We’re trying to get in contact with someone about a place in Kailua, where the commander recommended we live, but they haven’t gotten back to us either.  I really hope we find a place soon because I want to unpack our stuff and start cooking for ourselves instead of eating out.  Not to mention that I’d like us to have a place for Orbit to come home to when she gets here next Friday.

That night we had to go to a troop event called Hail and Bail which they have periodically to welcome new people and say goodbye to those leaving.  It was a very interesting night.  We had to stand in front of everyone and be introduced and the commander made fun of A a little bit and I sand Hail to the Victors at him since I had worn my Michigan Alumna shirt for his benefit.   The squadron commander’s wife gave me a small lei-like thing and a unit crest as well.  All of the officers and NCO’s were wearing their stetsons the whole time but it wasn’t until after everyone poured alcohol and other random things into A’s hat, made him drink it, and then dumped it on him that they let him wear his.  Then he has to lay on the ground and get more alcohol dumped all over him.  He smelled great after that, just like a bar on a Sunday morning.  A also had to put a yellow garter above my left knee for being the best army wife in the army, a cavalry wife.  I got a framed copy of a nice little poem about the garter and it really was a neat little tradition.

Friday was our becah day.  We spent a fair amount of money on some nice snorkeling equipment and tried to go over to Hanauma Bay.  It was super busy, unfortunately, so we rerouted to the north shore to go to Shark’s Cove.  Snorkeling there was really neat.  I really like following the fish around and chasing them, but we didn’t see any sea turtles.  A says there were a lot more fish at Hanauma when they went last summer, so we might try to make it over there later today or tomorrow early in the morning.

Here’s a few pictures of Pali Lookout, which we stopped by today:

Looking back at Honolulu from Pali Lookout

Cliff view from Pali Lookout

Mountains covered in clouds

Aloha

Well we have arrived in Hawaii.  It was overwhelming right off the bat.  After a super fun car ride/drive to St. Louis, we travelled on three differenet planes to arrive in Honolulu at 5:30am.  It was probably the most exhausting trip ever.  One of the other lieutenants in A’s troop whose name is David met us and tried to help us check in and find out what hotel we were staying at.  Unfortunately, because it was 5:30am the USO wasn’t open, we couldn’t really do that.  After several phone calls and much confusion, we had a hotel to go to and it wasn’t far away since it was the airport hotel.  It’s a nice hotel, don’t get me wrong, but its in a very industrial part of Honolulu and our room has an excellent view of the H-1.

Well after we got settled a bit – with all but one bag which was only missing for a few hours – David took us to breakfast at the Navy commissary.  Interestingly, at the McDonald’s there we were able to try some local food right away.  They had taro pies, which are a lot like apple pies but with taro inside of them.  The taro doesn’t taste bad, its actually pretty sweet, but its a very unappetizing shade of pink.

At that point A and I really just wanted to collapse and do nothing, but instead we took showers (which we really needed) and called for a rental car.  They came and picked us up and we paid for the car which was one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made.  Then I got energy from somewhere so we took off for Waikiki.  That’s where I got to see the Pacific Ocean up close for the first time.  It was pretty incredible.  I waded into the water which was almost the perfect temperature.  A was less impressed than I was by the ocean since he’s seen it before, but he did send his brother and a few friends a picture with his phone to make them jealous. 

For lunch we ate incredily expensive burgers at Cheeseburgers in Paradise which weren’t bad, but weren’t worth $10 each.  Then we just wandered back to our car and headed back to the USO to finish up checking in so that A would know when he had to report at the post.  We were pretty pumped to find out that he didn’t have to go up to Schofield until Monday, so we had almost a week to do whatever we wanted.

We ended the day with some takeout from a local, indeterminate asian restaurant.  The food wasn’t too bad, but I don’t know that we’ll go back there.

Here’s a few pictures of the beach at Waikiki:

I’m an Aunt!

It’s official!  My sister’s baby arrived early this morning (2:33 am CST) and its a girl.  Her name is Madeline Marie, which is super cute.  I am literally thrilled, because she wasn’t due until after I leave for Hawaii (Monday…. holy crap!) and since she came early, I get to go see her before I go.  I bought a super-last minute flight to Minneapolis for Friday.  That means that I only have three days to get all of my stuff ready to go for moving.  The only picture I have so far is a cell phone picture, but there will be more after this weekend, I promise.  So welcome to the world Madeline Marie.  If nothing else, your two aunts will be knitting up a storm to keep you clothed through the Minnesota winters.  I seriously am holding back on rushing to my yarn shop to buy some pink yarn and knit something with frills.    It’s very hard.

My first niece!

Pictures, finally.

My sister’s shower was this weekend, so now I can debut the sweaters to the world without fear of spoiling the surprise. The shower was awesome, especially because there were petit fours from the two old ladies of Essexville. I absolutely adore those and can not believe they are only $4 a dozen. I am sooo having those at my big wedding. Let’s hope those two old ladies are still around making petit fours in a year and a half.

What was also nice about the shower was the older ladies cooing over the sweaters and being all impressed with my handiwork. I’m definitely still a beginner (these are my fourth and fifth completed projects) so hearing from people that my having knit something is impressive to them helps me to feel accomplished. Well anyway, enough bragging, here are the sweaters.

I think I might cry.

The movers came on Thursday. My life has been whittled down to 39 boxes and some furniture in two crates on the back of a large van. It’s amazing how depressing that is. My walls are bare, everything except my clothes and some essentials are packed away, ready to fly to Hawaii. Watching my books and my yarn get packed away was probably the worst part of the day. Those are my babies. I of course stashed about ten books and enough yarn for several projects to get me through until I am reunited with my things in Hawaii.

Probably the most interesting part of the day was when I called A to ask the transportation office whether it was ok for them to come back on Friday to pack things because it was raining. They were worried about things get wet and then moldy, so I wanted to see what the Army said. A called them and they were apparently unworried about it, and it was up to us. But then they called the moving company headquarters and a freak out was passed from the headquarters all the way down the chain to the driver at my house. He got about 5 calls all at once from everyone saying to be careful because the client was nervous. That’s me, apparently I was nervous and the Army scared the shit out of everyone because of it. Honestly, its comforting that the moving company takes our concerns so seriously. Needless to say, the rain let up and the stuff got taken away.

They are super serious about it. They inventory everything, including the serial numbers for electronics and tag them all. All of the boxes are labeled with our order number and some other numbers, including his rank. Its honestly a bit overwhelming how thorough they are.

I don’t know if I can take this emptiness for a month. At least A comes home in a couple of weeks. Emptiness is less depressing when you’re not alone.

Yay for mini-sweaters!

Well I’ve finished the sweater for my sister’s baby-to-be, for the most part.  All the knitting is done, I just need to sew on the buttons.  I’m avoiding that part since I’ve never done buttons before.  The buttonhole placket and the button placket also don’t quite line up.  I’m probably going to block it before I do the buttons so that hopefully I can fix that.

I was super proud of finishing the sweater, and it only took about two weeks, which is pretty incredible for me.  I guess the fact that it is significantly smaller than anything I’ve knitted before helps, but I was really surprised at how quick it was.  It was so quick in fact, that I bought yarn to knit another one.  The first one is a solid, light green and is made with cotton yarn, so I bought two different shades of blue in a bamboo yarn for the second one and I’m going to do stripes.  The bamboo yarn is soooo soft.  I bought it at a little yarn shop in Richmond while I was down in Virginia recently (I did decide to run away to Virginia, if only for a short time) called The Yarn Lounge.  It’s in an area of town called Carytown and is a decent store.  I, of course, was not super outgoing when I waked in the store.  Instead I just wandered around looking and feeling and picked out yarn based on that.  I get really nervous in yarn stores that they can tell how little I really know about knitting so I don’t draw attention to myself.  It’s probably self-destructive since they could help me learn more and help me make smart choices, but my fear overwhelms me.  Hopefully I can overcome that when I get to Hawaii and have to find a yarn store of my own.

It’s weird, but seeing the tiny sweater almost completed really got to me.  My maternal instincts kicked in a bit and it made me think about having one of my own.  Honestly, my head knows that now is soooo not the time with us not being financially prepared for a baby and with A leaving for Iraq so soon, but that tiny sweater just made my hormones go crazy I guess.  It’s a good thing that periods are fleeting and that my mind can conquer my hormones most of the time.  I’ll have to live vicariously through my sister for the time being, and that’s fine with me.

Running Away

Did you ever consider running away when you were little?  I don’t think I ever did.  I always told my parents that I would go to Delta College and live in the neighbor’s house because I knew where both of them were.  I think not knowing where things were really freaked me out.  I don’t have that problem anymore, I started paying attention when we were driving and I remember really focusing when we learned how to read maps in school.  Now I want nothing more than to go see every new place that I possibly can.  I love exploring new towns and seeing the landscapes in between places. I didn’t want to run away until college, until I really knew was stress was.

Honestly, the drive to Virginia is not that great through Ohio (we’ve already been over that) or Pennsylvania on the turnpike until you get to the mountains.  However, if you take the way through Maryland and avoid the turnpike, as was recommended to me, the landscape along the way is so much better.  Even though I was on my way home, I enjoyed the drive because the countryside was so nice.  It was dotted with little farms and was gently hilly.  It made me miss Scotland once again and to long to run away to a sheep farm.  I wish I could have stopped in Cumberland, it looked like the perfect valley town.

Sorry for the random thoughts…. just wishing that I could run away to Virginia and not have to come back until A is coming with me…  I miss him when he’s gone.