Waking up on time

I've actually been getting out of bed when my alarm goes off the past few days. I think the sunlight streaming in the window helps a lot. However, I won't be satisfied until I feel confident about waking all the time, without feeling the need for multiple alarms, even on dark winter mornings.

See more progress on: wake up when my alarm clock goes off

Categories: goals, sleep, waking, alarm, time

I solved it in my dreams

This morning I woke up from a dream that I had found a solution to a puzzling problem at work. Even after I was fully awake and heading in to the office, it still seemed a promising solution. Sadly, once I was able to consult my documentation, I found that the overlooked database field that would have explained our troubles only existed in my subconscious mind. For a couple of hours there, I thought I'd have a nice "it came to me in a dream" story.

Categories: work, dreams

My sibling has discovered a rapid weight loss secret

Stomach Bug From Hell Results in Miracle Weight Loss:

"Seven pounds. I lost seven pounds in 30 hours. No wonder my boobs look deflated"

I hope you feel better and, uh, reinflate soon, sis.

Categories: health, weightloss, family

Cookies!

I'm sitting in my office at work, but it smells like someone is baking cookies. I have no idea where this smell is coming from. As far as I know, there isn't any oven in this building, but who knows what inventive people in the labs could come up with. Maybe someone has microwaved some cookies. I'm really craving a fresh chocolate-chip cookie right now. This is much harder to resist than the popcorn smell that is much more common around here in the afternoons.
Categories: work, food

Good wishes coming my way

Another knitter wished me luck in the comments on my previous entry. Thank you!
Categories: knitting

Sending my work out into the void

I submitted the pattern for the socks to Knitty today. (I know, I was cutting it a bit close.) We had a little photo shoot in the front yard yesterday. It probably looked a bit odd to the neighbors, me sitting in a chair with my skirt lifted a bit to show my socks, while my husband took pictures of my feet from various angles.

I hope I get accepted, but if I don't, at least I have a pattern written up that I can post myself.

Categories: knitting, socks

D. Brent Burkett has another book coming out

The success of his illustrations for Dream-of-Jade brought my Uncle Brent to the attention of another author. The new book, Reggie, is by Eve Bunting, and should be available at the end of August. I don't know what it is about, but I'm sure it will look great.
Categories: family, books, illustrations, Burkett

The musical fruit

I cooked some black beans in the crockpot a few days ago, thinking it would be handy for burritos and stuff. In fact, I had a bean, spinach, and cheese wrap for breakfast this morning. However, it looks like my husband and I are going to be lazy for supper tonight and that means the beans will likely be part of our meal, since they are already cooked. This does not bode well for anyone in an enclosed space with us. I guess it's a good thing we have separate office spaces.
Categories: food, beans

Knitting in progress

I'm almost to the heel on the second sock in my pair. Tonight I'll need to write up the pattern all nice and neat, take some finished object pictures, and send it all off to Knitty. If I'm accepted, yay! and if I'm not, at least I'll have a neatly written pattern that I can post on the web myself. I need to come up with a good name for this pattern. Knitty seems to like cryptic pattern names. Would it be too geeky if I used an acronym?

Categories: knitting, socks

Audio: Evening rambling concludes

After getting cut off in the previous post, I say a few more words and then end the post when my husband gets home and we can go out.
Categories: audioblog

Audio: Evening rambling continues

After reviewing the previous post, I kept talking, this time long enough to get cut off at the end.
Categories: audioblog

Audio: Evening rambling

Categories: audioblog

Remind me to post later

I have a half-written draft about my mother-in-law's wedding that I need to finish. I'll try to actually get it done this weekend, when I'm not frantically working on my submission to Knitty.

Audio: Trying out Audioblogger

I ramble for a little bit to try out Audioblogger. I could see it being useful for updating while traveling. Does my voice really sound like that?
Categories: audioblog

Is it worthwhile to make something nobody wants?

Perhaps I'm just being pessimistic, but I have strong doubts that anyone is ever going to use the project I have been working on for the past couple of years. We're nearly at the end of this research project and need to get more funding somehow if anything more is to come from it, but it seems that no one is interested in it. I'm glad I'm not the one who has to give a sales pitch for this thing, because I am not all that enthusiastic about its prospects. This afternoon I learned of the additional functionality I'll have to force into the program in an attempt to impress people who are already tied to a different approach. How much time would we all save if we just admitted that this is all a dead end?

Oh well, at least I get paid for this.
Categories: work

I don't want to have to go to work

The only debt we have right now is my husband’s student loans, we have enough money in savings that we could pay them right now if we wanted to do so (They’re deferred while he is still in school, so there isn’t any rush.), and we could last for months without any fresh income, so I suppose by many people’s definition we already are financially independent. However, I would like to reach a point where I am working just because I enjoy it, and not because I’ll run out of money without it. I would like to be able to explore ideas that might not pay off right away (or at all!) without worrying about being “practical”.

See more progress on: be financially independent

Categories: goals work money

I need to borrow my husband's car

He taught me how to drive it years ago, so I know how to do it in theory, but I need to practice if I’m ever going to drive anything other than automatics. I especially need to work on tricky things like hills.

See more progress on: learn how to drive stick-shift

Categories: goals

I'm hooked on Mountain Dew (and knockoffs)

I give it up every so often, but I get cranky as the caffiene gets out of my system. Generally an early meeting drives me back to it.

See more progress on: stop drinking soda

Categories: goals health

Daylight Saving Time still annoys me

In accordance with last year's decision, my home state of Indiana experiencing Daylight Saving Time for the first time in many years. I wonder how much chaos that has caused. Now Arizona is the only one of the lower 48 states that doesn't observe it.

As I have said before, changing the clocks twice a year doesn't make much sense. Could we just leave them alone from now on?