Thursday, December 10, 2009

And one to go

So close. So very, very close. I have one more class left to teach. One more.

This doesn't mean that I'm on break yet. Far from it. I'll still have grading galore to get done, not to mention all of the various other writings and reports that I've been avoiding all semester. (Thank goodness a multi-hour marathon got all of my letters of recommendation out the door yesterday; one less thing to worry about.) But no more classes. No more worrying about whether I'm adequately prepped. Or about whether I've got something to wear that's clean, hasn't been worn too often, and that is unlikely to brand me as hopelessly inadequate in the clothing department.

I've been knitting, although I still have very little to show for it. The one and only Christmas gift that I'm really making an honest attempt to finish in time to ship off for Christmas is moving along. I've turned the heel and am working my way down the foot. Since the socks are for my niece, the foot part of things isn't nearly as long as it might be. Now that I've knitted the leg three times, I'm hoping that I'll have everything straight for the second sock, which ought to fly off the needles. The only question remaining is the date by which something absolutely MUST be sent in order to have any hope of arriving in Ohio prior to the big day. Don't tell me, though. I'd like it to be a surprise.

I'm also working on Sprossling. I'm about three inches in and starting the shaping decreases, which is fun. The best bit is that the lace for this pattern is completely, 100%, memorizable. For me, that's a miracle. So I can knit this during meetings, even. This is a treat, since I'm looking forward to wearing this sweater, but perhaps not the best thing in terms of finishing the niecelet socks, as they were meant to be meeting knitting. This is what happens when knitting purposes collide.

It's finally getting cooler here, which means I get to break out the knit wear. By "cooler", I mean that it's in the mid-forties when I leave the house in the morning. To be fair, it's gotten a lot cooler in the inland valleys and hills, and there's even been snow in some unexpected places. Practically speaking, it means that I'm getting a lot more of this:
That would be Gwilim, impersonating a lap cat. I always know that winter has arrived when he starts jumping up into my lap of his own volition. Tilly is taking her cue from Gwilim and attempting to recreate herself as a lap cat, too. She takes up a lot more room.

And, in other very random news, I've gotten a new phone. We had to switch plans so that Rick could get under his company's data and cell phone plan (it makes sense for us all to be on the same network), so I also upgraded my phone (after three years, it seemed not entirely irresponsible, just marginally so). And all I can say is that I'm getting old. I found myself this morning at the breakfast table, poring over the instruction manual. I am clearly not of the generation that finds upgrading technology to be intuitive. At least not cell phone technology. I should probably let Older Daughter loose with it; she'd have it figured out in an hour, and could share all the ins and outs with me, but I'm afraid of the data charges she might rack up while she figures it out. The fun bit, though, is that Rick treated me to the ring tone I've been wanting every since there were ring tones to want. Now I've just got to be sure to remember to turn the ringer off in class. Heh.

14 comments:

Rachel said...

What part of the song is your ring tone? and do you know you can assign a special ring tone to a caller? a friend of mine has it for her older daughter together with the daughter photo showing up when she rings, my friend said: Tamar arranged this, I don't have a clue how she did it,,,

Wool Enough said...

That is an extremely cool ringtone. I haven't yet done the research to find the perfect ringtone for my new phone, still using one of the standards; it's rather boring. I wonder if there are any great classical/operatic ringtones? "Nessun Dorma" would be nifty.

twinsetellen said...

Wilson knows it is winter when I start impersonating a lap cat. And I'm bigger than Tilly.

Rachael said...

Congrats on the new phone, did you go for the iphone?

The thing about new phones, for me at least, is not how long it takes to learn how to do what you want it to do, but how long it takes to learn what buttons NOT to push so it doesn't do random and bizarre things you DON'T want it to do.

Helen said...

Oh, that's what that tune is. Jake plays it on Two and a Half Men, one of my secret vices. My ringtone used to be an over-excited voice saying, 'I've got a friend, My friend's calling me, You haven't got one...' Teenagers hated it, which made it even better.

I'm glad to see Gwilim being absolutely shameless about pretending to love you; I think shamelessness is one of the greatest qualities of cats.

And I'm glad you've only got one more class. The marking will take are of itself, surely?

EGunn said...

Oh, you must be so glad! This has been such a crazy semester (quarter?) for you. I'm glad it's almost over!

I have two lap cats right now. It's kind of a lot, actually. I can't imagine both a lap cat and a lap dog...where does the knitting go?

Willow said...

I'm hearing similar comments from my Profeesor. He's finished with finals and just has grading left to do. Hurray for the new phone and the easily memorized lace pattern!

Jane said...

I usually get one on my lap and the other on my feet. Keeps me warm, but I can't move

Nana Sadie said...

heheh. Smoke on the Water, eh? You must have been about 3 when that song came out? *wink*
Gwillim is so cute - and yes, The Meezer does the same thing. Heat Seekers.
I'm SOOO happy your term is almost over, it's been so challenging this fall!!!
(((hugs)))

Mary Lou said...

Zero here this am. And I was picking chard from the garden only two weeks ago. Great ring tone. My husband made me a great ringtone my but I can't get it to work on my Verizon phone. Boo.

Gwen said...

I hate upgrading my phone. And the last time, both my work phone and my own phone changed at the same time. Agggh!

Good knitting! Happy knitting!

I want to make some cookies to send to my brother, cause ain't nuthin knit for him this year. (still have some mittens to finish, several years in the making)

Stell said...

oh that is so cool - I share an office with M who has the same tone much to the amusement and dismay of some of the other staff. Go girl!

Alwen said...

We are out in SW Outer Nowhere, where cell service is still so bad we haven't bothered to get cell phones.

If I ever get one, I swear my ring tone is going to be the sound of an old Bell telephone. For everyone.

AlisonH said...

Cool!!!

I just got a new cell phone I'm trying to figure out, too, but since I got my last one in I think '02, maybe early '03, I really can't complain. Except at Microsquish for buying out and then vaporizing the cloud that held the data from my old Sidekick phone. Ouch!