Best. . .morning . . .EVER!

Not really.
So today I had a job interview at Goodwill. Hold your applause: I didn't get it.
I wake up an hour late to no alarm. I don't know what the hell happened, but I think I may be getting a little too good at covertly turning the radio off before my conscious mind catches my hand. So I leap out of bed - and my housecoat is in the wash. For anyone who cares to note this, I sleep in the nude. So I wrap myself in a sheet, somewhat resembling a certain jedi, and clumsily stumble upstairs. It was my responsibility to wake the kids today and get them ready, as their father was picking them up at quarter past nine. Like some sort of demented hobbit, I stagger from room to room, shaking their legs and mumbling incoherently. Realising I will have missed bus, I place a few panicked calls. My step-dad agrees to drive me on his way home with M and G and I quickly hop into the shower.
Of course there was no hot water.
Freezing and cursing the gods, I do my best to complete my morning routines. My laundry, sleeping innocently in the dryer, was not dry. I don't know why. It just wasn't.
So by this point I'm cold, damp, panicked and still host to the lines you get on your skin when you sleep on wrinkled sheets.
I try and print of my resume downstairs. My computer, the trustworthy leviathan I have come to love, crashes. I run back upstairs. I try and run a print on my Mum's PC. The printer jams. Like jams. I spend the next five minutes trying to release 3 sheets of 8.5"X11" from the unruly jaws of a silver monster.
By this time my step-dad and siblings are waiting, patiently, by the front door. I throw on shoes and lock the front door on my way out. I forgot my resume.
I don't have house keys.
Apparently my mother married a ninja. He decides he can break into a window in my house (which I stupidly left open - I never do that!) and he retrieves my resume. All is well.
I get dropped at Timmies and have a coffee, trying to calm my frazzled nerves. I have nearly half an hour before I am due at my interview. I psych myself up, and walk across the street, head held high.
Fast forward to five minutes later:
I walk back across the street with my head held low.
They don't have flexible hours in part time and you cannot request a specific schedual. Anna, the pasty thing behind the desk could only seem to say "I'm sorry but we are not able to offer you a position at this time".
Great.
In a funk and having an hour to kill before my shift at my "real" job - I bought myself a new book.
Never under-estimate the power of a good western.

Oh yeah. . .

And my dog? She's insane.

G's Knit Shrug

Yes - she's a ham.

It is from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits - a pattern called the two-tone shrug. I used some odds and ends I had laying around. The variegate is Decor Sandcastle and the trim is Bernat Satin in Mocha. It looks quite pretty together, I think. She loves it and seems to wear it regardless of the intense heat we have been having. I managed to whip through it - though I wasn't watching Law and Order while knitting so I couldn't tell you how long it took!
I actually started it in the hospital emergency room - waiting to get called in. M came home from camp with something like scabies. Very unpleasant. I guess it's basically mange in pets, and he spent a lot of time helping out at the Nature Hut, where they house a lot of rabbits and guinea pigs.

My Awesome Truckers Burn

I spent my day hanging out with Sciensational Sssnakes at Kempenfest yesterday. They had a tent and I was half under it for a good portion of the afternoon. Therefore only my left arm (from my shirt-sleeve down, no less) is all burned to shit. Good times.
I couldn't believe some of the stupid questions that people were asking the group. I can only imagine the doozies they must encounter on a regular basis. I remember my days at the pet shop. . . I eventually started asking customers to leave the store if they asked stupid questions. And I'm not talking about the odd "why can't I keep a goldfish in a bowl?". I had people set to buy a puppy and then ask how long they lived. And they weren't referring to the specific breed. One lady thought they lived 2-3 years. No. . . that's a hamster.
Good try though!
My hours seem to have been cut back at work. Now, as great at this is for my social life (if I were to, you know. . . . have one) I kind of need the money. I'm pretty sure my boss is pissed at me, due to me calling in sick on days I specifically asked not to be scheduled in on. I complained about her stealthily adding new shifts half-way into pay periods and not telling us. I've missed a few because I didn't know I even had them. Way to go, boss. You are the best manager ever.
Now, if you'll excuse me - I need to reference the TV guide. I think it might be possible to fill every hour block with an episode of Law and Order. I almost did it today, but I think my failure was due to my poor planning and sudden need to watch Duckman instead.
Because the best days off are the ones where you watch TV in your underpants and eat entire shrimp rings by yourself.
Seriously. Try is sometime. It's brilliant.

The Grand Prize

I would prefer to win a million donkeys over a million dollars. Then I could sell the donkeys.
Maybe to a third-world nation? Good karma, plus I'd be frigging rich.

So I went shopping last night. . .

Just for fun - I don't shop for myself all that often (read: ever) and I thought "Hey! Why not?!"
Plus I was foolishly under the impression that Hot Fuzz was released the day before yesterday and was merrilly on my way to purchase the slice of fried gold. (damn you you banshee at Blockbuster! WTF?! You gave me the wrong date!).
But I ended up dropping about 60 bucks in undergarments instead.
Which I never do.
It felt pretty good - and I managed to find a few bras that actually fit me (which I never ever do). I've been to Sears, I've been to the myriad of small bra boutiques, I've even looked into custom fitted things. All anyone as been able to tell me is that I'm not a normal size. You want too much information? Not that I'm normally quiet about this sort of thing - anyone who knows me knows this. I have one boob bigger than the other. Most girls do. But mine are odd sized to begin with - not fitting in the conventional cup sizes. So normally whilst bra-shopping I cry.
Not last night!
Who knew Walmart could fill a void in my life?

I Found that Pattern, By the Way

I tried drawing again tonight. I did one small five minute sketch of a photograph of myself, and was reasonably pleased with the results.

It's not perfect by any means, but I was encouraged by the outcome. I haven't really drawn anything lately, and was happy to be holding a pencil.

Yeah - for a minute, anyways.

I tried again - I thought "damn - ok - I should practice more!" and went to sketch a second subject. I actually balled the frigging paper up it came out so badly. I'm really hoping that school will enable me to draw anything other than faces. 'Cause. . . .bodies are good too. . .

Starting to Panic. . . .

So, after years of fawning over the Urban Aran Pullover from Patons, I have decided to make it.
Into a CARDIGAN!
I was going to post a picture but, just click on the links below - You'll get the idea.
Inspired by CosmicPlutoKnits and Jared at BrooklynTweed, I will be crafting this glorious once-pullover, training it in the ways of a zip-up. I bought the yarn and everything at my yarn-buying binge on the day of Lewiscraft's demise. I seem to have enough Shetland Chunky to make it in either a soft steel blue (which is what Knitter's Bazaar made it up in - It was gorgeous) or a subtle heathery charcoal. The charcoal might be badass. I have always loved the fact that this aran reminds me strongly of a leather jacket. . . . charcoal might not be a bad move!
Only problem is: I can't find the pattern. I have lost the freaking pattern! It's here somewhere. It has to be. I know this because I started a test run on the Urban Aran in some cheapo acrylic crap that squeaked when I knit with it. I was using the pattern then. I put it all in my knitting basket and left it for two months or so. And today, I panic.
I'm sure I'll find it. It has to be around here somewhere, right? I guess I am panicking a little more because I really don't want to have to buy the pattern again. I want to start knitting this sucker today without having to first tear my room apart. That would be preferable.
On another note, last night I spoke with a boy whom I hadn't seen since grade 11. It was really neat, to be perfectly honest. We had been pretty good friends in highschool, but hadn't stayed in touch after I left. I recapped my last four years in small and precise paragraphs. It was like the back-blurb for some romantic comedy. Because you know damned well that I would get something as lame as a romantic comedy if a movie were ever made about my life. Yech.

Feeling so inspired!

I have fallen in love with a grotesque purse:

It is incredible. It's fantastic. It's a knit brain bag!

I will be keeping my eyes open for doctor's-bag-type-purses at second-hand shops. And for brain-coloured yarn. I'm not looking forward to basically knitting either a big grey stockingnette tube or a big grey stockingnette strip and then seaming the sucker afterwards, but I think it would be well worth it. It is totally and honestly my favourite purse. . . that I have ever seen.

*squeeeeee*

P.S. Its the Brain-bag from Undercover by Jun Takahashi

An Update

I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything new. I've been working on my crafts a lot lately. It's aaaaaall in preparation for school in the fall, I promise.
I've been accepted to college for an art program, and I'll be starting in September. It doesn't seem very far off anymore which is both scary and exciting. More exciting that scary.
I have been pretty active on Craftster, and completed my first swap not too long ago. It was Firefly/Serenity themed and a lot of fun! I am currently working on a package for a girl who's partner flaked out on her in another swap. I'm working on something that is really cool, and I'll be sure to post pictures of it later.
For now here are some projects that I have finished up and are now happily in use:
I stencilled these T shirts -






I knit Tim this sweater for Father's Day (Bruins colours) -


I knit myself this shrug -


And this is what I recieved from Rain in my Craftster Firefly Swap :)

I'll have more posted soon!