Confession time

I am a teenie bopper at heart. I love my boy bands. Now that I've said that...New Kids on the Block is going to be at Verizon Center on October 2, 2008. Is there anyone in the area who would want to go with me? Tickets go on sale 6/9 at 10am. It's been 15 years!

Did anyone catch them on the Today show this morning?

Yes, I love the New Kids. I love NSYNC. I love 98 Degrees.

Sometimes, one gets a little obsessed

Design and construction. You must understand how to build it, come up with a design that fits your parameters, and then go. It can be a piece of clothing, or a house, or a beaded flower, or software. It doesn't matter. You need to see the vision and understand how it needs to be built first. Then, you can pass go and collect $200.

I've often times complained about a lack of talent in the 2D arts. I can't draw. I have no interest in flat peyote stitch. But you've all see the necklaces and flowers I'll design and make.

For me, it never really seems to be a slow understanding. When it clicks, it clicks and the light bulb turns on bright. That happened this week for me with the OS Commerce software I use on the shopping cart for the flower patterns and the use of CSS. CSS = Cascading Style Sheets.

I've known of this website for a long time. It's called Zen Garden. It's really quite amazing if you go in and dig around. The concept behind it is simple. You have a basic html page, with each section enclosed in a div with an identifier. Using a style sheet and some artistic talent, you can rearrange that page to your heart's desire. It's a call to graphic artists out in the world to learn to use style sheets to really make the technology work for you. You're no longer hardcoding. Today you feel happy, so we'll plug in the happy style sheet. Tomorrow, you feel like crap and you plug in the dark and dreary style sheet. The presentation is different but the contents is the same. We now return to the software model of model/view/controller.

Wow...I'm really having a moment here. I think I need to talk to some computer people a little more. Anyways, go check out Zen Garden. It's really amazing.

With the inspiration and the light bulb in the on position, I started the first step in the makeover of the websites at Judy Yiu Designs. The shop is based on a preexisting template. I hope to make the main website something that is modifiable with CSS, but that will take a little longer as I try to figure out what I want it to look like, and study the various Zen Garden examples some more.

There are some days....

There are some days when I feel like SUCH a moron! I've been going nuts for the last couple of days thinking that the checks to the credit card company had been lost in the mail! My credit card balance wasn't getting any lower and neither was the amount of money in my bank account. I was paranoid that it was lost! At least my bank account hadn't decreased cuz then I would've really been worried about stolen checks and such. It had gotten so that I even called up the credit card company to ask what was up with it! Well, as I shuffled stuff around on my desk, what do I find, but the unmailed envelope to the credit card company! Ya...I feel like a moron. I wonder what else is buried under here that I thought I had mailed!

Another year, another birthday...

And another marathon of hockey games. Yup, it's regionals time. Sorry if I'm only half paying attention while looking at the score updates coming to my phone. I had a short day at work yesterday, a visit to the doctor's for a physical and a slip for a blood panel (cholesterol check) which I couldn't use that day cuz I've had way too much cake. The week started off with the Tomato Soup Cake which was really good. I also want a piOne of my coworkers made me a Tres Leches cake which reminds me of tiramisu and it's REALLY good. Then it of was off to Bead Obsessions for a carrot cake made by Patricia which was the most moist carrot cake I've ever eaten. I hope there's more left when I'm back for the afternoon tomorrow :-)

I got a Dale of Norway kit for the Lake Placid sweater. I was debating swatching for the sweater last night, but was kinda brain dead with the cake and the wine and all the hockey on tv. I also got more fiber with which to spin with. It was a sampler pack from Spunky Eclectic. And a Bead Obsessions gift certificate. Cake and fiber...happy girl.

And now back to hocky. Still games to be watched. Teams I'm cheering for are not doing well. Of course, my team isn't even playing. And I'm so glad I can knit stitches without looking and that I'm doing miles of stockinette...let's me actually watch the game!

Oh yeah,

And happy birthday to me :-)

Taxes! and quick blabberings

Taxes

I love taxes and I hate taxes. As my taxes get more complicated, I get more annoyed at doing them. So while I had wanted to blog about my weekend in the country, I spent most of the evening doing my federal taxes and now I'm brain dead. But, at least I've gotten somewhere. I tried the efile trials at H&R Block and double checked it against numbers I crunched and it looks about right. They actually picked up stuff that I had forgotten. Normally, I manually do my taxes, but this year came the addition of classes at Bead Obsessions and bizarro self employment taxes. Ya...that was fun. But I need a night to recover and then I think I can send them in. Can anyone recommend me a good tax accountant for next year? Following that, a good financial planner?

My plan is kaput

Oh crap, I just remembered that tomorrow evening will be spent sitting in the annual homeowner's association meeting. This is like 3 hours of my life down the drain and only 3 because in the past, the building caretakers kicked us out at 10pm. These things can take forever and nothing ever gets done. Actually, I'm wrong. I'm the only one who gets things done because I sit and knit. Tomorrow night, I'll be working on the top down raglan

Weekend

Was very relaxing. Hopefully, I won't be so brain dead that I can put some pictures up. I did manage to pull out the sleeve stitches and joined the body front and back. I've tried it on and it fits quite well.

Jewelry

I've been toying with this idea and I think I will go ahead with it. All pieces that I'm willing to part with will be previewed on the blog for 2 days. Then if it's still available, it goes to etsy. I did finish another piece but I need to wear it out first. Part of the pictures I need to post tomorrow. It's green. With fringe.

Take a break so I talk about my beading

So...type type type type type. It's okay. Beading? No. Knitting? No. I just shouldn't do any gripping.


I worked on some cabochons tonight but my hands started to hurt. Just that gripping motion. I am a little upset about the cabs that I had bought at the last gem and jewelry show can't be found and I don't remember what I've done with them.

To answer questions on whether I sell my jewelry or not, presently no, but I hope to. Or even that I need to so people stop nagging me! :-) No, but really, I'd like to.

I spent a lot of last year occupied with the fiber. There was definitely a lot of fiber obsession. This year began with a need to bead. I think I was away from the beads too long. I'd like to design more patterns for flowers. I'd like to create more necklaces, at the very least for myself because I'm tired of looking at the same ones. After a year of talking about getting my beady wares out there, I will definitely try to do this year. That red cab necklace from few days back, that will be on the market before the end of the year, yes I know it's only January. I've got another one in the works that's a darker more muted color. I really don't think I wear that particular shade of dark. I tend to stick with the dark blacks and greys. I may start listing them over on the designs site, but throw a few items out onto Etsy. Some flowers in my house as well may go on Etsy.

But for me, this is a big step, putting myself out there. One thing is just to not be afraid to say, "Yes, I made this and yes I sell these, take a look." Another is being a little nervous when I place a certain value on a piece and the reaction is, "That much?!?" One last hurdle is the whole creative process for me. I would say that part of this leans more towards art than craft. I do this for my own enjoyment and I do what I do according whichever muse is inspiring me. I can't crank out pieces one after another. Every stone is different, inspiring something just a little bit different. Look at that red cab. Compare this and this. I had honestly intended to create a second near identical one. But the muses were telling me different. And right now, I also have some physical limitations preventing that. I'd love to be able to consistently bring out pieces, but sometimes, you just need that inspiration, or the swift kick in the ass, to get a move on and do it. So I guess we'll see how it goes.

I'll end this post by saying: If those of you reading don't see more than one piece of jewelry be listed somewhere (anywhere) by the end of March, feel free to really yell at me then.

Musings

• I've been doing good with the exercise and food. I have a test coming up...a trip to Ithaca


• I think this looks interesting. Color me intrigued.


• I am knitting slowly so I don't kill my hands. Had a good morning at Wegman's. I'm not working the heel flap and a few more rows to go before I turn the heel on Monkey #2.


• I like bagels and lox :-)


• All calla lilies are present and accounted for at Bead Obsessions

Adding to the confession

Based on my weight gain and body fat percentage...I put on about 5 pounds of muscle and the rest of it was fat. That's pretty amazing for someone who completed a marathon this year, eh?

Why am I posting this? We have an obsession with weight and appearance. But this is another case of "You can't judge a book by its cover" where I sure as heck don't look like I weigh close to 160 pounds. Most people assume I weigh a lot less. And now you're all going to hate me more when I say that this is also when I give thanks to my parents and ancestors for my genes.

Am I satisfied with my appearance? Yes, except for the fact that my pants don't fit and if I'm not careful, I'm going to have to buy new pants.

Why do I feel the need to lose weight? Because 27% body fat is way too high for me. Ideally, I'd like to be back running at about 20% which based on current calculations puts me at 145 pounds. 20% used to be around 140 pounds. I remember how the body felt then and it was great and running smoothly.

Do I care that you all know how much I weigh? Not really. And you all probably all hate me.

Confession Time

I don't look it, but I do.

Height: 5 ft 6 in

Weight: 158 lbs

Body Fat %: 27.2

If I can get back to 140, then I would've lost all the weight I've gained in the past year and be back at about the 20% body fat that I'd like to be at...which is where I started in the first place 2 years ago. The scary thing is I did train for the marathon last year.

This year...2007

I want to...

• Learn to have some self control in terms of managing my money. Although, I think I may have had enough with the beads and fiber for now. I feel like buying more at times...but I also don't know what I'd do with some of it until I've knit through some of it, which brings me to...


• Work through some of my yarn stash. There's a lot of things I have in mind for the yarns I have but I haven't had a chance to get to them. I even want to make socks, and eventually a pair for myself!


• Get rid of the 20 pounds I put on last year. How does this help? Well, I can spend a lot of money on food, and that's because I can eat a lot of food. I may not look it by looking at me, but trust me, I can eat a lot of food.


• Run another marathon. I hope this will help with the lose 20 pounds goal. I hope because I did run a marathon last year...when I gained the 20 pounds...


• Be more open with friends. My conclusion on this first day of the year is that my friends keep me human. They remind me of how to feel. They keep me from going to the dark side, where there is no feeling, and that would be bad.


• Design more floral patterns. I've strayed from that.

Even my stars are telling me to finish up.

From my daily horoscope email:
Dear judy,
Here is your horoscope
for Friday, October 27:

Peak productivity is within your reach. The stars urge you to buckle down, get serious and, above all, tackle at least one of those projects that you had vowed to finish many, many weeks ago. You can do it!

The Knit Goes On

We did knit tonight, even if the the founder of the Sweet Life Knitters was far far away. I was knitting my Rowan Anna socks. I'm otherwise still working the sleeves (on two circulars) for the Somewhat Cowl. It's getting bulky to be lugging around.

Saturday, I'm supposed to teach the beginning florals class. If no one signs up, I'm going to the VA fiber festival. Hmmmmmmmm...

One of the blogs I read is the Yarn Harlot's blog. She and her significant other of many years finally got married. I was moved (?) by today's post where there was a link to an organization for the unmarried and otherwise single and I must say, it struck a cord. I like my singleness. I like the freedom. I don't mind men, I like men in fact. But unlike most people in my life who feel that I need to get married, I am perfectly happy on my own and am willing to wait until I find the right one. Apparently, there's a name for people like me. It's called quirky alone and how did I score on their quiz?
How quirkyalone are you?
Your score was 91. Very quirkyalone:
Relatives may give you quizzical looks, and so may friends, but you know in your heart of hearts that you are following your inner voice. Though you may not be romancing a single person, you are romancing the world. Celebrate your freedom on National Quirkyalone Day, February 14th!
Ya.

Overwhelmed

I think I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. So many projects that I've started and in the middle of. A few projects I need to finish with actual deadlines. Projects in my head. I've been very tired for the past couple of weeks and made time out this weekend to actually take naps. I don't usually take naps because I feels as if there's way too much other stuff to do.

The Somewhat Cowl is not finished. I'm working on the sleeves. Then I'd be done...except that I think I may rip out the body/waist shaping and redo it. I'm bringing it to snb to get opinions, after I've finished the sleeves.

What if...

This is one of those "sharing" posts. The following were my thoughts driving with the traffic of 395 towards the Pentagon this morning on my way to work.

Some days or events stand out as a pivotal point in life when you look back upon it. Today was one of those days. For many, Sept. 11th is a day of mourning. For me, I'm thankful that my father is alive.

In 2001, I had just graduated and was moving our house and my life from Westford, MA to Columbia, MD. The move was scheduled for early September because I was off traveling in Europe and Asia all summer. Dad had come to help with the move. He was to return to Taiwan on the 9am United flight.

When flying from Boston to Taiwan, and flying United, you have 2 choices for departure flights. It's either the 8am flight or the 9am flight. Those are the only 2 flights that will get you over to CA in time to catch the last flight across the Pacific. I remember thinking that morning that I was glad I had an extra hour to sleep in. Dad had flown the 8am the previous times he was back.

It was eerily quiet at Logan that morning. We got there 2 hours early and dad walked right up to the check in counter. No problems whatsoever. Usually, the check in line took an hour and they still had to pull him out of line because the flight was departing within the hour. We had a quiet breakfast in terminal C, watching the planes take off. Dad walked in through security and I left to drive home. I think we all know what happened after that.

I had just merged onto 128 from 93N when my phone rang. It was a little after 9 and my dad called. No one knew what was happening then. I couldn't find any news on the radio, and all they knew at the airport was that something happened and the World Trade Towers had collapsed. His plane was the next one on the run way when air traffic control grounded all planes. The next phone call came from my aunt in Taiwan. Funny how fast news travels these days.

But what if dad had been on the 8am flight like he had been in the past? If he had, he would've been one of the mourned in this public day of mourning. This difference of one hour could have also had a very big impact on my life. At that time, I was applying for a TS/SCI clearance for Raytheon into the NSA. That was why I had moved down here.

What happened for real

Because my father was living in Taiwan, even as an American citizen, the Dept of Defense would not approve my application for a clearance. This meant that there was no work for me at Raytheon's Linthicum site. I soon found a job at Raytheon Falls Church and began a Columbia, MD to Falls Church, VA commute. This commute lasted 6 months because it drove me nuts, and I couldn't take it. I moved to DC and eventually ended up in VA. I've met some interesting people that I still know. My job at Falls Church eventually ended up killing my soul and I changed to my current job. Bead Obsessions became my local bead shop and a "happy place". I also was inspired to knit, due to someone I met down here, and met some great people in my knitting groups.

If it had been the 8am flight

Dad would've been one of the people on one of the planes that went into the World Trade Center. I would not have had the immediate relative who lived outside of the country and the clearance would've gone through. I did actually have a morbid conversation with the security officer where he did admit that had he been on the 8am plane, my clearance would have been approved. It would have been unlikely that I moved to DC. I would not know the people that I know. I wouldn't even be such a regular at Bead Obsessions. I may be even more messed up and possibly, completely emotionally dead, instead of the partially dead that I am now.

So while events in life just kind of happen, there are some, when you look back, look like a fork in the road with two very different outcomes. Some you have a choice. Others, you don't. But I am thankful that he was on the 9am flight. He has a story to tell and I still have my dad. I think this was another incident where mom was looking out for us both.

rantings

I've created a new blog for my general rants. It is here. I have also linked to it over on the side bar there. Instead of just a random rant like the previous post, these are actually recurring rants that I have. I figured I should just compile them in one place.