September 30

 Martha and I went on a hike today at the lake property.

FYI: Fall is my favorite season. The colors, the smell, and the light are all wonderful. Plus, I get to start wearing long-sleeves, layers, and sweaters. (And not have others think I'm a little crazy for being cold.)

I Still Have a Pulse

For those of you who actually read this blog, I apologize for not being here. At all. For awhile. Suffice it to say that 'real' classes started up. I had some chaos happen, and now all is well.

Big news: I received a scholarship that pays for my registration fee and hotel costs to attend the NAEYC's annual conference. It's kind of a big deal, especially since I'm still a student. When a lovely person found out I got the scholarship, they put up the money for my travel expenses. SO I basically have an 'all expenses paid' trip to Atlanta to learn really cool stuff and hang out with other people who devote their time to children under the age of 8.

It's gonna be awesome.
 But before that, I have to get a killer score on my GRE next week so I can get into grad school. 

Bucket List

  People talk about their bucket list. A lot of people seem to have cool stuff on theirs like ‘skydiving’ or ‘blow something up’.  I have given a lot of deep thought to my bucket list. And it is this:

      1.       Gettysburg

       2.       Travel to more countries than my dad. Bonus points if it’s somewhere he hasn’t already been to.

           2b. Travel to all 50 States

       3.       Never pass up an opportunity to have an adventure.

Now for some explanations.

     Gettysburg is the most haunted place in the United States. No further explanation needed. Plans are in the works for this to be achieved. Part of this plan is getting my internship on the East Coast.  

It’s tradition that my dad goes somewhere, and then comes home and tells us about all the wonderful food he’s eaten along the way. Or the cool things he’s seen. Or some story about a person he met. Sometimes he’ll call us and start with “Guess what I’m doing right now.”  My dad’s a bamf. We’ll talk more about this later. As of now, he’s been to 17 countries in the world. (Last time we counted he was at 16.) I figured that instead of specifying things for a bucket list, like ‘go to Cancun’, I would do a more general goal, that was still a challenge.

     So far on this one, I’ve got 6 countries down. 2 of which my dad has never been to. I also have tried to do things while traveling that either my dad hasn’t done, are part of the ‘1,000 things before you die’ school, or a lot of people seem to talk about, or should be talking about.  A few highlights: The two countries I’ve been to that dad hasn’t: Poland and New Zealand. Top pick: Seeing the original Christus Statue by Thorvaldsen  in Copenhagen, Denmark and attending Mass at Sacre Couer in Paris.

     A subset of this goal is to visit all 50 states. (Dad has only been to the lower 48) Top of that list is to see  the Aurora in Alaska. Also, subset of this is to visit as many LDS Temples as possible. So far I have 8 of those. (Currently there is 137 operating temples worldwide, with several being constructed or planned.)

     Now, never pass up an opportunity to have an adventure. Who can come home from work, have their mum say “Let’s get Studebakers for dinner” and totally jump in the truck for an hour and half long drive just to get the best pizza ever for dinner, and happen to see a real life bald eagle in the wild on the way there? Or visit a long time friend of your dad’s only to get back to your hostel at nearly 1 am and ride up the lift with a guy in purple tightie whitie style underwear while a hot Brazilian asks you if you would like a beer? Or wake up at who knows when in the morning in a teepee to listen to a confused bull elk try to find a mate? Ever sheared a sheep? Or fished the Cisco run? Or attended a Testicle Festival? Gone to the park in the middle of the night to swing?  Wild and Crazy Adventure anyone? (That last one was a code, those who know what it means have done it with me or a member of my family.)

     Yeah. Almost anything goes for this girl. And I have a pretty cool list that is growing in size in the back of my journal.

A Bit of Cowboy Poetry for You

Here's a little gem I came up with at the ranch:

Prayer is what you do
When you fear for your life
'Cause you're late getting home
To your kids
And your wife. 

Summer School

It's been longer than I meant it to be since I last posted. But, I am taking 21 credits at university this summer. School kind of took over my life for a bit there. Fortunately, I have completed three classes with one more finishing up on Wednesday.
I do have some good posts planned and I have vacation time coming up, so keep an eye on us here!

p.s. I am happy to announce that the April socks of the Happy Feet Project have been completed. Pics will go up on my Ravelry page and be pinned on my Pinterest sometime... soon...ish.

Knitters and U.S.O.C. : My Two Cents

So, apparently the United States Olympic committee made a bunch of knitter angry. Because the U.S.O.C. was protecting themselves and their license for Olympic related items and events in the U.S. Just as any good business would do.

I'm just going to add my two cents here, What's the big deal? I get called really insulting things at times for what I do as a career, and now the collective community of knitters are freaking out, saying and doing less than lovely things, and, well, making us look kind of bad in my opinion.

I understand and am supportive of standing up for ourselves. But when you do you have to do it with kindness, not anger. There needs to be room for understanding and forgiveness. The U.S.O.C. is just doing their job here. And the people affiliated with the whole deal, Patrick Sandusky seems to be getting a lot of crap over the whole issue, they are doing their job. We all have jobs, and we all need to make a living. I think Mr. Sandusky did a great job cleaning up the mess, yet some people just won't leave the poor man alone. You can't keep at him because, let's be honest here. You've all screwed up.

If people kept bugging you about that time you told them that saving up money for a down payment on a house instead of renting was the stupidest idea you've ever heard, you wouldn't like them. And probably have a bad taste in your mouth, not so nice thoughts, whatever every time someone or something reminded you of the person.

I would not blame Mr. Sandusky, or the entire U.S.O.C. for not liking knitters for the rest of their lives. I thought we were bigger than this people.

There has been a movement to send hand knit socks to Stephen Colbert in the hopes he will support the cause of the knitter. Seriously. While I'm not against it, I think it would be a bit more appropriate to flood the offices of the U.S.O.C. with hand knit items. No hard feelings. I for one just might take a break from my sock knitting to make a nice hat for Mr. Sandusky. He's had a hard couple of days from people who I usually associate with being kind and charitable.

Thank you U.S.O.C. for all you do for the athletes. And thank you Mr. Sandusky for putting up with the adolescent reaction of knitters everywhere to you just doing your job.

(I know some of you might read this and be a bit upset with me for saying what I said. Please keep your comments PG, and remember I'm just trying to be kind and offer my perspective.)

Words the Dog Knows

Why do they always make me go outside?

Walk
Food
Go
Car
Treat
Outside
Potty
Bath
Leash
Ball
Poop bag
Snuggie (she runs away at this one)

She's a smart one!