soonness

no, it's not a word. But soon-ness is how i'm feeling tonight. Everything is 'soon' at the moment. Waiting, with baited breath, when some things are going to happen. I'm going to have to be prepared, but i'm excited. Work is going to take off and go nuts, but i can't wait. I've had a few days of super good work stuff going on and i'm getting my mojo back. Goodness knows i need it.

and i'm hanging out to get a snapper card. So few people have them yet i'm all super jealous whenever i see someone actually USE those cool teardrop shaped things on the bus (which also make a great noise). Pay day next week may call for the purchase of one. 

i'm also quite looking forward to the weekend - a bit of cooking dinners to freeze for the next few weeks, some baking and hopefully finishing thermal - so close to being done i can almost smell it!

oh yeah

that's right, I was going to post.

Holiday was mostly fabuloso. Not so fabuloso the whole being ditched thing so that boys could ride with boys. Tash is not a boy and so gets left at the top of the chairlift to entertain herself for the day.

Snowboarding is a very male-dominated sport. Whenever we head up the mountain, the boy and i always end up meeting more...boys. We'll hang out at the lodge, meet new people (boys) inevitably give lifts up the mountain to the boys, hang out with the boys, i'll get ditched so the boys can go be boys together and then every so often I will drive extra boys home. 

Trend, much?

At the time i smile graciously and put up with it. By the end of the weekend, or week, or whatever, i am gritting my teeth as the boy comes along and says, i'm just going to go do this with the boys...and i'm ready to have a mega tanty. 

Despite all that, the boys we met this time were pretty cool. A french guy (who we called frenchy cos it was easier than saying his name) and a welly boy. Tim and I ended up being surrogate tour guides to frenchy on the closed days, and then brought both him and the welly boy back down with us and then showed frenchy the sights of wellington before depositing him at the ferry terminal. On saturday. I hate to think how crap that sailing was. 

Though he was obviously blown away by the amount we did for him, it didn't bother me. It felt completely natural to show a total stranger round the countryside for a week. He cooked us dinner. It consisted of garlic, onions, potatoes, bacon and cheese. freaking brilliant. freaking french.

Spending that much time with frenchy made me realise just how much of my french i've forgotten. Words that i knew were buried in the dark recesses of my mind refused to come out of the cave. So i'm thinking i'm going to find a way to re-teach myself some vocab. just for fun.

I barely spoke any french to him though. He had come over to speak english, so that's what i let him do. I helped with the odd translation of words, but that's about it.  

I was going to post a photo of the most wonderful purple and yellow bruise i now have on my knee because i tried to keep up with the boys and got too tired. (i also have a couple on my behind but we won't go there) The bruise signalled the need to give up for the day. But i walked away from it knowing i'd got a whole lot better. And might just be able to ride with the boys next time. 

PS we wisely decided on tuesday not to stay for the weekend, and drove back on friday night. So we missed out on all the fun of being evacuated off Mt Ruapehu on Saturday. bummer. 

raining, it's pouring...

fingers crossed i don't get stuck in the hutt at Craft2.0 cos of all this rain...and toes crossed too that this all means snow, lots of snow!

Early tomorrow morning the boy and i are road trippin' to Mt Ruapehu for a week...catch you up when i get back!

Happy: i went for a run! And i got flowers! from the boy! and i got to hang with the boy! 

Created: hmmm, clean clothes. and endorphins, and as always, stitches.

Treat: burger fuel. more than covers the effort in the run, methinks

No Grump: decided to change the outlook to 'positive' when dealing with flatmates re: giant power bill. we'll see how it goes. The bit that drives me nuts is that no matter how nicely i ask, it's still their decision to be more power conscious. So the bill is in their hands...

I am in two minds about what to do with fave flatmate leaving. I'm not sure i can really be bothered finding a new one, to be honest. I go up the mountain for a whole week on sunday and she leaves as soon as i get back, which isn't really helpful in the time frame situation. So maybe i'll sit on it for a while and make up my mind when i get back. though it will mean paying quite a bit of extra rent. 

I'm at the point where my whole life feels a bit consumed by flat stress. So the focus is going to shift to craft: much, much more craft. I think it's time for the hottie, bed and my knitting. Thermal is on standby, which is a bummer as i hoped it would be finished by the time we went back up the mountain. Instead I seem to be replacing it with lots of little knitted projects...all will be revealed, one day...

blogging. um stuff

oh. ah right. blogging. that thing i do. normally when sober. 

let me explain. i'm normally a nice relatively undrunk lass. of late, my colleagues have led me astray. which is why i am sitting in the dark eating fish and chips at 9.32pm on a tuesday night. when any reasonable person would be getting ready for bed, soberly, and anticipating the next day. nope not me. led astray. 

so err, happy - we won netball last night. Can't remember the rest. though the boy feigned serious illness yesterday and guilted me into cooking him dinner after netball. only to be revealed that he had been drinking til 4am monday morning. where is my dinner? hm?!

and it seems that when i am drinking, i talk. alot. (i knew that) the worrying thing is, it seems to all be about knitting. oh dear.

I am now apparently knitting a fluffy red beanie and a scarf or beanie (which ever strikes my fancy) for two office males. hmm.

now i feel slightly ill from greasy chips and much gin and tonic. and vodka. oops. fun times, though...

Happy: Wandering around the waterfront for hours in the sunshine. Knitting in public. People-watching. Taking photos

Created: soon, pumpkin soup, and plenty of stitches, as always

Treat: G&Ts with the boy at Ohtel

No grump: nothing. really...except maybe that it's monday tomorrow...but i'm not thinking about it :)

The concrete poetry around the waterfront really pulls at me...each one resonates for some reason, the words, the textures, the true descriptions of what wellington is...and you really, truly can't beat wellington on a good day.

happy happy joy joy

um yep, it's late. so this covers two days...

Happy: not having anywhere to go or anything to do last night, so hung around drinking with work peeps. got hideously drunk and decided it would be a great idea to go to the boy's house, climb into his bed and fall asleep all without him knowing. He was in his room, bummer, but put up with me all the same...and then cooked me bacon and eggs for breakfast. Much happiness also from snuggling under a blankie on the couch knitting, then met up with Nikki for coffee and more knitting. Couldn't get better really. 

Created: Plenty of stitches

Treat: Relaxing! Properly for once...

No grump: ummmm oh  could have got seriously grumpy about the price of petrol. Solved that by deciding that my low car use can get even lower. I drive it on Mondays to indoor netball, and around about on the weekend, and that's pretty much it. What i'd like to work out is the cost comparison of driving to town on the weekends to catching the bus, which is $4 all up. hmmm.

Happy-ness

Happy: a loverly evening hanging out with my boy, some super duper exciting news (all hush hush) and seeing THE most fantastic print in the window of Eyeball Kicks on my way home. it is mine. I am almost beyond caring what it costs...shall see if i feel the same tomorrow when i call them and find out the real price...

Created: stitches, soon

for someone else: bought the boy dinner, and treated him to my fabulous company, ha. Oh actually, i treated him a dollar to play pacman on/in the table at Midnight Espresso

Treat: a G&T for moi

No grump: am struggling with this - the power bill arrived, it's an estimate, i checked the meter, and yep, next month is going to be mega again. This month is still pretty bad. It's the last thing i need to stress about, again. But my dad is an engineer (read: anal) and has always been involved in the electricity sector, which means transferred anality about things like turning off lights. So this power issue is like cheese grating my face. painful. hmm maybe i should email the landlord and ask if the previous tenants had the same issue - we have a moisture master and i theorise it shouldn't be that expensive to run - should it?? (the website says no - only 5 - 10cents a day - not sure i believe them)

also exciting - tomorrow is FRIDAY! woohoo! Bring on the weekend, baby!

Happy day number 2

1. What has made me happy: Eating spag bol for dinner, my carefully planned day going swimmingly (v tiring tho. whew.), and looking forward to knitting this evening with a hot water bottle and then an early night. 
2. Created: so far nothing, except a good dinner. Soon i shall have created some stitches. yay.
3. Done for someone else: ummm...a tad stuck on that one. oh yep, it's in my head - i went out of my way for someone. Was at work so can't be too specific...
4. treat: a decent dinner, and making myself walk out of the office at a reasonable time when i could quite easily have stayed much longer. it will still be there tomorrow.
5. No grump: one of the flatties left their bedroom light on, so i very nicely asked them to turn it off, and then explained, again very nicely, that i was a little concerned about what our next powerbill will look like. He then raved about how nice and toasty warm his room his and that he hasn't needed a heater so far at all. ahhh that makes me feel better. Still curious about the cause of last month's mega bill tho...

for some incredibly irritating reason, photos are taking what seems like hours to upload...so no prettiness today...off to knit!

happiness part 1.0

1. What has made me happy today: I am feeling the effects of three glasses of wine, hoki bites and apple berry pie with low fat icecream for dinner. 
2. What I have created today: a full and well rounded day for my boss tomorrow, oh and a great mix cd for this evening's work drinks
3. One thing i have done for someone else today: i sent a love...pdf. mail wasn't fast enough!
4. One thing i have done to treat myself today: i ate pudding for dinner - which i kind of guessed i would do so treated myself to a kebab with green things in it to make up for the fact i haven't been eating very well lately. One actually cannot operate very well on marmite toast alone (even if it is vogels)
5. One thing i stopped myself from getting grumpy about: tomorrow wasn't working out so well, so i walked away, came back to it and found a solution. yahoo!

I am also very very excited about: TV3 filming stitch and bitch tomorrow. i also now have a free-ish evening...shall i risk venturing out? or shall i stick with relative anonymity for awhile longer? Anyone who is crafty-like should definitely go - it's at Cafe Reka at the NewDowse in the Hutt from 6 (i think).

One of my exciting projects is on the go...ohhh i could stay up all night working on it, for sure!

I am also very pleased that a flatmate appears to have had the sense to turn on the dishwasher. Big star for them. Not so big star for the flatmate who has a penchant for filling the freezer with food before using what they already have in there. Going to my happy place. 

right slightly drunk fuelled happy rant over for today. Hello to my lovely friends who all seem to be going to freaking Paris without me ... even it is only on Conitki. 

new leaf, and all that

I have been one grumpy girl of late. Life has been lame. Or at least, my perspective on life has been pretty crap.

So, no more Mr Grumpy Tash. Today is a new day, and even my horoscope says it is so:

You have a very passionate period in store for you, dear Sagittarius, and today is the first day of this kind of renewal in your life. The fire that is burning inside you will melt the ice you have on the outside. All that warmth will make you want to come out of your shell and to share those feelings with others that you are so used to hiding under your stern personality. But that's just a facade you tend to put on with other people. (thanks MSN)

Hmm, stern, yeah that sounds about right. Part of this ice melting stuff, is daily posts on here where I must note the following:

1. What has made me happy today
2. what I have created today
3. One thing I have done for someone else today
4. One thing I have done to treat myself today
5. One thing I stopped myself from getting grumpy about

Five is a good number I think … it is one of my favourites after all. I think I also need to stop putting so much pressure on myself to be ‘doing’ all the time. I need to stop and think more, and also let myself relax. I can’t remember the last time I allowed myself to spend a few hours reading. Knitting is all well and good because I feel like I am doing something, but it means I haven’t read a whole book in over a year. And I love reading.

As it is still early in the day I don’t think I quite have enough material to do my list just yet. But I feel better already. Black Seeds on the radio helps!

I really am getting quite appalling at this update stuff. Must try better.

Yesterday consisted of the longest stressiest afternoon, one that dictates a glass of wine is not enough...but a G&T hit the spot. So did having some girly friends round for dinner - much eating, drinking and gossiping by the fire ensued. 

Today I am off to spotlight ... and then have my first ever stall at the Mighty Mighty Market. Fingers crossed it goes ok...

Yeah so freaking boring post, but that's all i got right now! Plenty of other things to keep my mind occupied at the moment, including a couple of projects that I am getting quite excited about...

Why i love to knit

I fully pinched this idea from Nikki. Thanks Nikki!

How much do i love to knit? Let me count the ways...

1. Thinking time. When a million ideas, thoughts and confusions are whizzing through the brain cells, knitting makes me slow down and place my thoughts in a queue for careful consideration. I solve all the world's problems when I knit. Then promptly forget them.
2. Increased productivity. I drive myself nuts with the fact that I always must be doing something. So tv watching is no longer wasted time. Whew. 
3. Creation. Watching something grow through simply sitting and working at it is so fulfilling. I also love the idea that knitting is creating my own fabric - seeing as i am also fabric obsessed.
4. Touch. I love the feel of fabric...and knitting gives me an excuse to feel more things up.
5. Learning. I am amazed at just how much there is to know about knitting,  it is incredibly technical. Plus there is nothing better than passing that learning on and watching someone else fall heads over heels with their needles, too.
6. Subverting stereotypes. Not only does it give the old ducks a bit of a thrill, but knitting in public is my way of proving that knitting is not just for grannies. It is modern, interesting and timeless. 

Hmm. That's all i can think of for now. I'm a bit bummed as i've just found out my fave flatmate is going on her OE in a month, leaving me with two very un-favourite flatties. What to do? Lame-o. This calls for flannel pjs, a hot water bottle, cookies and knitting.