Author: BeverlyArmyWilliams

Here’s a picture of the lovely loot from my fabu Secret Pal. Notice the PINK chair that I picked up for a pittance at JCPenny this weekend with mom. It looks pretty funky in my chocolate brown/bubblegum pink office. I kinda feel like Jane Jetson when I sit in it, which you’d understand if the whole thing were in the picture.

What am I avoiding now you ask? What, do you think I only post when there’s something else I should be doing, something I don’t WANT to do, perhaps something I really ought to do? Ok, you’ve torn it out of me. It’s a grammar test. I like my grammar class. My professor is a doll and super smart on top of it, but I just can’t wrap my head around Plain Present and Plain verb tenses or, say, Complex Transitive and Complex Intransitive clauses. I sort of get this stuff, in a glancing way, like the way I sometimes drive–woops, that was a curb there. Know what I mean? I’m really stretching the poor little brain a lot this semester.

Other news, I’m planning a yarn swap for the Albuquerque Stitch and Bitch group (we meet the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of the month at the Rio Grande Flying Star [yumsters] if you want to join us), as well as any other knitters in the area. It’ll be at my place on November 4 at 7 p.m., so let me know if you’re interested in coming, and I’ll e-mail you more details. Oh, yes. It’s gonna be a potluck…yummmmmy.

And…I’m planning on having a Halloween party. What should I dress up as, I ask Neal. “A bunny.” A bunny? Like short skirt, cute ears? No, like big footsie pj’s. Um, no. Try to rethink that thought, lovey. I’m leaning toward being a naughty schoolgirl, but I may fall back on my favorite–vampire Beverly. Got any ideas??

Ok, off to bed so I can wake with the sun, finish up the darn grammar and read Gorgias. Oh, yeah, I’ve been avoiding that, too.

‘night.

The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta surprised me. I only went because mom & dad wanted to go, and since they drove for four days to spend a long weekend in Albuquerque, I figured, what the hey, I’ll battle the traffic! Friday night was a bit like Christmas…mom was so excited. Her joy in the balloons made the 5 a.m. wake-up call worth it!

After breakfast, we headed up to the Sandia Peak Tram, another thing I may never have done without the folks here to play tourist with.

Thanks for a fun weekend, mom & dad!

You are “turbo” charged.Fast moving and classy, you get things done with
power and grace. Your expensive tastes can be
deceiving, since what you really value is
quality and efficiency. As you’re careening
around those corners in life, finishing a dozen
knitted objects each month, stop and smell the
roses. Don’t miss the beauty of process!

Well, I don’t know about FINISHING those projects, but I sure do start too many!

Mom and Dad are coming into town tomorrow, and I’ve just about gotten the place looking spiffy. Sure, a visit to Quizzilla isn’t helping me to finish the job…but a girl needs to entertain herself, doesn’t she?

Yesterday was a rough day, but it ended well. I got in from CT at about 12:30 a.m., couldn’t get to sleep until about an hour later, then up early to prep for classes. Finally got home around 7:15, and what did I find? A FedEx from my wonderful Secret Pal! A skein of Manos cotton in the sweetest pink, Rowan summer tweed in a pink/grey, and five skeins of Knit Picks Elegance in …you guessed it, black! I’m thinking of making the cowl in the Last Minute Gifts book…for myself. I’ve been knitting so many Christmas gifts that I’ve been neglecting the sweaters I so ambitiously began. Well, I do have a month off at Christmastime.

So…thank you, S.P. You rock!

Over the weekend I started a second convertible shruglet and finished part of Kate’s Christmas gift.

I’ll have some pictures up soon.

Meg responded to one of my posts to tell me about a weekly knitting group at Satellite. The next couple of weeks may be rough, but I’ll be there once things settle down.

Other news, I”m in the process of planning a yarn swap for ABQ knitters. As soon as I have a date set, I’ll let everyone know.

Back to work now.

Guess what? There’s a virtual lite-brite!! One of the toys I always wanted and never got. Now, if I can find Virtual Operation, I’ll be so set.

Last night was the Albuquerque Flying Star Stitch and Bitch. I worked on some embroidery, not knitting. I had a great time, and I was psyched to meet Jamie, the organizer and her doppleganger, Carole. Liz was knitting a cozy looking blue scarf, Beth worked on her afghan, Laurie on socks, and Ramona on the Knitty boob scarf. So when are the rest of you Albuquerque knitters going to come out and play with us?

I know there are a lot of knitting groups in ABQ…I’m waiting for a freed-up Saturday so I can join knitters not quitters.

Tomorrow I’m off to CT, but before I go, I’m going to stop by Village Wools to pick up the new class schedule and a little something for my Secret Pal.

Let me know what you make on lite-bright, ok?

I don’t have any knitting pictures up, so here are some until I get my act together. I made this shawl for my mom’s birthday using the Prayer Shawl Ministry’s pattern. I started with some beautiful Fiesta yarns La Boheme that I purchased at their outlet. The tag read that it was an odd dye lot, and I wish there had been more of it. Since I didn’t have enough for the entire shawl, I used a fuzzy yellow yarn, the name of which as left my feeble brain. Soooo soft, like a little chick! It was hard to give up!

I think I should have gone a little thicker with the fringe, but I was going for a pashmina effect.

I used size 15 needles. The shawl weighed a lot after a while, so I switched to circulars. That was helpful in making it more comfortable to knit.

The picture is a bit dark, but that’s my new haircut. Lezlie from Chez D’Or ROCKS!

I’m off to Martine’s house for a BBQ and dance party. I’m bringing the Pulp Fiction soundtrack and a MoonBootLover cd. That and a little James Brown, and we’ll have an instant party!

A former boss of mine had me take this test years ago, and I got the same result. Yes, it’s 11:28 p.m. on a Friday night, and I’m taking more quizzes and tests.

I just got back from UNM’s first “Works in Progress” reading of the semester. Good job, John, Juan, and Sarah!! There are so many good writers around here. I feel fortunate to be studying at UNM.

Tomorrow I’m getting my hair cut for the first time since mid-May. I’ll post a picture.

Anyway, here are the test results:

INFJ – the counselor You scored 27% I to E, 31% N to S, 23% F to T, and 36% J to P!

Your type is best summed up by the word “counselor”, which belongs to the larger group of idealists. Only 2% of the population share your type. You are so empathic that you often know what others need before they know themselves. You are a complex person who can deal with complicated issues and people, almost prefer to, as you love problem solving. You can be something of an idealist or perfectionist, and should try to take yourself a little less seriously. You are a supportive and insightful romantic partner, encouraging your mate to have dreams and work hard to make those dreams come true. Because you are so creative, you have a wealth of ideas to help them toward those goals. You need harmony so much that you are driven to resolve conflict quickly, as long as the terms don’t violate your ethics. You feel the most appreciated when your partner admires your creativity, trusts your inspirations, and respects your values. It is also vitally important that your partner be open and emotionally available – in other words, that they be willing to share themselves completely. Your group summary: idealists (NF) Your type summary: INFJ Isn’t that interesting? I need to stop taking myself so seriously. Maybe I should heed this? Ok, gonna go read for a bit, then off to dreamland. Neal’s promised a 6:30 a.m. wake up call. I like to attack the yard work early in the morning. BTW, yesterday’s darkness has lifted. A good night’s sleep and kind words from friends and folks like Another Crazy Girl help! ‘Night.

Cousin Brian used to just say “Darkness” to cover any situation about which he was, well, dark. I’m walking around the condo muttering “darkness.” I didn’t finish my reading for today, I overslept, and I’m just enough of a dork to be dark on myself for not completing homework. Dark on being so far from my dogs and my man. Dark on being so far from my sister and her kids. Dark on not feeling like I’m managing my time well. There are 168 hours every week, and I seem to be wasting an awful lot. When I stop being dark, maybe I can create a new plan of attack on those hours. Dark because if I had gotten up early, my plan was to go have breakfast at the coolest joint in Albuquerque, Le French Corner. The best cup of coffee in town. The French owners sold last spring, though, and it wasn’t long before there were eggs with green chili on the menu. I like green chile, but they don’t use it in France. I’d put money on that. So don’t cave in to the local pressure, LFC! Darkness.

I visited my oldest sister (MB) in TN over Labor Day weekend. We had a quiet night on Friday, and after a walk around her new neighborhood, we headed to Threaded Bliss Yarns for a “quick trip” that ended up being a “most of the day” trip. Did you notice just there how I’ve learned to hyperlink? My, my. So, there we are, perusing baby pattern books because I’m just not happy with the way the cuff-to-cuff baby sweater is knitting up (in delicious Lorna’s). Rudy the dog and I bond for a while (yup, I sure miss my mutts). He’s my best friend until biscuits come out! I select a pattern, sit and chat with Sheila, the fun, sassy owner of said yarn shop. I eye a dancing cats tote. I tote it around for the next hour as MB and I work with Emily and another fabulous customer (sorry, can’t remember her name…) to pick out yarns for MB’s shruglet, or as I’ve taken to calling it, convertible shrug–you’ll see why when I post pictures over the weekend.

After all that fun, we picked up the kids, had dinner, then I knit furiously to finish Lisa’s Christmas gift (ahh…to be revealed after…Christmas) as I needed those size 15 needles for the convertible shrug. Didn’t quite get the gift done on Saturday night, but did finish on Sunday. I had fun knitting in between swimming and tubing on the lake, thanks to Rick, Christina, and Ian for their marine hospitality.

Next up is frogging the cuff-to-cuff sweater and starting the new one. The baby is due in another week or two, so time to get the gift made!

In school news, I’m struggling with my four classes. It’s a lot more work than I expected. I hope to finish up in December ’06, so I have to struggle a bit now to make that goal.

Last night my short story “Splinter” was workshopped. I think it went well…I came away with some ideas of how to improve it. Shaping it up enough to send it out is another goal. Time to start trying to publish.

Final school news: A CCCC panel proposal for the 2006 conference that I’m on was accepted. Chicago in March, baby, Chicago.

Time to get some homework done. If I work fast enough, I’ll start in on that frogging tonight.