Banking Drama....

It's been an evening of customer service experiences. 


I've had issues with my current bank, which have made me yell, use a lot of vulgar language, and at one point I ended up in the branch manager's office after sending her a pointed email about how poorly I'd been treated by her staff. Things have, unfortunately, not gotten much better.


Current bank
1) The website is often out of date.
2) One can only reach the bank by phoning during business hours. There is an email account but then one gets to receive a return phone call while I'm at work. My coworkers are sick of listening to me talk to my bank.

3) Very little can be handled online.
4) They shut off everyone's card due to a data breach but didn't bother to tell any of the card holders for 16 hours--and didn't put any notification on their website or voicemail about this. (Guess who surprised a bunch of story time parents the next morning with the news that their bank cards wouldn't work?) Over 24 hours later some people STILL hadn't been notified.

5) Don't allow for pin changes on location--you have to get an entirely new debit card to change the pin. I found this out 24 hours before I left for New York--while planning to take only the new debit card. 

6) Didn't have a drive through ATM--in Wisconsin--until about six months ago.  You had to park illegally in an all-reserved-spots-parking and get out of the car. In January. In Wisconsin.

7) No walk in ATM at the bank, despite being on Main Street where we have a lot of foot traffic during the summer.

8) No ATM at all at the remote branch, which is closer to Chez Hedgehog.
9) Remember I went to Egypt? (yah I know I owe you pictures) I called them in advance and was assured by the receptionist (I don't know her name but I recognize the voice at this point) that she would mark my account so they wouldn't shut the card off on me while M and I were abroad.  On the trip home and while I was in NY praying the wind would let up long enough that I could fly back to CHI/LSE--they called about odd account activity. There was no record on my account that I was going to be traveling to Egypt despite my advance phone call. While I appreciated the verification and rattled off exactly how many debits had been made, when, and the approximate amount with some wiggle room for exchange rates, the obvious fall down on that one was HUGE. "Who did you talk to?" the caller asked. "Whoever answers the phone." was my not extremely chipper answer.  

10)  Tonight--for no apparent reason--they're holding double my rent payment hostage.  The money is there, it's just "not available."  I only got one receipt from my landlord through their electronic bill payment system and it's automatic, so that shouldn't have gone through twice. I've used that system for two years. So tomorrow morning I get to call to find out what exactly is going on this time.  


I've had plans to go to a different financial institution, one recommended highly by a coworker. It's a credit union, they pay interest on their standard checking accounts, and she's been really pleased with them. Only, they keep banking hours and I hate leaving the house on Saturday. As I kvetched about this online, one friend suggested I start the account opening process online. 

It had never occurred to me that I could do that. Certainly at my current bank this wasn't an option, I couldn't assign a designated inheritor upon my death without an Act of Congress (insert political party joke *here* if you so choose). But at my new choice of financial institution...I could. 


I filled out all the standard questionnaires, forms, verification of who I was, etc--online. I read electronic versions of all of the usual documents. I assigned a designated inheritor in case the cat steps on my windpipe one too many times. It was polite, it was easy, and it took about ten minutes--including setting up an electronic transfer from my current bank to start initial funding.

From their website:


1) I can FIND the number to call and report if my card is lost--24/7.
2) There's a secure way to communicate with them online.
3) They listed on the application forms what countries they don't allow debit/credit card usage at present (Burma, for example).
4) There is a drive up ATM on my way home and a satellite branch where I do most of my grocery shopping.
5) I'll get interest on my not very high balance checking account just for banking with them and using online banking.
6) Automatic savings account set up for me, which I've missed having. I "can" do it all on the spreadsheet I keep--and will continue to do so--but being able to move money to a savings account that isn't my ING account is nice. (The ING is great--but it takes 3 business days to move funds around.)

7) Far more transparent.



I've avoided doing this also because of all of the places I'll need to change routing numbers: work, freelance client, student loans, other online bill paying stuff, retirement savings account. But changing routing numbers has got to be easier than the excess of frustration I feel about every three months when my current bank screws up again.

Everything for my new bank account is in process, as confirmed by an automatic but still very clear and polite email that I got upon clicking "Finish." I expect tomorrow I'll get an email or perhaps a phone call. Initial set up probably should have a live human-to-human contact at some point, I'm okay with that.  


*sigh* I could tie all this back to libraries, online fine payment and card registration, policy transparency etc, but I've done my taxes and signed up for a new bank account--so take away what lessons you will for yourself. 

Also--anybody want to come tell me what's wrong with my printer? The black ink is being screwy despite changing out the ink cartridge.

Please Leave a Message After the Tone: Hedgehog on Holiday

Thank you for visiting the Hedgehog Librarian. I will be offline until 1/26/10: visiting Egypt with M, riding a camel, and exploring the new layers of airport security.   

Please leave a message after the tone: 

A# 

A Year of "Up"

Last year was full of challenges, triumphs, sorrows and joys. And, thankfully, it's over. I'm so ready for a new year...

I am bad at making specific resolutions--biting my nails didn't really end until I got braces, giving up caffeine would probably be dangerous to those around me, going on Atkins would mean I didn't exist anymore*. I managed to keep my 2008 resolution--I didn't move in either 2008 or 2009, but the flip side of that is that I came to the end of the year and felt bogged down by my stuff because I hadn't experienced the joy of packing/shifting/loading/hauling/traipsing/unpacking for 26 months.

This year my resolution, my goal, is a word: Up. Last year was cynicism and snark, drama, depression and a lot of down. I'd like to reverse that trend and head towards a year of upward progression. Up is a good word, generally, and I can use it with a lot of verbs.

Shape Up: Yah, I know, I'm on the twiglet side of things. That doesn't mean I'm as in shape as I'd like to be.

Clean Up: Get what I'm not using out of the house. It means less to dust around.

Move Up: There are professional opportunities out there that I need to be working on/towards. Now if I can just guess what the major trend of ALA Annual 2012 will be....

Speak Up: Blogging, Writing, on Committees.

Use Up: Wool Stash anyone? I'm part of a "5K Stashdown" marathon on Ravelry. As I have eleven times that much, it's not a huge commitment**. I might try for the side bet of knitting up an average of a mile of yarn a month (nearly 20K). If I can get to where it all fits in the tubs, that'd be a huge start***. Also--the fabric stash, which is smaller and therefore doesn't get as much blog time. See my actual blog page for my knit meter.

Cheer Up: Enough with the snark, the griping, and the drama. So 2009. I can't say cynicism is fully retiring, this is me after all, but maybe not all sarcasm all the time.

Save Up: Get the debt paid down and the savings account paid up. And more towards retirement (insert chuckle about a public librarian ever being able to retire *here*).

How might you be "up" for 2010?

*I could live on Cheerios and good bread with appropriate jams and peanut butter.
**And apparently I'm on the lower end of the stashdowners...still no reason not to slack though.
***It might keep certain fur people out of the stash.

Snowfall and Gypsy

Wisconsin has it in for me. I moved up here just over two years ago and we promptly had the worst winter the state had seen in twenty years. Last winter was one of the coldest ones--with an actual temperature one morning of -24F. I don't want to even fathom what the windchill was. All I know is that my valiant car refused to even try and start.

And, in case you've missed news for the past few days, we had a blizzard here on Tuesday night, promptly followed by bone chilling temperatures. I went from casual winter gear to the hard core duck fluff coat, chunky weight hat and mittens I got from a ski shop overnight.

Here's the view early Wednesday, following 11" of small ice crystals down and while it was still snowing.


The snow has been cleared from the roads, though yesterday morning's drive to work was quite exciting when I had the audacity to make a right turn. *insert grateful for the fact I got new tires a few weeks ago here* Friday's commute actually saw pavement and rumor has it we'll be up to nearly freezing this weekend!

In the midst of all of this cold, I brought home a new bundle of joy. I started considering adoption about five minutes after I moved up here and realized I'd be spending the winter having a conversation with a very healthy spider plant or two. The plants have thrived but they aren't much for talking back and they are really lousy at snuggling.


Meet Gypsy. She's between one and two years old. She's from the Coulee Region Humane Society. So far she likes to be draped over my shoulder, enjoys belly rubs, and is going to need a substantial clawing/climbing tower. She attempted to jump the height of a five shelf bookshelf last night. She didn't make it but that didn't slow her down. Who wants to come over and help me trim her claws?

We still have to go the vet and have all of the usual shots and things and spend a few days getting used to each other. She spent all of last night racing around the apartment, enjoying the fact that she wasn't in her kennel cage. Today she's in the bathroom as I realized I'm going to have to further cat proof the apartment. She doesn't seem especially interested in the yarn stash--yet.

I will make a strong attempt to not turn into a blogger whose only content is to post cute photos of my cat. If I limit myself to once a week, will I be forgiven?

Making Soggy Memories

When I was very young, it was extremely normal for family gatherings to occur regularly. We got together for holidays, birthdays, any excuse to gather for a meal was a good one. I am one of eleven cousins on that side of the family, and these events brought together any number of us to swing on Grandma's front porch, play rounds of Euchre, swim in the lake, ice skate on that same lake, sing and tell stories. I'm the youngest of the girls and the oldest of the boys is still renowned for making everyone at the kids table laugh. And even as adults, we of the "kid" generation still often end up at a "kid" table, while our parents and grandmother are together and now, all of their children are grouped.

Cousins, as all children do, grow up and we split out across the country. And across the world. At one point there were cousins both in Germany and Japan, and while at the moment we're all back in the general midwest region, I doubt that will last a lifetime and it's still a stretch to get together.

So when the opportunity arose to spend a weekend across the state with two cousins and their families, it was time to pack up and look for directions.

Incidentally, Highway 21 is a long drive across the state. Lovely and peaceful, but one definitely slips into a state of "I can't remember anything I've seen in the past thirty minutes, where am I?"

It was incredibly normal, after somewhere around six years (there are three more children since last time I saw this set of cousins), to step back into the familiarity of cousins. Some life stories, some family news, plans for the next year, adventures taken, all shared in a kitchen, or over food. There was an adult table and a kid table, and though it shouldn't have surprised me, it was strange to sit down with my cousins and know WE were the adults. But a long history of shared times immediately filled the gap of a half dozen years apart.

And then, there was the water balloon fight. I wasn't sure it was going to be warm enough, but a half hour or so of playing catcher for three boys batting a foam ball warmed me up enough. I was also reminded that I am not particularly blessed with a throwing arm.

I was, of course, the novel target. One can hit one's dad, aunt, uncle or siblings with a squirt gun or water balloon anytime. Cousin Abigail? Not so much. I did put two parameters in place--no balloons directly in my face, please, and when I had the camera, I had technological device immunity. But I certainly ended up drenched and, despite eventually being armed only with a watering can, I managed to inflict my share of sogginess. The boys complained it wasn't fair, me with a watering can, I argued that I only had arms reach to dump water on them, while they were planning distract and conquer tactics and lobbying balloons at me from some yards away. They play baseball and there was some decent pitching going on, trust me.

















Arguing over the hose---note the child in the background who is ENTIRELY off the ground. Apparently S is capable of hovering and no one warned me about that trait in the extended family.





















A mad dash after catching his aunt with a squirt gun.


















Getting the adults with the hose.












A pair of soaked cousins. Trust me, I'd just wrung out my shirt.

Of Yarn and Photography

I took a furlough day the other day (ours are voluntary, this year at least, and only one day makes the damage to the paycheck manageable) and Sibling-the-Elder and I went to a yarn festival.

I was less than thrilled by the festival. I'd signed up for email notifications, arranged a hotel, all sorts of things. Upon arriving at the location of the festival I was told, in stringent tones, there was a $10 entry fee and they only accepted cash at the gate. (Please note--the entry fee was never mentioned in the emails, I went back and looked.) Okay, fine, point me to an ATM. There was one inside but they weren't going to let me go in because people were cheats and liars and didn't come back to pay the entry fee. Yes, that's really what I was told. Nothing like being accused of being a cheat upon arrival. Finally, it was determined that another worker could walk me to/from the ATM. Considering that all I was getting for my really high entry fee was a walk through the vendors, I was disgruntled.

Once we achieved the vendors, who were sprawled out across a huge building in a seeming haphazard manner, I looked, but didn't buy. Can you believe I was actually not in a mood to buy yarn? I was nearly shaken out of it when we reached a vendor selling Blue Moon Fiber Arts Yarns. BMFA is on the west coast and I've never been in a shop that carried it. (The Master Sergeant and I have discussed a west coast trip for fishing and BMFA reasons.) Tina, the BMFA color-mistress, came up with a cool process of infusing black and white with hints of color and I wanted some of those yarns. Only, the vendor was complaining that they'd had inadequate time to set up and refused to let me in the booth to those yarns. Four hours to set up the day before, and it was nearly noon when I got to the booth. Disgruntled was deteriorating into peevish.

Ultimately I bought one skein of yarn, some beautiful green wool from New Zealand. And truly, most of the vendors were lovely, but I felt really turned off overall.

When we adjourned to the outside, there was good Polish food!! Despite my braces having been freshly tightened, Sibling-the-Elder and I packed away blini, potato pancakes, sausage and applesauce and loads of sour cream.

And then we adjourned to out front of the community college--to take pictures.

Sibling-the-Elder is quite a photographer and it had been nearly ten years since she'd last done a full shoot of me. Usually being in different states, if not continents, tends to do that. Here are a few of the pictures, we took over 400 and edited heavily. The yarn is the one skein I acquired that day.

Who Decided It Could Be June

I need their number because, seriously? June? Really? Practically LATE June no less?

I'm baffled that we're half way through 2009. I'm flabbergasted that the first week of summer reading has already zipped by--though I expect to be crawling home at the end of next week thankful that it's nearly July. Go figure. But it is time to revisit what goals I set myself.

Goals for 2009: 1) Use things -- I have tea, yarn, books...so many things that are here waiting for me. When they start feeling like clutter rather than things I enjoy, it's time to use up or get rid of rather than hold on indefinitely.

Where I'm at in June: I've brought five bags of books to work and sent them downstairs to the Friends Book Sale. And I still have LOTS of books at home. I'm starting to hone the collection though to ones I have read, enjoyed and will re-read. I've gone through most of the huge amount of tea that was residing and I burned a lot of candles, as that is what they are for. Yarn? Well....we won't talk about the yarn at the moment--though I did bring 30 skeins to a stash swap in March and didn't take anything home.

2) Knit for myself. I talk a lot about knitting but almost always it's for other people. Call it selfish but I want some warm woolly things for me.

Where I'm at in June: I finally finished the cowl I cast on for myself in January. I've started on a shawl. I just have to seam up an afghan that will be all wool and all for me! And I've come up with all sorts of things to make for other people.

3) Write for more than just my blog audience. I need a better collection of rejection emails and letters and possibly some acceptances too.

Where I'm at in June: I've come up with another book idea. I have very crazy looking post it notes that require at least a year's acquaintance with me to figure out what I'm talking about. My houseguest last weekend managed to translate it.

4) Scrapbook old papers. Not the incredibly matted, decorated, and beribboned, just the "here's a paper, here's something from junior high" with some notes on the side about why I kept it.

Where I'm at in June: Nothing here yet.

5) Survive braces....20 months to go. (14 ish left now?)

Where I'm at in June: Doing okay, not great but okay. Got the bottom braces on a week ago. Eating spaghetti is creative. I did invest in the platypus flossers and they are amazing and I love them. Rubber bands are a necessary but painful evil. Tylenol is wonderful.

6) Get my books into LibraryThing.

If I volunteered to have beverages and snacks, do you think I could get a flash cataloging mob at my apartment? It could be a small mob, maybe just of one other person to motivate me.

What about you? How are your goals coming?

Celebrating Me :)

A little shameless celebration of me. I was interviewed during the Knitting in Public day in March for an article in our regional knitting magazine.

The article is now available on page 27.

Yippee!

Mending in Action

I was prepared this particular trip to New York: I packed five pair of shoes. That this meant that I came home with somewhere around 8 blisters per foot should mean nothing. Really, someday my feet will re-adapt to hiking around a concrete jungle.

Three weekends ago I had company, AudioGirl came up to spend a weekend, and then I dashed off for the Brunette's 30th birthday. In between I hustled myself in to work, whisking through piles of paperwork as quickly as possible so I wouldn't be behind at the end of May and my frolicking about elsewhere. My desk doesn't look too bad.

My knee, on the other hand, has started turning shades of cranberry. We're none of us really sure how I acquired this spectacular beauty, though popular theory is that I slammed into one of the tables at Kush.

Day After















Today


Having AudioGirl here was delightful. We explored little restaurants, found a breakfast place no one had ever mentioned (a good one!!), and shopped. Somehow, between Sunday and Monday, it was decided I was buying a table we'd come across in the Antique Center downtown. I'd never considered "real" furniture an impulse buy, but when one finds such a fabulous wood table at half the cost of a similar laminate table at the nearby furniture store well..... The added bonus of someone to carry it up the stairs and wiggle it in and out of the car with me was there too.











And then a trip home. I spent a night out with the Blonde and ended up having a mini-college reunion while doing Karaoke. I blame my song choice of the evening on the pollen in the air, I didn't have anything like my usual voice and talked my way through a piece by one of the current pop princesses.

We went out for the Brunette's birthday and I spent the Memorial Day with Dee, reliving the last three years at high speed in front of a very confused and somewhat intrigued waiter. I don't think he had previously fathomed that we could maintain the rapidity of speech we held up for the entire meal. Why yes, everything's lovely and we'd adore another cup of tea.....

The only delay was coming home, Chicago was under heavy downpour, and I spent that portion of trip fully immersed in the only knitting project I'd taken with me.

In the course of the weekend I went through
2 mp3 players (forgot the battery charger, glad I took both!)
5 books (which meant I ran out of reading material on Monday)
1 journal (had to wait til I got home and dug out a new blank book)
2 editing projects (helps when you're out of reading material)
Many bandaids


As I kept muttering to myself while sitting on the plane from CHI to LSE--had I run out of yarn, someone would have been in trouble.

Can you believe tomorrow is June?

Taking Over Milwaukee

The Tech Sergeant (who is about to get a promotion and will have to be renamed) and I met in Milwaukee for a weekend of relaxation and exploration.

We both ducked out of our respective homes late Thursday, I driving east and he west. I had to beat him there as I was the one with the hotel reservation. I'd used Hotwire and we were staying at the Hilton City Center. We both chose to park at the hotel, coworkers had shared a couple of "scary parking stories" and we knew we'd have to pull the cars at least twice.

In true "watch us wilt at the same time," despite plans of immediately launching ourselves on the town, we both opted for beverages and catching up and a midnight bedtime. Painting Milwaukee red would have to wait.

Friday was absolutely perfect from a weather perspective, clear sunny and just warm enough. Armed with a map, we set off. We stopped at George Webbs for breakfast, good basic breakfast food and decent coffee. From breakfast it was off to the art museum. If you've never approached it, as you're walking east on Wisconsin Ave you wonder "Is that a boat? Oh it must be some kind of crazy yacht. No wait, that's a building, oh that's the art museum." Apparently Santiago Calatravas was to attempting to capture bird wings in flight--in steel. It's unusual. I wondered about trying to heat it (we were in Wisconsin), trying to clean the windows (no thanks) and what the acoustics were (it was too loud inside for me to get a clear sense of how higher pitched sounds would reverberate. TS thought my muted squeaking attempts amusing.)

We enjoyed the art museum and in grabbing beverages after TS discovered a lemonade that he would continue to drink all weekend, apparently it's locally made and tart enough to make his eyes water. I forwent the joy of my eyes watering too. We ventured to the war memorial, which was a little underwhelming, though we did like all of the historical war ads (Men! Join the clean plate club with your wives!).

From the museums we walked to the Historical Third Ward and did some shopping. He found an artist whose things he might purchase in the future and we "designed" two bathrooms and three kitchens. I like stainless steel accents, he prefers a warmer cozier look. Both of us like the idea of hidden fridges/dishwashers.

Then it was back to the hotel for a hat (coworker loaned me a Cubs cap for the trip) and to the shuttle. Out to the field and, loaded with beverages and hot dogs (later nachos) we took in the Cubs/Brewers game. Lots of fun with enthusiastic but not aggressive fans. A number of college student celebrating the end of finals. I did briefly wish I had some knitting with me but survived not having it. Despite the Cubbie loss we were able to go out and enjoy a couple of area bars.

Apparently neither of us were going to be able to sleep late on this mini-vacation, we were up and out early every day. First we took my car and headed north. I made him navigate to two yarn stores. He patiently accompanied me and we discussed the use of mohair as a fly-fishing tool, found some corn yarn that was pretty awesome, and debated different types of tools that I use for my craft. We also found a good bagel shop and I broke the "braces no bagels" rule. I've been good about following that directive but fresh bagels were not to be missed.

Then we got sort of turned around but managed to find our way to the Miller Brewing Company. We toured the factory, seeing just how many cases of beer they ship out each day. It was daunting to think of how much was shipped and consumed regularly from just that one location. Even more surprising: 40% of the products created there go directly and only to Chicago. I liked whatever they served us that had orange and coriander. Yes, I drink girly drinks.

We finished the day with dinner at Cafe La Scala. The food was excellent. And....we both overate on appetizers and salad and couldn't make it through our meals.

Back to the hotel and the TS asked me to show him how to knit. We had a couple of hours lag time so I walked him through the basics. Unfortunately I only had one set of needles with me, so we had to go back and forth but he picked up on it pretty fast. I agreed to learn fly-tying next time.

















And then we took his car out late to see the new Star Trek movie. Being as I was without computer, I'd called the Milwaukee Public Library for help on who was showing it where. We ended up at the Oriental Theater. Wow--what a theater!! (sorry the pics are blurry, they said pictures were okay if I didn't use the flash) Huge, "theater" style rather than what I would think of movie style seating, red velvet curtain, 7' Buddhas, elephants....

Oh, and the movie was pretty awesome too! If you like Star Trek at all, I'd recommend that you go see it. It pays tribute without being super cheesy or trying to be too much it's own thing. And the cameo appearance elicited a couple of cheers.

Coming out of the theater we ran into people coming in for Rocky Horror, which was apparently being shown around 12 a.m. I could not convince the TS that we needed to stay for a late night double feature picture show, to have a toast, or do the time warp.

Sunday was breakfast and back to the Third Ward to hit the Public Market. I'd already loaded up on goodies from a local chocolatier but cheese and curds going home with the TS had to wait until we were ready to go. (No fridge in the hotel room). After Starbucks and watching many little ducklings swim around the river, we got on the road.

I made it home and promptly took a nap. Apparently he went by a Bass Pro shop on the way home.

We're already making plans for next year.

One Eye Open...

The Tech Sergeant rang early enough this morning that I was not yet out of bed. As many of you know, this is not a disturbance I take lightly, particularly when I wake up sounding like a frog courtesy of spring allergies.

Fortunately, as I later noted, he's on the short list of people who do not face full hedgehog wrath when I'm awoken in such a state. And if you have to ask, you're not on the list. But in case you wondered what hedgehog wrath looks like, I share with you my bad drawing skills.

State of the Hedgehog

I keep starting posts and not finishing them. I really must clean out that draft folder. Wittiness, wisdom, and hedgehoggy humor await their turn in the spotlight.

Just a quick update on things here.

I'm swimming in yarn again at work. People very generously to donate to the kids group and I hit a garage sale with Our Lady of the Business Office on Friday. It's mostly acrylic but it is bright colors and that's important to my kids. Renewed swimming is good--because we were starting to run low. The kids have gone through a TON of yarn this spring and we still have a month.

But then I'm also swimming in yarn at home, which might not be as good. If anyone thinks I'm jesting, check out the Flickr set. Though a fair number of those have been knitted up or donated or sent away (about 55, look for the gone/used tag), the majority are still taking over the den. This whole life thing, it gets in the way of my knitting time.

I'm taking a Digital Content Management Course, or will be as soon as we figure out why I'm not getting the lessons. I've emailed, hoping for a prompt answer.

Databases are steady but not in the frantic sense of last month. We've figured out some calculations that should make life much easier and less complicated for New York--yay!! Taking three-four hours out of my Managing Editor's monthly tabulations = win.

I read four books over the weekend, one of them an audiobook and yes, about 8 of the 9.5 hours was listened to between Saturday and Sunday. I'm knitting a shrug for a Raccoon offspring and needed something to focus on during all that K1P1 ribbing. John Flanagan and John Keating (Ranger's Apprentice series available from Recorded Books) are a wickedly awesome combination and now I'm sad that I have to wait until book five comes in and goes through the other two people before me on the hold list. Yes, I could grab the hardcover copy over in teen but I've found with this series I really prefer to listen. At least it's coming in and book six will be here in August, just as I fall down after summer reading.

I confirmed again today with my orthodontist that I really don't want oral surgery. He seems to think not having it was his idea. It wasn't. Band date for lower half of the mouth: June 12, which is the day before summer reading kicks off. I'll be having Advil for breakfast and lunch that Saturday.

Summer Reading is coming and I feel pretty good about it. I'm seeing how many creative ways we can use up a ton of tissue paper (gift wrap kind, not bathroom). It is going to be awesome, promise.

I've almost found my desk---which gets me back to weeding by the end of today!! Hoping to get through the chapterbook collection before summer reading starts. Cross your fingers for me.

Holiday Wool....

The more I knit, the more ideas I get of things I should knit for people for Christmas. So then I cast those projects on and think of more things. It's a loop that is set to run right up until around 6 p.m. Christmas day--when I'll probably have seen all of the people who are receiving Christmas knits. At which point I'll have to start after-Christmas knits (maybe some stuff for me?) because a) I live in freezing Wisconsin and b) my hands will be so used to constantly knitting that I'll have to work on something to maintain my sanity.

No, unfortunately I'm not joking. I knitted pretty much non-stop last year in December and by the time I finished the holiday projects I was quite literally unable to just sit and converse. Fortunately, the Incredibly Patient Mother had some knitting tucked away that I could work on to keep from just sitting in a very fidgety manner.

Things to note: I never want to knit another pair of gloves ever again in my entire life. Sibling-the-Younger requested a pair and while this was a first from a family member (knitted request), I don't think I'll be doing more of these any time soon. I can do a pair of fingerless mitts in about 8 hours. With fingers nearly doubles the time and I had 9 double pointed knitting needles in one glove at one point.

I am trying a new pattern for a number of gifts this year: Turn a Square by Jared Flood. Jared's patterns have been received with high acclaim and this one is pretty addictive. Of course, I did have to come in this morning with one of the finished products and track down a couple of male coworkers to double check size but I certainly would recommend this pattern! The rest of the knitting world is doing the Noro scarf (again, Jared Flood) --- I'm making hats. Hey, they only take 3-4 hours. Another coworker seemed stunned when I mentioned how long they take to make. Yes, there's time involved, which is why I'm knitting mostly for people I am closely related to. But it's four hours of time at home, with an audiobook or a movie or a friend on the phone. When I finally catch up with the Tech Sergeant, it's good to be able to sit down and knit something moderately mindless while I'm hearing all the details.

So, that's my plan for December. Me and the wool.

Hopped up on Wool Fumes and Girl Scout Cookies

Welcome to anyone wandering over from the Lime and Violet show notes (wow...I made the show notes). And don't worry, I still have a ridiculous amount of knitting left to do for Christmas. I just have the bags done.

I had a small adventure yesterday. One of my local yarn stores (if you count a 40 minute drive local) was having her holiday open house. Katherine always has delightful stuff and her store atmosphere is warm and welcoming. AND it was my first day off in two weeks. Guess what went on my calendar in capital letters.

Only, I didn't much like the prospect of driving down alone. I put out an email to the local yarn mavens, who amazingly all avoided the temptation. Thus with only one seat taken in the car by someone it's best I not write about at length, I started calling the kids from the knitting group I ran at the library earlier this year. In short order I was supplied with a backseat full of giggly girls.

I picked the girls up first and tossed a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints into the back seat. There would be snacks when we got there but I figured cookies for the road was worth the vacuuming that would need to be done. And we were off! It's a lovely drive between La Crosse and Viroqua, especially with a sunset out the rearview mirror (which I kept checking to make no one was actually strangling each other).

We got to the store and the girls were given a couple of ettiquette points--this being their first trip into a "real" yarn store. We swept in and they were almost instantly overwhelmed. Here was not just one or two aisles of yarn, most of it being of the acrylic or fun fur variety (although I have to say Hobby Lobby has a pretty sweet collection of dishcloth cotton). Here were walls and walls of wool--in far more varities than I'd brought them to see from my stash.

I let the girls browse for a little while and ask questions and then lured them away from the snack table. I told them they each could spend $10 on yarn or supplies and I'd pay for it. Now--it was browsing with a purpose.

There was a lot of education going on--why was this yarn so much more than that yarn? What was so special about a $50/skein of yarn with bison wool in it? Why was there balls of fiber on the wall? Could you knit with that?

I let everyone browse for about an hour--and then it was time to check out so we could get back at a reasonable time. Stuffed further with cheese and crackers, the girls hugged their purchases and we headed to the car. You'd think they'd have been quieter on the ride home. Nope! Much giggling ensued. Little Brunette cast on a number of stitches with the yarn and needles she'd gotten (green wool with purple knitting needles) and knitted aimlessly. Little Blonde had gotten a boucle that I imagine will be a hat the next time I see her. And the Little Redhead found red handspun that she couldn't live without.

I got some handdyed sock yarn and needles to finish Christmas projects--which I had best go and do since it's one of my days off.

On a November Afternoon

The weather was a dreary harbinger of more days to come, gray and overcast. There were moments of precipitation and times where peering out the window made me wonder if it was smoke, wind, snow, or just imagination blowing past.

There was a lot of be done--piles of housework, freelance work, and Christmas knitting all waiting. There were many books to be read, a number of which would need review upon completion. The tea had long since gone cold. There was only a weak half cup left anyway and that was from a couple of hours ago.

I would just read one chapter. A treat to myself before I settled into the things that needed be done this dim November day. Already I'd acknowledged ruefully that I was getting ready physically for winter. A quick trip to the post officer earlier in the day had found me fully accepting of the fact that it was 36 degrees--and this felt "warm."

I sat in the almost rocking chair, staring out at the gray. Trying to reconcile with myself the muted feelings of the weather and the very real to do list waiting. And finally, like sinking into the comfort of a blanket I refused to acknowledge I needed, I crawled back into the book. Just one more sub-section, I promised. One more essay.

And here among the pages I found someone who understood. Whose experiences were far different from my own--whose life bore little resemblance to my own--but who understood. Who empathized unapologetically with why half of my den resembled a yarn store. Who didn't think it strange or a waste of time to hand craft a good half of my Christmas gifts, even if that meant the knowledge that I would be quite frantically knitting right up until Christmas Eve or Day (depending on what time on Christmas Day I would see the recipient).

I tried to break the spell. I got up and did a sinkload of dishes. I took a hot shower. And then crept again to the chair and the book. Promising myself just a few minutes more.

As a result, it's now evening, my to do list still stretches before me. As night comes early, it's been dark for a couple of hours now. I have a fresh cup of tea now and wet hair because it takes forever to dry. Closing the book after finishing the last page was a little bit saddening, but the sadness that comes when a good friend must leave after a satisfactory visit. I know I'll have the chance to visit again.

Such is the contentment after finishing Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's latest work Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again.

Making Changes...

It seems to be quite the month for change, this month of October where the weather can't decide if it's actually fall or some other month not to be determined (we've had everything from April to December). Not only did I add braces, I also cut my hair.

This doesn't sound particularly life changing unless you've known me for a number of years. I've had waist length hair since grade school.

And then, on an almost spur of the moment before the Brunette's wedding, an extremely wonderful hairdresser named Olga cut eleven inches of hair off. It was in the back of my mind that I might consider it when I went in for the first trim I'd gotten from her in a long time. Moving half-way across the country from your trusted hairdresser is not something I recommend.

The cut off locks will be donated when I can round up an envelope and get myself to the post office. As certain friends can attest, I'm not very good at mailing packages in a prompt fashion. So now I give you the update and some commentary.

Before:













After:













Thoughts on the Process:

1) If you are not the person who is considering donation, it is the extremely rude to approach someone--either friend or total stranger--and suggest to them that they should cut their hair and donate it. Chances are very good that some other impolite (and usually short haired) person has already tried to shove the suggestion down their throat and they're really not interested in hearing about it for the fourteenth time. If it's not your hair, it's not your decision or place to comment. Stop it.
1a) Do not force children to do this against their will. Either the growing out of the hair or the cutting.

2) If you're going to donate, I suggest that you plan to cut off twelve inches. Locks of Love requires ten inch lengths, so your hairdresser may need to cut off eleven and then another inch off in making it look fabulous. Pantene also accepts hair donations.

3) Find a hairdresser to stick with during this process--changing to someone new may very well mean starting from scratch. I've met too many hairdressers who "think they know best." Olga had been cutting my hair for four years.

4) Think about major events. Is anyone getting married in the next year or two who will a) kill if you cut your hair before it happens or b) will require you to get an up-do? Are you doing anything with your hair involving the word "bleach" or "permanent"? Note: you can do a lot of cool up dos with long hair .

5) Everyone has their reasons for cutting or not cutting their hair. It's your choice, it's your hair. I'm of the belief that hair should be kept healthy and shouldn't be causing you headaches/neck problems.

Many people assume it's much easier to deal with shorter hair, care for, etc etc. So far--it's actually been a little harder. I can't get my hair up into a bun or a french braid easily and the ponytail crimp is a lot worse. I get annoyed when it's in my face so it's either down for half the day and then wadded into a ponytail or it's just up in a ponytail. I'm going to look for some butterfly clips or smaller barrettes but have yet to hit a Claire's.

Everyone Needs a Good Car Guy....

When I got back from NY late Sunday night and hopped into my car I noticed a strange new sound. The Gecko (one green pontiac) screeching generally is not a good thing and when it happened again on Monday--I called my garage. Dropped it off this morning, heard by 10:30 the diagnosis (new front breaks), and picked it up at 12:45 p.m. The car is running even more quietly than I'm used to and I know I have fresh brakes for trip to the Incredibly-Patient-Mother's next month. But it got me thinking about people I regularly rely on--because in CHI, I didn't have regular "car guys" and that resulted in issues we won't go into.

People Everyone Needs (or at least I do...)

1) Someone you can call/text/IM at 3 a.m. for advice --double points if they'll come over.

2) Reliable car repair people --someone who is honest about the cost, understands you don't always know the innards of your car, and can get things fixed without it taking forever.

3) Someone you trust with scissors/razor/curling iron. Occasionally we all need a trim, up-do, and--in my case--three inches off the bottom and layers please?

4) Someone who will assist in the pampering of you: massage therapist, nail specialist, chiropracter: whatever is your preferred method of self-indulgence. It's good for the body, good for the self esteem, good for the soul.

5) A friend who understands your hobby/collection. We all have something.

6) Someone with very different interests than yours. They help you find new things to discuss whether it be Cold War architecture, Oprah book club selections, fly-fishing. It also makes you come up with good analogies: I use handdyed yarn, they use hand tied flies.

Anyone I missed?

Writing...just not always online

Perhaps because it's summer and I've got the same lazy attitude of our students. Perhaps because there has been summer reading program (albeit much less stressful this year). But I like to think that I haven't been blogging as much because of other writing projects. Capturing my words cannot always be done in a public forum and this has been one of those times.

My most recent 'brilliant idea' is to write a thousand words on each of a number of people who have influenced me or about whom I have a strong memory. These are summaries of friendships now gone by the wayside, coworkers with whom I've lost contact, or casual acquaintances where I can still remember being a thorn in their side.

One memory I want to capture is of a resident supervisor I knew during undergrad. He was a graduate student about whom none of us knew very much. One night, as I sat in the building lobby chatting with friends I saw him and called out to him. He sighed and turned, waiting for one of the infamous questions I would drop on him.

"Yeah?" he asked, waiting to hear some strange challenge to long time policy.

"I need a hug."

You could see palpable relief as he extended his arms and I dashed over into them. He headed off then and I went back to those friends, who were now staring at me. They'd never considered that he was a huggable person. Their loss--he gave awesome hugs.

Though I doubt it's a memory he probably shares (one hug in the middle of a dorm lobby?), it's something I want to capture. For their privacy though, I will keep these thoughts offline, because these will be real people and real events--as best as my memory will serve.

But that's what I'm working on--what are you up to?

What is Growing in Alongside my Roses?

Despite the fact that I have roses blooming, I'm not particularly inclined to have a green thumb. (Pay no attention to the 17 other plants growing in my apartment--anyone need a spider plant?) I can't keep an African Violet alive for money or chocolate.

I re-potted this little mini rose from the container the Ex had given it to me in recently. Now it's growing something else too. What's it growing and should I pull it out of the container?

Persistent Frivolity (or...Finding the Book I Was Looking For)

When I was in junior high/high school, I read through silhouette romances like one might expect teens today to go through magazines and TMZ entries--REALLY fast. The librarian in charge of buying them at the time (also, incidentally the teen librarian) was really good about getting new ones in and swapping things out so I almost always could find ones I hadn't read before. No question that those things circulated. :)

There was one I really really liked. And I've been on the hunt for it for about a year or so. This evening, in an amazing effort to waste my own time, I went looking again.

AND I FOUND IT! I ended up going to PaperBackSwap and scrolling through all the Series: Silhouette Romance (MANY titles...alphabetically) and suddenly a title looked correct. I plugged it into a search engine and within seconds had confirmed it.

Husband Next Door by Anne Ha

While this may not have been the most efficient way of locating the book, considering all of my other searches have been amazingly fruitless--I'll take this! There was even a copy on PBS so I've ordered it and hopefully it will be here soon. Otherwise, I may have to look for used copy on Amazon.

Happy dance as I enjoy my frivolity.