Knitting

So I recently taught myself to knit! Wohoo! I was browsing through the library one day and this book caught me eye - it was called Stitch N Bitch and it sounded humorous and it is was an instruction manual to teach someone how to stitch - anyways I thought I would try it and now I am hooked!

Not only is it a stress reliever - it also gets me off the of the computer - on average I spend over 8 hours a day typing and designing away at work and then come home and spend more time surfing the web - not so good on the eyes. And it feels good to make something tactile for once besides paper based stuff (invites, posters, etc etc - visit my online portfolio to see samples) - AND I can make nifty christmas presents now!

I finished one scarf already and am working on my second!(see image to the right of husband modeling Scarf #1)

Here We Go A Wassailing!

Today I went Black Friday shopping - but here's the kicker - not until about 10:30 AM (I had planned to get up early and go shopping in Lafayette - but Thanksgiving wore me out completely so I decided to go back to Indy with Matthew - sleep in my own bed - take my time getting up and mosie around) and I mainly shopped at local stores - it was great! (I must admit that I did sneak into Borders, Lowes and Linen's and Things but that was it!)

Why was it so great you may ask? Well, let me count the ways!

1. These local shops were NO WHERE NEAR as crowded as what Target, Walmart, etc was.

2. In some instances I was the only customer and the person working had all the time in the world to help me.

3. The local shops had items that you cannot find anywhere else.
(great unique gifts at great prices) and plus it supports local business people which builds the community

4. No hassle parking - even on Black Friday. (when I drove greenwood park mall I saw cars parking up on the grass around the parking lots - CRAZY!)

5. Half of the stores I visited served Wassail or Hot Cider and treats - great for a mid-afternoon shopping pick-me-up! It was MARVELOUS!

Where did I visit?
-Imagination Station, in downtown Franklin
-Karen Mercer Interiors, Southport
-Take Root Simply Country Store, Old Towne Greenwood
-Kira's Cottage, Downtown Franklin
-A Certain Charm, Downtown Franklin

The Not-So Smooth Ride Home

Ok, so my first note was all hopeful and happy about my choice to ride bus - and I did mention how I still had the ride home yet...

Well - it was AWFUL.

I missed the 12:20 bus apparently because I did not see a bus from 12:23 or so until 12:54 - that was a nice long wait. But, alas, it was my fault - I could not pry myself away from my coworkers at lunch and so I was minutes late for the bus.

And apparently the 12:50 (which was supposed to come at 12:40) bus is a slightly different route than the 12:20 bus.

Clue #1 it was a different driver and he was mean.
Clue #2 when we arrived at the greenwood mall (one mile from the stop I wanted to get off at) we were just sitting there after the other passengers got off and the bus driver turned around and looked at me and raised his eyebrows all mean-like and so I looked around and realized that it was just me left and then looked back and him and he said, "so, where are you going?" I said that I wanted off at the Kmart stop off of 31 - he interrupted me and was all like "31 and what?"

Surprised since it is a stop on the route - I looked at him blankly - and he continued to look at me annoyed.

I told him that this was the bus that picked me up from that stop so why are we not going there - and he proceeded to tell me some crap about this being a different route.

I printed off about 15 pages of information about this route and the bus system last night and read through it twice. I do not remember seeing ANYTHING about two different greenwood routes.

he was going on about an "A" route - when I stopped him and said well, what am I supposed to now?

He told me that these smaller buses that come here can shuttle me over -and as I looked to where he was pointing the small bus pulled away and left.

Aggravated and upset I told the lovely man "thank you" in a not so thankful tone and got off the bus and proceeded across the freaking mile long parking lot to the Mall where I hung out at Barnes and Nobles until Laura came and picked me up.

I could have just waited for the little shuttle bus to come back on its next round but I was clearly upset and Laura was coming home anyway so I opted out of the bus ride.

Sigh.

I am going to reread over the stupid route paperwork I have and probably call the number they list to figure out what the heck happened.

Blah!

thank goodness for good friends!

Riding the Bus

So I rode the bus to work today.

It was not as weird as I thought it was going to be.

There is a route that runs from the Kmart about a mile from our house to downtown where I work - and with gas prices the way the are and me being on my "green" kick - I thought I would try it. Of course, I had all these preconceived notions in my head about how it was going to be. And some were true - but most weren't.

1. The bus ride WAS cold. I swear they still had the AC on.
2. People who ride the bus are NOT all weird - there are some - but 95% are normal or as normal as we get. :)
3. The bus driver was NOT mean when I could not figure out how to get my crumpled dollars bills to feed into the machine - in fact he was very nice.
4. And I WAS able to find my stop once we got downtown - in fact the super nice bus driver announced each new stop ahead of time which is lovely for first timers like me.
5. The bus did NOT smell.
6. The bus was NOT dirty.

In fact it was a very pleasant ride - I just got to sit there and enjoy the sights out the window and listen to the pleasant morning conversations between the bus regulars instead of fighting morning rush hour traffic along in my car.

I am not sure if I am willing to give up my monthly parking pass to the downtown garage quite yet but I think I could ride the bus at least 50% of the time each month - saving at least $67 in gas each month.

Now granted I have not actually rode home from work yet - so that is another experience in the making - and I am not sure how I am going to like the two or three block walk to the bus stop after a snow or ice storm this winter - but we will make those decisions when they come. For now I can at least say that I tried it and that I liked it. :)

Our First Halloween as Homeowners

Being a homeowner has its ups and downs. Downs including waiting until 2009 until our homestead tax reduction kicks in since we could not apply for them until we moved in which was April and we did, but they won't take effect until good old 2009 - so that is an extra $200 a month tacked on to our escrow. Anyways, one of the more recent "ups" came around Halloween. For once we will finally have Trick-or-Treaters! For the past 4 years we have lived in apartment complexes my husband and I have always dressed up and stocked up on candy for potential Trick-or-Treaters and each year we are sadly disappointed. One year we almost had a visitor come up to the third floor of our building but they quickly turned away after hearing the crazed barking of our harmless but mean-sounding mutts. Well, this year we have a house in a neighborhood filled with families with two or three kids each - all in the trick-or-treat age-range! So we stocked up, two or three large bags of chocolate and assorted candies - bought some outdoor decor, carved our pumpkins, and switched on our front door light. This year we got what we wanted - trick-or-treaters out the ying-yang. They started showing up promptly at 6PM and we ran out candy before 8PM - had to start limiting how much we handed out (picture little tots with sad eyes as we only hand out one piece - one little girl even asked for more!) and when the last piece was gone we had to turn off the light to discourage more visitors. It was crazy! And everyone had great things to say about our creatively carved pumpkins. No one could believe they were real - but real they are!