Can you handle me the way I are?

Timbaland, Weezer was right, you know the way to reach the top of the charts. I bow down to you sir, you have re-ignited my need to get my jog on. Unfortunately, it's a bit to late for that tonight. I need to get myself into bed soon. Ugh. Effing opens. Oh man, I want to sleep in so bad. I can't wait for the upcoming sleep-filled days. Jogging will come back in full force in September I suppose.

Drinking some green ginger and poppin' marshmallows. I swear to you, this is the best just before bed snack. On a related note, I found vegetarian marshmallows. It looks like you can order them online. I'm just happy with my gelatin based squishy treats, but others may wish to check it out:

http://www.veganessentials.com

This is just one of perhaps many sites catering to you folks. Apparently the need for gelatin-free marshmallows is greater than I first thought.

I was trying to find a book at the library to entertain me at the cottage. I searched on their site, I narrowed down my choices, then I went to hold the title and a pleasant red message in capital letters told me "THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH YOUR ACCOUNT. PLEASE SEE A LIBRARIAN". It was pushy, and in my opinion, a little over the top. Simmer down library. I bet it's just something stupid like I need to update my information. This happens to me every time I use their website. I should just give up and waddle my way down the street and see the books in person.

Finished the first mitten, except for the thumb. I figure that will be a nice way to start my car ride.

Until we meet again,

Onward,

vrock

Fat bottom girls you make the rockin' world go 'round

Dear readers,

I will be out of town for a few days, I'm leaving for the cottage on Friday evening. I will be back on Monday. Please don't rob me while I'm gone. My very large dog might just take a chunk out of you, she's staying home to entertain my mom, and neither of them like visitors.

I will be knitting in the car on the way there, at least 2 glorious hours of uninterrupted knitting time. Not sure if I get car sick from knitting/reading a pattern, I will report back. Pictures to follow. I will be sleeping in and not working for 3 whole days. This hasn't happened to me all summer readers. The fuzzy-headed boy thinks I've lost my marbles for doing this to myself, but he also thinks I shouldn't knit in a movie theatre. Knitting forever, hollah! I think he might be right though, only a month and a half left of this super-working. With months of it behind me, I don't even have a solid gold house or a rocket car to show for it. The fuzzy-headed boy was right, but he will enjoy living off my riches when it's birthday season.

Almost done the first let it snow mitten, the "let it" one. I will probably finish it before I leave and start the second one for the journey. I'm thinking I could whip up a pair of these for a sister or two, maybe not the exact same ones, but something similarly cutesy.

And that is all. I have to go to bed. It's only 9:24pm. Please don't laugh, or I'll call you at home at 4am and you can get up with me. We'll take our first break together at about 7am, after we've already worked for more than 2 hours, and watch the sun come up. Mmmm.

Fire-toasted marshmallows for all (except fuzzy-head and Anonymous, sorry)!

Onward,

vrock

I want it, I want it, I want it, me, me, ME!

The humble beginnings of my "let it snow" mittens. I started with checking my gauge, the most tedious and time-wasting of activities



Renate as she first arrived, putting on her knitting face.






Catherine, after I let her pose so there would be no "in the middle of knitting and looking down" double chin



Renate, on the comfy chairs. We made a speedy move towards them after initially sitting on rigid and UNcomfy wooden chairs.











The fuzzy-headed boy made a guest appearance at knitting to remind me of our movie date following my knitting party. ps. the clone wars movie was disappointing.







It looks like you, my faithful readers, will only get to see the pictures above. Blogger isn't agreeing with me right now, so the other half of my pictures will have to come another time. Le sigh <- french sigh.



It appears that I'm a big dirty liar! Victory is mine! The picture to your left is of the food Peter thought we would like to eat. He was the bringer of tasty treats all night. However, after our snacks of delicious Asian things that Catherine brought, we were unable to finish the warmed chocolate chip cookies with whipped cream and caramel drizzle. Shame.


And now, my pride and joy, my new and exciting two-colour project! Look at the fine craftsmanship, the delicate work, the attention to detail. Fabulous.





Ooooo. Ahhhhh. It's so wintery!








That's about all I can stand of blogger tonight, loading pictures really takes it out of me. I hope you enjoyed this visual sneak peak into the world of vrock. Oh heck, one more:




It's Sassy!







Knitting party + star wars at some point. When are you free my lovelies? Catherine, Anonymous, I'm talking to you.

Onward,

vrock

Revamping my love affair...

With double pointed needles! A set of 5! I feel so European. And they're bamboo, which only adds to the wonder. Started work on my let it snow mittens (in the fall edition of Vogue Knitting now!). I have learned how to knit with two colours, one in each hand. I am very proud of myself. As Catherine will happily point out to anyone, I'm a thrower and this doesn't translate well to stepping outside of my knitting comfort zone and all-of-a-sudden NOT throwing my yarn. Pictures to follow from this week's knitting meeting and a little knit session of my own with my old friend Olympic coverage.

Sneezing like the dickens lately, I have yet to conclude what late summer pollen-maker keeps me so miserable, but I can't wait for the first frost to kill all the little beasties. I thought the sneezing was from my cotton-angora blend sweater vest (and it may still have something to do with it), but I think it's more likely that I'm just allergic to life.

Working at two backyard parties tomorrow. The one I'm going to is the first party where I have been the main contact person for the client, and I am the one she addresses all her whining emails to. Tracy worries a little bit too much about things, she hired us for a reason, if she wanted to freak out about her party she should have enlisted a friend who cooks to feed her 30 closest friends (they are my favourite alternative to hiring catering professionals).

The Slim Jim left yesterday, and from what I gather, she won't be home anytime soon. I think her plans are to only come home on major holidays, or when she runs out of food. Have a good schooling Slimmers, we'll see you at Christmas.

Onward,

vrock

I am smitten with mittens

Picked up your Fall issue of Vogue Knitting yet? Oh, when you do, turn to page 30 and skim down to the second paragraph. The article doesn't do me nearly enough justice, but this little blurb about Romni Wools includes a shout-out to vrock! Kind of. During our trip to T.O., we spent the most time at Romni, and we spoke with the fantastic knitting shop keep (who I can only assume now is the owner), and I mentioned that when I die, I want my ashes scattered at Romni Wools. The sentence from Vogue Knitting, as told by the owner, says "One woman told me that when she dies, her only request is that we sprinkle her ashes in the store." THAT WAS ME!! I am in Vogue Knitting! Line up now, I will happily sign your copies of the magazine, Catherine got the first official autograph but you can be the second!

In other non-celebrity news, I am tackling my knitting projects slowly by surely. I don't think I could ever be a professional knitter, my little fingies just can't handle the pressure. Plus, I'm very sure that the angora/cotton blend I'm using for my sweater vest makes me sneeze. Don't be alarmed, a lot of things make me sneeze, and it might just be from the little fibre fluffies that are coming off as I knit. I'm hoping it will stop once I've washed it. I will totally wear it with pride either way.

House flies are very dim. I just found out that vibrating/buzzing sound they occasionally make happens when they flip onto their backs and can't get up. I would feel sorry for them if they weren't so stupid.

Knitting and hanging out with the Slim Jim now. Olympics!!!

Onward,

vrock

I've got soul baby

This is why I live for the olympics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd5VEHEaVWs&feature=related

Thank you nike for combining a song that gives me chills with everything I love about that magical time that only comes around every other year.

onward,

vrock

Pull up your big girl panties and get back in the game

Baby shower for ex-manager tomorrow. I skimmed $10 off everyone's tips today to fund the communal gift from her former employees. We've scraped together enough for a reasonable gift, although it was like pulling teeth to get money from everyone. It's like this with every group thing we've ever tried to do. Since everyone works at different times and on different days, there is no best way to get a message to everyone. I at least hope we have a good turnout tomorrow. I will feel awkward and embarrassed if it's only me and bossman and the two former employers I know are coming. Everyone else has given me non-committal responses. These classic lines include:
"I'll see if I can make it...*shifty eyes*"
"I'd love to STOP BY ...*which quite literally means stopping in, saying hi and leaving*"
"Oh, THIS Wednesday? I'll get back to you...."
and so on and so forth.

Come on co-workers! She's having a freakin' baby! And while I whole-heartedly disagree with reproducing, some people are into that, and we should celebrate our differences. Babies are gross, but there won't be any babies at this baby shower, this is the only reason I even agreed to attend. And also, because I am making a cake, and only those who show up may have any. HA.

For more valuable information on why babies are gross, please visit this site:
http://www.cracked.com/article_16508_6-terrifying-things-they-dont-tell-you-about-childbirth.html

And thank you goes out to the fuzzy-headed boy for sharing this with the world.

Knitting tonight with my afternoon off. I will be changing back into PJs shortly for a nap, followed by knitting and maybe some Slim Jim hangouts before she goes to yoga.

In knitting project news, I "blocked" my first blanket square (and by blocked, I mean what I believe to be blocking as I've never done it before. I managed not to screw it up; nothing caught on fire, so I give blocking a thumbs up). I pinned it to my futon in the spare room and let it dry in a square shape. One down, eleven more to go!

Eat now or starve

Sunday morning. Not even 9am yet. Working today at 3 until close, followed by a mid shift on holiday Monday. I know holiday weekends, I have previously written about the kind of customer you can expect on a holiday weekend. The Saturday and Sunday are a little different. Most normal weekends bring out the morons. My store is unfortunately next to shopping areas and a movie theatre, and everyday wal-mart quality people make a say trip to the home depot with their son Cody and their little princess Jessica and they stare at the menu board, and pick the drink with a picture (aka the promo drink I outwardly support but think was a terrible drink that just takes us one more step away from real coffee). Then they have to be told to waddle their front-butts down to the other end of the counter to pick up their drinks, since they only come here once in a blue moon and are oblivious to the other customers NOT hovering around the till for drinks. They then push their way to the front of the drink line and ask if every drink I'm putting up belongs to them:
"Is this mine?"
"I'm not sure, what did you order?"
"Oh I don't remember, something with coffee"
"That could be a lot of things, THIS drink is a latte"
"Oh. Well I that's not what I ordered"
"Then this drink is not yours"

And so on and so forth. My other favourite scenario that pops up only on weekends: customer takes the first drink I put up, which is CLEARLY not what they ordered. They waddle away, and the poor customer who actually ordered that drink stands there for a few extra minutes waiting for a drink that will never show up. Sometimes the original moron will return with the drink they grabbed and accuse me of goofing their order. I smile sweetly, ask what they ordered, and tell then they took someone else's drink. "Oh goodness! I feel so foolish! * looks around frantically for the poor soul who is without a drink because of them * Look! I didn't even drink out of it! I just put a whole bunch of extra sweeteners in it, it's still fine."

And so on and so forth.

Planning to book off the next holiday weekend and join the fuzzy-headed boy and his entourage at the cottage. It will be the first holiday weekend I've had off in the last year. I wonder what they will do without me. Perhaps bossman will have to work in my place. Or maybe by then they will find a new minion to do all of their bidding. I cannot be everything for everyone.

Onward,

vrock

I made a funny

Here we go again. My blog, I am a little bit in love with you, I've proudly shown you off to friends and family alike, and maybe that loyal fan-base will keep the blog fires burning.

Just got back home from a jog, stopped off at Len's to visit the sister thing. I have possibly recruited another member to my S&B, but we'll see if she shows up on Tuesday. So many people hear about my group and say "that's so awesome, I would love to learn how to knit", but unfortunately, they either never show up, or come once, learn to knit, and give up. I think my group needs so more solid knitters/crocheters who are eager to knit in public with others and share their knowledge. That is exactly what my group has become: a small loyal group of awesome people (shout-outs to Renate and Catherine) who meet up to share knitting insider info. I couldn't have completed/started some of my more recent projects without their help. If there are knitters out there who are stuck in a non-knitting rut, join us!

Listening to the fuzzy-headed boy's podcast as I type this. It's almost frustrating because I want to join in his conversation with Tyler, but I clearly can't because they recorded this yesterday. It's just weird because I know both of them. I should be a guest podcaster. See that boys? Invite me to guest podcast.

In working news, one of my underlings complained about me to the bossman, saying I spend too much time in the back room/office. The depth of my frustration cannot be understood by anyone, I am so mad about this. My job as a worker bee keeper involves me running around like a moron to solve all their problems. Some of their problems can be solved from the back room, example: the phone rings and the workers out front won't put two and two together to answer it (or they answer it and immediately pawn off all responsibility on to me), I take over the phone, which leads me to the back for some quiet to listen to the customer on the phone. Another one of my favourite situations is keeping myself informed about the goings on at the bux. I'm one of a small group at my store who actually read the press releases and action items to know what's going with the company/at the store. This is why I can answer all of your questions, because it is my job to be informed and to be a step ahead of you. I get paid a measly $2 more an hour than the lowest new hire, and I am regularly doing 3 times the work. More than anything, I'm irritated that someone thinks I'm not doing my job. I do a better job than so many of my co-workers, and I can almost guarantee the person who thinks I'm not doing my job is someone who doesn't work very hard at all. Frustration. Bossman's improve-on-this-to-be-a-better-leader" solution is to communicate my actions to the team before I go in the back. Example: "Hey team, I'm going to the back for approximately 3 minutes to call around to other stores to get supplies for us to make it through the weekend. Is everyone OK with that?" I like the idea of improving myself through this, but I do not agree with the initial complaint. The worker bees need to understand my position before griping about why I'm not on the floor.

On the plus side, in 2 weeks I will be attending a focus-group-style meeting about my work position with the company, what we think about how the job description measures up to the reality of my work. I love giving feedback. I firmly believe in the comment card and all it stands for. Prepare for some honest feedback Big A.

Onward,

vrock