rhymes with spoon

I'm trying oh so very hard to be more organized and thoughtful this year. It's taken me an entire week but I've got my craft space (nearly) reorganized and put together a HUGE list of projects to work through this year. The local Joanns also happened to have a 5 Simplicity patterns for $5 sale which resulted in a pattern binge. Mostly on apparel patterns but plenty of other stuff too.

This box may look like a mess but in it are stacks of fabrics matched up with patterns in nice big plastic bags. I'm keeping it right by the door so I walk by it often and every time I want to start something new, I just need to scrounge around the box. My goal is to have the box empty by the end of the year. I'm gonna try my best to make it happen but first I gotta get used to this work schedule. I'm too tired to do much of anything (including blogging) when I get home from work. Hopefully that will change soon....very soon!

Sleep on the brain. You know how I know? Because I am obsessed with making pillowcases and PJs.

An Olivia pillowcase for my sister...because we used to read her Olivia stories all the time when she was little.


A ducky pillowcase for moi....because I feel like one lucky ducky to working again. But boy am I tired! The PJ photo shoot will have to wait until tomorrow.

Ok, maybe not crazy....but the past few weeks have been an absolute blur. It turns out that I have an adult life (bills, loans, insurance, other boring stuff) that I've been neglecting. So sorry for the extended absence but my creditors applaud your patience.

But it's not all lame stuff these days. I've also been out living out my last few days as an unemployed bum and it's been fun. Fast and furious crafting (pictures to come...), hikes to old lighthouses, and lots of good food. It's a shame that it all has to end....TOMORROW.

Yes, tomorrow I enter the world of grownups and big firm lawyers and such and to tell you the truth, I'm kinda psyched. Namely, I need a way to pay off my last few weeks of frolicking and silliness but also, it will be nice to put this overpriced degree of mine to the test. So wish me luck and I promise not to be gone too long.

Phew, what a week!

Shortly before I got sidetracked by horrible food poisoning, I was officially sworn into the Washington State Bar. The ceremony was small, intimate and strangely a little nerve-wracking. It was just about the only thing that made this whole business of being a lawyer "real" to me. (I skipped my law school graduation and have no idea where the actual copy of my law degree is? The bar exam was a total blur.)

It also looks like starting next week I'll be putting that useful little degree to work. I'm starting a new job and though the position is temporary (just a few months) I'm hoping that it will lead to bigger and better things. If nothing else, it will most certainly pay the bills and buy me some more time on the job hunt.

It's a lot to take in all at once but it's making me feel a lot more like an adult...and that is a very good thing indeed.

Thought I'd have lots to post by now but the new year has started off somewhat inauspiciously. Namely, I am (and have for the last 2 days been) fighting a very violent strain of food poisoning. Although the toilet is finally getting some much needed time alone, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I suspect that the culprit is my favorite local Mexican restaurant--of whom I've been a loyal patron for 14 some odd years. * sigh *

The upshot (I guess) of being so ill is that I caught all the NH primary coverage + a marathon of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations + a few episodes of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Today I'm feeling less shaky so I'm hoping to fit in some knitting as well.

Be well friends and be careful what you eat!!

I'm still mulling over a 2008 resolutions post...for no other reason than my faint hope that sharing my wishes for the coming year here will somehow motivate me to just go out there and make it happen. You guys keep me accountable, ok?

And now the year in review....
In a word, 2007 sucked. Badly. Several boxes of tissues were decimated in process. There was at least one major disaster in every major area of my life. The stress of studying for and (thankfully) passing the bar, my mom's back surgery and lengthy recovery, the demise of a relationship, far too much unnecessary drama during my 3L year, this extended period of unemployment, the nightmare of moving cross country....I could go on and on. And like Mariko so wisely noted "it was, of course, punctuated with plenty of great and happy moments" but "what kept me going, pathetically enough, was knowing that things could actually get much worse!"

Ok, maybe that's a little melodramatic. I'm oh so fortunate to be supported by a wonderful bevy of friends scattered far and wide. The nearest and dearest were all there for me in my darkest hours sending emails, taking my hysteric phone calls, and cheering me onward. And another thing that kept me going was crafting. 2007 was a prolific crafting year for me....a lot of different finished objects although it was the bags that I found most satisfying. I'm just hoping that it's the bags (and not the [emotional] baggage) that I take with me into 2008.

Goodbye 2007! Good riddance!