The Rosie Bee

1) Today is the first day in a week that I haven’t taken any sort of decongestant or anti-mucous OTC meds, yahoo. The bug I had came on fast but I’m thankful it’s only lasted about a week. That’s still not a short time, but given my history with viruses, that’s pretty darn good.

The only downside is it knocked down my motivation to zero. Some days I could do only the bare minimum (thank you, constant cough) and other days when I seemed to feel better (i.e., I wasn’t coughing my head off), I still had no energy whatsoever. So I’m glad to be feeling more with it and motivated.

The Slim G and matching slippers.

2) I love, love, love these slippers. I bought them from a thrift store, a fact that makes me love them even more. Brand new, they run about $60 at LL Bean! I’d say they are a wise investment at that price, though; they have rubber bottoms so you can walk outside and are wool, so they’re warm. I rotate them with a pair of soft-soled bootie slippers, but I still wear them almost every day.

Sammi likes to be as snug as a bug in a rug.

3) Sammi is over the snow and cold. Our old girl turned 14 last month and while she bounds around like a puppy when we walk, she’s very content to snuggled up under the covers when we’re indoors. Yesterday was sunny and not *so* extremely cold and she took the opportunity to hang outside for a bit enjoying a warm patch.

4) I’ve declared this a year of finishing knitting projects. I need to finish two scarves and a hat. After that I plan to knit a Carbeth sweater, but that may be an early fall project. The past week I haven’t wanted to do anything, but I’m trying to be more purposeful and actively do more fun “for me” hobbies this year, so last night I cast on one of the scarves. It felt really good.

5) Totally random, but this year is the first year I’ve had to write out a check for taxes because of my freelance work last year. I guess I felt kind of professional? haha It’s been a lot of work, but I’m grateful to have it.

There you have it! I’m going to go home and try and get a few smaller tasks done tonight, but come tomorrow, I plan to be back to 100%! We’ll see if that happens. 🙂

I was there!

I really dislike the phrase “all the feels” but I have to admit it popped into my head when I saw this email. Last year on October 1 I ran my first half marathon, the Smuttynose Rockfest half. I also realized my years-long dream of going to New England.

As you can see from the picture, it was a glorious sunny day. It also got HOT! I didn’t have my water belt and at the end my contacts were literally popping off my eyes at the end, I was so dehydrated. Lots of lessons learned during that first half! But I smiled so big my face hurt and I wore that smile all day.

The town basically shut down for that half, but that night, after everyone left, it got really, really quiet. I found this a bit odd, but also somewhat nice because the half took it out of me physically, emotionally, and with all the people and commotion, I was spent. We went to a bar, one of the few places open!, and had a little bit of dinner and a beer. The next day we trekked up to Maine where we stayed a night on the beach. Originally we were supposed to hoof it on over to Vermont, but that would have been a lot of driving and we got a great off-season rate for a hotel across from the ocean.

That night we heard that Tom Petty died. We went to bed but I stayed up listening to the waves, they were so loud. The next day I woke up and watched the sun rise and walked along the beach. I remember thinking the sand was much harder than I expected; not quiet like cement, but very firm. That quiet pocket of time was so perfect; it’s something I will always remember and cherish.

My first sweater! It’s a Nanook.

I’m nearing the end! I need to add the bottom ribbing and then I’m done. It looks more cropped in the photo above, but that’s because it’s bunched up on my needles and I didn’t want to get it too straight lest some of the stitches escape from the needles. The yarn also looks really nubby–it’s not. I think it’s a combination of the lighting and the dirty mirror. (Also, I’m told once I block it any little bumps or uneven bits will smooth out.)

I did lighten the photo because the yarn itself is very rich, forest green and looked like a big blob in my original picture.

It look me forever, yes, but I’ve learned a few great new skills: