January 4, 2007 at 1:53 am (Crafty, Food, People)
Crazy Aunt Who Moonlights At Large High-End Chain Clothing Store (CAWMALHECC): Here you go!
Me: Thanks! (Trying not to gag at ugly stupid purse.)
Me three days later: I’d like to return this, although there are no tags and no gift receipt. Is that possible? (Knowing full well it may be a season or two old and I might not get much for it.)
Sales clerk: (Pleasantly.) Sure, no problem. Let me check. (Face drops noticeably.) Um, you got this as a gift? For this Christmas?
Me: Ye-es. . .
Sales clerk: Ummm.
Me: (Paranoid they think I’m trying to cheat them.) If I can’t return it, I do understand. What, is it a season old?
Sales clerk: (Embarassed.) It’s from Fall 2004.
Me: (Pit of stomach falling and feeling great wrath towards the CAWMALHECC.) I’m not surprised.
Sales clerk #2, who leans over from other register: Damn, you got that as a gift?
Me: Mmmhmm.
Sales clerk #1: (Looks mortified.) I’m really sorry, I am.
Sales clerk #2: That is NOT right.
Me: It’s ok. It’s not your fault. Thank you for checking, I do appreciate it.
Walks calmly out of store and starts plotting how to regift an old purse that the CAWMALHECC gave me years ago as a hand me down (not as a “gift”).
Nothing pisses me off more than sheer tackiness. I’d prefer nothing at all. I’m voting for no exchanging of gifts next year…. unless I regift the purse. And only for CAWMALHECC.
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December 10, 2006 at 11:42 pm (Crafty, Food, MFA)
Yesterday, I made Chocolate Peppermint Bar Cookies. (And they are yummy and rich and delicious.) Today, I made Spicy Red-Pepper Jelly, and will be making the accompanying Parmesan Black-Pepper Biscotti. If you can’t tell, I am totally enchanted with the current issue of Gourmet magazine. (Although I agree with Slate’s Sara Dickerman questioning the dark covers and spreads.)
My arm and shoulder and wrist are killing me. Any time I type or stir ingredients for too long, pain shoots from my elbow and wrists. I see the doctor about it on Friday. Tomorrow I go see the podiatrist. Later this week I see my shrink to check in.
My friend L. asked if I was going to have my shocks and brakes checked, too.
In other news, I just read Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison. My workshop leader, D-Momma (as two of my friends christened her), gives each workshopper a book that speaks to the person’s style. Apparently D-Momma does this every term. I was incredibly touched, and–after reading Bastard–I am even more so.
I wept for half an hour after finishing it. Go read it.
I have papers to grade. I have shit to write. Oy.
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November 28, 2006 at 12:55 am (Crafty, Drama, MFA, Writing, knit, yarn)
knitting on deadline
Originally uploaded by loosegreentea.
I have to finish the Big Bad Baby Blanket by Saturday. And grade papers. And do this thing they call “work”. And deal with apartment management b.s.
I realized today, as I wrote an old professor for guidance into the big bad world of PhDs, that I’m in a crisis of faith. No, not as in “is there a God” or anything actually worth having a crisis of faith about. I’m having a massive crisis of identity: I’m having a crisis of faith in myself. Do I teach? Do I find a “real” job (ick)? Do I go get my PhD? Is it even worth continuing to write when I’m too afraid to even submit my work?
Even knitting is hard these days. My right shoulder and wrist have gone berserk and I’m in excruciating pain.
I wish I could hibernate in the winter. It would all be so much easier.
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November 20, 2006 at 4:30 pm (Crafty, yarn)
The first knit hat that fits the BF’s wierd head. made with yarn from WE Tierra (from our trip to California over a year ago) and Solitude (from Loundoun County, Va.).
[knit hat Originally uploaded by loosegreentea.]
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November 15, 2006 at 7:02 pm (Crafty)
As my work-load slows down, my craft-load speeds up. That’s right: I’m a crafty bitch. I sew (though not very well), crochet, knit, cross-stitch, embroider, and will try my hand at just about anything involving thread, needles, yarn, glue guns, beads, paper, material and the vaguest sense of design.
Currently in the metaphorical craft bag:
- A suprise for *someone* (photos to come). This should be finished in a night or two.
- A baby shower gift–debating on whether I should use this pattern or this one (click forward until you get the pic of the “Big Bad Baby Blanket”)
- Baby Bobbi Bear (which Flanthrower has gotten me obsessing about) (Yes, Flanthrower, you do know me–I just try to keep my superhero identity secret here.)
- Curtains for the apartment
- Holiday thingies: gifts, decorations, etc.
Let the crafting begin!
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