Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

SO............ My youngest Son moved out of the house and WAY the heck down to Florida about a month ago. It's been weird. We are officially empty nesters now.  No kids around, and we've been just kinda chilling. There's been some stuff being sent down to near Tampa, but other than that, he's supposedly doing well. The last of the kids to leave the house, Alex I've taken a job as a lab tech at a local company that does catalog sales of stuff like sausage and cheese. You probably have heard of them, Swiss Colony.  Well, I'm working in the Microbiology department.  Our team tests the food to make sure they are safe. There are times when I am elbow deep into samples of cheesecakes and cheese and stuff. It's as close to medical lab tech as I'm going to get for now. The pay is less but the schedule is Monday through Friday so that's good. 40 hours a week for now until after the Christmas rush. Then it's layoff time. I'll deal with that...

So our youngest Son has left and returned from a vacation in Germany with friends. He's now making plans to move to Florida. Yeah, I know...Florida right now is kinda getting it's butt spanked. The plans are being extended a week.  But I got his old desk in the front room. It comes with a window that loos out to the south and to the side yard.  I like it. It's better than my old spot where I get to see directly into the bathroom...yay. So I see the sun, and green grass, and until about 2 weeks ago, peaches on the peach tree. They're now happily in canning jars waiting for a cold winter day when a peach would sound tasty. My new laptop sets well on the desk that has a real drawer and everything! But now onto the fun part: last weekend was WI sheep and Wool Festival and I got to go this year! I was worried that work would get in the way, but I finally decided to take the Lab Tech job in Monroe for Swiss Colony.  It's lab work, temporary and they claim that after ...

So ah yeah. I totally forgot that I have a blog. After graduation, I got a new computer FOR graduation and was busy transferring stuff to the new laptop. I really like it.  I has battery power and weighs much less than my old one. Work wise? WOW...I've already been through 2 jobs; neither one in my field however. I was a cashier for a month, then got an offer for a job that paid $5 an hour more. I took the job and after a week, realized I was not in shape enough, nor young enough to continue.  It was very physical work.  It's a shame though. The people I was working with were great. I've finished a few knitting projects, started more. With some of this free time, I've been cataloging my yarn stash on Ravelry. It's a time-consuming work to do, but it will help me in the future.  A friend of mine who lives in Alaska is selling off her spinning equipment and focusing on quilting. I bought her Bosworth spindle off of her for a deal.  I really do like to spin on...

Graduation was last Saturday. A rainy, dreary day here in Wisconsin, but a good day for a graduation inside. I did not invite the whole family. Hell, Alex had to work. I was there mostly in support of my fellow classmates.  This is their first go-round in the realm of post-High School graduation and I could not be more proud to stand up with these ladies and celebrate this achievement. Now it's 'find a job' which in reality started about 2 months ago, but has stalled after the first 2 rejections. I was upset that I did not get into my first 2 selections, but not surprised.  With all the preparations for graduation, I left the rest of the applications on hold until now.  I'm glad I did. I can focus on polishing up that resume so it gleams. I can rehearse my good answers to the interview questions, assess what did not work the first 2 times and just go. I've gotten some bad advice lately that has me re-evaluating what it means to be me. But after trying it their ...

Twenty years ago, Alex and I had a cat nicknamed 'Pimp Daddy.' He was black and white and had a paralyzed tail.  Some incident happened while he was out rolling in the city and he got his tail paralyzed. About a year later, he ended up getting Feline Leukemia. I had him put down on a weekend where Alex was out with his cousins so I didn't have him witness the whole thing.  About a week later, a neighborhood kid named James came by with a little orange kitten.  See, Pimp Daddy rolled with James' cat named Miss Kitty and Miss Kitty had kittens.  He though I'd like a new Kitty. About a year later, a stray cat from the neighborhood dropped off two kittens on my doorstep.  We kept one, gave one away.  Vicky was our girl. As you see, Tigger and Vicky were best buds.  They'd be together all the time, snuggled up with each other...they were inseparable. Two years ago, Vicky was sent to the great beyond when she got oral cancer.  She was a good girl...

I don't think I took a photo of it, because I wanted to make sure she got it before the end of semester last year, but I made a baby blanket for one of my classmates. It was made out of Red Heart bulky yarn in the colors of teal and brown.  The gender of the baby is still not completely known.  3 Skeins, knitted on size 13 needles made for a huge blankie. The good thing was that it kept me warm while I was knitting it. OK, I found a photo of it in progress. Lately, I've got some things on the needles, but nothing done.  This is my clinicals semester at school.  I've got one day of class, and 4 days of clinical studies.  That means each of the areas of study for the last 2 years gets an intensive focus in a work environment.  For me, it's been at school, but in another 2 weeks, I'll be starting my hematology rotation at a clinic in a nearby town. New bosses, new people, learning the hands-on stuff to my book learning. I've heard rumors of it being bru...

New Year, New ME! Bwahahahahahahahahaha! Just kidding.  Same old me, same old knitting, spinning, poultry-raising me. I don't need to redefine myself every year. It's just not going to happen. Brenda in a Lab Coat watching the Autoclave frizz her hair. I have goals for the next year: graduate school, get a job. pay off some bills. But other than that, I'ma let it roll. 2016 was bi-polar to the extreme: 2 garden stakes and scrap yarn make a great way to block a shawl Most of the projects knitted for charity were baby blankets this year.....only to find out that the pregnancy resource center is full-up with donations. Which is good for them, not so much for me. Oh well. I'll find homes for them. Same with the hats.  I finally gave them to a lady who works in a middle school. Kids are always in need of hats. Hell, they'll lose about 1034 of them this week. The shawl on the right was given to my new Daughter In Law for the amazing feat of marrying m...