Bit of Ivory

Say hello to Molly Elizabeth, born on Saturday, March 29, 2008, at 5:32 a.m. 6 lbs. 9 oz., 19 1/2″ long.

I haven’t been able to post before now, because we’ve been taking care of her big sister while mom and dad are still at the hospital.

Anna’s not so sure about this whole little sister thing.

They’re coming home today! Hooray!

I don’t do this often, but I’m particularly proud of the three projects I most recently uploaded to Flickr and Ravelry, and so– I’m showing off here, too.

Behold, my three most recent Finished Objects (click the thumbnail to see the big pictures at Flickr):

Mitt Envy, fingerless mitts with a cable, knit with Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino, which is meant as a sock yarn. Knitted on size 1 needles, in the round. Those needles were TINY. But I was glad for the practice on the teeny tiny needles when my sister in law asked me to make these for the new baby girl who’s due any day now:

Saartje’s Booties, made with Bristol Yarn Gallery’s Lyndon Hill (a cotton/silk blend). In order to get gauge on these things I had to go down to a size 0 needle. Lucky I bought circulars in all the sock sizes from Knit Picks a few weeks ago. These were knit flat and then seamed. Amanda picked the yarn and the buttons, I picked the pattern. They’re all ready for the new baby girl to come home in.

And now, my proudest moment:

The Spring Break Bag, made with Cascade 220 wool. I designed this. All by my own self. I test-felted my yarn, to see how much it would shrink. I did the math. I just spent the last hour or so typing up the pattern. I made it both as a bag to take with me to Disneyland and as a good beginner’s project for the knitting group I started in my neighborhood a couple of months ago. I’m going to distribute it tonight Hopefully, I’ll be able to post the pattern online after my knitting group beta-knits it for me.

Look at the needle felting detail!

And yes, I admit that the needle felting could be a bit more felted. I’m planning on doing that tonight, so the gals can see exactly what needle felting entails.

I’m excited.

Number of resumes submitted: 12

Number of responses recieved: 2

Number of interviews had: 1

*sigh*

One of the responses called for an interview, but then called again the next day and cancelled it. The other one I actually had an interview at a dentist’s office, and I think it went pretty well, but I haven’t been called back for a second interview. I’ll call them tomorrow (which will be a week from the interview) to see if the position’s been filled yet or not, and to let them know I’m still available and interested.

And today I’ve got a bad cold and feel terrible. So I only applied one more place (for a podiatrist’s office, and I would have applied for more except there haven’t been any good jobs posted since Friday) and checked on whether or not I’m going to get paid for my accumulated vacation (looking like the answer is no) and then played around on the internet all day long. And I’ve hardly eaten anything because nothing tastes at all good. Gah.

Oh, I guess I’ve read a few chapters of thesis-related stuff. Hopefully I’ll feel well enough tomorrow to do more. I mean to put all this free time to good use. Yes, precious.

On the other hand, I have successfully made my friend Pam into a Doctor Who fan. Go me.

• I woke up far too early (8:30) despite my best intentions of being lazy today. It seems I am now incapable of sleeping in. Oh, well. More time to get stuff done.
• I applied for unemployment
• I updated my resume
• I found a few more connections on LinkedIn (thanks for the tip, B.K.) and even sent a message to my former manager at Deseret Book
• Asked one person to be a reference
• Applied by e-mail for 4 jobs and by fax for 3 more

Stuff I still need to do:

• Laundry
• Break down boxes from the new bookshelves I’ve put together, so there’s room for one more
• Move computer desk, computer, and as many of my books as possible back into my room
• Figure out something fun to do tonight, because it’s my parent’s 30th anniversary (congrats, folks. :P) and my sister is working so otherwise I’ll be all alone
• Look for more places to apply
• Contact 2 more people for references

Keeping busy is at least keeping me from getting too depressed. So, I’ll stay busy.

Today at work has been– interesting. We’ve all moved past the shock of coming in and hearing “We’re closing. As of now. As soon as we can get the patients moved out. Friday, hopefully. Monday at the latest.” We’ve done the depression and the anger and the sadness, and now we’re all just kind of– making the best of the situation in which we find ourselves. Most people wore jeans today (strictly against the dress code). They’re cleaning out their offices. They’re joking and laughing and talking about where they might go next. I brought Pride and Prejudice with me and am sitting with my feet on my desk when I’m not answering calls. And we are still getting calls– we’ve got at least 3 patients that we’re trying to transfer to another facility here in the state, plus all the vendors and insurance companies and other folks who we work with and who are trying to figure out the situation. One guy who works with one of the local insurance companies chatted with me a while, saying how sorry he was about this all (because we really are a very valuable resource here in Salt Lake, and, indeed, for the country as a whole– it’s not like we’re not needed, or couldn’t turn a profit if we tried hard. Our owners just gave up, is what it amounts to), and saying that I’ve always been friendly and competent and his company has lots of openings.

The company is really doing precious little for us. No severance packages. It’s even kind of up in the air as to whether our accrued vacation/sick leave will be paid out (it’d better. I’ve got at least a week’s worth of paid leave sitting there). The best they’re doing is allowing the 16 employees who are on the company benefit plan to work one full-time shift in the month of March, thereby extending our coverage until the end of March instead of having it end today. So I’ll be working on Monday, probably, as my very last day here. Unfortunately COBRA isn’t an option, since our company will no longer exist as an entity. So people are kind of taking their severance as they can find it. I think the plan right now is to raid the marketing closet for New Life-branded stuff (which won’t be of any use to anyone. They’ll just have to throw it out). I think I might snag one of the little keychain flashlight thingies. I’ve already got a water bottle, and I don’t particularly want an apron. I feel worst for our head dietitian, whose husband is still in school and who just found out she’s pregnant.

I was too depressed last night to actually update my resume, but I have done a bit of job searching. Luckily I now have a year of experience under my belt (I just got a $.40 an hour raise with my annual review) and therefore qualify for some of the better receptionist jobs. Many of them pay anywhere from slightly more to significantly more than I’m currently making. So this may end up being a positive move. It sure doesn’t feel like it at the moment, though. I liked my job. I liked the people I worked with. I especially liked that we were actually helping people, rather than just selling things to people that they don’t really need. And I really hate searching for jobs. I wish I had my brother’s luck. Great jobs just tend to fall in his lap. I do have the advantage of being in Utah, at least, where the economy is still pretty strong and unemployment still pretty low. There’s lots of jobs out there. I just need to land one.

Because the company is closing, we’re all eligible for unemployment. I haven’t quite decided if I want to file yet. According to the calculator, I’d only get about $175 a week, which is better than nothing, I suppose. But doing all the paperwork and such seems like such a hassle. More trouble than it’s worth, almost. I can’t see that I have a time limit as to when I have to file after losing my job, so I might just start the job search. If nothing turns up after a couple of weeks, I’ll file.

I’m planning on doing my taxes tomorrow and e-filing, so I can get my refund quickly. It should be a goodly amount, which will at least help me pay my minimum payments on my credit card (luckily I only have one with a balance at this point) and my student loan, until I can get a job. And I do have a bit of money in my savings account, so I’m not left completely high and dry financially, at least.

And if my job search extends for some time, or if I have to wait for 90 days or something before the benefits kick in, I can at least go back on BYU insurance. No prescription benefit, but it’s better than nothing. BYU requires that all students have health insurance, anyway. And I’m still technically a student.

Anyway. Happy birthday to my uncle Kevin, who I believe is turning 13 this leap year. He’s the only person I know who is younger than all of his kids. Also happy half-birthday to Jen, ’cause I know she looks forward to those.

My employer is closing. I’m losing my job. Maybe by the end of the week, definitely by the end of next.

This royally sucks.

I’m so sorry for all of you who don’t live where I do. If I had a TARDIS or a transporter or if we could actually Apparate, I’d make sure you all got to enjoy this day. Seriously, guys, it’s gorgeous out there. And it may be gorgeous where you are, too, but you don’t have Mount Olympus still covered in snow against a sky so blue it almost hurts providing the backdrop for the lovely weather.

Today I left my coat hanging on the coat rack when I left for lunch (I did need it this morning. Still frost on the windows of my car and all). Then I pulled out my iPod and found “Spring is Coming” by the Real Group and turned up the volume. Then I rolled down the windows on my car while I drove to the Mexican place I decided on for lunch (I love me some shredded beef tacos). Then I kept those windows down and that Real Group playing and drove to a park, where I sat in my car with the windows still down and ate my lunch.

Then I went for a walk in the park. Nice and slowly, taking deep breaths as I meandered along the asphalt path. Then I walked off the path for a while, and savored the feeling of walking on ground that gives under your feet. Then I sat down on a swing and just looked around. Then I swung, which I haven’t done for ages, and enjoyed the feeling of the crisp wind on my face and in my hair. Then I walked back to my car and drove (with the windows down and the Real Group still playing) back to work. And even that wasn’t so bad, because I have fresh-cut tulips on my desk and the weatherman says the 40-and-50-degree weather is going to be here for a while.

1) I got my hair cut. Really cut. As in, it hasn’t been this short since I was in 2nd grade. I also put in highlights and lowlights. I’ll take a decent picture of it soon. I’m getting no end of compliments on it.

2) The new carpet is going in my bedroom tomorrow. Yayness! This means I have to move the remainder of my stuff (my bed, computer desk, bedside bookshelf, and deskside bookshelf) out of my room tonight, and will be sleeping on the futon. Boo. And then I get to put my room back together. More boo. It’ll be nice to have all my books available and on my bookshelves again, though. I’ve been living off only those I could fit on my bedside shelf, which is only about 25/30 books. Eek! At least this included all my Austens.

3) My dad has gout. Seriously. It seems to be somewhat of a side effect of his kidney disease (as it’s caused by uric acid, which is of course found in higher levels when the kidney isn’t functioning properly) rather than because he drinks a lot of wine and eats a lot of red meat (because he doesn’t :P), and it hurts. A lot. But we’ve all been joking about going to Bath to take the waters and having great big white bandages and needing crutches from the missionary barrels but getting a doll instead (who recognizes THAT convoluted movie reference, huh?). My niece also had a very mild case of the croup over the weekend, so my family’s all up with Victorian diseases recently. What’s next, I wonder? Cholera? Ague? Consumption? Or maybe we can get away with just an attack of the vapours.

4) Due to the painting and general room renovation, work on the thesis has slowed rather. I expect it to pick up shortly.

From Leaky:

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger Named Among EW’s Favorite Fictional Lovers

I’m grinning like a loon.

Also making the list are some of my favorites, like Lois/Clark, Aragorn/Arwen, Leia/Han, and of course, Lizzy/Darcy.

(Oh, and remember how I was rejoicing in the sweater weather? Yeah. Yesterday’s storm, which was supposed to be nice and short and relatively uneventful turned into a gigantic storm resulting in closed roads and kids getting stuck at school all night and school closures and a commute that usually takes about 25 minutes taking an hour and 25. Oh, Dreaded Lake Effect, how we love thee. In any case, I’ll believe the weatherman’s “this is the last storm for a while!” when I SEE it, thanks. :P)

It’s sweater weather. As in, I left my coat in the car when I went to lunch. And we haven’t had any snow for four days. It’s crazy, people! For the first time this winter (I think), we’re actually above average instead of waaay below it. It makes me want spring, even though I know it’s much too early to get my hopes up yet. But at least I can wash my car.

Speaking of Lizzy, wanna see a pic of her newly-repaired trunk?

There’s a couple more in the set if you click on the photo. Doesn’t she look gorgeous? We’re still on the lookout for a new trunk panel (you can see that it’s a bit broken if you look at a larger size) and she smells like paint on the inside still, but other than that, I have no complaints. At all. I love my car.

Except that somewhere during the whole ordeal, her license plate frame/cover thingy got broken (I suspect it was the tow truck to blame, because it shouldn’t have been damaged by the actual crash). Said frame used to read “You think that, Jane, if it gives you comfort.” Which is a great line and an even greater inside joke, but it has two problems: 1) it’s from the 1995 mini-series version of Pride and Prejudice, and therefore was not actually written by Jane Austen, and 2) it was spoken by Mr. Bennet to Jane, which means that it doesn’t match with the whole “Lizzy” thing. So I need to come up with an appropriate line from the P&P book that (preferably) was either spoken by or refers to Elizabeth Bennet, and that will fit on a license plate cover. Because, while “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” is awesome, it would be impossible to decipher if we managed to get it on a frame.

So. Want to help me brainstorm? (I have already considered, and rejected, “What are men to rocks and mountains?” because I’m not really that much of an outdoorsy girl.) Come on, you know you want to comb through the pages of P&P.

I’ve been having a weird vertigo thing the last couple of weeks. I’m not dizzy, per se, at least not in the just-got-off-the-Mad-Tea-Party way. I just can’t seem to keep my balance, and the room likes to spin when I move my head too quickly. I eventually went to the doctor last Saturday, who said it was probably related to some congestion in my head (not in my sinuses or nasal passages, though, as they were both perfectly clear) and prescribed meclizine and Nasonex, and told me I could also take Zyrtec if it didn’t get better. I did end up taking the Zyrtec, too, which made me incredibly drowsy for the last week. And the vertigo still hasn’t completely cleared up. Gah.

This has rather slowed down my promising progress on my thesis, as reading a traditional book is difficult due to the angles involved. And there are a couple of other issues as well, which I’m not quite prepared to talk about in public yet. Still, I do seem to be getting a bit better, and am hopeful that the worst of my writer’s block is behind me.

I spent Saturday shopping for room-painting supplies. I think I blogged about this (but I’m waaay too lazy today to go looking), but just as a review, this spring my window well leaked (unbeknownst to me) and caused a big section of my carpet to go all moldy and mildewy and caused water damage to 5 of my 7 bookshelves (I know, that’s a ton– but in my defense, two of them are just teeny 1-foot-wide shelves, which I use as a stereo stand and a bedside table). And it ruined a library book, too, which was intensely distressing to me. Well, the carpet has dried but needed to be replaced, and we finally went and found a remnant that was cheap and a good color. Which means that I get to repaint my room–it’s currently pink, and I’m not really a pink person. It’s going to be a lovely sage green, and I’m going to go home tonight and remove the rest of my wallpaper border and get stuff prepped. Yay! I shall have to take pictures when it’s all done.

I’m also going to get a new bed. This one, to be precise. I’ve always wanted a bed like that. Too bad my room is too small (once you cram my 7 bookshelves in– and I need all of them!) to have more than a twin-sized bed. I’d like to upgrade to a full. Being 27 years old and all.