Advice from your HR Girl

So, in addition to knitting, yoga, and Harry Potter, the thing that really keeps me busy 40+ hours a week (also known as a profession and/or j-o-b) is working for a Federal Agency as an HR Specialist.
I'm taking this opportunity to give you three easy pieces of advice. This has nothing to do with all the applications I'm currently reviewing. Of course not!

1. Spell check. Everything. And while you're at it, make sure you're spelling the name of the person you're submitting the application to correctly. (It's Pia. Not Mia, not Pi. Pia.)
2. Read the vacancy. Its one thing to think "I'm just going to try for this one, its a stretch". It's entirely different to apply to a job you have no qualifications for at all. You're wasting my time and yours. I'm happy you have a degree in History, but I really do want and need a Chemical Engineer with 5+ years of experience. Thanks.
3. And, last but not least. Get an email address. They're free. And while I really am good at talking on the phone, a lot of times its faster to EMAIL you something as opposed to Mailing it. And, one more thing. That email address? Don't have it be something totally weird/unprofessional. Yourname@email.com is a good one. Otherwise, do you think I can take you seriously if your email address is bingedrinker4@email.com ? (that's not real, but I've certainly seen stuff like it....)

Free advice, you love it.

broomsticks and hogwarts

So, I started reading Harry Potter around when everyone was on the bandwagon a few years ago and then, I simply lost steam. I read books 1-3 and was just plain tired. So, while still having them in my possession, I quit Harry cold turkey.
Fast forward to now. I just zipped through book 4, starting it while flying back and forth across the country last week and finishing it in the wee hours of the morning today. On a school night, reading under the covers way past my bed time. I was too nervous to stop reading!! That darn Potter is turning me into a 12 year old again.
My main concern is about the dreams I'm having as a result of this reading. For the past week, my dreams have all involved dragons, broomsticks, magic and all sorts of other scary adventures and high-jinx. I can only imagine what this must do to a child's brain, if its leaving me this addled.
yay for imagination!!!!
Back to reading. The knitting is suffering as a result right now. You can blame Harry.

Maybe I should start a sweat shop...

I keep trying to teach the boy to knit and its obvious he has no interest except to watch and go "Wow, that looks hard!". I don't want to knit together and be cute, I just want him to do the more mundane and boring things so I can get to the fun stuff like the cables and decorative increases! Whooo ee. You don't realize how lame you're getting until you see a sentence like that in print.. anyway.
This weekend was a pretty chill one, which was incredibly (in my opinion) well deserved and timed. Said boy and I watched a lot of mundane TV, cooked a great dinner w/his roommates and had a wonderful adventure to Eastern Market. Much needed.
The laid back weekend gave me plenty of time to work on the super soft green scarf I'm making right now. (For the knitters: its Rowan Kidsilk in Haze, shade 581 which can only be described as a sage sort of green I LOVE it) I don't have a photo update for you, as my camera is currently somewhere between here and Breckenridge. Due to my own issues with electronics, I'm usually pretty relaxed when it comes to loaning out my digital camera to friends who don't have one, have lost it overboard (ahem) or otherwise need one. That said, I think this camera has traveled far better than me in the past year.

And, if you want some entertainment, see what else I do with my time and a picture that still sports my super short bangs from this summer, check this out... the bio should be up soon!
http://www.studioserenity.com/employment.htm

lots of airports means lots of knitting

Or something like that.
It was a whirlwind weekend of flying back and forth to the San Diego area to surprise Em for her birthday and to ooh and ahh over her lovely new engagment ring. With delays left and right, it meant plenty of time for knitting, quality time with my new ipod and even a bit of Harry Potter thrown in (did I mention the delays?)

On the way to San Diego, I knit an entire scarf for Em. It's somewhat of a tradition/compulsory act at this point for me to make her a scarf for either Christmas or her birthday. Unfortunately, the timing was such (on the needles on the plane straight to her neck when I gave it to her) that there was no time for a photo op.

I had finished the other part of her gift complete prior to leaving DC. With a sort of 1950's-60's theme in my mind, I knit the future family potholder/washclothes with their names on them (Lucky is the coolest dog in the world.) Thankfully they liked them and didn't think I was a total weirdo. (see photo).


After the marathon scarf on the way out, I rested my fingers for a few days. Prior to the return trip, I cast on my current project, which may or may not be for me. Ooops. I just couldn't keep my hands off this yarn.... Thankfully, I'm a multi-tasker, so I'll have another gift project on the needles within the next day or so.

In other news:

• Dave is my new favorite Marine and I'm thrilled to be in his and Em's wedding in the fall.
• Lucky, I may have mentioned is the coolest dog ever.
• Chicago O'Hare is not a fun place to fly through in the winter.
• Westin hotels (courtesy of American Air's screw ups...) really do have comfy beds (thanks O'Hare).
• I may or may not be relieved to see winter has come to DC, it was getting a bit un-nerving.
• I missed the Pat's game Sunday. I'm sort of glad I did, but sitting on a plane waiting for your gate to open only to miss your connection may actually be worse then seeing the Pat's lose the chance for another Super Bowl win. Sigh.
• And... last but not least, I'm refusing to travel until February, which means THREE full weekends in DC prior to boarding another plane, this one bound for Boston/NH. You know I can't stay away...and an added bonus, the boy is coming to check out New England. I'm not sure how he'll do at the Friendly Toast... :)
  
  
  
  

you know you have a problem

I just realized that I'm going on a three night trip. There is a bit of a plane ride involved mind you, BUT. I just spent far more time trying to figure out what knitting projects I was bringing, then what clothing I was packing.
Perhaps this is because I wear pretty much the same thing all the time: Jeans, fitted tee, mostly of the earth tone variety or black, add a sweater or hoodie as needed and sneaks that coordinate at all times.
Knitting projects aren't so easy. I want to bring something that will keep my mind occupied on a plane, but also something that I can do if I want to knit WHILE hanging out and talking and visiting with those being visited.
So, I compromise.
*The current project, which needs to be finished by touch down (it will, don't you worry)
*Socks (one's already done, its all apart of my plan to usurp SmartWool with "PiaWOOL". They'll be even more expensive then SmartWool too!
*and... the super soft scarf made of this pretty green stuff...for myself. eeks.
This means that I'm still off track on the non-denominational holiday gifts. Off to rethink the knitting packing.
The clothes are the easy part.
Have a lovely weekend, I'm hoping its warmer where I'm going, but its not looking
good~

happy ummm ground hog day present?

Before I say anything... I just want to say "Go Pats!!" Exciting game tonight, even I was wearing a jersey (and yes, it came to my knees)
So, anyway this year, I thought I was on top of it all. Every present wrapped by the 20th and ready to go. I swear, its true. Sweet!
Okay. That's the biggest lie ever.
I've already mentioned the "lamb smelling tote bag" that wasn't fully complete by Christmas. The trend continued when I gave Shelly her gift with a needle still in it, so I could finish it over the lunch we were having.

I am currently working on part II of Emily's gift which was going to ship with Part I that DID ship around Dce 20th...At least football playoffs are helping to push along these projects (photo cred: my worst enemy Mike) .

I still have...

A bunch of hats
A bunch of scarves
A scarf for me (its a really pretty green yarn thats super soft and thin)
An unfinished wedding gift (actually... two of those)
And then, maybe I'll start thinking about starting a bigger more formative project.
Until then, if you get something from me, from here out, I'm not apologizing for late gifts, I'm simply giving you a..ground hog day hat, or a happy hump day scarf. We all know I'm not the most timely...

whoo eee, how long will this nano live?!

The cover for the little guy is complete.
For the knitters, it was done on size 8 dpns. For the non knitters that just means no seams, except on the bottom (where I was smart enough to leave a hole for the earbuds/output).
The bets are on for how long this ipod will last, but in the meantime, I'm curious. Anyone else try out the "new" ipod earbuds?
As you may have read or heard me bitch about at some point, the first generation's earbuds would leave me aching and irritated in the ear canal region. I was convinced they were going to cause me seizures and took several polls on the matter.
I am sad to report that the "newly" designed ones... still suck. Not as bad as the last ones. But. A close second. At least I think so.

one more thing...invites

I realized that often blogs are just one person writing and Shel and I were talking about sharing our projects via email etc. So, even though I know she won't write, a few other authors may appear along the way. Seems like a fun little experiment.

let's give this a shot..

okay. I've been casually dabbling in blogs for the past year or so, between all the various social networking sites and yet none of my friends will join the same site and then one will inevitably say "you never update your blog!" and I get in trouble. okay, not really but I can pretend to be that popular.
Mostly, I'm not going to talk about my latest love tryst (okay, may hang to this one a little while..) or my job (mostly okay, sometimes not) , but I will talk about adventures, and most of all be a big fat dork and start posting my knitting projects. I realized recently that I give most of my projects away, so I have no record of what I make and stuff like that. If I post as I go, even if you my dear reader (if I have any) don't care, at least I know what I've done.

This inaugural post includes my most stressful Christmas gift ever. I really try to not the be the knitter up til all hours on Christmas eve trying to bind off and wrap before the sun comes up, but I am. So, my Step Mom's felted tote bag was started the day after Thanksgiving and was completed on Christmas Eve Day. Possibly still a little damp and smelling of wet sheep as it got wrapped. Without the button and button loop on it. But, still (mostly) done. For my first real felting project, I think I did okay...




Now, my current project most actively on the needles is a little ipod nano cozy for my new ipod. If you know nothing else about me, you should know I'm bad with electronics. Real bad. So, I'm hoping this nano lives a little longer then the previous three 20gb regular ipods I had. Let's hope the cozy extends the life.