Twitch, twitch

In less serious news, I am currently working on the most embarassingly bright set of footwear I have ever seen.

Yes, I noticed the colors were pretty bold when I bought the skein, but I figured they'd spread out a little once I started knitting. And, just in case, I settled on a nice, simple pattern, as the rainbowness of the yarn was probably statement enough. Unfortunately, any efforts I made just resulted in brigher socks. Gah. I may have to go on an anti-convulsive while I work on these.



Will I finish them, though? Yes. Because, so help me, I am no quitter. Will I wear them, though?...okay, yes. Because I probably was fairly uncool to begin with. And, as it turns out, this spastic bundle of craziness actually makes pretty soft socks.

We'll take it

Today's field trip was to just outside of Mt. Rainier National Park. I drove down there this afternoon at the request of my mom, to check out/photograph the cabin she'd booked for when my family comes to visit this summer. The place was PERFECT; close to the park but tucked far enough back to be quiet, with enough space for me, too, if scheduling allows at work and I can join them (Crossing fingers. All of them.) It was enough to get me pumped, even though the visit is still weeks away and I still have no idea as to when I'll meet up with them and where [insert anticipatory happy dance here].

As I was driving away from the mountain, it occurred to me when I'd last been there. It was a year ago, almost exactly. I was just finishing up college, and was pretty shaky as to whether or not I had chosen the right job for the following job for the next fall; whether I was ready to or even could become an RN (boards were still to come), whether I was cut out for this whole real world adult thing. My mom, who along with my dad, two sisters, and our neighbors were in town to watch me graduate, had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and at that point, we weren't even sure what stage her cancer was at, let alone what her treatment plan was or how intense it would be. Not to steal any thunder from Mom (I think we can all agree that she had a Bigger Thing to overcome between the two of us), but we both survived.

The cabin manager looked at me a little strangely today as I tried to explain that, no, I wasn't shopping around for a place for the family to stay; we planned on keeping our reservation, we were just all very excited. This will be the post-chemo/radiation/"year of shit" my mom warned me was coming when she told me she had cancer...vacation, and the mere fact that we've all made it to this point healthily and in one piece is something to celebrate. The cool cabin in the woods is just an added bonus.

I acknowledge that life isn't going to be perfect from now on; Mom will have follow up for years, and who knows how long it's going to take for me to feel like a confident experienced nurse. Still, it's always a pleasant surprise when those "Wow. We've gotten this far." moments hit. At the very least, they put things in perspective.

Things I've been up to:

An account of how I've been spending the last few weeks, as told by my camera.
All shots were taken by yours truly, unless they feature yours truly, in which case they were taken by my good buddy Peter (Thanks, Peter!).

When I'm not here (yes, sadly, I can see where I work from my front door),
I've been drinking a lot of coffee.


Maybe too much.




I've been hanging out with friends.




I've been knitting, of course.


And meeting the Yarn Harlot...


...as well as the inhabitants of the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.


I've been taking roadtrips to Ellensburg with my cousin...


...and going for walks in the woods...

...but I haven't been doing much of the responsible adult stuff. You know, like cleaning my apartment, filing away papers, solidifying my work schedule. Maybe in the next post.