Happy Birthday to Me

A few years ago, my twin sister and I were looking at some childhood photos with our teenaged nieces, W and T. T showed Katy this picture and asked her, "Which one is you?" Katy said, "That's Kristy on the left, so that is me." I asked her why she had said it that way and she told me that it was because, in the pictures from our formative years, she never knows which one she is but she always knows which one is me. I told her that I could never tell which one was me, but I could pick her out from 20 paces. Since then, I always think of that when I see this picture.

I've always been curious about those people who refuse to celebrate or even acknowledge their birthdays. I don't understand it. I love my birthday.

And I love growing older and I love the wisdom of age - of all ages.

The giddy excitement I felt when turning 10 and entering the "double digits" ... the joy of being 16 and driving for the first time ... 18 and the first lottery ticket ... 21 and, well, just being 21....of being 25 and knowing you can rent a car without the ridiculous inflated rates...of being 27 and not the youngest person in your office anymore ... being in your "mid-30s" ... of being 50 and knowing that your life has spanned half a century ... the wisdom that comes with growing older and seeing the world through aged and knowing eyes. . . .

Like my oldest sister, who told me recently that she is a little thrilled to be able to say "I am nearly 40 years old and I am not going to put up with this crap anymore...."

The joy of my lovely mother, who is secretly pleased, I'm sure, when people are surprised to learn that she is 64....

Some people say age is irrelevant or age is just a number. Me, I think age is like a badge of honor. Don't be afraid of how old you are. Someone asked my grandfather once what it was like to be old (he was in his 80s at the time) and he said that it is "better than the alternative". I've always like that.

They say that it is impolite to ask a lady's age. I have been blessed in my life to know many, many women who embrace their age - whatever that might be - and are proud to say, "I am ...." pick a number. I guess the only reason to be ashamed of your age would be if you were squandering the years. And that is one think I never intend to do.

So -

Happy 29th birthday to my twin sister Katy - and to me!!!

Tagged

Rhett tagged me for the following MEME. What a nice way to ease back into my blogging. Thanks Rhett! :)

4 jobs you have had:

• Coordinator of classes at Michael's Arts & Crafts
• Activities director at a retirement home
• Assistant to commercial realtor
• Executive assistant

4 movies you could watch over and over:

• Steel Magnolias
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
• Multiplicity
• Office Space

4 TV shows you love to watch:

• Law & Order (and L&O:SVU and L&O:CI)
• Rollergirls
• My Name Is Earl
• Crossing Jordan

4 places you have been on vacation:

• Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada
• Maui, Hawaii
• Asheville, North Carolina
• Las Vegas, Nevada

4 websites you visit daily:

• Mason-Dixon Knitting
• Crazy Aunt Purl
• Amazon
• The Woolery

4 of your favorite foods:

• Steak
• Potato Casserole (I will have to share this recipe with ya'll someday. It is so yummy)
• Calamari
• Broccoli with cheese sauce

4 places you'd rather be right now:

• Having a massage
• With my family
• Knitting
• Somewhere where it is snowing

4 bloggers you are tagging:

• Susie
• Meaghan
• Kristy
• Laura

So there we go. My very first MEME.

They Call the Wind Mariah

Hey everybody!! Remember me? This is Kristy. Resident neglectful blogger over here at Ok! What Next? I’ve missed ya’ll so much!!! And I’m sorry to have been so negligent in my blogging duties. The new job has really kept me on my toes. Overwhelmed me, even, for a while there. I’ve never taken over a job from someone who’d left involuntarily. It was the fair isles of job changes. So many loose ends to deal with, I would hardly see where to begin. And beyond that, I’ve had to completely reprogram myself to this going to work at 7:00 a.m. stuff.

So, in the midst of the chaos, I went out of town. We left on Saturday for a little trip. Guess where we went…

Here’s a hint.















And another one.















And another one.















Nothing?















How about this one?















Or this one…















Yep!














I’ve been in Vegas for 5 days. The HP had a convention to go to and I got to tag along. Back in September, well before I went to work at my new job, we had arranged for me to go with him. Now that we work at the same place, I got to go along on this trip AND I got to call it work. It was great. We had such a good time and it was nice to relax and be away for a few days. (This was my first visit to Sin City. The pictures I’d seen and the stories I’d heard didn’t tell half the story. It really is so big and so bright and so . . . Vegas.)

(In case you care, those flamingos and the waterfall are both from the "wildlife refuge" located at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino. The hills are as seen from the approach road leading up to McCarren airport. Following those: the front view of New York New York, the entrance to Caesar's Palace (where we stayed) and the fabulous and fascinating Luxor Hotel & Casino. Oh, and of course, the good old Welcome to Las Vegas sign.)

It has just been pretty much a crazy, busy, frantic whirlwind ever since before Christmas. I took some knitting along on the trip but I didn’t really accomplish anything. That’s ok. I still need to get my little pattern tidied up so I can try to finalize that project. Do I still have volunteers out there willing to be test knitters?

I’ve been trying to catch up with everyone. Even though it seems I am the worst offender, it gave me a little peace of mind to see that I was not the only one to have been distracted over the last month or so. I’ve been reading off and on. Thank you so much to those of you who’ve stopped by while I’ve been absentee. Is there something screwy going on with typepad? I’ve noticed I haven’t been able to look at some of the usual blogs and that’s been troubling. Help me catch up - is there any major news I've missed or overlooked? Stephanie, are you still back in SC temporarily? Amanda, how's the apartment? KnitOneLondon Kristy - where are the pictures of the Banff??? Rhett, how's work? Meaghan...where are you? I haven't been able to access your blog lately. Susan, any exciting spinning news? And the rest of you - how are things?

Tonight we are watching Beyond the Sea with Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth. It is a movie about Bobby Darin. The HP is a huge fan of Bobby Darin and all of his contemporaries. I'm not sure how we missed this one. I do know, though, that I should be in bed. We didn't get home until late last night and had to be back at work today. I'm going on 4 hours of sleep. Earlier I watched 9 to 5 and slogging through the Christmas and Vegas pictures. Some movies never grow old. And the new camera is just dreamy. Soon I’ll have knitting pictures to show you, too. (What do ya'll think of the pictures? A vast improvement over the cell phone photos, huh?? Soon I will have edited my travel pictures enough to show you the dead rat scarf I saw a lady wearing at the airport Saturday. eek)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that your 2006 is shaping up to be the latest and greatest of years. How are you? Drop me a line and say hi. I’ve really and truly missed you all. I’ve got two packages in my car that I’ve been supposed to mail off since…umm, since before Christmas. Hi Margene. Hi Cara. Oops. They will get in the mail. I mean it.

Ahh....it feels good to get it all out. All of those words got built up and now I've poured them out. Whew! I feel better!!! : )


Have I ever told ya’ll about Katy? Katy is my twin sister. She sent me the above picture in an email earlier today. The email was titled "The Saddest Email You've Ever Seen". Next Wednesday is Katy's birthday.

Strangers in the Night

Hi! Just passing through and thought I throw together a quick post.

Old job: Wrapping up nicely. Hired replacement today. Training starts tomorrow. Insanely busy.

New job: Starting up nicely. I can finally see my desk. I've unearthered five "follow up" files. They are labeled "For Immediate Review" "For Prompt Review" "Review Quickly" "Review Right Away" and "For Leisurely Review". Insanely busy.

Knitting: Sadly neglected.

You know, the blog tips and pointers encourage short, to the point posts. I think this is my first one of those!!

Can I Get Some Help Over Here?

Oh how easy it is to become remiss in blogging. How easy it is to not sit down here and type and put thoughts to words. There is a country song by Doug Stone from the early 90's (I think) called I Was Too Busy Being in Love and I think that is how the last week or so has been. I've been too busy enjoying Christmas, tying up loose ends at old work, trying to set up my world at new work, making New Year's plans, playing with my Christmas presents, spending time with family. . . . .it is the age old tale: the good things are always under documented.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's celebrating. As for me, well the swift and ball winder were sadly amiss this holiday but I was oh so wonderfully gifted with so many other things, I didn't even notice. (And besides, I have a birthday coming up February 1 so maybe I can manage to beg for those before then!) Among the treasures that came my way and at the top of the Yippee list: my handsome prince got me my very own super-duper A #1 digital camera.


This, of course, is not a picture of MY camera, but the picture they have on the Canon website. It is a Canon Powershot A620, with 7.1 megapixels for "stunning clarity" and 4 times optical zoom. As fancy as this baby is, I haven't figured out how to get it to take a picture of itself. I have had such fun playing with it, though, honestly, I haven't really figured out much about its fanciest of features yet. That will come. There will be much knitting to photograph in the days ahead. (There was much yarn and other knitterly goodness bestowed upon me this year and I have been enjoying it quite thoroughly this past week.)

And on the knitting front, I am looking for a volunteer or two. I am working on a pattern and I'd like another knitter's input. As previously discussed here at Ok? What Next?? my local circle of friends does not include any knitters.

This project calls for the following skills:

• Provisional cast-on
• Knitting in the round
• Picking up stitches
• Felting

Simple, simple, simple but still, I think, a nifty pattern. If you would be interested, please send me an email at crickitleigh (at) hotmail (dot) com or leave a comment in the comments with your email.

Hopefully this week will allow for at least some posting time. I am going to being working a lot: All day Monday at the old job and then 5 hours a day at each job Tuesday through Friday. It makes me weary just thinking about it. I think I am going to go have some wine and knit.