Ambivalence

As Judy has requested a photo of the new cut, I figured I should oblige.  Not one of the greatest pictures of me, but I think it shows the nicely ceramic iron straightened hair pretty well.  I'm going to quit trying to take photos in the bathroom mirror, boy was that a scary experience.  Thank goodness digital photos are cheap as I wasted a lot of them!  I went with the natural wave this morning and oh boy can I tell you that the two textures are so different.  The iron really seals in the shine and makes it very silky.  It doesn't take much longer to do right than fighting with the big round hairbrush and the hair dryer.  I was just running that late this morning.

On the knitting front, I've finally finished the Opal Rainforest Fish socks.  As a testament to how fast I can knit them, once I get going, the second was not touched since I cast it on during the commute on 9/1.  This weekend, my folks and I took the twins out to visit my sister and see her brand new house.  OH MY G-D, it is absolutely gorgeous!  More on that later though.  As my folks have a car that seats 7, they did the driving, while I sat in the back and knitted.  I took that sock from the cuff to halfway through the heel on the way and to the toe decrease coming back.  I finished it this morning on the bus.  Yup, running late and took the bus.  I happily got the stripes to match almost exactly and am very pleased with myself there.  I'll cast on for a pair for Alex tonight.  The beaded amulet has been tossed aside.  Since my attention span for these projects is shorter than the twins for toys, I'm going to give up hopes of anything larger as a Rhinebeck project and stick with the family socks.  Make it a yearly tradition, at least until they have any say about it.

The new Knitty is up and I've put together my wishlist.  Samus, Falling Leaves and Bubby are all very high on the list of likes from this issue.  I'm a heartbeat away from casting aside Eris and working on Samus instead.  While Eris is a lovely sweater and the pattern exceedingly well done, I like the line of Samus better.  While I'll have to swatch (shudder at the thought), I'm pretty sure I can get gauge with some of the KnitPicks yarn that I've laid in over the last year, or if not that, the Araucania that I bought for Rogue.  I have a Power Squadron dinner tonight so I doubt I'll be able to swatch much before tomorrow.

Back to my sister's house.  Oh my goodness, it is absolutely lovely.  She moved from a small 2 bedroom ranch in northern NJ out to Lancaster County and a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath 3000 sq-foot dream house.  Her kitchen/family room/breakfast nook is larger than my whole apartment and gorgeously decked out with cherry floors and fabulous cabinets and moldings.  It really is a beautiful house, if only it were a bit closer.  Not too terribly far, but a good deal of the route is not highway driving and as a result can be unpredictable to time.  It takes anywhere between 2 and 3 hours to do the drive, one way.  Saturday morning was one of those 2 hour 40 minute rides, though the countryside is pretty, and hey, I got some sock knitting done while watching Finding Nemo on the dvd player.  Oh boy did the short people have a good time running around in those huge open spaces.

Speaking of the short people, we hit another milestone.  They can no longer be contained in a Pack 'n Play (unless I can get a cage lid for it).  We put them down late yesterday morning for a nap.  Naturally, while tired, they weren't keen on the idea.  After the crying stopped and all got quiet, I was lulled into a fall sense of security by the quiet and relaxed in the family room with my family.  The twins were in a closed room in the Pack 'n Plays.  Not so fast you say?  You're right.  It wasn't long after that I heard giggling as two little people were coming downstairs.  They'd escaped the playards and Alex had already proven his dexterity in getting the door open.  Twingenuity.  Have to love it.  Only a matter of time now before they are escaping their crib and my good times have ended. :)

Dating

Bleh.  I'm tired of it already.  I now remember that I never really liked it the last time I tried it.  Hell, I can explain my less than successful marriage on settling to get off the dating ride.  Thank you everyone for all your comments on the whacko who wouldn't take no.  Nice to see that my instincts are trustworthy.  You'll be relieved to know that I haven't heard from him since I told him to get lost last Tuesday.  I've spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with (B).  So much so that I sent him an email on Friday, pleading that he not call me that night.  We've talked every night for several hours and I'm already sleep deficient.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the conversations with him, but he calls me every night, at least once during the day and now add in several emails a day.  I haven't even met him face to face yet.  It just seems like too much too soon.  I'm not used to that much attention and I'm not entirely sure about how to rectify this.  Because of all the contact with this one guy, I haven't been able to communicate with a couple of others that had contacted me. Hell, I'm not even sure I want to date anymore.  Dating just sucks. 

While I find the attention flattering, something is just rubbing me the wrong way.  I called (J) this morning (well returned his call) to cancel our lunch date for today as I had a deadline to meet and wouldn't be able to get out of the office.  I'm too ambivalent on the whole dating thing and feeling pretty crappy as my allergies seem to have kicked in again, that I didn't want to wreck that relationship before it had a chance to get off the ground and well, got to work a bit late.  I told him I'd call him back as the week progressed to see when we could reschedule.  Sounds good, right?  I'm screening calls at the office and only answering the ones I have to.  Heck, 99% of all calls to my phone here are personal in nature so my boss wouldn't mind my not answering it.  I've ignored probably a dozen calls so far that the caller-id displays as Tie-Line.  One was subsequently followed by a call from the reception desk.  I answered that one.  It was (J) calling back to see if he could call me at home tonight.  What's with that?  I don't make a call to ask if I can call you?  Is it me or these guys acting a bit desperate?  I don't return a message for a couple of hours and they try again and again and again.  If I don't answer my cell phone, they call my office line and if I don't answer they, they send an email.  Enough already.  Should I be thankful instead of annoyed that I've "met" attentive men?  Am I crazy? 

Oh, one observation so far in this one week old dating game.  Dating as a late thirty something is far different than when I was younger.  Oh boy are the conversations far more frank and open.  I've had conversations with three different men on the phone and all of them have questioned me on sex.  What?  Call me a prude, but you don't talk about that before you even meet face to face.  Holy shit.  I want to take everything slowly and get it right this time and they are asking me about sexual preferences and the like.  Ugh.  I want to crawl back into my yarn and fleece lined hole and hide there thanks.

Bonus points to those who made it this far!

Craft on.

Comments

[Chris]

Love the haircut! Love the socks (but the bigger pic didn't come through). The dating? Yikes! Haven't done that in 26 years so I'm probably not the one to offer any advice. But you know me - I've always got opinions! Here's one: it's not prudish to expect any discussion of sex to hold off until you have some inkling that perhaps it might happen. I'd say a frank "back off, Jack" is in order.

[Katy]

Cute haircut!
On the dating thing: Trust your gut. Yes, some of the guys out there are desperate. And pushy. If they are practically harrassing you with e-mails & calls, take that as a bad sign. Ditto on the sex thing. I think that computers & e-mail have made it way too easy to get "intimate" (in the non physical sense) way too soon. just my 2 cents!

[sara]

LOVE the hair.

I'm thinking the dating service thingie is batting about 1000 so far. I think I'd nix the cell/work/email options for now, and set up a separate email account solely for contact from that service. Check it once a day. And punt anyone who is needy on the long frequent phone call front. Once again, trust your instincts girlfriend.

And anyone who asks you about sexual prefs on the initial phone calls also gets punted from your list of possibilities. Sheesh!

I'm think the fiber hole sounds mighty comfy ;)

[Laurie]

Dump the guy who can't stop communicating. Clingy, needy behavior at best. Sex talk before meeting? If it feels bad, it is. If it isn't mutual exploration, it's creepy.

Like the haircut. Looks very good.

[Elaine]

Haircut=A+, Knitting choices=B+, Dating choices=C+, I'd have dropped kicked some of these leeches much more quickly than you are. I guess I can say I'd rather just meet someone in the normal course of life, but I'm not the one living without a husband and with twin toddlers. These guys just don't sound like they are in for living with twin toddlers and fiber and a home though? is it just me? Sorry, pushy and nosey...but you asked. Instincts girlfriend..you got em and you know how to use em! Go for it! Damn...love that hair...how long would that take on me?

[Donna]

Love the hair!! Me thinks I need one of those straightening irons too. The twins are certainly at a fun stage...enjoy. They will now question you on everything and try your patience. Boy am I glad I'm not doing the dating scene...sex questions before the date! I would definitely be heading back into the fleece and fiber den.

[--Deb]

The hair looks wonderful! And it sounds like a great weekend. Pity about the crappy non-dates . . . (See? This is why, really, I can't be bothered! Ugh. You have my best wishes, of course, but you're braver than I am!)

[Elaine]

Ewww...I just re-read my comment and it sounded like I thought you just NEED to be living WITH a husband and twin toddlers. Not what I meant. You choose a guy who ADDS to your life, not someone who just fills some imaginary space..but you know that. Knock em dead girlfriend.

[Nancy J]

Great hair! (Glad Judy asked!) Socks great! You're doing just fine, just fine! How about Elaine's surprise!?!

[Juno]

I've adopted a rule for Internet dating - one email a day until you meet face to face. Period. It's too easy to get involved in an intimate conversation with a stranger and move too fast. I've burned myself once or twice with that one.

I never, ever give someone my phone number until we're meeting, so I have no rule for calls per day - but I think a limit of one could be useful also.

Iit is okay to not answer if you're not in the mood to talk at a particular moment. And anything that's worth anything will survive a 24-hour delay.

Best of luck -