another month is almost gone and has it ever been a crazy one.
first, let's talk finished knit items. nerds wars has been an excellent motivater for really buckling down and crnaking knittiness out. my submission for the intellectual challenge this month was this hyrulian hat. the hubster loves it! it shall keep him safe on his daily quest to serve the powers that be and save the damsel in distress. really pleased with that one. my submission for the scientific challenge was my attempted duplication of a frost flower. once again, i'm really pleased with how it turned out (after a couple tries). (in the event that you can't see the pictures, they are also on my facebook) so pleased, in fact, i'm thinking of trying to do more flowers. i've been working out of this book and i'm having some pretty good luck with it. i'm also starting to think about teaching myself to crochet almost solely so i can make a zillion of the daffodils in the book. so bright and sunny and happy.
i mean, who doesn't like flowers? really? granted, cut flowers make me sad because i know they are going to wilt and die fairly soon (i know, lame). i would leap at having flowers all over our yard. unfortunately, i have a killer thumb (as opposed to a green thumb) and every plant i've ever had has died. poor things, they really didn't have a chance with me. anyway, flowers are just so pure and innocent, created that they would add beauty to this world. i love looking out the window while driving across the state. the wildflowers are just amazing. sigh. anyway, God did a pretty awesome job when it came to flowers.
now for the part of the month that has been less than stellar. the non-profit i currently work for has been restructuring. therefore, my job has changed drastically. i am immensely thankful to still have a job, don't get me wrong. however, i would have liked to have been consulted as to whether i wanted to do the work of two people. so, it has been a month of learning and attempting to do a new job while also doing to old one. there have many instances of me wandering the floor and sitting in the offices of others so i would simply not be at my desk for a few minutes. it has felt like my head was on the verge of imploding for the last several weeks. today, however, is a down day. finally. it feels good to not be running around like mike the headless chicken (yes, he is real. go look him up).
all the craziness has reminded me of several things this month that i really needed to be reminded of.
1. God is in control and He knows what He's doing.
2. He will not throw anything at me that He doesn't know i can handle. this is one i struggle with, personally. there have definitely been times lately where i was sure that i was being set up for failure. deep down this wasn't something i truly believed, but in my stressed out nearly-hyperventalating state, logical thinking wasn't really top priority. continuing brain function was.
3. we are in community for a reason. i would not have gotten through this month with the amazing woman whose job i took over (she got moved to being a case manager). she is astounding. i don't know how she did this every month, but i suppose i'll figure it out if i don't implode. also wouldn't have made it without several other co-workers and the hubster. they talk to me and help me calm down. he keeps me grounded and is always reminding me that i really can do this (we had both forgotten how easily i get overwhelmed some times). they all have my love and gratitude.
4. prayer really does work. He really is listening. He wants to help us. we just have to swallow our pride and ask. just asking for peace and calm throughout the days and getting it was, literally, a God send.
so, to wrap up, God is good. all the time. He meets you right where you are, no matter where that happens to be, and is exactly what you need. at least, i've been reminded that He is exactly what i need, not just throughout the craziness, but in every moment.
God, thank you for being my daffodil amidst the gloom.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
round one: complete
round one officially came to a close on monday. i got my prime scarf submitted just in time (it was a very long day)(also if you can't see the picture through the link, they are all on my facebook here).
so, i promised to tell you all about my prime scarf. well, it was almost entirely based on a delightfully fabulous conversation from big bang theory (w00t for Team Bazinga!).
Sheldon: What is the best number? By the way, there's only one correct answer.
Raj: 5,318,008?
Sheldon: Wrong! The best number is 73. [Short silence] You're probably wondering why.
Leonard & Howard: No no, we're good.
Sheldon: 73, is the 21st prime number, it's mirror 37 is the 12th and it's mirror 21 is the product of multiplying, hang on to your hats, 7 and 3. Did I lie?
Leonard: We did it! 73 is the... Chuck Norris of numbers!
Sheldon: Chuck Norris wishes! In binary, 73 is a palindrome, 1001001, which backwards is 1001001, exactly the same. All Chuck Norris gets you backwards is Sirron Kcuhc!
Raj: Just for the record, when you enter 5,318,008 in a calculator, upside down it spells BOOBIES!
so, now you have a frame of reference. the challenge in the intellectual category in round one was prime numbers. therefore, my prime scarf is 73 inches long, 37 stitches wide, has 7 stripes, and has 3 colors. each little clover-thingy has 3 leaves and the colors of the stripes are arranged to represent 73 in binary (purple green green purple green green purple).
not gonna lie, i'm rather proud of myself. there was some frustration when, on all three of the last stripes, i ran out of the color i was using with only an inch and a half left. it was beyond irritating to have to go out and get an entire new skein in each color for only the last tiny bits. it was especially lame on saturday when i ran out of the purple i used at 8pm. i thought, "okay, just run to walmart two minutes away and grab another." got to walmart. they were completely out of the shade i needed. awesome. so i tootled my way to michael's (across town) to try again. i get there and they don't even carry the shade i'm looking for. it is now 8:30pm. i start fervently praying that hobby lobby closes at 9pm instead of the suspected 8pm. i get there at 8:40pm to see the manager locking the door. sigh. at this point i've driven in a decently large circle that resulted in disappointment. then it finally occurs to me that there is, in fact, a second walmart that i have not tried. i scoot myself back over to it (it is right my michael's, lame, i know). they have ten skeins of the shade i need. so, after purchasing it, i complete circle number three and finally go home at 9pm. epic, i know.
there, now you have all the details (i know you were chomping at the bit in anticipation, it's okay).
i actually started planning for round two yesterday and i am beyond excited about my plans. new things to learn and try out! huzzah! once again, i'll have more details as i finish things. suffice it to say, if all goes the way i want it to, i'm going to have some seriously delightful things to share. :D
frustration has a way of sneaking up on me without my noticing until it has pounced and sucked out all of the pleasant thoughts i was having before its arrival. i know this about myself. so does God, i'm certain. while frustration has a tendency to push other away from us, it also brings us together in an odd way. we share our frustrations and bond over them, causing them to no longer be something nasty. they turn into a connection point. afterall, very few problems in this world are new (we tend to repeat history regularly). therefore, there is always someone that's been there and done that and gotten through it relatively unscathed that can help us through when it is our turn. while i don't think that God sends us into suffering for His own amusement, i know that He doesn't let anything at us that we simply cannot handle. granted, handling it alone isn't His plan. He's here for us, as are the people around us. He puts us in community for a reason. if we were meant to do it all alone, there wouldn't even be a "we." thank His goodness that "we" is where He wants us, so we can thrive.
so, i promised to tell you all about my prime scarf. well, it was almost entirely based on a delightfully fabulous conversation from big bang theory (w00t for Team Bazinga!).
Sheldon: What is the best number? By the way, there's only one correct answer.
Raj: 5,318,008?
Sheldon: Wrong! The best number is 73. [Short silence] You're probably wondering why.
Leonard & Howard: No no, we're good.
Sheldon: 73, is the 21st prime number, it's mirror 37 is the 12th and it's mirror 21 is the product of multiplying, hang on to your hats, 7 and 3. Did I lie?
Leonard: We did it! 73 is the... Chuck Norris of numbers!
Sheldon: Chuck Norris wishes! In binary, 73 is a palindrome, 1001001, which backwards is 1001001, exactly the same. All Chuck Norris gets you backwards is Sirron Kcuhc!
Raj: Just for the record, when you enter 5,318,008 in a calculator, upside down it spells BOOBIES!
so, now you have a frame of reference. the challenge in the intellectual category in round one was prime numbers. therefore, my prime scarf is 73 inches long, 37 stitches wide, has 7 stripes, and has 3 colors. each little clover-thingy has 3 leaves and the colors of the stripes are arranged to represent 73 in binary (purple green green purple green green purple).
not gonna lie, i'm rather proud of myself. there was some frustration when, on all three of the last stripes, i ran out of the color i was using with only an inch and a half left. it was beyond irritating to have to go out and get an entire new skein in each color for only the last tiny bits. it was especially lame on saturday when i ran out of the purple i used at 8pm. i thought, "okay, just run to walmart two minutes away and grab another." got to walmart. they were completely out of the shade i needed. awesome. so i tootled my way to michael's (across town) to try again. i get there and they don't even carry the shade i'm looking for. it is now 8:30pm. i start fervently praying that hobby lobby closes at 9pm instead of the suspected 8pm. i get there at 8:40pm to see the manager locking the door. sigh. at this point i've driven in a decently large circle that resulted in disappointment. then it finally occurs to me that there is, in fact, a second walmart that i have not tried. i scoot myself back over to it (it is right my michael's, lame, i know). they have ten skeins of the shade i need. so, after purchasing it, i complete circle number three and finally go home at 9pm. epic, i know.
there, now you have all the details (i know you were chomping at the bit in anticipation, it's okay).
i actually started planning for round two yesterday and i am beyond excited about my plans. new things to learn and try out! huzzah! once again, i'll have more details as i finish things. suffice it to say, if all goes the way i want it to, i'm going to have some seriously delightful things to share. :D
frustration has a way of sneaking up on me without my noticing until it has pounced and sucked out all of the pleasant thoughts i was having before its arrival. i know this about myself. so does God, i'm certain. while frustration has a tendency to push other away from us, it also brings us together in an odd way. we share our frustrations and bond over them, causing them to no longer be something nasty. they turn into a connection point. afterall, very few problems in this world are new (we tend to repeat history regularly). therefore, there is always someone that's been there and done that and gotten through it relatively unscathed that can help us through when it is our turn. while i don't think that God sends us into suffering for His own amusement, i know that He doesn't let anything at us that we simply cannot handle. granted, handling it alone isn't His plan. He's here for us, as are the people around us. He puts us in community for a reason. if we were meant to do it all alone, there wouldn't even be a "we." thank His goodness that "we" is where He wants us, so we can thrive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)