Song Bomb & Other Dreams

I could have danced all night!
I could have danced all night!
And still have begged for more!
I could have spread my wings
And done a thousand things
I've never done before!
I didn't know what made it so exciting,
When all at once my heart took flight!
I only know when he began to dance with me
I could have danced danced danced all night!
-"I Could Have Danced All Night ", My Fair Lady

Thanks to Jinny for getting the song totally stuck in my head. And then my brother saying he had been watching it earlier too.

Been having a LOT of dreams lately. Not sure if it's the weather or just being on an almost-regular sleep schedule (they say sleeping better makes you dream more) or just being in a really good mood recently or what. I dreamed that Skille would get traded two days before it happened. Dreamed of a thunderstorm, then one hit this weekend. Last couple dreams have been about training for the run with some stuffed/cartoony animals (not as creepy as it sounds, was kind of funny), talking to Jonathan Toews before a press conference or game (he gave me a hug, kept his arm around me, asked me about work and told me he was mixing a new song for the pregame videos - because the players do that /sarcasm - and that everything would be alright), being a contestant on SyFy's "Face/Off" makeup competition and being totally overwhelmed because I knew nothing about makeup and am not creative (those three dreams were all in one night!) and then last night's was trying to convince/protect my tech school roommate from getting involved with a really bad crowd and then having to leave her to protect myself when she did anyway. Very busy subconscious, I guess! Nothing bad or scary, mostly encouraging or self-aware, actually, so that's cool, but always interesting.

I've started the test knit for the Ravelry designer. It's going to be a felted cape, actually! I'm super-excited, but this thing is going to be huge pre-felting. And okay, Malabrigo totally lives up to the hype. This yarn is INsanely soft and so pretty! I love it! It borders on being almost TOO soft, though - this stuff will almost felt if you just LOOK at it too roughly. Which is great for spit-splicing, I love not having many ends to weave in! The pattern itself is a touch fiddly - there are a couple different techniques - but not difficult. It will take some time, though, just because of its size. I also finished the dishcloth blankie for our newest little guy AND got to cuddle him in it when he visited us at work the other day! He's so cute!

Now taking advantage of a three day weekend to get caught up on some housework and some homework. Really struggling with this class, even though it's actually a bit more interesting than the others. Well, I shouldn't say that. I should say the assignment structures are more interesting, the material itself is still quite boring. But instead of one or two massive papers and exams, we have LOTS of small(ish) assignments each week. When you already start out three weeks behind b/c of transferred classes and textbook mishaps, it's really very frustrating trying to get caught up and then stay caught up. And with online classes, it's SO easy to procrastinate! Hate that. Hate that I let myself do that! Definitely going to be working on that.

I'm also training a Canadian captain at work right now, and Kings 5K run is in less than two weeks! And then I start the training program for the Disneyland Half! Oye! Busy!

Ranting

-Why yes, I would LOVE to help organize the food for a wingman day this Friday. Because, you know, I have NOTHING else to do this week, what with being the only certified military member in my shop on days and four, no, five sensors in various phases of testing right now. So yes, you put that list on my desk and see how quickly I get to it. Mrph.

-If you're in the Western Conference and are not the Blackhawks, I will not be cheering for you unless your win will somehow help us. Eastern Conference winners preferred right now. (Related: Versteeg to Flyers - possibly awkward first practice but maybe he'll find our missing puck.)

-Counting while knitting is useful. Maybe I should try it some time.

-You're the creative genius. You come up with the idea and I make it happen. That's how we work. Don't make me attempt to be creative. It's not a good situation. (But thank you for calling.)

Nap time!

-Pouting, only this time I can't put the blame on the refs. This one was completely us. We're jinxed. We've been playing hard (except the powerplay, which looks like we've never seen a puck in our lives), and defense & penalty kill has actually far exceeded my expectations. Offense is just not connecting and it makes me sad.

-The dishcloth blanket is never-ending. I swear. I've knit and knit and knit on it and it never stops.

-I can't believe I'm even considering doing the Disneyland Half Marathon in September. I'm so not worried about the 5K next month, but 13 miles??

-I'm training a new person in our shop at work, and my NCO has been on baby alert all weekend. So life is all sorts of fun there right now. Just when I think I know what is going on, I get to feel like a dumb new airman all over again!

-I hate drill weekends right now. 12 days in a row of being up at 0530 sucks. The guys usually try to give me either Friday or Monday off, but w/ their schedules, it didn't work out this weekend. I got this afternoon off, but that doesn't help the sleeping in factor. Sigh.

American Airmen v. Canadian Officers ;-)

I love my shop. Actual conversation as I was leaving on Friday (the American NCO & Canadian MWO had been jabbing at each other all day):

Me: Alright, I'll see you guys on Monday!
MWO: Wait, you left early yesterday and you think you can leave again today??
Me: I left 20 minutes early yesterday! Captain kicked me out cuz we were bored!
MWO: Oh, so now you're quantifying it?? You think it matters how early you leave? Slacker!
NCO: In all fairness, she does have to be here all weekend.
MWO: She gets paid for it.
Me: Actually, I don't.
NCO & MWO: ????
Me: The orders I'm on don't pay me any extra for drill weekends.
NCO: That's dumb.
MWO: Meh. Cry me a river.
NCO: I'll cry you a lake!
Me: They don't need more lakes in Canada.
MWO: Don't YOU start! I like you!
Me: Hey, I like Canadians. You play good sports.
Canadian Captain 1: What? Golf?
MWO: Hockey. She might actually know something about it.
Me: In fact, I'm on my way home to watch a game now.
Canadian Captain 2 (who just walked in): Who's playing tonight?
MWO: Blackhawks.
(Collective Canadian snort)
Captain: Yeah, you'd better leave!

In other news, I've been asked to test knit a new pattern for the lady who designed my Swirls hat (the black & red one from the January Hat Trick). She said she would cover the yarn and asked me to pick a color. I didn't know that was going to result in a BAG OF GORGEOUS PURPLE MALABRIGO arriving at my door a few days later! I've never gotten to work with Mal before, and it's enormously soft just in the skein, so I hope it lives up to the hype. The cat seems to love it, anyway; no matter where I put it, he ends up on top of it somehow. The designer is finishing up the pattern now and I should get it next week. I think it's going to be a wrap of some kind from the way she talked. Very excited!


Just finished PTL training. I figure this is going to force me to get better at pushups, since I'll be in a position to have to practice what I preach now. I did, however, get several tips on practice programs and form (apparently I am unbalanced - no comment - I don't pushup evenly with both arms. I still favor my right arm almost three years after injuring it. Never realized it.)

Spring Training starts in three weeks! Yay! (I am focusing on that positive hope right now instead of the seething anger I still feel after my Blackhawks were just absolutely robbed by the referees last night. Clearly, it hasn't settled down much. They are handling it with much more class than I am.)

Learned Stuff

-There are days that when someone asks me what I'm doing at work, it is all I can do to answer with a straight face because the task at hand seriously sounds like something a character out of Star Trek would be doing.

-I have the baby blanket for the little guy who is coming in May done. The one who is coming this week? Not so much.

-I seriously dislike yoga as a PT exercise. At least on wet, uneven grass. But I still hate pushups more.

-NHL All-Star Weekend was ridiculously fun to watch. But I'm glad real hockey is back now.

-Homework is better when there is an actual, definite answer to the question beyond "what do you think?" I think those kind of assignments are stupid. TEACH someone what sort of things they should be thinking ABOUT in the context first. I used to say it emphatically about stage management, and now I'm expanding it to all management - you can't learn it out of a book. You've got to get out and get your hands dirty and actually learn how to solve the problems as they come to have any idea of what s really going on.

-I'm very glad I live in California right now. I had to debate if it was cool enough to wear my PT sweatshirt today. It was.

-Food Network is strangely addictive.

-I've run a little over 25 miles so far this year, averaging a little over 3.5 miles per run. I still hate running, but at least my time will get better! I'm kind of looking forward to the 5K in March now. (But will be looking forward more to the hockey game afterwards.)