A List

I've allowed myself to get distracted by something and I'm mad at myself. I've been in a funk. And starting to snap out of it. So, I'm making a list of all the shit I have to do to wrap it up and get going on being more awesome!

1. Get a Job
2. Buy a YMCA membership via assisted membership
3. Make it through RDAC Nationals with a smile on my face!
4. Stop eating shit that makes me feel like shit
5. Get Seth into daycare
6. Take over the world with Laura
7. Go to every single roller derby practice

Pretty sure that's it. I can do it! PS here's some pretty pictures!

"on your street we march like toy soldiers in our winter clothes"

my closet before i unpacked my last bag of stuff...lots of GREY!


my closet after i unpacked my last bag of stuff...colour! tutus!


my wedding dress! (i decided to finally throw it out, but not until one more hurrah!)


i also found our of montreal vinyl wall art and put some of my favourites on our bathroom mirror (we have a lack of both wall space and windows around here).


some pins i also unearthed....missed them!

this evening i began to pull down the last of our stuff from the closet in the room upstairs that we lived in for MONTHS before our basement suite was finished. i realized after i unpacked most of it that there's still a box up there with a board game, some markers, and some craft stuff. that i'll have to get tomorrow. but i was super impressed with what i found, yet super disappointed it's stuff i've seemed to live without for the past number of months. OH STUFF I'VE MISSED YOU! SO SORRY! it's weird how just days after we decided that i do need to ramp up getting a good job with the provincial government and that we might be moving to victoria by the end of the year (if i can make it happen fast enough!)....i start to enjoy living in this space more and feel more at home. but, that being said, i'd really like to go get a gallette at cascadia and see my sister on daily basis. that would be nice.

today i also discovered a great way to take care of my much-loved to-do lists. the tasks option in gmail! duh!
it's super handy and is always there and it means i don't have to update my chalkboard for just my weekly list. i've been using my dashboard for more work-based notes/things so i feel so GROSS when i go to use it for non-work. (can you tell i hate working?) haha. anyway, i'm super excited to streamline my to-do list life. especially since i'm on the computer at least 32 hours a week for work and will see this list often.

i've been thinking fleetingly about living somewhere else lately. another country. go on an adventure. but am working steadily on reminding myself of what i want (a farm) and that to do that i need to stay here, work, pay off debt, learn more about farming, and work towards that goal. it is even a short-term goal (within 5-6 years) so i have to work as hard as possible. or the time will go past so fast and i wont be ready. i also have to remember that i want to do my PhD and that has to fit in there between working and getting ready to farm! ha! by the time i'm 35 i'm going to be even more exhausted!

speaking of exhausted, my thesis zine is done and completely ready for order!

"everybody will ask what became of you"

i am in bed and there is a cat cuddling at my feet and i'm about to crawl under the covers and hopefully get a few hours of sleep before i'm woken up by a cuddly tired and hungry baby. i dread it, but also look forward to it. the cuddles, anyway. i'm feeling more forlorn than i expected about him going to daycare. he's going to have so much fun with all those other kids, but i know i will miss our all day hang outs. but instead i have to work. i'm thankful that he's only going three days and that i can afford to work "part time" (approx 32 hours a week) and have flexible hours and workplace.

this morning when i went outside to take the recycling to the curb (we had THREE bags/bins this week - they come every two weeks - the most yet!) i gasped in awe at the magic of the freeze thaw. i honestly think i should have gone into geography and then i could have spent my undergrad surrounded by boys with thick glasses and beards and fleece pants. haha. anyway, it was super cool and i had fun taking pictures of the ICE and the dirt. as for the dirt my parents started a landscaping project at the end of October and just never finished it in time for the early snow and it seems to be written off for now. kinda annoying. but whatever.

blah, this week is going to be insane. i'm feeling a little overwhelmed, like i can't get it done, but i know i can and i will! here's a list of the things i have to put together. i hope to do it all by saturday PM so that i can go to girl's night with eben lemon and emily from five dog house and janine and dame girling without being distracted by the following list of doom. as a rule to myself i'm not going to post until after saturday about what i accomplished. but fingers crossed i get them all done.

1. work 40 hours (including last week) on my time sheet
2. do my open jars recipe for food in jars
3. bind those zines and mail them to KT and E-sharp. PS, KT put together a chap book. i'm sure she'll mail you one.
4. post info about the zine burkholder is collecting for on Shameless
5. do post on hatred against teen girls in BC in 2010 on Shameless
6. OMG, knit two more swatches and do three drawings and finish my work up of my super secret design (knit) for the twist deadline
7. finish and fax in my child care subsidy forms (FML).

Have a good week and wish me luck! XO

28 before i'm 29

Wholly inspired by ElsieCake of Red Velvet this is my list of 28 things I want to do before I turn 29 next September. I'll probably keep track on the side. And on the blog. I love goals. I always used to hate them and then the Succulent Wild Woman said to set smaller goals. And it all made sense. Wish me luck!

1. Go to half of the Provincial Parks on Vancouver Island
2. Pay back my tuition debts
3. Pay off my CitiFinancial Card
4. Pay off my HBC Card
5. Pay off my Mastercard
6. Pay off my Visa
7. Go to Toronto with Stewart and Seth
8. Get three tattoos: a crysanthemum, the smash patriarchy comic, and another one (so many to choose from)
9. Make my own mozzarella
10. Knit 5 sweaters
11. Send Melissa a postcard for every week from now until my 29th birthday
12. Dye my hair like Ramona Flowers
13. Get a full time permanent job with the Provincial Government (even if it means we have to move)
14. Write an essay for the book collecting contest (and win!)
15. Be “The Letter of the Day” on Q
16. Roller derby
17. Eat at every Chinese food restaurant in Port Alberni
18. Start a booth at the Farmer’s Market
19. Go to Portland
20. Finally officially change my last name to Jurkic-Walls
21. Embroider my first “My Favourite Misogynist”
22. Finish and print our Pizza Zine and get it published by Microcosm
23. Cook every pasta recipe in the Rebar Cookbook
24. Finish the Hanami Shawl
25. Get red tomatoes this year
26. Make crafting and stuff like that 20% of my monthly income
27. Learn how to do Sashinko
28. Try to eliminate sugar and white flour as much as possible

"i'm in the corner watching you kiss her ooooh!"

this morning i got up and painted the purple walls in helvetica's room! and the purple bubble (these are in progress photos...finished photos after the weekend when everything's done!). i love the colour that i picked and happy that stewart picked purple!

last night we searched the internet for cat-bed like sleeping surfaces for helvetica for in our bed. stew's genuinely terrified that he'll roll over onto lil'font and squish it. i'm pretty sure if i did that a tit would just fall in it's mouth and it would be happy. i mean, sleeping and then tit in your face? nice! anyway, we couldn't find such a sleeping situation anywhere so stewart's going to go find a cat bed or something to assure himself in his sleeping. so adorable. and then the cats can use it after. haha.

we're definitely in the countdown, almost. as of next monday we have 4 weeks left (!!) so this weekend feels like a last hurrah! ha! we're going to victoria to hang out with stewart's mom and the aunties, and my darling eden. it'll be nice to get one last outing out together sans child (i'm still heading down for owen pallet in may!). well, i should go get ready for my day and head to my meeting! xo

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Done the little bunnies!! YAY!!! They're so cute and adorable and fun to play with..and they're not even for me. I can't wait for 1. helvetica to be a real baby and 2. for helvetica to be big enough to play with his/her own set! adorable. i mean, look at their little bums!! the tutorial is from the purl bee (they have so many great projects there!) and i finally got to put something up on craftster. i haven't posted a project up there in years. here's the link.

well, internet, it's been fun! i'm going on a variety of trips out of town over the next two weeks and when i'm not on the road i'll be at home very busy painting walls and putting up wallpaper. so i bid you my farewell for the next two weeks!!

"this is death of [my to do list], moment of silence"

at the very least today i got a few things from my list done: i made the bulletin boards, i painted the hallway (two coats), and fixed up my messes from painting the chalkboard wall. after that we ended up going to get a blizzard and since then i've reloaded stewart's computer (again) and basically crashed from the sugar. oh! and i started laying out our birch wall mural. it's not as art-print as i thought, more photo, but i f'in love it! the panels are a little screwy but it comes with the paste and you put up the pieces as squares! it's going to be so fun and will definitely fit with our woodland/colonization-themed living room. there's more pictures over on the flickr. and will be more tomorrow once i get the rest of the wallpaper up in the AM.

while stewart was moving stuff from helvetica's room (which still needs to be drywalled, painted, and set up) he slowly unpacked some things like our slew of badges/buttons, and pens/pencils, a bag with my knitted shrug in it that i thought i lost, and found the lid to my water bottle. we didn't unpack a single box to completion but just coming across my ceramic cupcakes (!!), my kokeshi dolls (!!!), and my skulls pillowcase was enough to remind me that i do have so many awesome things already and i don't need to stress about putting my place together so much. it also reassured me that i haven't lost myself by moving here (not that i think that often) but to see my nearest and dearest books, markers, and doo-dads was enough for me to remember how much awesomeness i have around me! that my collecting isn't for want!! and that i've survived 5 months of it being in a box! now i just need to get it out of those boxes!! off to hunt down some food!

FO: giftie shawl + to do!

over the last few days i have been working steadily getting this shawl made and finished up as it's been on the back burner for a certain someone who'll get it next week! the combination of the bright turquoise with the variegated purple is shockingly bright! but i think it'll make a good addition to some cute cute outfits the giftie wears. yay! my rav project link is here.

today is the first day in a while where stewart and i both have the whole day off, two of them in a row. i know i've been on leave for a few weeks so we've had days "off" together, but today/tomorrow i have ZERO meetings, zero running around to do, and no need to get up early. i'm kind of excited. he lies, snoring, next to me here in the bed and i'm going to wrestle myself up (finally, it's almost lunch time) to make a pot of coffee and a snack! and then to get to my to do list. today is going to be busy!!

1. fix up chalkboard wall (i spilled a little and need to paint over the spill).
2. paint hallway with grey paint, 2 coats
3. put fabric on scrap ceiling tiles with duct tape and hang on bedroom wall for our badges/pins, etc
4. move table and sewing EVERYTHING downstairs.
5. make some of these for a little man
6. make 4 of these for some little girls i know
7. re-pot my indoor plants (it's beyond due!)

i hope you all have a great weekend! i'll be back tomorrow with pictures of today and a rundown of the baking i have to tackle, and the packing, and the laundry washing: PG HERE I COME!

FO: Milo Vest + Booty Shorts for Stewart

yesterday and today i knit this! the Milo vest! My gauges was off (of course i didn't pre-check) and it turned out humongous. which kind of ruins my hope that it would be helvetica's coming home outfit. so, also because it's big and super girlie, if helvetica comes out as a boy then i'll be gifting this on to a friend's baby, well not so new born anymore, but whatevs. here's the ravelry link for my project.


yesterday morning i also finished stewart's booty shorts. hallelujah! the pattern's free on knitty and came out just in time for me to actually cast this on based on the Elizabeth Zimmerman leggings pattern. So, phew. My gauge was also off on this pattern (i'm a loose knitter maybe?) and i had to recast it on with way fewer stitches and made it to fit stewart like a glove. mainly because i wanted them to be tight fitting rather than loose and baggy in the pattern's pictures. my ravelry project for this one is here.


finishing this vest means that i still only have one work in progress, my hanami shawl, and am dedicated to knit it before i cast anything else on, which is going to be a challenge since i'm watching movies all day (and night) and will probably get distracted and fuck up, but whatever. today so far i've watched good hair, julie & julia, and am 1/2 way through the september issue. tonight stewart and i are going to watch human voice with ingrid bergman. tomorrow i'm going to go thrift shopping, actually paint (i didn't today because my back hurts blarg) some walls/ceilings (colours!!!), and cook something wonderful for a late dinner. what that will be i'm not sure yet. any ideas?

"somewhere along the line i slowly lost my mind"

yum!!! this morning i made this bread and just devoured one of the ends, toasted, with a bit of margarine (oh how i miss being able to afford earth balance). in the february 2010 issue of martha stewart living there was a recipe for basic white bread that was SO easy and the cinnamon raisin seemed like a welcome addition to this week's eating. i'm thinking about making grilled sandwiches with it for lunch tomorrow. the recipe makes two loaves: the one above is the one with less sugar and the one in the freezer is the super sweet one. i was surprised how easy it was to actually make this bread and will be messing around with it as per the recipe (there's a rye and multigrain version too!). maybe will do one with nuts and seeds, etc.

i just got home from meeting our doulas and it was so good! not only are they the sweetest, smartest, and most warm and comfortable women i've met in a while, they were funny, open, and easy to talk to. yay! we have to set up a meeting for a month from now just to go over the final birth "plan" etc., but just meeting them has made me SO EXCITED to deliver this baby. wahoooo!!! and, to boot, they're willing to work for partial trade and it sounds like i have a kid's batman sweater to make soon!

tomorrow at midnight is the last of my to do list and i still have 5 things on it but am pretty confident that i'll get 4 of them done (everything minus the hanami shawl). i'll just be busy busy busy busy busy. but the sense of accomplishment will be great! (and then i can spend the rest of the week painting, working on the project we're doing on jade's sailboat, and that hanami shawl). xo

"i've got some news for you, fembots have feelings too"

so far this weekend has been full of sanding drywall, knitting, finishing up my revisions, and watching movies. tomorrow, hopefully, i can start painting and then spend the rest of the week painting in between my remaining tasks. so far i have six things crossed off my list, which leaves 6 things and 4 days to go. i'm in process on three of them, and know i have to do my plants (probably tomorrow..i've been putting this one off so bad!). sadly, though, the one thing i won't be able to cross off is finishing my hanami shawl, which is OK, considering it's a doozie and would be a celebration after getting the other things done.

the renos, while in motion, are definitely stressing poor ol rupert out, and thus stressing both me and stew out and, in all honesty, making me really upset. it's not fun having your kittie be in distress. whenever rupert gets stressed he gets eosinophilic granuloma. basically when he's stressed out his immune system drops and some allergy he has resurfaces and causes this reaction. then it gets itchy so he rubs it against concrete and wall corners, or it gets so big it "bursts" through his skin, and then he rubs it etc. at that point i wash it and put polysporin or an all natural hydrocortisonal cream on it (which stressed him out) and around and around we go until the stress has stopped. sometimes it has been other cats "in his territory" and others dust, food, etc. but this time i'm convinced it's the renos because every time a hammer hams or a drill drills he gets this shocked worried look on his face. it's so sad. the only "cure" or "treatment" other than reducing his stress is to take him to the vet so they can give him steroid injections! NOT FUN! so we avoid the vet at all cost now for this issue and just try to reduce reduce reduce the environmental allergies. oi. i want my kittie to be better!

well off to knit and work on these soakers or stewart's booty shorts/watch ponyo/read the new martha stewart. xo

FO: pick pick pick it up cardigan

it's finished! wahooo!!! rav link here, pattern from craftster. off to do something else (like deal with this incredibly awful heartburn and cuddle with the cats. more pics on flickr).

"if i had known all your ghosts i never would have come so far"

today went by so fast! i'm officially sleeping 10 hours a night and can't survive on any less or even get out of bed on even less. which is a shame because i feel so motivated to do stuff, get stuff done, work little bee work! today i didn't accomplish much on my list (though i did get somewhere on my sweater (above)!). i did end up making buttermilk pancakes (and devouring them yum), beef and broccoli for dinner (yay for being back on broccoli!), setting up stewart's computer for the internet (nightmare and so time consuming), and typing up minutes from a meeting. basically events that shouldn't have taken so long ended up consuming my day. so around 5 i plopped down and watched some House, Gossip Girl, and then was party to a general viewing of Nacho Libre (oh heavens). Basically, since 5pm, I've been knitting. and it's great, except i HATE knitting stocking knit with the purl reverse. i much prefer it in the round. regardless i'm so excited about this sweater i should not complain. this sweater is going to dominate all sweaters (i own) and i will need to get a new purse. HELP!

"you got them all by the balls"

today i bought seeds for our planters as per my to do list (and a small bag of dirt to rescue my inside plants and use remainder to plant some seeds). i bought a slew of heirloom tomatoes, basil, flat leaf parsley, and rosemary. my favourite herbs. today is full of knitting knitting knitting to get my projects finished. and maybe a nap. my left hip joint popped out of place two nights ago when i was sleeping so i keep waking up in terrible pain. it's all floating around in there not sure of where to go.

i'm going to put down this computer and continue to knit and listen to q with peaches!!!



and some surfer blood

FO: clapotis!

i finally finished my clapotis! just over two weeks in the making this lovely lovely shawl (which i made with a hearty yarn, telemark from knitpicks) will be mine! i originally bought the yarn and the colour with someone else in mind and can't remember who that person was....hahaha. but i'm allured by it's beauty, warmth, and glowingness (and the fact that i've tackled a scarf for myself for the first time in a long time). the knitty pattern/article is here. and this is the link to the yarn i used. i used just over 7 balls (have enough left over to make a baby hat/toque or some booties...and this here link is the one for my ravelry project.

it's nice to get something off my to do list. i'm going to ramble my way through the MSP application right now, too. blarg. tomorrow brings planters/seeds/dirt (we've decided against a full blown garden b/c we're not sure if we'll be in this house next year (but will be in port alberni for sure), but i've decided to grow herbs (b/c i like using them a lot and they're expensive at the store) and i'll try some tomatoes... pictures of that set up tomorrow. now, all i have to do is wait for stewart to get up/wake up so i can open the blinds and play surfer blood really loud. xo

poo nugget

well, as always, here's a list of those things i need to accomplish over the next two weeks. and it's a long list (12). but considering i'm on MAT leave already *yayayayay* i make it my challenge to get these all done (including those projects on this list that are over a year old (egads!). some of them are a little easier (ie. apply for MSP temporary assistance) and others i'm resisting consistently (like finishing the forestry cardigan or handing in my overdue and long drawn out revisions.....) and lastly some seem a little challenging (like making maternity jeans! my only real idea of how to do this is when brenda from JUNO makes them for juno).

i have a tonne of ideas for what to do after this list of 12 but decided to keep them off here so as not to get distracted by new and flashy things. the magpie i am! there's a few "new" projects on the list but ones that i've been carrying around in my mind and in promise for a while (ie. booty shorts) and it's time i get them done.

being home is definitely interesting and today i slept until NOON with stew (yay for shared days off) and then knit, etc. we ended up going to parksville for all-you-can-eat fish and chips (bloat) with my grandparents and had a good time hanging out (something i feel like we haven't really gotten to do) and getting stewart out of the alberni valley (which also doesn't happen often). tomorrow i have to set out accomplishing my list! i have a meeting to attend in the AM where i'm volunteering and then i'll probably make roasted chicken sandwiches for dinner. yummmmmm. xo