Vacation

I still don't have a job, but at least I got to take a vacation. My mother, sister and I took a five day cruise around the Caribbean. It was a great trip, with no thoughts of school work or the socks that I haven't finished (I started them in Feb). We sailed on Carnival to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau.  This was basically a sit on the beach cruise, as there is NOTHING else to do in Grand Turk or Half Moon Cay.  Don't get me wrong, they offer the typical excursions in both ports (snorkeling, scuba, kayak, etc...) but the excursions were more money then I was willing to spend.  Nassau is a fun island, with quite a bit to do.  I've been there around ten times and can still find something new to do when I go.  This time, we went swimming with dolphins.  Also not a cheap excursion, but my sister paid for it as a graduation gift for me.

Swimming with the dolphins.  We were with a group of ten people and each got a chance to hug them, dance with them, feed them, kiss them and rub their backs and bellies.  At the end of the program, we got to slide across the lagoon with the dolphins pushing on our feet!

I bought a waterproof, digital camera for this trip.  All the pictures were taken with it.  As you can see, it works pretty well.  I'm much happier with the pictures I got from it versus the disposable I used last time.

A shot of the ship and a tender at Half Moon Cay.  Half Moon Cay is a private island.  The beach is great but there's NO shade and I managed to burn myself rather badly.

One of the things Carnival does really well.  The room stewards are fantastic (Thank you Jun!).  They also leave you cute little animals on your bed each night.

Mom, me and R. after the dolphin swim.  I don't have a lot of pictures of me during the swim, but that may be because I was the one with the camera.

All in all, a great vacation.   The ship's Captain managed to avoid the storms and we had wonderful weather the whole trip.  I met someone the first day of the trip and he was a large part of why it was so much fun.

Moving sucks..

Ever wonder where all the junk in your house comes from? I've been packing away for the past few days and I'm amazed at how much I've thrown out already. Six large black trash bags have found their way to the dumpsters and I still have one bag of clothes and two boxes of books to donate somewhere.

What I can't figure out is how to clean the apartment while I'm doing this. So far I've done the bathroom from top to bottom and the closet in my bedroom, but everything else just has too much stuff blocking the way. I may have to ask my father to take the truck and meet him at home after I clean up. I'm trying to get back as much of my deposit as possible, though I'll admit, if they would just say "the cleaning fee is $xxx" I might have left it. But they don't tell you what the cleaning fee is, and they say anything like changing light bulbs will cost at least an hour of time.

I need to go pack up my dishes. I've been waiting all day for them to dry.

I made a decision today..

Many of you know of my current conundrum. I'm at a point in my life where it's time to find a new job and a new place to live, but how to choose. Do I find my dream job and live wherever it takes me or do I find my dream location and take whatever job is there?

I spent today at my friend's house in Hellertown. He was kind enough to give up his hammock so I could have somewhere to dry the fleece that I washed out in his bathtub. While doing all this (and after I was done), I spent a good six hours out in his backyard watching the birds and enjoying the fresh air.

I've finally realized, that I need a back yard. You spend more time at home then you do at work (or at least you should) I'm not talking about a 10x10 area with some grass, I'm talking at least 1/4 acre (preferably 1+ or a smaller one backing an undeveloped area). Since I don't like long commutes, this effectively limits the areas I can look.

I think Hershey is moving to the head of the list, though Minneapolis is still a possibility. I'm not sure about Rochester since it's been a while since I visited up there, but I think that it could still be on the list.

Moving

Anyone want to come motivate me to pack boxes?

I thought I had my microwave sold (twice) but both people backed out...

I think I might have an air conditioner sold, but the person didn't call or show up earlier today...

Why does this have to be so damn hard?

Funny TV weatherman...

Ultimate HD doppler..

Heh...

Okay, this might have been funnier while I was watching it.

Allow me to present the class of 2008. MSN in Pediatric Acute/Chronic Care Nursing.



I can't believe it's finally over. Not paid for yet (I'm still waiting for a loan), but done.

I adopted a dragon

ETA: thought she/he might get lonely, so I got another one



I haven't quite figured out the purpose of this except to encourage someone to spend more time online and to click on odd objects, but there was a posting about at the evil place and I thought it was cute.

Buttons part two...

Out of the twelve of us in the Acute/Chronic and Onco programs, two are pregnant.  We're having a baby shower for them tomorrow.  See, I got balloon duty 

This is why I LOVE my local dollar store.  Seven balloons and two weights (little bags that say "it's a (blank)" for $12.  Everyone else in the class gave $10 for a gift, but I said no thanks, I'll knit something (of course, I just spent $12 on balloons, but hey). You saw the buttons I got yesterday in my hunt for something to finish the booties.  Now you get to see the booties:

Pattern: Fleegle's Seamless Saartje Booties

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK

Needles: size 4 Harmony

Used: 1/2 a skein

Now, these came out so cute, and since I had enough yarn leftover, I started another set.  Prior to this, I had planned on the booties for A. (she's having a girl) and a set of red angora socks for J. (she's having a boy).  I decided that only another knitter could appreciate handmade angora socks, so I'm going to give J. a set of booties as well.  

Once again, no boy buttons in the stash.  So off I went back to the thrift shop.

My haul:

The blue ones were my original choice.  They're much more iridescent then the picture shows.  The hearts were just because the overalls were 45 cents.

What you can't see on the round ones is the flower etched into them.  I'm going to use the leaf shaped ones on the booties. 

I love thrift shops...

So I have a pair of baby booties that need buttons.  Not having any in my stash, I headed to the local thrift shop this afternoon to hunt some down.

I love finding interesting stuff.. For a total of $11, I got:

The white and lilac ones are actually the same button, just different colors.  I normally wouldn't get buttons without stems, but these were cute and I might actually use the purple ones on the booties.

Eleven little purple buttons.  That's at least two sweaters worth.  Those metal/fake pearl ones are really cool.  The centers pop out and the metal piece is a jacket.

Same concept, just a smaller button.  The center pops out.  Which is a good thing since the fake pearl has rubbed off a few of the buttons.

And here are the unfinished booties I needed the buttons for.  Baby shower on Wednesday for two of my classmates.

I thought I'd seen everything...

But I was very, very wrong.  As I was returning from petsmart today I saw a man riding a horse.  Now, you may ask, why is that weird?  Well, I live in West Philadelphia and to my knowledge there are no stables anywhere around here.  I went and looked it up... it's 1.7 miles away and involves a bridge and a short stretch of VERY busy road.

Poor horse.

In other events... the wet food my kitties like has gone up in price by 8 cents since January.  For a can that started at 48 cents, that's a HUGE  price increase.  

I finish this guy today.  I love this pattern.

Pattern: Dust Bunnies

It's been an interesting week...

This has been an interesting week for me. 

I got on the wrong bus, and then got totally lost getting off the trolley trying to get to a clinical site.

My car was making a racket, $850 later, I have a new muffler, new exhaust system, and my tires where rotated and balanced.

Yeah, they balanced them real well.  Driving on the turnpike on Friday, the steering wheel was vibrating so badly my hands went numb.

I didn't get the job in CT.  This was not a surprise for me.  

On the plus side of the week:

The baby booties I need for Wednesday are almost done.  I just need buttons.

I had a wonderful dinner on Wednesday night with my friends.  

The new and interesting litter box arrived, though so far the kitties don't seem too interested.