The Trekking XXL #107 socks, my May socks, are done! Whoo hoo! The photo isn’t happening tonight - they caused me a bit of stress when I discovered halfway through the foot portion that 5 rows earlier a stitch had jumped off the needles and I needed to fix that or there were going to be big issues. I’ve never had a dropped stitch before, so that was just a ton of fun. Actually, I fixed it pretty easily, but I had to wait until after we finished watching “The Interpreter” because there was no way I could focus on the movie and fix the stitches at the same time. But that was just a bit more stress than I really wanted to deal with tonight!

Mike & I met because of our blogs. We didn’t meet online in the online dating sort of way, but instead we had mutual blogging friends when Mike lived in London. Every time he would come back to Houston, both Dave and Ann would ask him if he had met me yet. They kept encouraging me to meet him. So when Mike finally moved back to Houston and hosted an afternoon at a coffee shop on September 21, 2002, I knew I *had* to go just so I could finally meet him in person.

I knew that day that I had met “the one”. A few weeks later we joked that we may as well just run off to Vegas, because we were going to get married someday. We are a little more practical than that, so instead we dated for over a year, and he proposed on New Year’s Eve, 2003.

Mike wanted the more traditional wedding. He pointed out that people come together three times in your life to celebrate you - your baptism, your wedding, and your funeral. The more I thought about it, it made sense. So we gathered our loved ones and celebrated our love with them.

Neither one of us is from Houston or the south, so the traditional “Groom’s Cake” was not our thing. However, considering our history, we knew that there was one thing that we had to have. The Big Pink Cookie and a Coffee Corner.

(Cake and Big Pink Cookies photo above taken by Rannie, the Photojunkie of Toronto, Canada. Reception photos below taken by Gary of StudioU4ia, a Houston wedding photographer that I highly recommend.)

It seems that great minds do think alike - last night as I was writing my post on one computer about Mike - he was writing about me. I was too tired from the podcast, and after writing my emotionally draining “Crafty Family” essay, I didn’t have any more profound writing left in me. Honestly, he said it better than I ever could have.

My mind is overflowing with thoughts about how wonderful he is and I could never have asked for a better man to share my life with. They are so jumbled I can’t even begin to write them, but I’m going to go and try to tell him as well as I can. As soon as I find some tissue.

Rannie, aka Photojunkie, was our wedding phtographer, and he was nothing but fabulous! The day after the wedding we went down to the beach and braved the blistering hot sun and the unusually strong winds to take photographs. This is one of the many that I love from that day.

It is hard to believe it has only been two years. It just seems like he has always been a part of my life - in such a wonderful way. Happy Anniversary, Mike!

Episode 6 - the Crafty Family - is now online! Go listen to the latest at Pointy Sticks! Then leave a comment and let me know what you thought, and take a button to share the linky love on your site!

I am still having very weird dreams. Lucid dreams, because I can normally tell myself that they are just a dream. However, a night of vivid dreaming is not a night of restful sleep, which I long for. Last night’s dream involved driving around Houston. I was in a car with 3 other people, and Mike was one of them. We were telling the driver how to get into downtown. Only problem, when we exited we were on a road that was closed, and we couldn’t actually get into downtown. So the person driving was getting very frustrated and upset. We told him to turn around and go back, we would take the exit into the parking garage. (What? There is no freeway in Houston that exits straight into a parking garage.) When we got there, that was closed too. I said it was ok, he could get on to I-10 East and take that exit into downtown. (This is, in fact, a legitimate route.) He was so frustrated, he just stopped the car. Mike got out and jumped off of the freeway down onto another ramp below - one of those crazy spaghetti bowl systems with layers of ramps going high up in the air - and he made it just fine. (Considering Mike has a fear of heights, I thought during my dream that it was odd that he was jumping like that. But he is a superhero after all, and he made it with no problem.) The other guy jumped. But he didn’t try to make it. He hit the pavement, spread eagle style, complete with the “thud!” sound effects in my dream.

That is when I made myself wake up.

I was quite upset about the fact that he died in my dream for some time after I woke up. I even tried to go back to sleep so I could have a dream do-over and make the ending happen differently. Yes, I have been able to force a dream before. Return to where it left off and pick up the story, or go back a little bit in time and change things. It didn’t happen today though.

Maybe that is why I feel like I’m in such a funky mood now. Blech.

I know, it has been really quiet around here - probably because my week has been so busy this week! I got to meet Rosemary of the Craft Borg podcast today! It was so fabulous - we have the common background of moving south from Illinois, so it was fun to have someone to discuss all the quirky things about the south with. We spent some time at Yarntopia (yes, twice in one week!) and had a yummy lunch at Jason’s Deli too! Fiber, fun, and good food - really, how great is that? I can’t wait until she returns later this summer!

Tonight I finished picking out the music for the latest Pointy Sticks show, so I should be wrapping that up tomorrow. I considered recording it tonight, but whenever I do that I end up staying up way too late - so in the morning would be a better idea. I’ll post an update here as soon as it is live!

It made me quite happy today to turn on the TV and discover that the jury was already back on the Enron trial, and the jurors found Lay and Skilling guilty. I worked with people that were hit financially by the Enron collapse, and even now I feel a twinge of bitterness every time I see the old Enron buildings. Such greed, excess, cooking the books … crazy. All of it was just terrible, and it seems like very few people in Houston didn’t know someone that was hit by it directly. I’m glad to see that they were found guilty, and it will be interesting to hear this fall what their sentence will be. I’m hope that they will get a taste of what they deserve. It is impossible for them to feel the weight of all the pain they caused, but a taste of it is better than nothing.

Have you ever had one of those days that just seemed like such a perfect day? One that you never want to end? I had one of those days today.

I went to Yarntopia today to meet Jeanie in person. We had such a blast! Well, ok, we had a blast once she got there, since Yahoo Maps tried to send her on a wild goose chase. Then we got to play in the yarn, look at patterns, talk about yarn, admire more patterns, and talk with Amy and Sheryl for a bit inbetween customers. We also got check out the Hill Country Sock yarn that Jeanie brought with her FOR US! I am now the proud owner of Sweet Feet Sock Yarn in Mountain Laurel and Purple Mountain. They are *so* beautiful! I also got to pick up my Yarntopia Sock Posse yarn, where we are all using the sock yarn that is custom dyed for Yarntopia in their store colors by Fleece Artists. Hopefully I will find the perfect pattern for it this weekend so I can kick off the socks next week!

Jeanie is every bit as wonderful in person as she is on her blog and on Crochet Cast, and then some. Oh my goodness, she is just adorable! She has a son that is close to Jason in age, so we are already discussing some excursions this summer that involve getting the boys together too. Between Jeanie and Sheryl, I almost felt the urge to crochet again!

After I came home from my yarn festival at Yarntopia, I ate dinner and then we all left again to hear the Lager Rhythms perform tonight at Mojo Risin’ Coffee House. Originally, I suggested to Mike that he just go to the show alone, since it was a school night. The more I thought about it, I really wanted to go, and I knew Jason would want to go too. He has his last full day of school tomorrow, but since finals are over and tomorrow will pretty much be a blow-off day, we decided that he could sleep in a little bit later in the morning and I’ll take him in during second period. It isn’t like they are going to be teaching anything in Algebra on the 2nd to last day of school. So we all got to go see the show. Yeah!

This is the first time that they have performed since basically half of the group left due to moves, life changing events (new babies) or just basic burnout. (Mike left back in January, 2005 for the burnout reason.) Mike has not seen them perform from the audience perspective since he left the group - and he was singing along at our table for the majority of the show. We all had such a good time, and I am so glad we were able to make it out to see everyone.

I got home to find out that I have sold my first print in my Etsy Shop and that one of my photographs was selected as the Houstonist Flickr photo of the day. It has been a good day all around.

I’ve started posting goodies on my Etsy shop! I’m starting with photographs tonight, but other items will be there over time. Cards, coasters, whatever strikes my crafty fancy at the moment!

If there is a particular print that you would like to purchase that I haven’t listed there yet, please feel free to let me know!

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.
- Alice Walker

Last fall, I had to make a decision regarding a friend. After many years, and an obviously destructive relationship, I had to “break up” with her. I think of her often; it is so random at times when my thoughts of her pop up. It may have been one of the hardest choices I have ever had to make regarding a friend.

But it is moments like this, moments when I read quotes like that (found on Myla Kent’s Flickr stream), that I know, without a doubt, that I made the right choice.

I would never tolerate a bad relationship with someone I was dating - not now, not after the lessons I have learned the hard way in life and the hurdles I have overcome - so why tolerate a bad relationship with a friend like that? It doesn’t make sense when you look at it that way, does it? I didn’t think so, so I made a hard call and decided to make a change. That doesn’t mean I don’t have moments in passing where I think of her and wonder how she is doing. I wish her nothing but the best, but I know that I can not be a part of it.

Why do women do that? What is it about us that makes us willing to accept something like that? What makes someone the type of friend that would hold another friend back from reaching for her dreams?

I’ve had a blog for a long time, and many times over the past 6 years I have had to stop and think about what I write about on this blog. Sometimes, it seems like people don’t really think about it though. Because once again, a blogger has been fired because of her blog. Their reason when they fired her? “I am not the kind of person they want to associate themselves with.”

Yes. It CAN happen to you.

I feel bad saying she was fired “because” of her blog, because really, she was fired because of what she chose to write on her blog. Along with what she wrote on her MySpace site. It always amazes me though - Dooce was fired about 5 years ago, and yet people can’t learn from her mistakes.

Sure, if you blog mainly about what you knit, you shouldn’t really run into a problem. Unfortunately, I can’t see exactly what Jessa Jeffries blogged about, because her blogspot site now doesn’t have any posts on it. You can read a lot of juicy quotes over at Thought Mechanics though. Lets take a moment and look at some of these things that she wrote:

“In my blog I refference work, I took pictures at work - which is allowed - in fact bosses and co-works did the taking. I posted those pictures and wrote about my days at work.”

People. Seriously. Don’t write about work. Especially anything negative about work. Don’t post photographs from your job, at least not anything that can be identified. There just is no need for it. I realize that work makes up like 90% of the time you are awake, but still. Do. Not. Write. About. Work.

“My Geology classroom tonight was in the Serengeti. This is where I discovered the Rubies had been stolen. I decided against making an announcment to all the troop leaders. I invisioned a massive backpack search that would no doubt end in tears for the little scout who swiped the stones - not realizing thier worth. I just stuck a peice of garnet in it’s place and hoped no one would be the wiser.”

Great. So she has taught some child that it is ok to steal, and that they will get away with it. “Not realizing thier (sic) worth” implies that they were, in fact, worth something. If so, stealing is wrong. Even if some kid is going to end up in tears, it is better than letting them think that it is ok. What they did was wrong, and they need to learn that lesson. Also, not too brilliant to tell your employers (via your blog) that you let someone steal.

“I was fired because of the way I represented myself on the internet. I made it public knowledge that I worked at the Academy even though I never specified which one it was - I did have pictures of me wearing my work shirt.”

You know what? Most employers do care about how you represent yourself in public. Some employers will fire people over it. Whatever you do in your own home is done in private, but you make it public when you put it on the Internet. I’m not saying that no one should have a blog, because I do not feel that way. But if you blog from the office, be forewarned that they can and probably will get pissy about it. (Yes, I have been there.) If you talk about politics and you work somewhere that might just hold that against you - like when I worked at a very small law firm - you might want to think twice before you put it in writing. Matter of fact, just think about it before you type anything - make your words delicious, because you might just be forced to eat them someday.

“They told me that if I didn’t comply that they would send my archived blog to the Aquarium where I also work, and if I ever listed them as a reference they would forward the content to any future employeers.”

Now I have an issue with that part about forwarding the content to future employers. That is a bit over the top - especially since I have always been told that according to federal labor laws, the most they can do is confirm dates of employment and verify a salary. They are not allowed to say things like, “she sucked” or “let me tell you what she blogged about” when called for an employment reference. Now if you put them down as a personal reference, that is a completely different situation. As for the Aquarium, who knows - maybe they can do that. I don’t know.

If you don’t want your words to come back to you someday, think about it before you write about it. It is simply the smartest thing to do. Learn from the bloggers that have come before you.

UPDATE: Thanks to Blogebrity, I found the cached copy of her site (oh yes, your words can follow you even after you take them offline), and she seems to have been wiser about the whole thing in the end.

“this blog is still being deconstructed. i made my bed, i’ll lie in it.”

and

“a little more anoniminty can’t hurt anyone. life lesson # 567 learned.”

Now let them be life lessons for you too.

On a side note, “the NBA fined Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $200,000 for going onto the court after Game 1 of Dallas’ series against the Spurs and criticizing league officials on his blog.” A $200,000 fine. In part, for what he wrote on his blog. See? It really CAN happen to anyone.

Yesterday, Elaine and I headed out for our day full of photography. I knew it was going to be a good day, but I had no idea just HOW good of a day it was going to be! So good, we were already coming up with plans for our upcoming photo excursions! I can’t wait to see how her photographs turn out - we looked at the camera displays while we were out and about, but they always look so much better full size!

I went over to her house late in the morning, and dropped my car off so she could drive us around town in her adorable VW beetle. I’ve never ridden in her car before - such fun! We went to Houston Camera Exchange, where we shopped for camera bags, filters, and I picked up the spray that I needed to hand color more photographs. (Coming soon to Etsy!) After we left there, we headed over to the Hobbit Cafe for lunch. It was warm outside, but perfect weather for relaxing in the shade of Hobbit Cafe. Yummy food and great conversation, we had a blast!

From there, we headed over to Hermann Park for the Assignment: Houston project. When Mike, Jason & I went to the zoo back over Spring Break, we purchased a family membership - so now we get to go to the zoo for free all year! Elaine just got a new fancypants camera, and I haven’t been using mine as much recently since I was shooting film for my photography class, so it was the perfect time to spend a few hours at the zoo. Hot, but a perfect blue sky made for a great day.

I have a lot of flower macros from the day to make my way through, and a whole round of flamingo photographs. I couldn’t get enough of either one!

After the zoo, we walked through Hermann Park, stopping to photograph some more at Miller Outdoor Theater. They were preparing for an opera in the park last night, but we left and headed over to a tea room for bubble tea. Well, bubble tea for Elaine, I got water! After hours outdoors, I needed lots of water. As we were heading towards home, we made an impromptu detour to Eleanor Tinsley park for skyline photographs, and a few more flower macros!

By the time we made it back to Elaine’s house, we were both hot, sweaty, tired, but very happy. I haven’t been feeling so creatively inspired recently, but I am now. It is a good feeling!

I headed for home, spent the evening watching a movie with Mike & Jason, and just relaxing. Today was dedicated to getting some things done around the house, getting Jason ready for his final exams, and enjoying some down time. I watched “The Terminal” (very good!) and “In Good Company” (pretty good, but I didn’t care for the ending).

Now I have a lot of editing ahead of me in Photoshop, as I convert them from RAW and get them ready for printing. I’m planning on posting some photographs on Etsy this week - if there are any that you are interested in seeing there, please let me know!