Day in the Life of this Stuctural Crochet Engineer

So last time we chatted, it was from my engineering POV, today I have a typical crochet day. On Friday, I had the day off to finish the editing of the galley copy of Blueprint Crochet (yes, I know my boss is truly a wonderful person to give me off to do things like that, as well as only working PT. In the engineering world he is quite the pioneer on being flexible and supportive.)

7:20 am: Faye wakes me up with a kiss on the nose and a nose to my elbow. "Hey mom, get up!"

7:30 am: Feed Faye. Check email. Get PayPal notice that another bidder has paid for some of my eBay yarn lots. Print out shipping label for winner. Amaze at how expensive it is to send things to Alaska. (Think about how amazing Amy's move to Alaska from DC is going to be for her and her family.)

8:30 am: Make coffee and breakfast. Start outline an article I am writing for a crochet magazine. Figure out about how many swatches I'll want to do for the article.

9:30 am: Head out for a stroll (do not say WALK in my house thank-you-very-much; unless you want an inconsolable 85-lb dog in your face.) We love our stroll, we get to bark at dogs, at cars, at trees, at lawn gnomes (oh how much fun!). Notice that my favorite tree in the park is in full bloom.

9:50 am: Taking pictures of Faye in the park when a creepy man (turns out that he's a photographer for the paper) comes up to us trying to pet Faye. She wants nothing of it. (Good girl). Ask if I want my picture with her- uh, no- I'm in my jogging clothes-no thank you. Faye scares him off, we go on.

10:30 am- Back at home, pop in my Pilates DVD. (the stroll is really more exercise for Faye then for me, so when I'm being good I end up doing something else good for me. Today it was strengthening my core. I actually laughed through the tape, it was only a few years a go I could do all the expert stuff- now I'm on the beginner level. Got to love getting older!)

11:15 am- Finish Pilates with Faye's help. (She likes to walk under my legs when I lift them up, it makes doing scissor kicks really difficult.)

12:00 pm- Shower and get dressed. Try to figure out how to do my hair. I got it cut last week, and the back is a little funky for me. Basically, I have naturally curly hair, and unless its cut really well it curves and twists all over the place. I totally didn't realize that when she cut it, and now have to straighten it when I want it to behave. Oh well, I think it looks good, so a little extra time I'll deal.

12:15 pm: Lunch with a side order of crochet murder. I'm reading "Hooked on Murder" with a group on Ravelry. (come join us!- I got mine at the library, man I love the system here.) I really enjoy book clubs and finding out how others think or interpret books. This one is really light, just a fun summer book. It makes a great lunch date.

12:30 pm- Head out to the "outside office" to start working on those article swatches. Remark to my assistant how well I match the swatch, she's enthralled.

1:30 pm- Take a break, check email. Notice email from editor about getting Final Final copy of the book tonight to review this weekend. Start formatting some catalog pages for Stitch Coop. (It's Shannon's brain child project that is brilliant. It's a collective of designers grouping together to help sell our patterns directly to yarn stores. So instead of having to contract with each of us, they can choose from all of our work. Grouping for us allows us to share the cost to show at TNNA and do advertising. We are in the preliminary stage, but soon I see really awesome things happening with them. (so yes, that means I'm moving quickly to selling my own line of patterns here.))

2pm- Head out to the library and a few other errands with Faye. (She thinks she's in heaven, she's getting a ride and a stroll today)

2:15 pm- Pick up my reserved copy of Julie's book, Uncommon Crochet. Page through it, and noticed immediately that I am going to love it. Note that I will have to do a book review of it on the blog really soon.

3 pm- Back at home in the "inside" office. Continue swatching for the article. Catch up on listening to podcasts. Shuffle between latest Fresh Air, This American Life, Getting Loopy, Yarn Craft, and Craftsanity.

4 pm- Get another email that another bidder paid. Print out postage for that yarn. Notice Mailman hasn't come yet, and leave the box for him to pick up. Got to love free carrier pickups! Check blog to see how many people have entered the giveaway. Remind myself to remind readers to enter. (Hey don't forget to enter) Head back to swatching.

4:30 pm- Get email from editor with the final final pdfs of the book. Shock! We go to print on June 6th. WOW. That's soon. Amaze how it was over a year ago that I started this journey, can't believe that it will be out in September. Cross fingers that everyone will love this book. Head back to the outside office with book to dig into editing.

5:30 pm- Get ready for date night with hubbie.

5:39 pm- What can I say, there's not much to get ready and I'm way to excited to go back through the book.

6:30 pm- Head out to dinner at this little joint by the river for dinner. Have a cross between a Sangria and a Martini - very good- have apps for our dinner. Spend a long dinner catching up on work and what not. Mr CBF is an architect and works crazy hours as well as travelling all over the US, so we love a night when we can catch up and hang out.

8:30 pm- Head to Graeters. Mmm Black Raspberry Chip Ice Cream. (As my nephew says, "um, so they just put chips in everything?" Yes, chocolate chips in nearly every flavor. There's strawberry chip, coconut chip, toffee chip, peanut butter chip, on and on. It's a tie between black raspberry and coconut for my favorite. Cinnamon and Pumpkin Spice are awesome too. What's better on a nice summer night then getting a cone and going for a stroll while eating? Nothing in my mind.

9:30 pm- Back at home. Catch up on some of our Tivo List. Laugh that we have been so busy we haven't watched tv in a week (we're tv addicts, well when we are free to be) . Turn on Top Chef, because we're dying to know who is moving on. Finish swatches for article. Continue working on my sock. Had to restart this twice. Not so sure if I'm loving the colors, but decide who cares. Its a sock, and really I use it for calisthenics for my hands any way (doing so much crocheting, I try to knit a bit so my hands don't cramp).

11 pm- Check email on last time. Create a must do list for tomorrow (my "to do" lists are always totally unrealistic- so I moved up to a must do to get myself to be more realistic with my time)

11:30 pm- Head to bed.

With that I want to remind you to turn in next week for our tour of the day in the lives of crochet insiders.