Books, Trip, and Ice Cream Truck

Whew! It's been a while... Let's catch up on the past week. First, my books arrived last Friday! They contain pretty pictures. Makes my hands itch to make something right now. They were from Interweave's Hurt Book Sale. From the looks of them, there's nothing wrong at all. What a bargain!

Color on Color, New England Knits, I <3 Patchwork, and French Girl Knits

On Tuesday I had a last minute business trip to Bath, Maine. Good thing I kept my bag packed and ready for this trip. It was still in limbo on Monday. We were supposed to leave Monday night, but it was delayed. We got the go ahead on Tuesday and left work at 9:30 am and arrived in Bath at 1 pm. Bath is a little town that's known for their ship building, specifically U.S. Navy ships like the DDG-51 and the DDG-1000, Zumwalt class destroyers.

My co-worker, Stephanie, and I were there to replace some parts on the ship. It was cool to walk through it, but we picked one of the hottest days to be on the ship. We had to wear long sleeves and long pants along with a hard hat and safety glasses. Don't know how those guys do it everyday. After running back and forth between the shipyard and the warehouse, we finally finished around 3 pm on Wednesday. We got home later that evening and I was glad to take a nice cold shower at home. I miss being home with Chris and our boys.

This restaurant was attached to the Holiday Inn.
It had a maritime theme, quite appropriate for Bath.
The Bounty.

Thursday was Ice Cream Truck Day at my company. The Fun Team arranged for an ice cream truck to come for two hours. You can pick whatever you like. I had one of those chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. Yummy!

Let's gather around the ice cream truck!

Today, I just did a lot of laundry. While I'm waiting for Chris to come home, I'll probably start a new craft project. It's been so busy and I've been slacking on the craft front. The hard part is picking out a project...

What's new in February?

Okay, so there's a bit to catch up on since I realized that I've been too busy to update with anything substantial. There was a Mega Career Fair at Northeastern University on February 5. I attended and passed out my resume to potential companies. It was a good opportunity and because of that day, I got an interview this upcoming Wednesday with United Technologies Corporation (UTC) for their Fire & Security division. Cool. Now I need to borrow my sister's car or my boyfriend's. We'll see.

My independent study has been lagging. Right now my professor is figuring out what hardware and software to use and probably realizes that there a lot of choices out there for him. I need to schedule a meeting with him to keep things on track so I can actually design the labs for him before I graduate.

Capstone is going okay. My group has visited the research lab where our device will be used. I need to rewrite the report for our Midterm Presentation. Oh fun. I'm not much of a report writer. I find that they are usually dry and boring. Well, academic reports tend to be especially when you involve numbers and terms that most people wouldn't know about.

Planning our trip to Thailand has progressed a bit. We decided to visit Hong Kong on the way to Thailand. Possibly stop in Honolulu, Hawai'i and Los Angeles, California before heading back to New York. I need to figure out if my friend's mom can host us in Hawai'i. Poor college students have to think cheap and efficient if they want their money to last. =)

I finished my Starburst hotpad yesterday. It's pretty cool. I plan on making some for my boyfriend's family.

Starburst Hotpad by Loretta Schepp

My Neighborhood in Thailand

My friend was asking me about when I was going to go to Thailand. So I did some research and found out where I live in Thailand. The first map is of my neighborhood. This Military Training School is near my house.


View Larger Map


This is a map of Horwang High School. My aunt teaches here. There's a mall called MBK one block south. It's huge and I love going there.


View Larger Map

A Week in Connecticut

I arrived safely in Connecticut on Saturday, December 27. My boyfriend picked me up from Bridgeport, CT. We went to his mom's boyfriend's brother's house in Somers. They have this amazing recreational room in the finished attic. All hardwood paneling with leather chairs spread out in different nooks. There's a bar-like area with a beer/alcohol fridge. The fireplace was huge and gorgeous. In the middle was the pool table. I wish I took pictures, but I think one of Sean's relatives might have some.

Sunday was spent hanging out and shopping. We went to Canton and had lunch at Five Guys. It is the most amazing burger place ever. EVER. I went to Barnes and Noble and got the Interweave Crochet Winter '08 magazine and a crochet book: Beyond the Squares Crochet Motif by Edie Eckman. Then we went grocery shopping at Shaw's. We always stock up his mom's kitchen when we visit. The total was $180. Oh jeez.

I'm also crocheting my aunt's new hat. Pictures to come when I get back to Boston. I forgot to bring the cord with me. =( Well, I've been distracted by my new Nintendo DS game - Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. Okay, I know what you're thinking at this point... Is she seriously playing a little kid game? Yes, I am. It's so addicting. I got it on Saturday and as of Sunday night I already played 6 hours of it. Ahh. Well, I'm probably going to go play another hour and then finish the hat or vice versa. I think the hat is easier to finish and I need to get that out ASAP.

Until next time!

Going Home

I'm traveling home today in 3 minutes. So I'll make this quick. I catch the Amtrak from Back Bay at 8:45 AM and take it to Bridgeport, CT. Then I hop on the Port Jefferson Ferry and it takes me to Port Jeff, Long Island, NY. Then my mom or sister picks me up from there and drives 20 minutes to our house. The total trip takes about 4-5 hours depending on how long I have to wait in between the train and ferry. It's snowing out a bit, but I hope it doesn't impede my travel.


Happy Holidays! Stay warm and toasty!!

Catching Up

Okay, so I've been a bum and haven't updated my blog in quite some time. So here's an update. I won't say it's a quick one because I can write on and on about nothing. Hm. I rant.

Crochet Projects:
After weeks of intense crocheting, I decided to give it a break and get back to my romance novels. I managed to read 3 of them in the past two weeks. I made my aunt's cloche, 15 mini Christmas stockings, and started Chris's convertible mittens and a tiger amigurumi. I'll post up some pics soon.

San Fran:
I went to San Francisco, CA for Thanksgiving and stayed there until the Tuesday after. While there I went to Sausalito, Tiburon, and the Marin Headlands on Friday. Took in a Raiders game on Sunday afternoon (they lost) and went on the Alcatraz Night Tour on Monday. Sean took most of the pictures so I don't have much to put up on Facebook. Alcatraz was pretty cool, though it gave me the creeps... just a bit. The Raiders game was an interesting experience. I have the worse luck... every time I went to the concession stands they would score a touch down or field goal. =( We had really good seats in the Season Ticket Holders area. Section 139 Row 42.

Work:
My co-op is winding down to a close. I have about 2 weeks or so left. Originally I'm supposed to work until December 19, but that might get extended to the 23 or 24. I planned on going home on Dec. 20, but I'm going to aim for the 24. I can't wait to see my mom and doggie again.

Random:
While I'm on the subject of home, I plan on bringing up some of my yarn stash and taking home random clothes that I don't plan on wearing anymore while I'm up here.

School:
The upcoming spring semester is my last. I'm almost done! Last day of class is April 15 and commencement is May 1. I'm sooo excited!!!

Upcoming Trips:
I plan on going to Thailand mid-May and then Europe at the beginning of July, both for a month. Well, it depends on my financial situation next year... sad story.

Okay, I think that's about it for now. =)

Thanksgiving in San Francisco

I am spending Thanksgiving in San Francisco, CA! I'm so excited. My boyfriend, Sean, and I have been planning this for the past month and a half. I'm leaving on the 8 am flight out of Logan Int'l Airport on Thanksgiving Day and I'll be landing in San Francisco Int'l Airport around noon. I'll be there until Tuesday, December 2. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures and post them up here soon. Three days of work this week and next week. Two full weeks after that and I'll be done with co-op and one month closer to graduation!!!

Good night, sleep tight.

I'm Addicted to the Internet

Haha. OMG. I just realized that I spend the last 3 hours sitting in front of the computer doing who knows what. Actually, I do know what I was doing. I've been up since 7:30 am. Yea, I barely sleep and waste a lot of time on the internet (mostly Facebook, blogs, random interest stuff like looking for more cute crochet patterns). So I've been busy updating my wishlist on Amazon.com.

I'm currently into crocheting and needlepoint stuff like cross stitching. I spent 1.5 hours this morning looking up cute books to buy on Amigurumi. I picked out a really good looking one. After viewing the author's blog Ana Paula's Amigurumi Patterns and Random Cuteness I was persuaded to buy her book - Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet. I'm also buying Jason Mraz's Mr. A-Z album and Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster.

I went to Jason Mraz's concert at the Orpheum Theater in Boston on Friday and it was amazing. I seriously love his music. His voice is so smooth and his music is just so catchy and melodic. I can listen to him all day (as I'm doing now).

Back to my internet addiciton. I also spent some time updating this blog to include a list of links. You can tell a lot about a person by the websites they visit. While adding links I ended up browsing the Sims 3 website. I'm going to pre-order The Sims 3 Collector's Edition maybe in a week. I'm excited. I still have to get a new computer to play the game. =( Ahhh! Everything costs money and I barely have any. I gotta stop buying, but it's just hard. I like to indulge my hobbies. I barely go shopping for new outfits anymore... but that money gets rerouted to my hobbies.

I still have to plan out the cost and logistics of my SkiJam! 2009, Thailand, and Europe trips. I can tell you the estimated cost now... SkiJam! - $399 (3 days), Thailand - $1500 (3 Weeks) , and Europe - $3000 (3 weeks). Yea... I have to put aside $5000 for the things I want to do. I still need to make sure I have money to live off of during my spring and summer when I'm not going to really be working. Hm. I have to start looking for a part-time job for spring and a full-time job for next August/September.

Lots of things to do and I'm procrastinating by sitting here on the internet. Yups. That's me. Okay, I gotta stop typing and do other things like upload my pictures and putting them up on Facebook. =)

Stories about Columbus Day Weekend

Okay, so I have a lot of stories to get down before I forget everything. I also have two new Thai recipes, but we'll see how long my attention span is today.

Story #1: Apple Picking on Saturday

So my mom had this great idea to go apple picking at the Lewin Apple Farm on Fresh Pond Avenue in Calverton/Riverhead, NY. Great. I decided to join the trip since I haven't been to an apple farm since I was 15 or 16 years old. That's a very long time ago, well, maybe not that long ago, but you get the point. Back to the story, I decided not to bring along my hand bag because I hate carrying unnecessary items around with me. So I stored it under the front seat. My mom saw what I was doing and did the same and so did my mom's cousin (I just call her aunt instead of my first cousin once removed).

We took some cash and our cameras and headed into the farm. We managed to bag about 6 lbs of apples. It was slim picking since it was late into the season. While heading back to the car my mom realizes that she didn't bring the car keys and none of us had our spare keys or cell phones. Oh man. So I borrowed people's phone and called my neighbor. He has a spare key to our house and can retrieve our spare car keys. While waiting for him my mom and I decided to go pick more apples and left with another 10 lbs. It took my neighbor 2.5 hours to get to us (we were only 30 minutes away). Oh man. What a waste of a good two hours that could have been spent at the mall.

I decided to walk to the nearest cross street (2 miles down the road) while I was waiting for our back up key. I ended up going to this Poultry Farm on Rt. 25. My family had bought turkeys from them in the past. It's been a good 12 years since the first time we visited. My mom ended up picking me up from the poultry farm and we bought an apple pie. It was delicious.

We went back to the car and realized that my right rear wheel was flat. It had a nail in it. I ended up changing the flat with the dummy. My mom and I drove to the nearest service shop and had them patch it up. Pretty quick. Then we head to Stony Brook to go shopping. So the lesson of the story is: Don't get too excited about something that you only bring cash and camera and not your keys and phone. And check for flats before you drive.

I got the goods...

... and so does my mommy.

Story #2: Yarn Freak

Okay, when I get really into a hobby (usually for some short period of time) I end up buying everything necessary to participate in that hobby. My current hobby is crocheting. I ended up going to Michael's and AC Moore while I was home and buying $80 worth of yarn and accessories. OMG. They were on sale so I bought them. It amounts to something around 10 lbs of yarn. I couldn't help myself. They had all these pretty colors. I also bought two volumes of Crochet Today magazine (Sep/Oct and Nov/Dec). My current project of choice are hats and caps. I'm making my mom and my aunt one. They're super cute. I'll take pictures and put it on here later.

Thai food - upcoming recipes include Gang Som (Sour Curry) and Kaow Mun Gai (Chicken with Rice). Okay, I gotta go get ready for bed now... after I kick my sister out of it. She likes to come over, talk, and fall asleep on my bed while I type away on the computer.

Columbus Day Weekend

One more quick post. I'm going home tomorrow afternoon. I won't be getting home until midnight. Fun stuff. On Saturday my mom is taking me apple picking and then we're going shopping. She has to stop at Macy's. I'm probably going to go to Michael's Art and Crafts afterward and buy more stuff for my yarn collection. I decided that I want to make my own paperboy cap. I had an awesome one last year, but I lost it. That's the story of my life. I have something I really like and I end up losing it. Anyways, here's a link to the hat I'm going to make. Have a good night and a great long weekend!!!

http://mjcrochet.com/newsboycap/newsboycap.html

Change in Weather Makes Me Sick... Literally

Okay, so it started raining hardcore a couple of days ago. I take public transportation to work. Add those two together and you have one sick person... me. Every time it changes from hot to cold and cold to hot weather, I get sick. I develop a sore throat and headaches. It usually lasts a couple of days. Eh. Yesterday I was going to go climbing but being in a bad shape is not going to help things. I decided to move the indoor rock climbing event to next weekend. We're going to Carabiner's in New Bedford, MA. So far it's me, my sister, her roommate, and my friend Steve. I'm probably going to rent a car if no one has one available. Okies. That's it for now. I'm gonna go watch a movie.

Heading Back to the East Coast

So I'm currently packing my huge luggage to go home... not fun. I have tons of stuff. I hope it doesn't go over 50 lbs, but the bag is huge and I might have to pay a fee. Eh. Our flight is at 11:15 pm from San Francisco Int'l Airport and we'll be getting into Logan Int'l Airport at 7:45 am. It's a 5.5 hour flight, but due to the time change we get in that early. I believe Sean's brother is picking us up.

Anyways, we're going to be in Boston and then head back to CT sometime that day. Sean's cousin's wedding is on Saturday and my sister will be picking me up on Sunday night to go home. Sean's flying out on Monday, but I'll be on Long Island until September 1. I move back to Boston on September 2 and I start work on September 3. I volunteered to help out that weekend so I won't be charged a $250 early move in fee. Six hours vs. $250, I'll gladly volunteer. Okay, back to packing and preparing the BBQ for tonight.

I'm Going to L.A.

Good afternoon everyone! My boyfriend, Sean, and I are going to L.A. tonight. I'm so excited. I won't be writing on this blog until I get back on Sunday night. We're going to visit my friend, Fon, who's in L.A. visiting her mother-in-law. She's taking us out tonight to Hollywood! Tomorrow we're going to Disneyland and on Saturday we're going to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. I'm excited!

So the plan is for me to meet up with Sean downtown at 5:30 pm. Then we're taking the BART to the San Francisco International Airport. We're supposed to get into L.A. at 9:40 pm. We're taking one checked bag. It's mostly Sean's stuff, he occupies 2/3 of the bag. Yea. I know. He has more beauty products than I do. Heh.

Okay, back to watching the Olympics and Jon & Kate plus 8! It's a new addiction.