Cripes!

I am supposed to be doing a “day in the life” post today – a cool idea started by the lovely and talented Robin C But this particular day in my life has been so freaking hectic already that I nearly forgot. Here it is – the good, the bad, and the fuzzy.

7:00 am – the alarm goes off – first the Kid’s and then mine. Neither of us are particularly happy about getting up early, but there you have it – until there is a local middle school that opens at noon we do the best we can. During the getting ready process I make the first check on all my emails – the writer one, the radio show host one, the knitting book author one, and zip over to Amazon.com to see where The Secret Language of Knitters is, ranking wise. Sulk or jump for joy accordingly. I am going to do that approximately 1200 more times today, and may even check on other knitting books to see where I am in comparison at that moment. I am not going to cop to that here, on my official schedule. But I can waste some serious minutes that way…

8:00 am – at the gym. I try to go three times a week because since my job is writing and designing I mostly sit on my butt. And it’s spreading. Sometimes I skip it when I have a project due and feel like I need that hour to weave in ends and run to Fedex – which I do with alarming frequency, because I rarely get models done in time to use UPS ground which is way cheaper – but I always regret not going. So today, I go.

9:00 am – Whole Foods, because the princess puppy dog needs her organic food. Manage to spill an entire Jamba Juice in the parking lot – but the nice woman inside feels sorry for my sloppy self (I suspect the fact that I still have the hand brace on part time helps) and makes me a new one.

10:00 am – put away the groceries, walk the princess puppy dog while pondering a scarf design I want to do, panic about how many things I have to do today, mentally adjust to the fact that I will be crocheting until midnight – again. Run home.

11:00 am – Prep for Getting Loopy! This includes typing up the show notes so I don’t sound like a complete idiot, collating the contest entries so the guest can pick a winner, updating Ravelry and the web page. Etc. Look at the calendar and realize I was supposed to be writing this blog post today. Panic.

12:00 noon – Ding Dong – Yarn delivery! A friend who is a newish designer wrote me the other day and said how cool she thought it was when yarn came. I, on the other hand, being old and cranky and in the middle of an afghan book that is consuming ten times my not inconsiderable body weight in merino, often panic at the mere thought of yarn deliveries. But this one was good – samples to swatch with, not actual job related yarn.

12:45 pm – Set up the switchboard and live chat area for today’s Getting Loopy! live broadcast. Give up on finding the book we are going to talk about (Carry Alongs: 15 Crochet Handbags and Purses by Carrie A Sullivan, who really needs a blog, damn it!) because the Kid bogarted it, because she is a purse fiend.

1:00 pm – Getting Loopy! goes live. Things are proceeding pretty well until I notice a slight commotion on the chat room – apparently my live feed has gone down and no one can hear me. Continue on with the show, monitor the tech support guys, hope for the best.

1:40 – the best doesn’t look like it’s happening – the show went well (thanks Carrie!) but the archive button is playing commercials and dead air. Panic about having to do a re-tape.

2:00 – Breathe a huge sigh of relief- the feed was rescued, the show is in archives, Amen!
2:01 – phone rings – it’s my interview subject for an article I am writing on organic yarns for Creative Knitting magazine. Chat with subject for half an hour, typing notes as I go because I am too cheap to pay someone to transcribe my interview tapes for crafts pieces because by and large they do not pay as well as my non-crafts writing assignments. Vow, as always, to take more non-crafts writing assignments (which I will then whine about because they aren’t any fun!)

Panic that it’s now 2:40 and no crocheting has happened. Ponder which of the many projects which are about to be late should be worked on today – the scarf? The shawl? The afghan? The sketches that aren’t even sourced yet? The patterns that are almost done but need layout help? Panic more, then decide to do this blog post instead!

3:00, 3:05, 3:08, 3:12 etc etc etc – answer the phone. It’s always the Kid 🙂

Now the rest is conjecture, but based on years of experience so here goes.
3:30 – update the Getting Loopy internet presence – book the next guest, reload the web page, the BTR schedule, blah blah blah. I love the radio show and the fact that thousands of folks now tune in, but it is a Tuesday time suck.

4:00 – Kid arrives home. Feed her, water her, nag her until homework is done.

5:00 – Leave for dance class – hers. Crochet afghan squares in the parking lot because thank God it is now light until 7:45 when she comes out. I have attempted to do crochet work that requires more brain cells on dance night but it’s never worth it – brainless motion works best.

8:15 – Arrive White Manna hamburger stand. Make sure to remove any hand knit or crocheted items because if I wear them inside they will smell like hot grease and onions for the next week. Get the usual from the grill guy.

9:00 – Home again – scramble for clean clothes for the Kid for tomorrow, nag her into the bath and through the homework that is never quite done before we go even though it is supposed to be. Look for something good on tv – fail.

9:15 – Panic because no forward movement has happened on the pending new project deadlines. Sigh deeply. Haul out whichever project is offending me least, and crochet/write patterns/sketch/block the offender until 11:00 pm

11:00 pm – go to bed. Decide to crochet just a little bit more before I go to sleep to try to get ahead…11:02 and a half – pass out cold.

2:00 am – dream of yarn…. realize I am sleeping on pointy crochet hook. Throw it to the floor even though I know I will spend fifteen minutes looking for it tomorrow – go back to sleep.

Rinse and repeat!