Hard Drive is Officially Gone

The Doctor is attempting one more rescue effort.... If it doesn't work, I've lost years worth of photos (this is the biggest bummer), the wedding guest list with addresses, all my law school notes, several pdf knitting patterns I had purchased, all of my iTunes information, and my iPod may not work with another computer (something about needing to decommission the old computer, which is impossible given its current state of deadness.)

Oh well.

Who cares, really- I've got SOME of the photos loaded onto flickr and ofoto, and it has snowed TWICE today and pretty much all day yesterday. It's gorgeous. AND it's Christmas! WOOHOO!

You win some, you lose some.

I finished Green Gable and it FITS! FABULOUSLY!

But I can't post pictures because my laptop, she is dead. (I'm posting during a break at work).

I have't had time to call and fight with Dell yet because I'm still in the middle of finals, and it always takes at least 6 hours regardless what the problem actually is.

(Edited to Add: Dell was fantastic- was on the phone less than 20 minutes start to finish. My hard drive is dead, they're sending a new one. LOVE the insurance policy I bought when I got the computer. Hopefully my Mom's computer guru will be able to salvage some of the data off my old hard drive after they take it out of my computer... fingers crossed!)

But the sweater is done, and it's pretty good!

I once was lost but now am found....

My Mom hosted the neighborhood Christmas party at our house on Saturday, which meant Friday was spent throwing messy stuff under the bed, into the closet, cramming into drawers.... In the process, I managed to lose the LAST BALL OF YARN for Green Gable.

I am so close to being done with this sweater- within 2 inches of the end of the last sleeve, and of course, it's time to attach a new ball. That I couldn't find. For three days. Talk about frustrating!

Fortunately, I found it last night, and will (hopefully) be finishing the sleeve tonight as a reward for taking 2 exams in 28 hours (10 hours of exam taking in 28 hours is a LOT, especially when a good 10 additional hours were all the study time available for the second exam!)

I am so glad I found this yarn ball. It was killing me.

What a WEEK!

It only got better after my last post....

Little did I know that C, my best law school buddy, and my Mom had conspired to throw a surprise party Wednesday night. They hired a local taco truck to set up in our neighborhood courtyard and serve gorditas, burritos, and tacos all night. There were mariachis, mini pinatas, the best guacamole I've ever tasted, and a bunch of my dear friends. I was shocked by how many law students found a couple hours to celebrate with me in the midst of this bonkers week. And a family friend who has known me longer than anyone else came down from Santa Fe. It was wonderful!

AND it was a complete surprise.

And now I have a cold and am waaaay behind on studying for finals.

It was SO. WORTH. IT.

30!

Today is my 30th birthday. WOOHOO! Mr. C flew in last night as a surprise- he had a friend of mine make arrangements for a girls' night dinner, then he showed up instead of her! I had no idea he was coming out- so sweet.

This is a strange birthday. A major decade change combined with life on the cusp of major change. In my first year of 30-dom, I will marry, finish law school, move to another state, and start a whole new career. The transitions won't be easy, but I am so excited about all of these changes- makes it much easier. And I'm ecstatic to be starting the real "adult" phase of my life partnered with someone as fabulous as C.

WHEEEEEEEEEE!

Just got confirmation from the bridal salon that my dress should be here the first week in February.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE my dress. SO. EXCITED.

By the way, my dress came from Bridal Portfolio in Southlake, Texas (outside of Dallas). The ladies there are very nice and incredibly professional. It's a very pleasant place to shop for a gown and they have gorgeous dresses. They also special ordered samples of 3 dresses from one of their designers for me.... Everything went off without a hitch!

On the other hand, avoid Bridal Couture of Scottsdale, Arizona like the plague. They are lying, cheating punks who were rude the entire time my Mom and I were in their store, and I've been fighting with my credit card company for 3 months about fraudulent charges from this place. RUN AWAY!

Reflections on NaBloPoMo

I managed to post every single day in November. I'm really proud of that, especially given that the first half of the month was an absolute zoo for me.

After not much reflection, here's my take on what I learned:

• I got nothin. Really. Nothing to say. I don't think I wrote a single post that was important, intriguing, or really even interesting the entire month. Good thing I'm doing this for me, and not for you. You'd be really disappointed!
  
• My stats jumped immensely during November, despite the lack of photos, decent content, etc. Which leads me to the conclusion that there are a lot of bored, lonely people in blogland. It is kind of nice to eavesdrop on strangers, getting a sense of what their lives are like... but I can't believe how many people came here just because there was something new. And I feel like a lab mouse who has learned that I get a treat when I push a button- post, readers. Post, readers. It's kinda cool, but apologies for the lack of interesting stuff!
  
• I also learned that you guys really like the knitting posts- -my stats jumped every time I mentioned yarn or knitting in the subject line. Good to know. Wish I could give you more, but it's been a slow year. :-)
  
• Increasing blog readership is part brute-force and part good content. If it's great, but sparse, people will still read. If it's crap, but there's a lot of it, people will sill read. The ideal combo, obviously, is lots of great content, and my favorite blogs are a reflection of that. But it's nice to know the rest of us can get by with fairly regular episodes of posting about random stuff.
  
• I really do blog for myself. I haven't been analyzing my stats as much to see where people are from, how they got here, how long they spent, etc. I did it more to get something out in the ether, as a personal discipline. I completely lack discipline in almost every other area, so I'm really glad I did this! Probably my favorite aspect of the project.
  

Would I do it again? Sure! I just don't expect to contribute much that might be of use to the public discourse....

The Panic, It Has Begun

We're at T minus 5 days till exam mayhem starts. I wouldn't be so panicky, but

• I haven't read a single page in a single class all semester long.
  
• I have two really hard exams and one that shouldn't be too bad.
  
• I also have to rewrite a 30 page paper in the midst of exam mayhem.
  
• AND I'm turning 30 on Wednesday! (Maybe that should be my paper day- 30 pages for 30 years?)
  
• The Green Gables is so close to done I can taste it.... yet I will feel guilty for every stitch I knit during the next two weeks....
  

Aw Jeez

In the 6 working days since I posted about the holiday food disaster area that is my office, said office has recieved four dozen frosted pumpkin cookies, two pies, a two pound brick of chocolate, and three tins of shortbread.

Kill me now!

I have, in the same amount of time, spent 45 minutes on the elliptical machine and done a pilates class. I was feeling vituous, but this is not nearly enough to keep up with the calorie intake explosion. OH WELL.