Archives for November 2009

OMG. So much excitement over here at Chez Hehu. I was on my way to bed for a nap (ON VACATION, PEOPLE!) when I was bothered by the state of pills on my favorite sweater. You know the one — you probably have one like it. My writing sweater lately has been my old orange one, the one I'm always trying to replace with new sweaters, but I always go back to it. I don't even like to take the trash out while I'm wearing it, because the neighbors know I knit, and it would be embarrassing. It's THAT kind of sweater.

It doesn't even fit that well. It's a little short, and it rises in the front, and swings in the back, and it's COVERED with pills. Patons, man. Cheap and soft and all, but give a girl a break in the pill department already, right?

I'd already asked Santa for the TOP OF THE LINE pill shaver for Christmas (no, I don't know what that kind of shaver is, but that's what Amazon reviews are for, right?), but I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went to Ravelry to see what My People suggested. (Added to my state of panic was the fact that the sweater I'm about to finish is in Mission Falls 1824 Wool — lovely and soft, but it is pilling while still on the needles — urgh.)

Someone on Ravelry suggested a disposable razor.

Like the kind you shave your legs with.

It was magic. I have now shaved all the sweaters in the house. I have a mad gleam in my eye. Nothing is safe. I tried the back of the couch — you should have seen the fur that rose up off it. I'm thinking that Digit might look good with a haircut.

In the meantime, I have nothing with which to shave my legs.

But my sweaters are PILL FREE.

I love stay-cations.

For the most part, in the abstract, I'm good with death (as good as anyone can be in the professional sense. Please to keep it far from my loved ones, thank you very much). I'm good at giving CPR instructions. I can give them all day long. But this week was just damn weird. Sad stories, long days, odd grief, audibly witnessed, and I find my compassion is pouring out of me to the ground, constantly, and it's refilling at a rate that I can absolutely keep up with, but my sleep is suffering. My eyes feel empty. Does that make any sense?

So I'm taking the next ten days off! The time was available on the books at work (and that never happens), and IT'S NOVEMBER, my favorite (writing) time of year, and Bethany just sent this to me, and after a really rough week at work, this made my day. It reminded me of the astonishing things that can happen on 911.

God bless that dispatcher.

(Aside: my coworker Janine just got a hairy-sounding call, so she was ready to go — CPR? Baby drowning? No, it turned out to be just a guy having difficulty standing, but at the moment that his wife called, their dogs started chasing a rabbit. Result: Hilarious commotion. Heh.) 

You just never know, do you? I like that.

Okay, it's no secret I'm a HYOOGE NaNoWriMo fangirl. You might be getting a little sick of hearing about it, perhaps. (Sorry!)

And maybe it's true that I have a tiny intellectual crush on its creator, Chris Baty. Okay, with a glass of cheap plonk in my hand, I might have admitted that to him at certain past parties, and then run away, blushing to my roots. (You buying that intellectual part? Lala totally buys it, but then again, I'm very patient with her crush on Kelly Hogan. We're good that way.)

So when he agreed to blog for us over at PensFatales? I'm bustin' with happiness, folks. Please come visit and drop a comment, will you?

Wishing all the writers well! This is my favorite time of year. Happy sigh.