365 Days Handmade

Making life a better place, one day at a time


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Day 102/365: Last Day in Minneapolis

4.12.2015

Sean and I are not vegetarians, but we generally try to eat on the healthier end of the diet spectrum.  This morning we had breakfast at the Hard Times Cafe, which serves vegan and vegetarian food.  It was way better than anything we would have gotten at Applebee’s, which is just outside our hotel.

We’re now back in the hotel room, and I am writing this post to make sure I complete the day’s entry.  We have to check out at noon, but our flight isn’t until 8:40 this evening.  So we’re going to explore the city by foot and by light rail after we check out, and then we’ll have to head to the airport two hours before our flight, and then we have a three-and-a-half-hour flight, and then we have to drive the 60 miles from Los Angeles back to Ventura, and then Sean has to go back to work tomorrow.  Good thing Monday is my regular day off.

We have a couple of things we plan to do this afternoon while we’re out and about.  Sean wants to go find more Peanuts statues; we already found one of Lucy.  I want to see the Mary Tyler Moore statue, which I believe is located around the area where she was filmed throwing her blue tam o’shanter in the air for the opening credits of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  If I lived here in Minneapolis, I would knit a blue tam and slip it onto the statue late at night.  But since I’m already thinking of coming back next year, I could knit a statue-sized one when I get back home and bring it with me next time.  Something tells me, though, that I wouldn’t be the first one to have come up with that idea.


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Day 101/365: 3rd Day in Minneapolis

4.10.2015

One of the reasons I enjoy knitting socks is that they are portable and you can take one with you almost anywhere.  Like when you are sitting at a booth at the AWP Conference, for example.

Today was the last day of the conference.  I spent some time at the booth, and then Alisha and her family picked me up at the convention center and she and I got to talk and have lunch and hang out as friends do.  It was as if we’d known each other forever.

Tomorrow is our last day in Minneapolis.  So far, I’ve had nothing but positive experiences here.  I’d always heard about Minneapolis being a cool city, and it’s true.  I’m already thinking about coming back next year.


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Day 100/365: One Hundred!

4.10.2015A

The city of Minneapolis this afternoon. You would never guess that it just snowed that morning.

4.10.2015B

See? Sean and I were walking in it just five hours earlier.

Today makes my 100th entry on this blog!  It’s also a very special day because…  well, I’ll tell you why in a minute.

Back in 2002, Sean and I went to an art exhibit in Los Angeles where different “lowbrow” artists were being featured.  One of those artists was a woman named Lisa Petrucci.  I really admired her painting that was included in the show.  That evening, I went through her whole website, enjoying her portfolio and looking at other websites that she endorsed.  One of those other websites was called This Is Blythe, and that is how I learned about the 1972 Kenner Blythe.  I was very much drawn to Blythe and became a collector shortly afterwards.

TIB had a small online forum at the time, where you could create a thread on a topic and engage in conversations with other Blythe collectors.  That’s where I met my online pal Alisha, who shared a lot of my interests and sensibilities.  She lived in Minneapolis and I was in California, but it was as if we’d grown up together and had been childhood friends.  We could have easily played with the same dolls and toys and had sleepovers and gotten along wonderfully.

As Blythe became more and more popular, the online forum grew and then was revamped to a much larger site that drew thousands and thousands more people.  Eventually, Alisha and I both stopped posting there altogether and switched over to another website called LiveJournal.  Then we each got busier with our own lives and lost touch for a while… until Facebook showed up and we found each other there in 2008.  We have been Facebook friends since then, keeping up with each other’s lives through photos and status updates.

A few months ago, Sean said to me, “The AWP Conference is in Minneapolis this year.  Want to go?”

He already knew the answer to that one.

I got in touch with Alisha to let her know that we would be flying out to Minneapolis, and she was just as excited as I was.  I looked forward to our meeting.  On Wednesday while I was inside the prison and walking among the inmates on the yard, I thought, In just a few days I am going to be in Minneapolis where it will be like a world away.  It didn’t seem real that after all these years of being online pals, we would actually get to meet in person.

Tonight Sean and I caught the light rail to downtown Minneapolis and then walked a few blocks to Pizza Luce, where Alisha and her husband and three children were waiting outside to meet us.  I couldn’t help screaming in excitement in the last few steps as we approached.  It was just like meeting up with a long-time childhood friend after over a dozen years.


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Day 99/365: First Day in Minneapolis!

4.9.2015C

We left Ventura this morning at 5:30 AM and made it to LAX with plenty of time to make our flight.  I didn’t bring a book, but I did bring my knitting.  While we were waiting at the gate, I finished the cuffs on this pink pair of socks, but I didn’t have a chance to take any good photos.  I started a new pink and yellow sock during the flight, but I didn’t take any photos of that, either.

I did, however, take this photo to show you that it was snowing when we got to our hotel.  I can’t believe that in just yesterday’s post, I shared with you a photo of the bright and sunny day we were having in San Luis Obispo.  That seems like such a long time ago, now.

Then again, it’s been a long day of traveling and I’ve got to get to bed.  More to come later!

4.9.2015A

 


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Day 98/365: My Friday at Work

4.8.215

Between 1100 to 1300, I don’t schedule any appointments with patients.  I usually use that time to eat my lunch and type my progress notes.  I also try to leave my office and go for a walk.

Today was a beautiful day to be outside.  I walked out to the parking lot and on my way to my car, I could see sheep grazing on the hillside across from the prison.  (You can see them, too, if you click on the photo and look closely at the green field to the left of the picture.)  I took this photo while sitting in my car.  I wanted to snap a better photo, but to do so would have required standing in the middle of the parking lot with my cell phone in hand, which would have looked very suspicious and definitely attract the attention of the guard tower.

Anyway, I also wanted a visual reminder of sunny California weather, because in twenty-four hours, I will be in cold (possibly snowy) Minnesota.  We’re leaving Ventura tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM to drive to LAX.  It’s going to be a long day of traveling, but I should have some adventures to share.


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Day 97/365: So Close to Being Done

This is a pair of nearly finished socks.  I would already be done with both of them, except that I decided to go back and rip out the cuff of the first sock.

4.7.2015A

To refresh your memory, here is a photo of the first sock before I ripped out that cuff.  Even though the sock was done and I could have just left it alone, I didn’t like the way the ribbing started too high up on the leg.  It created a weird bulgy effect when I tried on the sock.

4.4.2015

So I ripped out the cuff in order to adjust the length of stockinette and ribbing.  Now I am trying to match the cuffs to each other and hoping both socks will be about the same length.  The stripes don’t match up at all, but I’m beyond caring about that.  I just want to make sure I get these done before Minneapolis.  And in a few days, I’ll tell you why, I promise.

4.7.2015 (2)


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Day 96/365: Prepping for the Week

4.6.2015

I mentioned before that Sean and I will be going to Minneapolis this week.  We’ll be attending the AWP Conference at the Minneapolis Convention Center and flying out of LAX on Thursday morning.  Which means that I will be working only two days this week:  tomorrow and Wednesday, and after I put in my 10-hour day on Wednesday, I’ll be leaving San Luis Obispo and driving the 150 miles back down to the Ventura homestead, in order to get on the road to Los Angeles first thing Thursday morning and make our flight.  Wednesday and Thursday are going to be loooong days, I already know.

I spent today doing the laundry, packing, and trying to remember everything I will need for the trip.  Knitting helps me think, and I was able to finish this sock.  With all the traveling ahead of me this week, I should be finishing at least another pair of socks.  Thank goodness they’re so portable.


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Day 94/365: Just Another Typical Saturday

4.4.2015

Sean and I were meeting a friend for lunch in San Luis Obispo.  As usual, he was all ready to go while I had changed my mind and was putting on a different blouse at the last minute.

“Are we just going to lunch, or did you plan on doing other stuff while we’re out?” he called down the stairs.

“No,” I hollered from the closet.  “We’re just going to lunch.”

“I don’t believe you,” he said.  “I’m bringing a book, just in case.”

Which just goes to show what twenty years in a relationship with me has taught him.


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Day 93/365: Friday Morning Cake

4.3.2015

In order to get into the prison, you first have to go through the Gatehouse, where you must show your state employee I.D. to a correctional officer.  If you are bringing any bags or items into the facility, you have to set them down on the counter and the C.O. looks through them and asks you if you are carrying any cell phones, electronics, or other contraband.

Today when I got to work, I walked into the Gatehouse with a woman who was carrying a large bakery box.  She and I set down our lunch bags to be inspected.  She also placed her bakery box on the counter next to her bag.

The C.O. looked through our bags and then turned to her.  “Ma’am,” he said, “could you open the box?”

The woman was a warm, agreeable person who looked exactly like someone who would be bringing baked goods for her co-workers on a Friday morning.  She carefully loosened the lid of the box and lifted it slowly to reveal a round, chocolate-frosted cake.  “Happy Birthday” was piped across the top of the cake in red icing.  It looked yummy.  I suddenly wanted a slice of that cake.

You could tell the C.O. thought the same thing.  And the way he played it off was pretty funny.  He said, deadpan, “I’m going to need to cut it open.”  Like there could be a file baked in that cake.

The woman patted her pockets and said, “Oh, darn!  I don’t have anything to cut it with.”

“That’s okay,” he said.  “I’ll just put my finger in it.”

Then they both laughed, and she put the lid back on the cake.

It was a pleasant way to start a Friday morning going in to work at a prison.