Still No Knitting

I haven't touched my knitting since the day we left to come up here.  Of course I haven't managed to find space or quiet time to knit either.  I'm hoping that will change tomorrow since Shawn will be at work and Kaity will be at school.

There is no way that I'm going to finish the Twisted Flower socks for the Loopy Ewe Q3 challenge, mostly due to the fact that I forgot to wind and pack the other hank of yarn needed for sock number 2.  It's buried in storage.  I think right now it would be a major challenge for me to finish a plain pair of socks.  If I can scare up another pair of needles for socks I'll start an easier pair out of the Trekking I brought with me. 

I was going to join the Monkey Sock Swap 3 but am glad that I didn't because I just don't have the time.  As it is I'm probably not going to have the time to do Secret of the Stole KAL either.  It starts around the time that we will be getting the new house set up.

Lion Brand has a Cable Comfort Throw (you'll need to log on to Lion Brand to see pic) that I like.  It's knit using Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, which is what I'll probably use unless I can find a better sub.  It's going on the back of the couch so it needs to be durable and easy to wash because Zeus gets up there to lay down.  Our Wal-Mart has the Thick & Quick so it's the easiest thing for me to get my hands on.

Speaking of Wal-Marts, the one here in Great Falls is Gynormous.   We decided to head out for a drive through town and splurge on some Starbucks....Yum!  That was enough to help brighten my day.  I'm still in a wee bit of culture shock.  I've lived and shopped in a "military town" for over 8 years.  When we'd go to Wal-Mart it was a guarantee that we would see at least 3-4 people that we knew and all but a small handful of cars in the parking lot would have base stickers on them.  Mtn Home's the kind of town that would probably fade away to almost nothing if the base were to close down. 

Obviously the town of Great Falls would not be hurt if the military base decided to close down.  This weekend I managed to get my first taste of "I hate you military types" attitude.  I can honestly say that in the 11 or so years I've been associated with the military I've never ran into military haters.  I guess I've been lucky.  Then again, I was living in ID when the attacks on 9/11 happened.  Let me tell ya, I was not the one who started the war in Iraq so don't blame me for the damn thing.  The jerks comments made me kinda sad and made me really miss Mtn Home.  Ack, who would have thought I'd miss that place.  So right now I'm a tad homesick for Idaho....lol! 

I'm sure that I will run into others who will hate me or my family because we are affiliated with the military and I'm going to try very hard to not let it affect me.  It's just tough when you're trying to find your niche and you run into jerks. 

31 days to go till we get our new house and hopefully some normalcy.....I want my doggies back!  It looks like I may have a nice section for my stash in the Den.....Yup that's right we'll have a Den, Living Room, and a Rec Room.  I can't tell you all how much I love the layout of the new house.  I'll take pics when we get the keys.

Hopefully my next update will include some knitting photos and progress.  I really appriciate you all hanging around even though the blog has been pretty much void of any knitting. 

Comments

[Tammy]

Don't let the "jerks" get you down. I think most people, including myself, are grateful for your service to our country.

[Michelle]

Hang in there with the town! Our last assignment was in Vermont. He was teaching at a private military college so we were quite fine in that town. But the town we lived in was less military friendly and we took great pains to not let too many people know we were military. A couple of years before we got there, some of the cadets from the school had food thrown at them by some of the townies. It was much better when we were there. We made it through and enjoyed our time there (at least I did). Sounds like you'll have a nice house!

[Sue J.]

I agree. Don't let the jerks get you down. DH will never forget the time he was spit upon in the Sacramento airport upon arriving home from Vietnam. I'm so glad you like your new house. It will be good to get in and get settled and get back to normal. Being in the military is no piece of cake. And shame on those idiots who give you attitude. Ignorance knows no bounds. We watched "We Were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson yesterday. Wish those dorks could watch that movie, and then we'll see about attitude.

[dobarah]

Those types of people, and their warped feelings, aren't how the majority of Montanans feel. I grew up on the Flathead reservation, where there is a high rate of military involvement. This last Memorial Day, my husband and children experienced their first Polson parade...complete with fly overs, veterans, and politicians...oh, and the drums. The pride for our military was evident. Great Falls has a similar parade...with their fly over being even better! I agree the WalMart is huge, but I try to avoid it as much as possible...there are just too many attitudes there!

[Colleen]

I'm so psyched for you new house! It sounds great.

Anybody that says anything disrespectful is just plain immature and bad mannered. Plus stupid. If they have issues, they should take it up with the powers that be, not individuals just trying make a living. Must make them feel better to vent on you. bah. I'd give them a knuckel sandwich to chew on!

Anyhooo... yeah for Starbucks and coffee and new big house in 1 month!

[Cynthia]

I'm very surprised by your comments. I live in a small military town with Memphis less than 15 miles away! I've never heard (at least in my hearing) any negative comments about the military. Most people around here know "we" aren't at fault for the war. It's not like our service people have a choice on whether to go or not! I hope you are able to continue just ignoring the "ignorant" people. To me, that's like senators voting to take away some of the military's benefits, when they have never spent any time in service....I'd like to put a few of those "over there" for a few months and then come back and vote about removing benefits! LOL Take it easy kiddo....it will get better! BTW, I went thru my sock yarns and I'm over stock by 5 100grams if you need some. I'll be happy to send it to you! My "goal" was to never go past the bin size....oops, I'm over. So I either have to knit 5 pairs really fast (not going to happen) or send to a worthy person !

[Karen]

I'm making the Comfort Cable Throw as we type/speak for my daughter - I didn't think I would like the Thick and Quick - I don't like acryilic - however, it's great, it's durable and washable - a very quick knit and the cables look even better in person. Also, I'm using my largest DPN for the cable needle as the stitches are pretty big

[Angelika]

Hang in there, think positive. You always find somebody that has to ruin your day for things you have no control over. Try to find something positive in it. I'd take Cynthia's offer and use up her overstock to keep you busy. Walmart sure doesn't carry sock yarn. Can't wait to see you unpack. Been there, done that, many times over.

[Jennie]

Sorry to hear about the haters. :(
No worries about not having any knitting to show for. You're a busy gal. :) and Epp so close to getting into your new home. :)

[tiennie]

Sorry you had to deal with jerks! I think most people don't blame the military at all - just one jerk in general.

[Diane]

No matter who you are or what you do there's always someone out there who will hate you. Once you get settled you'll feel better.

[Marianne Y]

I am really sorry that you had to put up with that nastiness. I don't much about Great Falls these days. I do know that when we had occasion to spend some time in Bozeman in 2004, we were amazed to see some uncalled for hatred and total intolerance for others by a few people. I would just ignore them. Not by looking away from them, but rather by just not paying any attention to them. They are just trying to get you angry, so if you get angry, they win. My dad used to tell me, when something like that was bothering me, "make like a duck, & let it roll off your back (like water off of a duck's back)".

Your new house sounds wonderful! I bet you will be delighted with it when you can finally move in! Have fun!

[Marianne Y]

I am really sorry that you had to put up with that nastiness. I don't much about Great Falls these days. I do know that when we had occasion to spend some time in Bozeman in 2004, we were amazed to see some uncalled for hatred and total intolerance for others by a few people. I would just ignore them. Not by looking away from them, but rather by just not paying any attention to them. They are just trying to get you angry, so if you get angry, they win. My dad used to tell me, when something like that was bothering me, "make like a duck, & let it roll off your back (like water off of a duck's back)".

Your new house sounds wonderful! I bet you will be delighted with it when you can finally move in! Have fun!