Where Has Rosie Been?

I've been here, of course. Just busy. But since I'm embarrassed that I've been so few and far between on my posts, I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my latest activities and thoughts and such and we can pretend I haven't left you all in the lurch for almost a month.

Stockings: When we were teeny, Mom made stockings for both me and Sister and it was something special to have a personalized stocking made just for you by someone you love. In a fit of insanity, I decided last year that it would be of the utmost brilliance to share that experience and make cross-stitched stockings for Husband and Husband's family too. I surprised Mother In Law with a stocking for Christmas last year, and as of this past Saturday, I finished the front of Husband's stocking as well (left; no his name is not Gabrielle). It took a solid month and a half of cross-stitching, sometimes up to 8 hours a day (I'm lazy on weekends), but I got it done and it turned out very nicely. But now I must call upon the myriad talents of Mom to complete it, since I can't yet sew a straight line with a sewing machine to save my life! I've got stockings to make for everyone in the family. My real stocking was red and white and had Santa on the front of it, but unfortunately, somewhere in my late teens when we seemed to be moving all the time, it vanished. It must be in a box somewhere in someone's basement or attic, but none of us are sure where exactly. I even got a new kit to make as a substitute for myself, but however pretty, it's just not the same, and the search for the Original continues. Next up: either Father In Law's, or Brother in Law's. However, I'm taking a little bit of time off to remind my hand that there are forms it can take other than Claw.

Work: Tomorrow is my anniversary with New Company, and that is very exciting to me, even though it will go unnoticed by everyone else. I've never been fired from a job, which is reassuring, but ever since Riggs, I've had trouble settling down. Nortel wasn't so bad until I was transferred to the Alexandria office and it all went to hell. Old Company had some great moments and great coworkers (some...), but there were too many late nights or overnights, too much disrespect, and too little quality management for me to stay, especially after Awesome Admin I left (CADDMan and Awesome Admin III, I still miss you!) I won't lie and say New Company is a dream job - it has its drudgeries, the commute is a disaster, it can be lonely, and it's a little too big for me to say with conviction to whom exactly I am supposed to report. But I've already been recognized for my accomplishments, I have mad respect from (many of) my teammates because I routinely save their butts, and - wonder of wonders - they allow me to work from home about half the week. Plus, looking down the line, they offer onsite day care (for a price, I'm sure, but I would bet it's discounted compared to KinderCare et al). So all things considered, I think I've found a place where I can set up shop for the foreseeable future, which is nice because Job Hopping is exhausting.

Reading: In January 2008, I embarked on an effort to read and appreciate more classic literature than I had done to that point. I acquired all of Austen, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights from the Brontes, and Nicholas Nickleby from Charles Dickens. I enjoyed most of Austen, with the exception of Emma, and concluded the sixth book - Mansfield Park - in May during our vacation in Jamaica. Jane Eyre was beautiful and stark and tragic and noble and everything it should be. I haven't gotten to Wuthering Heights just yet, but I've been trudging through Nicholas Nickleby for a while now. Dickens. Dickens is not among my favorites. Like Hemingway, he has a huge and devoted following; but like Hemingway, I just can't bring myself to be especially interested in him, his writing style, or his characters. In sophomore year of high school, we had to read A Tale of Two Cities. I got bored after his effort to take the title for longest continuous sentence ever written, and closed the book, but had enough of a grasp on history and had honed my BS powers to the point that I still aced the test. I seem to think I tried reading another of his works in another English class with similar success. A few years ago however, I rented Nicholas Nickleby from Netflix, starring Jamie Bell, Romola Garai, Christopher Plummer, Anne Hathaway and a score of other unparalleled performers; and was completely enchanted and charmed, even if Charlie Hunnam's performance bordered on fey, even by nineteenth century literature standards. I thought, if there is one Dickens book that I could point to and say I enjoyed, this would be it; and I set about reading the novel. To my very great distress, I found that the movie was merely an adaptation of the story, and that the similarities between the movie and the book pretty much ended at the characters' names. The characters are cartoonish in their exaggeration, the prose is overly wordy, and he simply does not have the ease, wit, or compassion for his characters that Austen does. Nevertheless, I am nothing if not stubborn, and I WILL finish this book. And, always looking for that silver lining, it is the best sleep aid I have ever encountered.