I’m one of those knitters who HATES swatching. I’ve been known to make sweaters without making proper swatches first (because I am too lazy/impatient to take that small, yet very important extra step). Happily, this swatch in particular serves a very special purpose, so I don’t mind making it: it’s for the beginner knitting class that I’m teaching at the library later this month!

I’m pretty excited because sign-ups are almost full. I’m a wee bit nervous about teaching the class, but I feel confident in my skills, so I’m not too worried. I’m just glad that I’m able to incorporate knitting into my job–I feel very lucky!

It’s also interesting how having a job that forces you to deal with the public can actually change your personality a bit. I’ve always been very shy, but over the years that I’ve been dealing with people at work, I’ve had no choice but to come out of my shell over time. I’m still not an extrovert, but it’s definitely easier for me to talk to strangers now. Several years ago, I NEVER would have thought I’d have the opportunity or confidence to teach (not one, but three classes!) at my job. Now, it’s really not a big deal at all! What a relief.

Well, I never did become a teacher, but pretty soon I’m going to be teaching some classes at the library! I’m pretty excited but also nervous. In January, I’m teaching a beginner computer class for adults. We’re going to do this once to see if there’s a good turnout; if it’s successful, we’ll do another class in March. Also in January, I’m teaching a beginner knitting class for adults. I’m really excited about this one! I think it’ll be fun. Finally, in February, I’m teaching a teen knitting class. This should be fun, too–and encouragingly, I registered my first student today!

Hopefully we’ll get a good turnout for all the classes. I’d like to be able to do them regularly, but if no one shows up, then we probably won’t. But I’m hopeful! The base (where our library is located) has posted flyers on Facebook for two of my classes so far and they’ll be posting the third flyer soon. I’m glad that they’ve done that because I think that’s a really good way to get the word out.

I never in a million years thought I’d be teaching anything (at work or…anywhere!), but I’m very eager to start planning for these classes and putting things together that I want to discuss. Lesson plans, I guess? Handouts? I have a lot of brainstorming to do!

I’ll say it again: I love my job, but something drastic needs to be done about this problem coworker. She is literally making the rest of us sick.

(I don’t know the status of the lady who went to the hospital; we didn’t hear from her family for the rest of the day. Hopefully she’ll be okay, though.)

(P.S. I just realized this post probably won’t make much sense unless you follow me on Twitter; my apologies for that!)

Like I said, I have mixed feelings…I’m going to keep an eye on the job postings for the city because my boss gave me a heads up last night that some full-time positions might be opening in December. So keep your fingers crossed for that, because as she said, I can always come back! Also, she said that she’d be happy to give me a good reference, so that was really nice of her. But I’m mainly just relieved that I won’t be killing myself with work/work/school this winter!

I think maybe he is bribing me so I won’t look for a new job. Not because he thinks I do such a fantastic job, but because he probably doesn’t want to have to hire someone new and train them all over again. I’ll wait to see how much the increase is before I decide where I want to go from here.

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I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this weekend and the time off from work. On Friday at my day job, we had a “food day” where everyone in the company brought a dish…what a feast! Then they let us go home a little early, which was nice.

I took advantage of my year-end bonus and Christmas gift from my boss (at the day job) and went shopping, pretty much guilt free. I bought a couple new outfits, which weren’t too expensive because I shop at places like TJ Maxx and Steve & Barry’s, so I had a lot left over. I also bought some yarn and books, of course. I switched (which turned out to be a needed downgrade, actually, and I’m content) to a black iPod Nano and gifted my 5G video model to M, basically for Christmas. I gave my nephews their Christmas gifts (a dinosaur toy for the 3-yr-old and a book set for the 5-yr-old) and that was pretty much it in the gift department.

I did have to work yesterday morning at the library, but only my usual four-hour shift, so that wasn’t too bad. I also got to work alongside my partner, who I hadn’t seen since she first trained me in November! Can you believe I’ve been at the library almost two months? I really enjoy my job there. I’m hoping that I can eventually become a full-time employee…keeping my fingers crossed. Anyway, my co-worker and I swapped small gifts, which was nice. She gave me some chocolates, which are always good.

Yesterday M and I watched The Golden Compass. Originally I wanted to wait till I finished the book, but with my crazy schedule and perpetual tiredness, who knows when that will be! So we went to see it and both enjoyed it. To be honest, I became aware of and interested in the book and movie because of all the controversy surrounding both. I thought the film was entertaining but not enough to make such a fuss about. Just my opinion!

That’s pretty much all I’ve been up to lately…work and more work, with occasional time for knitting, reading, and attempting to stay sane. The dogs are still doing well, and I’ll be giving them their Christmas bones tomorrow!

I’m still pretty Grinch-y about Christmas, though not nearly as jaded as I was last year. I think–and hope–that my future will take a turn for the better in 2008. I haven’t made a list of resolutions, but I might need to review last year’s before I make another! Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful, restful, peaceful holiday, whether you are of the Christmas-y persuasion or not.

I’ve been working a bunch–this past weekend I actually had to take work home for the first time. I volunteered since it was for a presentation that was due today, so my boss was appreciative…he even gave me a Christmas card today with a nice money gift! Sweet!

I have so many new WIPs and new stash but don’t have the time to post about them or update Ravelry, boo! In fact, I haven’t checked the Ravelry forums in at least a week, even the groups I run! (But I am subscribed to the RSS feeds, so I know when there are new posts anyway.) Seriously, both jobs are keeping me super busy–so much that I hardly have free time, and when I do have some time I’m either knitting or sleeping, lol. Hopefully things will kind of calm down soon.

Lastly, I’m just looking forward to the weekend…I can’t believe Christmas is almost here. Who moved 2007? eek!

I am going to force myself this weekend to post some photos. My poor Flickr and Ravelry are sorely neglected. So if I don’t update, come over here and nudge me, ok?

P.S. I almost forgot! Remember I was supposed to go back to the doctor and get my cholesterol rechecked? Well I went back on the 14th and my cholesterol actually went DOWN! I’m gonna live!

My job at the library is going really, really well. Like, way better than I hoped it would! It is such a pleasant surprise. It’s probably too early to say “I love that job” but I enjoy it very much so far. Way better than my day job of late, but that’s another story.

We’re doing this learning exercise at the library called Learning 2.0 and it’s basically an overview of different Web 2.0 technologies–Blogger, YouTube, MySpace, etc. Completely easy for me but not so much for my new co-worker! So she and I were working on that last night and she was so happy that I knew what to do because she would have been totally lost otherwise. So I was happy to help! As part of the course, we had to create our own blogs so I have yet another blog out there on the Web. It’s on wordpress.com and I’ll probably link to it once I get it looking a little spiffier.

I’m kind of getting into a new routine and schedule, but it’s taking time to get used to. I don’t get much sleep (probably around 6 hours a night, and I never really feel “rested” unless I have at least 8). However, in the past few days I have made time to knit, which I wasn’t doing the first week of the second job. I’m working on my Secret of the Stole, but am still behind a couple clues. Also, I finally cast on my second Austermann Step stockinette sock when I realized they would make great work socks!

That’s pretty much my life lately…wake up, breakfast, maybe some knitting, work, lunch, work, drive to job #2, work, go home, eat, and try to unwind by giving my puppies some kisses and watching Ghost Hunters on perpetual repeat. I feel like a zombie most days but keep telling myself it’s temporary. I’ll get my first paycheck from the library on the 30th, so I’m really looking forward to that!