Catching Up

I doubt I'll ever make a great blogger.  Although I write quite a bit, I'm not very disciplined, and tend to stop and start willy-nilly. So, let's catch up … shall we?

School started 3 weeks ago.  I opted for a seminar on Gender and Sexuality in US History, as well as the 4 hours of thesis research/writing. Overall, I thought this was the best way to go.  So, I've been doing lots and lots of reading.

So far, we've covered Kathleen M. Brown's, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race and Power in Colonial Virginia.  This week is Clare A. Lyon's, Sex among the Rabble: An Intimate History of Gender and Power in the Age of Revolution, Philadelphia, 1730-1830.  Both very excellent reads.

Downtime has been knitting-- working on the "Butterfly Shawl" out of the Folk Shawls book by Cheryl Oberle.  I'm three and 1/2 rounds (out of 14) into it … but I'm committed to doing 4 rows, 700 stitches a day.  At this rate, I should have it done by December at the latest.  It's a large shawl … over 70,000 stitches, and so far, I'm about 16,000 stitches into it.   You really needed to know that, didn't you? HA!

Filed for Social Security this afternoon … I have really mixed feelings about that, but with no jobs on the horizon, it was the prudent thing to do, regardless of how I "feel" about it.  The 25% cut hurt for a bit, but I think I'll be OK, even when I leave for Ecuador. If the amount I was quoted is correct, it let's me qualify for a pensioners visa, which is a bit less complicated than the professional visa. 

Well, it's time to finish up Lyon's book, and then get those 4 rows done.   Things are good, Ferg even got a bath and really enjoyed drying himself on my freshly made bed.