So, I’m back now after a short hiatus. Big things ‘been cookin’ down here. Mama got some ’skooling’, and Boy#1 finally, FINALLY!, got ‘gradumatated’. Hallelujah, and pass the biscuits.
First, the ’skooling’ part…my department finally decided that I should actually learn how to do Crisis Negotiations, since they decided to put me in the unit. A year ago. Now, mind you, I really am not a ’big-group-hug’ type of person. I’m usually pretty intolerant of what I see as ‘weakness’, ‘attention-getting’, and ‘drama’. But, I got to spend all last week in a great class. Talk about an intense, emotionally and mentally draining class. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but…wow. I learned a lot about Active Listening Skills, and how to empathize without condoning or agreeing. I think I need to try this stuff on my mother.
The upside is that I took a great class from bunch of great instructors. I renewed some old friendships, and made more new ones. I didn’t actually have to ‘work’ all week, but still got paid. I got a bunch more CEU’s to put toward yet another law enforcement certificate. General, Basic, and Intermediate are done, Advanced and Senior to go. Maybe, one of these days, I’ll actually work for an agency that pays for earned certificates. Dare to dream.
In other news, I am now the proud owner of a fully ‘gradumatated’ 18 year old son. Yea, Boy #1! Yea, me! Time to start the eviction paperwork. (I kid, I kid.) We are still cussing and discussing the whys and wherefores of college, especially how to pay for it, since Boy caught a near-fatal case of ’senior-itis’ back in November, but I’m sure we will find a solution. Either that, or Boy will be deciding whether he wants to follow his Dad into the Army, his great-uncle into the Corps, or his great-grandfather into the Air Force.
Almost there...
Done deal! Class of 2009!!
On the knitting front…due to the class time and other goings-on, my ‘Ocean Tides’ shawl has stalled a bit, in that, I’m still working to finish the third pattern section. It’s the ‘Print-’o-the-Wave’ pattern, and is just going a bit slow. Still plugging along, though. It’s nearly ready to go to a longer cable. When it does, I’ll pin it out a bit and snap a couple of pics.
The ‘Tomato’, sadly, has not fared as well. I completed the body section, and started one of the sleeves. It ‘looks’ fine, but I’m just not really happy with it. I found that there are a few things I would change: I’m knitting with cotton, which will grow, and though I got gauge, I think I need to go down a needle size, and work my size again. I also need to cast on the stitches for the front of the neckline earlier. Like 10 rows earlier. If I were 20 years younger, and gravity wasn’t an issue…well, you know what I mean. Due to my previous sweater-knitting experiences, I (stupidly) added one short-row across the lower back of the sweater. My bad. It did not look as intended. Learn to trust people who know more than you do. So, my hot green Tomato will go the way of the frog pond. We’ll give it another go.
