'nuff said.

more living

goodbye bash with the Americorps 'kids':


sucks to have them leave but what a privilege to know them. 'sides, they won't get too far - family almost never does!

last weekend's Saturday hike to Fall Branch Falls with a crew from Meetup:


if you listen carefully, you can hear tiny cries as the mosses mate. :) a peaceful jaunt to an amazing waterfall - only wish the trail had been longer.

updated House Mountain to include photos from my Sunday morning hike with Bill:


no photos yet from Wednesday night's backpack up LeConte- will upload after this weekend's Smokies backpack...

letting go

as may be obvious, i have let go of keeping up with the blog. life is just too short to waste time writing when i could be doing! (plus my tendonitis remains a harsh taskmaster.) some visual catchup...

went to Tennessee eXtreme Wrestling with Habitat friends:


took a student's dog backpacking, had to quit due to tick infestation, rerouted for lake camping with Hab friends:


went to more wrestling. it really sucked but at least we made an unforgettable entrance with our couch:


went on a sweet dayhike to House Mountain here in town:


took up salsa and swing dancing over the last two months, though i don't currently have any photo documentation to prove it. went on a lovely 35 mile road biking loop last weekend. can't wait to try again now that the kinks are worked out of the bike.

been trying to find a house to buy for a couple months. made an offer two weeks ago. currently still unsure whether i am starting over with an offer on a different house today or receiving another counter on the first one based on the house inspection. (my 5 year old niece could put a better roof on without training...) have achieved a new level of zen about all the uncertainty.

met a ton of new friends at a wine tasting party on Friday. hooked up with fast new friends from Meetup for a killer backpack this weekend in the Smokies:


this week i have swing and salsa lessons, salsa team practice, a tango/salsa fusion workshop, semi-mellow hike with friends, possible bike ride, and tango lessons. oh yeah - and today i took off from work to hopefully go boating.

[shockingly - work is good, too.]

as it is wont to do, life will certainly crash about my ears but - for now - it is very, very good!

unbroken streak

for something like the 477th trip in a row, today i reconfirmed that i should never be allowed in a nursery unchaperoned.

for over a month now, i have assiduously avoided forlorn flowerbeds of dying pansies, skeletal remains of last year's geraniums in hanging pots, and the overgrown scraggle that passes for my bushes. because i intend to move this summer, it would be silly and financially daft to invest time and money on their care.

the garden, on the other hand, was already planted and finally has been flourishing. therefore, it seemed only sensible to pick up two pepper plants and one tomato plant to round out everything i have been growing from seed. (not all my tomato sprouts have flourished as one would like.)

although i am not a mathematician by trade, even i can count to three. does this look like three plants to you?




sigh.

three hours and one bee sting later, instead of casting a sorrowful pall on everything in their vicinity, the flowerbeds and pots now complement the day lily bonanza:



and the 'back 40':



in the end, i'll take silly over decay any day.

ps. anyone need any lettuce?

ketchup

things have been busy and weird and hard and good and busy some more. i have been working ridiculous amounts of hours and haven't much time to write.

i reread a wonderful article called On the determinants of academic success as a clinician-scientist a couple months ago. it motivated me to revisit all my projects and To Do lists and seriously consider which exist for the right reasons (makes me happy, invigorates me, good for me). that, of course, led me to create new lists of "Things to close out as quickly as possible", "Things to continue" and "Things to start once headway has been made on list A." that generated a fierce and focused attack on List A, so i can get to doing what i want to do that also can be what is good for my career. since then i have been happily trucking along, making excellent progress on List A though profoundly exhausting myself in the process.

late April was the Knoxville Habitat for Humanity Multi-house blitz. i had taken the week off from work to, well, work. it was wicked taxing but incredibly fun and rewarding. i learned to lay out a floorplan (set up to frame in walls) and led installation of fiber cement siding, ductwork framing, and windows/doors. there are some great pix here (including a few of me) though the sheer number of photos may overwhelm...

after the Multi-House Blitz, i went to a BBQ at a friend's house. i learned two new games: Polish Horseshoes and Stump. we had a LOT of fun:



in other news, Trav and i have split up. although there are sad moments and have been a lot of unrelated challenges, i am already much happier than i had been in quite some time. i feel like i have emerged from a dark cave after a long storm to a bright and glorious day.

too little time to catch up and then off to Florida for a weeklong family vacation. huge challenges wrt the car that made for quite the adventure and the weather mostly groused, but we still managed to have an awesome time! we discovered a found art installation on the base that was quite fascinating and clever. we did our part - adding several found objects to the structure. [can you guess which they were?] i also had a cameo as waterfowl rescuer extraordinaire.



got back on Memorial Day and worked feverishly to wrap things up for ACVIM which was in Montreal this year. made my deadlines - albeit barely - and enjoyed catching up with dear friends. Montreal is fabulous and i cannot wait to go back for fun... well, i suppose that is all i have from here.

the maidens of spring's army

clouds and wind fight and cling to winter.


playful violets,


comic pansies


and seductive hyacinths heavy with fragrance


dance and whirl
in the riotous confetti
of falling cherry blossoms.


the clouds surrender to their joy.

wicked awesome hiking

life has been hopping here in lovely east Tennessee. since the move, it seems i continuously struggle to both do and document in limited time. at the end of the day, i have decided it is better to live life than write about it and the blog has obviously suffered greatly.

the birds call outside and offset the otherwise gloomy dawn of the day, as i snuggle down under a new blanket and nurse my coffee. it seems the perfect time to write to you, my tolerant friend, though i hope you bear with my brevity as the pain in my arms burns fiercely from work and service rigors.

as one wakes from a cold suddenly better, i woke this January less fettered to that great 1950s American work ethic. i looked at my To Do list, estimated my maximal waking hours and recognized that 'caught up' is unachievable in academia. although this gut level realization carried with it melancholy, it also brought with it a degree of freedom. if 'under control' is an unachievable fantasy, then it only makes sense to find new successes, does it not?

to whit, my new philosophy:

you will never ever ever ever ever be caught up again... go hiking!

so i did. twice thus far.

January 31st, Trav and i took Bear for a 12.6 mile hike at Big South Fork.



the park remained festooned with winter decorations - icicles cascading from almost every surface, mosses bulging out into the sunshine and fallen leaves carpeting our path. it was beautiful and quiet, except for the occasional gunshot report as hunters and wild hogs faced off elsewhere in the park.

February 22nd, it was off to Frozen Head State Park for an 11.5 mile slog up to Chimney Top.



lazy snowflakes drizzled on our heads as wonderful and peculiar shapes and images curved into view. deer startled as they discovered us upon their path.

since then, work for Habitat for Humanity has pretty much monopolized the weekends. each build brings more fun than the last, as i become more knowledgeable and physically adept. it is exciting to catch problems before they occur and learn ways to compensate for my lesser upper body strength (compared to a man). the latter will be particularly important when time comes for the Women's build.

there is so much more to share, but the house now stirs and my chores list beckons. it will have to wait for another stolen morning.

Fwd: A warning!

things have been crazy busy here in K-ville and i owe some serious postage, but in the interim i thought i would share this little gem.

---

I dislike people who post too many warning as much as anyone, but this one is important!

If someone comes to your door saying they are conducting a survey on deer ticks and asks you to take off all your clothes and dance around to shake off the ticks, Do not do it!





It is a SCAM; they only want to see you naked!




I wish I had gotten this yesterday.


I feel so stupid.

snowy Knoxville

just a little eye candy from Knoxville February 3rd. 

yup. that is snow there on the ground right here in East Tennessee. it was a wonderful day!

my cup runneth over

it has been a strange time since last i wrote. much has changed and much remains in flux yet some things stand constant.

Christmas still fills my heart with heady joy, wonder and an almost maudlin tenderness for my brethen. there is something profound and humbling about the way humans rise above themselves at this time of year to care for those around them and honor those who have gone before them.

over the years, decorating the tree has become more meditative and almost prayerful for me. i find myself savouring the precious gifts life has afforded me and honoring lives lived while still embracing all the living and lives to come. as i finished dressing the tree with my late grandmother and great grandmother's ornaments this year, i could not shake an impression of emptiness, lonesomeness, to the tree. finally, i realized this would be the first year in the history of my particular tree that Mr. Head did not spend beneath it. when the feeling did not pass after a couple days, i decided to take matters into my own hands...

i am sure he is much happier now.




With a heart full of love, joy, peace and thanks, I wish you all a safe, full and meaningful holiday season!

Mr. Head: 1993 - 2008

it was a good ride.


today, Mr. Head finally hung up his spurs.

here he is as i will always remember him - my pushy, lovey baby.



it was a good death...

even more importantly, it was a wonderful life.




we are inconsolable.


but time will bring the healing.

so sick

a scratchy cough began immediately after super fun times putting in a subfloor with Habitat on Saturday. at first i thought it was irritation from the sawdust. (did i mention i am the standby powersaw chick of doom?)

when it persisted into Sunday, i thought all that healthy fresh air had set off my allergies.

Monday morning, i was still on the fence. after all, i know of no one who has been sick recently. by Monday afternoon, there was no denying i had contracted The Blech.

Tuesday i was so puny that i wasn't even up to managing my email. i actually took a real sick day - you know, like we did when we were kids. just lay on the couch with a box of Kleenex, lip balm, warm compresses for muscle pain alternating with a fan for fever spikes, and plain crackers. i watched some really really bad movies - you would be shocked by the OnDemand selection. by mid-afternoon i was at least able to knit a bit. i wasn't up to watching the presidential debate, but today i was able to sit through the SNL VP rehash. i highly recommend it.

today i think i am on the upswing. i can sit and type for short spells. i can blow my nose without getting dizzy. i may even be able to do some work. that would be good since there is a lot to do before we leave for Colorado Saturday. cross your fingers...

in other news, over the weekend i did put a face on the rabbit,

frog the cabled vest,


and almost finished preparing Enid for steeking.


to close, a photo of Elise as Queen of the Mountain taken during our recent carpet cleaning escapade:

not on vacation

i really haven't been on vacation this whole time. honest. actually, it is just that i have been too busy doing to spend time reporting.

craftwise, there have been a few successes and one major tragedy.

first, the pain... remember the gorgeous 'Cabled Denim' vest? it was in fact too big for Roland but it was a proportionate bigness. Mom and i judged that a blistering wash and hot dry would actually bring it right in line...

not only did it grow in the process, it acquired plaques of bizarre white something. in spite of my mother's best efforts to make lemonade, it has been banished to the rarely visited craft room for frogging and reknitting on smaller needles with smaller overall measurements.

we actually learned a very important lesson: Do not attempt to outsmart the knitting gods. Failing to retreat at first smiting will only result in more extravagant plagues.

what, on the other hand, has gone well?

here we have a completed pair of Christmas socks, a cuddly [out of focus] teddy bear,


and the Shoulder Shawl in Syrian Pattern (by Jane Sowerby) from Victorian Lace Today.


the Syrian shawl was started a million years ago (May) but had to go into stasis after i determined it was impossible to have an adequately ginormous shawl given yarn constraints. [i am completely incapable of buying the right amount of yarn for any project. somehow, i always end up either a tetch short or 8 balls over.]

the yarn is All Thing Heather Handpainted Superwash Merino in Periwinkle (on US 10.5s). the yarn is to die for soft, a dream to knit and washes beautifully. i got a killer deal on it because it had a weird colorfast issue and was fading where hit by light. i loved the way the yarn was fading and was looking forward to its progression over time. now there wasn't enough yarn- at least not for the comfy, cozy, every night, cuddly shawl i was envisonin - and of course there was no mutant fading yarn remaining.

i was bereft. eventually i decided i would knit the border from an entirely different color as a contrast. my LYS had nothing that would work so i emailed Heather. out of nowhere, she offered to try and match the yarn. off i sent a big sample. Heather tried and tried but couldn't not replicate the flaw. she sent me back something 'close-ish' with an offer to overdye the whole shawl when it was complete! i remain overwhelmed by her helpfulness in the face of my stupidity and poor planning. i will be buying a lot of ATH (as should you) in the future.

in the end, the border turned out so beautiful that i have elected to keep the shawl as is.


currently in progress are two sweaters bopping along, a sock, a stuffed bunny (the teddy got lonely), a crocheted table runner, two spinning projects and of course a lace project. i don't particularly care for multi-tasking but it seems like i never have the right project in process for my current logistic and anatomic constraints.

speaking of anatomic constraints, did i mention that Travy and i are knee-high in Habitat for Humanity work? we are having so much fun working together to make a difference for others. we hopefully will be taking on more regular responsibilities as volunteer team leaders.

work? we aren't talking about work these days. some of it is bad, some of it is super-exciting but confidential, and the rest isn't worth the copy. i will just say though that I cannot wait until I can scream at the top of my lungs about the super-awesome top-secret thing!

me, on vacation!

me on vacation!
Originally uploaded by jacquichris

it's true - i went on vacation. between all the chaos and family, i enjoy sitting under a tree, listening to the cicadas and wild turkeys... oh yeah, and spinning around with my arms outswept like a little child. everyone should make time for whirling about like a dervish.

vacation was too short. it reminded me how desperately i miss backpacking. Bear + wild turkeys + horsey = highcomic relief.

there isn't really much more to say.

go spin about like a top! it is good for you. i'm a doctor. i know these things.

i win!

in preparation for vacation*, i made a big push to finish projects. here i present to you my flurry of recent FO activity.

first we have the Back-to-School U-Neck Vest by Stefanie Japel in Moda Dea Silk 'n Wool Blend on US 8s and 6s:

i am pretty happy with this. i should have increased the bust darts a bit so it would fit better. its not that i am that busty, but apparently the pattern is set for negative A cups!

next we have Riverstone by Just Jussi in Bernat Boucle on US 8s:


this was a test knit. it is a child's pattern that i made for my [almost] nieceling. she is 3 and completely gorgeous. it will be perfect on her.

finally, we have an oldie but goody - Cabled Denim by Kathy Zimmerman in Plymouth Encore on US 8s. [do you sense a theme?**]


this is for my stepfather. it turned out lovely, but i am rather concerned it will be too large for him. we find out Friday.

as an aside, i recently found an unposted entry... did i ever show you this? my first completed project made with my own lovely handspun - the Zetor Scarf by Jatta Saukko:


is it perfect? no. is it wonderful all the same? YES!

i also finished the Diagonal Rib Socks by Ann Budd but haven't had a chance to upload the photos yet.

in other news, my Syrian Shawl may soon get to come out of time-out! stay tuned for exciting updates once the yarn arrives.

oh yeah, it was vacation so i cast on another project. i converted to knit in the round, finished the back in the dark, and then when i went to shape the armholes for the front, i discovered it was INSANELY big. frogged to the cast on. removed 20% of the stitches. knit 3 inches. remeasured. STILL too big. frogged again and recast to reknit. either it works this time or i burn it. [i would put it in the compost now but it is part acrylic.]

---

* it was awesome, i am rested and i hope to repeat again soon.
** of course it wasn't on purpose. US 8s are soooooooooo outre. damn gauge swatches. they are all out to get me.

zoom zoom!!

the hummingbirds returned in force this Saturday. during hummingbird season, my morning ritual is much brighter. there was one bird last year that liked to hover in front of the kitchen window, watching me make my latte each day. i am very happy to report that he seems to be back. for two days now, i have had a companion for the daily 'opening ceremonies'. i plan to remove the window screen, after which perhaps i can capture my pal on camera. in the meantime, please enjoy this series that Travy captured.

Hummingbird contemplates the feeders - which might be tastier?


the art glass. definitely. drinks always taste better when served in art glass.


oh uh. human in range. better get going before he gets any crazy ideas!


happy Monday, all!

goodness from heaven... or Canada...

i get confused. after all, they are both 'up' from Tennessee... right?

after a taxing stint on clinics complicated by the Allergies of Doom, all i have really be capable of the last two-ish weeks is staring vacantly at the walls while entropy molds me to the couch. that has all changed.

thanks to an amazing pick-me-up package from Lara, i have lovely new pretties to comfort me in my time of sloth and eextract me from seat cushions for a swash-buckling laceweight adventure! behold the most glorious of bounty:

an absolutely gor-ge-ous cap to ward off chills, grumpy rays of Planet Zarnon, and the overzealous AC in my office.


here you see the most lovely of yarns, Lara's own handmade stitch markers, and an absolutely killer sock bag. (Gir got his paw in the mix as well, sending me awesome Invader Zim mints.)


finally, the most spectacularly intricate and well-executed sockies. (to truly appreciate them, you really must click through to the larger version.)


all in all, an amazing and unexpected box of joy with just the right balance of toys and 'source' material. what a lucky girl am i!

i lied

i said i would share Roland's slippers, the black hole that is my Syrian shawl and the cast-on of such poor judgment that i deleted any evidence of its existence, but i lied.

the bound official copy of my dissertation just arrived (yes, i know it has been 14 months), so instead i am sharing something much, much more special to me. something i have kept secret these long 14 plus months pending official publication. without further ado, i bring you the Dedication Page of my dissertation in all its semi-eternal permanency...

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to sincerely thank:

Dr. Michael R. Lappin, for his inexhaustible support, friendship, and mentorship.

My colleagues Jennifer Steinberg, Nicole Bennett, Dennis Macy, and Kristy Dowers for their counsel on matters both scientific and real and for their friendship.

Jennifer Hawley, for always being there to say, “This time I just know it’s going to work,” and for being there when it didn’t to help me dust myself off and start again.

My dearest friends, Bill and Kelly Christie and Dave and Nancy Rocknich, for their support and good-natured harassment throughout the years.

My parents, Meredith and Lynda Ramp, and Roland Schneller for all the years of patience and humor.

My late grandmother, Marguerite (Mickey) D. Osburn, for always believing in my strength while worrying about my softness. Together we traveled many roads and collected many stories. I miss her every day and save my stories for our next meeting.

Finally and most specially, my mother, confidante and best friend, Pamela Jo Schneller, for teaching me that I can do whatever I want and be whomever I would like, if only I am willing to try.


The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!), but 'That's funny...'
-Isaac Asimov

PIF to me!

things have been pretty crazy here in K-ville... after an unsettling but brief post-vacation lull (think stillness before a natural disaster), work came like a fierce tsunami to swamp me. as usual, i was burning both ends of the candle in anticipation of an externally imposed pause. in this case, Roland's hip replacement surgery on Thursday. [after a very rough patch, he safely arrived home today. Mom and i could both use a cookie - her more than me since i had to come home last night for work today. what a ROK star she is - not to mention Roland's amazing grit and good humor!! Roland has high level narcotics so he may not have the same cookie needs.]

amid all the rushing, a fabulous package arrived that has filled me with pleasure - in spite of my having no more than moments with it before flitting off to Nashville.

'what what?' i hear you query... why, my PIF package arrived, courtesy of Magnusmog!

a gorgeous card that i suspect will find its way to my work introduced me to the loveliest and most handy little notebook:

then there is this gorgeous felted brooch with which i can dazzle myself and others:


and finally the most lovely handdyed, handspun Scottish Wensleydale for which i already have plans! plans for joyous, undulating fuzzy drapey fabric.


too bad i have eight jillion several summer projects already cast on. hmm... perhaps it will be my bribe for enduring the long Tennessee summer...

oh, yeah - i don't know why i was so worried about Adrianne's ribs. i finished with almost 12 inches of yarn to spare!


stay tuned for the next episode in which Roland gets new slippers, my Syrian shawl gets torn back twice yet i still end up short of yarn for the edging, and i wake from a drunken high aneurysmal judgment blackout to frog an horrific sweater pattern that required US 17s to get gauge.