My sense of time has been thrown way off-kilter since I lost my job. Not only do the days all seem to flow into one another, but my sleep schedule has been thrown way off, too, because I’m waking up later in the morning and finding myself needing naps in the afternoon that result in me staying awake long after I’ve made myself go to bed. I still haven’t heard anything about a job yet, and it’s beginning to frustrate me. I feel like I’m in limbo, and the only thing that’s keeping me at all on track with what day of the week it is is my friends and their schedules. For instance, I knew it was the weekend, because Hans, Laura, Eva, and I got together to watch Lost the other day. But other than that, every day feels like a Saturday to me.

Despite not going to work, though, I’ve been keeping busy. I’ve been working on putting together a package for my secret pal, and that’s been interesting, if not a bit difficult, since she has very different tastes from me. As a result, I’m having to look at things I wouldn’t normally look at and viewing things with a different set of eyes. However, the project I’m working on for her is fast becoming one of my favorites. They weren’t colors I’d normally pick for myself, but I’m loving the way the yarn is knitting up, and the colors are fabulous.

Yesterday, a bunch of us went to an Indian Festival that was being held at the fair grounds here in Raleigh. It ended up being quite a bit smaller than I was expecting it to be, and the food seemed almost like it was dumbed down for the “foreigners” – even the samosas were very, very not-spicy (I guess I’m just used to them being super hot). But it was fun, nonetheless. There were cute little kids dancing on stage in bright, adorable costumes, and it was fun to browse around all the different booths looking at clothes and jewelry.

Afterwards, we wandered through part of the flea market that’s held at the fair grounds every weekend, and then a few of us hit the tail-end of the bead market held in one of the other buildings. I didn’t buy anything, but one of the booths there was from a local shop, Ornamentea, and I was doomed when I heard they offered classes. I think it’d be so much fun to learn how to bead – make stitch markers, necklaces, etc. Their sister store, Panopolie, offers more paper-art type classes. I really am in trouble.

I’ve also been spinning. Or at least attempting to. My work is prettymuch crap right now, but in a very un-Liz-like move, I decided to not let myself be anal about it. I’m just letting my fingers and feet get used to the motions, and what happens happens.

This first bit of “yarn” I’ve spun is the epitome of thick-and-thin. I doubt I will ever knit with it – it’s just too extreme, with some parts as thin as embroidery floss and others thicker than the bulkiest yarn you can imagine, and everything else in between. But it’s been a good learning process, and I’ve finally at least gotten my feet comfortable with the treadle. It’s a start, right?