rebecca soble

I can probably chalk it off to post-holiday-back-to-work and pms coinciding but the past few days I’ve felt a seriously strong lack of desire to do anything combined with a palpable boredom due to not doing anything.

I’ve actually socialized a bit more than normal this week, going out for a few hours on Thu after work (10pm is after work, btw!) and also Saturday evening, but overall I just feel blah. The idea of leaving the house is totally unappealing, but staying home is almost equally so (except I do enjoy my balcony). There’s nothing I feel like cooking, all my knitting projects are in the blah-zone at the moment, I’m in a lull in my turkish language education, etc etc.

What I’ve done so far today:

• downloaded some podcasts and listened to On Point Week In The News while washing dishes (these days, any podcast on the economy has me entranced).
• cleaned and reorganized some cupboards and one drawer. oh, and another drawer in a different room.
• half-watched some biographical program on BBC while knitting and then put it away (and turned it off) mid-row/mid-show.
• randomly swept and dusted, managing to not complete any room except the balcony (by far the smallest and easiest)
• felted a wool sweater in the washer (it had already been accidentally washed and half felted), cut it up into trivet- and coaster-sized pieces, and started some blanket stitch edges.
• cleaned the filter in the fish tank, entertained myself stacking up the decorative rocks in new arrangements.
• put whites in the washer (they’re still there, I assume they will get hung to dry by someone in a while)
• reviewed photos, games, and commentary online from the 2008 National Scrabble Championship, happening this week in Orlando, FL. Rah rah scrabble-buddies! And then realized nobody would be around to play Scrabulous on Facebook with me for a whole week.
• Grated a zucchini in preparation for making some mucver for dinner, with yogurt, yum.
• More stuff but, i can’t recall anything else worth mentioning.

(Sorry, RG, for the boring list, but that was sort of the point.)

I’m really in a quandary with my knitting, primarily with the problem of the socks. I wanted to try a pair of toe-up socks, and I wanted to do a bit of stranded colorwork (though it’s very simple, just blocks) but to be honest, I’m just up to the first heel and I’m pretty much not enjoying it. It’s a great carry-around project, and I have a hard time giving up, but I think I’m gonna hafta frog it because it’s just holding me back. What I’d rather be doing is a pair of simple cable fingerless mitts in preparation for winter. I also seem to have a bit of a felting bug (despite the difficulty of a front-load washer) and might try some felted bowls. But I have a t-shirt that is lacking just one sleeve that I really should finish…

Everything I do these days, other than walking around the city, feels pretty sedentary, and I feel the need for some new active thing to do. I thought about a yoga or tai-chi class, but the social interaction required from that is anti-motivating, plus the idea of having to do it according to someone else’s schedule. I really like the idea of geocaching, but would need to invest in a GPS device (I had an old one but gave it away to a friend who is easily lost, not sure how it’s helped). I’ll have to investigate how much they cost here in Turkey and maybe after payday (7th of the month) I can afford to get one. Geocaching seems ideal because I can do it alone or with a friend along, it would GET ME OUT OF THE HOUSE, plus it’s both puzzle-y and earth-y, both things that appeal to me. Yes, it sounds good.

Finally, I also need to get some energy back for my actual work. With my students also taking holidays and feeling “summer blahs” these days, what lessons I’ve had have tended to be more low-key and I’m feeling like they haven’t been very directed or effective. So I have to find some inspiration to get some energy back into my lessons. Ideas welcome!

Blah-ly yours,
Rebecca