Unnaturally Hot

"The luxuriously rich are not simply kept comfortably warm, but unnaturally hot."
-Thoreau

Walden has been on my mind several times over the last weeks. It's been a little voice in the back of my mind, though I thought my copy from college had found a better home and was long from my possession. Imagine my surprise when yesterday morning, as I reclined on the floor and J was spoiling me with a head scratch, my eyes, like a beacon, found the book nudged between others on my bookcase.

I've been carrying it around with me since, though in respect to our weekend company (J's mom), I've resisted the temptation to lock myself in a room until it's been read, cover to cover.

The issue of shampoo came up this morning. As I've amassed an unfortunate collection of the crap, I'm destined to be using it for probably months (and even perhaps years) until it's gone completely. It's not that I dislike clean hair, or shampooing my hair, or even being clean, but I am skeptical of the idea that humans couldn't exist without these stupid things. People have been procreating and snuggling and interacting for thousands of years. Bumble and bumble was only invented in the last 30 years. I think time is on my side here. Besides, I happened to look on the labels of all the potions and cleansers in my shower.. holy crap!

I think J is trying very hard to balance out my penchant for turning off the electricity, lighting candles and singing Kumbaya. I appreciate it.

So, other news...

I told work that I needed to go to part time as soon as possible. Part-time here meaning no more than 3 days/24 hours a week. Financially, that will cover our current bills and give us still a bit to put away. Surprisingly, I wasn't met with any resistance and I think I may actually succeed in making that transition. That will give me 4 days a week to live and 3 days to make that living until I can convince J to cover ourselves with leaves and run off for the mountains.

I think that leaves me about 80% of my life to myself and the other 20% (giving myself time for getting ready, traveling, etc) to work. It's a much better balance.

I'll be spending the rest of the day making peach and blueberry jam, as it's the season here for both.

Oh! Knitting news.. Some secret projects to share now:





These are pictures of the blanket I made for Craftster's IYP Round 9 swap for lilyvanilli. I was inspired by her favorite color (green) and her love for cables.



AND a knit tam from the Three Tams pattern from a past Knitty. (Sorry, too tired to link to the pattern.) It was a quick and fun project and I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's inspired more colorwork, too.

Thank you to everyone who has made a point to come up to me over the last couple of weeks to share your experiences, post blog comments and to email me. I've got a lot of email catching up to do and I'll be in touch as quickly as I can. It's really, really a wonderful feeling.. to be honest, I don't know if I've ever felt so alive.