Somebody said you gotta get away to wanna go back home again.

I've got at least three papers to write, but instead, I'm writing here. Makes sense. Or something.

The good news is that I've stopped crying every three seconds, but the bad news is that I'm still going to be an orphan for Thanksgiving. I couldn't really afford to fly home, and my dad, who was planning to visit, can't due to some health issues, so I find myself alone in this strange city for the holiday. I'm done complaining about it, I guess. I just find myself feeling slightly homesick on occasion, and it's hard to be so far away for a holiday that has always been family-oriented for me.

It doesn't help that Santa Fe is like bizarro world. I went with my friend from work to a basketball game (her brother's on the team) at the Santa Fe Indian School, and never in my life have I felt so...um, pale. Every day is eye-opening here. I feel like I'm finally waking up in a lot of ways. I'm stepping out of my comfortable bubble of complacency. What's outside of that is bizarro world. But it's ok.

At school we talk a lot about how this people in our (anglo-american, predominant) culture are in a sort of trance. A trance of consumerism, disconnect from family and family history, violence, corruption, and so on. Now, I'm not saying that I'm out of that trance yet, but at least now I see it for what is: just another distraction. And what's on the other side? What happens after one wakes up? I guess that's the tricky part. There's the super cool awareness thingy. There's a tapping into of the bigger than (God or holiness, if you will). But there's also a loneliness, an isolation. There's a "then what?". It's a bit intimidating.

But no one said enlightenment was easy, I guess.

Hello, kitty.

I know, I know, I know. Two months is way too long to go without an update. I doubt anyone is still reading, but here goes nothing.

Grad school keeps me quite busy. This school is unlike any other I've ever attended. It's very Jungian in orientation, which keeps things interesting for this East-coast, cognitive-behavioral kind of girl. They make us work on a lot of our own issues, which is probably good, but it also leads to people being very emotional in class, which is something that just doesn't really happen that often in chemistry classes.

Life in Santa Fe is amazing. It's sunny every day, and at night the sky is so clear that all the stars can be seen. I go hiking at least once a week, usually in the National Forest. It's strange to be so far from the ocean, but the mountains are so beautiful that it almost makes up for it.

Other than that...I'm working full time (sole searching at Payless), I have five papers to write, I never have enough money, I'm going to get a certificate in somatic therapy, and I'm knitting and afghan.

Oh, and I got a kitten.

On the Next Episode of "Will it Knit?"

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for "Will It Knit???" First up, we have...



100% Peruvian wool. Of course it knits! This is a scarf I'm making for my brother. It's almost 5' long at the moment. Still some more work to do on it, but it's almost done.

And next we have...
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Plastic bags??? Yup. I'm making a mat out of plastic grocery bags. On size 35 needles, whee! It's fun. It's an adventure. It's a good way to recycle plastic bags. And it's just plain goofy.

I'm trying to stick to one project at a time, but of course that's simply not possible for me!

A visit to Chimayo.

Today I decided that it was time to visit Chimayo, which is a small village north of Santa Fe. The main draw of the place is the Santuario, which among other things, is said to contain miraculous dirt in a hole in the ground in the back of the church. The sacristy is full of crutches of people who have been healed by the dirt. Also, there are major pilgrimages there during Holy Week. It's a really beautiful place. It was pretty quiet today, and it was really peaceful.

I took a bunch of pictures from the grounds, so here are some of them. Many people tie crosses to the fences, and they fascinated me, so that's mostly what I took pictures of.


On the road to Chimayo.

Fauxdobe rules.

I have been living in New Mexico for about four whole days now. It's been an interesting experience thus far. This place is a different world.

I thought that it might be nice to put up some pictures of the new living arrangements. Also, this weekend is the Santa Fe Fiesta (which is a very big deal here), so I plan to put up some pictures of that as well.

Ok, so here it goes:

This shows the entry way as well as my favorite part of the living room, the fireplace. I'm super excited about this.



Here is the rest of the living room. Still working on that whole "home decor" thingy.


I love the balcony. This is the view from it. As you can see, my apartment complex is completely fake adobe (that is, fauxdobe), as is pretty typical for buildings in the whole city. The landscaping here is unnaturally green because the management waters like mofos, but generally the landscape is various shades of brown.

Kitchen/dining. I've gotten a dishwasher! As well as a programmable coffeemaker, which appeals to my lazy side. Nothing like waking up and having the coffee already made.


View from the kitchen window, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background. This window faces west, so there are some awesome views of the sunset. Also, the weather tends to blow in from the west, so some pretty spiffy cloud formations can be seen here as well.


Bathroom. Pretty standard.


And finally the bedroom. Haven't quite finished unpacking yet. But it's pretty nice.

So that's my place. I'm working on finding a job (had one interview this week and another next week). I joined a parish today. I'm trying to get used to the culture here. I need to brush up on my Spanish. Everyone here is bilingual, to the point where they switch languages every couple words. Makes for an interesting time. Getting used to the weather. It's quite predictable: 70's during the day, afternoon thunderstorms, 50's or so at night. Tonight it's been raining for a while, which is pretty weird.

This is turning out to be just the adventure I was looking for. So far, so good!

How to kill time.

Is it a sign of an obsession that I've only begun knitting about a month ago and I've already made two scarves, a hat, a belt, three dishclothes, and a few random practice swatches? Obsession, or perhaps just a sign of how anxious I've been. Knitting is calming, and I need to be calmed like whoa jeez now.

So here are a few pictures of the latest:


These dishcloths are easy to make (and so functional!), so if anyone wants one (or a bunch), let me know. I've got lots of colors of this yarn, so the color possibilities are practically endless.

Today, I did a logcabin pattern. I eventually hope to make a full-size blanket in this type of pattern, but with less hideous colors of course. And nicer yarn. This square was made from random leftover cotton yarn, but I think it's sort of interesting and might make a nice blanket.



Only a few more days til I move. Five to be exact. Scary! Other than running random errands, knitting, drinking tea, and baking, I haven't been doing much. I'm trying not to fret too much. The good news is that little Lisa has a big girl job interview next Tuesday. That's pretty exciting. I hope I get this job. Or any job. But this one would be good.

It's still raining. Sigh.

Long lost twin?

When my mom took Ian back to school, they went downtown to do some shopping and happened to pop into a store that sells stuffed animals. Knowing how upset I was about not being able to take my guinea pig with me when I move, they decided to buy a stuffed animal to cheer me up a little. I think they made a pretty good choice:


The color similarity is uncanny. It was an awesome gift, and it really made me smile. Beaker had a good time chewing on his stuffed counterpart. Cuteness!

In other news, it has been raining and cold here, and I hope that there will be nicer weather in the desert. In the meantime, I've been drinking tea and knitting. Whatever it takes to pass the time, I guess.