Mariannes Motifs

Fingerless Mitts

Mitt one is done. I used the "basic fingerless mitts" pattern by Sue Brady, with one alteration of using a frilled cast on.

The yarn is thrifted Caron Simply Soft that my friend Phyllis snagged for me. In my opinion its the nicest acrylic. Soft and doesn't seem to have any bad acrylic characteristics.

Now on to cast on mitt two. The cast on seems to take forever because you cast on four stitches for every one to make the picot type frill.
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Earning the Respect of Others

10 Ways To Earn the Respect of Others - by Dumb Little Man

This is an interesting article on how to earn the respect of others. I've actually given this concept a great deal of thought.

I have concluded that there is no way to make other people respect you. Respect is earned, and there's not necessarily any one particular way to earn it. Also, what will gain you the respect of one person won't work on another. (Also, there are some people out there that I don't think live by the same values I do and I might prefer not to have their respect anyway)

In fact, I would posit that there's not point trying to earn other people's respect, only to earn your own respect. If you live a life that is meaningful and "right" to yourself, you will have the respect of the one person who matters the most.

I know that I have the respect of my parents, and that means a lot to me. I definitely respect them.  (My mom, for example, is one of the best money managers and finders of travel deals in the universe.  My dad is one of the smartest people I have ever met also patient, sensitive, and even tempered.)

As far as people I work with, well... I would like to be respected in my field, but I know better than to really worry about it. I just slog along and do the best I can in the circumstances I am in. I generally do my best and try very hard to help the people I work with. And I work with a lot of very smart people so they are pretty demanding - you can't pull a snow job on them. Which is good because another one of my policies I live by is to always tell the truth. Life is too short for me to lie - I am not comfortable doing it and if people expect me to they will be disseminated. I actually think that telling the truth is not a great way to earn respect because a lot of the time people really don't want to hear the truth. And I have also learned that there are ways to sort of avoid over explaining things that can satisfy my need to tell the truth while also allowing me to stay off the hot seat. Leaving out details is ok sometimes...

In conclusion - I am not trying to take over the world, run for public office, or be the head of the office clique. I do my own thing. I am a people pleaser by nature, but time and experience have helped me understand that it is simply not possible to please everyone all the time.

 

As for respect, I respect myself and I respect my family and friends. What comes back to me comes back to me and is appreciated. If not, that's ok too.

Happy Weekend

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I have a cold

I woke up this morning with a head cold.  I've got my NyQuil - nice hubstr went out to get it for me.  Adam and Jin have a stomach ache and Ben has a headache.  We are a pitiful little family today.  We did go out to breakfast at the Pancake House and then over to Home Despot to buy the natural gas conversion kit for the new grill.  It was 100 buck on the CharBroil web site and 50 at Home Depot. 

We looked at lamps (the lamp over the dining room table broke and needs replacement) but I got overwhelmed by choices and we left without anything for that.  Adam decied he wants a desk lamp but we weren't shopping for office furniture today and he had a big ol temper tantrum.  Like I said - nobody feels good today.

Sup?

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5 Ways to Make Money When You are Desperate

1.  List stuff on Ebay.  It's a lot easier than people think.  Follow the steps to list your item - ebay leads you through the process.  Tips: Take a good photo - outside gives best light.  People want to see what they are buying so make sure the picture is clear and well lit.  For shipping it really helps to have a postal scale so you can have ebay calculate and charge the shipping for you.  If you don't have a scale consider doing the flat rate shipping box from the post office.  Here is a place that sells scales.

2.  Got any broken gold or silver jewlery laying around?  Mis-matched earrings, ugly stuff you hate and never wear?  Sell them to the local pawn shop or jewlery store.  It's easy.  Go to two places to get a quote and sell to the highest offer.

3.  Have a garage sale.  Price stuff to sell and when you are done load the leftovers into your car and straight to Goodwill.  This will make you a couple bucks and also declutter your house.  Win Win!

4.  Are you a decent writer?  You can make money by writing articles for textbroker.com.  They don't pay a lot - a penny a word for a 3 star author, but it's real money and nothing to sniff at.

5.  Have an unusual skill?  Try creating a listing on fiverr.com where people list things they will do for 5 dollars.

Best Thing I Ever Did

I was just thinking today that the best thing I ever did wasautomate my banking and bill paying.  I have most of each paycheck deposited in my brokerage account and all the bills set to autopay from that account.  My regular checking account gets the leftovers for groceries, clothes, shoes, and sundries.

Its a relied having bills automatically paid and no late payments is a lot better on the credit reports.

Pointy Elf Hat

When I unpacked the new "More Last Minute Knitted Gifts" book Adam immediately said that he wanted a hat just like the one on the cover. He helped me pick out this yarn - a super soft Malabrigo Super Bulky. The colors are crazy! Clown barf, as they say.

But its a quick knit and I hope little guy loves it as his own special order.
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Musing on People

Even having all of recorded history to learn from, media reports from all over the world, school, books, and our experiences talking and doing business with people every day - people still can only see things from their own point of view.

It is a very rare person who can look at the world and want to see and learn without letting their preconceived notions totally color what they experience.

We are all doing something different, and all value different things.  But do we have the ability to look at what other people without judging?  Do you look  down on people who are taking a Branson vacation instead of going to Vail, or crocheting toilet paper covers in Red Heart acrylic instead of using authentic animal fibers?  Do you think people who listen to Opera are snobby, or can't stand Country music?  Do you think people who are transgendered are frightening?  Do you think Muslims are all sexist?

If you have kids, your world revolves around your kids.  If you don't have kids, you think that is kind of nuts.  One gender probably interests you and one doesn't.  If you are young, you probably don't know what it's like to be old.  And if you are old you might have forgotten what it was like to be young.

I really don't have a conclusion here --- maybe just a suggestion to be a little more gentle with people that are a bit different from yourself.