TechyGeekGirlKnits

aka: Shannon's Shananigan's (Since there seems to be less & less knitting and more Shananigan-ing going on as of late and well, let's face it, she's just going to always be a techygeekgirl!!)

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Peer Pressure

Ok, it's not that I don't want to blog, it's just that I never remember to do it. It's not from a lack of stuff to do (I've been in Philly the last 2 weeks and I have 4 more weeks of travel in 3 different cities to go!) or lack of knitting. (I finished 2 sweaters, a scarf and have done a BUNCH of shopping during my travels...)

Believe it or not, I have a ton of pictures and stores to share with you, but I don't have my normal computer and my memory stick isn't working right now. So, I promise next week while I'm holed up in Raleigh, I'll share those with you.

In the meantime, I'll answer my questions from Jenn, who I'm sure thinks I totally forgot her, but didn't - I promise. It's a meme that you asked to be tag and then the blogger gives you a list of questions to answer on your blog. I've been pondering Jenn's questions for me for a while, so I hope they live up to the "hype".... Here goes:

1) You work in a male-dominated industry, right? What's been the BEST part about being "the girl" at work?
It's a very male-dominated field and I'm reminded of it all the time. The guys love that I wear pink, am girly (ok, girlier than most of my female co-workers) and am a natural blonde! My favorite part about being "the girl" at work is that I can talk shop, sports, golf, etc. with the guys, but can also give them advice about their wives, sisters, mom's, etc. I like that I am able to see the black and white of a situation, but I can see the "fuzzy grey" too. I am able to approach situations as a "person" and not as an "engineer" all the time - being nice and working with people really can get you far most of the time and the guys just don't get that!!

2) You've been traveling a lot lately. Are you the type to explore where you are, or to head straight back to the hotel room?
Well, I've visited 4 yarn stores in 4 different cities in the last 4 weeks, so that should tell you something. Actually, my schedule is usually hang out at the hotel on Mondays to unpack and crash, then I run around the rest of the nights doing stuff. I love to find neat places to go, whether it be a neat area, cool shopping, a kickass yarn store or even really great historical places. I love exploring new cities and it gives me something fun to do while traveling by myself. Just give me a rental car, a map and an idea of where to go and I'm off!!

3) What is your favorite thing to knit? Is there anything out there that you'd like to do but don't think you could?
Right now my favorite thing to knit is baby sweaters. I found a great pattern that is knit top down with NO SEAMING with worsted weight yarn. It's the easiest thing to make ever and the recipiants LOVE them. (No, they are not for me, but it seems that everyone I know is pregnant right now!) I also love to knit scarves or anything with thick chunky yarn - it's so easy to knit and comes in great colors. As for stuff I'd like to do...I don't think I'd have the patience to knit lace, nor do I know who/what I would make that for - I'm not a fan of shawls or blankets. I would also like to knit sox, but haven't gotten through about 2 inches of one yet. I did buy the book on knitting sox on 2 circs to see if that would be easier, so we'll see about that!

4) If you could do anything in the world, time and money no object, what would it be?
I am going to approach this like I do the "Lottery Game", where you imagine what you would do if you won the lottery... First I would pay everything off and buy a new car for me - don't know what kind, but probably a convertible. I wouldn't quit my job, but I would go to 'as needed'. Then I would buy a new building for the Delta Gamma Center in St Louis, as they have been trying to buy one for a while. (It's a neat organization...). I would give money to the Delta Gamma Foundation, to the University of Tulsa and to Catholic Charities. I would give each of my siblings and parents money and I would set up a college fund for my goddaughter. THEN, I would travel to Europe , especially Ireland and Italy and maybe Australia. Once at home, I would like to start a new business, probably "yarn related". I don't want to open a store, but I do have an inkling of an idea for a different kind of business. I would also like to set up a trust to help people, but I'm not sure how or what that would entail. Oh, and I would buy a house closer to STL, so I don't have to drive forever to get home at night!

5) If you could go back to one moment in your life, and make a different decision, would you? What was it?
Ever since the divorce, I have always gone back to one decision (0r at least one moment where the decision was pretty apparent and I remember it vividly) where I choice to continue down that path, when I should have stopped myself then. My mom told me about a month before the wedding that if I wanted to back out of the wedding, it would be OK and that they wouldn't be mad and would support me in the decision. At the time, I was pretty offended by that statment and was shocked that it was said to me. In retrospect, it was so apparent to me and I totally should have thought that through. I'm not sure where my life would be if I did, but I probably would be living in St Louis now, not be in so much debt, though maybe still working for the same company. I did learn a lot about myself and about people in general, so I can't totally regret that decision.

Ok, more later next week, I promise. I have lots of pix of great yarns and NASCAR sites...