Favorite Things Monday: The Cacophony

August 21, 2007

1. Bats

Not rabid. Which makes feel guilty for having them killed tested. Before my town would finally agree to have them tested for rabies, I had to trap them. This is no small task, but I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!

Clearly I’m a tough chica, because the local Health Dept. guys were still jumpy when I handed the bats to them in sealed tupperware containers. Pansies.

The Bat Exclusion company says we have a colony in the attic, and they’d be delighted to help me part with several hundred dollars to evict the colony. Shit!

2. Friends

Seriously, Fiber Revival was the best day ever. Go see Maryse, Cheryl, and Adrian’s beautiful photos. I taught a woman to knit, and while I was teaching her to cast on, she told me that she wanted to learn because her 3 year old son has muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease with a terrible prognosis, and she needs a hobby to keep her mind off his health problems. Whoah. All hail the power of wool.

3. Grad School

I got a decent score on the GMAT. I got in, as of today. They offered me a merit scholarship, and I negotiated for a shitload more. Classes start on Saturday. Yes, as in 4 days from today.

4. Wheel

I bow to the beauty of Craigslist. Antique wheel - $50. She’s wicked cranky but functional, and she has a story to tell (like me!).

I returned from the seller’s house with a fresh bantam egg, german shorthaired pointer paw prints on my capris, slate-colored arabian horse drool on my shoulder, and baby chick pee on my left hand. Her home is idyllic! More details later.

*so sorry that i’ve been so terrible about emailing lately.

Entry Filed under: Favorite Things Monday, It's All About Me, Ms. 1890, Peeps, Spinning. .

41 Comments Add your own

1. Francesca | August 21, 2007 at 4:08 pm

Congratulations on getting in and getting a scholarship! You rock, girl!
2. pumpkinmama | August 21, 2007 at 4:17 pm

A triumphant week - you DO rock! So bummed I missed the revival.
3. Mel | August 21, 2007 at 4:20 pm

Human/wildlife interactions don’t always go well for one or the other, unfortunately, but it’s good that Little Man and the rest of the Mafias won’t have to go through the post-exposure series. Want me to come smack your animal control & health dept. people around? Oh, and were you able to figure out which species the bats are?

And huge congratulations on the grad school thing!
4. Danielle | August 21, 2007 at 4:21 pm

What? Classes start on Saturday of this week???? Yikes. Love the new wheel See you later this week?
5. maryse | August 21, 2007 at 4:24 pm

congratulations on the wrangling of the bats and the wrangling of the GMAT. you must be wicked smaht!
6. Bertha | August 21, 2007 at 4:24 pm

Wow, grad school + scholarship!! Congratulations! Sorry I missed you at the fiber revival, we had a wedding that afternoon so I didn’t get to go. Oh well, next time!
7. Sparkles | August 21, 2007 at 4:31 pm

bat colony???? Eeeek!

And, damn, what to congratulate you on first? You totally rock woman! You really are an inspiration to me!
8. Pi Grrrl | August 21, 2007 at 4:32 pm

Wowee. You’re kicking some guano this week for sure.
9. Lucia | August 21, 2007 at 4:37 pm

1. It had to be done.
2. I took up serious knitting during my son’s 5-month hospital stay. It worked for me.
3 & 4. WOOT!
10. pamela wynne | August 21, 2007 at 4:39 pm

omg, congrats on ALL of these things! (well, except the bat colony — that’s just a pain in the ass.)
11. Teresa C | August 21, 2007 at 4:53 pm

If I haven’t felt like a slacker before this post, I sure do now. The bats would have done me in.

And it is taking everything I have in me right now not to jump in the car and come over to fondle that wheel! It looks gorgeous from here and even if it is a little cranky, we have Dave who fixes all things and makes them new. Congratulations on all of your accomplishments this week. Now (she says, counting on her fingers), what have I done this week………?

Does 80-90 teenagers in my backyard for a cookout count for anything? And I did start a sock……..
12. Lisa | August 21, 2007 at 5:32 pm

you are totally amazing!

Congrats on the Grad School and the Scholorship!

The wheel looks great….now all you need is more roving.

Bat Colony….sucks that it will cost $$$$, but it nees to be done…and done right.

I’m exhausted just contemplating your schedule!
13. Becca | August 21, 2007 at 5:32 pm

Wow, I missed the last couple of posts … you caught bats barehanded? Yow! You did the right thing to test for rabies, even though I’m sure it was a wrench. You want the bats in your yard, not in your house.
14. Suzanne | August 21, 2007 at 5:41 pm

Poor bats, but the only alternative was rabies shots for everyone. Congratulations on the scholarship! That’s fantastic. I was selfishly hoping that you would be down in Longwood on Saturdays, where I often am, but discovered that the SOM is in Back Bay. Better for you, I think - more accessible to transit and Newbury yarn. I wish I could have made the fiber revival. For some strange reason, I can go to a fiber fest and not see any bloggers, even though later I know that they had been there. BUT I always find you.
15. Alex | August 21, 2007 at 5:52 pm

Congrats on grad school and scholarship!
16. roro | August 21, 2007 at 6:10 pm

Mafia - you are the rockingest rock star in Rockonia!!!!! Congrats on the bat testing, the fantastic scholarship and successful further funding negotiation and on lighting the knitting fire for another human being. Seriously - you are awesome and my hat is off to you; or it WILL be once I’ve finished knitting it.
17. Kim | August 21, 2007 at 6:37 pm

Congrats on your new direction in life! And you are stunning - trapping bats, and then negotiating for more funding! Awesome woman, you!
18. Heather | August 21, 2007 at 9:28 pm

Congrats on starting grad school!! That is fabulous, and your new wheel and it’s former home sound great. I have a noisy little antique, too, but I love her whirl and clack. Now I just have to find some time for her.
19. Kat | August 21, 2007 at 9:32 pm

Could life be any more perfect? (Other than the Bat Exclusion company wanting your money.)
20. Maritza | August 21, 2007 at 10:12 pm

Congratulations!!!! I am so psyched for you!
The wheel rocks, too!
21. Manise | August 21, 2007 at 10:27 pm

Congratulations are in order on many fronts! Wow! The wheel- dude you have to do a full post on it! For $50? I thought I heard part of that conversation at Revival. Way to go! As Terry said, Dave Paul works wonders and will make your new wheel sing. They don’t call him Wheel God for nothing! Very happy for you.
22. Thorny | August 21, 2007 at 11:33 pm

Whoo! You are made of awesome and WIN!!

What a triumphant week for you! I hope it continues into a nice long streak of greatness!
23. painterwoman | August 21, 2007 at 11:57 pm

Way cool: on the scholarship and educational journey opening up AND the spinning wheel. I hope you can spin while you study! So sorry about the bat “colony.” Can you send them down the river to be in the Roanoke “colony” so they will disappear on their own? Or maybe Plymouth.. if some Native Americans would dispatch them between the sweet potato course and the cranberry sauce.
24. Emily | August 22, 2007 at 12:37 am

Wow! You have so many different superhero powers I am in awe.
25. Cynical Knitting Gal | August 22, 2007 at 12:44 am

How much does Mafia rock? So much that there are no words. Good job!

P.S. I would be a little squeemish about the bats too (like the dudes at the health dept).
26. DeltaDawn | August 22, 2007 at 7:23 am

Holy batsh*t Mafia - what a week! Baby chick pee - can’t wait for more of the story, but you must feel so honored, what with the drool and all that. I agree - sounds idyllic!

CONGRATS on grad school AND on negotiating more $$. Keep on rockin girl!
27. Cheryl | August 22, 2007 at 7:52 am

That’s such great news about grad school! Yay! And that wheel is gorgeous. I’m sure we can make it less cranky, I can’t wait to see it!
28. Alison | August 22, 2007 at 9:24 am

Oh, I’m sad for the dead bats - how weird is that? (But of course, the safety of your family must come first.) Good luck with the colony, and congrats about grad school!
29. Em | August 22, 2007 at 9:34 am

Hooray for you, getting in to school! What an adventure. And a $50 wheel, that’s amazing! Lucky you.
30. margene | August 22, 2007 at 11:09 am

Wow!! You ARE a woman with a roar! Congrats on being an amazing grrl….all the way around
31. Emilee | August 22, 2007 at 12:34 pm

Wow. You are a badass. Congrats on B school!
32. PatchesMom1973 | August 22, 2007 at 1:46 pm

congrats on the GMAT and getting into school (WITH a scholarship no less!) that is really terrific!
33. Rhonda the Stitchingnut | August 22, 2007 at 3:54 pm

Aaaaah, you mean you haven’t been in the attic yet? Shot … a whole colony, huh. Yucky.

Congrats on the GMAT and woohoo, scholarship!
34. Sneaksleep | August 23, 2007 at 2:37 pm

COngrats on grad school!!! And on being super-bat-trapper woman!
35. Kristi | August 23, 2007 at 4:18 pm

Holy crap! I can’t believe you have a colony of bats and you trapped in tupperware no less. Your amazingly brave.
36. Kimberly from Some Bunny's Love | August 26, 2007 at 1:56 am

Congrats on gettin’ er done on the road to Grad School! Sorry about the bats, but then I keep telling myself they were giant moths that wanted to eat all the wool…
And yes, behold the power of wool. Wool enables us to leap over tall buildings, especially those skyscrapers that seem impossible.
=:8
37. ellen | August 27, 2007 at 7:01 am

Congrats on grad school & catching the (teeny-tiny oh so cute) bats. Pay the money; they can’t live in the house with you!
38. Kathy | August 28, 2007 at 9:43 am

My kids are positively fascinated by the bats.
39. Julie | August 29, 2007 at 2:18 pm

The bats are very cute, but a whole colony? Yikes. Time to evict their little furry and be-winged asses. Cuteness and cash be damned.
40. Dorothy | August 31, 2007 at 1:27 pm

Congratulations on your scholarship and getting in to classes! I hope it goes well for you.

Bats in the belfrey, eh? Sounds like good times happening for you. At least they aren’t rabid.

The wheel is gorgeous even if it is cranky. I hope that poor woman finds comfort in knitting. I can’t imagine how broken up I would be if my baby was facing a serious medical problem.
41. Kathode Ray Tube | September 2, 2007 at 10:59 am

Wow, Mafia, you are up to so many things! Congrats on acceptance to grad school and the scholarship. You rock. Hope to see you soon at an SnB.

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