Wetsuit Burn

So, I went diving yesterday. No pictures, sadly, because it was a skills dive for my Advanced Open Water certification, and I had other things to focus on (like maintaining my buoyancy and remembering how to properly use a compass... underwater). Somehow, on my second dive, my wetsuit got all awkwardly bunched up at the back of me knees, and now I have this nasty wetsuit burn there that's irritating every time I bend my legs. Compensation: a stingray, a sea turtle, and praise from Richard (the instructor) that I did everything perfectly. 

Friday was the peak of the Homecoming festivities (FYI, last week was Homecoming week). The parade every year stinks, and the usual lakeside viewing for the boat burning and fireworks was going to be restricted to at least a quarter of the usual area - i.e. everyone's packed like sardines - so Jen and I opted to watch from the top of the parking garage at the UV. The Towers blocked the view a bit, but it was still enjoyable, if a little long.

On the knitting front, I've mainly got socks. Two pairs of socks and my lace, actually. Socks are coming along well, and so is the lace, except for the fact that I discovered I dropped a stitch in the middle of a cable and now there's a large hole in the middle of it, but it should be relativity easy to fix(?). All I can say is, thank goodness for complicated knitting, because without it, that stitch would have run all the way down the piece in no-time, but the cable turn stopped it in its tracks. 

Pair #1 of the socks is for my comparative physiology reading:

And pair #2 is for class:

Oh, and there's a Jackalope:

Pattern: Jackalope, by Hansi Singh

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver, in Painted Desert

Caron Simply Soft, in Blue Mint and Off White

The Jackalope's for my physics TA, Nick. 

Let me tell you about Nick: this semester, for the first time, he decided to take on not one, but two, discussion sections (a mandatory homework review session each week where we turn in our homework and take a quiz) because he needed the money. This entails giving up up at least an hour of your life each week (three for Nick because he took on two sections), plus you also get to grade part of the tests for the class. Nick is a last-semester PhD student, meaning that this is the semester when he's writing/finalizing his thesis, and defending. In sum he's really pressed for time. And what does he do? Halfway through the semester he decides to hold extra two-hour sessions every week (that he's not getting paid for), because he feels like the class really needs it. I know if I hadn't gone to the one he held right before the last test, I wouldn't have done nearly as well as I did (did I mention he's also a really good teacher?). 

Therefore, Nick deserves a Jackalope.