Arbeidsmoral

Something happened to my work ethic. I appear to have lost it somewhere. Instead of working, I felt compelled to unravel two of my thrift store sweaters yesterday. By this afternoon I find myself with what can only be described as a solid start on a striped raglan sweater for E:

That included both knitting a swatch (gasp!) and my false start where I was so enamored of the great indigo color that I decided to ditch the stripe idea and go for a solid sweater. When I got about 10 cm into the yoke I realized that was a little too minimalist, even for me, so I ripped it back and added the gray, which I'm much happier with.

I think part of my lack of motivation stems from the fact that I found out on Monday that my department has been placed under administration (we're in a budget crisis) and that means a hiring freeze for a minimum of the next four years. That more or less guarantees I'll be out of my field and unemployed when my fellowship runs out. The reality of no job prospects was just enough to tip my pouty indifference into full-blown rebellion.

Luckily, KE got a letter today saying he'd been accepted into the one-year pedagogical training course that he needs to qualify as a high school art/design/IT teacher. Apparently, it's very difficult to get into. I'm so excited for him, as he has been languishing without anything to focus on since he finished his bachelors degree last summer. It also means that in all likelihood he'll have a real job by the time I'm out of work, and I can go back to school for a masters degree in English literature. To celebrate, I broke out my newly-acquired copy of Raymond Carver's short story collection Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, which is an incredibly creepy book. It makes me feel dirty for reading it, in a vague, non-specific way. Love it!