Home-Ownership

So, for those who don't already know, B and I have been in the process of moving to Monterey, CA. Actually we came out to California for house hunting in July, and put an offer down on our first house.

It took one day shy of 10 weeks to get our approval. That = today.

As for the house, it was a pre-foreclosure, and let's just say it has a ton of potential.


Now the fun begins...

"Nosy" Neighbors

Last summer, a family of four armadillos made several appearances around the yard. This year, three of them are back, and with a bold new outlook. See what I mean?

Aren't they cute?

Vehicular Shuffle

I got a new car!


It's a Mazda CX-7. And yes, it is purple. I heart purple.


It's huge and comfy, and it does lots of tricks (I never have to take the key out of my purse!), and it's fun to drive, and I love it bunches.

But this meant selling my old faithful pickup. (B has his Mini and his project car, and we really don't need four cars...) We sold it on Craigslist three weeks after we got the new car to some nice Canadian folks in Yulee FL. Unfortunately, in the last week of ownership, B's Mini was in the shop and he took the truck to work, and somebody pulling out of the next parking spot scraped up the driver's side door pretty roughly (and, of course, they didn't leave a note). So we didn't quite get the price we wanted for the truck, but we got enough to pay off the balance of B's car loan, so we're only making payments on the new car.


Goodbye, little blue pickup truck. You treated me well these last few years. Be a brave little truck, and take care of those Canadians.

The Crystal Ball Reveals...

It's an unpleasant truth of military life that one typically is not allowed to know any details of one's future except the very, very immediate. Say, the upcoming week. But each tour, there comes a marvelous, beautiful moment of clarity where one's next destination is revealed. This moment arrives as a wave of relief after a long period of uncertainty - first dreaming about all the hypotheticals, then the discovery of the what's actually available, then the process of picking and prioritizing a list of wants and sending it off to the higher powers, then an agonizing month or two of hopes, fears, conjectures... And finally, there is an answer.

We will be going to Monterey, CA, where B will be attending Naval Postgraduate School, beginning this fall. That will be his job - getting his Masters degree. While going to school, he does not have a 'job,' but he continues to receive his full salary, and does not have to pay for his education. He doesn't even have to wear a uniform except one day a week. (However, there are still lots of rules, for instance: one's backpack may only be black or navy blue, and if one has a laptop bag instead, then one may only wear it over one's left shoulder, I presume so that one may still salute when necessary.)

Before you get TOO jealous, check out his schedule. It's a bit grueling. I certainly wouldn't want to have any other job while trying to tackle those classes. In comparison, for my Masters degree, if I continue to take two classes per semester, I will finish in two years, total - that's the same amount of time allotted for his program, with its 4-5 classes per semester. And I don't have to write a thesis!

This wasn't his/our first choice (Molesworth, England) or even second choice (Naples, Italy). But it was third! Which is a distinct improvement over last time, where the job and location combination were not even on his submitted list... And this will probably be the best move for his future career. Plus, we'll be about an hour and a half from my parents. You can bet they are psyched. *Of course, all of this is still only a probably; he won't have orders in hand until around April, and until then, things could easily change.

Additionally, since I was just on the subject of the prospect of working while getting my Masters: Things are finally happening for me with the Jacksonville Public Library paying me for my time there. I can't say what with any certainty - it's complicated. Here's the basics though. They said they had a part time shelving position coming open and would I be interested; I said, well, that isn't my ideal situation but it would be better than working for free, so sure. Immediately after I submitted the paperwork to get myself hired, the branch manager pulled me in her office to ask if I was aware that there were 6 full time clerical positions open in the library system, but in other branches. So then, with my part time paperwork on its way to City Hall, I was at Human Resources taking a typing and clerical skills test to see whether I was qualified for the full time job(s), which, of course, was no sweat. And then yesterday I went to the Main Library where I was interviewed for full time job AND processed into the system for the part time job (provided I pass my drug screen, again, no trouble there), with the idea that if I am picked for the full time position it will somehow be easier to transfer me within the system...

Believe it or not, that's the short version of the story.

Either way though, I will be employed again, until transfer time comes. And in an environment where I actually WANT TO BE. It's a lovely thing.

For the Love of a Dog

If you don't already know him, this is Riley.

I have had him since he was a wee puppy. In fact, he was my 13th birthday present. That makes him very nearly 12 now.

He's had his medical issues through the years, and he's definitely been showing his age lately, I admit. But a year ago, he was here:
And now, a bit more subdued:
I mentioned our trip to New Orleans in my last post. Riley was boarded for those few days. I hate boarding him. The last time he was boarded (in 2006), it was the onset of a long string of bizarre health issues. Every day in New Orleans, usually multiple times a day, I would say to B, "I hope Riley's okay." It became a running joke.

We picked him up and he was fine. While he was there, I asked them to start him on arthritis medication, so he was perhaps feeling even spunkier than when we dropped him off. My family drove in to spend Christmas with us two days later; that morning, he was chasing his squeaky ball around the house, then when my family arrived, he couldn't get up to greet them.

Through Christmas, he could hardly walk at all, and couldn't stand up without help. His back legs would not support him. Something similar had happened to him in '06, where he was unable to stand up, and that was when he was diagnosed with arthritis originally. During that episode, he was put on steroids and got better within a couple of days. At first, I assumed this was another flareup... but after a couple of days of him barking mournfully for me when I left the room because he couldn't follow, and crying at night until I came out and slept with him on the couch, I became convinced that this looked like the end.

This originally happened on a Saturday. Monday and Tuesday were Christmas holiday. So the 26th, he went to visit the vet. The vet said it looked like a back injury, because of the way he was turning over, or "knuckling," his back foot, not recognizing that it was being placed upside down. This is indicative of an interruption of the signal between brain and leg. We decided to try treating him with steroids to reduce inflammation and see how it went.

Over the next couple of weeks, with an additional recheck, he did improve some. He has gotten to a point where he can stand up on his own, though sometimes it takes a couple of tries. He can walk - it isn't smooth, but he can get around - as long as there's good traction, on carpet or the sidewalk or in the grass (though he does still fall over quite a bit). We do have to carry him outside whenever he needs to relieve himself, because he can't cross either the tile foyer to the front door or the deck to the back yard, and at 60 lbs, that's no easy feat. Still, his attitude is much better, he is much less panicked when left alone, and will slowly follow me around the house when he wants to. But... nearly all the improvement was within the first week, and since then he's not made any progress.

Yesterday I took him to the neurologist. The neurologist confirmed it is a spinal cord problem, which is most likely a slipped disc, though it could also be cancer, a stroke, or (most frightening) degenerative myelopathy. His recommendation was that we do a barrage of tests, including a myelogram, in which they inject a dye at the base of the brain stem, hold him up to let gravity pull the dye through the spinal cord, and then take a picture in which they can easily see any place that the spinal cord is corrupted in any way.

By the time we hypothetically get through these tests and (hopefully) figure out what's wrong, he estimated the cost to be in the neighborhood of $3,000. Then, if it is indeed as simple as a slipped disc, the surgery to correct it is anywhere from $2,500 to $3,500, depending on whether they perform it while he's already under anesthesia from the myelogram, how badly the disc is screwed up, and so on.

The neurologist said that he would definitely not recommend putting him to sleep at this point. And I agree, that's not the next move - he is completely alert and mentally with it, and from a veterinary point of view, at least, pretty functional. However, as an unemployed student, I don't exactly have $6k lying around. But leaving him as he is and coping, that isn't a satisfactory answer either.

I have cried a lot as I've considered options. And given Riley lots of hugs.


I hate the feeling that I could help him but won't. I think I'm going to find out about doing as much of the testing as possible with his regular vet, whose prices tend to be excellent, not inflated like they are in a specialist's office, and just doing the specialized tests at the neurologist's. Maybe by doing that we can drive the cost down considerably. If not, well, acupuncture has been suggested. I still don't know. I've been told that giving it a couple more weeks of watching as he's weaned off steroids and seeing how it goes won't be detrimental, so...

Riley and I appreciate your thoughts.

Go 'Noles

As of yesterday, I have been accepted to Florida State's College of Information. I'll be starting my Masters in Library and Information Studies in January. Hooray!

After waiting 7 long, agonizing weeks for my GRE scores to reach the admissions office, only to then discover that apparently my original departmental application got lost in the mail, I am tremendously excited - and relieved. Now, to see about some financial aid... And not just the parental variety.



I'm on the verge of being able to report additional good news - but I don't want to jinx it, so for now I'll just leave you with this mysterious allusion. If everything comes through as expected, it should lead to a jump in my blogging frequency. (Regardless, my goal is to get that very, very overdue FO post up before the weekend is over.)

Absence

It has, officially, been an entire month since I last posted. Shame on me.

Here's the thing though. I go to work every day and spend eight hours or so staring at a computer screen. When I go home at night, well, I don't really feel like doing the very same thing.

There are, of course, other factors directly and indirectly responsible for my absence from this blog. The weather has played a large part. When the heat index is in the hundreds and I break a sweat between my car and the front door, well, wool does not rank highly on my agenda. This is not to say I haven't been knitting at all in the last month, because I have, and even a little crocheting, too. In fact I have two active projects and one on the back burner, and there are even two FOs that I haven't posted yet. But I haven't been knitting fiendishly like a woman possessed by her frosty toes; just maybe an hour a day, for the sake of restless fingers more than anything else. The disinterest, if you want to call it that (and, frankly, it would be accurate to do so), is largely attributable to the Florida heat, and also the overall lack of time in my day - damn full-time job, seriously takes away from my "me time." But I feel there is something more sinister at work here...

Because, to be honest, this same disinterest has not just been affecting my knitting, but my general state of being. I have entered a sort of stagnant period, where one day is pretty much the same as the next day, and little changes from week to week. I haven't been working *toward* anything, pursuing any goals. I don't have anything major going on in my life, and my job, while alright, is not really what I'd call stimulating, or even particularly satisfying, in any meaningful way. I'll put it this way: With the knowledge that I'm only going to live in this area for another year before the Navy moves us again, it's fine, and I am not planning to actively seek alternatives. If it were open-ended, that's a different story. My coworkers are for the most part pretty likeable, and I get along well with my boss - but there are massive communication issues and a terrifying turnover rate. There is no challenge, and probably no chance of promotion (since they know how long I'm going to be here, too). I wake up Monday mornings anxious for the weekend, and with every day so predictable, the time flies by.

Among the symptoms of this stagnation has been a withdrawal, not just from this blog, but from a lot of my social outlets. I have lost touch with my knitting group, mostly because my Saturdays are typically overbooked, since I don't get much free time during the week. I have barely been online to keep up with my old friends in other parts of the country, mostly because of the lack of desire to spend all day AND all night on a computer. I have basically stopped reading other knitting blogs, with the same excuse.

I don't mention all of this for pity, or for anyone to get worried about me. It's just a slump. I'm sure it's even common in early adulthood - periods of being either stagnant or overwhelmed before one works out a good balance. Anyway, I've been working on setting myself up for a brand new challenge: getting a Masters in Library Science (online). I'm hoping to start it next spring, which means I'll soon be getting into the application process. I've ordered myself a GRE prep book, and last week I submitted an application to volunteer at one of the libraries a couple weekends a month, to get some hands-on experience before diving headlong into this - and I mentioned in my cover letter to the library that I would be open to accepting a paid position (don't tell my boss!). Now I'm waiting for those things to materialize before proceeding further.

I really believe that once this new project is really in motion, once I break out of this lull, then my interest in other things (like blogging!) will be rekindled. I'm going to try to get at least one, hopfully both of those FO posts up this weekend... but I wouldn't expect any real jump in my postings until the temperature backs down a bit.

Sorry.

I Can SEE You!

My best friend (aside from my husband, I suppose) just got a Mac. Pretty much the same one as mine. And last night we figured out how to do video chats. It's way cool and has rekindled the novelty of having a Mac in the first place.

Yay technology.

Killer Instincts

Warning: There is no yarn content whatsoever in this post. But it is pretty entertaining.

This morning, as has been my normal routine the last few weeks, I woke up at about 9:15, brushed my teeth, and left the bedroom in my pajamas to take care of the animals. So I had only been out of bed for about 10 minutes when the following disturbing scene took place.

As soon as I opened the bedroom door, Bettie darted in and under the bed, with Riley barking at her heels. I scolded him and shuffled him into the living room and toward the back door. In typical Riley fashion, he hesitated in the doorway (I'm guessing, he's unsure that the 20 year old wood will support his weight.. but who knows). With the door wide open, I try and goad him outside, when all of a sudden the cat - an indoor-only cat for the month or so we've had her now - flies past me, past Riley, and out onto the deck.

At this point, she's unsure what to do next. She's apparently shocked to have made it outside, when all her previous attempts at escape have been blocked. So she just stands there a moment, getting her bearings, and I start to call to her in an attempt to keep her from moving long enough that I can snag her. And then, a lizard I had not yet spotted decides it's going to make a run from under the patio table toward the trees.

Bettie saw the lizard at the same time I did, and what happened next looked like something you might see on the Discovery Channel. There was a leap into the air, a somersault, and the next thing I knew, the rear half of the lizard was dangling from Bettie's mouth. The tail was flailing about, but I couldn't tell whether the thing was actually alive and struggling or if it was the involuntary last movements of a severed spinal cord. Again she froze, perhaps impressed by her own hunting prowess, perhaps trying to determine whether Riley or I was a threat to her kill. It was long enough that I was able to grab her by the scruff of the neck. I attempted to shake her a bit, then picked her up, but the prey was not about to be released. And I was definitely not going to grab it and pull, for the fear that I would end up with half a lizard in my hand. (Ew!)

So I couldn't make her drop the lizard, but I didn't want to let go of her and have her run off into the yard. So I quickly carried her into the house, hurried through the living room, thrust her and her giant mouthful into the guest bathroom and shut the door.

Half an hour later, I tentatively cracked the door on a strikingly clean bathroom and a cat eager to be released. There was no blood, but a little black blob of unidentified lizard innards... I coated the bathroom in Clorox.

Riley was so bewildered by the whole episode that he completely forgot he needed to pee in the first place. As for me, I'm pretty convinced that Bettie's former life was pretty exciting, and probably involved more than a couple of lizardy meals. Yum.


*On a completely different note, I am now employed! I start work - full time! - on Tuesday. Wish me luck!

An Absolute Tragedy

This weekend, the Jacksonville Humane Society - the very same one that Bettie came to us from - suffered a terrible fire.

200 animals were inside when the fire began. The Fire Department apparently rescued many dogs, but it appears that a lot of the cats were killed, and most of the ones that were freed ran off into the woods, some of them injured, all of them completely terrified.

The Humane Society faces a million dollars' worth of damage. They are accepting donations.

A couple articles:
Several Animals Dead After Humane Society Fire
Jacksonville Humane Society Recovering After Devastating Fire
Jacksonville Humane Society Website

I just can't imagine the fear of those poor animals, trapped in their cages and kennels... And the families who (like us) had visited, picked out their new pet, and had to leave it there while they waited on permission from their landlord or some other issue... How do you tell your kids about something like that?

Getting Some Sunlight

I bought plants. And planted them around my mailbox.

I have never purchased plants before. Not for planting. I've never had a yard or a garden of my own.

Bromeliads, Crotons, and Snapdragons. They will probably die. They are probably not suited to the soil/ amount of sunlight/ temperature/ something. Because I don't know anything about plants. But I think they look nice, and I am proud of myself. If for nothing else, than for spending time outdoors.

Now, about that dead grass surrounding them... That waits until B is home from his underway.

I Am Still Alive

And I am in Florida!! Yay.

And I have internet again!! Double yay.

Every morning since we've gotten here, I've woken up, looked out the window at the palm tree in the yard, and thought: "Man, it's a ridiculously gorgeous day outside."

Followed by the thought, "If it's this pleasant and warm in February, what will it be like in July??"

There is way too much to do right now (read: unpacking!) for me to spend time blogging. I just wanted to put everyone's mind at ease: I have, in fact, not dropped off the face of the earth.



And in a couple more days... A long-awaited FO post.

Grand Intentions

First of all:

I love it when a swatch measures up! Particularly when making yarn substitutions. And I don't think I could be more in love with the texture. Or the little color flecks - not just grey and white, but bright pink and lilac too.

However, there are more important things to be discussed - and goals to be set.

First and foremost:

I will not purchase any more yarn until April.

Not because I have a ridiculous number of UFOs or a years-old stash that needs cleaning out. No, it's because I've been on a yarn shopping spree over the last month or so, and have spend wayyy too much money and purchased for, well, enough projects to last me until the spring.

To keep me on task, I'm even going to set up a tentative timeline.
My dad's socks shall be finished this weekend.
Brendon's Leo shall be finished (and blocked!) by Feb. 9.
My Central Park hoodie shall be finished by Mar. 2. (My birthday. Remember my mom bought me the yarn for a birthday present? I mean to make good on my part of that deal.)
After that's done, the next couple of weeks will be put toward a pair of argyle socks for B, and then, the knitting bag! It would be higher up on the list, but, I want to be able to wear the hoodie a couple of times before it gets scorchingly hot in Florida.

Sounds like April to me. And if not, I also have some cotton for a couple of summertime tops. Perhaps I can even push the no-yarn-buying rule back to May... but I'm not prepared to commit to that.

Also, I resolve that I will not knit another selfish stitch until the Leo is done. It's getting to be a sore subject around my house, that it isn't done yet. (Sweater curse, I believe in your black magic. And I may have a post in store for you.)

I have lots of other things I'll have to tackle in the next couple of months, though, that have nothing to do with knitting. I have the move, a major job hunt, and the task of filling up twice the square footage of my previous home - furniture and decorations will need to be purchased. Also, I've been strongly considering getting an online masters degree in Library & Information Science, so I'll be investigating programs and financial aid opportunities. All of this, and adjusting to a brand new city BY MYSELF. (That's right, pretty much as soon as we show up in Florida, Brendon's going to be gone with his new ship for approximately a month. At least, probably. Still don't know for sure. The Navy likes to keep you guessing like that. I really don't appreciate it.)


Now that I've written all of this down and put it "out there" as it were, I'll have to really commit to it, right? And if you see me straying, mentioning that I'm longing to go hit the LYS (knit-ins don't count, alright?) or starting my sweater before Brendon's is stitched together, I want you to yell at me, okay?? Help me out.


**Edited to add - I almost forgot another commitment I need to make. I will be losing 15 lbs or so. I don't actually know how much of the weight I lost last year has been regained since living in RI, because I don't have a scale with me here. But 15 should be plenty for fitting (easily) back into all those new pairs of pants that I got when I'd lost the weight. New England does not promote healthy eating habits, I'm afraid. Florida does, though. Especially since you have to walk around all summer practically naked. I hear it's mandatory there.**

My Very Own

In less than two weeks, I will be living here.

So we may not be homeowners just yet, but we are moving up in the world: renting a real, actual house - no apartment, no townhouse, no condo, no duplex, but a REAL HOUSE, on a real cul-de-sac, with a yard and a deck and a garage and and and -

(And I will be purchasing some exercise equipment. Man, that's an unflattering picture.)

So, yes, the Jacksonville trip's mission was completed successfully. In addition, I made some new friends! Since finding a house went so smoothly, my mom and I had some extra time on our hands, and (since she's a knitter too) we were able to hit up the knit-in at KnitWitz, where I had the pleasure of spending a few hours knitting and chatting with several lovely ladies, including a couple of members of a knitting group that I'll be joining. I'm so excited!

We visited a second LYS as well, plus two bead stores, and then ANOTHER yarn/bead-store-in-one once we got back to RI. Many skeins and beads were purchased between us. Most of my loot was left at the Jax house - a strategic move on my part, to hopefully keep me focused on B's damned Leo sweater for the time being. (The sweater didn't go to FL with me; instead I had a pair of socks for my dad to work on, and they will most certainly be the subject of my next post.) I did bring one single ball of this back with me:

Have I mentioned I'm a sucker for pink? Purple, too. Girly colors, you know. I had picked out a nice neutral shade, a nice rich taupey color, but my mom talked me into the pink. This little guy (and his 11 brothers and sisters who were left in the Sunshine State) will be my new Central Park hoodie. My mom bought the yarn as a "birthday present" for me; my birthday is at the beginning of March, and it's not outside the realm of possibility that the sweater will be finished by then.

If so, I might even be able to wear it once or twice this year. Possibly not though - it hit 80 degrees while we were down there. Sheesh. I can't even imagine what July will be like. And then we came back to Newport and this business:

Seriously. B and I are here for a total of just under 3 months, and the ONE SINGLE morning with snow on the ground has to be the very same morning that B has his final written exam, and I have to drive my parents to the airport 20 miles away (in my truck with it's worn-out tires). Amazingly, no problems, but still - the audacity of the weather. Can you believe it?! Of all the nerve...

Off to Warmer Climes

Well, I'm headed to Jacksonville to go look at rental houses. Fly tomorrow morning, there until Friday, then after that my parents will be staying with us in Newport for a couple of days.

Why is this relevant to a knitting blog?

Because, if there is actually anybody out there (other than real-life friends of mine that use this to keep up with me) who actually reads on a regular basis, be prepared for no new blog entries for the next week and a half. Sorry. I hope I don't break any hearts.

I will actually have my laptop in Florida with me, so if I have anything especially relevant to blog about, or an emergency blog type situation, you might actually hear from me. But really, I expect to stay pretty busy.

See ya in a week and a half!

Christmas Eve In Newport

Just got in from an afternoon at Brenton Point State Park, just down the peninsula from downtown Newport. What a gorgeous place. Windy, but gorgeous.

Riley, 10 years old and an East Coast dweller all his life, had never before seen the ocean. You may recall that he's not a big fan of water, plus he's pretty neurotic and easily distressed in general. But he was awesome today. Perhaps his adventurous attitude was stirred by the wind, the nip in the air, the smell of the salt water, the Christmas spirit... who knows.


But there he was, off leash, eagerly hopping rocks, dipping his toes in the tidepools, ears perky and eyes shining. Made me proud, I tell ya. He could have passed for a young and agile doggy.

Newport sure is pretty, though I'm a little disappointed there's no chance of a white Christmas. After all, we're only here one winter, and then it's down to Florida where people live their whole lives without ever seeing snow.


B and I are spending the entire holiday season just the two of us, since he burned up all of his leave in between Norfolk and here. That's alright, though. Low stress that way. Besides, I'll be seeing my parents in mid-January, when me and my mom head to Jacksonville for house hunting (booked the trip yesterday). We'll have a good time on our own anyhow. We sure won't be skimping on the Christmas dinner part. Brendon's making a salt and mustard encrusted prime rib with horseradish sauce, and I'm making sides and dessert - marinated portabellas, sweet potato casserole, and Paula Deen's chocolate bread pudding. Yummy! And I'm sure wine will be involved. Fantabulous.

Oh, and since this is a knitting blog, I guess I should mention my current WIPs. Actually there's just one - I finished all my (very limited amount of) Christmas knitting pretty early this year, at least by my standards. And by Tuesday I'll be able to post pictures. Since then, I've been plugging away on Brendon's Leo. I've got about 14-15" of the front. 16.5" and I can start the armhole shaping. Whee. No pictures right now. It looks like a big cinnamon colored rectangle, okay? (I will be so happy when this sweater is done. It's The Project That Never Ends.)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like..

Yes indeedy. On Saturday B and I headed to Portsmouth RI to a really nice family owned nursery, to pick up some festiveness.

Door adornment.

Christmas tree substitute.

That second picture was taken Saturday, and after a couple deliveries and a bit of shopping yesterday, there are several more presents under there. Many of them will be shipped away, though, since B and I have already "opened" our big presents to each other.

As indicated by my post on Friday, my Mac is here!


I'm getting used to it. I've been a PC gal up until now so it's a little alien, but I'm figuring it all out. The only thing bothering me now is that when I power it down and back up, it isn't saving my settings. I'm working on that one.

And UPS brought Brendon's today:

Anybody into cooking might recognize this big guy - it's a Ken Onion chef's knife by Shun. It's dangerous, I tell ya, but it's pretty awesome. I mean, there will be no minor injuries with this baby. The littlest slip could end up as a severed digit.

And I'm about to do a separate finished project post for my bro's socks - yay!

I Am An Internet-Shopping-Hermit

I love the internet. I can hardly imagine trying to function without it. One symptom of my internet addiction is the fact that the vast majority of the Christmas presents I'm giving this year - pretty much all the gifts that aren't hand knitted! - have been or will be purchased online.

This is mighty convenient, yes, as far as the actual shopping and comparing right from home to find exactly what I want to get. However.. now I'm stuck here. At home. Waiting for deliveries! Right now I'm expecting MY Christmas present, which looks a lot like this:

Woohoo!!

As well as a rather large order (that I then have to divvy up and reship to assorted people), PLUS a package my mom told me she sent out last week. (I got my 2 skeins of Pure Merino in the mail yesterday, so at least I'm not worried about that any more.) Now, the doorbell at my condo doesn't actually work, and since the place is a rental we can't exactly go out and buy a new one and then screw around with the wiring in this 100+ year old house. Complicating this fact is that the house is set up so that it's split into two condos, with an entryway leading out to the front door, meaning that unless somebody knocks REALLY HARD on the outside door I'm likely not going to hear it. Fortunately at the moment nobody is renting the second floor condo, so I can leave my door open to increase the chances that I'll hear a knock. It's great and all, except that it ruins that extra bit of insulation keeping the heat in... nevermind.

On top of that, though, is the feeling that I can't leave the house at all during the day - at least until I've seen the UPS truck and the FedEx truck both drive by without stopping at least a couple times. I panic a little at the thought of even being in the shower for longer than it takes to wash my hair. I'm reluctant to turn the tv volume up too loud. It's a psychosis, I tell you.

I know that if I don't answer the door, they'll redeliver the next day. But I'm so eager to get the Mac, in particular, that I don't want to miss the first chance. Besides, our UPS guy doesn't fill in the part on the redelivery slip that says what approximate time their next attempt will be, so that next day I'll be even more on edge all day long.

Add to all this delivery anticipation the fact that I'm still waiting on my last paycheck from work to come (it's been almost 6 weeks since I left!) plus the Netflix dvd that was supposed to come yesterday did not come yesterday OR today - and I really hate having to call customer service about anything - it makes me rather neurotic. Much more so than usual.

Perhaps it's this obsessive tendency that makes me a good candidate for knitting.

Speaking of which, I still have 4 projects on the needles at the moment, and that's not helping my stress level.

School Days

Brendon started his school today. Saying that makes me feel like he's five years old. As does this picture:(That's him in NC a couple weeks ago, playing with one of our high school friends' son's Tinker Toys. I'm so proud.)

Having B starting class means a lot of things. First, obviously, it's the end of his leave/vacation. It was a great vacation, I'm sad to see it go. It also means a lot of starts and ends, like the end of him having scruffy facial hair, and the start of hearing the alarm go off at ten minutes to 6 every morning; the end of getting up and walking to breakfast without showering, and the start of a new diet and exercise program.

It also signifies a lot of alone time for me. I may have mentioned this in earlier posts, but I've chosen to not look for any type of employment while staying here in Newport, because the only type of job I expect I could be hired for a three-month tenure is, well, wrapping Christmas presents or dressing up like an elf. And, come on, really. I am college educated. But it may mean I have to cut back on my yarn purchasing over the next couple months, until we get to Florida and I do seek gainful employment. It also means I will be spending the weekdays without anywhere I have to be, and with only my dog for company unless I venture out into public. Sounds like a great time to set my creativity flowing and get as many projects accomplished as I can stand!

First among these projects today was downloading some pictures from my camera from the last few weeks. Some of them are worth sharing. Here's a couple of shots from our most recent visit to NC, of my KIP (mom and dad - that's "knitting in public") with Bethany at Borders. She was learning how to use DPNs (double pointed needles).

Here's our table. My dog sweater belly, and her scarf. Plus some festive holiday coffee drinks. Yummy!

The DPN lesson clicks:

See the light bulb over her head? Form will come later, but at least the theory is down! She's gonna make a great pair of socks.

Next, some nice shots of the boxed-up chaos of moving out of the apartment.

Remember how B and I spent all that time and effort packing up some stuff ourselves? Trying to be helpful? Well, apparently (we were never informed of this) the military won't move any owner-packed boxes. Damn. So they unpacked and repacked all those boxes. Their stacks look much more organized than ours ever did, though.

When it was all packed up like that, I seriously had to wonder how in the world all that stuff ever fit into that tiny space to begin with. Wow.

The new place is so refreshingly different from the old one. We went from a one bedroom in an apartment supercomplex built in 2004, tucked away behind the MALL, to a furnished condo encompassing the entire first floor of a house that's gotta date back to 18-- at least (we need to ask the owner how old it is next time we see her). Walking through the neighborhood here, every fourth house or so has a plaque noting that it's on the National Register of Historic Places, and just up the road about 2 or 3 blocks is a gorgeous Catholic church where John F. Kennedy and Jackie were married. Plus there are a zillion awesome restaurants, shops, pubs... There was zilch within walking distance from the apartment in VA. And across the street:

A park! Riley can run and play! People have their dogs out there off-leash all the time. I'm thinking perhaps sometime when it isn't too cold out (and it really hasn't been THAT cold) I'll sit out there, let him wander around leashless, while I knit on a bench. Brendon thinks that would make me a little old lady, but whatever. I may instead walk up to the awesomest coffee shop ever, Empire, and knit there while drinking some sort of wonderful hot chocolate/cider/bubble tea. I sense a new habit coming on...

A couple more pictures of the new house - my spot:

And the "ghettofied" computer setup:

To finish it all off, I know it's a bit late for these, but what the heck. Our Thanksgiving dinner turned out beautiful:

Too bad it may (or may not!) have given B a very mild case of salmonella. He's okay now, and it was probably just a stomach ache. And besides, it was delicious.

I have a lot of pictures of yarn, but I'm saving them for another post. This one has gone on way too long as it is. By the way, I have in fact finished the doggy sweater - it was done Saturday night - but I haven't gotten up the stamina/attention span for writing out the pattern. So I'm lazy. So sue me.

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Turkey Day!!

B and I have already enjoyed two separate Thanksgiving dinners this month, one in California and one in NC, so we're doing a quiet dinner just the two of us tonight. But quiet doesn't mean simple or bland! Tonight's menu:

Maple-glazed Cornish hens stuffed with shiitake mushrooms, sausage, and sour cherries, served over a watercress salad;
Butternut squash with maple syrup and allspice;
Sizzled green beans with crispy prosciutto and pine nuts;
Rich chocoholic pudding;
and this 2002 Cohn cabernet sauvignon we picked up in wine country.

Yum.

Everything but the green beans are from Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks by Linda Carucci - a recent purchase that we haven't yet tried out - and the beans are from the Oct/Nov issue of Eating Well magazine.

Sorry I don't have knitting pictures. This weekend (I hope) I'll be able to do a great big dog sweater post. If I get motivated. If and when I ever finish that project, posting the pattern will be very involved.

And yes, I know, I need to put pictures of Newport and the condo on here, but I've just now put fresh batteries in the camera and it's dreary outside. Not an ideal photography day.

See, that's what it currently looks like out my kitchen window. I guess that's November for ya.