Progress

Where have I been for the past week? I've been either unpacking, working, feeding my children or visiting Auntie in rehab.

First things first; the modem had to be set up.  It was not easy, not even for the tech who was sent out to help me.  I like its position here, next to the antique pitcher, although the pitcher won't stay there.

There are still a few boxes to unpack, and I have to get blinds to replace the hideous curtains.

The refrigerator is appropriately decked out in magnets.  I remember, years ago, a friend at work said something about another co-worker's house and how the kitchen was pathetic, "with magnets and stuff all over the refrigerator."  I decided then and there that she would never enter my house.

The TV is noticeably old and huge.  I'm waiting for my fairy godmother to come deliver a new, sleek one.

The space is good though, and eventually everything will either fit or be taken to Savers.

I found a great place for the cubes from the old kitchen eating area - all the games, hand knits and yarn can fit, plus there's room for my knitting magazines and a few other things.  I'm sure it will all be full in no time.

I kinda accidentally found myself at Ikea today too.

Adding color little by little.  I found out delivery of bookcases is not too expensive.  Assembly, however, is not in the budget, so I'll be enlisting those hungry children to help me put them together...

Tags

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I found a corner in South Minneapolis that has all four stop signs with knit tags. It's on 36th west of where it turns into a two-way but before Bloomington Ave (I think). Check it out; it's a delightful corner.

I closed on the condo Friday.  Once again I have a home.  With quiet neighbors.  And that's Taco Taxi's truck out there on Lake St. mmmmm......

I have an old-lady shopping cart - my first house-warming gift.

And what do you do first thing, when you're moving?  Set up the new swift and wind a hank of yarn into a cake, that's what.

I also got an awesome shower curtain. The place needs color, and I plan to remedy that issue.

I was going to replace the fugly counter tops in the kitchen first thing, but it turns out it's not in the budget.  Other sprucing up will be done.  Stay tuned.

Post Election Trivia

So, there was a precinct in Minneapolis that had zero voter turnout.  Maybe it's because the precinct is in a lake?  Dry land makes voting so much easier.

And did you know that the last time there were three two-term presidents in a row was 1816 - Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.  Weird, dontcha think?

Also, a woman has been charged for running over her husband in her SUV.  Apparently she was unhappy with him because he didn't vote against Obama.  (Apparently he is just too stupid to even vote.  What a pair!)

That's it for today.

Knitting and DKN is 5

I've been knitting a bit.

I finished a pair of Christmas socks:

I started a mohair scarf within a scarf, which is pretty mindless (which is what I need right now):

I finished new glittens for Boy-child.  I even worked in the ends except for the thumbs and caps, in case they need adjusting:

And perhaps best of all, Drunken Knit Night at Merlin's Rest is five years old.

There was cake, which was cut with dental floss (aren't knitters amazing?):

Two cakes, actually.  And prizes.  I won a book on crochet.

There was lots of fun, and chatting, and some knitting too.

Next month I will be able to walk to DKN.  Unless I have too much to drink, in which case I can take the bus :-)

Terrible Thursdays

We've had a couple of rough Thursdays, here in the 'burbs... Last Thursday, Auntie had a temp, so she had to go to the emergency room. They ended up admitting her to the hospital for a couple of days, got her on antibiotics, and everyone felt that all was well and she would be back on track in no time.

Then yesterday I took her to a follow-up appointment, and her temp was up again. Off we went to the ER. They admitted her again. It's tough to fight an infection when you're on chemo, but also very important to nip it in the bud. I noticed yesterday that they try very hard to make the ER rooms feel cozy by painting cool stuff on the walls:

which is supposed to offset this, which is on a different wall in the same room:

Prayer chains, healing circles, or whatever else you may be into are very much appreciated. We're fighting infection and neuropathy. Her spirits are still high, but there has been a fundamental shift.

It's tough to stay chipper when you are tired all the time and you can't feel your feet :-(

Happy Wednesday

Wasn't that fun?  Not only did Obama win, he won all the big ones.  Plus, here in Minnesota we had two Constitutional Amendment proposals on the ballot, and they both lost.

Win.  Win.  Win.

and

Pressing Questions

On this, the eve of election day, there are many things to ponder. I do not plan to discuss anything serious at the moment, however. My life has been full of seriousness lately. Today will be something between frivolous and light.

The Girls have been encouraging me for a while to get a tattoo. Boy-child votes strongly against. There has been some tradition amongst people we know to get tattoos to commemorate moments of great transition. That makes sense to me, and would make it very appropriate for me at the moment.

I don't have anything against tattoos per se, it's just that I grew up in a world in which it was uncommon. Unless you were a merchant marine, a navy man or a loose woman. Then it was common. Nowadays, of course, it is common for all. I have seen a lot of amazing tattoos. Most of them are on young people, but I know women my age who have them too. Women who are perfectly ordinary. Respectable, even.*

Anyway, it feels like it's time to make a decision. I was leaning away from it mostly, but now I'm having second thoughts, meaning I'm considering it a possibility. At some point, I decided that if I got one I would go with an owl.  An owl is a good avatar for a librarian. Plus the Egyptian hieroglyph for the letter M is an owl, so my kids would be tangentially represented if it were something fashioned after that "letter" (see above).

Or it could be something else, I suppose, but I can't say I've had a better idea than the owl (yet).

I'm not sure where I'm going with this.  Just thinking aloud, I suppose.  My old boss used to say that bloggers are just a bunch of people talking to themselves on TheWeb.

She's right, of course.  But who cares?

 *My mother had weird ideas about respectability, but that's another post.