New and Old

I continue to receive house-warming gifts ... Friday I was given this beautiful cyclamen which looks perfect in the new pot I picked up at Flamingos Divine Finds earlier in the day:

I also received this ... found it in my place Thursday when I made a quick pit stop at home between the hospital (Auntie had a blood transfusion - doing better now) and work.  It was great to have such a wonderful surprise, especially on such a difficult day:

In the meantime, I am trying to take inventory so that I can divest myself of the multitude of pretty things that have been collected by my family for generations. I hope that my children will each find a couple of things that they like so that I can unload the rest without with a minimum of guilt.

If you are in the market for Haviland, Belleek, Lalique, Royal Copenhagen Christmas plates, hand painted items, etc. please let me know (am I repeating myself?  I really am ready to get rid of the stuff now).

LFL

The Girls now have not only a house, but a Little Free Library too.

Made by The Best Uncle Ever:

Aren't they adorable?

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I just want to say, I'll be leaving town tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited

After last year, I promised myself I would take a trip this year that did not involve a child or work

Tomorrow that is happening

Although I did not choose my destination for the weather, it looks like there will be a 50 degree temperature change for me tomorrow

Very hard to pack for that

As far as what's happening here....well...The Girls are in the process of purchasing a house



There is an amazing built-in buffet (below), and the tile in front of the fireplace (above) is awesome!




There have been lots of flowers

and Purgatory has a button tree that I rather like



Don't know if I'll post while I'm gone, but hopefully I'll have pictures next week

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...

House and Stuff

Boy-child and I have been very, very busy getting the house ready to put it on the market. On Thursday the photographer came, so everything had to be empty and clean. We are not good at empty or clean, but we did it.

I am leaving town for the week (work - Rapid City and Orlando) so Boy-child gets to play house and mess things up a bit. As long as he cleans them up when I get back.

Last night I went to Drunken Knit Night, which is always fun. The Sci-Fi folks just had their convention, so there was a lot of talk about that, and a friend just sold her house, so we compared notes about the ordeal of getting a house ready for market. It was fun, as always.

While waiting for the 21 bus I saw this car go by:

I worked on Auntie's mittens last night - it's the only thing I have going right now (although I plan to start Color Affection on my trip this week). The second mitt has a black cuff, blue stripe hand and will have black ribbing at the top. I made them kind of long so that the contrasting ribbing can be cuffed at the top too.

This Trumpet Vine has finally flowered. When I told Boy-child that I'd been waiting for five years for it to flower, he told me I was deranged. I think he said that no one waits five years for a flower. I beg to differ. He's too young still to understand that some things are worth waiting for (and I'm not talking just flowers here either).

Truth be told, I was beginning to think I had purchased the wrong thing. I'm glad it's bloomed before I move out.

FOs ~ Knitting and House

I've been a busy bee.

First of all, I finished Cold Mountain (Knitty summer 2009), which I started in August, put down for quite a while, and then became obsessed with it when I picked it back up again. Better pictures once it's dry.

I also painted the kitchen this weekend. The kids helped a lot and it went really fast. No more passé sponge paint, just a minty green that is officially called "apple mist" (needless to say, Boy-child hates it).

And today was a glorious spring day - our first sixty plus degree day since fall. Took a lovely walk along the river this afternoon. I'm wondering if this tree will have four families in it again this year:

Monday Musings

While I try not to dwell on how behind I am, and try to stay positive, a few things come to mind that help me keep my sense of humor and perspective (or so I would like to believe).

1) Years ago, when Boy-child was a baby, I was taking a Early Childhood Family Education class. I started taking the classes when I was on maternity leave, and continued even after I went back to work, because the conversation and connection with other moms helped me muddle through it all. The thing is, because I was working full time, but had funny days off, I was in a class with a bunch of stay at home moms. One morning we were going around the room taking turns sharing what non-kid related projects we were working on. I was amazed - they were working on everything from writing books to re-upholstering sofas. When I told them I was trying to clean my basement, they all laughed; they thought I was joking, but I was serious. (I still am).

2) I just heard from someone I went to library school with and then briefly worked with while I was on my internship. She was the envy of the neighborhood back in the day, as her internship turned into a full time job with a living wage and benefits. I heard from her recently because she is networking - trying to find a job. Not sure what the issue is, but it's a concrete reminder that nowhere is perfect. (Actually, I never did think that place was perfect, but nonetheless, her situation looked envious at the time).

3) This morning I am working from my living room. The sun is pouring in, making beautiful windowpanes of light on the hardwood floor. I can goof off a little updating my blog as I am not being interrupted by people asking for a stapler, whining about their finals or sharing too much information with me about their personal lives. It's not that I don't expect a certain amount of that at work, it's just that being able to avoid it part of the time is a really nice benefit. I like being around people, but maybe not all of the time.

4) The only Oscar-nominated movie I saw this year on the big screen was The Artist. Score. My favorite dresses were Penelope Cruz, Viola Davis and Natalie Portman.

Floor, Hat, Kids

We've been busy here this past week - the floors were refinished. That means they went form looking like this:

and this:

to looking like this:

and this:

Pretty exciting stuff.

After making hats for Boy-child and all of his friends over the past couple of years, I made one for myself this week (Knotted Cables by Mary Lou Egan in Malabrigo Twist color: Purple Mystery):

I love this hat with this yarn. If it ever gets cold this winter I'm sure I'll use it.

The Girls enjoyed some swing dancing on the beautiful "new" floor before we moved the furniture back:

And Boy-child sent me a shot of himself, holding the moon this week:

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. The winner of the naming contest is Rose the Gypsy, with "soxclops" - I'll be mailing a prize this week. I thought more lurkers would come out, but some of those folks just won't expose themselves to the light of day!