Ouch

So we're back from Pittsburgh. It was a productive 2+ day trip.

We arrived in the 'Burgh on Monday night. Tuesday morning, I woke up and promptly kicked the crap out of the bed frame. This is a "two days later" photo. On Tuesday night, that entire 2nd toe was pretty shades of purple and navy blue.



It's not broken. Even from the get-go, I could push down on the toe and it didn't hurt. Just hurt when I'd pull the toe up and put pressure on the top of the toe. It's pretty well healed now, just a little purple near the nail.

Anyhoo, the Hubster my mom and I hit the roads of Mt. Lebanon and saw 15 houses on Tuesday over a six-hour span (one hour break for lunch is included in that). Saw four "definite maybes." and 10 "no's."

After taking some time to regroup and rest, we sat down and talked about what we had seen and reviewed all the pictures I had taken. We also stopped by the house I grew up in just to scope it out and compare. That house has been on the market since last July and has been unoccupied since November. The parentals haven't had great luck getting it sold (obviously)

Of the four "definite maybes" my favorite house was rejected based on location. Too far south (Upper St. Clair), and it was situated on a three-house lane off of a "regular" suburbs road. Hubster's commute wouldn't have been fun, and we were both a little concerned about how that lane might or might not be plowed come wintertime.

The second "maybe" got vetoed b/c the Hubster didn't like it as much as I did. I went along because there was minimal natural light on the inside. Cool, but not great.

That left us with two houses we wanted to see again. One was owned by an architect and had been re-done almost entirely on the inside, plus a bit of an addition to the back of the house. Creative use of space, I really enjoyed the house, but the basement, which would be Quilt Central, was pretty small. Hubster was unhappy with the second, closer inspection of that house.

The second one bore out what mom had noticed when we walked in the front door the previous day. Same first-floor floorplan as the house I grew up in, with a little bit of an addition built on the back. Very similar upstairs with bedrooms. Basement was larger than finalist #1, but the master wasn't as nice. Your basic 1950s bathroom both in colors and size.

So we went back to my parents current abode (they left on a 10-day cruise Wednesday morning). Ran an errand. Talked to a family friend who is an architect. Went to dinner.

Made a pretty much final decision. This (no, not Heinz Field). I'm excited, but didn't expect this outcome. I guess I should have, though. Both my brother and my best friend called it ... after I told them what we've decided.

Now we just have to wait for that cruise to get back to land!

Since I'm pretty wiped out, I'm gonna finish watching the last game of the WCWS then hit the sack. Quilting tomorrow night. Woo-Hoo! :)

RT does Hollywood

So the hubster and I are checking things off of our very short list. That list is entitled "things we want to do before we GO." As in leave Los Angeles. For good. Only to return to visit dear friends (and to enhance the quilting and knitting stash, of course) :)

The number one thing on my list was the Griffith Observatory. It re-opened last fall after being closed for four years for a massive renovation. We never made it before the reno ... actually wasn't even on the radar until some friends put a pic of them at the observatory in their Christmas card just before it closed in 2002.

The way things work with the Observatory these days is that you buy a timed entry. So we did that this morning and got up to Hollywood a little early.

So Roaming Tigger visited some of the sites near Hollywood and Highland while we waited for our shuttle time. Hubster and I had seen most of the sites in the area and the Hollywood & Highland area is ... well ... a little gross. But, we went to Grauman's Chinese Theater and checked out the hand/footprints. RT was feeling photogenic, so ...

Here's JAAAAAAACK. RT can't handle the truth!

One of my all-time favorite actors, and the star of one of the top-five movies of all time, IMHO.

And the royalty of all hollywood couples ...

We eventually got up to the Observatory. It was really fun and I highly recommend it. If you're local, you have no excuse.

The Hubster and I took a few photos while we were up there and had a good time. But those photos are boring. So here's RT at the Observatory.

And, a special photo just for all of you who enjoy space jokes :)

Catching Up is Hard to Do

So now that my season is over, I have 5 weeks in which to finish the amount of work I was planning to do in 2.5 weeks. This is a good thing in that I can weave in several fun days (a few last trips to use my key to Mickey's House, a trip to The Huntington with a work friend). It is a bad thing in that I have plenty of time to get everything done, and as a result will procrastinate much of it until "the end."

Meanwhile, I would like to address my most recent lump of procrastination-related shame, in letter form.

Dear Gerd (college nickname for a friend):

You called me in late 2005 to tell me you were expecting twins. Great! I thought, and ran straight out to Luella's to buy fabric for baby quilts. I pored over my favorite baby quilt books and found a pattern that I really liked (in the third book of the series).

I had the tops started before you let me know the twins were a boy and a girl.

I had them quilted with the binding machine sewn on before the 2006 softball season started last February. All that they needed at that point was labels.

Max and Melissa arrived at the start of May. I was neck-deep in softball season. "After the WCWS" I said to myself.

On my first day of freedom after the season was over, Pitt posted a job. I hopped on a rollercoaster ride that sucked the life out of me all summer, then unceremoniously dumped me right back where I started.

No labels had been made.

Toss in a volleyball season, a "how-to" class on my shiny new-to-me Viking D1 to teach me how to do embroidery with it, the start of softball season, a whirlwind trip to Virginia for another devastating roller coaster ride.

Still no labels.

Now, a normal person would have finished those stupid quilts label-free and sent them on their way, but to me that means they aren't really finished. So I didn't do that.

When the Hubster accepted a job in Pittsburgh on April 26, the pressure was really on. After my amazing quilting buddies helped me pack in early May, those stupid labels were tops on my list. So, I used one of my last Friday Nights at Bearly Stitchin' to get them done. It took about three nights to get the binding hand-sewn down on those two suckers, and they took a trip through the wash and were mailed to you.

I hope Max and Melissa love them to shreds, and I hope to see you soon, now that I'm moving closer to your neck of the woods.

Much love, DPUTiger

Max's Quilt

Melissa's Quilt

Both are the "Illinois Road" pattern from "Even More Quilts for Baby: Easy as ABC" by Ursula Reikes. The first book in this series was the second quilting book I ever bought, and the trio of books (Quilts for Baby, More Quilts for Baby and Even More) are ones that will never EVER leave the front line of my quilting library. Masterpieces, all!

MemeTime

Here's the meme that has been spreading like it's viral. SJ tagged me, so it's her fault. ;-)

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I’m not tagging anyone, since I’m one of the last bloggers on the planet to fill out this meme. If you haven’t already done it and you blog, consider yourself tagged.

On to the fun:

1: I can’t eat anything that used to swim b/c I’m allergic. All fish, all shellfish. Anything that had gills. I have a mild reaction, so if I know something is gonna be really good, I’ll have something fishy once in a blue moon (bagels and lox in NYC, chowder in Boston, etc.), but the less often I eat it, the better chance I have that I won’t react. This is a much better deal than my dad, who is deathly allergic to all seafood. His throat swells up and he can’t breathe.

2: I rode horses competitively until I started college. Want photographic proof?

By the way, I’m out cold in this picture, but it’s the best photo I ever took on a horse.

3: I’ve slept with a teddy bear of some sort pretty much since birth. When I was really little, it was a bear who started out blue but faded to white. I’d only wear a hat if teddy wore a hat, etc. I went to a raccoon for a while, but the first Christmas that the hubster and I were together, he got me Bear, and he’s been the go-to ever since.

4: I love music of just about all kinds, but there are only a few groups I really get excited about. I’ve seen the Barenaked Ladies on every tour since Stunt in 1998. I love the Clarks, but have only seen them at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. There were only about 100 people in the whole place. Go see ‘em in Pittsburgh? They can fill pretty big venues.

It’s also one of my goals in life to get pit tickets to Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band. Next time they tour? I’ll get it done.

5: I’m a little worried about the quilt store situation in Pittsburgh. I know damn well that I’ve been really spoiled with the quilt and knit store situation here in Los Angeles. I’m feeling OK about the Pittsburgh knitting scene and hoping I can find as much info on quilting stores before I go.

6: I played three sports in high school: field hockey (forward), basketball (really bad forward on an even worse team) and lacrosse (goalie). My only regret about my four years at DePauw was that I should have gone out for the soccer team my senior year. I started playing field hockey as a freshman in high school because my HS didn’t sponsor girls soccer. Lacrosse started because my high school didn't have a football team, it had a lacrosse team. Big deal sport. Very big deal.

7: Since September of 2005, I’ve lost about 90 lbs. I did a medically supervised program that changed my life. I am having so much fun now with my new active lifestyle. I don’t ever want to go back to the way I was. Ever.

I've been lifting with one of our strength and conditioning coaches since early March. Olympic lifting with free weights. Hang snatches, front squats, the whole works. I'm loving every second of it and am wondering how I can continue once I move home.

8: I stink at good-byes, and I have a whole bunch coming up very soon. What’s getting me through that thought is remembering where I can spend most of the rest of the summer:

My family has a summer home on Lake Erie in western New York. It is my very favorite place on the entire planet. We’ve been going to this same community since I was seven (I think). The first summer we went there, we rented a place, I got really sick and puked all over my (three years younger) brother. This was payback, as he had peed on my head when he was in diapers (so I’ve been told. I don’t really remember)

That’s about it from chez DPUTiger. I have a quilting post almost ready to go. Hopefully I’ll get to it quite soon. :)

The First of the Lasts

I had the first round of my "The Last Times" over the weekend.

My team which has been the most successful in its sport in NCAA history, had a significantly earlier exit from postseason than it has ever experienced before.

This morning, I went to work the last day of the NCAA Softball Los Angeles regional and the Bruins weren't playing. It was the first time since 1998 that I had worked a tournament that my school was hosting and my school wasn't playing that day.

Our PA announcer joked that he was the DJ of the radio station "KAMY" All my favorites, all day. Lots and LOTS of Barenaked Ladies and The Clarks. Very bittersweet.

I'll get back to more regular blogging now that I have my life back. (Including the meme for which SJ tagged me) For now, I'll leave you with Roaming Tigger, sitting on home plate at Easton Stadium prior to today's Regional Championship game. All of my favorite on-campus memories at UCLA happened here. I'll miss it terribly.

Remember Me?

Hi! My name is Amy and I knit, quilt, work (a lot), travel ... and there's a rumor that I blog.

It has been a shockingly busy two weeks. I last posted from Seattle on April 25, before heading to a softball game at UW. In the fourth inning of that game, the Hubster IM'd me that he was getting a job offer in Pittsburgh. Which would be my hometown.

He accepted that job early the next morning. Since then, we have gotten about 85% packed, we have an open house scheduled for our house tomorrow and our first looky-lous showed up to check out the place yesterday.

WE'RE MOVING TO PITTSBURGH!!!! I still can't quite believe it, but I'm very excited about it.

So a week ago today, I forgot to take a true "before" picture, but at about 10 am, here's what the living room looked like



By 1 pm, three of my crazy, amazing, wonderful, fantastic quilting friends showed up



That's Carol on the left, Lisa in the middle and Sandy on the left. They stayed through dinner and by the next morning, it essentially looked like this



Amazing, huh?

So that's where I have been for the last two weeks. I'm an old pro at handling the home stretch of softball season, which is the part of the year I'm dealing with right now. The moving part isn't so awful, especially since I have amazing friends who were eager and willing to help out. Put the two together? I fall over exhausted at the end of each day and can barely string together enough coherent sentences to handle my job responsibilities. So the blog has suffered.

Jaywalker has a heel that is still being decreased. I have three baby quilts that are now totally finished, including binding sewn down and a trip through the washer. I'll hopefully get that blogged about in the next 72 hours or so.

Hope all of you are doing great. Thanks for bearing with me during this crazy time. Once I get my life back, there will be plenty of knitting and quilting to blog about. Promise!