Woo-Hoo!!!

WE ARE IN ESCROW!!! After five months on the market, we are in Escrow on our house in California as of this afternoon. Hooray!

Sorry I have been AWOL for a few days. I’ve been running around for two straight days and haven’t had time to sit around long enough to get the photos off of my camera and post.

Well, as Turtlegirl correctly guessed on WiP it Wednesday, I’m finished with my Bart socks. I stayed up too late on Tuesday night getting the toe finished on the second sock. Aren’t they awesome?


Pattern: Cat Bordhi, "New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book 1" Bartholomew's Tantalizing Socks
Yarn: Yarn Nerd 900mHz Tour de France colorway. I purchased from Adam, but it's now being sold through The Loopy Ewe
Needles: US2/3.0mm and US3/3.25 mm KnitPicks 16" fixed metal circs
Start/Finish: 25 Sept/9 Oct 2007
Mods: More of a screw-up. I misread when I was supposed to change from the larger to the smaller needles on the first sock. Got it right on Bart II

And, I’ve already started my next Cat Bordhi sock. It’s the Dove pattern, which is an Upstream architecture. Toe-up, pretty simple with a cool stitch pattern on the leg. Of course, I say it’s pretty simple as I’m knitting from the toe to the arch expansion. Ask me again in a day or two.



Yarn is my Claudia Handpainted in the “Steelers” colorway.

Other things I’ve puttered with since my last post:



RT and I field tripped to the “J-store” and used my 50% off coupon to buy a bolt (yes, a 40-yard bolt) of Warm and White, my favorite all-purpose batting. I’m all stocked up for the foreseeable future. Yay!

Also on Tuesday, I was sitting in my usual spot in the TV room and looked up, only to see some really awesome colors out my window. So I went upstairs, opened a window and snapped some Pittsburgh sunset shots. Not as good as my Lake bunch, but the sky was pretty impressive.



The other exciting thing was in today’s mail. I read a lot more knitting blogs than quilting ones, but I’m finding more and more quilters. And one of them, Teresa, has started dyeing her own FABRIC!!! About two weeks ago, she was describing one of her first sessions with the dyepot and mentioned that she’d have something fun in store for commenters on that post. You’d better believe that I commented in a hurry!



It was overcast and raining all day today, so I couldn’t get a decent natural light photo. I haven’t measured but it looks like a half-yard of a beautiful turquoise fabric. SOOOO PRETTY!!! No clue what I’ll do with it, but you’d better believe I did a happy dance when I opened the envelope!

Mom and I field tripped to the UPMC sports complex this afternoon, then went to South Side Works for lunch. I got a second pair of these sandals:



at REI. Because I completely fell in lurrrve with the pair pictured above. It’s shocking to me, but I’ve started to pass up my beloved Rainbows in favor of these sandals. Since the Tevas are not leather, I don’t have to worry about a little damp. I'm overprotective of my Rainbows that way and the Tevas have molded to my feet same as the Rainbows do. Actually, it’s now too cold for sandals, but still. It’s worth it to have a spare pair because these are SO GREAT.

I freely admit that I’m a wuss, but after eight years of living in Los Angeles, a temperature swing of 87 on Tuesday to 50 today has me shivering and layering polar fleece. Now I admit to loving sweaters and layers and all that, but give me a little time to adjust, m’kay?

Oh, and what’s the unwritten rule about replacing things you have misplaced? (reference the last three graphs of this post)



Yep. *sigh* Baxter is wearing the new pair. RT and SAH Eeyore wearing the old ones. I found one the morning we left for Arkansas (in a sock knitting bag I hadn’t used in a few weeks) and the other one this afternoon (in the pocket of my raincoat). Oh well. :(

Grownups Live Here

Today (Monday) was a routine day with lots of little hiccups. I wanted to work out this morning, but I stayed up too late last night (baking Snickerdoodles. At least they turned out pretty well), so I wussed out. Dammit.

My day was planned around delivery dudes for my new bedroom furniture. Their delivery window was from 10:30-12:30. They showed up at 1. And stayed until 3. *sigh*

Then they dropped a piece of the metal frame that was being moved into a different room to vacate the space for the new bed. We have hardwood floors in the master bedroom. When the metal bedframe piece hit the wood, it took out a dime-sized chunk on one end and and a chunk about half that size when the other end hit.

Fortunately, Delivery Dudes were immediately apologetic and immediately called their boss. I’ll be hearing from their wood repair guy, who will fix the big blue painters tape X’s on my floor free of charge. Gotta say that they handled that mishap as professionally as I could possibly have asked. What a change from my LA experiences!

The interior designer we are working with showed up for the “installation.” We changed where the new dresser is going in the room, so it’s probably a good thing that we started with just the bed and dresser. We had discussed getting an armoire, but it may not fit with how the room is coming together. We’ll figure it out soon. That is, if we ever sell the house in LA!

Delivery Dudes put the bed together first. I think it looks pretty damn good, and is a big step forward from the frame-only look I’ve been going with for 11 years (translation: as long as I have owned my own bed). See? Grown-ups really do live here! It’s not just all hand-me-down furniture any more!


Taking this picture reminded me that I really want to get back to my Starr Designs block-a-month. I want that to be a good winter quilt, hopefully with a wool batting so it will be warm for winter. Oh, and it has to have a flannel back. I love this quilt, but it SLIDES. Big-time. Most nights, one of us wakes up quilt-free because it has slid entirely off our side of the bed. I’m hoping that once it gets cool enough for a blanket in addition to the sheet, that will help with traction.

Here’s a shot of the entire dresser


A close-up (below) of the drawers and top

Oh ... it looks goofy because it was waxed just before it left the gallery showroom, and everything I took the time to try had some sort of haze or glare on it. I didn't have time to really mess with it. I got on the road to the Lake three hours later than I had hoped. Oh well.

And one of the inlay on the corner of a drawer. There is inlay on each side, the top, and on the front of each drawer.

If I ever start feeling REALLY ambitious, I could probably make a quilt off of that inlay design. Don’t hold your breath.

Oh, and here’s proof that I put the last border on the Pineapple Quilt:

It’s going to Quilted Memories tomorrow so I can “quilt by check.” On this particular project, that prospect makes me very happy.

Farewell Tour

Well, the anticipated FO didn't get F'd and won't until I get to Pittsburgh.

Instead, RT and I will entertain you with our final few exploits here in LaLaLand.

On Tuesday, we were invited to dinner at the home of a very good friend in Seal Beach. She made spaghetti and meatballs, complete with garlic bread that had actual garlic on it. RT managed to not get any of the tomato sauce in his fur, which is a good thing.

After dinner, we took a walk down to the water while said friend did a little work.


RT liked the beach. The water was the perfect temperature for a swim, but we just got our paws (and jeans) a little wet standing on the edge of the surf.


Talk about a great location. Friend's digs are indicated by the yellow arrow. Awesome!

Yesterday (Wednesday), we took another field trip with Lori, who took us to the Zoo on Monday. This time, Lori and I went to the Huntington Library and I took her to lunch at the Tea Room. Partly because it is awesome and partly because I'm a rotten friend and forgot her birthday. Even when she parked herself in my office THAT DAY and complained that she was having a lousy day. I suck.


Tigger started wearing his sticker on his nose, but it started to itch, so he let me wear it instead.


After we enjoyed tea, we went over to check out my favorite part of the Huntington grounds, the Japanese Garden. Isn't it awesome?

That's it for our Los Angeles field trips. After this blogging break, I'm going to do the bulk of car packing, then do a little laundry and get to bed. Tomorrow, it's one final stop at Beach Knitting, a trip to the office to turn in my keys, etc., and then off to see some quilting friends one last time before I crash at my aunt's house. for the night. I have been very lucky to have family in the area while living in Los Angeles. Thanks, Janet! :)

I managed to get rid of both the desk and the couch. Three cheers for CraigsList!

A side note:
I just called the last credit card company to change my address and notify them of my impending cross-country drive. While the guy on the other end of the line did recognize that my new/old street is named after a former President of the United States, he did ask the following questions:

I mention that I will be driving for approximately the next week:
Q: Will you be driving your automobile on this trip?
A: That's usually what I drive!

I tell him that I'll be driving from California to Pennsylvania:
Q: When will you return to the United States?
A: I wasn't planning to leave the United States!

I mean, I know he's probably working off of a script, but COME ON!!!

I hope to blog the drive. Wish me luck! :)

Finally, the "Moving" post

So it has been 10 days since the truck picked us up, and I'm finally getting around to posting about moving day.

I blame it on all the stuff I had going on the weekend of the move (June 8-10), and the fact that this is the first time I've been able to get online from home since then.


We live on a one-way street, so getting the semi parked was a bit of a challenge, but we got it done.

Here are some before and after photos:


The living room


The kitchen. Kinda boring. Sorry.


The garage.


The epitome of living inside a great big empty... My bedroom with just a lonely little lamp, an Aero bed and a couple of pillows. Four more nights, one at my aunt's house, then I hit the road.


Oh, and since I'm a fiber geek, I was quite intrigued by this lonesome moving pad brought in by our moving team. All of the rest of their pads were monotone. Mostly blue. Then there was this one really cool patterned one. I wanted to steal it and make something out of it. What? I don't know. But I had to at least take a picture!

The Hubster unloaded the truck in Pittsburgh last Friday and started his new job today. I'm hoping to have my last finished object, a quilt, ready for a post tomorrow. Please bear with me over these next few days. I'm running around like a crazy person trying to see everyone before I skip town. I'll make as much time to blog as I can, but no promises.

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! :)

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.