Hi! Sorry for the lack of updates, but the whole moving things took my motivation to blog.

We have all our stuff at the house and did the check-out for the apartment today. We are going to get our whole deposit back, which is quite nice. Barely anything is put away yet, but I have a fairly decent idea of where everything is, which helps a bit. Most of the kitchen is put away, but since we are going to be putting up shelving for my baking supplies on one wall along with our pot rack, there is still a lot of stuff just hanging out in odd spots. The bedroom is painted and looks great. I wish I could share a picture, but I can't seem to locate the cord to transfer them to my compy. The wall color is latte and the ceiling is divine white. There isn't going to be anymore painting for awhile.

Work is going really well. I love the people, and there is enough variety that I don't get bored. I have applied for a job in receiving to pick up a few more hours there, so I don't need to go find another part-time job else where.

Ok, I am going to play Wind Waker now. Wiiiiii!!!!!! (It's actually a for GameCube)

Grrrr....arrrgh....

The truck is in the shop due to a frozen/locked/stuck caliper on the rear passenger wheel of our rear-wheel driven truck. For those wondering, the caliper is what the brake pads rub against to stop your vehicle. I know this because I watched Josh and his dad change them on my car a few months ago when my car started making grinding noises when I braked or turned.

This means, instead of driving 5 minutes to work today I am taking a 1+ hour bus ride well, actually two different buses with a 15 minute wait between the two buses. I would just walk if the wind chill wasn't hovering around -20F today. Oh well, at least I will get some knitting or reading time.

There is fresh paint on the walls, some of them anyway, and a new washer a dryer in the laundry room. Washing laundry without quarters is almost fun. We have purchased a couch and will pick it up later this week. We should be able to finish painting the living room on Wednesday and maybe get a start on our bedroom so we can move in our living room and bedroom furniture. I didn't bring my camera when we were painting but Josh's mom got some pics, so I will share if she sends them to me.

I got a sewing machine for Christmas! I know absolutely nothing about sewing. Any good books you guys can recommend? I don't intend to do anything too fancy. I will need some sort of window treatments for the house and pillows would be great. Also, I think I should make myself a skirt since I own so few. I am quite addicted to tote bags for some reason as well.

I am better!!! About 48 hours after getting sick, I was feeling mostly normal. I still don't have much of an appetite if I don't get reminded to eat. I wouldn't have eaten lunch today if I hadn't gotten a free sammich at work and was later reminded to eat it by a co-worker.

Speaking of my new co-workers, I love them! It's nice to work with other people again and not rely on notes for communication. The drive is also a plus. It looks like I will be helping not only develop gluten free items, but also helping them make pizza dough instead of buying it for our pizzas.

I think one of the first big projects for the house is going to be a new driveway. It is nearly impossible to get up if there is snow due to the angle and the ice has been impossible to get rid of. We are also going to purchase some new garage doors shortly as the current pair is rather ragged and not insulated at all, which is not good with the garage shares a wall and a ceiling with the rest of the house.

Now to figure out what to do with my two days off.

So we had planned to get a jump start on buying supplies and painting, but I ended up with a stomach bug, which means I am completely useless. At least I haven't thrown up an almost 10 hours I still feel pretty crappy. Josh went over to the house for awhile today and took the mirrors off the wall and bought a ladder and other random things we need for the place. I was worried that the mirrors would be really stuck on the wall, but apparently they were just held on by some tape and what seems to be joint compound around the outside edges. Now we just have to replicate the texture on the wall where the mirrors were.

Now to continue with the 7UP and saltines.

We have a house!!

It's exciting and a bit overwhelming. The place is bigger than we intended to buy, but it has everything we want in a home and more. We already have a few power tools for the garage including a rather large air compressor and a new washer and dryer. We got a great interest rate and our insurance is about a $100 lower than I thought it would be. This all went better than I could have hoped.

It is once again snowing here (as of last night we were already 5" above December's average snowfall), but it is finally supposed to be not bitterly cold today, which will be nice since I plan to do a bit of shoveling at the house today.

Only the first five people that click are eligible to pass this on, so click fast!

Well, I gave my two weeks notice yesterday and was told to drop off my key and pick up my last check, which is pretty much what I expected. I am not too upset as I now have a chance to get some more Christmas gifts made and get my hair cut, which desperately needs to be done. The extra money would have been nice, but it wouldn't have been much anyway with the holidays.

I can also get all the utilities set up for the house and take care of all the little odds and ends we have been letting slip. We are closing on the house on Monday and I will now have a couple days to get some stuff done there like cleaning and determining which paint colors will go in which rooms. We don't have to be out of our current place until the end of January, so this will probably be the most relaxing move I have ever experienced. We have already purchased our new washer and dryer and have been accumulating the power tools and other odds and ends we will need in a house.

I promise some pics of the house and the knitting after Christmas if not before. I don't want to spoil the surprises!

Woot! I got the job! Wait...did I even mention I was interviewing for one today? Lemme check...

Guess not. Well, anyway I interviewed today for a baker position at the local natural foods co-op and they offered it to me, which I accepted. It is a huge relief as I know I won't have to fight for hours and I will have benefits once again. Also, there is some recipe development involved and recipe testing, which is really what I want to do.

My job has been completely frustrating me lately. There is a lack of communication that makes it difficult for me to complete tasks and people get frustrated with me since I didn't know. Then there is the lack of hours. I used to regularly work between 7 and 9 hours a night, but now I am lucky if I can squeak out 5. Also, they gave me a few days off this week which I didn't ask for. I also thought she said I had just Monday and Tuesday off, so I went in as I had planned on Sunday. My boss showed up as I was finishing and asked if I had misunderstood her. I assumed from the question that I had. Apparently I wasn't supposed to work Sunday either. Going from 5 days a week down to two is not what I expected from this job nor was cutting my hours by almost a third.

Since we are in the process of buying a house (less than 2 weeks!) I need a job with regular hours, and since this one is not proving to be that job, I am on the hunt for another. I have an interview for a full-time baker at a local co-op scheduled for tomorrow, which should work for when I start school and should allow for a part-time job if needed. Also, I wouldn't be working nights, which would make me extraordinarily happy.

As I am typing this I am realizing how long my fingernails are. Now where did those nail clippers go?

Also, am slightly addicted to Molehill Empire right now. And with all this free time I have gotten some knitting done.

I really enjoy finding, what I think, is the perfect gift for someone I care about. Of course there are the times when your gift is so perfect the person purchased the item already without your knowledge. Despite the fact I love giving a great gift, I really hate figuring out what that gift should be.

Until last week, I hadn't even thought about what I wanted to get anyone. I figured out a few things this weekend and had a really good idea for Josh one day, but that disappeared from my mind before I could write it down.

This year, I am completely lost. Also, I have no idea what my plans are for Christmas. Maybe i will make everyone come to me on the pretense of showing them my new house.

Josh and I weren't planning to get gifts with the whole house thing, but today he decided we should get small gifts. His "reason" other than wanting to get me something, was he doesn't want to explain to people why he's not getting me anything.

I know I am going to be making a few coffee cozies and thick socks. Josh is getting a Jayne hat, but he knows about that so I don't think that's going to count as his gift.

Grr... I hate making decisions.

Woot! One month from today I will have a house!

Until then I have other things to worry about, like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Just so I know where to look, I am going to post my list of baking/cooking to do by Wednesday.

1) stuffing - figure out how to do in crock pot
2) green bean casserole
3) millionaire's shortbread
4) molasses cookies
5) s'mores bars

I have barely thought about Christmas gifts. I don't have to worry about Josh at least since we are getting a house and probably a couch, washer and dryer to go with it. I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete or well thought out. I am not even sure what my plans are for Christmas yet. I will figure it all out after Thanksgiving.

At least I finished a pair of socks last weekend.

The house inspection has been done and the house looks good. A few things need to be taken care of, but nothing serious or that needs to be done right away. It looks like we are getting a house for Christmas!

Now I need to find some good now and low VOC paints in colors I like. Any suggestions?

I miss my dancing plurk nanners.

No more white walls!!!!!!!

At least that is my intention once we get this house. Our offer has been accepted, but they didn't accept all of our conditions. They want to move the closing date up a few days, which shouldn't be a problem. The house is almost ours! Now we just have to hope the inspection goes well. I am not too worried about it as the house seems to be in great condition.

Happy Tuesday and Veteran's Day! I hope you all are enjoying the colder weather, if you are experiencing colder weather, that is. we most definitely are and, yes, I am quite enjoying it. I prefer to be cold over being hot and won't complain about snuggling under a blanket, or two, with a mug of tea and some knitting in front of the TV. We had about two inches of snow on Friday morning, which was gone by the afternoon.

I need some help. Josh and I have been reading the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher. Josh is quickly approaching the last of the available books due to all his free time at work, and is need of something else to read. Any ideas?

Is everyone else having an exciting week? I think the election got almost everyone excited while the outcome excited me, I know that is not true for everyone. Also not everyone else is in the process of buying a house. On election day, we learned the other offer on the house we want has been withdrawn. We also learned the bank isn't going to make the decision on our offer for another 2 weeks. Grrrr arrrgh. I hate waiting. At least the longer they wait, the more likely they are to not care as much about our late closing date, due to our lease obligation. A month ago it was a bit of an obstacle, but after the two weeks are up, our chosen closing date is significantly closer. Hopefully we will know whether or not the house is ours by the time we need to let our rental company know if we are staying or not.

I still haven't finished my TTL Mystery socks, but I am close. While they don't take a lot of concentration, I needed something that takes less for TV watching and standing in voting lines. I started another pair of Charade on election day in case I had to wait in line, which I didn't. Though I didn't make it on to the registered voters list. At least I am doubly registered now!

Now for some pics. First the new sock



Second, a pair of Fetching for my boss since she admired my pair and that automatically earns you a pair, in my book.


Third, the TTL Mystery socks in their current UFO state.



Fourth, you would probably think I have a destructive pet based on the state of this poor chair's upholstery, but you would be wrong. This would be why our first major purchase when we get a house is a couch followed by a better washing machine and exercise equipment.

Still no news on the house. All we know is that the people who make the decision on whether or not to accept the offer have all they need and just need to make the decision. Grrrr....Arrrrgggh. I will post about it as soon as I do know.

In other news, I got another raise (a rather large one) and while I am still not making anywhere near what I was, I am doing quite well. That extra money is going to make a difference for us, especially since my hours will be a bit less during the holidays as there aren't as many weddings. Actually, if the deli that intends to sell our baked goods under our name decides to go with some items, my hours may not decrease quite as much. Our monthly income would have covered everything, even with a house, but now we have a little wiggle room, which is great. Now if we only knew about the house...


Giving this recipe a try for dinner. I will let you know how it goes.

I am still trying to not get my hopes up about the house but our agent isn't helping. She recently told us that things are moving forward and an appraisal will happen soon. The bank is looking at both offers right now and from what she has heard, our offer looks stronger. Ack! Not that those are bad things, but they are encouraging my brain to think about moving in to that house.

I should easily be done with the second clue and possibly even the third of the TTL Mystery sock, but I frogged at least 1/3 of the clue twice already! Doh! As of now I have 15 rows or so to go before starting the heel which came out yesterday. My progress so far:



I think the pattern would be easier to see on a sock blocker but I could only find one and didn't like the idea of having only on sock on a blocker. Don't ask me why, because I don't really know.

Still waiting to hear about the house, as expected, but the time is just dragging by. We can't seem to help brainstorming about what we would do in there if/when we get it. We need to stop! I don't want to do much more house hunting after finding this place, and it will be that much harder if we don't get it after all the thought we have been putting into it. Grrr...aaarrgh.

In other news, well, there actually is no other news. I have frogged about 10 rows of the TTL Mystery socks due to my inability to follow directions because I assume I know what I am doing, and the same thing happened with Foliage, so there is nothing to show.

I essentially did a double shift at the shop yesterday, but I got home around 3:30am so was able to go to sleep when it was still dark, which is what I look forward to. I plan to sleep some more later, but for now am awake. I was so tired yesterday that I am surprised I am as awake as I am.

Happy Columbus Day! Does anyone get the day off?