The house is on the market.  There is a For Sale sign in the front yard.  I thought I'd be sad to see it, but honestly it's a relief to be at this point.  I had no idea just how much work it would be getting the house ready to sell, but now the majority of it is done. Now I've just got some little stuff left to do, like cleaning out some closets.  Even the basement is cleaned out and looks pretty good.  I've boxed up all of my knicknacks, family pictures and about half of my yarn, and put it in storage.  The house looks downright spacious now!  Oh, and I've got to replace the mums in the front that died, but otherwise, we're good to go.  Next week I'll be out in Mass and get down to some serious househunting, which I am very excited about.  The realtor out there is primed with the instructions that I need some room that can act as a weaving studio.

On the crafty front, I've got a project on each of my looms, and a bunch of knitting for holiday stuff to do. I'm knitting book bags for C's 2 daughters, and I've got a project on the needles for my guild's holiday gift exchange.  It's a bit tricky of a pattern, so I've had to restart 3 times, but I think I've got it now, and will post pictures once it's gone in the exchange.  I'm also joining 2 more swaps, which will be fun, but add a little pressure. One is just making stitch markers, nothing else, so that will be a nice, simple project that will be a good break from knitting.  The other is another Harry Potter themed swap, and I will have to make something for my spoilee, although they haven't been assigned yet, so I don't know what to make.

Here's photographic proof of the house being on the market.  I really do like the color of the siding, and might repeat that on the next house if I have to get it sided or painted. Just ignore the dead mums

Ok, I'm back. I know, it's been a while, but my life has been crazy. I"m working one week each month out of the Mass office now, and I'm trying to get the house ready to sell. Plus I was working on getting my swap kit done and mailed to my spoilee, which I did. 

I've decided that I will most likely try to buy a house in Mass, and not go into an apartment, except maybe short term if needed..  First of all, the rent on an apartment big enough for me to have a loom room/guest room, as well as the regular living quarters I'll need, will cost as much as a mortgage anyway.  Second, houses are as cheap as they are likely to get in Mass, so it will only be harder to buy as the economy turns around.  I'll get way more bang for my buck buying now.  Third, I was so completely dreading the idea of trying to live in an apartment after having my own home.  I hated thinking I wouldn't have a garden.  And I really want to have a studio space, with enough room for both floor looms to stay open at the same time, and work space for my sewing machine, because I'm discovering a new love for sewing. I want to have stash storage, and a place to dye.  I want to be sure there is plenty of room for guests to stay over, so that when people come visit from home, or my far away siblings want to visit, there is a place for them.   I want to have my own laundry, because I like being able to just throw a load in the washer and leave if I want, or to start a load right before bed.  And I'd really like to have a basement of some sort, and be able to put the cats' litter boxes away from any living areas.

None of this adds up to apartment living.  So hopefully I'll be able to get enough equity out of this house, to let me afford the next house.  I have hope that I'll be able to sell fairly quickly, because in the last 6 months, 2 houses sold in my neighborhood, (and it's a small neighborhood, maybe 75 houses.)  One sold in November, after being on the market for a month, and one sold a few weeks ago, after being on the market 1 week!  That is just awesome.  So I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to sell my house and buy another.

The swap was a lot of fun, and my spoiler seems to have intuited that I was starting to love sewing, because she got me all the yarn and material I would need to make this bag: http://throughtheloops.typepad.com/through_the_loops/2008/02/new-freebie-dan.html  So even though I really really really really should be working on an already existing project, I'm going to start knitting the bottom of the bag :-)

Big news in my life: my job is moving me to Massachusetts this summer.   I now have to get my house ready to sell.  I am really not looking forward to that!  Plus, since I will most likely end up in an apartment there, I will have to weed out like crazy, to go from a 6 room house, with a basement, to a probably 4 room apartment with who knows what kind of storage.  Luckily for me the company will pay for movers, so I don't have to worry about that part.

Other than the house, I am very excited about this new adventure in my life.  I will be sad to be away from friends and family here, but I will be close enough to my cousin, bethct  to be able to visit regularly.  I'll also have a ton of new places to explore, and new yarns stores to visit. I'll be within driving distance of Webs, one of the greatest yarn stores for weavers there is.  I'll be a short train ride away from Boston.  I love trains, and I'm going to love exploring Boston.

There will also be new challenges at work, I think, because our company is growing so quickly. 

So much to think about!  But now I'm off to spend the day dyeing yarn at my friend Carrie's house.  She has her own business, Cosmic Fibers so I'm pretty excited to get a chance to work with her. I love the yarn she dyes and have bought several.

Oh, and I am becoming a gym rat!  I love going now, and never want to miss it.  I'll have to transfer my membership out to a Curves in Mass.

Tags: dyeing, massachusetts, moving
Current Location: living room
Current Mood: chipper

Ok, I made it through the holidays! Yay! and I'm still going to the gym regularly. I get weighed and measured on Weds to see what my progress is. Since I did the typical holiday eating, I'm not overly concerned with whether I lost weight or not. I'm just happy that I'm establishing the habit of going to work out. I stop 3 times a week on my way home from work, the also try to go on Saturday morning. Now I'm starting to knuckle down to working on eating better. I'm cutting way back on sugar, and only allow myself to have any chocolate or sugary treats in the evening. Just knowing I can have it later, and knowing I've got some in the house, goes a long way in keeping me from getting crap out of the junk food machine at work. I really want to concentrate on being more fit for the summer, and for my trip to China in June. Since the job situation is a tad uncertain, I'm not going to buy tickets yet, but I'm pretty confident that I will have a job this year, and that I'll end up going to China. It certainly helps with costs that I get to stay with my sister in Hong Kong for part of the trip.

In honor of New Year's, I have given thought to resolutions, but also thought that I should chose some that I'll have a chance of keeping. So in no particular order, my resolutions:

1. Knit more. I've got 8 pairs of socks worth of yarn to knit, and since the last pair took 6 months, I've definitely got to pick up the pace. Plus I'm going on a fiber studio tour this month at Schaefer Yarn, that will end with us getting to dye our own sock yarn to keep. So I need to get cracking (oh wait, I shouldn't say that, since I cracked a wooden needle just the other day. I need to get stitching.) Of course, the ladies in my guild tell me that my sock yarn stash isn't worth mentioning until I've got at least a couple of dozen skeins, so maybe I'm not as bad off as I think.

2. Weave more. I own multiple looms, books, tools, yarn etc. I should be using it. I've joined a weave along on Ravelry to work on learning the Summer and Winter technique. Of course I want to use the 8 harness loom for that, which means I've got to finish the project currently on it, plan a new project, get the yarn for it (I've got some in my stash, so that will help) and get going. Our weave a long starts on the 15th of January, and ends the 28th of February (hmm, right before a certain cousin of mine is due to have a baby. Isn't that an interesting coincidence?) Nothing like a deadline to get me weaving!

3. Exercise regularly. This is a bit of a cheat, maybe, since I started at the gym a month ago, but hey, I'll take what I can get. I'm also going to be doing more walking with C. (Hear that, C, we're walking more! :-) I don't want to worry about health issues that run in my family, and I want to be able to do fun active things in China with my sister. Plus, I just want to be able to fun active things all the time.

4. Eat better. This includes the aforementioned chocolate, because that has lots of anti-oxidants. And I think that food should be enjoyable, and not just energy and nutrients.

Ok, I think I can manage those. Maybe I'll take stock halfway through the year, see how I'm doing, and maybe add a new one then.

Current Location: living room

Yay me. I joined Curves on Friday.  And I worked out Saturday and tonight. It's so convenient to be able to just stop on the way home, and start when I get there.  If anyone hasn't seen how it works, Curves uses a circuit of resistance machines alternating with aerobics.  You go around the circuit, moving when told by a recorded voice.  It takes a half an hour to go around twice, which is the recommended workout.  It's very low key, low pressure, and you build up your speed and number of repetitions as you improve. Of course you also start out getting weighed and measured, which is not fun, and then again every month.  So I'm getting a head start on the usual New Year's resolution about exercising.  And I told myself I didn't have to worry about dieting this month, that I'd just concentrate on getting into the workout habit, but of course that doesn't really happen. I didn't have any trouble staying away from the junk food machine at work today. I had pineapple and a granola bar for a snack.  Tomorrow I'll be on the road, so it will be a little trickier, but I'll bring something to munch on to help. 

I do of course want to be healthier and fitter, and lose some weight, just for my overall well being.  But another goal for me is being in good shape for the trip to China I want to take in June.  My sister and I want to do something very active while I'm there, and I need to be in much better shape than I am for that.  Yay, goals!  And I feel so good that I actually got started!
 

Current Location: living room
Current Mood: bouncy

Yes, I am well and truly spoiled by my spoiler, Wisteria Lovegood.   Wisty definitely stalked me well.  Chocolates, and a bookmark.  Stitch markers in Ravenclaw colors from the book, not the movie, thank you.  2 different kinds of sock yarn I've never tried before, including alpaca sock yarn.  That will make the warmest, coziest socks to keep this Northern girls feet warm in the cold NY winters!  A sock pattern she snitched from my queue (love it! LOVE.IT!)  Of course there are pictures.

So I come home from work today and find that an owl has been by.  Silly bird didn't stay around for me to feed it.  I do hope my Daisy convinced it to stay the night at least before heading home to Minnesota.  There's plenty of room in the owlery.


This box was filled to the brim!


First thing I find:

(Turn your head, I couldn't make the picture go right side up at this size)

Isn't that wonderful?  IRL, it is more bronze than orange, for the Ravenclaw house colors from the books. That is definitely my preference over the blue and silver in the movie. Wisty was definitely paying attention!

And here's the other side (which did stay right side up):
  Notice the colors switched? Isn't that great?  I love it!!!

Next I found not one but 2 hanks of sock yarn.  One is Alpaca Sox. Oh man, I can't wait to be wearing my alpaca socks!  That's just what I need to keep my toes toasty!
 

The other is Opal Harry Potter yarn. Isn't that great?  It's in the Draco colorway. Not my favorite character, but love the colorway.  It will go with everything, and get a lot of use.  And it was so cleverly packaged in a cool little Halloween container, just perfect for putting candy in.


There were some great stitch markers in Ravenclaw colors (book colors of blue and bronze) and a bead book mark, too. I don't know if she read it somewhere, or intuited my love of books, but Wisty is really good at this!


Here's the whole kit and caboodle:

Across the back, there is the Celtic Braid sock pattern that has been in my queue on Ravelry since I first found out you can do that. Then there's a Dragonology kit, with great dragon stationary, and instructions for reading and writing in Dragon writing.  Across the middle, there's a little windup Halloween guy who vibrates his way across the floor after you pull the string. The cats were fascinated by him.  There's the book mark, and the little plastic case with the stitch markers.  Then there's a bar of broomstick fuel (in dark chocolate, my favorite), some Horace Slughorn's Crystalized Pineapple(YUM!) and a set of Brittany double points.  They even come with an extra needle, in case one breaks! How cool is that?  And on the right, there's a plum pudding. Never had one, will definitely be having it tonight :-)

If my spoilee Selena is half as happy with her package as I am with mine, I'll know I did well.  Wisty, thank you so much. This is amazing.

Oh, and of course, once I had everything laid out on the couch to photograph, Pepper had to come and check it out.  He really likes the felted bag.  He gives this package 2 paws up.
 
(really, that's his happy face )

1. Who was Tom Riddle Sr.'s girlfriend before Merope gave him the love potion?
a. Eleanor
b. Cecilia
c. Sally
d. Mandy

2. What does Luna say floated into Harry's ear when he was in the train car that supposedly caused him to lose focus?
a. Demiguise
b. Jobberknoll
c. Wrackspurt
d. Runespoor

3. How much do the primary Apparition lessons cost?
a. 10 galleons
b. 8 galleons
c. 15 galleons
d. 12 galleons

4. What is Professor Merrythought's first name?
a. Eileen
b. Galatea
c. Carol
d. Jocelyn

5. What Hogwarts club was Eileen Prince captain of?
a. Charms Club
b. Gobstones Club
c. The Slug Club
d. Occlumency Club

6. Who is head of the Goblin Liaison office?
a. Ambrosius Flume
b. Dirk Cresswell
c. Ciceron Harkiss
d. Barnabas Cuffe

7. Mrs. Weasley offers Fleur a goblin-made tiara for the wedding with Bill. What family member is currently in possession of the tiara?
a. Aunt Muriel
b. Aunt Ethel
c. Aunt Edna
d. Aunt Thelma

8. How many points does Snape take from Gryffindor for Harry's late arrival and muggle attire?
a. 30
b. 70
c. 50
d. 90

9. When Profressory Slughorn first meets Hermione, he asks her whether she is related to Hector Dagworth-Granger. What society did Dgworth-Granger found?
a. The Most Extraordinary Society of Charms
d. The Most Extraordinary Society of Herbology
c. The Most Extraordinary Society of the Defense Against the Dark Arts
d. The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers

10. Which of these describes Golpalott's Third Law?
a. The antidote for blended poison will be equal to less than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components
b. The antidote for a blended poison will be equal to less than the product of the antidotes for each of the separate compenents
c. The antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the product of the antidotes for each of the separate compenents
d. The antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components

                                                                                                                                                                           

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
 

1. Astrid Cloverleaf
2. Cassandra Grubbly-Plank
3. Enna Kirts
4. Selena Starfire
5. Henry Longstaff
6. Cecily Fortescue
7. Mona Ravenscroft
8. Argentia Pascal
9. Prendolyn Wilcox
10. Lizzie Wychwood
11. Ursula Longbottom
12. Rowena Weasley
13. Aurora Curlycoat
14. Lily May Clearwater
15. Maegera Black

Bonus 1: Hermione Bagnold (aka Smileynetta)
Bonus 2: less than half.

Whew!  But this was really interesting to do.

Oh, man, I'm such a slow knitter!  So many people are already mailing their packages, and I'm still knitting away on my hand-made item!  I've got 2 more weeks until the final deadline, but I so would have loved to be able to get my house more points by mailing mine out by today.  People have been posting pictures of their spoils in the main blog, and everything looks great!  This has been so much fun.  I've been a busy little Ravenclaw lately, unfortunately, and haven't been able to play as much with my schoolmates, housemates and roomies as I would have liked, but I'm hoping to squeeze out more play time. Of course the dilemma is, the more I play, the less I knit. Oh, such horrid decision.  Why couldn't my computer work really well with voice, so I could play online and knit at the same time?  This muggle technology is for the birds!

Current Location: living room