Nice weather and Tohru scarf issues

The weather's been beautiful the last two days. I wish it was like this more of the year in NY. Bah. Anyway, yesterday Bryon and I walked to the library after I got out of work. It's only a block away. I returned a few books and found several more (I'm really good at that) - on decorating and economic cooking. Sara was planning to come over but she was really tired from being at the barn, so Bryon and I used the evening to do a lot of housework - laundry, dishes, sweeping the floor, etc. I felt very productive. :)

Today many things occurred. Mom and Dad met me at work and we ate lunch near the scenic overlook across from there. Cucumber sandwiches, little bowls of fruit, and pudding. Yum!! It was really fun. I hope we can do it again.

Happily, the printed invitations we've been waiting for arrived so we got them stuffed, sealed and labeled. They went out in the afternoon mail (also saw my aunt at the post office). After work, I sat out on the deck for a bit, enjoying the nice weather and looking through cookbooks trying to determine what ingredients I was constantly missing out of the books' recipes. Then Bryon and I went to the grocery store. He didn't have Scouts tonight because the schools are on Spring Break. Originally Aunt Lisa was going to come over but she figured I'd rather spend the time with Bryon. It's driving me a little nuts though - Bryon is here with me and I want people to feel free to come visit US. *sigh* Ah well.

The most annoying thing about today: Realizing that I am still not making my Tohru scarf correctly. (Side note: I was hotlinking the only image I could find of the scarf online. I apologize for that. The site has moved now, and I luckily tracked down the image so I could save it to my own server. I'll be good now. :D) Looking at the picture after a long time away from it, I think it's the PURPLE stripe that's in the middle, not the orange.


Image from Daisuki

...and I am realizing this NOW, when I have previously knit two stripes, then ripped one out so I could make two half-width stripes to go on either side... I'm 2 inches into the second of those stripes. *sniff* I reeeeeeeally don't want to frog this again. But is this error going to bother me enough to make me frog it anyway? Quite possibly. It's still depressing though.

Oh! Two bits of good news on the knitting front! I received my book of Big Needle Knit Afghans in the mail... with some very nice patterns in it plus two sets of big circulars... and I finished the scarf for Bryon's mom! Now all I have to do is finish my Magic Tube Scarf and I can stop messing with Fun Fur yarn...

A great comfort(er)

I found a comforter!!! :D :D It is the 'Cambric' comforter from a company called Whole Home. I can't seem to find a pic online, so Bryon took some for me:





It took the room's color scheme in a totally different direction from what I was envisioning, but I like it. I think the gold/camel color will pull out the gold in the bed frame, plus I have a lot of gold things to go in the room, like a gold-framed mirror for the wall, etc. The camel-colored borders around the embroidered parts are a VERY, very soft suede.

The BEST part of all: it was on clearance for $40, then when they rang it up, it came up for $20!!!! That's for the comforter, two pillow shams and the bed skirt (which I haven't put on yet). Jackpot!

I also bought two small (2' x 3') rugs to go on either side of the bed. They're in a very neutral tan color, which goes ok with the comforter. They have a nice texture to them and they can be used in other places later if I change my mind. For now I just can't face trying to find a large area rug... so I'm going with these smaller ones and I think it will be fine. Sooo... I can concentrate on curtains. The plan is to look for sheer, iridescent fabric that matches the blue/purple panels and make sheers, then get a heavier camel-colored fabric for drapes to go over it. I might make some sort of swag for the top out of the sheer fabric as well. So many plans in the works. :)

After our successful! trip around the mall, we discovered Sara was working so we arranged to meet her at Ruby Tuesday's after she got done. It took her a lot longer to get out than she thought it would, but it was fine and we had a good visit.

This morning (ok, this afternoon, about 1:30) I woke up and made pancakes. Bryon's been sucked into The Science Channel watching stuff about killer whales. He also shaved today, which will take some getting used to. He looks like a different person.

Now I'm talking with Mom online. This afternoon I plan to take it easy - work on craft stuff, do some laundry, maybe hang some pictures.

We had visitors!!!! :D

Today we had our first visitors since we've gotten settled in!

[small interlude] Umm... I'm doing my first load of laundry in our FREE washer... and I think it's possessed. It's shaking a lot and when I looked at the dial it was turning a lot faster than I would have expected. Then again, I don't really know how fast it turns from one stage to the next. And the poor thing is OLD. I'm just hoping it doesn't... y'know... explode or something. [/interlude]

Anyway, I had to work today - the computer guy came in and we tried desperately to fix some of the awful email issues and get Lisa's new computer hooked up. We didn't accomplish either of these things. We can't find the missing file for the web store program, and to fix the email issue we need the password from last executive director's email. AUUUUGH. I was there 10-to-almost-3 and we didn't REALLY fix anything... not for lack of trying though.

After that, my family came over! Brion was home from school for the weekend so he came with Mom & Dad to see the 'settled-in' version. M&D hadn't seen it since the first chaotic move-in days, and Brion hadn't seen it at all. He seemed to think it was ok - especially since we have the YES Network so he could watch the Yankees game. They brought us subs and we ate and chatted for quite a while, and saw all the new improvements - kitchen cart, computer set up, new mattress, entertainment center, etc. It was a lot of fun.

Things are going ok. I'm still experiencing decorator's stress - too many decisions and too many choices. We still have to get the old mattress off the deck.

[interlude] uh-oh... the washer sounds like it's going to take off again! [/interlude]

Ok, we're off to return the grill to Bryon's house (he had to borrow it for a Scout fundraiser this morning). Then I will enjoy the rest of my Saturday.

Um, beep beep... and stuff.

YESSSSSS. I am coming to you live from the apartment... today we had Roadrunner and cable installed. Hurrah for being connected to the outside world again.

Work has been SO BUSY the past two days. This morning I got a lot done... and it's a good thing, because I had to take the afternoon off so I could be at the apartment for the Roadrunner hookup, and then go to the dentist. Yippee. The entire left side of my face is still numb... shouldn't this be wearing off by now? (it's 3 hours after my appointment started...)

We are going to have KFC for dinner and maybe go to Kmart, if I can get the feeling back in my face. Can't really enjoy KFC if I can't eat it properly.

I'm really feeling settled in now. Woohoo!

Lost - episode 19

Oh yeah, so, last week Bryon and I were shopping when "Lost" was on so my parents taped it for me. We watched it last night. I'm going to try and remain spoiler-free here... I just want to make a few points:

1) The ONLY reason Claire went into labor in this episode is because Jack was otherwise occupied, and therefore someone else would have to deliver the baby, making it that much more dramatic.

2) If this episode had taken place earlier in the season it would have been way more cheesy than it was... but doing it now, it was actually quite entertaining because we know the characters well enough to appreciate the little nuances. Jin was especially entertaining in this episode, although Jack yelling at Hurley was also very amusing.

3) Jin and Sun need to just frigging patch things up. BECAUSE I SAY SO.

4) Very interesting plot choices. I applaud them for being rather brave.

5) Shannon is a twit. But then again, we knew that. I felt a teeny-weeny bit sorry for her in this episode.

6) If they kill Locke in the next episode I will NOT BE HAPPY. I <3 Locke.

That's about it. I just love this show.

Sister Hand Grenade of Love calls this meeting to order!

HAHAHA. This article cracks me up.

The move is over; we are now in the settling-in phase. We finally found an entertainment center (at Wal-Mart, no less) and that is helping the living room area feel like a functional room. On Saturday I went to Empire Mattress and had the easiest shopping experience of my life; approximately 7 minutes and I had purchased a LOVELY pillow-top queen-size mattress with split box springs, to be picked up on Thursday (he knocked off $100 because we're picking it up). It's originally something like a $1600 mattress, marked down to $900, then when we got talking about it he said it was on closeout now so he could sell it for $550. Woo.

Also on Thursday, the Time Warner guy will be installing cable and Roadrunner. So then I'm sure I will be able to post more. It sure is annoying to be living in the Information Age and not have internet access at home. We've already had *many* times we could have used it to look things up - it's amazing to think how dependent on it we have become.

Ok, lunch soon...

Settling in...

Everything has been moved to the apartment now, including the couch and my massive bed. For the last day of moving, the only people available during the day were Dad, Bryon and myself. Somehow the three of us got the bed into Bryon's dad's truck, the couch and remaining bookshelf into my dad's truck, and some other miscellaneous items into various nooks and crannies. We got a rather late start yesterday because after leaving 8 messages on the answering machine at Bryon's house saying "Bryon... pick up the phone... wake up and get the phone!!" I finally had to just DRIVE over and wake him up myself. It's not his fault though... he had his fan on in the bedroom and it's very hard to hear the phone over it.

Anyway, by the time we got over to the apartment, it was almost time for my mom to get there. She brought a pizza, my aunt Lisa and my cousins Grayson and Jordan. Dad and Bryon hauled in the large furniture, then we took a pizza break. Everyone helped to put the bed frame together and move around some of the smaller furniture. Unfortunately, our plan of temporarily using my full mattress on my queen size bed sort of fell through... we expected there would be space on either side, but there was a gap big enough to fall into. Instead we just took the supports out and laid the box spring and mattress on the floor inside the bed frame. It looks a little goofy but it's perfectly functional and we'll get a queen-size mattress sometime soon.

All our helpers filed out after that, and then Jesse came over when he got out of work. By that point we were discussing furniture placement and trying to get things a bit more settled. Jesse ate some of the pizza (thank goodness!) and gave many helpful suggestions on all kinds of things - trying to make up for being in Syracuse the entire weekend of the move. :D After that Bryon and I went to Raymour and Flanigan to check out furniture and get a price range on queen-size mattresses. They are RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE. We will either get a cheap one at the... um... cheap mattress store, or get one from my aunt when she replaces hers. Of course, then I'll have to buy all new sheets. :p

We stopped at Bryon's parents' house to switch his dad's truck for the Jeep, to pick up some things, and to get my car. Then we came back, cleaned the tub (oh boy!), cooked ricotta and spinach tortellini which Bryon had meant to use for his weekend Scout campout that ended a day early (with no sauce), sat on the couch and played music off of Bryon's computer. It was nice. We did make some progress with the organizing, and I'm sure we'll make more tonight.

Bryon has Scouts tonight, so I'm meeting my mom at Barnes and Noble so we can hit Sam's Club. It's kind of amusing how now it's me who has the card and Mom is using me as her Sam's Club ticket. :D

This entry is way too long. I should write more often so I can break it up into smaller chunks. Hopefully soon I can post some pictures - gotta get an internet connection at home first. :)

Moving sucks.

Just a brief note - the kidlets only stayed two nights. I left for work the third morning and then when I came back for lunch, Bryon just said.... "No kidlets." How sad.

Sooo.... as it turns out, when I met with the landlord to sign the lease on Friday he gave me the key and told me I could start moving in any time - which meant, three days ahead of my schedule. Friday after dinner Mom and Dad and I loaded up my kitchen stuff, which was already packed from my major weed-through-re-pack-and-organize efforts of a few months ago. We headed over to the apartment. They hadn't seen it before, and frankly, it looked very different from my mental picture of it as well. I'd originally seen it more than a month ago, and with someone else's furniture in it. It's still nice though - there are really nice wood floors, a high ceiling in the living room, and the whole apartment is decently sized.

We spent Saturday moving another load of stuff over. The biggest aggravation on Saturday was the weather - lots of rain. We got everything into the apartment assembly-line fashion and I was able to put a few things away. On Sunday, we moved some of the medium-sized things like my rocking chair, desk and a bookshelf. The problem is, the two biggest items - my massive queen-size bed and my couch - are still in the basement. They're buried behind everything else, and will require using Bryon's Dad's truck to move (because it doesn't have a cap on it). The reason why this is such a big issue? I can't figure out where everything else goes without having those two items in there. It's a very touchy point. I *intended* to get them in there first - that was the whole idea. But rain and other factors made them the FINAL items instead, a mistake I won't make again. This whole weekend has been INCREDIBLY stressful - as Kim can attest I practically had a breakdown yesterday - partly because our original plan got so skewed. If I'd had the weekend to pack, organize and load up vehicles like we originally planned, I think the whole thing would have gone much smoother.

The whole thing has been an exercise in patience. I am excited about it, and I like the apartment despite its odd flaws (such as the midget sink in the bathroom and the lack of counterspace in the kitchen) and I am really enjoying trying to put it together. But this whole "take three days to move in" thing goes against my entire nature. Every move I've made before this, I've been able to move everything on one day so that I could just tackle the settling-in part, and here I feel like I'm making a mess and can't clean it up yet.

To top it off, the repair guy called today and informed me that he still has to glue the broken parts onto the fridge door with some super-evil epoxy... which means I can't use my fridge until tomorrow. Ugh.

Things will get better after today; the bed and couch are making their appearance and all will be well.

By the way, major thanks are owed to Kim for putting up with the two of us yesterday. Thanks hon. You deserve way more than us buying you dinner.

And Mom - despite sleeping like a Mexican jumping bean last night, I am feeling better this morning. Thank you for listening and for all your help moving.

Dad - just think, no more furniture to move after today!!

And Bryon - I love you. I think that about covers it.