Here We Go!

 I slept fairly well last night - except for Vincent The Purring Thing. He purrs for every occasion -sometimes the mere sight of you is enough to get him going. I think he was nervous so he kept snuggling and purring, me and Vincent on the blow up mattress. David called earlier to let me know that the couches we debated on and decided to keep, then he hauled all the way to WV will not fit through the 1930 doorways of our home. So he will now be hauling them down to Bubba Garage in an effort to get rid of them and we will be shopping for new furniture as soon as we get the chance. I am taking a break from shuffling everything down the stairs, you would think it was all mostly gone but when you put it in a pile it's awful - I despair just looking at it - and the cats will be occupying most of the back. The walk through is today at 3pm, then the closing is at 4, we will be glad to shut the door on this adventure. I'll be down there for a week then  will head up to LI for awhile, then back down the finish the house, then off to work. I'm glad I decided to a little more time off this time so I can devote my attention to the house and then will be able to go to work without feeling like I'm under the gun every day. I suppose I should get moving - this stuff isn't going to pack itself!

Wagons Ho!

 We were up well before dawn, I was told if I asked what we were going to do with the old mattress one more time my life was in danger and that was that. David finished packing out the truck and the U-haul trailer, I mopped and so forth and then off to work, David left with Pearl riding shotgun - a little anxious to get going. I headed off for my last day at work, tied up loose ends, updates, summaries. It was so hard saying goodbye to all my clients and their parents, the aides and the nurses. The office did a cake and gift certificate - not to mention a picture of the Creepy Baby - it's an office joke. It was difficult, the office is a lot of fun and everyone gets along - I'm really going to miss everyone a great deal.  It's hard to find a place to work that you enjoy. . So now - I wait. All the furniture is gone - I have a TV, blow up mattress, my laptop and ereader - and of course my knitting bag. I'm trying to convince Vincent not to prickle the blow up mattress with his claws - we'll all be sleeping on the floor!  I made my last visit out to see Jan at The Gentle Arts in Honesdale - I will miss her so! She gave me a lovely tee shirt as a going away present and a big hug. I bought the last of what I needed and that was it. Its very weird here and echos all over, I will be packing and off with the two cats in tow in the am. I called David who cut me short - fink. He's having dinner at the neighbor's house tonight,  he was quite delighted to be invited for a hot meal and company. So we're off to a good start, I've taken some time off this time around so I can make a quick trip to Long Island and then back to get settled in and acquainted with the neighbors. I'm so excited that I will NOT be missing the Buckwheat Festival again (although I did miss the Sheep and Wool Festival in Waynesburg not fair!) - but I wanted to take the time to really enjoy it this time around - to be able to explore around, go out to dinner with Binky, all that jazz. Off to bed early - I have lots to do tomorrow!

Run Away! Run Away!

We're getting down to it this morning - whatever we don't pack will be given away, whatever isn't given away will be thrown away. My closet holds enough clothes to get me through the week, we have enough food to make it  too. There are a few loose ends here and there, a few unexpected surprises like the fact that cable is coming Thursday MORNING not the afternoon and all the electronics need to front and center. So no one will be attending the closing now. David and Pearl will be slinging their way down Wednesday afternoon after the walk through and I will be following either that night or early the next morning, cats in tow. I've decided to join Weight Watchers after we are in the new house, I bought the cookbook yesterday but realized it was useless since I was perusing it while I snarfed down Ring Dings. David and I are trying desperately not to break the house, we are experts at that. We see something we think needs sprucing up and the next thing you know we have a major disaster on our hands. We did go out yesterday to Bethlehem in the morning just to do a few things and get away from it all, we did the yarn shop, Asian market, Wegmans ( we can't remember if there is a Wegmans near our new house so we stocked up on the stuff you can only get there). We went out to lunch - the people at the table behind us  had a Continuously Shrieking Child - of course they couldn't take it outside for a few minutes to calm down - they had to sit there and let us all enjoy the screaming. It did finally calm down - and then that moron who barely passed for a parent  thought he wasn't behaving and decided to discipline him! So back we went to the screaming ( I felt like turning around and giving HER a whack), sigh here. The waitress came back to get our plates and I asked for the bill. Now. She asked if we wanted dessert and one look at my face stopped that line of inquiry and the bill was on the table two seconds later. And yes I know children cry - my two certainly had their moments, but when they did that either David or I would take the offender outside and let them walk it off, then come back in when they could behave. It got the message across that we don't act like that in public and we didn't subject an entire room to our child.  I cannot stand a parent that will sit there expecting everyone to understand while their out of control child screams and carries on. A couple of minutes is understandable - this child shrieked, yelled, cried and whined for over 45 minutes while they just sat there - I was embarrassed for them. Arrgh. In other news I  am finally almost half way done with the sleeve for the sweater, then it' just one more sleeve, the collar and it's done. I might visit the yarn shop in Honesdale tomorrow - I will miss that place.

Lazy Sunday

 We have reached that point. David is currently back in WV with yet another load - the house is down to things we need to exist and just enough food to get by. David took a bag of stuff from the freezer too to transfer the fridge down there.  So the dog and I are just lazing the day away, I am outside reading, inside knitting. We had an two days of horrible drenching rain again - it comes down in buckets and torrents, sheets and so forth. It is so tiresome. I'm running out of things to do - well, interesting things to do. Stress of course is interesting, but loses it's novelty after awhile. And of course most of my yarn, all of my books, etc are stored in the WV house - shopping also has lost it's fun because anything I buy has to be packed and transported so it's pick it up, put it down. I did more packing yesterday, continued cleaning - scrubbed the fridge, mopped the floors. The closets are getting empty and I'm this close to living out a box. Tomorrow it starts in again with work and running - bank will be open, real estate will need answers,  off we go.  I cleaned up the yard some more today and did massive weed whacking - I love my weed whacker. It's such a fun gadget  with everything flying and being decimated - you feel like the Queen Of Destruction when you wield it, but this one is an electric one so my Path Of Desecration has a limited area.  Pearl is a pest because she does not like it (she would be a TERRIBLE Evil Minion, she flees at the first hint of trouble and will not come back for love or money. How embarrassing would that be when you're trying to vanquish your Arch Enemy and your minion is off, quivering under the bed. But I digress). so I have to leave the door open so she can go hide in the house until I unplug it.  I'm starting to tie up loose ends at work, saying good bye to my clients and their parents, they're interviewing for my position but I doubt it will take long to fill it. I straightened up my car today and only have one box of supplies to return, not bad. I'll start emptying my desk this week too - unbelievable that it's come up so fast! Like anything else you think you have all this time........ and it's gone in a blink.

Hello, hello hello............

 David has spent the day packing, so the house has developed that funny church-like echo effect. You speak in the kitchen in very low tones or it sounds like your talking through a bull horn. He's left most of the living room furniture, part of the entertainment system, more to do tomorrow. Then he's back to WV and our friend Tommy will be meeting him at the house to help unload. Then back up here for another round. We have so much to do, not a break in sight - we resume packing this weekend and  giving the house a final clean before the walk through, unless that falls through then it will be getting ready for renters. Work has been hilariously miserable - it's like every crazy situation has come to roost this past week, running does no good as they gave me a phone to be called on. David just yelled up the stairs that all the tests came back fine - septic, insect, radon - all passed. We also got confirmation that we will indeed have health insurance, the Underwriters God has smiled upon us mere mortals once again. Heard from Jackson, he's doing well despite the heat. He's made a few friends to hang around with and has discovered the local watering hole where you can order a sandwich and a beer.

So not much going on, plenty going on depending on your point of view. I started working on the sleeve of my blue sweater, I've hit the boring part of the work as it's the same pattern as the rest and after completing the front, then the back - it gets a bit wearisome. But i will soldier on so that way I can move on to other things.

Rolling Along

 I'm just posting random pictures that I happen to like - a little eclectic I suppose. Cats, dogs, outhouses, grave yards.......no end to my madness. David is busy trying to get us health insurance - since I'm going back to my old company we have to self insure for  a few months, how annoying. If you've never bought health insurance on your own you have no idea what a huge pain in the ass it is .  First David called, then filled out an application on line, then they called to discuss it, then back to online. They then announce it will have to go to The Underwriters and this is proclaimed in reverent tones. I imagine the underwriters are troll like creatures milling around the basement. When they receive your information, they dance a bit and then toss and read the chicken bones, then send their Evil Minions back up to call you and ask 45 more questions about the hysterectomy you had back in 99. They ask you very silly questions after making 110% sure you had a hysterectomy  by asking 14 or 15 hysterectomy related questions in an effort to trip you up - after asking a bunch of sneaky pete ovary related questions the Evil Minion  then  asked  are you peri-menopausal or post-menopausal - I vollied back I would need a uterus to be able to answer that question. And we've already established I don't have one.  I could feel his wee little brain mulling over that one and we moved on as there was no possible way to ask that question in a different manner. Then he was done and announced he was heading back to the Underwriters and I would Hear From Them Soon.  So here I wait for a yea or nay in that direction. If it is a nay then we'll have to COBRA which is a hateful thing, twice the cost and half the coverage.  David rented a U-Haul trailer today and he's taking most of our stuff down so we can finish off the house up here. We passed the inspection, haven't heard the appraisal and are still awaiting the Radon Testing which is something everyone worries about and no knows what it is or what it does. It's supposedly some sort of gas that leeches out of the rocks and if you have a certain amount of radon free floating around you need to get this swanky pump system that will pump the radon gas out and it will drift over and get the neighbors you don't like. Are you taking notes Donna? I'm not sure what the Radon Gas does, maybe it turns you into an Underwriter. But things are moving along, all of our possessions are flowing downstairs and collecting in the last room downstairs. The guest room is dismantled, most of the pots are packed. We don't have a closing date yet so that sort of drifts in the air, lala. lala. Vincent the cat seems to be noticing something is up, I bought a barrier for my car so the cats can ride free in the back, it's too hot to stuff them into carriers for such a long trip. I am getting so tired of waiting.

Two Weeks And Counting

 We really do have just a couple more weeks left in this house - that's it. It's compounded by the fact I only have the weekends to do the packing and final cleaning - a little bit of stress there. David will be hauling down the lion's share in the next week or so -the we'll be hanging out on the floor and trying to figure out what kinds of meals can be prepared with an 10 inch frying pan and a small pot. But it's all good of course. We have not gotten the appraisal or inspection results and most likely won't until next week - then we'll know if we're sellers or landlords. They left a Mystery Box downstairs to test the radon, we are supposed to keep the doors shut and no touching! Of course Claw The Antagonist was patting it with a nasty little cat paw this morning, such a trouble maker. I'm exhausted, hit the point of work where you just want to be done with it, a wall flower at a the prom. I'll miss my job and my co-workers, it's a great office and a great company to work for. But I'm going back to my old office and old friends so I guess it's an even trade off. Jackson has called a couple of nights running, he claims he's bored but I think he's just getting antsy, like us ready to move on. Not much else happening, the heat went down a bit - thankfully! so we are not just sitting around sweating in our underpants. I'm glad to have my ereader these days since all my books are down in WV already. I cringe at what the lawn must look like! But I am starting to get very excited, aren't you?

ACK! Who Turned On The Heat?

 We are rather charmingly, holed up in the bedroom with the air conditioner - the temps have soared into the mid-nineties so going outside will bake your butt! It's not too bad if you head down towards the trees and it is not as hot as town, so there is that. But summer is one of those oddities, you wait and wait for it to get here, the temps tease you endlessly and then WHAM you can't find your shorts quick enough. The house is being inspected tomorrow so David is dithering around and making everyone crazy - you can wind him up with a blink of an eye at this point. This morning he started in with Where Did That Stain In Front Of The Bathroom Door come from - I was on a different floor so I was rather hard pressed to answer that one.  I came up to investigate - it was not a leaking pipe or backup (the way he was carrying on I figured the ceiling would be buckling at any moment.......) - it seems someone needs to be a bit more careful while walking around with his coffee in the morning. After the stain was ID'd a little Resolve and a sponge and we could move on. Worst case scenario is the house will be rented for awhile - we're pretty jaded after our experience with The Freeloader - as far we know she took our money and is now cheating some other poor bastard with her sob stories, ratty children and of course "the fiancee" (also known as Who I'm Sleeping With This Week) - yes I still harbor a grudge, thank you for asking. But we learned our lesson and are smarter now - I can't imagine she'll ever amount to anything so we'll move it along. I'm this far from finishing the front part of the sweater, I'm starting the neck tonight and then the sleeves. Not sure what I'll be making next but I'll be using my new swanky yarn, you can be sure of that. And yes I did post a picture of our soon to be home - I can't stop looking at it!

Get A Move On

It's funny how no matter how much you look forward to something, there are always things that you will miss - even though you didn't think you would. When I was talking with someone about our imminent move they said all those memories - but we've only lived in this house for a year and a half so what memories? On the way home I was musing this - I had plenty of time since the Poe-Leese were sneaky pete hiding on 402 and I had to be all law-abiding - and there are things I will miss. I'll miss The Gentle Arts yarn shop in Honesdale and the owner Jan. When I'm in that area I always stop in - partly because the yarn is to die for and also to see the owner. She's someone that, if I lived closer, I would have definitely cultivated as a friend. She's one of those people you meet in life and when you go, you sort of feel like you missed the boat somehow - she's certainly someone who would never be less than interesting. I picked up that much talked about 3rd skein of yarn so I'll have more than enough to make a shawl - it's so lovely and perfect, isn't it? She also carries Knitpicks products so I got a couple more needles for my interchangeable  circular set. David and I are packing it up, we will hopefully be selling the house before we go, but if not we'll figure something out. We have traveled this road before, we know where turns and spills are - we hope. I'm hoping for no more surprises - I'll be starting back at Interim in August, doing the same thing I'm doing now but I'll be working with children and adults which will be a fun thing. I'll miss my current office a great deal, Bayada has been good to me.  I've started saying good bye to my clients and their aides, their nurses. The house is already starting to get that echo feeling, your voice booms in the kitchen. We're trying not to buy anymore food and to eat what we have - since David is going to be making a few trips he'll bring half the contents of the freezer down with him on his next trip. As much as I will miss some things here, I cannot wait to get back home.

Let The Countdown Begin

 For those of you not in the know - we are moving back to WV. Strangely enough no one seems surprised. Oh well. The work situation is much better for David down there and our cost of living will be less - this will be our last move as we are tired of packing up and going. It's no longer a fun thing and the stress has increased each time. The new house suits our tastes much better and it's smaller - more suited to two people. We'll still have a nice guest room and plenty of room to dork around around it, but the space will not be overwhelming or take two days to clean on a regular basis.We have started packing our things, sorting, donating, tossing out. David started making trips with our trailer so hopefully by the time we are ready to go, we will be mostly moved into the new house. He plans on renovating the bedroom upstairs first, then we'll work on the rest of it. Fortunately this time, it will all be cosmetic - no more rats, mice, cockroaches, cat pee, brambles, bats, wasps, whistling hot water heaters, hot pink paint, mice infested refrigerators or any of the other things that have plagued us through all the houses David has renovated - do you realize this will be our SIXTH house we've redone and moved into? No  more!  Stick a fork in me I'm done.  Liz was down to visit this weekend, she arrived Friday night and we barbecued. She brought wine so that made her the perfect house guest in our eyes. We did the outlets on Saturday, talking more than shopping and in the afternoon I taught her to cable - Liz enjoys knitting as much as the next guy. We went out to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner, Margarita for me of course, wine and beer for the rest of the hooligans. Liz took off this morning and we have been packing every  since. The second picture on the blog is a Dragon Fruit - I got it at the Asian market last week. I like to try new things and isn't it a pretty thing? Sadly it was a bit disappointing, the inside is white with little black seed and honestly it didn't have a whole lot of taste. It was sort of a spongy texture which made it completely unpleasant  - I was going to mash it and put in a smoothie but it had so many little black seeds i figured it would end up being really gritty. But you don't know if you don't try it so it wasn't a waste. So I decided to give it to the chipmunks, they seem to be an adventurous bunch and they do appreciate it! I've heard from Jackson, he's on the army base but they were able to get out and see a movie so he was feeling a bit better about things. We got the Small Pox Vaccine Report which he seems to enjoy updating us - he's doing well.  I continue on with the navy blue sweater, I'm almost done with the front, then it's the sleeves and I'm finished. I am still debating whether I should buy the third skein of the $24 yarn or not - I am leaning towards Yes because once we move the opportunity will be lost. On the other hand if I didn't, I could simply find a pattern that used the amount of yarn I already have thus avoiding adding yet another skein to the pile. Decisions, decisions.