I totally forgot to do anything on facebook yesterday, which I guess means my giving it up for lent really served its purpose. And I didn't twitter all day either, except to say "I'm back!"
Easter was fun, with probably my favorite parts being singing the Halleluja Chorus (always makes me cry a little, in a good way), and getting to play in the bell choir. When I get subbed in at the last minute before a concert, I get all the reward of a couple of challenging rehearsals and then a performance, with none of the bad feelings associated with going to practice every single week. When I was in bell choir for real, it meant two nights a week at church, and it was just too much for me.
Saturday since it was raining, I was going to make us work on the basement and getting everything organized and packed down there, but was easily swayed by Paul when he suggested going to Ikea instead. We had so much fun! We didn't spend any money, we found a couch we both really love that we think will be perfect for our new living room, we got tons of other ideas, and the icing on the cake: Paul remembered a bunch of leftover hardware from our kitchen cabinets, which he brought along to return, so not only did we not buy anything but we walked out with a nice chunk of store credit! If we buy the couch we want, it equates to about a 13% discount on the couch!
When we got home Saturday, I got bitten by the domestic bug and proceeded to bake a cake I've been wanting to try (Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Lemon Glaze and Crushed Blueberry Sauce - Paul loved it even more than I did), and also hardboiled and colored the 10 eggs we had left in our fridge. Of course, then I basically forgot about the eggs, and have yet to eat one. I might just make egg salad out of them, otherwise I'm afraid I'll never use them.
I also need to post pictures of my getting-close-to-finished first-ever sweater. Last night I finished the second sleeve and attached both sleeves to the body in-the-round, so now I'm ready to do the raglan shaping decrease rounds, then the neckline, then sew up the few small seems and fix a couple of holes and it's done! Now I just need to find a toddler to wear it. Anyone have a toddler who would fit into a sweater with a 26" chest size?
Next up: Kelly's baby sweater, interspersed with as many wool soakers as I can finish.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Thursday, April 09, 2009
More proof that I love Margaritas and Camp Nawakwa
I still don't remember it, but Tom R and, I assume, Marilyn D have managed to dig up the "contract" Marilyn told me existed. I didn't believe her, and I still don't remember it, but that is definitely my signature, so it must be true...I whited out my last name for purposes of internet posting. Tom posted this on facebook earlier this week, but since it's still Lent I had to have Paul e-mail me a copy so I could see it:
Meredith will live in a hole in Swamp for FCI [signed] Meredith [dated] 11/10/2008 Paul: Maintenence [sic] Shed
I registered for Family Camp I earlier this week, which I'm guessing is what prompted them find this up and post it. I just hope they don't charge me full price for sleeping in a hole in the swamp...maybe they'll let me crawl in with Paul in the maintenance shed if it does rain.
Of course, I suppose a hole in a swamp would be filled with water anyway, so maybe the rain won't even matter.
I can't believe they kept track of a napkin for this long. I'm impressed.
Meredith will live in a hole in Swamp for FCI [signed] Meredith [dated] 11/10/2008 Paul: Maintenence [sic] Shed
I registered for Family Camp I earlier this week, which I'm guessing is what prompted them find this up and post it. I just hope they don't charge me full price for sleeping in a hole in the swamp...maybe they'll let me crawl in with Paul in the maintenance shed if it does rain.
Of course, I suppose a hole in a swamp would be filled with water anyway, so maybe the rain won't even matter.
I can't believe they kept track of a napkin for this long. I'm impressed.
Monday, April 06, 2009
6 more days
until Lent is over and I can go back to facebook and twitter. I haven't missed them nearly as much as I thought I would. I have missed facebook, and have heard of a few juicy tidbits from people that I wish I could rush online and check out for myself, but it will all still be there next week. Twitter I think I'll cut back on and mostly just use to update my facebook status.
I'm back at work today, but starting light with a couple of hours out over lunch today to see my grandfather get married. That should be really fun. I'm wearing my dark-blue-with-creamy-white-flowers Easter dress at work today as a result, which is really no fun in the rain and I almost forgot how much I hate wearing nylons, but it's OK because I look cute.
David Sedaris was so much fun to see live in Frederick on Saturday, and before that a fun lunch with Kelly P and Luke and Matt P, followed by a very successful shopping trip to the Gettysburg outlets - two perfect summery cotton cardigans and two pairs of pants at the Gap outlet, plus a new pair of sandals that are super cute.
Got up at 6:45 this morning with no problems, so I'm hoping my energy feeding off of preparations for moving in less than 2 months will follow through and start getting me into work at 8 AM regularly, so that I can get home earlier to continue preliminary packing and (more importantly) knitting for all my pregnant friends. I finally started the second sleeve of my first-ever sweater, so I want to get that all finished, and then I have my yarn for Kelly's baby sweater, plus I still want to finish a few baby toys and diaper covers to use up some of the Paton's Classic Wool yarn I have.
Making that big donation to Salvation Army on Saturday morning felt great. I hope some 12-year-old girl really loves the size 4 pink courderoy pants I barely wore, and my favorite-ever jean shorts with the little embroidered sunflowers.
I'm back at work today, but starting light with a couple of hours out over lunch today to see my grandfather get married. That should be really fun. I'm wearing my dark-blue-with-creamy-white-flowers Easter dress at work today as a result, which is really no fun in the rain and I almost forgot how much I hate wearing nylons, but it's OK because I look cute.
David Sedaris was so much fun to see live in Frederick on Saturday, and before that a fun lunch with Kelly P and Luke and Matt P, followed by a very successful shopping trip to the Gettysburg outlets - two perfect summery cotton cardigans and two pairs of pants at the Gap outlet, plus a new pair of sandals that are super cute.
Got up at 6:45 this morning with no problems, so I'm hoping my energy feeding off of preparations for moving in less than 2 months will follow through and start getting me into work at 8 AM regularly, so that I can get home earlier to continue preliminary packing and (more importantly) knitting for all my pregnant friends. I finally started the second sleeve of my first-ever sweater, so I want to get that all finished, and then I have my yarn for Kelly's baby sweater, plus I still want to finish a few baby toys and diaper covers to use up some of the Paton's Classic Wool yarn I have.
Making that big donation to Salvation Army on Saturday morning felt great. I hope some 12-year-old girl really loves the size 4 pink courderoy pants I barely wore, and my favorite-ever jean shorts with the little embroidered sunflowers.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Haven't had time
Sorry I haven't delivered on the video of the inside of our house. I haven't had time to edit it down to an internet-friendly size yet. In the mean time, here are a few pictures of the outside:
Yesterday I got most of the way done with the basement, altho it still looks like a mess. But now that I'm so far in, I'm more enthusiastic to keep going - it makes the moving seem more real.
Paul went to the gym after work, so I had a little longer to keep working. Since I had off all week but we didn't do anything vacation-y, we decided to go out to dinner last night, and to kick the evening off right, Paul brought home three yellow roses for me! He had them sitting on the kitchen table in my favorite vase when I came up from the basement.
He also got me a new faceplate and mouse pad for my iBook, which is getting up there in years for a notebook computer, and has been having keyboard quirks for quite a while now. For instance, the Q key is overly sensitive: both times I've used it in this paragraph, it's typed two. The zero key is the same way. And then last week the mouse button stopped working reliably. What Paul bought won't replace the keyboard, but it will replace everything else visible, and it will give us a chance to pull of the keyboard and clean it, so hopefully it will solve all the problems. The only other thing that might be a problem soon is the optical drive, but that doesn't even matter - I rarely use it, and if I needed to get information off of this computer I can always use the USB ports and our external hard drive, and transfer it to Paul's computer if I needed to burn a disc.
Also yesterday the yarn I ordered came in the mail! It's so soft. I got a rich, dark brown for the body, and a lovely, muted green for the trim. I'm going to make a cardigan, so the green will be at the edges of the sleeves as well as around the bottom and up the front and for the neckline. So exciting! And before too long, I will get to meet Baby Prep and hold her and have a picture of her wearing the sweater I made. That will be so amazing.
Today we're headed to Salvation Army this morning to make a big drop-off of lots of old clothing, a few blankets, and more than ten pairs of my old shoes. That means I can officially buy a pair of cute sandals this afternoon if I see anything good! And I have Paul's express permission, because I've met his one criteria for buying shoes: get rid of a pair that I already have. So actually, by his requirement, I could theoretically buy ten pairs of shoes today...but I won't. Maybe two pairs if there are cute sandals AND cute ballet flats.
After Salvo and smoothies from the Lemoyne Farmer's Market, we head down to Gettysburg to Kelly's in-laws for a breakfast party for the first day of trout season. Since we're not coming home afterwards we won't be trying to catch any trout, but it will still be fun. I can't wait to see her belly!
Then in the afternoon we will head over to the Gettysburg Outlets, where I will look for some khaki pants, cardigans, and those cute sandals to show off my newly-painted toenails. Then before 5:00 my parents will meet us in the parking lot and we'll hop in with them to head down to Frederick, MD for dinner and to see David Sedaris! Should be a really fun day. Hannah and her friend Carl will be there too, but she's driving separately so she can go pick Carl up from the Northernmost Metro station, since he lives in DC.
Tomorrow afternoon: more basement cleaning, and hopefully getting close to finishing my first trial-run sweater. And maybe trying out the salmon with rice salad I was thinking about last week.
Yesterday I got most of the way done with the basement, altho it still looks like a mess. But now that I'm so far in, I'm more enthusiastic to keep going - it makes the moving seem more real.
Paul went to the gym after work, so I had a little longer to keep working. Since I had off all week but we didn't do anything vacation-y, we decided to go out to dinner last night, and to kick the evening off right, Paul brought home three yellow roses for me! He had them sitting on the kitchen table in my favorite vase when I came up from the basement.
He also got me a new faceplate and mouse pad for my iBook, which is getting up there in years for a notebook computer, and has been having keyboard quirks for quite a while now. For instance, the Q key is overly sensitive: both times I've used it in this paragraph, it's typed two. The zero key is the same way. And then last week the mouse button stopped working reliably. What Paul bought won't replace the keyboard, but it will replace everything else visible, and it will give us a chance to pull of the keyboard and clean it, so hopefully it will solve all the problems. The only other thing that might be a problem soon is the optical drive, but that doesn't even matter - I rarely use it, and if I needed to get information off of this computer I can always use the USB ports and our external hard drive, and transfer it to Paul's computer if I needed to burn a disc.
Also yesterday the yarn I ordered came in the mail! It's so soft. I got a rich, dark brown for the body, and a lovely, muted green for the trim. I'm going to make a cardigan, so the green will be at the edges of the sleeves as well as around the bottom and up the front and for the neckline. So exciting! And before too long, I will get to meet Baby Prep and hold her and have a picture of her wearing the sweater I made. That will be so amazing.
Today we're headed to Salvation Army this morning to make a big drop-off of lots of old clothing, a few blankets, and more than ten pairs of my old shoes. That means I can officially buy a pair of cute sandals this afternoon if I see anything good! And I have Paul's express permission, because I've met his one criteria for buying shoes: get rid of a pair that I already have. So actually, by his requirement, I could theoretically buy ten pairs of shoes today...but I won't. Maybe two pairs if there are cute sandals AND cute ballet flats.
After Salvo and smoothies from the Lemoyne Farmer's Market, we head down to Gettysburg to Kelly's in-laws for a breakfast party for the first day of trout season. Since we're not coming home afterwards we won't be trying to catch any trout, but it will still be fun. I can't wait to see her belly!
Then in the afternoon we will head over to the Gettysburg Outlets, where I will look for some khaki pants, cardigans, and those cute sandals to show off my newly-painted toenails. Then before 5:00 my parents will meet us in the parking lot and we'll hop in with them to head down to Frederick, MD for dinner and to see David Sedaris! Should be a really fun day. Hannah and her friend Carl will be there too, but she's driving separately so she can go pick Carl up from the Northernmost Metro station, since he lives in DC.
Tomorrow afternoon: more basement cleaning, and hopefully getting close to finishing my first trial-run sweater. And maybe trying out the salmon with rice salad I was thinking about last week.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Inspected
The home inspection went very well, and we really liked the guy that did it. He's in business for himself, and also is an electrician and does a lot of other home repair. He did a great job.
We'll be asking the current owner to install GFI plugs in the kitchen and bathrooms to make our home compliant for the FHA assessment, and there is also a secondary electrical panel in the basement that has a major recall and needs to be replaced.
The only other issue is radon. We're going to have to shell out around $800 for a mitigation system, so I've been reading up about it online. We're going to ask the current owner to share the cost with us, so hopefully that will help.
Other than that, the home inspector said our house was "immaculate" and was really impressed! He even gave us some good tips for stripping the wallpaper. So we're feeling happier than ever about our new home!
I've been continuing to think about what colors to paint, and have even been reading some design blogs, like this one that my cousin Katy recommended.
I took some pictures of the outside and a video tour of the inside, so I'll post those this evening hopefully. I think the video might be too long to post all at once, so I have to figure out how to split it up. But once it's up, I'm open to any and all decorating suggestions! I just want to get rid of the wallpaper!!
We'll be asking the current owner to install GFI plugs in the kitchen and bathrooms to make our home compliant for the FHA assessment, and there is also a secondary electrical panel in the basement that has a major recall and needs to be replaced.
The only other issue is radon. We're going to have to shell out around $800 for a mitigation system, so I've been reading up about it online. We're going to ask the current owner to share the cost with us, so hopefully that will help.
Other than that, the home inspector said our house was "immaculate" and was really impressed! He even gave us some good tips for stripping the wallpaper. So we're feeling happier than ever about our new home!
I've been continuing to think about what colors to paint, and have even been reading some design blogs, like this one that my cousin Katy recommended.
I took some pictures of the outside and a video tour of the inside, so I'll post those this evening hopefully. I think the video might be too long to post all at once, so I have to figure out how to split it up. But once it's up, I'm open to any and all decorating suggestions! I just want to get rid of the wallpaper!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)