The consequences of loving to travel

That's what I'm suffering today.  Even though it's New Year's Eve and typically I take this day off with my Christmas holiday, today I am here at work.  It is dead quiet.  The sole reason I'm here is that for the first time I can remember I have used all my vacation time before the end of the year.  Oh I get close always, but this year there wasn't a drop left in the bucket, so to speak.  The good news is that we'll be closing up early, so I'll have time to get home and get ready for the party I'm attending tonight.  It's not dressy, which is good news.

I couldn't seem to catch up on my sleep while in California.  On alternate nights my sister and I would stay up late - late as in 4 am.  And then the next day sleep the morning away.   She had to go in to work the day after Christmas and I stayed home and got lots of good knitting done on the lace blouse.  That was the first knitting I had done for ages and ages and it was wonderful.  It is going to be quite the garment.  Since it's being done with an angora blend yarn, the fuzz factor is huge.  I have no idea what I'll wear it with, but hopefully I can find something that won't attract too much fuzz.

The weather was quite chilly for what I am used to when I visit, but I didn't mind too much.  It was an excuse (reason) to keep a fire burning which made it quite festive.  And during the days it was mostly sunny.  We got out for a day in Chinatown and Little Tokyo.  Did a little shopping (big surprise), although because of my current lack of closet space, I only purchased an accessory. 

I didn't get home until late Saturday night and yesterday was spent watching football -- the Seahawks are in the playoffs!  I will be getting the Christmas tree out of my teensie living room on Tuesday, then I'll hang the pictures.  I spent a little time yesterday deciding where I wanted them to go.  I still love my new apartment and I will love it even more when I get rid of the two wall units and my dresser.  I have chosen a glass TV wall unit that will open up that space a little more and for the bedroom a white chest for my clothes and a small glass shelf unit for my yarn and needles.  Hopefully I can get those in the next week or so.  And I have a friend to store a few more things out of my hall closet to open up a bit of wiggle room there so I don't have to curse the laundry basket when I try to open the doors for the washer and dryer.  And ... horror ... I must purchase a mop.  My other apartment, while full of storage, had very small bathrooms and kitchen and I could, and did, wash the floors on my hands and knees with a spray bottle of cleaner and paper towels.  Really small.  This place has much larger kitchen and bathroom floors that are going to require mopping.  So it's not there yet, but still it's very comfortable.

I must wake up.  Time for a second cup of tea.  Happy New Year!

Lost and Found

As much as I hate packing for a move, there is an up side.  That's finding lost treasures. A few months ago I was lamenting the fact that I must have donated my awesome BCBG boots, because I couldn't find them anywhere.  It was surprising, since I loved them and couldn't imagine getting rid of them.  But when I was packing I found them at the bottom of a box in my storage closet.  Evidently when I first moved in I left them in the box with other odds and ends because it was springtime and I wouldn't be needing them.  And then I forgot about it.  So yay me!  I love these boots.   Although with the super high heel it was a bit dicey walking Tink and getting to the bus.  It's a little slick out there.  No rain though.

As much as I wanted to empty that last box and put away things into my bathroom cupboard, I had to get a few presents purchased and a few wrapped.  The convenience of being able to just walk to the mall is fabulous.  No parking hassles.  Just cross the street.  I did quite well, met my goals and was able to relax around 7:30.  Unfortunately, I wanted to relax in front of the TV and it wouldn't go on!  The television would, but I couldn't get the cable box to work.  After a telephone call to the cable company I figured it out.  There is an outlet that is controlled by a switch and guess which outlet the TV is plugged into?  Yup.  I know -- don't say it.  Move the plug to another outlet.  But because of the wall unit's placement, that is much easier said than done.  So for now I'll just have to be sure to keep that switch in the on position.  Once that was sorted I fixed some dinner and watched a silly movie.  I wanted to knit but I don't quite have myself set up for that yet, lighting-wise.  I'm getting there slowly.  I think once the dining chairs are gone to Goodwill and I have my little storage bench and ottoman I'll feel better, because there will be just that much less clutter around.

I forgot to check my channel line up for the Husky bowl game tomorrow.  I'll have to do that tonight, because if I don't get that channel in my new set up then I'm going to have to plan on going somewhere to watch it tomorrow.  Probably the Ram.  It's fun to watch football there with all the other fans.  It's almost like going to the game.  But since this one is in Las Vegas ....  And then the Seahawks on Sunday night.  That is going to be a fantastic game.  Since they've put more than 50 points on their last two opponents, and  San Francisco is also doing well, it is getting a lot of hype with the playoffs coming up.  Very exciting weekend.

Foiled by the rain

Oh my - is it ever raining -- still.  I was hoping to be able to get rid of the two chairs to the donation station set up at the mall, but the rain made it impossible.  Also impossible to get a Christmas tree.  I have carved out a little spot for a small tree but I didn't want to be hauling a wet tree into my apartment so that'll have to wait for the weekend.  It is supposed to stop raining soon.  But rain or shine, I MUST finish my Christmas shopping tonight.  I just have a couple of things to pick up at Nordstrom and then a quick trip to Barnes and Noble and that should do it.  I'll pick up some wrapping paper as well and get started on that tonight, hopefully.  I was thinking ahead and all of the gifts I bought while I was on my November trip were small and thus easily packed into the bottom of my suitcase.  Then when I get to my sister's I can put the ribbons on them. 

It is very difficult to be at work this week.  I don't have anything that's urgent and therefore I have a hard time buckling down to do any real work.  I'd rather be home finishing my apartment.  There's not much left for me to do until I can get new furniture for the bedroom, and that's going to have to wait until January.  My artwork is stacked up in the bedroom against the walls, making it even harder to get around.  But I don't want to hang anything until I see how much wall space I'm going to be opening up in the bedroom.  Maybe I should re-think that.  I could probably get a good bit of it up in the living area and the hallway and that would in turn open up more room in the bedroom.  But I honestly don't think I'll be able to fit it in this weekend.  I'll be getting home late tomorrow, and Saturday is the Husky bowl game and Sunday I'll be getting packed to leave on Monday.  So I'm going to have to just relax about it and try to enjoy the holiday.

I found out this morning that one of my neighbors - I can't tell if it's upstairs or downstairs - gets up at the same time I do.  Their alarm went off at exactly the same time and it sounded like vibration, so I am guessing it's an iPhone too.  But that's all I heard, as if the phone were on the floor or against the wall.  This apartment building reminds of me of a nice hotel.  When you go out your door the hallway is quiet and the door makes a nice click when it closes.

I thoroughly enjoyed noon knitting yesterday, even though I only did a couple of rows on the Argosy wrap.  I'm going to take the lace blouse with me when I go to California.  I am hoping I can get a few quiet times for some nice, relaxing lace knitting.  And just in case, I'll get a pair of socks on the needles for TV time.  Kelli always watches the most inane shows.  At least I can have my hands busy.

Is it rain? Is it snow?

It's a mess, that's for sure!  I didn't wake up until 7 this morning -- forgot to turn on my iPhone alarm last night -- and I could hear the rain.  But when I walked out the door of the building with Tink I could see it was snow as well.  It's just over freezing, thank goodness, or it would be all snow. 

Tuesday kind of disappeared.  I wasn't feeling terrific on Monday and blamed it on being overly tired, but it became increasingly clearer Monday night that it was a little bug, so I stayed home yesterday.  By mid-afternoon I was feeling good enough to work more on re-arranging my place.  The kitchen and living area is now done.  And I combed through my closet Monday night and took another bag of shoes and three more bags of clothes down to the donation bin that is so handily located in our recycle room.  So now my closet is lean, baby.  If I buy anything I have to throw something else out.  No more junk in my closet.  It feels pretty darned good, actually. 

I have two dining room chairs - one I use for my desk and the other sitting behind the table.  So if I have company for dinner there is a chair.  I don't have any room for the other two chairs.  I refuse to be tiptoeing around my own living space.  Just because it's small doesn't mean it has to be cluttered.  So they need to be taken to the Goodwill bin.  The bathroom will be finished tonight.  As soon as the little cupboard is bolted to the wall I can finish putting away the rest of the bathroom things.  That leaves the bedroom. I was WAY off on how that could work.   A couple of smaller pieces of furniture in there will make a world of difference. 

I just love the building so much!  Everything is super clean, the tenants are extremely nice, and there are breed restrictions, so no aggressive dogs are allowed.  No Pit Bulls, no German Shepherds, no Rottweilers and ... oh, one other one I can't remember.  And quiet?  Oh heavens ... it is so quiet.  The only noise I heard yesterday was the maintenance man vacuuming the halls.  Tink has a nice long hallway to chase her ball in, and she seems to like the paths round the creek.  I am happy happy happy!!

And now Christmas is looming.  I haven't finished my shopping, nor have I wrapped and mailed gifts to California, so I guess I'm going to have to put them in my suitcase.  It's getting a little late.  Maybe if I wrapped them tonight I could get them sent tomorrow .... I'll see. 

Noon knitting today.  How long has it been since I've run?  Too long.  Hopefully I can do it tomorrow and Friday before my week of sloth in California. 

Chaos

Oh what a weekend.  I am exhausted!  But I'm moved in, and that's all that counts.  The weather was, as predicted, wet but at least it wasn't pouring.  It was raining hard a lot of the time though, which made things all that much more unpleasant.  I had 5 men and a woman plus myself, and two trucks, a trailer and a station wagon.  With all of the purging I had done I was thinking one load, maybe another small-ish one.  Hah!  Two full loads and a third small one.  Unbelievable how much stuff was packed into that apartment.  Which seemed even smaller than I had remembered.  We got it all loaded up and had something to eat (the BEST hamburgers I've had in ages!) by 3.  Then I had to clean up the little things and vacuum and turn in my keys at the old place.  And then back to my new place where I got a gorgeous bouquet of flowers!  Just what I needed to keep me smiling. 

Tink had been very good all day and so I had to take her for a nice walk before I started to dig into the boxes.  I had cleaned out my fridge last thing at the old place and I had two boxes of food, one of them frozen, to get into the refrigerator.  Unfortunately the entire floor of the kitchen and the counters was stacked with boxes.  It was a puzzle shifting things around and unloading what I could to make room so I could open the (small) fridge.  I worked and worked and worked and then wanted to take some recycle out to the recycle room but I couldn't get into it.  I found out the next day I was trying to get into the wrong room.  I fell into bed without having found my clothes.  Not my hanging ones - they have taken up the ENTIRE closet, but my socks and underwear.  I had to put on my same clothes yesterday because I still couldn't find the box.  Of course, it was one of the last ones I found.

By five o'clock yesterday I had all of the boxes unpacked and I came to realize, as I was putting things away, that I hadn't gotten rid of enough stuff.  As I was putting dishes away I was throwing almost as many away.  Seriously - do I need place settings for 12.  No, I do not.  I picked my favorite colors of the fiesta ware and the rest - bye bye.  While the floor space in this new kitchen is twice as large as the old place, the cupboard space is not, nor is the fridge.  But I will make do.  As I was putting away the silverware and utensils, I made a discovery - there were no utensils.  Now I am one of those people who always goes twice around a hotel room to make sure I haven't left anything but I did not do that at the apartment and found that I had forgotten the entire drawer of utensils and all of the baking sheets.  Oh well -- at least I didn't own any really expensive knives.

I had to get rid of my comfy chair and ottoman.  There is no way I could fit that into my new place and have a speck of room for anything else.  So I put it on Craigslist for free and it was gone by 7:30 last night.  Now tonight I have to throw away even more clothes and shoes.   I thought I had been thorough but I need more room.  And in my bedroom I have to get a different dresser, because I can't open the bottom drawers.  Also I can't have the wall unit in there so that's going to have to go as well.  But it can wait until I get back from California.  I have plenty of fiddling around to do this week and I can get those things out of there last.

So - do I love my new place even though it's chaotic right now?  Yes indeed.  It is an awesome little village.  So far I've eaten at the Thai restaurant and that's outstanding.  And the burger place is equally outstanding.  The creek walk is gorgeous and full of beautiful art.  The transit center is a 3 minute walk - not a fast walk - from my apartment.  It is clean and quiet - I couldn't hear any traffic.  I am going to be very happy there.  Now I need to make it through this week so I can go to California for Christmas a rest.  I know I will want to keep fine tuning every evening.  I want it to be perfect, but it's going to take a few weeks.  But I am happy happy happy!

In case it's not been obvious ....

I am beyond excited to be moving out of this apartment.  I think the only other time I have been this enthused about moving was when I was going to Paris for six months.  I am beyond over this apartment complex.  This morning when I took Tink for her walk there was dog urine on the elevator floor!  Last night when I took out some garbage the entrance to the garbage enclosure was mostly blocked by a mattress and box springs.  I had to push them over in order to get through!  PIGS!!  There will be none of that nonsense at my new place.  There are little rooms with garbage shoots - recycle and garbage.  There is no way to dump furniture.

I brought a HUGE bag of hand knit sweaters in with me this morning.  My friend Peggy has volunteered to keep them for me until the knitters retreat next October, when I will take them to sell or trade.  She says it's a very popular thing to do there.  I would hate to toss them after all that work.  But here's what I learned - I don't wear bulky sweaters, no matter how gorgeous the yarn.  I don't wear many pullovers at all.  I kept three cardigans out of the 10 or eleven things I brought.  Thankfully I quit using bulky yarn long ago or I would have had even more.

Today is the last final for the students before they head off for the Christmas holiday and I am administering it in 30 minutes.   Then it'll be a short day for me.  I've got the kitchen to pack up tonight and the bathroom and my clothes.  It'll be easy, but might take a few hours.  Can you believe I packed up all my stuff from my big house in only two days, by myself?  It was difficult, I will say.  But I was terribly motivated.  It's much nicer to take my time, a few hours a day.  I think that's another reason it'll be nice to get out of this place.  It represents my flight.  This next place will represent my calm, fun life.

Double whammy

Sometimes I hate riding the bus.  Well ... I almost always hate riding the bus, but sometimes I hate it even more.  Yesterday on the way home I was assaulted by two loud phone talkers.  One guy sitting right across from me had been doing the same thing the day before, which is speaking WAY too loudly.  To make matters worse it was in a foreign tongue, so I couldn't even understand it.  [Joke - like "The food was terrible.  And such small portions".]  And last night to add insult to injury there was a woman sitting right behind me who came on the bus with her phone and talked nonstop, in a loud voice of course, for her entire ride.  That was two stops before mine so I got to enjoy her babble for quite a while.  I had my ear buds in, of course, but even with the sound cranked I couldn't help but have to hear about her social life.  Maybe it's time to invest in some noise cancelling headphones?

I needed some knitting therapy after that nonsense, but it wasn't meant to be.  I had too much to do at home.  Oh and I was so very very tired.  I had a shower and that perked me up somewhat and I made another push before I put down the tape gun and made a nice dinner.  Then it was a quiet hour relaxing with some stupid TV and I was out like a light.  I've pretty much done all of the time consuming packing - the delicate and fragile things that much be wrapped.  I've got a few last dishes and then the rest of the things I've left to pack are easy, just throw them in a box type of things.  I'm pretty proud of myself, actually.  I don't feel panicked at all.  I've got 5 guys and another woman to help with the move Saturday and it is going to be considerably less stuff than I moved out of my house.  Even if it's raining, which it is pretty likely to be, the load in will be under cover because there is a garage at my new place.  Only a few more nights of freeway noise as my lullaby.

I am SO sleepy!

Here it is coming up to the shortest day of the year, so it is dark here in Seattle.  Add to that the clouds and it seems that it hasn't been really light for days!  I've been staying up later than usual as well, since I'm packing.  It has really caught up with me today.  I can barely keep my eyes open!

I had another great evening, making lots and lots of progress with the packing.  Also getting rid of things.  Yesterday my coffee table went, and the sewing machine as well as the small bookcase in my bedroom and lots and lots of yarn to a very sweet girl who will certainly be enjoying it.  The person who had wanted to buy one of the larger bookcases Monday was supposed to come back last night, but did not.  I need to re-do my flier today.  I forgot to add the microwave and a few other things, plus I've got to take the free stuff off so people will stop calling.

I stopped around 8 and finally figured out the problem with the Argosy wrap and got back on track there.  I only have one more 8 row repeat and then it's the final part.  Oh I will be so glad to be done with that thing!  Then I can work on the lace blouse after I get moved.

No running today - it's Wednesday and I'd rather be knitting at noon, but instead it's the departmental holiday party.  It seems kind of early, but I think there are several vacations planned for next week.

I finished my last time travel audio book yesterday.  I have to say I was very disappointed in her last books.  Actually none of the other three were anywhere near as good as the first one.  They got a little romance-y and rather heavy handed as well.  But I stuck with it.  Now I think I'll get the new Tom Wolfe.

Autopilot

We are all such creatures of habit, and I don't usually mind.  It's what keeps me from forgetting my keys and things like that.  Other times it's not such a good thing.  I brought my running clothes home with me last night to wash them since I had forgotten them on Friday and I had run in them Monday.   I did my laundry and, as I usually do, separated the running clothes out from the other clothes and put them into a bag to bring to work.  And this morning I even added a couple of pairs of socks and my running bra, so it was in my mind to take that bag.  But when I got back from walking Tink I just grabbed my purse and headed out to the bus stop.  It wasn't until I was on the bus that I realized that I hadn't brought my running clothes with me!  Arghgh!  And I had had such a good run yesterday.  I was really looking forward to my run this afternoon.  Now I'm going t have to settle for a walk instead.  Yes, I do have my running shorts and a shirt here, socks and shoes, but not my one crucial piece of gear. 

Yesterday evening was super busy.  While I was doing laundry I was packing and I got so much done!  Also, I had put up notices that I was getting rid of some things and I had people coming by to take a look at bookcases and things like that.  One of my favorite tenants came by - a beautiful young mother and her three children.  They are adorable but oh my goodness, they were like little destructive tornadoes!  The little boy, who is 2, was a terror.  I caught him putting handfuls of Tink's food into her water dish, and then I caught him with her food, sprinkling red pepper flakes into it!  The pepper had been on the counter - I wouldn't even have thought he could see it let alone grab it.  I had put on the flyer that I had some yarn I wanted to give away and she was interested in that.  She is going to take it all - the two crates in my storage closet and the two big bags of odds and ends I culled from my yarn shelf!  I am so happy to be able to help her out and get rid of the stuff as well.  She's also taking one short bookcase and I had another couple people say they were interested in the other larger ones.  Good!  The less I have to actually dump, the better.

I worked for 3 hours solid and then collapsed and had a bite to eat and watched some silly TV.  Tonight after I'm done with my 3 (or so) hours I'd like to figure out what I did with the Argosy wrap and get that  row finished.  Then I'm going to have to put the knitting away until after I get moved and unpacked.  I hate living in disarray, but it can't be helped when you're packing everything up.  And it's only for a few more days. 

Work work work

I am just astonished at how much I have taken out of that apartment this weekend.  It's crazy!  On Saturday I took 13 large bags of books to the used book store to sell.  This time I had things they wanted and I actually got some money for them.  It took the sorters more than an hour to go through it all.  And before that I took bags and bags of clothing and shoes to the donation site.  I would have thought that the apartment would feel empty after that purge but ... no.  On Sunday I took some larger things - an entire pick-up truck bed worth - to a friend's for temporary storage.  Things like my golf clubs and skis, boxes of Christmas ornaments, a card table and chairs ....  I don't know what all.  And then in the evening I cleaned out cupboards and closets and took four more bags down to the trash.  It is so liberating to be rid of all this stuff! 

While I was poking around through my storage closet boxes I found two large plastic crates of knitting stuff -  finished products and yarn.  That is in addition to the baskets and bags of odds and ends that I must purge myself of that are on the shelf and in my office.  I will enlist the help of my knitting lady friends.  I really don't want to toss this stuff in the garbage but it is difficult for me to get it to a donation site during the week.

I had one last chance to make it to the fantasy football playoffs.  I thought last week was it, but  no I had another chance.  I did set my lineup even though I didn't think I was in the running but I got just crushed and I don't think I could have done anything better had I known I was in the running.  The Seahawks were absolutely unstoppable this weekend against Arizona and the defense got my opponent 41 points!  Forty-one!!  My defense got my 4 points, I had one player out completely and two others that barely scored anything.  I was soundly trounced.  I do have Tom Brady tonight but I don't think even Tom can help me.  I am out.  Ah well -- I shall set my sights on next year.

It's hard to get to work when I would much rather be at home packing but there's nothing for it so I'd better dig in.

Just a little more

I actually got into packing boxes last night.  Well ... I got one box all packed and it was a time consuming one so I felt pretty good about my accomplishment.  This weekend is necessarily going to be the big push.  I find it very difficult to really get down to business when there is so much that needs to be gotten out of the place first.  My office is full of boxes and bags that need to be donated.  And once they are out of there then I'll be able to make more progress plus have a place to store the packed boxes.

My hard work was rewarded with some relaxing knitting.  I was doing quite well until I got interrupted with a phone call and when I got back I might have started going the wrong way.  You'd think it should be fairly easy to figure that one out, wouldn't you?  But because of the pattern it is not, so I had to put it down and when I can carve out some quiet time this weekend I'll solve the problem.

I had an interrupted night - it was cold and the wind was blowing the blinds, making so much noise.  My new place is going to be so quiet compared to this.  Although I am near the entrance to several restaurants and the movie theatre, so I imagine at times it could get loud but it shouldn't be for long.  Mostly I am just happy that I won't have to hear the freeway anymore!

I just know it's going to hurt

Monday when I ran it wasn't terrific.  I did make it through the entire run, but I was back to the slow pace I had before my banana fueled jump in speed.  I couldn't run on Tuesday, nor yesterday so I have got to get back out there today and I just know that it's going to be another tough one.  That makes it all that much more difficult to actually change my clothes and get out there.  I am determined though.  It isn't that bad once I actually get going anyway and I know that.  But at this point, only a few sips into my first cup of tea ... well, I'm not looking forward to it.

I took the night off from doing any packing chores last night, but tonight I am going to start packing up glassware and other nonessential types of things.  Since I did all of the packing when I moved out of my big house I know how long it takes and I saved all of the boxes, so I am set.  I will put some music on and just dig in.  Actually it goes pretty fast.  And then this weekend I've got to get all of the books and clothes out to donation sites.  I think I'll also put up a couple of fliers around the building and get rid of some things that way - some bookcases I haven't room for, my microwave and sewing machine ... I am sure I'll be able to find plenty of things like that.  If they don't go by mid-week then it's off to Goodwill with them too.

It is quite cold, but at least not freezing.  If it can stay this way for the next week and a half that'll be super.  Regardless of how much I get rid of, it's still not going to be nice to have to move in the rain.  The good news is that my new building has an underground garage, so worst case we'll have to tarp up the open trucks and since it's only a little over a mile we won't have to worry much about things getting wet.

I must find some time for knitting tonight.  I am feeling the need for the .... how can I describe it?  The way it makes me feel sometimes, like chanting perhaps.  It's a rhythm that is soothing.  Or like meditation maybe.  Because if you're concentrating on a pattern and repeating it in your head, then there's no room for worries.  Not that I have many of those these days, thankfully.  I am quite happy.  My trip really helped.  Every once in a while I just need to be there.  And then I'm fine for a while.  Just a while.

I think I'm caught up now

After waking at 4:30 yesterday morning, I was a zombie by 5.  I didn't get a chance to run because I had students coming to see their most recent exam and I needed to get up to the post office and back quickly.  I have to get my sister's birthday present sent off today or she'll not get it until after her birthday, since she's decided on a quickie trip to Hawaii with my nephews - a kind of joint birthday celebration.  Since I just came back from Europe I don't get to go.  How could I be disappointed?  And yet I am.  I love Hawaii!!  Ah well -- I'll get to see them all in a few weeks anyway.

The weather is nasty and blowing and cold but Tink still needs to be walked, so off we went after work.  I was hoping it would wake me up a bit, but all it did was make me uncomfortable.  I had a goal though that needed to be met, so after drying Tink I tackled the chore, which was cleaning out the rest of the clothes to get them ready for the donation bin.  The only thing left now in that vein is the shoes and boots.  I always hate to get rid of shoes but I have to be brave.

I found a nice room arranging web site and I believe I've got the bedroom all set.  That leaves the living/dining area and I am torn.  I would have more room if I got rid of my comfy chair and I almost got to the point last night, but I think I'm going to keep it and move it and see if I can make it work.  It's such a comfortable piece and Tink and I can fit comfortably on the seat while I knit.  I love that!  I tried to do the living/dining area set up on the web site after getting the bedroom set but the program kept acting up so I'll have to try again later - maybe today.

I fought to stay up until 10 last night and fell into a deep sleep and, thankfully, slept through the night without waking up and tossing and turning.  So I feel pretty good today and good thing because it's going to be busy today - I've got a meeting this morning that's going to take up the biggest part, then off to our staff holiday lunch.  That doesn't leave that much real work time in this day.

Jet lag or just a busy brain?

Jet lag is, of course, entirely different going west.  And I must admit that I got pretty darned cocky about handling it.  I fought going to sleep too early last night and made it to my normal bedtime, slept great and then .... woke up at 4:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep!!  Part of it was that my brain is going a million miles an hour around my move and all the things I want to get accomplished before the 15th and how am I going to get it done and around and around and around.  Of course everything will be fine in the end, but there is a lot of work that is going to be needed to make it be fine.  I didn't really dig in to it last night like I had wanted to.  I needed to finish cleaning my apartment and getting the rest of the laundry done.  I can't work in a messy environment, even if it's packing and sorting.  And after that I was tired so I gave myself permission to just veg for the rest of the evening.

I didn't bother watching the football game.  I needed over 30 points from my one guy and I knew it was a long shot.  So I missed being in the playoffs by less than 20 points at the end of it.  Darn!  I was doing so well at the beginning.  The thing is I had torn allegiance this weekend because the Seahawks were playing the Bears and I needed the Bears defense to get me the usual HUGE amount of points, but on the other hand if they had gotten those points that would have meant they were beating the Seahawks.  As it turned out, the Seahawks won and that is good because then they have a chance at the playoffs.  But still .... So see?  I'm torn.

I wonder if I'm going to have any time to knit before I move?  I am getting kind of twitchy.  Maybe I can allow myself an hour to knit tonight if I get one closet sorted and cleaned out.  That sounds like a good trade off. 

Back to the real world

Ah yes -- that's what always happens when vacation is over.  Back to the real world.  I really missed being able to blog while I was away but my the issue with my iPad could never be resolved.  It was seamless the last times I was away so I don't have a clue what was going on. 

Basically it was a fabulous get away.  I got to visit with old friends and sleep in and wander the streets.  The weather wasn't perfect and certainly not anything like the last November when it was quite unseasonable.  This time it was cold but only raining some of the time.  The last two days in London were spectacular.  I walked so much!  I visited the Natural History Museum on Thursday and Friday the National Portrait Gallery and after that I walked up to St. Paul's Cathedral.  This was a whole new part of London for me to see on foot and since it is prominent in the books I am currently listening to, it was nice to put into perspective.

Not once did I feel the uncontrollable urge to knit, although it crossed my mind a couple of times.  I never feel like I have that much time to actually just be sitting and not doing anything but knit.  And I was busy and/or distracted with football this weekend so maybe tonight I can get a few rows done and get back into the groove.  I have so very much to do getting ready to move on the 15th that I don't suspect I'll be getting too much knitting done.

Speaking of my move -- I finally got to see the inside of my new apartment on Sunday.  It is small, no doubt about that.  But the environment is WAY better than where I am currently so it is going to be an easy trade off.  I made some measurements and scoped out the closet situation.  I have a lovely view and a fountain in the courtyard right outside my windows.  Nice.  The difficult part is going to be getting rid of all the extra stuff that I have no room for in the new place.  My goal is to sort and bag all of that type of stuff this week so that this weekend I can get it hauled to the donation sites or wherever.  Then the following week I can just pack at a leisurely pace and be ready to move on Saturday.  Good schedule but let's see how well I do, eh?

Thanks to the PJV Method of Combating Jet Lag (PJVMCJL), I am feeling perfectly back in sync today and if the weather holds out I'll be running at lunchtime.  This is a big switch for me.  Typically I spend a week wallowing after vacation.  But I don't have that luxury this time.  Too much to get accomplished.   There was a huge storm last night and I had to close the windows it was so loud and windy.  It isn't bad this morning - no wind or rain - but it could come back at any time.  Let's hope it holds off until after lunchtime.

Happy birthday greetings to the aforementioned PJV.  And now -- time to dig in.