I saw my oncologist for my 6 month checkup. Everything was good and very stable. He said I could change to annual visits now! It's a small thing, but means that he has total confidence in my health. So my next scheduled appointment is in June 2010. Wow! I'm glad too that I feel comfortable with this change. A few years ago I would have fretted not seeing him more frequently. But now I'm like "Hell yeah, check me out!"
As I've been boxing up my craft stuff, I've been rethinking some things. Oh, did I really say I would throw away all my nearly-finished projects that I didn't finish in time to move? Can I retract that? Yes, there was some wasted time in the evenings I could have been finishing projects, but really the time flew by faster than I anticipated. I DID finish a pair of harem pants that just needed hemming and a waistband--in time for a street festival performance, too. And I did "throw away" my handspun cinnamon bark sweater that had the front almost finished. When you unravel a large item, we say you're frogging it (rip-it, rip-it). I brought it along to our grandad's on the Solstice to work on, but when I held it up to myself I just knew it wouldn't be as long as the photo and that I'd never be happy. So in front of their shocked faces, I pulled out the needles and started frogging. Making a handspun sweater and wearing it is STILL on my list of things I want to do one day.
Speaking of frogging things, I'm about half done with my second rainbow 2x2 knee sock and I think I might stop at a crew sock length and rip the finished one back to match. The sock is stretched to its max around my calf and I hate the look of stretched knit stitches. Besides, I already have more socks I have to knit as presents before winter, and I'm dying to cast on a lace shawl I recently got the yarn for.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The end is neigh
We're down to the final days of packing. It's not that we have *that* much stuff (HA!), the boxes just fill up too quickly. I don't see how I'm ever going to get all the dishes & clothes packed since I can't keep up with the laundry and dishwasher. And I just can't bear the thought of packing dirty laundry. I really want everything all boxed up so it's very streamlined when everyone comes over to tote boxes. Plus it's getting hard to find boxes anymore in town. Oh I'm sure I could buy some, but how does that compare to scrounging free ones that say things like "Chocolate Silken Decadence Tofu" on them?
Took Windy for our final run on the high trail yesterday morning. It was a beautiful sunrise and we both really enjoyed being out there. We crossed train tracks in 2 places and were heading up the switchback to a meadow that runs alongside the tracks when we heard the distant rumbling of an approaching train. We stood there a minute, Windy becoming more agitated as the sound grew louder, as I tried to calculate if we could make it back across the tracks before the train came. I knew from experience the 5:55am train is often quite long and that Windy really doesn't like being near it. I decided to go for it, and we broke into a sprint up the hill back towards the first railroad crossing. I focused on my running form and was pleased how good it felt. I turned my head occasionally to catch the sound of the train and could tell it was definitely getting closer but still safely distant when we crossed the tracks. I stopped at the base of the next hill and was walking so we could catch our breath (dogs don't like long unstopping sprints). But if we stopped there we'd be caught by the second set of tracks, and close enough to the train Windy might freak out. The sound of the train changed from the distant thunder rumble to a more distinct rumble-chug. I figured we had enough time to get across the next set of tracks only if we ran full out the entire way. I started running again, Windy keeping pace or lagging a bit behind. I kept calling to her to keep up, the train getting louder but still not visible. My energy was depleted and I would have stopped instantly if I'd had the choice. But we made it across the tracks and ran a bit further to the rise before gasping to a halt. I turned around to wave to the engineer and Windy's fur bristled and she clearly wanted to get away from the noise. My head was pounding and I felt weak from the extended speed work, but the rest of the trip seemed easy by comparison. Wonder if I can use this memory to boost speed work on normal days?
Well, best be off to pack another box!
Took Windy for our final run on the high trail yesterday morning. It was a beautiful sunrise and we both really enjoyed being out there. We crossed train tracks in 2 places and were heading up the switchback to a meadow that runs alongside the tracks when we heard the distant rumbling of an approaching train. We stood there a minute, Windy becoming more agitated as the sound grew louder, as I tried to calculate if we could make it back across the tracks before the train came. I knew from experience the 5:55am train is often quite long and that Windy really doesn't like being near it. I decided to go for it, and we broke into a sprint up the hill back towards the first railroad crossing. I focused on my running form and was pleased how good it felt. I turned my head occasionally to catch the sound of the train and could tell it was definitely getting closer but still safely distant when we crossed the tracks. I stopped at the base of the next hill and was walking so we could catch our breath (dogs don't like long unstopping sprints). But if we stopped there we'd be caught by the second set of tracks, and close enough to the train Windy might freak out. The sound of the train changed from the distant thunder rumble to a more distinct rumble-chug. I figured we had enough time to get across the next set of tracks only if we ran full out the entire way. I started running again, Windy keeping pace or lagging a bit behind. I kept calling to her to keep up, the train getting louder but still not visible. My energy was depleted and I would have stopped instantly if I'd had the choice. But we made it across the tracks and ran a bit further to the rise before gasping to a halt. I turned around to wave to the engineer and Windy's fur bristled and she clearly wanted to get away from the noise. My head was pounding and I felt weak from the extended speed work, but the rest of the trip seemed easy by comparison. Wonder if I can use this memory to boost speed work on normal days?
Well, best be off to pack another box!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Another reason I'm glad we're moving
I came home at lunchtime to let the dogs out and give them some lunch. When I pulled up there was a group of 6-8 men, all burly with close-cropped hair and wearing jeans with black T-shirts, standing in a tight cluster in front of the townhouse a few doors down. We all think a drug dealer lives there--they have skanky emaciated visitors who only stay a few minutes, and the cops are there weekly, sometimes in the middle of the night. These guys looked like they meant business, and I wondered if I was about to see a gang-style beat down. A few of them glanced sharply at me as I got out of the car, and I hurried inside, wondering if I should wait a while before letting the dogs out. Kayla didn't want to wait, and when I went back out they were all still there, fanned out in a semi-circle in front of the door. There was one major difference now that made me stop and gawk.
They all had on bullet-proof vests with ATF or POLICE emblazoned on the back in bright yellow. The front door was open and the ATF agent-in-charge was yelling at the guy inside to step out of the house. He repeated himself over and over with increasing force, enough that Kayla was startled out of peeing. The agent closest to the door aimed his gun inside and made a move like he was going to go in, although he stopped at the threshold. This apparently was enough for our neighbor to give in. He came out and was neatly handcuffed, stuffed in the car, and belted in. The agents & cops were looking inside the house and talking to each other, and I wondered if anyone else was home to be arrested. I would've loved to stay and watch the finale, but I had to dash back to work for a meeting. I thought for an instant about taking a photo of them in the stand-off position, but figured I didn't want them coming over to me for any reason.
Frankly it was really exciting to see a real-life COPS episode, and I was glad they finally caught that drug dealer. It wasn't until later that I realized it wasn't the local cops making the arrest, it was a freakin federal agency. What the hell! I live in a place where the ATF made a raid! Bad boys bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? Bad boys...
They all had on bullet-proof vests with ATF or POLICE emblazoned on the back in bright yellow. The front door was open and the ATF agent-in-charge was yelling at the guy inside to step out of the house. He repeated himself over and over with increasing force, enough that Kayla was startled out of peeing. The agent closest to the door aimed his gun inside and made a move like he was going to go in, although he stopped at the threshold. This apparently was enough for our neighbor to give in. He came out and was neatly handcuffed, stuffed in the car, and belted in. The agents & cops were looking inside the house and talking to each other, and I wondered if anyone else was home to be arrested. I would've loved to stay and watch the finale, but I had to dash back to work for a meeting. I thought for an instant about taking a photo of them in the stand-off position, but figured I didn't want them coming over to me for any reason.
Frankly it was really exciting to see a real-life COPS episode, and I was glad they finally caught that drug dealer. It wasn't until later that I realized it wasn't the local cops making the arrest, it was a freakin federal agency. What the hell! I live in a place where the ATF made a raid! Bad boys bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? Bad boys...
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Biblical Legos
I wish my collection of Legos included an ark of the covenant!
Legoawesomeness
It's really engrossing and surprisingly accurate. Even Judges 19 is included in its entirety - one of the most glossed-over chapters I know in modern printings. I may have to do a powerpoint next seder to include the lego exodus.
I also love the new Lego video games. Currently playing Lego Batman, and we have Lego Indy Jones waiting in the wings :)
Legoawesomeness
It's really engrossing and surprisingly accurate. Even Judges 19 is included in its entirety - one of the most glossed-over chapters I know in modern printings. I may have to do a powerpoint next seder to include the lego exodus.
I also love the new Lego video games. Currently playing Lego Batman, and we have Lego Indy Jones waiting in the wings :)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Our new house!
Here's the first photos of our soon-to-be home. There's still some final work being done, but overall you can get a good sense of it. I had no idea how hard it is to photograph a room until now. So, let's start the tour, shall we? The house is one of four at the end of a cul-de-sac, sort of tucked back behind some trees. Here we are out front. 
Please ignore my mom in the corner, she tried so hard not to get in the photos. I love the little stone wall on the left, I think I'm going to plant some kind of hanging flowers at the edge. D loves the brick, and we're thrilled we'll both get to park our cars in the garage.
Coming into the back yard,
here's a little more than half the yard. You can see remnants of the previous garden, including an awesome asparagus patch. The dogs should love it (the yard, hopefully not the asparagus). Speaking of aspargus, left to itself it grows over 6 ft. tall. 
Here's the view from the kitchen door. I think there's about 9 acres of woods that can't be accessed for development, so we'll have all sorts of forest to explore :) 
C'mon inside now! Here's the front living room looking into the dining room. All the main rooms are laminate flooring. It looks pretty, but I hate to think of the dogs scrabbling around on it until we can get some rugs.
If we step off to the left, we come into the den. 
I'm really pleased there's a fireplace, it was on my nice but not necessary list. It's big enough I think I might have to get some hearth hooks and see if I can do some cooking in it. You know I'm not kidding. Off to the right is the cut through to the kitchen. 
We're planning on extending the half wall into a breakfast bar some day. There's a kitchen door to the left out onto the deck. The kitchen is really exciting. It hadn't been updated in a long time, so the sellers completely renovated it, including a set-in sink and all new appliances. 
There wasn't a dishwasher originally, but they installed one (thank goodness!). And last but not least, the shower has this awesome multi-task seat for mornings when you're in a rush.
Please ignore my mom in the corner, she tried so hard not to get in the photos. I love the little stone wall on the left, I think I'm going to plant some kind of hanging flowers at the edge. D loves the brick, and we're thrilled we'll both get to park our cars in the garage.Coming into the back yard,
here's a little more than half the yard. You can see remnants of the previous garden, including an awesome asparagus patch. The dogs should love it (the yard, hopefully not the asparagus). Speaking of aspargus, left to itself it grows over 6 ft. tall. 
Here's the view from the kitchen door. I think there's about 9 acres of woods that can't be accessed for development, so we'll have all sorts of forest to explore :) 
C'mon inside now! Here's the front living room looking into the dining room. All the main rooms are laminate flooring. It looks pretty, but I hate to think of the dogs scrabbling around on it until we can get some rugs.
If we step off to the left, we come into the den. 
I'm really pleased there's a fireplace, it was on my nice but not necessary list. It's big enough I think I might have to get some hearth hooks and see if I can do some cooking in it. You know I'm not kidding. Off to the right is the cut through to the kitchen. 
We're planning on extending the half wall into a breakfast bar some day. There's a kitchen door to the left out onto the deck. The kitchen is really exciting. It hadn't been updated in a long time, so the sellers completely renovated it, including a set-in sink and all new appliances. 
There wasn't a dishwasher originally, but they installed one (thank goodness!). And last but not least, the shower has this awesome multi-task seat for mornings when you're in a rush.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Waiting at the crossroads
In my quest to pack up as much as I can, I'm going through all my old stuff sorting it into keep-sell-donate piles. And I find myself spending quite a lot of time playing with all the things I've saved over the years. I still have my sticker album and spent a while looking through all the collected stickers from my childhood. I was amazed how many distinct memories the stickers brought up, and how oddly fun it is to peel them off their backing and stick them down somewhere. Can you still buy stickers? I may need to buy some more.
I also have my favorite kid book that I made my mom read me every single night. Over and over, until I had it memorized and knew if she tried to skip a page to shorten the agony of reading the same book yet again.
I can still quote about the first two thirds of the book. Given that it's a progressive repeating book, that's saying a lot. I wonder if my parents still have it seared in their memories too. "Big. big brown. big brown bear. big brown bear blue bull. big brown bear blue bull beautiful baboon..."
I'm willing to bet money they do. Never did figure out why the baboon was dressed in a tutu and pointe shoes.
Wanna guess how long it took me to pack the box containing these items and the rest of that shelf? Good thing I have a month to go.
I also have my favorite kid book that I made my mom read me every single night. Over and over, until I had it memorized and knew if she tried to skip a page to shorten the agony of reading the same book yet again.
I can still quote about the first two thirds of the book. Given that it's a progressive repeating book, that's saying a lot. I wonder if my parents still have it seared in their memories too. "Big. big brown. big brown bear. big brown bear blue bull. big brown bear blue bull beautiful baboon..."
I'm willing to bet money they do. Never did figure out why the baboon was dressed in a tutu and pointe shoes.Wanna guess how long it took me to pack the box containing these items and the rest of that shelf? Good thing I have a month to go.
The first one
Check it out --
I packed my first box to move to our new home! That's right, by this time next month we will be living in our own place. I know the month is going to pass in the blink of an eye, so I'm trying to casually do as much as possible ahead of time. Of course, looking around the house I'm amazed just how much stuff I use daily and can't box up. And again there's the question of where to put all these boxes, since boxed-up stuff takes up way more space than stuff on shelves. My winter clothes were an easy choice to pack, and it was a great feeling to write "basement" on the box. Finally we will have real storage space. I think we've spent more time planning the basement than we have about arranging all the other rooms combined.
More to come...
I packed my first box to move to our new home! That's right, by this time next month we will be living in our own place. I know the month is going to pass in the blink of an eye, so I'm trying to casually do as much as possible ahead of time. Of course, looking around the house I'm amazed just how much stuff I use daily and can't box up. And again there's the question of where to put all these boxes, since boxed-up stuff takes up way more space than stuff on shelves. My winter clothes were an easy choice to pack, and it was a great feeling to write "basement" on the box. Finally we will have real storage space. I think we've spent more time planning the basement than we have about arranging all the other rooms combined.More to come...
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