Behind the times

The blog fad may be over, but I kind of miss this.  I think the constant facebook updates have stolen all my blogging time!  I want to catch up to the ABC-Along, so pictures forthcoming.

I've also given up on the 30th birthday bucket list.  It's amazing how I'm not worried about what I'm accomplishing and when now that I'm back to work.  When I was unemployed, I really felt this need to prove that I was not wasting my life, that I was having important experiences and achieving.  Now, the fact that I'm writing a blog post at 11:09 on a Tuesday tells another story, but work has me accomplishing plenty.  The summer has been busy, I'm happy.  No real need for the list.  There are some things on there that I still want to do, but it's just not as pressing now that I have my identity back.

Speaking of a busy summer, I'm looking so forward to fall.  Autumn is by far my favorite season, and I have lots of plans for quiet times and being at home to share.

Well with the best of intentions - back to my work day!

My idea from 2 post and 2 months ago was to blog the whole house-buying process. Yeah that didn't happen. I'm so sick of thinking and talking about it, the last thing I felt like doing was rehashing everything... I'm starting again to thing of some new content for this blog (flashback to 2 years ago?) Any advice?

The obsession continues

We have not found the one, or sold our house, but I am visiting my in-laws, at a coffee shop "working" on their wi-fi and house-stalking. This is what passes for taking the weekend off from thinking about the move.

we may have found the one

We saw a house Sunday. I dont' want to speak too soon and call it "our house," but it will be ours. It's amazing. It's everything we could want from a city house and more. We can see our family growing and loving our life there.

The reaction to just walking in the front door was legendary. I didn't even make it past the front door for a couple of minutes. DeuceDad stood in the foyer turning in circles just trying to take it all in. I had to tell myself "pick your jaw up off the floor before the agent sees you."

As we walked through the house, we were so struck by it that DeuceDad forgot to look in the attic or the garage! He did make it down to the basement, so he wasn't completely possessed.

In the meantime, our realtor was having open house at our place. She had quite a crowd, and there are some follow up viewings today (and she's expecting an offer this afternoon). So my idea of coming to work and having a day completely focused on working is not really going to pan out.

3 Showings and an offer

Yeah, it's like 3 weddings and a funeral.

No, no I'm just being dramatic.

The house went on the market Wednesday, we had 2 showings Friday and one Saturday (today) and got an offer this afternoon (Saturday). It was less than we want, and of course after only being on the market for 4 days we're not jumping to accept a lowball offer. And we have an open house tomorrow.

But considering we don't have a place to go yet, I'm not worried.

Bloggin, and Tweetin, and Stressin, and Bloggin

(to the tune of "Wishin' and Hopin'")

I don't Tweet. No real reason, but I don't.
I don't blog. Let's face it - 2 posts a month isn't bloggin.
But I stress.
And we're selling our house. Again.
And buying another one again.
So I'm going to blog about it.

Good Fortune

I got an interesting fortune in my fortune cookie today:

Land is always in the mind of the flying birds.

I love when a fortune is appropo.

I wish I could say that I was making this look easy - working full time, young son, remodeling house and moving - but I'm not. At least, my body decided to quit faking it so well. I caught Deuce's cold (flu?) and it's one of the worst I've ever had. I'll spare you the details, but I'm functioning at about 30% so you can imagine how that's working out.

After my year at home, I can finally say what I want from my life - land. A family, a place to call home, a stable job and money to keep the lights on. It's all so close. Within the next year it's possible for me to have everything I want. I just need to flap my wings when I can, ride the current when I can, and come down when I can.

Gotta live my life to get boots like these

It's been a while since I posted. Not for lack of anything to say, that's for sure.

The title of this post is about two things I want to share - one is that my Sporto boots are totally waterproof. It's 37 degrees after about 2 feet of snowfall here, so the sidewalks are like lakes. But my feet are dry!

The other is that I'm enamored with Ben Harper and the Relentless 7's album White Lies for Dark Times, which has a song "Boots Like These" that has been stuck in my head since I got the CD. I love rock & roll music. This is a rock & roll album. I like a lot of Ben Harper's music and most of the musicians he's recorded with, but this is my bag right here. Visit the website for unlimited listening to the full albums!

I also have been considering reshaping the blog somewhat - perhaps to "A Thoroughly Modern Mommy." But of course, some other people thought of this first. First there's Thoroughly Modern Mommy (think mommy blogger meets The Onion). Also see Thoroughly Modern Momma - mom and musician's wife who seems to have a sense of humor about her Christiantasticness or whatever you call that.

I just think the whole "adventures in/of" is played out. It was played out when I started, but it was my first blog, so I didn't know.

Oh well, right now I'm working on a little thing called "Get off the internet and work." Wish me luck.

C is for Carriage House

Still decked out in it's holiday trimmings, this carriage house seems to have a residence above it, a hydrangea in front, and is painted up in period colors and finished off with wrought iron details and gate.

I imagine that owning a home with a carriage house like this inspires the owner to plant manicured gardens and hang linen or lace curtains. Maybe a person might serve iced tea with mint in the summer and read by the fireside in the winter.

Owning a historic home must require a special balance of modernizing while maintaining the historic character. What about the person who rents the rooms above the carriage house? I suppose that person must value a unique living experience over the conveniences of an apartment building.

This carriage house really picqued my curiousity. Maybe our new home might have something like this to inspire me.

B is for Benches

The snow in the Northeast sometimes seems to bury entire neighborhoods and discourage people entirely from venturing outside. These benches in a heavily traveled pedestrian area clearly haven't been used in some time. At least since the last snowfall.

The tree trunks in the background are wrapped with Christmas lights, which no one will turn on again before they are taken off the trees in the spring. It's quiet and peaceful in this little courtyard, but spring will be here soon.

Chunky V. - a crocheted scarf

This is a scarf I made quite a while ago. I want to try my hand at publishing patterns, so I wrote this up and am sharing it. The crochet is beginner level, and it's a quick one skein project to highlight a soft bulky yarn.




Chunky V.
by DeuceMom

A subtle pattern for a simple, cozy scarf to crochet.

Yarn: 1 skein Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky 100 grams/108 yards, or substitute a bulky weight yarn

Hook: US K-10.5/6.5 mm

Gauge: approximately 11 sts, 4 rows DC = 4”x4”. Gauge is not very important for this project.

Finished size: At gauge stated above, finished product measures 5”x 50”

Instructions:
Chain 15. Last 2 chain sts are turning chain.
Row 1: DC in 3rd chain from hook. DC across, 13 sts.
Row 2: DC 6, chain 1, skip 1, DC6, turn
Row 3: DC 5, chain 1, skip 1, DC 1, chain 1, skip 1, DC 5, turn
Row 4: DC 4, chain 1, skip 1, DC 3, chain 1, skip 1, DC 4, turn
Row 5: DC 3, chain 1, skip 1, DC 5, chain 1, skip 1, DC 3, turn
Row 6: DC 2, chain 1, skip 1, DC 7, chain 1, skip 1, DC 2, turn
Row 7: DC 1, chain 1, skip 1, DC 4, chain 1, skip 1, DC 4, chain 1, skip 1, DC 1, turn

Repeat rows 3-7 10 more times

To end the scarf, DC across, turn, SC across. Break yarn and weave in ends.

A is for Architecture

ABC Along 2010, starting off 3 days late, in keeping with tradition from 2008 and 2009.

This year's theme is going to be architectural details from Rochester, NY. I grew up outside the city, and our relocation in 2008 was back to that area. We will move to the city itself in the next year, so I am doing some exploring.


My first little excursion was into Corn Hill, so named because it used to be a hill covered in... corn fields. Shocking.

It's mainly a residential area now with some law offices and other businesses scattered throughout. It is sandwiched in between a troubled neighborhood and Center City (the clever name for the center of downtown), so it has immaculately maintained buildings alongside a few deteriorating ones. I took some shots of homes that haven't weathered the years as well, and I hope to share some of those too.

Rochester's Landmark Society (on the placard above) provides maps of registered homes, but it's kind of like hide and seek to find them on my own.

I hope to learn a lot more about the city this year, since I'm going to be a resident soon.

Z is for Zephyr

This is the last letter in ABC Along 2009, and though I'm 2 weeks late, I'm still going to finish up because I have a good Z

For my birthday, my knitting SIL got me... Knit Picks Options! I've been wanting these so much for the year that I've been knitting. For non-knitting readers, they are interchangable knitting needles, with different sized needle tips you can attach to different length cords.

They also are super economical because you don't have to buy every different length of every different needle size, plus you can store a project on the cord and use the tips elsewhere.

They come in nickle plated, wood, or acrylic - mine are the Zephyr acrylic set.

Here they are in the pouch they come in - depending on how big the collection grows there are binders and all kinds of cute storage options.

And here's my size 5's ready for action!



They look lighted from the reflection of the flash in this picture. They're actually completely clear. It takes a little getting used to because they are so clear that you can actually see the back side of the stitch and it can look like another stitch on the needle. It didn't take very long to get the hang of it. I have a "Just Enough Ruffles" scarf on right now that requires a stitch in the front then the back then the front of the same stitch and I'm wondering if the clearness is going to make that easier or harder.

Well that wraps up ABC Along 2009! Z is for Zephyr!

I'm gonna let it shine

I'm a little down.

I have some stress happening, with home improvements to get our house ready to sell and my generally busier schedule. It's the after-Christmas letdown. The days are short and it is cold.

Unfortunately, I don't just get to curl up under a blanket, sip hot cocoa and watch movies all day and night until it warms up outside. Even when I think about calling in sick so I'll have a day to myself, I know I can't sit in my house and relax with so much to do, so I might as well go to work and save the day for when I'm sick, not just feeling sick and tired.

I don't completely know the answer. I know I get like this every so often and I know that life will settle just enough time for it to turn upside down again. So I might as well embrace it, right?

First thing this morning I was looking for my camera, but the camera bag was empty. I left for work wondering where it might be. I went home at lunch time because I was concerned about the camera's well-being, and my own well-being if something had happened to it. It was in my knitting bag. That means I haven't been doing much knitting, much photography, or much housework.

Finding the camera was a relief and suddenly Sam Cooke's version of "This Little Light of Mine" popped into my head.

The camera's not gone. It was safe and sound. Just misplaced. I hope to find my sanity in much the same condition.

Review a movie in ten words or less: Seven Pounds

Moving and touching but predictable. Best part was the dog.

(Want more words? Read here.)

Review a movie in 10 words or less: UP

Watch twice to enjoy even more jokes and animation details.

(Want more words? Read this.)