Another Christmas gone, another New Year about to begin...

It's hard to believe Christmas is already over. It seems this month flew by entirely too fast. Christmas with my family was a bit odd this year. My brother flew to Germany with his boyfriend, so he wasn't here on Christmas. My cousin had to work the day after Christmas and lives about 4 hours away, so she wasn't here for Christmas either. The hubby and I got to sleep in on Christmas day, and didn't have to leave the house till 1 pm.

Now that Christmas is over, and New Years is a few days away, this is the time where I make all sorts of resolutions that I tend to forget a few days after New Years. This year, I intend to stick with my resolutions.

-Start my Christmas knitting in January.
-Cut back and eventually quit smoking.
-Keep the new apartment/house organized after we move.
-Be more patient and less irritable.

Now, to plan next year's knitted gifts.

Hubby declared his love for vests the other day. I must attempt to knit him a vest or 2.

The mother in-law and her partner. I am thinking scarves and hats.

My mother. Hmm. What to knit a fellow knitter who has far more talent than I do? I'm thinking lace photo frame matting. Hubby and I won't be close by around Christmas. I am hoping we will be able to save up enough money plus get vacation time from wherever we work to come back to Pennsylvania for the holidays, but still, it won't be the same. I think we will take our picture in front of the tree, put it in a frame, with the knitted matting.

The step dad. Another tricky one. I guess a cabled scarf would be nice.


What is everyone else's resolutions?

Update on the Move

After talking with Dan and my family, we came up with a plan for the big move to Arkansas. Dan is going to try to find temp work here for about 2 months. All of his income will go towards savings to get a U-Haul, hotel costs, gas and food for when I move. Once we have enough money saved up, he will be taking a bus to Arkansas and stay with his mom. He will be getting a job there, saving up money for about a month. During that month, I will remain here, packing, working and spending as much time with my family as I can. Then, once he finds us an apartment, I will head on down.

I am not looking forward to being seperated from my hubby for a month. We haven't even been married a year yet, so it will be hard. However, it makes sense. I mean for us to both go down there with no job will be very hard. Sure, his mom said we could stay with her, but it would be easier on everyone for us to handle this responsibly. First off, she lives in a small trailer. Squeezing in an extra 2 people would be really hard. Second, neither of us feel comfortable with going there, with no income coming in, and unsure of how long it will take to find a job and a place to live.

At least its the modern age where we have free long distance and the internet to keep in touch, right?

Kate Gosselin

Last night the hubby and I went to Hackman's to meet Kate Gosselin of Jon and Kate plus 8. She was signing her book, "Multiple Blessings" from 6:30-9pm. We knew there would be a crazy line, so I took the day off from work. We got there around 3:15 and the line was already fairly big. The lines were weaving around the aisles and we were in the 3rd aisle. I tried to knit while having to wait 3+ hours for Kate to arrive and start signing the books, but only got to knit a few rows.

She got there about 15 minutes late, and immediately went to signing books. We weren't allowed to take a picture with her due to the time limit, but we could take pictures in line. Hubby decided when it was my turn to get my book signed, he would stand back and take a picture of her signing it. When it was my turn, I went up to the lady in charge of handing Kate the books and asked if I could give Kate a small gift. We had gotten the family a small ornament. The lady said sure, and Kate looked up and was like "Yes! Thank you!" It was really sweet. She signed the book, and we left. The time we had of meeting her went by so fast, yet it was so worth it! She is really down to earth and I always wanted to meet her before moving to Arkansas.

Remodelling=Relocating

Today we had a holiday luncheon at work. They had a caterer come in, give us free food and we got to relax for 2 hours and 45 min. During lunch, my dad came in (he works for the same company as I do). After I ate, I went back to my desk for some quiet knitting time. He approached me and told me he heard from my uncle. My uncle is friends with the guy that lives in the apartment above me. Apparantely my neighbor got news from my landlady that Hubby and I are being evicted in the spring since she wants to remodel our apartment. Now, under normal circumstances, we would have legal protection, but my landlady does not believe in leases. Therefor, there is no way I could legally fight it. When the guy that used to live in the first floor apartment had finally moved out, the landlady did renovations on his apartment. She refuses to hire a professional, and instead has her daughter help her fix the place up. That process took her a year and a half before it was back in living conditions. That would explain the eviction since she can't very well put us up in a hotel for that amount of time while she renovates.

Am I going to confront her on this news I heard? Nope. The main reason is, she tends to procrastinate. She hasn't told us that we will be moving out, so the longer I pretend I don't know, the more likely she is to put her little project off.

It irritates me that she chose to go blabbing about this to the neighbor before informing us, but in a way it's a good thing. She wasnt aware that he is friends with my uncle. So now we have a few extra months to plan what to do before move out day.

Hubby and I were planning on saving to move to Arkansas. We werent planning on it being anytime soon, especially since we are down to one income at the moment. However, after talking with his mom, when it is time for us to move out, we are packing up and moving to Arkansas. We will be staying with her until we get jobs, save enough to get our own place.

Its going to be hard leaving my family, but right now thats the only option. My apartment was really cheap. I cant find another apartment in this area that I can afford. Plus, since we wanted to eventually move to Arkansas, we may as well do it as soon as the opportunity arrives. At least we will have a roof over our heads while we try to find out what to do next.

Cabin Fever

For the most part since the mother of all colds has been in our place, Hubby and I haven't left the apartment. (other than getting groceries since the cabinets were bare and the fridge was empty)

What is a girl to do when she can't leave the apartment? Can't knit in fear of getting her germs all over her precious knitting? She spends the weekend on Ravelry, adding patterns to her favorites. xD I wasn't going to do any holiday knitting this year. However, each year I give a little something to the girls in my department. Whether it be crafted or bought. This year, I have no idea what to gift them and since funds are tight, I will be knitting them Christmas Tree Ornaments. I have some left over Lamb's Pride in I believe kiwi, I have the polyfil stuffing, all I need are some star shaped buttons and I am good to go. They look like a quick knit which is exactly what I need right now since I have only a little over a week to knit 11 of them up for the girls.

Tell me readers, what are you knitting your friends/loved ones for the holidays?

It was inevitable. Taking care of sick hubby caught up with me. Yesterday I woke up and my throat felt raw. After work, we ran to CVS so I could get some Tylenol Cold & Flu. It was a dual pack that had day and night meds in it. Took the night time around 7:00. I fell asleep around 8:30 and slept through the entire night.

I went to work today, packed my pills, brought cough drops, but didn't make it through the day. I left around lunch time and have been in bed all day.

No knitting for me while this cold is running through the house. First, the pills have me all dopey so I don't want to risk messing up my scarf. Second, I really don't want sick germs all over the scarf.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays

Today was one of those days where I put up a fight with the alarm clock at 7 am and brutally lost. Last night, hubby and I stayed up pretty late watching "Pretty Woman". Combine that with hours of meeting new peoeple and re-connecting with old friends on Facebook and my sleep was lost. Last I remember looking at the clock, it was 2:40 AM.

I got to work, it was a typical Monday. The day itself went pretty fast. I was only mildly irritated about 3 times through out the day (thats a record for me lately). Tomorrow should be a bit chaotic. One of the ladies I work with pulled a muscle in her shoulder, so she is limited on what she can do. With having to pull files to mail to home office, I get to handle that while she is injured, plus do my own work. It's good for me though. Usually I get done with all of my work by 2 pm and am forced to sit there trying to find something to do until 4:30.

Hubby is sick right now. He has a sore throat and a fever. I am trying to take care of him, plus stay far enough away where I don't get sick as well. I decided since I have zero energy, tonight would be a lazy night. I showered and changed into my pj's right when I got home. Called Pizza Hut, ordered us a pizza and have been laying in bed all evening, knitting, watching CSI, and just relaxing.

The Irish Hiking Scarf is about 1/3 of the way done. I am about to finish up my first skein of yarn. I can't believe I waited so long to knit this scarf. It is the perfect balance of challenging, but not overly challenging for me. Something I can watch tv while knitting, but not be bored out of my skull.

Whats on the agenda for the rest of the night? More snuggling under the covers, drinking my hot chocolate, and watching some "Jon and Kate Plus 8". Hubby is already snoring away, and I think after my show, I will be doing the same. Have a good night everyone, and stay warm. ♥♥♥

It's a nice day for a drive

Today, the hubby and I got sick of being cooped up in the apartment, so we decided to go out for a bit. I wanted to go to Starbucks, enjoy a drink and knit. He didn't want to end up sitting there bored to death while I was knitting away, so we stopped at Hackman's so he could get a book to read. While we were there, I got a Christmas gift for my Aunt Sue & Uncle Bill, along with a copy of "MULTIPLE BLES8INGS" by Kate Gosselin. She will be coming there on December 18th to sign the book, so I wanted to eliminate having to stand in line to purchase the book when I go to get it autographed.

After Hackman's, we did head over to Starbucks. While we were there, I saw those adorable yarn ball wreaths I have been hearing so much about! I read on Ravelry that one of the girls asked their local Starbucks manager if they could purchase one when the holidays were over, and the manager said he would give them to her free of charge. I will have to call mine to ask about getting one! :) After ordering my Peppermint Mocha Twist, I saw the new mugs they have as well. They have a cable knit texture to them and it reminds me of the Irish Hiking Scarf I'm in the middle of knitting, so of course I had to snag me one of them as well. We sat on the couches that were there. Hubby with his new book, and me with my knitting, just sipping on our drinks. Finally, we got a bit too chilly and decided to head home.

On the way home, I decided I wanted to stop and see the area that was big on the news the other week. A house about a mile from where we live had randomly exploded. There were 2 people inside the house when it happened, but they made it out with minor injuries and bruising. The explosion leveled their house and made the houses on either side of it be condemned due to structural damage. It left 17 people homeless. They are still trying to figure out what caused the explosion, but they did rule out any criminal activity. One of the people in the neighborhood that they interviewed had mentioned that he was on his way home right around when the explosion happened, but had a strange urge to pick up a bible before heading home. I just think its amazing that nobody was seriously injured.

After seeing the house, we went home, straightened up the bedroom. Re-arranged some furniture and just relaxed. I think tomorrow will be spent reading, knitting and cooking dinners for the week.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

TGIF

It's finally Friday! This week has been a week from hell. I worked late shift this week, so for the last hour of my day each week, I was getting paid to sit at my desk and play around with Ravelry. I still don't understand the point of late shift. Supposedly it's to provide extra phone coverage for the mass phone calls we get after 4:30. Hmm, how many calls did I get? 4. Not 4 a day--4 calls the entire week. Pointless, but at least I get some quiet time to play around.

Tonight the hubbie and I had to go to my mom's house for my step dads birthday dinner. Dinner was yummy as usual. They had linguini with shrimp and marinara sauce, while I had lasagna. xD For dessert, we had cheesecake with a chocolate hazlenut crust and blackberry sauce on top. After dinner, my mom and I got to sit around and talk a bit. With hubbie out of work right now, its getting stressful. We aren't totally broke. We can manage the bills, put food on the table and I can do the occasional splurge for yarn. However, I have to splurge at the chain stores, rather than treating myself to some gorgeous handspun yarns.

As we were about to leave my moms, I was walking downstairs, and I slipped. I fell (more like leaped) down a few stairs, and landed flat on my feet. I almost landed on a table with a burning candle on it, but luckily I landed a few inches away. My foot hurt for a little bit, but I got over it quick.

It's about 16 degrees outside tonight, and I expect it will be just as cold this weekend. It's a perfect weekend to stay in and work on my Irish Hiking Scarf!

I just cast on today, and since I am using bulky yarn, I went with the modified version with just the 2 cables. So far I AM LOVING IT! I have never knit cables before, so I was a bit hesitant. However this pattern is simple, so its perfect for beginners. xD

Funny, each year I tell myself that I will knit a bunch of gifts for Christmas, yet each year I start knitting way too late and don't get any knitted gifts out. This year, I didn't even attempt to knit gifts. This scarf is for me. However, for next year I WILL be handing out knitted gifts for Christmas if it kills me.

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Now playing: Tori Amos - Mother
via FoxyTunes

What to Expect

With 2009 rapidly approaching, I felt it was time to get rid of my old blog and start anew.

For those that don't know me, I'm Jessica. 30 something female living on the East Coast (for the time being). I am happily married to my wonderful, yet opinionated husband. I work full time doing tedious data entry work. Not exactly my dream job, but it does pay the bills and fund my crafting.

Speaking of crafting, I am a knitter. I started knitting a few years ago as a way to calm my nerves. My brother/best friend had just passed away, and I holed myself up in my apartment, basically shutting myself out from the rest of the world. My brother's fiance' had taken up knitting right after he passed away. After seeing how it seemed to calm her, I felt I should learn too. I've been hooked ever since.

Along with knitting, I dab a bit in embroidery. It doesnt happen frequently, but when it does, I'm absorbed in it for a few weeks.

I love to read. My favorite authors are J.K. Rowling and Gregory Maguire.

Watching movies is my life. I am always looking for new, interesting things to watch. I prefer comedy or drama though. I can tolerate the occasional action film. (any Batman movie kinda owns in my opinion)

Music...I don't even know where to start. My musical taste varies so much. One minute I will be listening to Korn or Nine Inch Nails, and the next minute I put in a Josh Groban cd.

Now that you know a bit about me, here is what you will see being posted in this blog. I may talk bitch about work on a fairly regular basis. I will be talking about knitting, crafting, and cooking.

I will most likely talk about my personal life, however trust me, it's not exciting :P

I look forward to sharing my life with whoever is reading, and hope to meet some new people.

-Jess

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Now playing: Tori Amos - Leather
via FoxyTunes