Funny Twist of Events

I'll make this short and sweet.
My marriage is over.
He is on his way to Arkansas as I type this.

The End.

The Great Apartment Search

Saturday Dan and I went to go look at an apartment down town. It had its good points and most definitely its bad points as well.

Good:

-The original woodwork, cabinets, hardwood floors from over a hundred years ago.
-A Terrace in the back of the apartment to relax on.
-French Doors

Bad:

-Bad neighborhood
-Landlady seems kinda....bitchy?
-Rooms are way too small
-No counters in the kitchen
-The only cabinets in the kitchen are way too tall, wouldnt be able to reach them
-Fire station right around the corner. (sirens at 3 am no ty)

Needless to say, the bad outweighed the good and we wont be taking that apartment.

After work today, we stopped by another place that's for rent. This one was on the south side of town. One bedroom, heat included. While the bedroom was still on the smaller side, our bed would fit so I'm fine with it. The living room is a decent size. The bathroom is HUGE, and the kitchen is decent as well. Plus, it also comes with the 3rd floor attic for storage. There is electricity up there, but no heat. Either way, we can finally have a place to put all of our things! We can even set aside a corner to stash my yarn!

All we have to do now is try to come up with the security deposit. I just paid rent for our current place and don't have enough to cover it at the moment. Here's hoping we come across some money so we can get a new place to live before the land lady kicks us out!

February Song

I can't believe that February is already over halfway over. The weather has been tempermental. One day its cold and snowy, the next day its in the 50's and 60's. Right now we are back to the cold cycle with the occasional snowfall. What does this mean in the Lopez household? It means that I am forever wanting to just stay under the blankets with my favorite mug and sipping some hot tea or hot chocolate. I would much rather spend my days reading or knitting. Instead I have to suck it up and face reality. I have not won the lottery yet. I am not an heiress and I am not disgustingly wealthy. So, for now, I have to wake up each morning, drag myself to the bathroom to get ready for the work day. I get to work and immediately head straight to the soda machine so I can get caffeine in my system as soon as humanly possible. I sit at my desk for 8.5 hours a day. For about 4 of those hours I bust my butt and get my work done. The rest of the time is spent doing other people's work for them. I come home, either cook dinner or relax in the kitchen with Dan while he cooks dinner. We eat, clean up dishes and spend the next few hours watching tv or a movie, while I sit and knit up whatever project is on the needles at that time.

Dan is still out of work. He is spending a few hours a day filling out applications and trying to find any type of job he can get. At this point, he is even willing to work 3rd shift.

I keep trying to save money wherever I can but still allow myself to splurge on yarn once in awhile. We quit smoking, we quit playing Maple Story. I figure I can allow myself to buy a few skeins of the cheap yarn each pay and once in a verrrry great while let myself buy the real good yarn.

Tonight, I have to go to AC Moore to pick up some baby yarn. A co-worker approached me last week. A friend of hers recently found out she is having a baby and the co-worker would like me to knit a blanket. She's paying for the yarn and to reimburse me for my time, she will be getting me 1 skein of yarn for myself for every skein of yarn I use on the project. I basically got creative freedom. I was able to choose which pattern I want to use and I suppose I get to pick which yarn to knit it out of. I am thinking Red Heart Baby since she requested something Gender Friendly. She asked for something that had pink. blue, green and yellow all in one. AC Moore has Red Heart on sale this week, so after a few washes in fabric softener when its complete, we will have ourselves a winner!

Irish Hiking Hat Madness

After making myself the Irish Hiking Scarf, I found a new love for cables. I wanted to knit myself a hat that would go with the scarf, but not the same color. Lately I have been into rich tones. Oranges, Purples, Reds. I knit myself this hat and love, love, love it. Since completing it, I noticed a co-worker's hat. It's black and severely worn and pilled. Friday I decided that I would surprise her and knit a new black hat for her. Again, the Irish Hiking Hat. I had it half way done, when Dan requested the same hat, same color. I don't mind knitting with black, but I was hoping for a bit of a change. No biggie, I told him I would be able to start it in a few days. Yesterday, I was on lunch at work, when Maryanne had asked me to knit her a hat. AGAIN with the Irish Hiking Hat, and AGAIN in black! Argh. Today I finished Angela's hat and cast on Dan's. From now on, if anyone requests the Irish Hiking Hat, I will notify them that I can do it, as long as it isn't black. I need colors!

Clean Lungs=Clean Apartment?

Two weeks ago Dan and I decided it was time to quit smoking. We finished off our last pack, and stopped cold turkey. For the most part, we have been ok. We have random cravings, but they fade fast. I found for me, the best cure is knitting, rather than eating. So yay for not gaining weight when I quit smoking! Dan has also picked up his own little craft. He mentioned that he used to do latch hook when he was a kid, so the other night when we had to go on a yarn run, we picked him up a latch hook kit to work on. I joked with him saying when we find a new place, we need to find a place that has space for 2 craft corners now. (not that I mind)

With quitting smoking, comes the family being every shade of proud. The first phase with my mother when she heard we quit, was her inviting us over for dinner on a regular basis. Making sure to fill us up with her delicious cooking.

Saturday, she informed us of the next phase. Today, while I was at work....her and my stepdad came over and helped Dan clean the entire apartment. We are talking, baseboards, every teeny nook, ALL OF IT. Now please realize, I am not a princess. I don't expect my family to be responsible for our mess. With my horrid packrat ways, this place was in pretty bad shape. Six hours after they arrived, the place sparkles! I am eternally grateful to my mother for spending her Monday afternoon over here, making my life easier. It's so refreshing to come into the apartment and not smell the lingering stench of stale cigarette smoke.

Now, since Dan is home during the days, still struggling to find a job, I made a list of daily tasks to ensure that the apartment stays clutter free.



Eventually, I would like to replace the bedframe and get something that hurts less when bumping into it in the middle of the night. I also need to get some picture frames to hang up a few more posters I have. I also need to get rid of the loveseat and the chair in the living room and see if I can take advantage of some furniture stores in the area closing down.

Another mild problem area is in the kitchen. We have a lack of cabinet space and too many mugs to fit in them. Does anyone have any decent looking, low budget friendly storage solutions for coffee mugs?

January Goals

January was a mixed month for the goal completion. While I did finish organizing the craft corner, the knitted hearts deadline failed me. I think rather than giving some to the entire department, I might just give the few I got done to my friends that I sit with at lunch.

However, let's take a look at the organized corner:

First up, I organized the book case that is above the built in desk. Now it contains all of my knitting books, rather than just random magazines and catalogs I never sorted through. The little gray box had originally came with my "Lovely" perfume set, but now it is the home for my stitch markers, tape measures and stitch holders. The top shelf holds random craft books and embroidery patterns.










Here we have the built in desk:



I have my toolbox filled with scrapbooking supplies, knitting needle holder, thread basket and my basket of WIP's. Underneath the built in desk is my yarn stash (not shown in a photo).

Just think, in a few months, all this will be packed up and re-arranged in a new place. :)

Thanks for having me back...

The past week has been TORTURE! I never realized how much I depend on the internet until this past week. Luckily I was able to leech off of the occasional wireless connection in the neighborhood, however it was far from smooth sailing. Everytime it would connect, it would disconnect since the signal was too far away. It made it very difficult for looking up patterns in Ravelry.

So, what is a girl to do with no internet and no cable for a week? Knit of course! I knitted up a kitten for a girl's birthday at work (sadly, I didn't take any pictures). I also made a baby hat (again no picture) and then with the cold weather, Dan requested I knit him a hat.

So, I got that done and now I have been exploring with cables more. Right now I am about to cast on the Irish Hiking Hat. I was working on a sample one just to get myself familiar with the pattern, however I will be frogging it since its yarn I completely hate. (received as a gift one year)

Other than knitting, we have spent alot of time with my mother. We went over on Saturday and watched "Swing Vote". If you haven't seen it, it's a cute movie.

We also decided that while we do eventually want to move to Arkansas, with the economy in the shape it's in, we shouldn't plan on moving there at this time. Instead we will do our best to find another apartment in the area, save up for a year or two and THEN make the move. Now if the apartment search fails, that's a different story I guess. There was one apartment I found in center city. It's gorgeous on the inside, I just don't know how comfortable I feel living in that neighborhood. I guess it all comes down to how desperate I get, right?