I got your stinkin' pictures right here

Ok, because some people (i.e. Grant) want to see photos of a fine apartment filled with boxes, I give you (drum roll please)... The Photo Tour of a Box-Filled Apartment!

The Living Room!

The Dining Room! (complete with turtle tank, which will be moved eventually, because I'm not sure that's really hygenic)

The beautiful Closet of Craft! A lovely walk-in that houses my sewing & yarn paraphernalia.

The Kitchen, complete with refrigerator tha we actually own!

The Bedroom (in which the bed is already unmade)

The 2nd Bedroom, which is temporarily being used as the cat room, because everywhere else is covered in boxes.

The fantastic new leather Recliner! ! 1960s vintage Ekornes "Stressless" chair in seafoam.

The fab & swinging loveseat -- Goodwill style!

I am so happy to have the new apartment, even if the act of moving and living out of boxes is stressful. I guess that's what the stress-less recliner is for. But seriously, this place makes me feel like I'm a grown-up. And yet, I want to jump up and down on the bed for joy. Discuss.

It's (almost) Spring!

Ok, so spring doesn't technically begin until March 20, but I have decided that my spring has already begun. Because, hello? Spring cleaning? It's here, baby.

As we had two fabulous movers help us out yesterday (Art & his nephew from One or Two Good Men -- scheduled from www.emove.com), Rich & I have been cleaning & packing maniacs for the last week or so. And even though our stuff (most of it anyway) is already at our lovely, if a bit loud, place, we're still not done.

Let me tell you, moving is hell. Sheer, tortured hell. Battan Death March hell. Well, maybe that's taking it a bit far, but you get my drift. Because Richard & I are pack rats, we have so much stuff that we had to move. 4 trips to the box store (who knew they had stores where they just sell boxes? Maybe if I had moved within the last 8 years, I would have known these things), a 10 p.m. box-buying excursion to Kinkos, 10 boxes purchased from UHaul, and even a little dumpster diving for some relatively clean ones, and WE STILL RAN OUT OF BOXES. I have to unpack things at the new place just so I can take the boxes back to the old place and pack still more stuff. We still need to bring over the microwave, toaster, some pots & pans, glasses, silverware, clothes, and assorted other minor crap. I hate moving. Now I remember why we stayed so long in our small one-bedroom with crappy parking. We were already there.

But, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We actually slept at the new place last night. The cats are *slowly* warming up to the place. (Doyle refused to come out of his crate for most of the day, and when we did, we crawled up inside the box spring of our mattress. But he's out now.) So there is progress. We still have a couple days worth of clean up at the old place, and then it's on to the onerous duty of unpacking. But unpacking is definitely better than packing.

p.s. Yes, there is a new color scheme about. With Spring being sprung, I felt like I needed a new, fresh look.

You mean I didn't get it?

I just received this email from UC Berkley's employment office:

Thank you for your interest in working at U.C. Berkeley. This message is to inform you that your application is no longer under consideration for the job(s) listed below. Please do not let this discourage you from applying for other or future opportunities with us.

Again, thank you for your interest, and we wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
UCB Employment Office

Job(s) no longer under consideration:
003014 Editor, Sr Editor, Sr School of Education

Umm, We decided to stay in LA like 6 months ago. I applied for that job in July or August. And they're just now letting me know I'm no longer under consideration? Gee, you don't think the 6 month gap between application and any other contact was maybe a clue that I wasn't their first choice?

Sorry about the infrequent posting. We're in the middle of moving to the new place (movers come on Wednesday!) and I'm too pooped to pop, much less make witty postings, or at least what passes for witty around here. More to come. I promise.

Whirlwind Weekend

I must be getting old, because the weekend drive up to San Jose on Friday and back on Monday just about killed me. I am officially exhausted.

On Saturday, I worked at the Stitch Diva booth at Stitches West. 6 hours, on my feet, on a concrete floor. I barely had time to think, much less eat or drink. I did get to see Ellen and Rhonda while I was up there, and that was nice. I also left the booth with much swag:

Banana fiber/sari silk yarn

turquoise banana fiber yarnHand-carved circulars in size 19 & 35
Fun Stitch Diva patterns

So, not a bad haul for only 6 hours of work. But the downside was that I was really too tired to do much exploring of the other booths. I did manage to buy a couple of things (I couldn't go away without spending some cash!).

Blue Moon "Kork" rayon yarn

Tootsie P baby loopy mohair

The Tootsie P yarn is the same type I used on the Interweave Mohair Cowlneck sweater, which I loved. This skein has less yardage (only 750), but for only $26, how can you beat that?

Later Saturday night, I was able to visit with Allsion & Iggy and Baby Maggie. She's looking a bit tired here, but oh so cute.

And so I'll end this post with one more adorable baby photo.