Timing is everything

Sometimes you're right in time with the universe, and sometimes you're just one beat out of step. I think we must be out of sync right now, because things seem to be coming in unexpected bursts lately. Our little houseguest moved on to his new home yesterday, so we are down one furry friend. My last day of teaching for the quarter is Tuesday, so work should be less hectic for the next couple of weeks, and I am planning to get a lot of research work done once finals are over. Branden's robotics competition is in two weeks, which means that we'll have someone staying with us for a week during my "spring break" (in quotes becase spring break in grad school means that you have a week of uninterrupted research time, not that you get a break). So far, all of this sounds pretty normal, and it finally felt like things were getting a wee bit less crazy.

And then plans changed this morning. There's been a house on my bus route to school with a "for rent" sign. On the way back from getting the kitten adopted yesterday afternoon, we noticed that there was an open house, and decided to check it out, even though it was probably way outside of our price range. Well, it was. But not by so much that we managed to leave without looking. It was outside of what we wanted to pay, but it's not outside of what we can easily afford. And, our neighbors have been very loud lately. They like to turn their stereo up at about 10:30 pm and keep it going until about 2 am, which tends to make us a bit grumpy, seeing how we have to be out of the house by 7 or 8 every morning. And, there's the small factor that I happen to be allergic to half of our apartment. Don't know why; it's not even the side that the cats are on, but it smells musty, and I have a strong asthma response to mold. It's been this way for quite some time, and it's really annoying to not be able to use the bedroom as anything more than a walk-in closet. We should have moved a long time ago, but this place is cheap and we didn't really want to go through the hassle of moving. And then yesterday, a very nice house (house, not apartment) opens up a few blocks away on my bus route, and is a good price, though a little high. Guess who signed a new lease this morning?

We stayed up really late last night talking this over and over and over, asking if we should go for such a big place (it's a small house, but the smallest of houses is bigger than our apartment), if we want to spend the money, if it's worth it, saying how it would be nice for me to be able to breathe again, etc. This morning we went to see it again, and we sprung for it. I don't think we'll be sorry. It is really expensive, but it's also much nicer, and there will be craft rooms and more windows and a yard all our own (and did I mention craft rooms??). We're still in a little bit of shock, I think, but we're getting over it now that we've started filling boxes.

The one little catch? Well, our current landlord would like us to be out by the end of the month, rather than taking the full 30 days notice. This is fine with us, as it saves overlapping rents by a full month. But then there's the whole visitor thing...

So yes, we will be moving ourselves into a new apartment between now and a week from Tuesday in order to be out of the current apartment in time and to have more room when Mike visits. I'll also be wrapping up the quarter, grading a final exam, and catching up on research. And then, just maybe, things will get back to normal again. Maybe. And, we will be in a new house. Yay!

I was a bad blogger and didn't take pictures today when we visited the house. I think we didn't really believe that we were going to take it, and so we were not prepared with a camera. I will try to take pictures tomorrow to show you.

For tonight, I do have a picture of some knitting. (Bet you didn't see that coming...it's been so long!).



The sleeves are almost done. This is precisely why I work the sleeves first, especially on a sweater for Branden. They go on forever. We measured, and decided that 22" should be enough. I got to 15, frogged back to 5 as already mentioned, worked back to 22", and realized that it just wasn't going to be enough. I made it to 24" this morning, and then realized I'd made a mistake 2 inches back, and had to frog again. At this point, I'm having a very hard time being enthusiastic about another 3 inches of sleeve. I know, I'm being a baby. This is heavy yarn in stockinette, and another 3 inches won't kill me. It shouldn't even be worth mentioning, really. But it's at the stage where they just feel like they should be done, already. Once I get to this stage with a project, every row feels like an eternity. And, for some reason, the sleeves are always the part of a sweater that ends up feeling this way. If I were at the end of the project and just needed to attach the sleeves and be done, it would be near impossible to make myself go the extra few inches. I'd convince myself (probably with Branden's help) that they're fine as they are, attach them, and then hate them forever. Fortunately, the rest of the sweater isn't done yet, and so I'm not almost done. Because I am so far from done, it is somehow easier to make myself do things right. So, the sleeves are not yet finished as I had hoped they would be last night. Instead, there are a couple more inches to go, and I can start the body tomorrow night, after packing. Once I get into the body, I'll be fine and I'll probably even be excited about the project again. It makes no sense, but that's how it will be. And, this time, the sleeves will not be too short. (In fact, just to spite me, fate will probably make them turn out too long, but that's what rolled cuffs are for!)