Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Wool Girl!!

I put in an order to Wool Girl to make myself feel better and it came today. I mainly just needed to get some things for the Tea Swap, which I have been neglecting. But, of course, I had to indulge in some Seacoast Panda Sock. I got Chocolate and Caramel (above)and Desert Rose (below) for my own sweet, stressed out self. I like Wool Girl, she wraps everything real pretty, she ships super fast and emails me back real quick when I have questions. I have never used this type of yarn before but I am hoping I like it. The colors in this line are always amazing. I can't wait to live near an actual yarn store and be able to touch yarn before I buy it, though I will still be spending too much money at Wool Girl I am sure.
Here is part of the stuff for the Tea Swap. I got cheesy and ordered everything online, sorry, i am way more busy than I thought I would be. I got her some Polar Bar soap from Biggs and Featherbelle, a stitch marker shaped like a tea cup, and a hank of Seacoast Panda in Raspberry Truffle. I am just waiting on the tea I ordered and some more cute little things.
On the house note, it is now under contract ( I think). We gave them the price they wanted and they are throwing in a lot of the furniture, including a fire pit!!!!So, I think everyone is happy, or at least I am. And, I took everyone's advice ( I am listening to you guys!!!) and scheduled a home inspection for next week and the seller's are providing a home warranty. In case anyone is interested, the MLS# is 250899. I would love some feedback on our new purchase, or semi-purchase. For me, back to untangling the Anne .

So, our realtor calls us and says...

That the realtor of the owners of the house we bid on called. Even though we turned down their counter offer, they would like to talk some more. They even said they would take off the lawyer stipulation and the give us the closing date we wanted. Hmmmm.....Why the change of heart?

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Whole Shameful Story

So, no pictures because I forgot my camera.
But, we are back and exhausted. First, my husband books us on those horrible little jets that shake up and down. I was so frightened the whole trip. I hate to fly anyways, but here we are on those teeny little planes with the winds whipping us all over. I am still having nightmares about that plane ride. We get to Huntsville and it is crazy hot. But I can live with that. We get to our very nice hotel, and Boeing has forgotten to pay them, so we have too. So, there goes half our earnest money. But, we settle in and call the realtor. She says she is at dinner and we can pick her up at her office in an hour. Pick her up? Yes, that's right, we had to try and navigate a strange city at night to pick her up. So, we find it and pick her up and proceed to drive her around with a screaming almost-two year old in tow.
She takes us to two houses at 8 at night, which are so obviously too small. We still have no relocation packet, no housing info sheets, nothing.
So, we say we are tired and go back to the hotel. The realtor says she is busy until 330 so we just sort of bum around the hotel most of the day. I am kind of mad about this because we flew in for a house hunting trip and we are getting some pretty bad vibes. You are probably asking why we didn't go look around, well, we had no corporate card yet, so we had to pay for the 700 dollar hotel and the 300 rental car and all the gas and food so we were damn broke.

So, we are thinking she is picking us up, but no, she calls and tells us to pick her up at 4. We had found some of those home magazines and we had a few we wanted to look at. This being all we had to go on because there was no info forthcoming from her about any damn thing. Now, you may be wondering why we are upset about picking her up. As we sat at the hotel all day, we noticed something....lots and lots of realtors coming in and out carrying nice binders and driving nice cars and having lunch reservations. They were there to pick up the relocation clients who were on househunting trips. People there for the same reason we were, but they had nicer realotrs. So, my husband asked one of them what he deal was and when ewe told them what we were putting up with, they were a bit shocked. But, I digress.

So, we pick her up and go to look at some of the houses WE had to find. She had no info at all and spent most of her time on the phone with the other realtor.
Finally, she says she knows a house for sale in town, in the area we like. So, we go. And it is perfect. I loved it and I wanted it. So we say fine, we want to make an offer. And guess what, she does not like our offer. It is too low (it wasn't, it would make the seller and his realtor mad, she wasn't sure if her boss would take it.
(we offered 148,000 on a house that was 154,000, in case you are curious, Gentle Reader). Too low? Maybe, but this is how the game is played, and considering the market, it was a fair offer. So, she is balking.........so we say fine, let's go. Then she says take me back and I will type it up and I want 1000 earnest money, well, all we have is 500 because WE ARE PAYING FOR EVERYTHING, INCLUDING GAS TO SHUTTLE HER AROUND!
So, she says go get dinner and come back in an hour, by this time the baby has had it! So we go back to the hotel and order in. Then at 9 she calls and wants us to come back up there, my husband say NO we are going to bed, so here she comes, after reading it, my husband says there is no way I am signing this.
Next morning: We find some more houses by digging sround online (WE FOUND THEM). We ask to see them, she says "Sure, but I am busy until 1130, then you can come pick me up at my house". Are you crazy!!!! Pick her up! At her house!
So, we have had enough. My husband says, I am done. So he fired her. Just like that, told her we were done. Then called ERA and told them we had a mortgage already and just wanted to buy a house. Sure enough, an hour later a realtor pulls up, straps in our car seat and away we go................
We even found another house, which we did not get because the seller had crazy demands, like close in 3 weeks and use their attorney, which our mortgage company balked at and refused to let us do, which is fine. It sounded shady anyways. HELLO! DO these people read the news, Buyer's Market people! The house will sit for another six months.
I guess Boeing gets mad when you fire the Realtor they hire for you, so now we are cleaning up that mess.
Comments, please

Monday, August 27, 2007

Warning




So,this is what happens when you turn your back on a toddler and a brand new hank of Schaefer Anne. just so you know.....

Home !

We made it home, at last. After 4 nightmare plane rides and two Realtors, we are home. I even got to go to the yarn Expression, which I must say, was very nice . I bought some Schaefer Anne, which my baby promptly tangled into a sordid mess.
More later, too tired now!
Oh, still no house!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Today is the day...

Here we go, off to Huntsville. I am up at 4 am because there are few things that scare me more than flying. I wish I had some powerful drugs to get through this. But, nope. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

!!!!!!!!

We Got A Mortgage!
(dance dance dance)
We Got A Mortgage!
(dance dance dance)
We Got A Mortgage!
(dance dance dance)
We Got A Mortgage!
(dance dance dance)


We Got A Mortgage!
(dance dance dance)
So no more of this stupid ugly house!
Yeah!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Waiting ........and Embossed Leaves

This morning, we are waiting to hear back from one of the mortgage companies. We applied at two, Wells Fargo and a small company in Huntsville that deals alot with Boeing and the local market. I tend to have more faith in them, they seem to know more of what they are talking about and always call us back when they say they will. We have a small down payment and it is looking good, not great, just ok, I guess. I hate this waiting to hear from them stuff. It is nerve wracking and it feel like our whole life is on hold until we do. We have a few houses picked out but until we get a pre-approval letter, there is no point on going on a house hunting trip.
On another note, that is my Embossed Leaves sock I have started on for my mother in law. I am using Dream In Color Smooshy Sock yarn in Petal shower. I am so surprised by how easy this pattern really is, it is just flying by. And it looks great, especially in this yarn. And below is my way-cool Slytherin sock, I have put the other on hold for hte Embossed Leaves.
On a stupider note, I got up this morning and saw some guys leaning against my fence and freaked out and called the police. The police told me I was over reacting and it was a deer or something, so I feel really stupid right now. I have a serious paranoid streak.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Winning Stuff Is Cool


Yesterday was the great End Of Summer Party at the library. A lot of things suck here, A LOT, but not the library. It is one of the best libraries I have ever been to. Granted it is small, but it is a wonderful place to study, they have excellent WiFi and a really cool inter-library loan system. I once got a knitting book from Alaska! can you imagine?
So, they had their party and as you can see, Little G won herself a prize playing baby bingo. Woo-Hoo.
















And..............Lizzie won 2nd place for having the most minutes read! Yea! It was pretty nice loot. I know because it is currently scattered all over my living room.




Them, a prize drawing!!Lizzie won a set of play golf clubs! Which have been used to torture and harass my cat all over greater Utah!
In other news, next week looks like it may become the big house hunting trip in Alabama. I am excited but after reading the very depressing news concerning credit and mortgages, I am not holding my breath on finding a house. I am a born pessimist. Boeing is quick, they waste no time. Now they are telling us we need to be there by mid-September. Jeez! Slow down.
Have a great weekend everyone!
p.s. Guess what? I AM STILL NOT BELIEVING THAT CRAP ABOUT SNAPE AND HARRY'S MOM!!!

Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!

Found you!
  • You signed up on July 18, 2007
  • You are #18590 on the list.
  • 9977 people are ahead of you in line.
  • 5910 people are behind you in line.
  • 34% of the list has been invited so far

Monday, August 6, 2007

A Break From Socks, Sort of

This is my "Oriel Lace Scarf" in Panda Cotton that I have just started. I found this pattern at my LYS, it was written by one of the instructors there. There was a sample of it at Black Sheep Wool Company
and I just had to try it. I have never really done any lace yet, but this pattern is really easy and the panda cotton is perfect fir it, I think. It shows off the color and makes it nice and stretchy.
My slytherin sock................what can I say. i think i just do not care for this yarn. It is really hard to knit with. It is splitty, does not hold the stitches well and pulls out of shape. But I must finish them
My sleepy baby.........and my brand new Dream In Color Smooshy Sock yarn in Petal Showers. Yum Yum.
On a crappier note, don't you hate when your ex decides to get cute with child support? That is always nice. Because you know you can always decide that you don't want to feed them that day, or buy them shoes, or even get out of bed to take care of them that month. I really think it is more important that he gets to make that payment on his sports car or his shiny new boat. I imagine it is some comfort for the jackass to know that even though he decided to drop their health insurance, their step dad will pick it up and make sure they have all their shots for school and new backpacks and lunch money. Sorry,i am really seething............really really really seething. But, on the other hand....SMOOSHY SOCK YARN YEA!
I am signed up for the super cool tea swap, ARE YOU?

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Sigh........... (Ravelry)

Found you!
  • You signed up on July 18, 2007
  • You are #18590 on the list.
  • 10517 people are ahead of you in line.
  • 4667 people are behind you in line.
  • 33% of the list has been invited so far

Friday, August 3, 2007

Tea Swap Sign Up Day!!!!

Just posting some pics of the birthday presents from my MIL. Cool sock yarn and books. Yes, that is the fall issue of Interweave Knits. It came in the mail yesterday!! But, it was not as great as I had hoped (sigh). But my yarn is super cool! There is some Regia, Lana Wool, and the new Opal line that is based on the Dutch guys paintings, I can neither spell nor pronounce his name, sorry.
Check out my homemade fly strips, they work great, are cheap, and fun to make. We have tons of flies all over the place because of all the deer. Flies are a horrible problem. I hate them! HATE THEM!

The many moods of her highness.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Knit One Tea Two Questionaire

Knit 1 Tea 2 Color Swap Questionnaire
  1. Do you like loose tea or bags, or both – something you want to try? I like both, though I usually like bagged. I think I use mainly bagged because I cannot find my strainer since we moved and everytime I go to the store, I forget to buy another one.

  2. What is your favorite kind of tea (Brand, flavor, variety, etc)? My favorite tea in the world is any black tea mixed with lavender. But I generally stick to the black teas, especially Earl and Lady Grey, Darjeelings, with the occasional white tea thrown in.

  3. Favorite color in regards to tea or one you would like to try? (black, green, red, and white) (keeping in mind that this is how this swap is set up). Black tea is my favorite

  4. Would you say you were a tea pot kind of person or just a hot water heater kind? Tea Pot, I own a Brown Betty and an Electric Kettle, but some times I get lazy and just throw a bag in a cup

  5. What tea accessories would you like but have never purchases for yourself? A nice strainer, I guess and maybe those fancy sugar cubes

  6. How do you prefer to be pampered? (examples: mani/pedi, bubble bath, yummy treat, etc). I love hand cream and anything that smells of lavender. I am a bit of a lavender fiend

  7. If you were a kind of yarn what would you be and why? Sock yarn, because it is just the coolest

  8. If you had to knit/crochet baby booties, a fun fur scarf, or a fair isle sweater, which would you choose and why? baby booties, because turning a heel makes me feel clever

  9. What other event would make you skip a tea party? (A garden party? A book club meeting? A yoga class? Opening night for a new action thriller? etc?) Probably a knitting class, i am always looking for classes that I can take so I can learn new techniques

  10. What treat would you consider essential at your tea party? (Sweet? Salty? Scones? Those petite pastry trays with a couple of all sorts of things? Little crust less sandwiches?) scones and double devonshire cream and honey

  11. When buying yarn for a project how do you choose - do you buy the one called for or do you substitute? It depends on the project, but I will usually substitute. I like to use what I like and I feel comfortable knitting

  12. What do you carry your knitting/crocheting in when on the go? Of course, I am an avid sock knitter

  13. Favorite movie to watch while knitting/crocheting? I like BBC or Masterpiece theater type dramas. Period pieces mainly

  14. Are you a traditional tea cup kind of person or a mug type of person? Do you care if they match? I don't care if they match, but I do prefer drinking tea from a cup but I am not picky and a mug will suffice

  15. Favorite childhood birthday party? i don't think I ever had one, though for my last birthday, my husband took me to Protea Cottage for Afternoon Tea. I even had a birthday cake in a tea cup!

  16. Favorite type of scone and jam? Regular butter scones and devonshire cream is my favorite

  17. If you use candles, what is your favorite scent? Lavender

  18. If you could choose 3 people to have 'tea' with, who would they be and why? (famous or not, living or dead). Oscar Wilde, Huey P Long, and Thom Hartmann. Because that would be the most literal and interesting tea party ever conceived

  19. You've been invited to a tea party, what 'props' will you wear (formal or casual)? A nice knee length tweed skirt and sensible shoes

  20. Any allergies/preferences you have or are willing to admit to? I have a marked preference for lavender

  21. Anything we missed that you want your pal to know? I love lavender and I am a sock knitter. We are moving to Alabama this winter and I am in school getting a degree in Education, though my previous degree was in Literature. I love anything that has to do with Professor Snape or Slytherin house, even though I keep getting sorted into Ravenclaw!!! I have three kids, 13, 8, and 1 and a giant black cat called Lucifer, whom I adore. He is the reason I collect anything with a black cat on it, from quilts to sock bags.

Back On The Chain Gang!

What a week! You can see how it wore out Poor Luci(fer). That is him sleeping on top of my lap top. We have been running around a lot, we had family down this week. There were 8 kids in my tiny house! But it was fun, my mother in law knits as well and always brings me great yarn as presents and she was true to form this time, I will post pictures soon. Today, I broke down and bought a hank of Dream In Color Smooshy Sock from Simply Socks Yarn Company.
They are a great store with a great assortment. I thought I would use it to knit my MIL a pair of Embossed Leaves socks for her b-day in October.
I finished the Retro Ribs!! It is a bad pic, I know. These were shipped out today to my school pal, Lisa. Speaking of which, my new term started today. Woohoo, back to the grind. It will be a late night tonite.
My new project, being modeled by a sleeping demon. My super sexy cool Slytherin Socks. These are for me! Finally, socks for me. This a really easy yarn to work with. I got it from Wool Girl, they had all the houses.
I wish I could take a nap! Jeez!