On the up side, I have recently resumed the purge of unnecessary household objects. And have delivered several carloads of stuff that was cluttering up the garage and house to Goodwill and The Place. This makes me feel much better, in spite of the fact that the stuff had piled up so high in the first place. At least now we’re going in the right direction.

Cleaning out my grandmother’s apartment really put me behind in my own cleaning. And then… I brought many of her belongings to my house. Trumpet please, announcing way too much stuff. I had given so many of her possessions to charity and friends that I felt that I should keep more things out of respect than I actually needed.

However, I have just given the wool sweaters to Aunt D. I had tried to line them so that I could wear them myself. But it looked ugly. So I gave up on the lining and then just held onto the sweaters waiting to find somebody who could wear them. When I realized Aunt D is the same size and wears wool, I brought the sweaters over. I’m glad they have a new home. I just couldn’t bear to throw them in the donation bin. My grandmother loved those sweaters. I needed be sure to give them to somebody who would really enjoy them.

I have felt so lousy the past several weeks that I have done very little writing. So much so that when I finally tried to log in to my sewing blog, I found the account locked. Fortunately, this was easily fixed with a note to support.

In my absence, the today.com network has changed their revenue policies. I think this will be for the better. But I haven’t fully check it out. Another thing I must see about.

I managed to make money on another venue on royalties from past work, in spite of my current lag monster status. That was nice and cheered me up for a minute.

The knitting is going pretty well, generally. I received my orders from Knitpicks and Elan. And I’ve been experimenting and working on a simple scarf. It seems that I can tolerate alpaca. I’m working with an alpaca/silk/nylon blend yarn. It took a while to get used to it. But now I seem to be able to keep the tension pretty even. Hopefully, when the scarf is finished, I’ll be able to wear it around my neck and not have to give it away.

I got a very brief note from grandmas attorney. As soon as I saw the envelope I had terrible anxiety. Of course they want to know if I’ve closed everything out. And I have not. Every time I do something related to my grandmothers estate it just spirals out into a drama. I feel ill just thinking about it. Still the end is in sight. After months and months, less items that need to be addressed by me are rolling in. The only things really problematic left are family related. Which is where I see doom.

Related posts:

• Holiday Blues
• Small Rays of Light

I turned forty.  My aunt helpfully suggested this is better than the alternative.  I told my cousin, also recently forty, that if I had known we would survive this long, I might have made better decisions. He said, “I know! Me too.”

I paid all the bills, but forgot to write down the incredibly whopping medical bill, which is not getting the bookkeeping off to a good start.  I had a weird feeling that something was going to come up.  But I couldn’t think of anything, and decided to go ahead and get myself a present, then had to transfer some funds.  I hate when I do that.  I could have waited a week.  I can hardly keep track of what day it is anyway.

I have created a two knitted dishcloths and am exceedingly entertained by the accomplishment.  I used one for the first time today, and am surprised by how well it suits the purpose of cleaning dishes.  I did not know.  I hereby abandon sponges.

knitting stockinette stitch

The Ni Hao Kai-lan hat is missing in the house.  So I cannot photograph it or blog it, putting the sewing blog even more miserably behind.  Ugh.

It’s ridiculously cold.  Nights have been in the teens and days in the twenties.  Crazy cold for Georgia!  I went in search of coats at the thrift store since we’ll likely only wear them one or two weeks per year during a cold snap.  And DD might be able to get one more year out of hers before she outgrows it.  No joy for DH and SS.  But I got myself and DD jackets so warm that I could hardly keep it on long enough inside the store to zip it.  I got one for my nephew too, since it was perfect and only three dollars.

I’m sick of DDs ballet program, but conflicted about switching her to another one.  She likes it because her friends from school are there.  But there are several teachers kids in the class, very young.  And they disrupt the class and the learning of the kids who are actually old enough to participate.  The other options are to move her back to the county sponsored program, which is taught by the same ballet company, but somewhat better organized, and will include one of her other friends.  Or I can just enroll her in the more serious, more expensive program.  She has been doing this for three years already.

ESOL starts up again in a week.  I am going to switch days so that I can go to the Tuesday knitting group if I want to.  I met up with the ESOL instructor and other three volunteers today to get the new schedule.  The students gave all the volunteers and teacher – all female – earrings.  Mine are silver.  I am allergic, but will wear them once to class so I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.  Then I’m giving them to someone who won’t turn green.

Related posts:

• Knitting with Cotton
• System Failure

hybrid poplar

Life is looking quite normal at the moment, which is a little scary. DD and SS are impressing us with their ability to act their ages. DD is obsessed with all things Hello Kitty, gawdy and holiday. SS is pleased to work into conversation that he is really smart and has a girlfriend.

I have committed myself to going to the library at least once a week to slog through paperwork, since I lack the discipline to do it at home where even cleaning the toilet seems a more attractive task. Secured in the library; I have little other choice. Also, it just seems less horrible.

The poplar tree is one of my attempts at framing a photo subject naturally. When I planted it; it was three feet tall. And DH swore that it would never shade the house while we were alive to enjoy it. But it is now up over the house. And he instead claims that it is going to shatter in the wind and destroy the house, due to its rapid growth.

The sewing blog has been up for almost ten months now and regularly receives both very nice fan mail and hate mail, sometimes in the form of comments on the blog. And sometimes by email. Oh, then there is spam, which has always been around, but is ever increasing. Last week someone felt it necessary to tell me that she thinks one of my projects looks like crap. This causes me to wonder, what compels a persons to go to the trouble of authenticating a comment to insult someone. Had it been worded in any other way, I would have thought it was just miscommunication, since I make those errors all the time. But looks like crap is pretty clear.

I am attempting, again, to convince myself to take the MAT or GRE. But I am horrified by standardized tests. Seriously, I used to puke in the bushes outside of class before exams. I know that is insane. And I tell myself that I did actually graduate college and can manage one standardized test. And yet, I have not.

The holiday season has begun. And typically, is really fun at the moment. By January, I’ll just want to hide in my room and turn off the phone. We’ve already had a celebration with one BIL and family, and at DDs school. SSs birthday is this weekend. And then next week both kids are off and there is a dentist appointment, playdate and Thanksgiving.

Yes, by 2010, we’ll be exhausted.

Related posts:

• Happy New Year 2010

And now, a random stream of comments from your host.

I have spent so much time packing grandmas apartment this week that I feel hung over and haven’t had a drink.  That just isn’t right.  Don’t bother leaving me a note about dehydration.  I drink a lot of water.  I’m just tired.

Bribing preschoolers pays.  DD is sleeping in her own bed, without a pullup.  Own bed consistently for two weeks.  Pullup free for one.  It only cost me a set of princess sheets.  A small price to pay in my opinion.

My new entertainment obsession is The Wire, more on it later.

SS took my spam.  Actual spam, the meat product, yes, it is edible.

Related posts:

• Regular Programming