(mis)adventures of spindlerose

First home improvement project

I moved with the cats last Tuesday. I thought about keeping them confined to a single room for a few days. D pointed out that they had been cooped up for the movers all day Monday and in the car all day Tuesday, so it would be ok to let them roam the whole house. That turned out to be a bad decision. By Wednesday afternoon, I thought I had found all the really good hiding places and blocked access to the unsafe ones. Sometime Wednesday night, Eliza vanished. She managed to find a basement access point to the subfloor under the laundry room. It turned out to be one of those I can get in but not out access points. There is a cat sized opening above the pipe indicated in the photo.

Friday night, we looked into every corner and concluded that this was the one place she might be that we could not see into. When we heard little meeps and meows from that space after D called her name, we left some very stinky food on top of the pipe. It disappeared. After the movers left on Saturday, we did some minor demolition in the garage and found another access to the same space; this one does not require a blind leap down 3 feet. We left more food at that opening, and it disappeared while we were out having dinner. D decided to camp in the garage to try and coax her out of hiding (since she was still mad at me for forcing her to spend a day in a cage in the car). He had been asleep for less than 45 minutes when he woke up to "meep" and a snuggling cat. He immediately put her into kitty prison (in the master suite with her sister) and rewarded her for coming out of hiding with more stinky food.

This morning, we built the door between the finished and unfinished parts of the basement. In a week or so, we will paint it and do a better job mounting the hinges. As soon as we unpack enough to get rid of the box obstacle course, we will let the cats roam the whole house again. With no access to dangerous places.

Tired

The movers arrived at about 7:00 this morning. The had finished unloading everything, including the piano, but about 11:30. D and I spent the rest of the day unpacking the kitchen. All the boxes are empty, but I still have a lot of organizing and putting away to do. So tired now, more tomorrow.

Halfway through 2011

Back in late December, I posted a list of 10 intentions for 2011. And I haven't posted anything since. All I can say is that finding a house (intention #1) took a whole lot more time and energy than we thought it would. But we succeeded in a  surprising way. In March, D's parents decided to move to North Carolina. In April, we decided to make an offer on their house near Boston. In May, we kept our fingers crossed that it would happen, but only told key people like our employers about our plans. On June 22, we closed on the house David grew up in. This past Monday, movers packed everything and loaded a big truck. Tuesday, I drove north with the cats. D is flying north in his plane right now. Tomorrow, our truckload of household goods (as the movers put it) will arrive.

I'm writing from the kitchen of our new home, sitting on my yoga ball at the desk since it is pretty much the only furniture I have right now.

Here's a mid-year update on my progress toward all 10 intentions. Some are going swimmingly and some need attention.

1. Buy a house. Accomplished! 
2. Pick up after myself. I am slowly getting better at this. I have promised D that I will confine my messes to specific areas of the new house.
3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. This is a continuing challenge. I was doing well until a few weeks ago when I stopped cooking and started packing.
4. Move more. I am. D and I have been taking 2-3 miles walks several times a week, and I am continuing to work on core strength. As soon as we are settled, I plan to find a local yoga studio and personal trainer to map out a long-term fitness plan.
5. Process photos after I take them. Umm, no progress here, unless you count the handful of house photos I took yesterday.
6. Join Spindlicity Stashdown 2011. Not much progress here. I'm about 25% through my first selected fiber.
7. Finish 12 pairs of socks. I have already finished 7 pairs of socks this year. Four of those were either UFOs or knit from yarn rescued from frogged UFOs. One was actively in progress at the end of 2010. I started and finished the other 2 very quickly. I knit both of those pairs from yarn I stashed before we moved to Virginia.
8. Finish or frog 12 WIPs. I have finished or frogged seven UFOs so far this year.
9. Continue to declutter. We did a lot less pre-move decluttering than we should have. I will do more as we unpack.
10. Blog more. No progress yet. My new habit for July is to blog every day. I like the NaBloPoMo swim theme for the month, and, if I spin every day, Tour de Fleece will provide daily blog fodder.

Ten on Tuesday: Intentions for 2011

Carole's 10 on Tuesday topic this week is 10 Intentions for 2011. For the past few years, I have avoided New Year's Resolutions because I try to live intentionally year round. Most of these intentions are not new for 2011; instead, they are continuations of intentions formed during the past year or so.

1. Buy a house. After 5 years in Virginia, D and I have concluded that we are here to stay, the real estate market has stabilized, and we are ready to be home owners again. I look forward to having my own space again, but I dread the process of getting there.
2. Pick up after myself. As my Christmas gift to D, I cleared my stuff off of all the flat surfaces in the living room and dining room. I was surprised by how little time it took. My newest habit is making sure those surfaces are clear at the end of every day as an ongoing gift to my husband who always picks up after himself.
3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. The bi-weekly produce boxes help with this, but I still do not think to grab a piece of fruit for afternoon snacks or toss together a salad at dinner time as often as I should.
4. Move more. Now that my back is better (that 3 month disappearance from the blog was mostly caused by a bulging disk and the time devoted to healing), I would like to get back to a serious yoga practice and running. I also need to continue working to strengthen my core so all those disks stay put.
5. Process photos after I take them. I just cleared 2 months of photos off of my camera which include several shots of finished knitting projects and all my pictures from SOAR. Most of our Paris shots are still untagged. I must keep this backlog from getting worse (and do something about the backlog). Why is taking pictures so much more fun than organizing them?
6. Join Spindlicity Stashdown 2011. This will also be my Productive Spinners Stashalong project for 2011. Between now and January 6, I will put together 12 projects to spin this year and finish the project I'm currently spinning on the Schacht-Reeves. Starting on January 6, I will work through a variety preps and blends and use my beautiful living room wheel most days.
7. Finish 12 pairs of socks. This is my third year attempting this. In 2010, I completed 10 pairs and 5 odd socks. This is enough knitting for 12 pairs but did not put 12 new pairs in use.
8. Finish or frog 12 WIPs. I started several new projects in 2010 and only finished 2 projects I started before 2010—and those do not really count as pre-2010 since I started them late in 2009 so they never languished as UFOs. I just counted, and I have 36 projects listed as WIP or hibernating on Ravelry right now. Between now and January 1, I will choose 12 and they will be finished or frogged by the end of 2011.
9. Continue to declutter. This will make moving a whole lot easier.
10. Blog more. This is a place to share what I'm up to and what I'm thinking about in a form longer than the few words of a Facebook update. I need to continue flexing my writing and photographing muscles, and this is the best place to share those efforts.

Happy New Year!

Fall grass and soup

Fall grass, originally uploaded by SpindleRose.

I'm feeling much better today. I think the walks to and from Metro for my doctor appointment yesterday helped. So far all tests are normal, and I start physical therapy Monday.

I did a bit more walking today, and snapped the lovely grass above along our neighborhood bike path. It fits the slight crispness in the air today. As did the tasty soup I made (from the leftovers of the produce box from a 2 weeks ago) for lunch today.

Potato Kale Soup Modified from recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

1-1/2 c aromatics. Today I used half of a large onion, 2 shallots, and 2 cloves garlic. The original recipe calls for 1 c onion and 2/3 c leeks
1 T canola oil
1/2 t salt
4 c chicken or veggie stock
4 c coarsly chopped potatoes
1/2 c diced celery
1/2 t dried dill weed
1/2 t dried basil
1/4 t ground fennel
bay leaf
2 T dry white wine
4 c shredded kale
2 t Dijon mustard
1/2 c milk
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over low heat in 3-4 quart soup pot. Add aromatics and salt. Sweat over low heat until thunder (5-7 minutes).

Add stock, potatoes, herbs, fennel, and wine. Bring to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Purée (I use my stick blender for this) until smooth.

In a separate pan, boil kale until just tender.

Add kale, mustard, and milk to purée. Season to taste and reheat gently to just below boiling.

This soup does not freeze well--the potato starch gets weird and the kale loses its bright green color.

This week's lesson

Knitting (even small things like socks) is challenging when you cannot sit for more than about 5 minutes at a time. I have spent the past two days mostly standing or lying on my back thanks to something bad happening in my low back. When I sit pretty much anywhere for more than a few minutes, my one (or both when I'm really lucky) of my feet go to sleep.

Today, I saw the doctor, had x-rays, and picked up a prescription for PT. Since walking is much less unpleasant than driving, I took the Metro downtown. I hope that whatever this is ends soon.

My biggest disappointment is that whatever this is has prevented me from running for the past few weeks. I will be cheering my friends Sunday morning rather than running the half-marathon with them.

Ten on Tuesday

I'm starting to have trouble coming up with good blog topics and it's only the 14th. Inspired by many of my friends, I've signed up for <a href="http://caroleknits.net/" target="new">Carole's</a> 10 on Tuesday. 

Today's topic is 10 Reasons to watch football.

1. It is fun.
2. Three hours of knitting time per game.
3. Three hours of spinning time per game.
4. I get to spend quality time with D. I grew up watching the Packers, the Badgers, and my high school team, but got away from watching football in college. Shortly after D and I got engaged, I found myself shopping for a television with him so that he could indulge his Sunday afternoon football addiction.
5. Fantasy football. D and I participate in 2 longstanding leagues (both have been going for over 10 years) with college friends. Draft weekend is a great chance to reconnect with those friends and find out what has happened in their lives in the past year.
6. It gives me a chance to pull out my <a href="http://www.cheesehead.com/products.asp_Q_catid_E_6" target="new">foam cheese</a>.
7. Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady in tight pants.
8. It gives me something to chat with my parents and siblings about.
9. Excellent snacks. Bratwurst anyone?
10. At least one day a week, D and I do not fight over who controls the remote.

Home again

Grouchy Eliza, originally uploaded by SpindleRose.

Eliza was not interested in posing for a picture or in welcoming me home tonight. She always protests when the suitcase comes out indicating that D or I will be leaving and then displays typical cat bad temper for a few hours after we return home.

While I truly enjoyed this week's trip to Texas, I am happy to be home, and am looking forward to a night of good sleep in my own bed.

Mariachi and Finding Art Everyday

Mariaci, originally uploaded by SpindleRose.

I'm trying to do two things this month: take a picture or two every day with the iPhone camera, and post that picture with a little something here. The NaBloPoMo theme for September is Art—since I make things and try to see art in the world around me, I find the theme inspiring. Since the work travel is low key this month (knock wood), posting daily should be easy.

Tonight's art was the Mariachi trio at the restaurant where I had dinner with the colleagues I'm traveling with this week. They were pretty good and made dinner a bit more enjoyable.

On becoming a finisher

Erin over at Unclutterer posted her third quarter resolutions this morning.

• Identify all of my unfinished projects.
• Finish ALL of my unfinished projects.
• Take on no new projects until all old projects are finished.

Anyone who knows me at all will not be surprised that those resolutions resonate with me. I have always struggled with finishing. My childhood bedroom (much like my home today) was filled with half-read books, half-sewn clothes, and craft projects in various states of completion. It took me an extra 11 years to graduate from college. Every now and then an uncluttering project unearths another notebook filled with ideas or lists of things to finish before I start something else. I spent much of June starting new knitting projects instead of finishing any of the nearly completed ones—that I want to wear. Even the half-marathon training project got side-tracked by a bad cold and business travel after the first month.

I'm not sure how well I will do at identifying all of my unfinished projects because I so rarely finish anything. I will maintain a running list of unfinished projects here at least through October. This will help me track my progress and force me to make decisions about abandoning projects that just aren't working. I will cross off the projects I finish or abandon and add new ones as I come across them. I don't think it's possible to list everything without tossing the entire house in the process.

I will finish things. Or I will abandon them and do something appropriate with the stuff associated with that project.

I know myself. Starting nothing new until every UFO is finished will not happen. There are days when I crave the feeling of new yarn on my needles or new fiber slipping through my fingers. At work, I rarely have control of when a new project will land on my desk or in my inbox. I will strive to keep the startitis under control and switch to a different unfinished project when I feel that urge to start something new.

My resolutions for the next 3 to 6 months:

• Maintain a mostly public running list of projects. I will keep a separate, non-public, list of work projects, but everything else will be posted to the list.
• Finish things.
• Be mindful about starting new projects. As Is there something already in progress that will do? before diving in.

Please keep me accountable to these plans.