Hi everyone! I've missed being online. We closed on Friday and moved the in the big stuff on Saturday. I've still got stuff in the apartment in the closets and bathrooms. Yuck. Transporters REALLY need to be invented. I love my new house and hate having to go back to the apartment to pick up piddly stuff. About five more trips (maybe an underestimate) and everything will be here.

I had my friend Maria over this afternoon and she helped me to decorate/situate my great room. I have enough stuff, it's just knowing on where best to place them. She is the one to help with this love dilema. Her house and her mother's mansion (I'm not exagerrating here!) are like Southern Living spreads. We moved some bookcases around and she gave me some ideas on my knicknacks and wall hangings. I cooked a Mexican crab dish and we had a glass of Merlot. It was a wonderful evening.

I have not been online lately because I've been having mouse issues of the technical kind. For some reason, my computer has decided that my Logitech optical mouse doesn't exist. I don't know why. And, of course, I can't find the system disk for it. So, I haven't checked my Mailwasher since moving (Ack!) and navigating online has been tedious. Sigh. The search continues.

In two weeks Miguel and I will be offically out of the apartment and we will be a married couple as of 5 pm on the 14th of July. Woohoo!

This past weekend was spent in Atlanta, not packing. I went to "Success School" by Advocare. I've been taking their products and have seen great success. I went wanting to learn more about their safety, effectiveness, and to hear about others' results. I would estimate almost 10,000 people attended. When asked how many in the audience had lost weight, nearly EVERYBODY stood. I am not exaggerating. I've lost some weight (no scale, sorry) and probably an inch or two and have had a lot more energy than I have in a long time. The speaker then asked who had lost 10 pounds or more, and some people sat down. When he got to who had lost 50 pounds or more using the products, there were still maybe 150 people still standing. He went all the way up to 100 pounds. There were about 10 people standing. Absolutely amazing. One lady standing a few rows behind me had lost 103 pounds. WOW! I really learned a lot and feel even more confident in taking the 7 different products. If you're looking for more evergy everyday or weight management products, I highly recommend them. Email me if you want additional info!

Today, I've been switching power, cable, etc. for the still scheduled 11 am closing on Friday. We are going to do the final walk-through at 10 that morning. I've started washing the bathroom rugs for the final time before the move. Tomorrow I'll start taking down curtain rods and washing curtains. Thursday night I'll pull apart the computer. A tech is coming over to the house Friday afternoon to hook me back up. I'll be hanging curtains and hopefully having the locks changed at the same time. Efficient, I hope.

In knitting news, there is an alpaca farm a stone's throw from my new house. Cool, huh? I emailed the owner to find out about getting a tour and my interest in the farm because I knit and spin. She emailed me back and told me that she would love to show me around. She said she had fleeces and knits premie caps for the local hospital. I can't wait to visit!

Here's some knitting photos. The first is my Felted Day Pack using Cascade 220 from Threadbear. What do you think Matt and Rob? I think my Easter Egg colors turned out great!


Next is the spinning I've been working on. It's "Salmon" Merino top. The picture shows a single ply skein and a few double plied skeins.



The last picture is romney and purple dyed colonial top. Not sure what to do with it. This was my first plying attempt.

Here's a photo of our house-to-be.



This is the great room.



We have a bay window in the kitchen.



I can't wait to soak in the garden tub!



This morning I tried to switch my MCI The Neighborhood to the new house. they told me it would be $192.50 and would take from 3 to 6 weeks for service! What?!? No thanks. I'm going back to BellSouth and including their DSL. Six weeks? Hah!! My new email will change-it will be my last name then first initial and bellsouth dot net. Goodbye, MCI!

Sorry, still no knitting pictures or news. I've been doing a little spinning, but not much. I'll try to post some picks tomorrow. I am, still drooling over getting a spinning wheel (Rob, I WILL get one--sooner or later--okay, later...sigh).

As for the house, closing is set for next Friday at 11 AM. We went today to measure for blinds and check out the brand-name of the locks. I've got a lot more packing to do. Sigh. Tomorrow I have to call and get a U-Haul rented. Two of Miguel's brothers are willing to help us move. Miguel and I will probably to a lot on our own. That's just fine with me; this way I can put things in place where I want them.

We sat down this morning and sketched out a basic plan of what goes where. Miguel is intent on getting the plastic corner protectors for the house. Ick. But, I'm willing to compromise. We took pictures today of the inside. I'll post some of them tomorrow.

Yesterday, I bought my first gardening book from Discount Books. It's a Better Home and Garden and I saved $12! :) It will be a completely new task taking care of a yard! Apartment life just doesn't off much in the way of gardening. Oh well. I love learning new things.

I'm home! Yea! Now, got to start packing, deep cleaning, and tossing unused items. Fun! Add to that laundry from my trip, and I've got some work ahead of me.

House news--I signed the bank papers and they should return back home on Wednesday. Miguel is taking the bank statements, etc. to the bank today or tomorrow so they can get rolling on the loan. I also signed and sent out about 8 copies of the house contract for that end to get rolling.

Fingers still crossed.

I've finished the felted day pack knitting. I'm not sure if I can get a picture taken before I felt it this evening. I'm just too excited and not patient enough. lol Otherwise, I've been doing some spinning and knitting on the Kilim from Philosopher's Wool.

Monday, Miguel and the real estate agent meet the home inspector at 10 am at the house. I should get the contract tomorrow. I'll have to sign the five sopies sent (!!), mail those back to Georgia, and mail the bank papers, too. I have yet to look at them closely enough to sign them. I'll call Miguel tonight and remind him to take his checkbook with him tomorrow and see if he's found the bank statement. If he has, he can take the other papers we've collected and take them over to SunTrust to await the bank papers I will mail. I hope all this running around will be worth it! I won't become really excited until I have the keys in hand after closing. :)

Tonight I have to check over the latest bid offer, but I believe we've come to an agreemen on the house terms. This guy would not budge on the house price. But, he did concede to pay all closing costs and include the side-by-side filtered fridge. So, I'll sign the papers tonight or tomorrow and fax them to my agent. She is going to FedEx the originals and I should get those on Monday. I've also got to do the signing on the bank papers. Ick! But, what must be done...

I made it! I'm on (semi) vacation!

Florida is hot and humid, just like Charleston where I grew up. The trip down was great--no problems. The flight was smooth and luggage arrived without a hitch. I heard from my agent and received a counter offer. Hmm...time to ponder what to offer next. I will be colling Miguel late tonight to see what he thinks. I have until noon tomorrow (we at least gave him almost 24 hours. Hrmph!) to counter. Decisions, decisions.

Had a wonderful meal of ribs and fried rice, a glass of pinot grigio, and a few games of Rummi-kub.

Not bad for a first day in paradise.

We bid on the house las night. We went to sign papers and take some pictures. The seller has until 5 pm today to accept, reject, or counter the bid. I'm taking the bank loan papers with me to Florida to look over and sign and my cell phone will be on high alert for the next few days. Miguel is taking me to MARTA, and I'm riding the train down to the airport. By 1:30, I'll be in Sarasota. Woohoo!

Projects I'm taking: the Kilim (which I haven't really worked on much since Spring Break in Florida), the felted day pack (I have only one more strap to knit), and my spinning. I'm going to try to buy five more balls of sparkly blue ribbon from one of the stores so I can make a tank.

I'll be able to post from Florida, so talk to ya soon!

Went out with Lynn, Maria, and the agent to look at the top three houses. My buddies were able to point out pros and cons with a non-emotional eye. I actually think we'll make a bid on my third choice and Miguel's first choice. It has a flat front yard and backyard, a large master with a huge closet and bathroom, and three small bedrooms. The kitchen has a separate small pantry, a laundry room, a side by side fridge, and a bay window. It's an open floor plan with a wall separating the kitchen from the living area. Lynn and Maria both thought this house was better built, in a higher class neighborhood, and would have better resale down the line.

We'll make a bid tomorrow. I'll keep ya posted.

Went house hunting again this morning. Found two more to put into the mix. Here is a link to my favorite house.

These are the realtor pictures, and they really only show half the story. The property is up on a hill with incredible landscaping. The front porch overlooks the street with a view of hillside trees. The back is fenced with a patio and an awning (retractable), a seating area under the trees, and a play area for kids. The backyard is level and very private. I can see lots of spinning and knitting time outside. The kitchen has new Italian ceramic tiles on the floor and backsplash, and there are under the cabinet lights. It's four bedrooms (two on the main and two upstairs with dormer windows. One will definitely become a craft/computer room. Outside speakers stay and it has a security system. There is a small vegetable garden on one side of the house. The interior is very well decorated and painted. It is a 1999 built house and has a lot of character.

I'm going to try to get Maria and another teacher/brat friend to come with me to see it (again!) this afternoon and get their takes on it. I trust both of their judgements tremendously. Afterwards, we're going out to grab some dinner and a beer. Then I'm helping Maria bathe her four cats. Four hands against sixteen paws with claws. Tiger is not going to leave me alone when I come back; he will be sniffing me for an hour!

Of course, now that we've found something and things are beginning to come together, I'm going out of town. Thursday I leave to see Mom and Dad in Bradenton until the 15th. Thank goodness they have email and I have a Nationwide cell phone plan.

The excitement continues!

The first day of vacation!

I had a nice first day off. I got a lot of things done. Miguel and I are looking at a house. I've been filling out bank applications. One, so far, came back approved. It's from SunTrust. Anyone have any comments about them? How about things I need to know about buying a house? I would love to hear from all my friends about what I need to do/not do/know about, etc. Your help would be greatly appreciated! You can email me or write on my ZonkBoard.

This weekend was also productive. Saturday I talked to Rob and Matt at Threadbear about spinning wheels. I drove out to The Spinning Shop to get some hands-on time on an Ashford Traditional. It is double treadle, and she taught me how to treadle s-l-o-w-l-y. lol Tough work! But fun! I bought a drop spindle, some salmon-dyed roving and some natural ecru roving--both merino.

Sunday was spent at the lake with Miguel's family. We headed out to one of the parks, brought a grill, and cooked out. One of my favorite smells is the aroma of a grill, hot and ready for items to be grilled. We had a great time, got lots of sun, and came home happy and tired.