Boxes, boxes, and more boxes

My apartment has been taken over by boxes. The reason being that our offer on the condo was accepted and we close on the 27th. Now I have the fun job of packing up all the stuff in our apartment to get it ready to move. I also get to figure out how to vacate our apartment by noon the 31st and get it all cleaned up. But, we will then own a 2 bedroom condo and gain equity. Hopefully by the time we are ready to sell and upgrade, the economy will be better and we can get more for it.

House

We made an offer on a condo in Edmonds. We're supposed to hear back on whether or not our offer is accepted by Monday. Hopefully it is. I'll try to post pictures later.

What a week

My husband started school this week doing prerequisites for a program in computer programming. We may have found a condo that we like and might put an offer in by the end of this week. And my mother wants me to try and finish test knitting a baby sweater she designed so that she can give a completed pattern to the person who is giong to publish it.

House Hunting

My husband and I have been looking at houses. While the possibility of owning and gaining equity instead of throwing money down the drain (otherwise known as renting) is exciting, I find it kind of depressing. The places we are looking at are either out of our price range, in bad areas of town, or in really bad shape. I don't want to move again in just a few years because we have outgrown our living space, but that may be what happens.

Plans, Plans, Plans

Life is what happens while you're making plans. This weekend, I spent an unexpected extra 4 hours in a CPR class taking the First Aid portion that I am already certified in. Then, my husband changed our normal Sunday schedule to watch the Seahawks game. Well, blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken.

Football season

So, Friday night was the last preseason game for the Seahawks. Basically this means that for the next 5 to 6 months my life will revolve around my husband watching football games ("No, we can't go to community group/watch "Big Bang Theory because the Seahawks are on"). Now one would think that having a husband captive in front of the TV who wants his wife to watch would mean that he could help with things that don't require getting up and moving from in front of the television. However, this is not the case and here is the story to illustrate.



So, I asked my husband to help me wind my yarn for the Harry Potter sock swap. He held the yarn out while I wound it while I listened to him whine the entire time. He was fired just short of finishing it because his whining was incessant. I then spent the next hour and a half trying to unknot what he had been asked to hold and got to bed around 11pm. Suffice it to say, he will not be asked to help again and I will be asking for a ball winder and swift for Christmas.

Gryffindor Quiz #1

Here are my answers to the Quiz for the Harry Potter Sock Swap

1) A niffler is a black, fluffy, long-snouted creature that burrows in dirt as if it were water. The Pros of owning one are that they are gentle and affectionate and good at finding treasure. The Cons of owning one are that they are strongly attracted to anything shiny which can make them difficult to control (ie, a niffler may attack you to get at something shiny you are wearing).
2)If you are caught flying a magic carpet, you would be reported to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in which the Improper Use of Muggle Artifacts Office is a part of.
3)I think I would of been best at the 2nd task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament (The Lake) because I'm usually pretty good at sorting out riddles and I am a good swimmer. Plus, if someone important to me was hidden at the bottom of the lake, nothing would prevent me from saving them.
4) I would have been least successful in the 1st task (The Dragons) because I don't like getting hurt and would have tried to stay as far away from the dragon as possible to avoid getting burned. This also strikes me as the most dangerous and I don't like danger.
5) Using ground scarab beetle, cut-up ginger root, and armadillo bile would make Wit-sharpening Lotion.
6)Veritaserum is a powerful truth serum that is colorless and odorless (looks like water). It is used to have the drinker give information that they are keeping secret. 3 drops of the potion has the drinker spilling their innermost secrets.
7) Harry battled a Hungarian Horntail in the 1st TriWizard Tournament Task.
8) The badges everyone wore after Harry was named the 4th champion read "Support Cedric Diggory - The REAL Hogwarts Champion!" in luminous red letters. When pressed, the badge changed to read "Potter Stinks" in green letters.

Scavenger Hunt

Dean Thomas - http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/thumb/e/e0/Dean_thomas.JPG/200px-Dean_thomas.JPG

Seamus Finnegan - http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/perkel4346/Blog%20Pictures/devonmurphy.jpg

Harry and a dragon together - http://lh3.ggpht.com/_G43RLRLrQps/R31DYQLcMAI/AAAAAAAABtM/e3an_ZQ3dv4/2005_harry_potter_and_the_goblet_of_fire_086.jpg

Hagrid - http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/gallery/2002/10/23/Hagrid3.jpg

Hermione and Viktor Krum together - http://ceraphis.com/hp/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/viktor.jpg

Fun!!

I had the day off yesterday in an attempt to use up my remaining benefit time before it disappears at the end of the month. We'll see how successful that is as I have not used all of it since I have worked at my current job. I got a lot of things done as I have developed a list of things to do for myself on my Fridays off (I'm not working a Friday until September).

My husband and I had a date last night. We went to see "The Dark Knight". I am so sad that Heath Ledger died. He's so talented and really created a unique character that I don't think could be matched anyone else and is not like any other character he played in his career. My only complaint was that it was rather long.

I finally found the perfect yarn for the sock swap and I think I've decided on the pattern. We'll see.

Vacation

So, I just returned from camping in Oregon with my husband yesterday. I'm really glad that my knitting didn't come back smelling like campfire. I don't think I will take knitting on a camping trip again. However, Oregon was pretty and we enjoyed being able to relax. Now we are in Bellingham visiting my family and friends until Sunday. My new missions for this part of the vacation is to convert my mother into a lover of Malabrigo and to find yarn for the Harry Potter sock swap. There is so much out there to choose from.

Decisions, Decisions

Life is full of decisions. I am currently faced with a number of them. Do I stay at my job for another year even though I am not happy and don't feel appreciated? What type of graduate program do I apply to? Should I pursue the Ph.D. I have planned on getting for a long time or do I pursue a master's and get the Ph.D. later? Life is complicated and is sometimes overwhelming. Hopefully, I'll find answers to these dilemmas.