Updating...

Well it has definitely been awhile and a lot has changed around here.

We are moved in to the new house and have been for over a month now. During the move I was so excited b/c I found the charger cord for my camera. I took a ton of pictures of the house newly painted - well at least primed - several rooms have yet to receive a coat of real paint.  Unfortunately, the cable for the camera/computer has vanished.

I will be so glad when all my electronics come with compatible cables so that I don't have all these different cables for different items. My cell isn't the same as Dh's ...the two MP3 cables are different, the cameras each have their own and on and on and on...

So we are living in the new house and doing well. A mother bird has nested in our master bath windo. (There is a tear in the screen) She has hatched one incredibly noisy baby bird. If I can find a camera cable I will see if I can get a picture. The baby bird has no feathers yet and is ALL MOUTH He opens his mouth to yell - probably for mom to return with some food. When he opens that mouth his head just sort of vanishes.

We are making double mortgage payments b/c we haven't sold the other house. It should list later this week. We are just doing a bit more cleaning/repairing. I hope there is some handy man who really loves the neighborhood and wants a deal and a project for this winter....

I go back to work in a couple of weeks and then a week after that the kids go back to school also.

So it is time to start the back to school preparations. Funny but it just seems like yesterday that we finished the school year and started swim team.

The house

    I know I have been telling friends and family about our 'new' house...you know the one that is Pottery Barn on Crack...Well I have pictures to back me up....

This is the eat-in wall in the kitchen

Yes that is oragne, yellow, pink and green......The green at the right of the picture (facing the picture) is the start of the cabinets. ......

Yep that is the rest of the kitchen.....

This is the master bedroom-- it is even MORE INTENSE in person.....Gotta love the black accent on the doors....(How did anyone sleep in this room???)

This is my favorite room.......this is the main bath - not the master bath. No shower...

The sinkds in the bathroom....(I hope they don't leak! Because of the main drain being broken we can't turn the water on to the second floor bathrooms)

What room is this? What color is this? This is one corner of ....drum roll please....the formal dining room. This loverly purple room is right off the kitchen.....Looks great after staring at the green and orange, don't you agree?

This is the bedroom my oldest will get - with a paint job of course...

The youngest picked this as her room. It is the only bedroom that is painted a normal bedroom color. Unfortunately it will have to be painted b/c the teen that frequented it used one wall and the doors for writing. (Appropriately my youngest is also a wall writer--- of course that stopped when she turned 4!)

This will be Patrick's room--- again with the paint job....It also might be the darkest room in the house....It is also the smallest bedroom......go figure (Patrick picked it because a smaller room will be easier to clean. That is the mind of a nine-year-old male for you)

This is the den. It is gray -not too bad--- again with the black accents. It too will be painted (note a theme here???) 

This is the bow window in the living room and the view out the front of our house. The walls are gold which you can't really tell in the lighting here. This is where our Christmas tree will reside during December. (And I promised that we can have a live tree this year. Since we tossed the artificial one I guess I don't have a real choice)

This is what we found under the carpet in the family room.

And here is the fireplace.

(Sorry it is a bit out of focus).....Only one fireplace, but honestly, it isn't a selling feature we particularly care about. (And it needs to be cleaned and inspected - so isn't really functional at the moment)

Obviously stairs up to the second floor. Again with the green!

I don't have any pictures of the exterior. I wish I did. I ran out of space on my camera and figured I could just link the mls picture ---but they pulled the listing this week. (Guess we can't get out of it now)

I should encourage all of you to post some comments. I would love to read what others think of the place.

The house is about 3 times the size of where we are now - has an extra 1/2 bath (total of 2 1/2 baths)  and a laundry on the main floor (yea! not in the unfinished basement). It has four bedrooms --- really five if you count the 'den' - which has a closet.

If we can get the garage doors replaced - we will  be able to park BOTH cars inside. NO more storing shit in the garage. All our stuff should have room in the house.

I will also be doing a major declutter along with a garage sale before the move.

I am so excited....So excited that I am not panicking aobut how the hell we are going to pay for two houses on one income. (For those who didn't hear, my position with the school district ends the first of June. I am currently looking for full-time employment. If you know of any great jobs in the KC area - let me know!)

I sure hope I discover that I like to paint. Even if I like to paint, I am sure by the end of this project I will hate to paint.

Anyone want to volunteer to help paint? Oh we also need to pull up all the carpet.

I will try and get a picture of the outside next time I am in that area.

We bought the house......

For any of you following our family news lately-- we bought a house. Well they accepted our offer so if the financing goes through we will be the proud owners of a 2300+ square foot home......

Like all home purchases there are pluses and minuses.

On the plus side:

HUGE

4 large bedrooms

An eat in kitchen and formal dining room

A living room and family room-Family room had hardwoods (hopefully they are in decent shape)

AND a den!

Two story (which I like)

Laundry on the main floor

Two car garage

Decent sized yard

3 blocks from the elementary school (not the one my kids currently attend)

Much closer to our jobs (but we likely won't move in until about the time my jobis over)

Minuses:

Paint (which I originally posted as 'pain'  - which is also true) job. I have been unable to describe the decorating style of the owners' until now ----drum roll please ---- Pottery Barn on Crack. (I will try to get some pictures to prove this point before we paint some boring colors.)

Needs work - as in paint (see previous minus) and  carpet 

Yard is soggy after the snow

Lost of stairs

No gas dryer hook-up

No appliances other than the dishwasher (we hope it works)

Middle school is in walking distance but across a highway. Same with the high school, but oldest insists she will not be attending there. Go figure we moved to be closer to work and to get her to school with her soccer friends!)

Will post more as we progress.... Tomorrow we work on additional loan application stuff and scheduling the inspection. And I guess interest rates have dropped yet again so we may be getting a really good deal!!!!

If you know anyone looking for a deal on a small house in north OP - ours is going to be available ----- nneds work (but will be painted neutral colors - no 'crack' painting allowed here.)

Catching up or going full circle

Well it appears that I have been really neglectful of my blog. Not without reason; however it appears that reason will soon be gone gone gone........

I will backtrack to bring anyone who is reading this up to speed. Then it will all come to a screeching halt....as that seems to be where I am headed at the moment.

Back in August I started a new job. I went to work with the local school district part time. The job is great. BUT 20 hours a week of paid employment eats into my knitting and computer time.

I was hired as the Career and Technical Education Liaison. It is a job that really matches my interests and education. My prior work experience dove tails nicely into it as well.

Making the switch from higher ed. proved a bit difficult. I stilll tend to think about it as the students as my 'clients'. And there are so many things to consider besides student needs.

For those of you who don't know what I am doing or talking about, Career and Technical Education is the 'work' side of school. The best way I can describe it is the opportunities for students to apply their education to a specific field.

Many of you may be familiar with the 'old' Voc Ed programs---auto shop, home ec and various co-op or learn/earn programs. Well that is part of CATE but CATE is so much more. Most kids now who take these classes go on to college---Our school district has a 'pre-med signature program' that focuses on career prep in the medical field --- advanced nursing, physicians, veterinarians and the likd.......I won't go into any more detail, but it does give you the idea.

I have been knitting and will try and get some pictures up soon. I have been mosly knitting socks. Have been making them for myself and trying toe up. Thanks to Jo Minor I found a heel that I like for the toe up.

I am finally comfortable enough with sock construction that I think I might try my hand at pattern design.

I have way more plans of projects to knit than I do hours to accomplish this. However, that may be about to change....here is the 'screeching halt' portion.

Since I work in education in a state with a deficit (hmmm wonder if there are any states not in financial trouble?) - I knew my job future would be uncertain. Now keep in mind that nothing has been finalized in the state budgets - but they know the school districts will be getting less money than promised this year and even less next year.

It is sort of an algebra equation where there is no way to figure the unknowns.....

Anyway, last week the 'higher ups' had to cut supply budgets 5%, moritorium on travel outside the state and a hiring freeze. We got word of these things over the weekend.

Monday our staff meeting was canceled b/c the staff was too busy to meet. Now I should also mention that last week I was given a number of 'deadlines' for project --- deadlines moved up by over a month. I was suspicious at the time. Yesterday I got an email from the boss asking myself and another worker to readjust our work hours to attend a meeting at 1 on Thurs.

Now usually my boss would tell me the content of a meeting - so that I would know what to bring/prepare. This note indicates none of that. (Oh and if she were scheduling a meeting she wouldn't demand that I 'flex' my schedule.)

I am reasonably sure that this meeting is going to be the giving of some sort of bad news--- pay cut, hours reduction, position elimination, lay off or some equally depressing item.

Guess when I go in today I am going to need to submit my milage report pronto. Hopefully my boss will approve it - since I don't think I will be able to find a lawyer to help me sue over 25 miles or so at .50 a mile.

Now I am trying to stay focused on the job at hand. I have four hours to work today - flexed hours to accommodate the district. I am conducting training for some teachers tonight. Well this afernoon.

It means I will need to miss my regular knit night..which I consider a great sacrifice on my part.

Funny, but I should have known when they say that they want you to work 4 hours a day but that you also can 'flex' your time -- that their idea of flexing is to accommodate their schedule and not yours.

So, soon I may be knitting more, typing more and eating less (not that that is a bad thing) ---oh and doing fun things like filing for unemployment (which I might not be eligible for anyway) looking for another job, trying to figure out my insurance coverage, deciding what to do with my daughter's school (we transferred her next year to be closer to my work!)

I am not going to leave this blog on a 'down' moment. Since I don't go into work until 2 today, I will have time this morning to knit a bit. (I am guessing under the circumstance my hubby will forgive me for not cleaning house all morning.....not like it won't be waiting when I have more free time)

I am currently knitting a pair of socks with Honey of a Hurricane pattern. One of my knitter friends designed the pattern and I am really thrilled with how it is knitting up. WIth a little luck I will have the things done today and maybe some pictures up tomorrow.

CRAZY LADY......