Happy Birthday ladyofdragons and fallen42!!

Hope you both have a wonderful birthday Friday. =D

We survived the move but are still sans internet at the new place. Seems like it's always a 50/50 proposition getting things installed properly - either it goes flawlessly and we have internet the night we move in, or it's a total botch and we go for a week with no connection. We should have something by tonight, or possibly tomorrow morning. Hopefully I won't have to spend time on the phone not-quite-yelling at anyone tomorrow.

Thank all the powers above and below for my friends. We got everything out of the old place and into the new in about 4 hours (and that was with two trips!) and the old place has been cleaned and tidied and is ready for the landlord to inspect tomorrow.

The new place (which I am thinking of as Babylon - since it has a fabulous garden and we all know I'd be kicked out of Eden - and which Poeso wants to call the Sin Bin) is a disaster area of boxes and displaced furniture and other stuff, but it's starting to shape up. The kitchen is fully unpacked and restocked. I'll be taking a run at making dinner there tomorrow night. And thanks to Shar, the bookcases are unpacked and the front room is less cluttered than it was.

Of course, I'm 4 days behind on LJ and FB and every other internet sort of thing out there, and will probably not get caught up - so if I missed anything important...well why didn't you call me? ;P

And now, back to digging out my work in-box and enjoying that I'm not expected to lift and/or carry anything heavier than a notepad today.

So, it's supposed to jump from a "balmy" 91 degrees for the high tomorrow to hit triple digits for the first time this summer on Saturday. Then it'll drop back down a bit on Sunday.

Translation: Mother Nature heard I was moving and cranked the thermostat for the moving crew.

Apparently I have a gift for moving on the hottest weekend of any given month. I seem to recall this happening the last couple of times we moved during summer as well.

I'm adding "Get cases of water" to my to-do list for tomorrow - and must remember to find the box where I packed the sunscreen.

You learn a lot of things in the course of packing up all your worldly belongings. You learn how much "treasure" is actually trash, and learn that you save the strangest things in the strangest places (hello 15+ year old vacuum sealed beef jerky in the back of ... a file box?).

You also learn that you shouldn't read old journals - you're not the same person you were 15 years ago and it will only hurt your head to see what a mess you were at 19 years old. (I really shouldn't bag on the heroine of Twilight so much...there's some pretty needy, clinging, obsessive bullshit in some of my old journals from when I was older than her.)

And then there's the little practical lessons, like when AT&T says, "You can switch your service anytime online through our website" what they really mean is, "You can dig through our site until you find the option for moving your service without buying an expensive bundled package that you don't need, but the site won't actually be able to process your transfer without you calling a customer service representative during those business hours that aren't today which is why you're digging through the website to begin with."

Oh, and you can always use more storage tubs. And empty boxes don't always feel empty (apparently I moved two yesterday without realizing it - in my defense, they were labeled from a prior move, I didn't recall unpacking them and they should have been lightweight).

But I should be finding out what I've got stashed in the kitchen that really ought to get thrown out...so back to that.

Still on track for moving on the 27th. The house is partially packed and we've moved a few boxes, tubs and other bits over to the new place. Not a lot though, since we're trying to get the work on the house done before we drag a bunch of stuff over.

Last week we successfully had the floors in the laundry room, downstairs bath and family room replaced. I love how the slate in the laundry room looks and I think we did really well with carpet color for the family room as well.

Friday afternoon and most of the weekend were spent on scraping the "popcorn" (or "cottage cheese") off the ceilings in the entry way, front room, dining room and kitchen. Killian and Thumper were a HUGE assist on Saturday getting the last of those damned boards off the ceiling.

Last night the painting process started. Took me about 2 hours to get 90% of the front room painted, but it's the largest room, so hopefully the rest will go a bit quicker. It's certainly an experience working with a roller on a pole. Much easier than moving the ladder around, but challenging to get the right angle for the rolling to go smoothly, and tiring for the neck and shoulders as I get closer to the top edge of the ceiling.

There will be more painting tomorrow night (game tonight) and then finishing up/touch up work on Friday afternoon - and clean-up as well. Next week will be the big push to get the rest of the house packed up (read: tackle the kitchen) and as many boxes over to the new place as possible before the heavy lifting on the 27th.

Two weeks and I'll be landlord-free! *does happy dance*

I created a filter back in 2005 when I was making an effort to get in shape and lose some weight, and I haven't used it much since then because, well, I've been lazy and haven't been so good with keeping up on the exercise.

Thanks to the "Wellness Program" that was recently implemented at work, I'm back to focusing on exercise, eating right, etc. (More on that later...I've been meaning to post about it for a while now.)

I know that a number of my friends are working toward similar goals and I'm trying to share as much information as I can from the seminars and other sessions here at the office, as well as my own efforts, recipes, etc.

Therefore, I'm thinking I should dust off the old "Workout" filter again.

I've expanded my f-list a bit since I created it, and there are different people with different goals out there, so please comment if you'd like me to add you to that filter.

I don't guarantee to post often, but I'll try to at least keep it relevant and helpful when I do - as opposed to smug gloating over every pound or inch lost. ;P

- I can always rely on the "family" to have good ideas for how to solve vexing problems. (Thank you Killian and SeaWeasel - between the tool advice and the Dremel advice, I managed to make progress!)

- "Work smarter, not harder" will speed up a project tremendously

- Removing long, heavy boards from a high ceiling is significantly easier and faster with two people, especially when one of those two people isn't freaked by heights. (And another thank you here to Killian for that, and LadyJ for keeping an eye on the munchkin)

- Do not leave hammers on top of ladders and then move the ladder (rubs knot on head)

- No project will ever be as easy as it looks (and 4" long nails are a bitch to extract - but remarkably easy to bend)

- There's a remarkable amount of cargo capacity in a Prius, and an equally remarkable amount of cargo to be extracted from one garage and put into another

- My husband is a strong contributing factor to my sanity. He knows exactly when to tell me to back away from the calendar.

- I have to stop trying to have a life this month. It's just not going to happen.

- Never underestimate the value of "elbow grease" and proper leverage (it's all a matter of leverage)

but even delayed a little...

Happy Birthday adnate!

Hope it was a good one.

Apparently the IT group at work is slowly working through making various websites inaccessible through the Company network. This morning one of my web comics came up as blocked for Mature Content and now FaceBook is an unauthorized site.

I don't know if they'll get to LJ, but just in case, I thought I should put up a warning that I may be out of the loop at some point.

*sigh* So much for my favorite "take a break" (or "bored now") entertainments.

I've moved enough times, you'd think I'd have an icon for it by now. :D

So, after much debating, going over the calendar several times, going over the task list several times, discussing and then debating again, we've finally set our calendar to answer the big question: When Are We Moving?

Behold - for June shall be busy, but there will be moving and much rejoicing!

( So ... When Are You Moving? )

Between now and the move, in addition to packing, we are having new carpet put into the family/entertainment room and new tile in the laundry room/downstairs bath. In fact, I will be heading out shortly to meet the sales rep to confirm the measurements in the rooms and set up an installation date. That should be complete by the 14th.

I also plan to take a break from packing and lifting boxes to attend the Gaskell's on the 20th.

There's also a number of smaller projects to do - like installing new doorknobs/latches in a few places downstairs (doing that today) - and the bigger project of painting the ceilings in the kitchen, formal dining and living rooms. And that leads me to the other question I've gotten from a few people:

( So...When Are We Painting? )

So that's all that's fit to print. I'm going to get my shoes on now and head over to finalize the details on the floor.

Friday group - I will send an abbreviated version of this to the Friday mailing list later on.

Happy Birthday fraggle42!

I'll try to be a good sister and call later today, but just in case I don't...at least this way you know I didn't forget! =)

Snoopy posted his pictures and there's a few others appearing. As I find better ones, I'll update, but in the meantime, here's his shot of the X-Group. All hail Kryolan, for it makes me blue (and green in prior years) and fun all over. :)




In the photo:

fishknifeseller as Jubilee
poeso as Rogue
Kearney as Beast
gwenrose as Domino
waywardbound as Gambit
Yours truly as Mystique
stride as White Queen
cjl101 as Cyclops

I've been delaying my annual BayCon post - Monday I was (predictably) exhausted and would have fallen asleep over my keyboard if I'd tried to spend time on the computer and yesterday I was trying to pretend that I was getting work done. Today I've given up on that work concept for a bit (it really is just that quiet this week) and get on with it before I forget all the high points of the weekend.

This won't be the usual "OMG!! SO AWESOME!! *SQUEEEEEE*" post that I usually do, because while it was a GOOD weekend, it was also very...quiet. I know a lot of folks have used "quiet" to describe the Con this year, and in my case, I think it's because I wasn't disappointed with the weekend, but it was sort of slow by comparison to other years. The overall energy level of the convention just wasn't there.

However, this was the first time that Shar has come out with me, which proved to be quite enjoyable, and I got to introduce him to all the wonderful folks that I really only see at Con for one reason or another. There was also a higher percentage of the "Family" in attendance as well, which was awesome.

( So without further ado, the high points: )

So, the British Finance Hottie (who I may have mentioned previously) is returning to his mother country and taking his Kai-melting accent and smile with him.

I now officially regret that I haven't had more reasons to be in the finance department lately.

Of course, there's a "goodbye" dinner for him (tonight) which I shall attend and try to pretend that the drooling is all because of the good food. And there's a card from the office...in which I did NOT write, "Your gorgeous self will be sorely missed. There is no one else worthy of being my Office Crush."...because honestly, I don't think his wife would appreciate that much. =D

We do have a new employee with a lovely British accent, but he's just not the same... *pouts* So much for work related fantasizing.

Apparently there's a lawyer (yeah, no shock there) pushing a proposal to create a sort of "higher education bailout" program - he's pushing for complete forgiveness of all student loans.

Now, I'm as greedy as the next red-blooded American consumer, but somehow this seems...off somehow. I've got plenty of friends who have paid off their student loans, or never had them to begin with, who are in much more desperate financial straits than I am. While it would be nice to not have 10% of my monthly gross income (minimum) going to loan payments for an extended part of the next decade, it seems unfair to benefit just because I went for a graduate degree, didn't manage to pay my loans off quickly, etc.

Of course I think such a proposal has around ZERO chance of really being taken seriously, but it's interesting that it was presented and I would hope that if it does gain some traction, there will be attention to the fact that it wouldn't really benefit some of the people who have the most need of relief right now.

Costume is ready and in a bag. The major accessories are even "Seaweasel Approved" - which basically means that she squealed and wants to steal the belt I made. Tonight I will pack and tomorrow I'll be headed off for a weekend of geek-bliss. =)

***FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MAY WANT CRASH SPACE***

I have had a few people express interest in taking up some of the space in my room. At present, I'm not sure how committed any of you are. Therefore, I'm giving priority to: adnate, fishknifeseller and leiland (and Lairian if he shows up, but I'm under the impression he has no interest in such shenanigans).

Should things wind up with a need to rearrange, or make the room unisex, I may poke Snoopy and Dr. No about taking Adnate in exchange for GwenRose, but that can be determined at the Con.

Other cuddlesluts may be welcomed depending on how much space I have, comfort level of those in the room and proper bribes.

If you will be there and know you would like some space (and don't mind possibly sleeping on the floor or in an over crowded bed), let me know so I have a head's up please!

Overheard outside my office: "It's not their _religion_...it's just their beliefs."

Umm...call me crazy but, are those kind of the same thing? Or at least integrally linked?

I spent a ridiculous number of hours yesterday trying to sort, organize, package and pack my jewelry making clutter. I've been a bit lazy about putting things away anyhow, but I've also got more things than I can properly store in the organization set up that I have.

The last time we moved, I had three boxes of supplies, tools and equipment, plus my "tackle box" and bead storage drawers. This time, I have a number of smaller boxes and it probably would take five of the boxes I used before to pack everything up.

What this tells me is that I have too much crap and I need to 1) finish the projects that I have sorted into my "pending projects" pile and 2) stop buying more things until I've used up the current things. At some point, assuming I can successfully get through step #1, there may be an open "tell me what to make with < insert list of components here >" request in order to make some progress on step #2.

Don't hold me to it...but we'll see.

Shar and I went to the title company office yesterday at noontime and signed a whole pile of documents. Then I went to the bank and got a very large cashier's check and took it back to the title company.

The loan should be funded today or tomorrow (depending on how slammed the bank is) and we should have the keys tomorrow or Thursday.

We're homeowners. *insert gleeful squealing here*

( The rest of yesterday )