norsegirl

Today has been ups and downs. We started the day very early driving Jason to the walk-in clinic. He's just got a bit of bursitis in his elbow. No big deal, but a bit of a crimp in our schedule. On the bright side, Jason is being treated and we have a new family doctor (our last one moved out of the city and closed her practice here a few months back).

After dropping Jason off at work Georgia and I headed down to the local yarn shop for their monthly sale. Today it was anything in balls. I decided to take the plunge on some expensive Noro. I don't really like the feel of this yarn but I'm hoping it feels better once knitted, and to get the bright colours I was looking for this really was the only way to go.

This evening I wasted an hour or so doing what I always do when I buy a yarn without a very precise idea in mind. I know I want to make a scarf, but that still leaves it open to a lot of possibilities, so I stash the yarn in ravelry, and then look and see what other people have done with that same yarn. Sometimes you get an "ah hah!" moment where you see the PERFECT application. But more often than not you see a lot of examples of women grinning ear to ear in frumpy, mishapen knit disasters. It appears that it is a rare woman that can admit, after wasting hours of spare time, that what she has produced is in fact an atrocity that should not be allowed out in public. My personal favourites are the boldly and horizontally striped sweaters/coats/tunics/shells/shrugs/tank tops. Horizontal stripes are rarely flattering, make them a riot of mutiple colours and it is even less so. There's a special place in my black little heart reserved for the woman who knitted herself a large and unflattering sack 4 sizes too large and in her notes stated "Need to wear this with slim black pants/capris or a slim black skirt." Oh honey, that is soooo not going to help. Then there's the women who knit themselves "shrugs" that just look like they are re-purposing a garment stolen from their 4 year olds, complete with stretched-to-breaking fronts held together with a single button that is threatening to ping off and re-create that moment from the Incredibles trailer. Bonus points if their profile pic is of an adorable toddler, to whom they should probably return their "shrug". I'm tempted to post photographic evidence, but I'm not quite cold-hearted enough to mock a fellow knitter by name. Talking about these poor, tasteless, misguided souls in a general sense is one thing, but identifying them, even if they never saw themselves here, is a bit low even for me. Totally tempted though...

After the yarn shop, it was a beautiful day so I tossed my coat in the car, secured Georgia in her Moby and headed off to walk the strip. South Congress is an interesting place in which most of the stores give off a painful "trying too hard to be hip" kind of vibe. There's a lot of junk (they call it "vintage") shops, and stores selling crappy imported stuff (cheaply made jewelery and nick knacks), and then there was the back-alley record store that slavishly sold only vinyl. There's also the local food scene, which varies from nicer restaurants down to trailers flogging everything from tamales and BBQ to cupcakes and pies.

Most of the stroll was quite enjoyable, but I have learned an unpleasant thing... I can no longer shop in thrift stores. It's not that I ever did terribly well at these places. I lack the patience to sift through rack after rack of strange smelling garments for the perfect pieces. I did get my sewing machine from one of these places though, and at $35 for the machine and the table it was mounted in it was a total steal. I think I've been using it for 3 years now without so much as a single tune-up. Based on that success I keep holding out hope that I'm going to snag a really nice desk, dresser or mirror, so I poke my nose in if I happen to be close to one. In the length of time it took to walk from one end of this store to the other (just walking, not stopping to look at anything) I had 3 people try to touch Georgia. Complete strangers just sauntering up and trying to pet her like she was a chihuahua in my purse or something. The first woman simultaneously touched her sleeve and reprimanded me for letting her head flop forward (she's asleep, comfortable and none of your damn business lady). The second came out of nowhere and without saying a thing to me reached for Georgia's face. She barely brushed it before I swatted her hand away and she then shot me a look like *I* was the rude one in this exchange. As I passed the counter on my way out an old lady behind the counter exclaimed "she's so cute" and started rushing out from behind the counter. I high-tailed it outta there as I can easily outpace a senior citizen, even with 15 extra pounds and a door to contend with because the look on her face (and of course the bolting out from behind the counter) made it quite clear that she was wanting to reach out and touch.

I would never DREAM of touching anyone's child if they were not someone I was familiar with. What on earth would make these people think that is acceptable behaviour? Outside the thrift shop many people complimented me on how pretty she is (people especially like her eyes and eyelashes) but not one of them ever got within a foot of her. They didn't even bend down to get a better look much less reach for her. And some of them I even chatted with for a while!!! And right now, while we're dealing with the whole swine flu thing (we still have it here, Jason's bosses were both sent home for 2 weeks last month to recover from it) do they not get that physical contact with strangers is ill advised to say the least, especially for the young with their immature immune systems? The ill manners and over-familiarity must be something to do with the common background of these people. There has to be a pattern to the 3 attempted touches in 5 minutes I was there vs none in the other 3 hours I spent on the street and in other shops where I actually spoke to people. The only pattern I can discern is that we were in a religious charity shop. So it's either socio-economic class or religion. Am I more likely to encounter this kind of over-friendliness if I go to a Goodwill or a church? I don't spend a whole lot of time in either of these places so I wouldn't have had a chance to notice a pattern myself. And of course this is the first time I've set foot in a charity shop with a baby. So can I still comfortably wander into thrift stores if I confine my hunting to Goodwills?

Got up early this morning and made french toast for myself while Jason finished the last of the waffles. Ate it out on the back patio on the lawn furniture. We've made a bit of a routine of it and this has become about the best part of my day.

( Pics of my patio behind the cut )

Then while Jason was showering and getting ready for work I ran out to Lowe's for some supplies to make inkle looms. I'm teaching a class on Thursday and rather than finish up the weaving that has been on my looms for ages and letting people borrow my good looms, I figure I'll toss together a teaching set and people can buy one if they like, or just borrow one, up to them. Makes sure my looms don't get all bogged down with other people's projects at least. They're bogged down enough with my half-finished junk.

Anyway, I got home just in time for Jason to take the car, but while I was out, he had noticed that we were supposed to have our property tax assessment today. Ooops, totally forgot about that, so no woodworking for me today. I had to drive Jason to work and come in to his office to make copies of all our evidence without having so much as brushed my teeth. I didn't mind looking like that at Lowe's, but I felt kind of embarrassed slumming around Jason's office looking that way.

Came home, put all the baby laundry away and got washed and dressed with plenty of time to make it to the hearing. Hearing was a success. Having a recent sales document on the property in question pretty much guarantees success. Apparently things like comparative sales numbers from other properties and professional appraisals don't guarantee anything of the sort though, as someone from Jason's office had tried that route and gotten no where. We were lucky to have purchased at a down time, and that it was a foreclosure. Got the value of our house knocked down 20% from their estimate, so that should take a nice bite out of this year's taxes. Also got them to revise the description of the property to remove the fireplace that we clearly do not have.

Celebrated my victory against the bureaucracy by hitting a Wal-Mart a bit further from my house to hunt for the sports bra I like. No luck on said bra, but I did manage to get some infant gowns on clearance, so that's nice. I'm not going to run a load for 4 little pieces of infant wear, so they'll just get tossed in the drawer and I'll wash them with the first load of actual baby laundry.

I've taken some pics of the nursery, but as I have to run out the door to pick Jason up from work and I haven't had a chance to edit them yet they'll probably come up in the next post.

They have now spread to the kitchen garbage (which is now out on the back porch) and are eating all the glue out of my wooden cutting boards, so I now have many thin slats of wood instead of BOARDS on which one can CUT. No, the garbage and cutting boards are not in the same cupboard, but they are both in lower-level cupboards.

*sarcasm* I can't wait until tomorrow when I get to discover what new way they can make my life suck. */sarcasm*

The pest control company is sending out their inspector (and estimate-giver) tomorrow, so hopefully we can get them poisoned and dealt with quickly.

In other news, one of the power locks on the van is making an annoying noise. Apparently it requires a new $200 "lock actuator" and all the air filters need changing too, to the tune of $300 altogether. And of course I was out getting away from ants so I didn't approve the repair in time to get it done today. This is going to be a very expensive week.

So what did I do today that didn't suck? I went out and had a lovely lunch with Rhonda (my treat because she'd bought the last time and she was chauffeuring me around) and then we went shopping at Ikea where my sole goal was to purchase $100 worth of stuff I'd bought last week so I could get the $20 gift certificate and then immediately turn around and return it with last week's receipt. Mission accomplished, gift card in hand, I found out the estimated arrival date for the next shipment of my crib is in three weeks (oh joy if it's right) and I also got cinnamon buns. I was very good and did not purchase another orchid. Then it was on to Babyearth to inspect a toy for eliskimo where I bought a Snoogle for myself. I really, really, really hope this helps me sleep because I am so very tired of being this tired.

Off to test out the Snoogle. Wish me luck.

Ants appear to be gone. Jason sprayed them with raid and put down traps and they spent most of yesterday carrying bait into their home in the wall (or outside, I'm not sure where their base of operations is). Our birthing class coach gave us some organic pesticide (clove oil suspended in inert things like olive oil, water and other food-grade products) that he sprayed outside and which I put in the kitchen a bit. And we got all the sheets and towels washed and de-anted. They survived the washer (bastards) but the dryer killed 'em good. As of this morning there were one or two stragglers wandering around the floor, but that's a typical number so I'm okay with it. Nice to have that cleared up quickly.

The beagle on the couch epidemic on the other hand seems to be getting worse. I had to yell her off the couch when we got home last night. She came over and greeted me and then as soon as she was done with her greeting hopped up to get settled on the couch. This morning Jason came down after his shower (he lets them out in the morning and then goes back upstairs to get dressed) and found her on it. She's obviously not getting the memo here. I'd rather if she stayed off it all the time, but with reduced exposure it doesn't smell doggy like the old couch did, so I guess it's not the worst thing in the world if we have to keep correcting her.

I managed to get the kitchen cleaned last night but still have the main floor vacuuming to do, so I'm off to get that done and then maybe I can spend my afternoon doing something creative. That would be lovely. The house is actually clean enough right now that I wouldn't be mortified if guests dropped in. That's a nice feeling. Here's hoping I can maintain it.

My Mum was very sad to leave this morning. I thought the fact that the weather has taken a turn for the worse would make it easier, but she disagreed saying driving in rain is crappy. I kind of like driving in a light rain, it's less hot in the car without the sun beating in on you. When they left it was just a drizzle. It is now a total downpour. It's actually raining so hard that my neighbour's houses are just blurry blobs through my sodden windows.

I was kept extremely busy throughout my parents' visit. Probably I'll run off and have a nap as soon as I finish this entry. Just wanted to write about some of the things we did before I forgot.

( Busy week behind the cut )

This afternoon I may tackle the downstairs curtains. The ones for the family room are pre-fab, but need to be shortened to the right length. For the dining room I'm making my own, but I've got the fabric all pre-washed, so that shouldn't take a long time. The place is starting to look like we've moved in, but there's still lots around here to keep me busy.

I posted the following message to the local e-mail list:

For those of us new to the area and new to the weekly PiP... is this
an in-garb affair, or a street clothed thing? If it is in garb, is it
optional, or is it one of those things where if you show up in
mundanes you're gonna get loaner stuff tossed on you?

Eve

I received the following response:
Actually, it would be best if folks showed up in clothing appropriate to
their persona.

With the drought and burn bans in effect, I'd be careful with garb...

(I've held off for about a year now so I was due)

;-)

******************

I didn't get the second paragraph at all. I assumed maybe it was a poorly worded warning about standing too close to fires with billowing skirts or dragging sleeves because stop drop and roll is a bit harder in dry grass??? It wasn't until I received a bunch of off-line apologies for this guy's comments that I realized it was a poorly-worded jab. Seriously, if you're going to try to be insulting or snarky, the least you can do is be comprehensible when you do. What's the point of a snarky comment if it can't be immediately understood? Or am I just being dense (baby-brained) and missing something obvious?

Anyway, it made me look up the word "garb" that so many of the language nazis have so much difficulty with...

I was able to find a record of its use in an Etymology dictionary as follows:
"1591, "elegance, stylishness," from M.Fr. garbe "graceful outline," from It. garbo "grace, elegance," perhaps from Gmc. (cf. O.H.G. gar(a)wi "dress, equipment, preparation;" see gear). Sense of "fashion of dress" is first attested 1622. The verb is from 1836."

While that is solidly late period, 1591 it is certainly within the confines of the game we play by anyone's definition. That said, reading the entry, I was unsure that the word was used to refer to the object (the clothing itself) as we use it presently. (I'm wary to approve a word in SCA usage simply because I can find that word being used in period, that's how we get "dragon" being an "acceptable" word for car)

I was able to find another piece of writing, showing that the word was used by Shakespeare, which should be adequate documentation to most people, as his writings are generally accepted as being in-period for our game (though that can be argued). However looking at the lines cited, one can see that it is clearly being used to mean "in the fashion or manner of" rather than "clothes".

The author also states "Avoid the "clothing" sense in Shakespeare, for that did not evolve until a decade after his death.", which is problematic for me as he does not cite his source for the word being used this way. However, if we use this description with the 1622 attribution from the etymological dictionary above, we get it being used in the same manner as we use it today by 1622. It's decidedly late period, and may even be considered out of period to some (being both after the 16th century and after the death of Elizabeth R, both of which I have heard used as cut-offs). Dear readers: does this logic seem sound to everyone at least?

However, the documentability of the word is really beside the point.

1) this is an e-mail list. If you're being in-persona you should probably step away from the computer, or maybe throw it on the fire as the sorcery it must surely be. And if documenting every word that goes on the list is of prime importance, again, you have no business being around modern technology as it will obviously spoil your ambiance (and you should check your own words*).
2) since when does nit-pickiness come in as a higher virtue than courtesy? Especially when dealing with a newcomer!!!
3) He didn't use the word in the proper period manner himself - so there.

I am sooooo tempted to reply, but I really probably don't need to be drawing lines in the sand or making enemies this soon.

* From the etymology dictionary: "Colloquial folks "people of one's family" first recorded 1715". Folk would have been an acceptable period term meaning "people" if he hadn't added the "s".

Just got the funniest e-mail... my neighbor sent me a hello because she saw my name on the baronial e-list here and recognized it from when she brought my mail in over Christmas. What are the chances that my only neighbour (I'm otherwise surrounded by empty lots) would be in the SCA?

Okay, technically I have 2 neighbours if you count the guy behind us, and he's a massive computer geek, so I'm surrounded by "our kind of people" on all sides so far.

Edit: more funny... Stefan, of "Stefan's Florilegium" is also an Austinite. It's funny when you move around how many people you meet that you already kinda knew.

Feeling pretty good today. I managed to clean out the game room almost completely. There is still one box of my crap to be unpacked and a few boxes of Jason's CDs, which I have decided are not my problem. The floor is all vacuumed and everything. I even cleaned the windows and dusted all the windowsills when I was done. Of all the rooms in the house, I think that one was the closest to being done. Or at least the one where I had the best idea of how I wanted it to look when I was finished.

This weekend I'm setting a lofty goal. I'd like to see at least one room done for every day off we have. Seeing as this is a long weekend, that should work out to 3 rooms. I think with Jason's help that is entirely possible. Not sure which rooms we'll pick. I think it is definitely time that the master bedroom and bath became the sanctuaries I know they can become. After that I'm not sure what is the highest priority.

I do need to get this all done and out of the way soon because we need to file our claim with the movers. We know they broke our TV and one martini glass, and somehow a couple liquor glasses appear to have gone astray. But there's one box unaccounted for, and of course the listing that they recorded is pretty much useless, so we need to unpack everything, have a good look at what did make it to try to figure out what didn't. I wish we could just put in the claims as we found stuff, at least for the obvious thing like the TV. But instead we get just one shot, so we really have to be sure of it when we submit it. And of course time is running out on how long we have to get this filed.

Moving sucks.

In other news I purchased a new cookbook last week and finally got around to trying one of the recipes yesterday. Persian cookbook and what I attempted was apricot rice (which I'm pretty sure is what's pictured on the cover, though it doesn't come out looking exactly like that if you follow their instructions). It produced enough food for at least 8 people, which is a little more than we were aiming for. It wasn't exactly how I imagined it would taste, but it's still pretty good. I might modify it (at least to cut down the volume of food produced) and try it again, but I'm not sure just yet. We'll try the leftovers tonight and see how they rate.

We're a single-car family. Always have been. In the past, we lived close enough to Jason's work that it would have actually taken longer for him to get the car out of the garage and park it at the other end than it took to walk. This means that although we only had one car, we were never inconvenienced at all. Or very rarely.

Unfortunately, the housing around Jason's office here in Austin was either tiny, or nasty, or completely blew our budget. You could either get tiny condos right behind his office with no yard for doggies. Or behind them, single family homes in the half-mil range. On the other side of the freeway it was all 1960s ranches that were small and rather run down. Decent yards, but pretty crappy houses, and still rather spendy. So we ended up way out in the burbs, requiring a vehicular commute.

As a result, I've been feeling a little cooped up lately. Either I have to get up in the morning, drive Jason to work and commit to being available to pick him up after (often hanging around his office for an hour waiting for him to be ready to go), or I have to let him have the car all day. Most days I have just let him take the car.

On foot you've got a pretty short range. And in suburbia it almost never takes you as far as you need to go. On skates I could get further, but there's the inconvenience of having to carry some shoes and change on the way into each shop. And then there's the drivers that can't seem to figure out how fast you're going or that you don't really have brakes, and try to kill you by cutting you off. There's also the problem of uneven pavement and having to pick routes based on the smoothness of the road, rather than on what is more direct. So that's really a no-go too. The second car isn't really an option right now. We have some money, but not enough that I want to throw it away on a depreciating money-pit just so I can have the ability to pick up milk. Ditto for the motor-bike or scooter. It's cheaper, but it's still lost money and requires regular inputs of insurance and gas. That leaves the old, traditional bicycle.

Saturday morning I dropped Jason off at work and headed to the local bike shop. The salesman pointed me to the bike that he thought would work for me, given what I had told him I wanted it for. I tested several bikes on the floor and did in fact end up coming back to his first recommendation. After that came the accessory buying binge. I had to add fenders, a rear rack, lights front and back, a water bottle rack and bottle and a lock. I sprung for a fancy new pump that reads pressure for the tires. I also ordered some fancy saddle-bags to hang on the back rack, but it will take a week or two for those to arrive, so for now I'm limited to buying what fits in my backpack. After that I decided to invest a little money in Jason and brought his bike into their shop to be fixed. It's been sitting in our basement untouched for at least 4.5 years now. The last 3 or 4 of which it was sitting up on one wheel in a crawl space. Prior to that I'm not sure if he rode it the two years he lived with his parents after university, so it's probably been even longer since it's seen a road. And of course before that it was subjected to all kinds of abuse, being ridden in the rain and whatnot. The chain and gear box were all rusty, the tires are suffering from dry rot, one of the wheels is slightly warped and the whole thing was just pretty sad.

When everything's all said and done I think I probably just spent $1,000 on bicycles. It's funny spending that much money to be car-free, and yet, it's still just a fraction of what would have been spent if I'd given in and bought the second car that everyone here seems to think is a necessity. It's a lot of money, but Jason said it's okay as long as I actually use it. On the first day I rode it around the block a few times, getting used to the feeling of being on a bike again. On the second day I learned that I can in fact fit a 4L jug of milk in my backpack by taking it to the grocery store. I think today will be another grocery trip.

The last time I had access to a bike I was in Australia. It was a borrowed bike and I rode it every single day. I completely buggered my knees doing it, so I'm going to have to pay a lot of attention to my body this time around. The last time I actually owned a bike was a hand-me-down I had from the time I was 8 until I was about 14, when my mother got her new bike and I started borrowing that. I've never actually been shopping for, or purchased a bike for myself. It was a really nice experience. And so far riding it has given me that same feeling of freedom I had when I was a kid and used to ride it to the convenience store for candy runs, or when I was living in Australia. It's a feeling of self-reliance and empowerment that only comes from riding a bike as an actual method of transportation rather than purely for exercise or leisure. It's knowing that you have the means to get where you want and do what you want, and knowing that you're doing it under your own power, so you're getting that extra endorphin kick form your errands. The car is "mine" too, but it's just not "mine" in the same way that a bike is.

It's been an eventful weekend

Friday we did all the appointments. Doctor's visit for the hubby and I. Chiropractic for me. Vet for puppies (they hated that).

Saturday we said goodbye to Kelsey. I'm really going to miss that little ball of fluff. She was incredibly time-consuming and always up to no good, but in those rare, quiet moments when she was tired and snugly she was really great. I know we did the right thing, but it still hurt. We then wasted the rest of Saturday morning sitting around feeling sad.

We finally left for the event in Bitter End very late in the afternoon. We didn't participate in much. Just set up a make-shift merchanting booth at one end of the parking lot and managed to get rid of a fair amount of old fabric I wasn't in love with any more. We still have some left. I might try to talk Kalira into bringing it to tavern or something, or I might just toss is in a Salvation Army donation box so I don't have to carry it. After selling what we could we ate feast, sat through court (Vik and Inga are banning tricorn hats - LOL) and made a brief appearance at the bardic circle. The bardic circle was, um, uncomfortable. It wasn't really THAT late yet, but everyone was singing lewd songs and smoking and there were still children present. I sang a single not-lewd song, which actually seemed to scare people away from the fire (I guess family-friendly songs spoil the mood?) and then decided to take my leave. By the time I left the site the fire had re-populated, so I guess it's a good thing that I didn't completely kill it. I went inside to the merchant area and sang a handful of songs for Thorgir (he had requested I do so) and then left my last Avacalian event. Or rather, the last one I will attend with my husband. I do intend on coming to the THUA in town on my own, but I will probably leave before dinner so I can get home to the puppies, so it won't be the same.

Sunday we pretty much just wasted. I had grand plans of getting all kinds of cleaning and sorting done, but we mostly just sat around and chilled. The beagles have been unconscious since Kelsey left, so I think they needed the rest too. I did get around to converting all my money into USD. We still had a few weeks to do it, but as our dollar kept getting worse and worse I figured I should just get it over with. Of course I got a terrible rate and this morning it has already started to improve. I hate making big decisions like that and I hate that I'm almost always wrong when I do. Ah well, it's done now. We did spend some time Sunday afternoon and evening reviewing the houses I had shortlisted. There's lots of choices out there and it doesn't look like we'll have to break the bank to make this happen. On one hand I'd like to post and share the ones I've found that I really like. On the other hand I don't want to jinx it :) We're a mere 3 weeks away from flying down there and looking at them in person and I am extremely excited about it. I'm about to turn my whole world upside-down and it just thrills me! Also, the closer we get to this, the more confident I am that I can make this work, no matter what gets thrown at me.

Have waited a while to post and the Canadian dollar seems to have slipped a bit, so I'm feeling a bit better about that now.