Oh the festivities...and the Snowmaggedon that didn't come

Chris, Kim and I went down to their parents' place for Christmas festivities.  We hunkered down thinking we were going to be trapped in by the snow that didn't happen.  We did play in the snow with the dogs though which was a lot of fun.  We figured out that the snow was deep enough so Banjo couldn't run far off leash.  He was a really could hop through it!  Chris will hopefully post some pictures of it...by 2011. 

We had the opening of presents this morning and luckily no one turned on the train again.  Chris's mom Sue got a train set to put under the tree this year and it turns out it drives Banjo and the rest of the dogs a bit crazy.  Banjo was very suspicious and barked incessantly at it, but Harley had some balls and flat out attacked the train - no barking, no warning. 

They got me lots of fun knitting stuff, which will keep me plenty busy next year.  We also got some Wii stuff and the full series of The Wire (amazing show and I'm crazy excited to watch it!).

Off to watch a movie and continue knitting on Pokey's blanket!  Merry Christmas!

Puppy does not like the vet

I've been putting off taking him into the vet to get his nails trimmed. So after we discovered how much fun he has in the cold, at Chris's prompting, we took him in. Crazypants gets freaked the minute you go into a place that smells like a lot of different dogs. He gets more freaked out when you clamp his jaws shut with the muzzle - he likes to have the ability to bite! But he was a really good puppy: even though he fought getting the muzzle put on him like a two-year old fighting whatever it is they fight, Banjo didn't growl at Chris or bite him at all, even though Chris had his hands around Crazy's neck and collar and everything. Very impressive.

After Puppy got weighted and stuff, they took him in the back room. Chris and I got to read posters about genetic testing (What mix is your dog?) and care for senior dogs. While we enjoyed the fine literature, Banjo was scared shitless...literally. The tech came back in the room and informed us that Banjo would be good for a while and that we shouldn't worry if his stool is soft for a bit. I can't stop giggling about that!

We also asked about how Banjo handles the cold. We were thinking he had arthritis and were wondering if we needed to give him meds. The vet looked at a video I took of Banjo, and she exclaimed "He needs booties." So I'm going to knit my puppy some booties (although I can't find a knitting pattern online to speak of - so I'm going to modify baby booties...how cute). We'll see if Crazy allows them to be put on his feet. That will be interesting.

We also have the option of giving Banjo glucosamine (just like his Daddy!) or doggy aspirin. Hee hee. Banjo was extremely excited to be leaving the room and was ecstatic when Chris took the muzzle off. Even though he was still in the lobby of the vet's office, Banjo was back to himself and was asking me and Chris if it was time to leave yet. He was a good boy :)

Puppy does not like the cold

We found out something new about Banjo: he does not like the cold. His back legs give into an arthritic bowlegged hop after a minute in the kind of weather we've been having. The poor thing bounds through the snow as soon as he gets out the door, does his business as quickly as possible and crawls up the stairs on three legs as quickly as possible.

I also found out that puppy does not like having things put over his head. In his goody bag that came with him upon adoption were two doggy sweaters (I hate doggy sweaters in general, but I thought it might be a good thing for Crazy). Turns out he doesn't like a person coming at him with clothing. I'm guessing he thinks it's the muzzle (hee hee). He hates when you take away his ability to bite!

I've been trying to think of a solution, one being I knit him a sweater that doesn't require me putting something over his head, but rather something that wraps around his underside, with a buckle or something, so it's more like snuggling in a blanket rather than torture.

Banjo's solution: hold it until spring.

Wedding Dress Shopping

If you like to get mostly naked in front of a stranger, get into and out of many different dresses and then parade in front of people and anxiously await their thumbs up or thumbs down, wedding dress shopping is for you!

My mom, my aunts Connie and Maggie and future sister-in-law Kim came along on this interesting adventure with me. We first went to Flutter, a small boutique in Minneapolis that specializes in bridesmaids dresses. For those of you that don't know, I am a non-traditional bride. I have not been dreaming of this day my entire life and I don't look good in white, irovy or cream. Therefore I am looking for a dress with some color (and when I mean some, I mean something bold). I also don't want to spend much money on this dress - I want to look good and I know I can do that with a dress that doesn't cost 40% of our wedding budget.

Back to Flutter - great place. For any of you that like one-on-one attention with friendly and understanding staff who listen to what you are looking for and adapt as you go along, this is a great place to go. They also had a couch and beverages for your little helpers. It had a big and comfortable dressing room that was very well-lit (no crappy dressing room lights).

There is a strong possibility I found my wedding dress there :) Because I was kind of nervous going in there and generally stressed out about the wedding, I wasn't sure at the time. It's also because I can't envision a different color for the life of me (the dress I tried on was a silver color). But after Connie's photoshop skills, she had me in the color it would be and I'm really liking the way I looked in it. Also, every person I've shown loves it. I'm not going to give away the surprise color on my blog just yet, so no telling those of you who already know!

Flutter was a great experience all the way around, which made the second shop I went to difficult to bear: The Wedding Shoppe. There are several people who have talked this place up and down, but I hated it. First off, they put me upstairs with the traditional brides and they realized the mistake when I said I'm looking for a dress with color (hence my response of non-traditional dress). So they shipped me downstairs in the flood of colors and dresses. It honestly felt like a mix between a department store that was overstocked and a warehouse. The woman there didn't help me in and out of the dresses, so Kim was awesome enough to help out (btw - so glad I wore full underwear!).

I felt like I was trying on prom dresses most of the time and the woman that was "helping" me kept bringing me stuff I didn't want to wear, like stuff with ruffles and folds in the front, stuff that was strapless, etc. After about 45 minutes of hell and the smell of smoke, I had enough. I should have left before that point, but I tried to tell myself maybe it's in the sea of craziness. Nope, not there. I'm sure for traditional brides, The Wedding Shoppe was a decent place to go.
After that horrible experience, we went back to my house and I cracked open a beer. It tasted incredibly good.

Just so you don't feel left out, here's a sampling of the worst looking dresses (i.e. those that made me look huge, ridiculous, like a bell, etc) courtesy of Connie:

I've got shell boobs and the dress is expecting!

I couldn't bring myself to show you the back...baby got back.

How to appear you've gained 30 pounds in under a minute.

Kim suggested I store my beer in there.

I'm like a little bell - ding dong.

Officially winter

It's been quite chilly - kind of surprising actually. All of a sudden it really is winter. There's a dusting of snow on the ground and the wind's got some bite to it.

I starting decorating for Christmas with the help of my mom. She came down to go wedding dress shopping with me. After some discussion, we decided it would be best to not set up the big tree (which apparently is not eight-foot-tall) and instead, set up the small tree on a table or something. I decided to set up our little tree on the buffet in the dining room to ensure Banjo's inability to eat any ornaments. I decorated the chandelier too and I realized how much I actually like having that.


I also love having our fireplace. Not only have we had a fire at least every other night, I got to decorate the mantel (pictures to come). Banjo got to enjoy a lovely raw bone as we worked since he was in the mood to steal a small bottle of lotion out of my mom's purse to say "pay attention to me!". It kept him out of trouble since my playing with him didn't cut it.

Gobble Gobble

Happy Turkey Day! I'm super excited to eat some real food then to taste my not-burnt pie :) I was nervous that I was going to set it on fire again after the blazing incident last year, but I did not! Hooray! What I'm even more excited about is eating my mom's stuffing tomorrow!

I'm also proud to announce that I have completed all of the Christmas stockings I made last year! I gave myself the deadline of Thanksgiving to get all of the yarn ends tucked in (I hate that part!) and I made my goal. Phew! Now I get to finish Chris's hat and start on Pokey's porch blanket. Also, I will be making my mom a lap blanket as soon as the yarn arrives. I'm also hoping to knit myself some wrist-warmers this December since the building I work in keeps the temps nice and cool.

I'm excited to start decorating for Christmas after this weekend. We have the eight-foot tree to go with our nine-foot ceilings, so it will be interesting to see if I have enough decorations! I'm also planning to string some cranberries for the birds out back. I'm guessing they are going to have everything eaten in a day though, so I might just wait until closer to Christmas day.

I'm super excited that my craft room is essentially complete! My dad made me a sewing stand! I of course haven't taken a picture yet because I was too excited to get it set up. I filled the drawers with my sewing goodies and the quilt that I have not gotten anywhere on (project number 534). Thank you Dad! I will post pictures soon.

Weekend recap

I've been working hard on Connie's shawl since I'm trying to get it done by next weekend. It's looking really good and I realize how much I like this pattern. I will post photos when I'm done. I'm also getting ready to start Chris a replacement U of M hat that he unfortunately lost a couple of weeks ago. Of course the local yarn store didn't have the yarn and I had to find it online and of course I didn't know what color number the yarn I used previously was. I took a stab at the color and got it right (phew!). I'm going to write that down.

I finally got out climbing yesterday with Kim - it felt really good and makes me realize how much climbing I've missed out on since we bought the house. Speaking of the house, we're getting a modest amount of firewood because both of us are really enjoying our fireplace (as I write this, I'm enjoying the sizzle of the not-so-dry lilac branches along with some drier wood).

I've embarked on my test two months of being off estrogen. So far so good, but it's definitely still in my system. I realize it's probably not the best time to be shopping for a wedding dress, but I'm not going to get it altered until much closer to the actual date.

Speaking of the actual date, we are going to get married on June 26th next year (save the date!). We will be sending out invitations next year. That's another thing that happened this weekend: Kim is awesome-o and helping us plan our wedding. We went over the general flow of the few days before to the day after. I'm quite excited even though it's going to be a lot of work to get there. I will be asking my family for some help with decoration ideas (simple and inexpensive - preferably something people can take with them so we're not left with a ton of stuff after the fact).

Lots of new-to-me stuff

My aunt Connie graciously passed on a Swedish buffet which I am now using for all of my yarn :) Additionally she brought along other decorative pieces, including some from my aunt Maggie's (thank you both!). I will likely post other pictures when I figure out exactly where to put them. I was also extremely excited about a sofa cover Connie had (thank you!!!). The couch in my room no longer looks completely silly and out of place.


Additionally, I think it was last weekend that Chris reassembled our bookshelf for the living room. I stained it all (first time and I don't think I did too bad of job) and we combined efforts to varish it. It was a long process and I have even greater appreciation of all the work that goes into my dad's furniture. Thank you Dad for all of the pieces of furniture you've made me over the years and for letting Chris be an apprentice!

My adventure with migraines

As you already know, I am suffer from migraines. I have been working with my doctor to try a few different drugs, and I seem to have found a combination that works (one pill takes away the pain while the other takes away my urge to throw up). The side effect of this combination: I feel like I'm buzzed. Today was the first time I had taken both pills together and that was a very weird feeling. The best analogy I have is that I felt like I had had a couple of drinks.

I already found that when the migraine starts and I can take two of the pain pills in a two-hour time span, I get VERY drowsy. I feel asleep on the couch last night really early and was in a deep sleep the entire evening. Chris woke me up to go to bed (hee hee - sounds familiar right Mom and Dad?). When I woke up this morning, I took the pain pill and the nausea pill at the same time and got a little drowsy again, but mostly buzzed.

I overall consider this combination a success and will continue to use both. I am going to hold a two-month experiment soon - I'm going to get off the pill (and use other birth control methods!!!) and see if the frequency of my migraines are fewer or less severe. My doctor assured me that I only needed to do it for two months to see if there's a difference. If I find the frequency is reduced, I will likely switch birth control methods (use ones that don't include estrogen).

Migraines suck.

Trick-or-treat success

Banjo and I got through our first night of trick-or-treating (Chris was shooting the Gopher football game and missed out on the fun). The action started around 7. We got about 60 kids over the course of two hours. I was expecting 100+ given our location, but 60 was pretty good. It was fun seeing the kids and hearing their reactions to my costume. I'm going to have to do that every year!

Banjo behaved for the most part. I distracted him with a bone and whenever I saw a kid coming to the door, I snuck out into the porch. Sometimes Banjo figured out what I was doing and howled in the livingroom, but he was pretty good most of the time. Everything slowed way down after 8 and I was disappointed to see that so many of the neighbors don't hand out candy. I think it's because this half of the block has a lot of old-timers in it who are likely on fixed incomes. Too bad.

One thing I was surprised by was how many parents were driving their kids from block to block. Kind of ridiculous if you ask me, especially since it was really nice weather out last night. It was good to see large groups of parents and kids walking around though. You have to work for your candy! A lot of kids were carrying around pillowcases as bags and one kid had a heavy load and he told me he had hit eight blocks already. Now there's working for your treats!

The funniest costume I saw was a one-eyed octopus - the kid made it himself and you put the candy in the monster's mouth. I loved it. A lot of the kids loved my costume, which is funny because all that was unique was the black wig, hat and feather boa - the rest of my costume was work clothes, black long-johns and winter boots. Happy Halloween!

Mauh-ha-ha

Halloween is here! I finally got the porch set up for the little monsters:

I am going to have scary music playing in the background too (even though they won't be able to hear it because of Banjo howling).

And I knew that Mom would be supremely disappointed if I told her I didn't dress up to hand out candy, so I did. Be warn: the following picture is scary - not because of how I'm dressed, but because of how dumb I look. It's all in good fun :)

How to react

I had a bad night last night: Banjo bit my foot, more specifically my big toe. Luckily I was wearing my slippers and I'm glad he didn't attack a more vital part of me, but the fact is he bit me. This situation was Kim came over to pick up Harley and I was nearly done with my dinner...but not quite. As soon as I got up to get the door, he stole the rest of it - it was french toast. I knew to let him finish the food before disciplining him because he would bite me (maybe I shouldn't have waited!).

I tried to get him in back and didn't corner him at all - I was trying to move him back to the dining room. But he thought I was backing him into a corner and after much growling, he attacked my foot. I didn't know how to react. I know I screamed his name, but going up an octave did not help the situation. The second time it was deeper and he stopped (I don't know if that's why he stopped or if he was just done).

Luckily Chris showed up almost immediately afterward from a game and he took care of it - he got Banjo into the dining room and put tubs in the entrance to the living room so Banjo couldn't get in. I spent the rest of the night crying then hiccuping then crying some more. I couldn't believe he did that to me and I couldn't help thinking I was partially to blame.

I've been in a hate-how-things-are-going-at-work kind of mood for the past couple of weeks and I haven't been doing any exercises with Banjo (things that make him realize I'm in charge, not him). And since I've been preoccupied, I haven't paid enough attention. Today, he had to walk with the short leash and I made him sit a lot. I haven't let him on the couch all day (and I've kicked him off every time he's snuck up on it). I may sound like a bitch, but I'm not beating him or abusing him. I'm putting him back in his place. He's the dog, not the boss. Pokey may disagree with that.

It still makes me incredibly sad that Banjo would react to me that way. All I've done is love the little shit and he goes and bites me. Sounds kinda like Banjo's a teenager. A sharp-teethed teenager.

Life moves on though...

Hodge podge of events

Over the past weekend, I headed up north with my aunts. We met my mom in Duluth and spent a day enjoying the north shore...and Betty's Pies of course :)

We spent the rest of the relaxing weekend at my parents' house. I took some more tubs of my younger days stuff from my mom's future craft room (I hope) and my aunt Connie, who drove, was happy to help haul stuff down (thanks again!). We all ate so much delicious food - the soup, the turkey and potatoes, the coffee cake and muffins...mmmmmm........Chris got to enjoy some leftovers and he is grateful.

I had a great time joking around with Dad - I try to keep up with his sarcastic humor as best I can, but usually roll with laughter trying! I fell asleep during a scary movie...oops. It happens every time I try to watch a movie in the evening at my parents; their furniture is way too comfortable and the blankets are too cozy. I loved seeing Pokey and Pokey was ecstatic I didn't bring Banjo. She got me all to herself and no battle scars were forged.

I missed my boys though. Banjo went crazy when I got home and that made me feel really good. I was also greeted with the prospect of staining. I was planning on starting Sunday when we got back, but Chris was so excited about our TV (and the fact I was back home I think) that we spent the night on the couch. Side note: we bought a used high-def TV from our friends in Chaska - thanks again!

I finished staining the bookshelves last night instead. Because of the nice weather, I was able to have really really good circulation in the basement once again. Now on to the varnish! I thought I had talked Chris into doing that all himself, but he's trying to tell me we agreed to do it together so that it gets done faster. I'm still skeptical and have said so. I did a decent job on the staining (my first project) although there is plenty of room for improvement.

In other news, our radiator in the livingroom started to squirt a small stream of water last night (I think that's the first time it's done that anyway). We submitted a claim to the home warranty place and they sent a company out to fix it right away. Of course they can't completely fix it because that radiator needs to be replaced - the crack is in the middle of the column. Since a temporary fix would be expensive and not covered, we have elected to go without our radiator heat until they find a replacement. My coworker is going to let us borrow her space heater luckily, and I'm hoping it doesn't take too long given the cooling temps. I'm pretty damn excited that we will only have to pay the $100 deductible to get it replaced and that this didn't happen in January!

In a very special note, Chris and I celebrated our three-year anniversary last week and I look forward to MANY years more :)

First snowfall

I thoroughly enjoyed spending a while in bed this morning with Banjo snuggled up beside me. But when Chris said there was snow outside, I got excited. As soon as Chris left, Banjo and I headed outdoors. Something about the snow on the ground and the chill in the air made this house feel even more like home. Banjo loved exploring just like normal. The cold air felt really good to my sinuses that have been making me feel rundown and sick all week. I love cold weather!

Boxsprings and knitting

One of the first problems we ran into when we moved in was our inability to get our boxspring up the stairs. Ever since we moved in, we've been sleeping on our mattress on the floor, which Banjo has loved because he's had easy access. That will soon change!

I have to admit that helping Chris get that upstairs just now was not good on my hungover self. Apparently a glass of red wine is enough to make me feel hungover. I'm trying to tell myself that it wasn't the wine so much as not enough sleep over the past few days. We went to Mary and Greg's housewarming party last night and I had fun and didn't get to bed until midnight which, for anyone that knows me, knows that's really late for me! LAME. I really enjoyed seeing old friends, although I was disappointed that one failed to bring his eleven bodyguards.

In my knitting world, I am very close to being completely done with finishing Chris's stocking. That means I have my dad's to finish yet, but I don't expect that to take even half as long as Chris's did. It was that damn Eagle on Chris's that has made it so difficult, but I'm quite proud of the results especially since I charted that damn Eagle's head myself (yes I am bragging, but I feel like I'm entitled to).

I have already heard someone's disappointment in learning that she would likely not get a stocking this year. Don't worry Kim. You will get a stocking soon (FYI: soon means within three years...hee hee). I will post proud pictures yet again when I finish last year's stockings. My goal is to get them done before Thanksgiving. That will give me plenty of time to procrastinate and scramble at the last minute Christmas Eve.

I am also working on a scarf for myself - it's the Snowflake Scarf pattern from Interweave Knits. The colors match my orange winter jacket and I'm really excited to get it finished, even though I'm not even a third of the way done. I hope to get it done around Thanksgiving too. What I've really been wanting to do is to line up all of the projects I want to get done because right now I feel like I can't concentrate - too many potential projects!!!

A lot of my yarn is not dedicated to a specific project, and I am starting to think I should try to dedicate most of those lovely skeins. I might help me focus and would give me a sense of accomplishment as I cross finished projects off the list. The funny thing is I started a drawer of UFOs (Unfinished Objects) which know contains the stockings, a mitten without a partner, a baby blanket that needs to be blocked and some baby booties. I have a strong feeling I'm going to be adding to that drawer instead of pulling stuff out, but let's hope that's not the case.

My hungover self is now going to do something else...maybe a shower...maybe a power nap...maybe mindlessly staring at the computer screen...

Zee fence iz complete!

The boys like it:

The china is unpacked!

Thanks to Chris moving the last of the books to be unpacked out of the dining room, I was able to move the buffet and unpack Grandma and Grandpa Harder's china! For now, I have put the silverware that I have to polish in the bottom drawer and the dishes in the three middle drawers - that will be a perfect project for this winter.

The beginnings of the fence

We will soon have a fence for Banjo. We decided on a fence company a little it ago and the posts were put in Thursday - they will likely be back Tuesday to finish it. Here are some pictures:


I have to go pick up some lattice for the top of the deck and the left side of the deck. That way Banjo will still be able to run around down below the deck, but won't escape.

I started polishing the chandelier in the dining room - it turns out parts of it are actually silver (it was so rusty-looking that everything appeared to be rusty-gold). I have a lot more work to do on it, but I'm excited that when I walk by it, it shines (thanks for the tip Maggie!).

I got all of the lilacs trucks and branches cut up now - we're going to use the trucks as firewood for the fire pit this fall, so now all we have to do is haul the tops to the county drop-off.

Since Chris has been gone most of the weekend at work, I've been starting to work on getting knitting inspiration. I started a board with all sorts of cards, wrapping paper and magazines of color combinations I really like. I'm hoping to get inspired to try different color combinations than my traditional matches in the future. The board also serves another purpose: finally covering up some of the massive wall space. With about 9-foot high ceilings, there is a lot of empty space right now. We haven't started hanging pictures since we have plaster walls. We are hoping to enlist the help of our former neighbor who's in the framing business to help us out. I suppose that means Chris has to have some free time too...

Some of his free time has been going towards catching up on sleep (Banjo's always ready to join him when he's taking a break from guard duty):

New haircut

Last night I got a new hair cut!

I unfortunately didn't go to Barb Rassat; I instead went to a place on Snelling that I can get to by bus. I got my hair cut by a trainee, which meant it took a little bit longer, but it was way cheaper and she had fun styling my hair afterwards. I know it looks a bit flat in the picture, but it looks much better in person. I like it a lot! Is it weird that when I was looking in the mirror after she dried my hair, I saw my mother? All I could think of is I look like my mom did in high school!

This weekend will be filled with clearing out lilacs - we are likely going to get our fence started later this coming week (eek!). They came out to stake the property lines, so now it's my turn to clear out the way. We had the second coversation with the neighbors and they said it was fine for the workers to have space to move around on their property, which is good.

I'm excited to get a fence because I'm mega excited for Banjo to be able to run around free! I guess this means we need to get lattice for under the deck...

Dining Room Rug

I found this great rug on Craigslist for cheap:


Banjo already likes it, and it will improve his running ability as he chases the flashlight :)

We've been having a great time with James and Autumn who now live in PA! They stayed with us over the weekend - I've missed them! They got us a Philadelphia Eagles mat for our front door - I don't think Chris could be more happy!

I'll post more soon.

Various stuff

Time felt like it stood still this week - the weekend couldn't come quick enough.

We had some friends over for brinner (breakfast for dinner - watch Scrubs) and we found the table worked out perfectly. Because it's wide, it provides enough room for common dishes and things. I'm very happy with it. Now I am searching for a rug for the dining room, but I'm having a difficult time trying to find one I like on Craigslist. It will come up at some point.

We have nearly decided on a fence company, and I broke the news to the neighbors that we would have to cut down lilacs in order to put it up. The lilacs serve as a natural privacy screen for their deck right now, and it will suck to lose some of that, but it will grow back. I kept telling her I love the lilacs too and my plan is for them to grow around the fence. From what it sounded like, she and her husband have taken care of the lilacs over the years, trimming the larger ones, but they are almost completely over on our property. I think it's going to be a difficult transition for them. Ideas on how to smooth it over???

In other news, Chris and I switched our cell phone service to Credo, and are now on a family plan. We got to keep our numbers, so no change there. Mom and Dad, I suspect I will pretty much always be calling you on the weekend.

This weekend is going to be great - friends of ours are coming into town to visit!

New-to-us Dining Room Table

After searching on Craigslist for about a week, I found this antique table and chairs for cheap and Chris approved. We picked it up Saturday morning (thanks again to Garbe for letting us borrow his van yet again!).

The table and chairs will need some love in the future, but are perfectly functional now. I'm already working on a deep wine colored runner for it (hee hee) and I'm dreaming of refinishing it in a deep reddish mahogany color.

Great pics of Banjo

This is what happens when we leave blankets on the couch.

Burning cookies

It took me only two batches of cookies to burn them to a crisp. I didn't hear the timer go off and when I realized how long it had been, it was too late. The cookies came out dark brown/black and smoldering. I am very grateful for all of the windows we have! Kim - I would wait for the next round of cookies; the next round will turn out better.

I have my craft room set up and am following some leads on dining room tables. Chris knew I wouldn't be able to resist getting one sooner rather than later. I've been scouring Craigslist and found one we both like - I'm waiting to hear back from the seller.

Chris set up the DVD player and speakers last night. It was great being able to watch a movie without worrying about the noise! Banjo was loony - here are a couple of pictures (maybe someday soon I'll take pictures of the house...):

Moved in

We have officially moved in, and I'm exhausted. I am looking forward to relaxing today if I can force myself to not clean for a little while.

Will post pictures later. It's starting to look like a home thanks to all the help from our family and our friends - thank you!

Offically Homeowners

We closed this morning and are now homeowners! The closing went very well, and the former owner offered to walk us through and show us oddities about the house (he conveniently did it after we signed).

We brought our first loads over a little while ago and Chris started laundry already. I'm tired of moving already, and we've only made a tiny dent!

Thank you to all of you helping out next Saturday! I look forward to celebrating that day with pizza and beer!

Closing tomorrow morning

We're closing at 11am tomorrow - eek and woohoo! We're trying to mentally prepare ourselves. I'm very excited and I'm even more excited to move! It's going to be quite a bit of work, but it will be so great!

I think I'm most excited to see Banjo's reaction to having a new space to guard, and I feel sorry for all those squirrels he will chase :)

Closing is set

We got the time set for our closing next Monday. We are going to be homeowners!

I've been working every day and putting in a lot of overtime since last week - that will all end (hopefully) today since the Mayor gives his budget speech at 2pm.

I'm looking forward to sleeping in someday soon.

Limbo Town

Being in Limbo Town sucks. I'm really stressed out at work (more in a bit) and so much of what we have can be packed up easily last minute. I'm basically waiting until late next week (or even the following week) to pack stuff up. I'm ready to move now!!!

Work is going poorly - we have to have the budget book to the printer Monday at noon and the Mayor hasn't even made final decisions yet! Mind you this is a 600-page document that needs to be reviewed by several people before we print. We're all going to have to work this weekend to pull it off. But what sent me over the edge was the application we use to report off of essentially broke yesterday. Our IT staff figured out we have a memory leak, so when they rebooted the server, everything magically ran. Grr....

I'm glad it's working, but I'm also nervous that something's going to break down again right before we have to print. Almost all of the financial data comes out of the system as reports, so if this application breaks down again and rebooting the server won't fix the problem, we're kinda screwed. The funny thing is that the issue isn't easily remedied. The software company said corruption (which is what it appeared to be) can be caused by a million different things and is actually common. Awesome. Exactly what I wanted to hear. They certainly didn't bring that up in their sales pitch. Grr...

I'm really looking forward to closing on the house and starting to move our stuff over. Limbo Town sucks.

Time is flying

Work has been extremely busy - I've been putting in overtime every day so far this week. City leaders are figuring out major budget decisions and I've been working to put together an obscene amount of scenarios for them to choose from, discuss, and discard. It's certainly interesting to see how we budget people think about these scenarios and how the policy makers think about them - stark differences I can assure you.

Banjo's off getting fat this week: he's spending the week with my parents and enjoying every minute, or at least that's what he said in his email to me today (hee hee). Our dog is really good at typing! I miss him, but we've been able to do a lot of stuff we normally wouldn't be able to like both go climbing at the same time, go see movies and pack without freaking the dog out. I think it's good for both of us, even though Banjo hasn't caught the cat yet. I'll be picking him up on Sunday after dropping Chris off in Brainerd. We're going to a friend's wedding this weekend in Fergus Falls, so Banjo won't be so spoiled once he gets back home. Savor your morning bacon Banjo!

We're slowly packing everything up. Chris has been patching nail holes in the walls and I've started packing up kitchen stuff we don't need immediately. Packing certainly is a lot of work so hopefully this is the last time we move for a very very long time :) I can't remember if I said most everything has been deemed satisfactory by the underwriter, and our lender told me congrats last week, so I think we're extremely close to getting this house. I can barely believe - I'm waiting to get excited until we actually close sice I was burned so badly the first time around. I can't wait for Banjo to have some more space and a backyard of his very own (we're going to share it will him :) I really hope that he will quickly adjust and love the house.

I'm off to read more of Unwind. Extremely interesting book - I can't believe it's for young adults!

Camping Success!

Banjo's first camping trip was an overall success. He didn't howl at all once we got in the tent and he was well-behaved for the most part. He did have to guard our campsite from the two little boys next site over that kept running into ours.

We all had fun (there were six of us total). We hiked a little on Saturday afternoon; we played volleyball (and I have bruised arms to show for it); we sat around the campfire and watched what marshmallows do when dropped in the flames.

Banjo and I got up before everyone else and went for a longer hike. When most of the rest of our party got up and ate breakfast, we went for a walk around the bigger loop of Big Woods. Banjo really did love every minute of those walks - he even tracked a couple of people who must have gotten to the fork in the trail only a little bit before us. In case we didn't know there were people there, Banjo let out a few howls just in case.

Here are some pics:

Which way to go...

The Hidden "Falls"

Banjo on guard duty

I liked the shadow cast by the morning light

Our morning trek

Beautiful flowers

Tired puppy

Camping in Nerstrand Big Woods

Today, we will embark on an overnight camping trip! This will be Banjo's first time camping, so I'm curious to see how he does (I'm particularly concerned about him potentially howling in the middle of the night given the lack of insulation the tent walls provide). The plan is to get him super tired from hiking, playing, etc. and have him sleep the entire night. Everyone wish us luck!

I'm going with a group of five other people, all of whom may hate me and Banjo after tonight :) I'm also interested to see how Banjo does hiking. I have a sneaky suspicion he will be a puller - there's going to be so many incredible smells he's got to check them all out! Luckily, I have a 4' leash which will keep him quite close and will hopefully prevent him from completely tripping me (at least that's my hope).

I'm looking forward to the hiking and relaxing. I will put up a post after we get back to let everyone know how it goes!

WE GOT A HOUSE!!!!!!!

I got the appraisal in the mail today and the appraisal is $100 over what we're paying for it - so we got a house!!!!!!!!

I'm too excited to write much more than that :)

Our closing date is August 17th and we have until the end of August to move out of the apartment.

YIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Waiting game

We're just sitting here waiting for the appraisal. The bank has until July 24th to get it done, but it certainly would be lovely to get it before then! We have all the other paperwork in, unless the bank needs updated bank statements or something.

While we wait, we've started thinking about our wedding! We are thinking about having it next June. We haven't nailed down a location, but we did go check out the Como Zoo Conservatory. The photos at the link will show you the places we've looked at. The Sunken Garden has turned out to be our favorite (we had originally been looking at the Japanese Garden).

Chris also mentioned a friend of his getting married at the Japanese Garden at Normandale Community College. There are many places (and as you can tell, we're looking to have a non-traditional wedding location).

We will be sure to let everyone know when we nailed down a date!

Banjo and me

While Chris is away in Arkansas, Banjo and I have been having a lovely weekend together. It turns out that Banjo isn't so crazy when Chris isn't here. He's only growled at me once (how dare I lean over and pet him when he's sleeping on the couch). He did bark at something (presumably a squirrel) at 7:30 this morning (sorry to the neighbors upstairs!). I took him on a long walk, and he was still fired up when we got home - he was zipping around with the last remaining toy squirrel in his mouth. Classic Crazy Pants.

I found out he doesn't like the fireworks that sound like gunshots - can't imagine why. Of course a house basically kitty corner from us had a massive amount of people over and they started shooting stuff off in mid-afternoon. Each time, Banjo would cower down and start shaking. He followed me everywhere around the apartment and hid in the most protected places (like underneath my legs that were propped up on the coffee table). We made it through though.

The best part of these past few days has been me letting Banjo sleep on the bed with me. Upon jumping up on the bed, he immediately proceeds to burrowing under the covers and snuggles beside me. I've found that if I'm not in the right position when I lift up the covers for him, he will take over 3/4 of the bed. Sound familiar to anyone?

Another thing that has happened is we found another house that we put an offer in on. We're waiting for a signed copy of our final counter offer at this point. It's a cute house a block off of Summit. Here's the listing for anyone who's interested in seeing some pictures.

I am not going to get excited until we have the inspection done and the appraisal done. Cautiously optimistic as Sue put it. It will suck a lot of this house doesn't go through not just because of the time and money we've put into it, but more because the first half of August is horrible at work meaning I likely wouldn't be able to look at places and then Chris starts his fall shooting in September. Ideally we want to get into a place in the second half of August.

Bad news

We got in the appraisal of the house - it's $50,000 less than the price we agreed to. Talk about an emotional blow! I'm quite suspicious of the appraiser's report since they generally say the property is in good condition and the total estimated market value payable 2010 is $195,700. It did drop from the total estimated market value payable 2009 of $206,500, but I'm guessing that's because of the drastic market drop starting in November 2008.

I'm going to try to talk to the appraiser to bring up these questions and to ask about if they appraised it at this because of general market conditions or because of area-specific conditions (such as the Ford plant closing). There is a possibility we lost the house and I guess I'm prepared for that (after breaking down about an hour-and-a-half ago of course). Wish us luck!

Packing extravaganza

As far as we know, everything's on track for the closing date of July 15 (good catch Gina!). The only thing we're waiting on is finding out what kind of gutters we can get. After we made decisions on shingles and the gutters, the sellers will get the roof and gutters done, we send a receipt of the work to our lender, and we close on time! Yippee!

Chris has been packing up his books and has taken down two of his bookshelves thus far. It really is starting to look like we're building a brown fortress in the office. I think it's all of the packing and change that's throwing Banjo into a tizzy. His separation anxiety is bad once again even though we're still following the suggestions of the trainer (putting out lots of treats - instant rewards and ones he has to work at for a while - while he watches). I'm going to be really glad to move so we can start the process of settling in again. Maybe by winter Banjo will be comfortable...I really hope it doesn't take that long!

We're going to be heading up north to my parents' this weekend with Kimmi and Garbe (yippee!). John's bringing his boat and we're going to go out on the lakes! I'm excited for Kim to finally see my parents place! I'm really looking forward to relaxing (like always) but especially this week because it's been more stressful than normal over the past couple of weeks. Guess why: software problems. Bleh. I am looking forward to forgeting all about it while I'm falling off the tube and crashing into the lake.

By the way, it's a bit too warm for my taste. I'm looking forward to having an air conditioner in the bedroom. That is going to be glorious!

Impressed with U's Extension Service

I've been thinking a lot about what sorts of plants I want in my future garden. I want to be sure to get ones that are well-suited for Minnesota and I want to get as many native wildflowers as possible. When I typed "perennial flowers minnesota" into Google, out came a link for the University of Minnesota's extension service, particularly a PowerPoint presentation of perennial flowers of Minnesota. I've also visited the U's extension website when I started thinking about composting.

I continue to be impressed by their information and their resources. I'm going to be referencing their website a lot over the coming months as I work on the garden and learn more about the soil in our yard, etc. I'm always finding out new things...

Lots of craziness and some normalcy

We've started packing - Chris is working on organizing his books as he packs and our livingroom is starting to look like a mini fortress. Since a lot of my stuff are things that should be packed up closer to the move, I've started knitting a tank top. I'm using red yarn of course and will post pictures later when you can actually tell what it is.

We took Banjo to the vet today for a checkup (he needed Heartguard). We went to the Animal Medical Clinic at the intersection of St. Clair and Snelling. We walked over and I then realized that Banjo was hot and panting and we had to get the muzzle on him. The muzzle is necessary because otherwise he would have bitten a lot of people. He was extremely nervous, but the whole thing was quick and he was extremely excited to leave. I'm quite impressed how well he did considering how nervous/scared he was. Chris was great with him - holding him while he was on the table and taking him outside immediately afterwards. Because of the longer walk, Banjo crashed soon after we got home. We watched He's Not That Into You with Kim, who was relaxing before her half-Ironman tomorrow (good luck!).

As for me, I'm really looking forward to closing and moving in. This transition phase kinda sucks (as everyone knows). It will go quickly. I'm really looking forward to my mom coming the weekend after the closing. I'm hoping that the aunts can come down for a bit too (hint hint). I'm really excited for my dad to see the house too. But what I'm most excited about is setting stuff up in our house and exploring the neighborhood (mostly the trails along the river). For now, I'll try to find a cozy spot behind the boxes and read through the engaging paperwork related to the mortgage.

Cleaning out your garages soon?

So now that we've secured a house (our closing date is July 15 and we're planning to move all the furniture over the weekend of July 25), there are some various tools that we are in need of, and we would love the opportunity to take old tools off your hands! We're planning on getting a non-gas, non-electric push mower, so if any of you have one for sale, we'd love to look at it!

We're also looking for tools like rakes, gardening tools, saws, etc.

Let us know and thank you in advance!

P.S. We're also in the market for patio furniture.

We got a house!!!!

It's official: we are going to be homeowners! We had the inspection this afternoon and there's only minor things to be done that we can do ourselves, so no more paperwork for a bit! I'm so completely excited! For those of you who don't know already, our address will be 2035 Ramlow Place, Saint Paul.

Here are some pictures I took while we were doing the inspection: