MovingKnitter

Moving Again

2006-08-02T15:15:00.000-05:00

Now that whomever was reading this blog has probably given up, I'm going to start posting again. :) or maybe [sigh].

Todate: Mike and I have split. I'm staying temporarily with a friend near Duncan. Not working out well, but OK at least. And I'm being driven back and forth or borrowing a truck until I can get things together. Probably at least 2 weeks after this one, if I'm lucky. I have leads on apts/houses in Geronimo that are definitely cheaper than Lawton, and a couple girls know of cars that I might be able to buy....

"How does that apply to knitting?", you ask. Simple, I can't do any and I'm having a bad case of withdrawal! When I left, I barely managed to get enough clothes to get by for work and my library books. So I have to wait until he's willing to get any of my knitting. if he is.... He wanted me out, so I left. But he's still in a snit. Guess even in this I can't suite him.

Jim is staying with him since his name is on the trailer purchase agreement. He's dislocated his arm and has a green/black bruise all around the shoulder. But his work, of course, says he's not injured. Sometimes....

WIPS:

Blue Green Shawl
Red-multi shrug for Tish
Blue Bag that was for the tote exchange.
Purple Socks
Maple Leaf Socks
Clover Leaf second sock
Cotton raglan tee (could really, really use this right now)

It's hot here! First day in a week or so it has not hit 100.

Where did the month go?

2005-12-09T16:02:00.000-06:00

Anybody else notice that Nov. just flew by? I know I've been busy, but surely not that much.
I'm still working temp at the hospital. Don't know if it'll turn perm or not. Not worrying about it either. I had an off er of a job near Carnegie still through the temp service at almost double the money and couldn't take it. .... All because we only have one car. sigh.

We now have cable turned on and the cable dsl is working really well. Mike's quite happy with it. My PC has decided after the move that it can't see the hard drive. sigh. So once we're settled, I'll put a second drive with XP on it in the system and try to recover all my info from the first before I reformat it. Hate to do that. I don't know where the original software for it went in the move. I saw it at least once after the move, but have no clue right now. I'm using a w3.1 machine at home. It's not bad. :) Can't get online. But I can now play all the old games again.

I have the main bathroom in some semblance of order. Both the shower and tub are great. And all the tub jets work! After we cleaned all the dirt and grit out of them. We have the waterbed semi-set up. The base is up, the old plywood that needs replaced is on it and we have blankets and pillows on that. Still need to get good plywood for our bed and to put under Jim's so we can fill the bladders.

Clothes are mostly put away in the bed rooms. There's still stuff from the little trailer in the fron room that I need to do something with. But until we get a curio cabinet or just bookshelves, we're hung up. We want to expand that cabinet in the bathroom also. There's not enough room to unload everything that goes there either. I'm thinking a small dresser would work in there temporarily.

We're still hunting for really cheap appliances - refridge, washer and dryer, then freezer, stove top, hood, then dishwasher. The stove top semi works as does the dishwasher. There is no refridge, washer or dryer and the hood doesn't work at all. Of course with the cold weather, I'm using a cooler on the front porch for a fridge successfully. It's just small. :)

We did go to the foodbank while we're waiting for the regular food stamps to arrive. Mike is entitled to foodstamps through his SSI. What we got was rather interesting....

bag of frozen liver!
1.5 lbs ground beef
2 cans of past a sauce (plain)
5 lbs of pasta
18 small eggs
12 pudding snack cups
4 peach snack cups
18 donuts
sm tray of crossaints
jar of apricot preserves
small canned ham,
9" apple pie - baked
4 lbs of frozen corn
bag of dried milk
bag of dry black eye peas
bag of rice
platter of peanut butter cookies
3 cheese vending machine crossants
6 power bars
1 can greenbeans
1 can corn
1 can pasta and bean soup (expired)
1 can tomato juice
1 can veggie juice
bag dry jalapeno rolls

Maybe its my age showing, but I expected more staples and canned goods, and much less baked goods even if they all were several days old. Not that we won't use everybit of it, mind.

My knitting is still in storage. We have to clean enough stuff out of the 2nd bedroom to bring it home. I can't wait.!! There's some soft blakc wool and some red boucle wool that are just screaming at me. LOL

My sock is still not done, I'm working down the foot between unpacking boxes. If I could just get 3 or 4 hours solid to just knit, the foot and toe would be done! My partner in the swap is already done. I feel bad. But I thought the move would move slower than it has and I'd have time to knit.

Moving Up and out of the travel trailer!!

2005-11-04T13:29:00.000-06:00

Well, I think things might maybe be looking up.... We have found a house trailer that we can rent to own with 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths. We've paid down on it and hope to move in by Hannukah. Depends on how healthy Jim and Mike are. The Fur Kids all approve. They've been running laps from one end to the other and around the island in the kitchen. It just takes $300 here to get the electric turned on. We haven't had electric in our name in 5 years or so. It's been billed to the parks, who in turn have billed us. So it's now deposit time. Let's see.... gathering change, hunting through pockets.......

Mike's SSI finally came through, it's not much but every little bit helps. Thanks to PT on his neck, he's starting to feel better and for the first time since the wreck, his legs are less swollen. He's on Lasix and potassium on top of all his other meds.

I have a new job, still a temp position, but again it may become perm. It's at the ccounty hospital in engineering. I get to answer phones, page engineers, take care of work orders and POs. Keeps me busy anyway. Folks are really nice too.

On the traveling knitting front, the SSS Sock Swap sock has gone from Ft. Sill, to home, to the SOTE clinic to home to SW Hospital Emergency Room, to home. And I finally have the heel turned and am working on the foot! I've changed pattern on my purple socks 3 times and haven't decided yet. And my shrug/wrap in purple is still on hold due to not being able to make my mind up about the pattern. And holiday knitting, right. If I can get to my stash, maybe hats for the guys and start on Mike's socks.

I can't wait to get into the house trailer! Our own bathtub and shower! On opposite sides of the trailer's bathroom. The shower and toilet are actually in a separate room from the tub and sinks. So much better than the park's shower house or the tiny bathtub in the travel trailer! Don't know if I'm more excited about that or the working kitchen! LOL

Temp Position Ending, Finished New Harry Potter, Shawl

2005-09-17T13:53:00.000-05:00

The last week of my temp job is next week. The lady who had surgery will be back next week, at least part time. I'm hoping she'll still try to get me on at the home office so I can cover for her when she goes on trips etc. So far as I know, I've not made any major mistakes or anything. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

When we were consolidating storage from 2 rooms to 1 for a cheaper cost, I found some worsted weight wool bordering on chunky that a friend from APAC gave me earlier in the summer. I don't think there's enough to do anything great with, but It should make a winter weight shawl or two. Very useful, since all my winter stuff got put in the top back right corner of the new storage. One of our firends was helping and....
At least it doesn't get that cold here. Usually a tee shirt, sweatshirt and sweater will do the trick. Just enough to make this ample look like she weighs about 30 lbs more than she does. sigh. oh well.

I finished the newest Harry Potter this morning. And I cried and cried. Think I could have given Hagrid a run for his money. And that was my favorite character in the books. I do hope Ginny can talk sense into Harry, though. :)

I have a grey tweed that the lady said won't show a pattern, several balls of purple, a bit of brown, 1 ball of grey and one of white. I just tired the vest or sweater back she made on and it fits without blocking. I may just finshis a couple of fronts and use it as is..... The backs a lace and bobble pattern. The YOs show up but not the bobbles. Maybe I'll just use some basic faggoting stitch....or other simple YO pattern. Anyone have any suggestions? The purple will make a small sweater or a nice large shawl. Either way, I think I'll use some kind Aran type patterning. ..... If no one has suggestions, I'll ask the AK list. :

The dark is just poised again. I hate this feeling. I can get my other meds at the SOTE clinic, but have to take a 1/2 day off work to do so. But my Serzone is off the list of things they can get free for me. Because it's now generic. That doesn't lessen the cost to affordable though, sigh. So i have to take 1/2 day off of my last week of certain work to go down there and see if they can find some combination that will let me sleep, work for my depression and stop the anxiety attacks. It was such a releif when I found 1 med that did it all.

Working Sort-of

2005-08-21T13:14:00.000-05:00

I'm working through a temporary agency at a construction company on Ft. Sill for the next 5 weeks. I think they'll hire me, but they can't for 90 days according to the temp agency. I thought they could but had to pay some set fee to do so. At least that's the way Kelly Svc. worked years ago.
It's clerical and quite slow, so I have time to knit again. Best part of the job. I'm the only one in the office trailer over 3/4 of the day. LOL So the green socks are finished. And the dk blue that have been giving me fits have the heel turned and the gusset picked up. If I get ambitious, they may be down to the foot today. And I started my broadripple socks in kpppm in purple! So I'm still in the sock mode. LOL Been thinking about how to do hand warmers. But don't have them quite pictured in my head yet. I've looked at the available free patterns, but haven't found one that's just right.

Jim did get on at Goodyear through the same temp. agency. They were betting he wouldn't make it through the first few shifts, but he has. I'm proud of him. If they leave him in the same job and they give him excellent reviews, Goodyear could hire him within 6 months. That would mean a raise of 3X what he's making as a temp. I know that's what keeps him going.

Mike goes to a neurosurgeon soon to find out what they can/can't do about his neck. The wreck definitely damaged 3 of the 7 neck vertibrae.

And now mine's starting to give me problems. Gotta get him taken care of and Jim really on at GY before I can afford to miss a day of work. Guess it's going to be lots of advil or ibuprofen. sigh. I hate not having insurance. Can't even get his meds, let alone mine.

We did get our fur kids groomed. They are much happier after being sheared. No, I didn't keep any of the fur. Someday, after we get something bigger than this trailer. Even with all our heat, they are asking to be covered up at night (crawling under our blankets) and while the AC is on during the day. Should get some great cute furkid pics of them with blankets if I can find the camera.

Lost Job

2005-07-30T10:36:00.000-05:00

Accident Update: I'm doing OK. Except my left hand is going numb and my shoulder and elbow both hurt. Going to have to see a dr. about that if I can find one. Mike's only problem is in his neck. He's had another round of tests, so I hope they show something!

And on top of everything else, I lost my job yesterday. I'm not fast enough at putting eyeglasses together, it seems. The boss was apologetic, though and said he'd give me a good reference. If he had another opening, he'd said he'd put me there. And he'll give me a week's severance pay. So it was sort of on good terms.

So, Monday it's off to unemployment, APAC to see if they are hiring ( since I'm re-hirable there ), Merry Maids, ChemPac (they pack chemicals for Goodyeear), and all the temp agencies. Then it's about hitting the retail stores and offices to see if they need help. sigh. Bad thing is that Jim, DS, is out of work too. We stocked up on groceries last night.

On the knitting front - I'm working on a dark blue kid's sock. and have a dark blue baby sock made. Hand warmers in a purple multi. Have the green second sock's heel turned but need to finish the things listed above first. And everything else is on hold.

We totalled the truck

2005-06-30T09:13:00.000-05:00

Yep. We sure did. Mike rolled the truck on the way to a Dr. appt. in OKC yesterday. He was pinned and has a sore head, neck and back. No concussion, thank goodness. I got slammed around, broke a toe, re-injured my back, and my arms/hands go numb. I'm off work for at least 4 days. We're supposed to see our regular doctor, which we don't have. No one in Lawton, it seems, is accepting new patients. I was working on a sock when it happened.
I remember the back end swinging from a wind gust as we came around a hill, and running straight in the ditch. Next thing I know I'm looking at cracked glass and I think I was dangling by my seat belt. But I'm not sure. And we're out the truck we use to haul the travel trailer. Just had liability on it too, due to cost.If we can get it out of the tow yard quick enough Mike's going to make a trike out of it, since the drive train, and engine are fine, to try to recoup some of the money. Not sure this makes sense, Dr. in the emergency room gave me some muscle relaxant and loratabs. More later when I'm more coherent. I'm going back to bed.

New Job, FO, and Other Oddities

2005-06-24T18:48:00.000-05:00

I changed jobs. The telemarketing job wasn't giving me a steady 40 hrs every week. So, I now work at an optical lab making glasses. Quite a change. LOL My left index finger's been toooo sore to knit much due to getting in the way of screw drivers (accidently). But I have finished my first clover leaf sock! And have my clapotis half done. I'm on the decrease section now. And I'm working on my second sockotta green/blue/gold/orange sock. I also started a tee shirt in brush strokes cotton in pink/gold/blue/green/purple. Real pretty. I know, pictures, right? All good stuff!

My contest winner has sent me her address. I'll be sending her prize out after next Friday which is payday. Then I'll post her name. :)

My AKSP should be getting her package in the next day or two. Wonder if she likes pink......
I'm rather sure she does! : )

Mike goes for a stress test on his heart the 26th. We can use some good thoughts/prayers/candles that he gets through it without problems. We have to go to OKC, about an hour away for the test. I'm taking the day off work. It's for his SSI, so I hope we get through it and they get him approved! Would take a load off both of us.

Norn, the MC, is sitting beside the trailer patiently waiting to be re-wired - maybe this weekend. We re-wired a fellow BTW member's trike last weekend. He had a wire short in the rain and had smoke coming from between his front gas tanks, almost in his lap. Shut the trike down for a bit. Seems someone in their infinite wisdom (NOT) used semi-truck resettable breakers instead of fuses in his wiring. When the breakers reset after tripping, there's a chance, in this application, of a fire starting. So we fixed the problem and he's back on the road. But after riding season's over, it's a whole new wiring harness complete with fuse block and fuses!

No real travel this time. Still trying to get everything together from the job change. Oh, and Jim changed jobs at about the same time for a similar reason. He's now working at the O'Reilly's parts house on Sheridan in Lawton full time.

Run and Auction Results and FOs!

2005-05-31T11:48:00.000-05:00

Auction and run update first. We had a small turnout for the event - less than 100 people. A casino nearby gave $800 for a poker run on the same day and took most of the potential folks. They announced it after we had the fliers out, too. Oh well. We still raised almost $1200 for Rocky and Sara Dawn. That's not much against over $7000 owed, but it's a start.

Now FOs! I finished a sock in sockotta and have the second cast on. It's all cool greens blues and a bit of gold. I finished the front half of a tank top in Imagine rainbow. Twisted terribly, but it looks good. The second half is cast on for it also.

I know I count small pieces as FOs, but if I didn't I couldn't brag near so often. LOL

I did find that my cloverleaf sock has a dropped stitch in the cloverleaf pattern about 12 rows down. Don't know how I did that. I have to get good light, a crochet hook and much patience to figure out how to move it back to the current row. I put it down for now.

I can't use Mike's computer any more. He's in a mood, I guess. We just have to get out of that little trailer before it breaks up. Now Jim's staying with us also. And I thought 2 people in 28X8 was bad. Now it's 3 and our 3 fur kids. Mike did apply at OReilly's auto parts and is supposed to check on it today. Jim is working there full time as of next week.

Mike didn't go to CA. And I'm sure the $$ is gone, since he bought brake parts for Norn, and new pieces for his PC. sigh. But he is supposed to also call about some rent houses today also.
I did pick up a United Way application for prescription assistance. So that has to be turned in tomorrow. But they want to know if we filed a tax return, which we have not. And I bet we can't get help until next year, just like the Pell Grant, when all the high $ stuff from CA is gone.

I'm contacting contest winners today to get addresses. Hope to have the prizes out this next week after payday. My AKSP is going to get a combination May and June surprise, sigh. I wanted it to be 2 separate ones, and it just didn't work out.

My Sister-in-Law

2005-05-08T11:53:00.000-05:00

Here is the run flier for my sister-in-law. We had hoped to have it before she died. She died this past Monday evening. The run is still on and we are accepting any and all donations to be auctioned off with all proceeds to go to the family.
The real reason for this entry is to post a flier for the Run for Rose. She was my sister-in-law who passed away last Monday. The run is to raise money for her family, who, due to the cost of cancer treatment and burial, are on the fine edge of disaster.
Any and all help is appreciated!
Here's the flier:

Run For Rose

Auction and run party to benefit Rose and Roger “Rocky” White.
Rose White has terminal cancer and the stress and medical bills, are overwhelming BTW Brother Rocky White. For that reason, to raise funds with which to help a brother, a run and party is being held on May 14, 2005, in case of a “rain out”, the run and party will be held the following weekend May 21, 2005.
Admission to this event will be a donation of one (1) saleable item
(minimum $10 value) to be auctioned off to raise funds to help the White family.
A ride will be held, beginning at the “Chrome Link” motorcycle shop, 2010 NW Floyd in Lawton Oklahoma. Departure time is 10 AM. The ride will go thru the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and end at Mom’s Only Chance Saloon, 14494 State Hwy 36, Faxon, Oklahoma. Festivities will begin at 2 PM.
Entertainment will be:
(1) An auction of the items donated.

(2) A Wet T-shirt Contest
(3) Live Music
For the contestants in the Wet T-Shirt contest, first place will be a
Cash prize of $50, $25 for second place. Food and refreshments will be available.
All motorcyclists and anyone else are invited to come and have fun and participate in this event. All cash donations and the proceeds from the auctioning of the donated items, will be presented to Roger White the day of the event.

Please attend the event and help Rocky and Rose

For more information Contact Mike Mc Neil (580) 351-1231 0r (580) 695-3058

FO!! and contest info

2005-04-28T10:23:00.000-05:00

This may get monotonous, but I finished, well almost, a pair of socks at work yesterday! They are the mon dea socks and are so cool! I'll try to get a picture and post it tomorrow. They are definitely fraternal socks, but the colors are the same just in different proportions. I still need to kitchener the toe on both of them, and I'll do that that probably over the weekend.

I really need to finish the other socks in progress that I have, but I also need to get hopping on a baby set or two. Seems the younger set at work have all decided to start families at the same time. LOL So it's off to the storage place to dig out what ever baby yarn or other acrylic I can reach.
I think I'm going to do a couple 5 hr baby sweaters and some booties and hats. I'd like to do the tom ten (sp?) from EZ or the baby coats from The Knit Stitch, but the books are buried too far under everything to reach. And this is in spite of my putting them near the now inaccessable yarn. My DH and DS really just stuffed the last boxes in ! I can't even reach the summer clothes I put away in January! LOL

As for the contest, if you can't add a comment, just email me your entry with contest as the title. I don't have any idea why blogspot won't let some folks enter a comment. My email is: marty.mcneil@gmail.com
I've really enjoyed reading the entries so far, and look forward to more.

Knitting at Spavinaw Trike Meet and CONTEST

2005-04-24T14:05:00.000-05:00

My knitting and I went with DH to Spavinaw, OK for the first trike in of the year. It was quite cold! Spavinah is NE of Tulsa, and diagonal across the state from Lawton. We only went for 1 day, due to lack of funds, so we left about 5 AM and arrived just before noon. We took the short trike (Miss B), and some front ends and pieces to sell and a friend sent a pair of tires and wheels. Nothing sold, so we had to borrow $$ to get back home. sigh. We didn't get back until 2AM and then sat and talked to my son, who was fur kid sitting until daylight. LOL It's been many, many YEARS since I've done that! And I was up about 10 AM with the feeling that I was LATE to work. sigh. And I don't work on Sunday. We did get to let them know about our new BTW chapter in Lawton, and get things for the chapter from the National Directors, so it wasn't really a loss. And Run went with us and was a very good boy. He flirted and broke the ice with many of the other trikers. And discovered what a river was. The mud intrigued him, and so did the water until he went in with a leg to his shoulder. He levitated back out and insisted on going to the car to get warm and away from that water monster. LOL

I cast on for my second Mon Dea sock and have about half the leg done at the trike meet.

In other knitting news, I finished the purple shawl, but it's too short. It's about to become the purple and black shawl when I get the 4 pairs of in process socks done. I've added another 3 inches to the back of the shapely tank, so I'm within 5 inches of starting the back arm holes.
My toe up socks are ready for the gussett increase, so I need to look up just how to do that. It's baby season at work with all the youngsters. So I've printed off the 5 hr baby sweater and some bootie and hat patterns. I'l have to work those in also. I think it's going to be an orangey coral and white series. But then again I also have some pastel varigated that I need to get rid of (use up) also.

BLOG CONTEST
Tell me about the most amazing, wildest or unusual place you have knit and what reaction you received. I'll be sending out some coordinating novelty and sport/worsted weight yarn and a pattern or 2 to the winner. Contest ends May 8. Enter by leaving a comment on my blog.

Playing Catch Up

2005-04-11T10:04:00.000-05:00

Let me see, the house fell through. We might be able toget the land stil. At least Mike's still working on that. We're looking for a rent house around Lawton to get Mike and I and Jim under one roof to get finances in better shape. And we've started a new BTW ( Brothers of the Third Wheel) group here. Election of officers was Saturday and I was elected Treasurer. I'm still working at APAC. The first 4 hours are bad - can you say micro micro management?. But the last 4 with my official supervisor are great. As long as you are doing everything you are supposed to, you can knit, crochet etc.

That being the case, I'm almost finished with garter stitch and faggot lace shawl in deep red-violet wool. And the back of my shapely tank, from White Lies Designs, has 6 of 11 inches on it. The tank is in a white with 3 shades of blue and green nubs that's a cotton/acrylic blend. I have the shamrocks finished on my shamrock socks so I'll be able to work to the heel turn at work.

I have a question for anyone who's reading this. I have the pink sock down to the start of the heel. I tried it on, and it barely goes on. When I tried it on while working the ribbing it was fine. I guess I tightened up too much somewhere in the proceress. Since it's a wool cotton blend and I'm told it stretches, should I rip it back and redo it? Or try some increases while I'm working the gussett ? Or something else?

And I have a RAOK to go out this week.!

We might be able to get into a house

2005-03-19T13:01:00.000-06:00

I stil have my job - I'm a month and 2 wks into my 3 month probationary period. So far, so good. And I've managed to make a little extra by having my quality good on the calls. Every little bit helps, right? And I just found out that there's another telemarketing company in Lawton that starts folks around $8 and hr. Be a good step up from $6 if I can get it when they hire the next time. And they let you crochet or knit! Mine is a micro management company. sigh. Nothing on the desk that's not company material. Makes 8 hrs. real boring. But I HAVE A JOB! : )

Jim's job is working out well so far. Once he's finished his training, he'll get more hours. And that will help everyone. You see, we've found a modular home that was repossessed that we can get with new carpet and appliances for uner 40k. With Jim's and my salary, I think we can swing that. Now we have to find a place to put it. We've found a spot near Faxon that Mike likes. And the lady will let him act as agent on a few sales and put his cut toward the down on the property. I think it's a good deal. It's 6.6 acres in what was a wheat field. So it's all cleared and relatively smooth. We'll have to plant trees and put in septic. The folks we're buying from are getting electric and water put in.

Mike's started getting inquiries about his trikes and has started the process to get the business license and tax license back. He's set up some distributor deals with a few parts companies that will go into effect when he gets the licenses. If he sells 3 trikes a year he should be able to make between 21k to 30k a year depending on whether he sells rolling frames or complete trikes or something in the middle.

He's found a way to buy a demo building to use as a shop and a poly house for me. Now it's all about getting financing based on Jim and my's income. And Mike's if he'll allow it.

Guess I need go dig out the tax files from the boxes and start doing our taxes. I know they'll want that and more. Except for the fact that I'm sure we'll owe money we don't have. It's the pits when you end up with a pay cut this deep and have to pay taxes on the money you made before the cut. sigh.

We'll manage some how. And we need to get insurance on the trucks so we can get OK tags and licenses. Thank goodness I still get some $$ from CA to make up the difference between my salary and the unemployment at least through August.

I got a job!

2005-02-13T14:56:00.000-06:00

I got a job doing telesales and just finished the training. It's not bad. Did get one sale yesterday - my first. So now its on to OJT next week. Not really hard, since you just read the screens. And low stress. All good things in my book.

Mike's supposed to have a job next month at the local HD shop and he's reapplying for his SSI. Got my fingers crossed for both. The last of my unemployment comes in next week, so he's going to go see the kid about getting the house and giving him money while he's in prison as payment. County'll take the house for back taxes in October so the kid'll lose it anyway. Hope the kid sees sense.

I'm washing clothes at good friend's house and using her computer while the wash is going. I can't use the one in the library until I pay the fine I owe on the books on tape I took to CA with us. sigh.

I'm working on a garter stitch shawl in tans on 15s. It'll be the easiest thing to do at work. My pink sock's ready for the heel! yeah! I just have to sit down long enough to do it.

Not much more to tell right now. I need to check email, send Valentine's cards, and get things ready to send to my AKSP and my RAOK friends when the check comes in. I know, I still owe pictures. I just found the camera and have to look through the disks to find the right ones to post. That's some kind of progress at least. I'll get the posted when I post next.

We made it home!

2005-02-07T20:15:00.000-06:00

We made it home with the biggest load yet. Not without some adventure though. The 18 ft. car hauler broke an axle that we didn't know had been fixed before AFTER we had it loaded. So we unloaded it and Mike fixed the axle. Then a tire rolled off the rim as we were moving it to get the last things. So we put the spare on and went to the tire shop and got another spare. After another flat, we went to get yet another one. We finally got the trailer reloaded. Then we unloaded mine and and lowered the load by several feet. Then we started for Lawton. We didn't have much problem until we hit Amarillo, TX. Then we had a flat in the middle of town. After changing the tire, we got another one. Less than 50 miles later we had another flat. Good thing we stopped and got yet another spare! And that set finally got us home!

I had a wonderful surprise when we arrived. My AKSP sent me some gorgeous stitchmarkers/earrings she made and a sweet note. And I was RAOK'd with yarn and pattern for some cool socks! I have to email thanks or leave blog comments, yet.

I'm borrowing folks computers or going to the library for access, so my posting will probably be irregular for a bit. Once we get out of the tiny trailer and have access, things will improve. We're working on all of it and finding jobs. My son, Jim, found one at the local Office Depot, and I found a customer service/telesales job with APAC. Now it's Mike's turn. With all of us working it won't take too long for us to start getting back on our feet.

And I'm STILL working on the pink sock! LOL I'm just about ready to start the heel. I'll post pics of the trailers, sock, surprises etc when we find the camera - it's still somewhere in the trucks.

Last round of Packing

2005-01-12T13:37:00.000-06:00

Well, in the past 3 days, we've emptied two 10X 30 storage rooms and gotten the cars serviced to be ready to go. We loaded one onto my gray trailer - well what was left in it, anyway. Furniture for the most part. And the other on the car hauler. Today it's unload and reload the car haulerfor Mike and I need to pack the RV. We're trying to leave on Thurs or Fri - more probably Fri.

I'm still working on my pink socks. Got a few more rows done on the cuff. I REALLY REALLY want to start the Kiri shawl http://www.alltangledup.com/movabletype/my_images/my_patterns/kiri.pdf.
But I worry about having it in a mess when I have to box the rest of this up. But oh, it's calling my name! :)

This will be my last post for at least a week. Mike wants the PCs loaded in the trucks before everything else. I'll let you know how it went when we get there. Wish us luck!

Back from NV - barely

2005-01-08T01:24:00.000-06:00

We made it back from Carson City, just. Things went OK with DMV as far as getting the title for the RV etc. Just the usually bureaucracy and red tape. So we can finish that transaction tomorrow and start packing.

The problems happened on I80 coming 'across the hill' as they say in Carson. By the time we got to Donner Pass, we had gone through whiteouts, snow+fog, snow+rain+fog etc. Could not see past the hood of the truck. Mike was driving by watching the line where the plows had run beside the truck. Scary. So glad he was driving. I managed not to freak out though - I think because Run decided the place to be was in Mom's lap. Having a warm, snuggly, trusting, small dog on my lap really helped. They closed 80 behind us. I was so glad to get down toward Sacramento where it was all rain.

On the knitting front, I did manage to knit about 2 inches on the cuff of my cotton wool socks. I decided to use 1s to see if that would help with the stretch problem folks reported. And I found this http://www.alltangledup.com/movabletype/my_images/my_patterns/kiri.pdf (Kiri Shawl) that I think will work really well with some lace weight I have in the closet here. I didn't join the KAL. This move is just taking tooo much. I looked at Clapotis (http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/PATTclapotis.html) again and still want to do it. But I don't have enough worsted weight yarn for it in a single colorway. Once I get a job again......

And on the job front - a friend's grandaughter is working as a receptionist at Motel 9 in Lawton. They told me tonight that there are 2 openings coming up there. Don't know if they are for reception, maintenence, maids or what. Doesn't really matter. I just need the work. And I can use the granddaughter for a reference. :) Got my fingers crossed that we can get back home in time to apply before the openings are gone.

Wish List and Off to NV

2005-01-05T15:45:00.000-06:00

I've posted my wish list at: http://mkwishlit.blogspot.com/ Someone asked so here it is. LOL Way too big. IMHO

Anyway, we're off to NV tomorrow. Gardnerville to be exact. That's below Tahoe and S of Carson City and Reno. We have to get notorized paperwork for the RV, since we can't find the set we had. It's here somewhere but at this point it's easier to go get a new set.

We're almost ready to load for the last trip. When we get back I'll get the last of the boxes to pack the RV. 5 more days until we have to be outta here. Sure hope the weather along I 40 gives us a break by then.

I found my OTT light, just in time to work on Mike and Jim's black cap with skulls on them. Just not enough light in this RV to deal with black otherwise. So that's what I'm trying to work on now.

I'm thinking about just taking a basic sock to NV with us. After hearing how much it stretches, I stopped and frogged the pink ruffled sock. I have pink, coral and white acrylic to choose from for the basic sock. Any of them should be easy to see, and if I mess it up, it's no great loss. I need something to do while we're riding on snow! I get jumpy in the car whenever anyone's driving. But the knitting does help, thank goodness.

Sunday, Sunday

2005-01-02T17:48:00.000-06:00

Not much going on today. Everyone else is napping. I was on socknitter's chat for a bit and we talked about pet sweaters! LOL Had a good time. I'm still working on the pink ruffled socks, but an tempted to switch yarn. They said that the cotton fleece has alot of stretch when you wear it. Since I wear sandals amost all the time, it'd be embarrassing to have the socks fall off rather than down in my shoes.

I just changed my blog feed options and want to see if they work now. Fingers crossed.

Oh yeah, my son just called and we may have to go get him this evening. His ex-girlfriend just made a scene at work, took his key to their apartment, and went to mama's. sigh. We don't really have room for him in the midst of packing or gas to drive him to work. Hope he has his bicycle still. All the MCs and trikes are in OK. More soap opera coming soon. :)

New Year - better year?

2005-01-01T21:14:00.000-06:00

Well, I for one at least hope it will be a better year. Hope yours will be too!

We celebrated over the net with friends in OK and then in CA. Worked pretty well. Mike delivered the engine and tranny and I did wash during the day, so it was productive also.
I started a pair of pink ruffled socks by Jeannie Townsend. Got the ruffle finished and had started on the ribbing before I noticed the join was twisted. So it was off to the frog pond. But I did get them recast on and joined (no twist) before midnight.

Run has learned a new game. Silly fur kid attacked the laundry bag with clean clothes in it looking for the cover monster. You'd have to see it. Made me laugh.

My son's decided to move to OK with us. Kinda thought that might happen, but not this soon. Turns out his living arrangement with his girl friend was much less successful that he admitted.
So he's out of his contract with Jiffy Lube and heading back with us. Said he'd wanted to leave CA anyway. .... At least there's mechanic openings at the oil change and tune up shops in Lawton! He'll likely get a job before I do. Or I'm sure he'll get a job on one of the farms that need a strong back. And yes, I'm glad he's coming with us. But he'll have to pay his own eats or some of the gas or some of the motel on the way back. Wonder if he has 'magic plastic'?

Ok New Year's. What would it be without resolutions. Well, here are a couple of mine. I don't make many and still have trouble keeping them.
1.Inventory Stash. Obviously, this will have to wait until we get finished with the move.
2.Keep a knitting journal for all projects. All projects - that's the key. I do it sporadically on various and sundry pieces of paper and then can't find them when I need them.
3.Inventory WIPs and decide what to do with them. Either put all the yarn, patterns, needles etc. with them and finish them or FROG them and rewind the yarn.
4. Donate, sell or give away all yarn that I won't use for whatever reason. Don't like the hand, color, size etc.
There. That's it. Now to see how many I can really keep.

Sure hope my 1 pair of wool socks are dry by tomorrow so I can wear them outside again while we continue sorting tools and looking for the title to the RV. Don't ask why it's in the tool shed. I asked Mike and got 'that look'. LOL
Happy New Year All!

Enforced rest day

2004-12-29T22:09:00.000-06:00

Mike's angina was back last night. So we rested today. I think he over did helping the tow driver lift the small trailer off the big one so he could drive out from under it. And then he got himself all upset over stuff that happened a year ago. So nothing much to report on the move front today.

Tomorrow I hope will be better. My son, Jim, is coming over on his day off to help. We'll get him load as much as possible and start through the store room for old computer parts. With luck he can do some of that while Mike sorts tools to pawn.

I did find out that the park manager who's going to buy the RV, won't charge us if we run over into Jan. Small favors. Pulling 2 loaded trailers, 2k will just about get us home. It's just having enough to live on that worries me. Hence, his 'pawning' the tools. We'll just leave them at the shop.

Enough of this... I'm going to go try to distract myself with a book or something.

Last Trip Back to CA and 100 things about me!

2004-12-28T13:41:00.000-06:00

We made it back to CA on the 25th despite major snow from Amarillo, TX to Clines Corners, NM and very dense fog in CA's Central Valley. The snow zone we passed through looked like a wreaking yard.

This trip will be Mike's tools and a few more household boxes. I don't think furniture will make it. And plants will have to be put in the trucks wherever we can get them out of dog reach.

Mike's sorting tools to pawn the extras/duplicates so we have food money while we pack. It took all the unemployment check and selling an engine and transmission to catch up on rent and storage. sigh. The RV is sold, and we'll get about enough to get back to Lawton when we get out of it.

I didn't get a job in Lawton, so it's back to hunting as soon as we do. Mike's finally agreed to look for one also. The unemployment runs out in mid Jan. so we may have to go on GA and Foodstamps until something turns up.

We are looking at a house in Lawton that we think we can get for back taxes. Fingers crossed.
Taxes aren't much per year. House was party central, but structurally not in bad shape. We'd have to live in the travel trailer until we can re-do the rooms. It appears to have 2 kitchens and 1 bath. Quite a different configuration. We'll have to see. I'm not holding my breath.

And yes, for those who can tell, I'm out of meds and just hanging on.

Happy New Year if I don't get another chance to post.
And here's my list of 100 things, finally! I'll try to add it to the links also
http://movingknitter100list.blogspot.com/

In Lawton

2004-12-16T16:16:00.000-06:00

We made it a long 4 days after we left the Bay area. After getting Mike to tighten the load and the anti-sway bars, the trailer and I did pretty well. We had to pawn most of my jewelry in Gallup to get gas to get the rest of the way through. And pawn the rest of it, sell one of the cars etc. to live on while I wait for the unemployment check to catch up. It should I hope soon. I've applied at a customer service center that also does outbound sales to try to get something coming in. No news yet, but I was interviewed twice. I've taken the tests to get into the re-training program for graphics technology. I'll start when they get an opening.

We're tryingto come up with money so Mike or Mike and I can go back and get his tools and the remaining household goods. We have met some other folks interested in trikes already and they've offered to store stuff in their barn and shed for us while we try to get it together in one place.

We'd forgotten Mike's brother is assist. state director for BTW in OK. So we had no problem getting permission to start a chapter here in Lawton. LOL Here we go again. There's one in OKC an one in Tulsa and nothing in are area of the state. There will be soon.

The fur kids traveled well. Muggs has again decided she needs to go adventuring on her own when she gets out the door. sigh. I've spent more time this week chasing her down than anything except applying for jobs. The boys are fine. If I'm there, they're happy.

On the knitting front, I haven't done much. Worked on my socks for the 6 socks kal and put the rest of the yarn with the pattern and back of my shapely tank. And started yet another shawl ina faggot stitch out of Imagine that's in blues and greens.

Oh and Happy Birthday to Me!

We're off today

2004-11-29T13:03:00.000-06:00

We're leaving with the trailers today! I still have to pack a suitcase. LOL I'm a bit scared and excited all at one time.

Mike's changing the route as I type this. To make it shorter and flatter, according to him. Both are really good!

The fur kids are excited. They know their mc/trke kennes are loadedand now we're packing. Run's laying in the suitcases trying to make sure he goes and the other 2 are bouncing or claiming clothes.

I'll post when I can get a connection. If I don't, I'llbe back in about 14 days and post then.
Wish us luck!