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Thursday, May 26, 2005

My life in a box

The Crafty Conservative

The computer is about to go into a box. I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm scared. I won't be back until we are up and running in Lincoln. That could be a week. I don't know what I'll do in the meantime. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll be neck-high in boxes trying to put my life back together in a different city 10 hours away.

FO #11 is here! It's the Hogwart's scarf. My young model is joined by his ever cute sister (which was made official May 24th...the adoption is final!). I'm about to cast on for the next Hogwart's scarf and I hope to finish it this weekend so I can leave it with the person I'm giving it to before we leave for Nebraska.  Posted by Hello

Here's the back view of the Hogwart's scarf. The Frog is definitely working the camera here!  Posted by Hello

Friday, May 20, 2005

Packing Day Drama

The Crafty Conservative

Because we have a week between the packing and the moving, we had to set aside certain things that we need before we make it to our sweet home in Nebraska. We had certain areas in each room designated as "safe". If we wanted it to stay, we put it in the safe area. Apparently, one of the areas I thought was safe was not. When I got home from school, I realized that my knitting bag got packed. I KNOW! THE HORROR! I was really starting to have a panic attack. I was only mildly worried about the fact that there are library books in there. I mean, a little postage from Lincoln would remedy that. But...my KNITTING! Now that everything is packed, I have a lot more "free" time on my hands. I NEED KNITTING! I was feeling really sick. I asked the movers what box it was in. They didn't remember but said I was welcome to open up some of the boxes that were in the general vicinity. First try...I found it! I took out that bag and breathed a sigh of relief. There's no way they're leaving me without that for a whole 10 days!

Sitting here by the computer (they just left some extra boxes for us to pack it up by ourselves...yeah!) I've noticed that they packed our cordless phone. It's beeping from a box. It has a low battery. That could get annoying. Oh well. I've got two sleeping kids (which is a minor miracle) so I better take advantage and pay bills or something (knit).

Oh yeah, I had a pic of the Frog to post as well but Hello is being lame and won't upload it. Maybe later.

This is our dining room as of a few moments ago. Lovely, eh? We're managing. Posted by Hello

Our movers were capable of packing up our belongings but not so great with the grammar and spelling. Notice the "alternative" spelling of Nelson (MNESON). The box must also belong to Book as it is referring to "him" possessively with the 's.  Posted by Hello

What's going on around here?  Posted by Hello

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

The Great Nelson Giveaway

The Crafty Conservative

Our Giveaway begins in full force today. I'm looking forward to seeing all of our friends and having them take away all of our stuff. It's going to be good!

I have a TON TON TON of knitting books ranging from the 1940's-1970's. I bought them at an estate sale years ago (before I even learned to knit). Some of the patterns are timeless. Some aren't. But, they're great fun to look at. And who knows, maybe hairspray cozies will be in style someday! I'd love to share these books with those of you that actually care about knitting. Unfortunately, time and logistics won't allow for it. However, if you're in the Lafayette area and you'd like to stop by anytime from 9am-9pm today, you're welcome to any and all of the books that are left. Shoot me an email for my physical address. sra_nelson at yahoo dot com.

Monday, May 16, 2005

A Conversation With my MIL

The Crafty Conservative

My mother-in-law was here visiting (along with FIL) for Sugar Daddy's graduation. She brought along some recipes to see if I might like to copy them.

MIL: Here's one for Zuchinni Rice Casserole. But, you probably won't like that one.

Me: Why not? That one actually sounds like the best one so far, to me.

MIL: It's too healthy for you.

Me: Hmmm. Well, that was kind of rude.

The conversation kept going on...no apology or explanation for her rationale behind the comment and Sugar Daddy was giving me a sympathetic look. The kind where he's sorry for what his mom just said but not sorry enough to say anything or get me out of the situation. A few recipes later...

MIL: I have two recipes for lentil soup but it looks like I only brought one. Do you want this one? You probably don't have one because I got it out of a health cookbook.

Me: Actually, I do have a recipe for lentil soup because I have some healthy cookbooks myself.

MIL: Well, it looks like these are the only recipes I brought. Drat. I thought I had packed more. So, you don't want to copy any of these then?

Me: I guess not.

Because I don't eat broccoli (gross) or wheat bread (unless it's homemade...but they probably don't know that) they think I don't like or eat anything healthy. Well, I wasn't the one that ate the half pan of rice krispy treats that were left over from a group picnic or the half dozen snicker cookies left from my recipe group!

Saturday, May 14, 2005

We Have Packers!!!!

The Crafty Conservative

We're having professionals pack our belongings. Having shingles was good for something. Here's the downside: they will be here to pack up on the 19th. Uh huh. That's 1-9. Thursday. This coming Thursday. Five days away. Somehow I've got to sort our belongings into basically three categories: 1) Things to pack; 2) Things we need between the 19th and 31st; 3) Trash/what we're putting in the Great Giveaway.

They won't be loading up the truck until the 27th. That will be 8 days living out of a suitcase but still with the benefit of having our beds. After the 27th, we're "homeless". I lucked out after just one phone call, though. Some friends are going out of town and we're going to stay at their place until we go to Chicago on the 30th. We'll spend 1 day/1 night there and leave from Chicago on the 31st to get to Lincoln. The truck will deliver our belongings to us on the 1st. I'm not too excited about all the things we're going to have to do because of the packing schedule. However, I think these inconveniences are much better than having to pack our own house.

Because of this, my knitting has gone to pot. I can barely even take the time to blog but I'm justifying it because I have to be at the computer anyway. I'm printing out certifiates for the outstanding Spanish students of the year. Multi-tasking. That's the way to do it. After I'm done with this entry I'll continue my multi-tasking by trying to clean up all the trash around the computer desk. I'm going to miss my computer. But, I'll still have access at the school (where I should have the time to blog...don't fret little lambs).

Friday, May 13, 2005

What I Know For Sure

The Crafty Conservative

Don't take a two year old out to eat when he's tired.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Moving on Up

The Crafty Conservative

Oh my! Two posts in one day. Two posts within one hour. What's going on?

Well, the Forbes list of the best places is up. Lafayette, Indiana (where we live now) is listed as number 23. Mind you, this list is for small metro areas. There is another list entirely for the more metropolitan cities. Lincoln, Nebraska (our new home...in 3 weeks!) is ranked number 7. Not bad. You can check and see if your own city made the list here.

The movers are coming tomorrow to do an estimate. If everything works out according to my master plan, we will be able to have them pack everything, move it, and still have some moving expenses left to pay my dad to drive up the rest of our stuff from Oklahoma.

To my dear Frog:

The Crafty Conservative

Frog,

I know you're almost 28 months old and all you want to do is drive us batty with your tantrums and entertain us more than any high-paid celebrity ever could. I just have a tiny suggestion. Could you please grow up a little slower? I don't even mean developmentally. I mean physically! You're getting too big for your britches (literally) and I'm not emotionally ready for you to be in 4T clothes yet. So, can you keep on squeezing into those 3T for a little while longer...maybe 18 more months? Think about it. And don't even get me started on your shoes! Do you really need size 11?

Your loving Mommy

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

An Open Letter

The Crafty Conservative

To the apparently two different people that decided the back of my van was a good place to leave your shopping carts:

STOP IT!!!!

To the bloggers that don't know the difference between loose and lose:

GET A DICTIONARY!!!!

To those who smoke:

If you like smoking so much, why do you insist on smoking with your window down? The smoke blows into my van through the vents and it is icky. Granted...I'm a super-smeller. I can smell even trace amounts of cigarette smoke in unlikely places. It's a curse. But, back to the point. Why don't you keep your smoke in your own car?

To my blog readers:

Excuse my crabbiness this day. That second shopping cart was the last straw!

Thank you.

Sunday, May 08, 2005


FO # 10 is here! Okay, I finished it a while back but now I have the pics to prove it. It's my Clapotis. I'm so glad it's over. It's the first thing I've made that I've really started to hate before I finished (except an ugly poncho that I crocheted). But, now that it's done and I've taken the pics, I'm going to try and heal and think happy thoughts about it.  Posted by Hello

My brother in law (and loyal blog reader) Eric graciously agreed to pose with my Clapotis. Big Apple was right there to join in! Posted by Hello

Here's the part of my Clapotis that I had to buy a whole skein of yarn for. See that TINY part at the end where it is grey? Yep, that's it! Allena...I hope you will knit that skein up into something you like because I just couldn't stand to have it in my stash for a moment longer!  Posted by Hello

This is the left front of the flower jacket. I just finished this part last night. I'm going to cast on for the right front as soon as I'm done with my blog. It's made with Bernat Cotton. Not my favorite to knit with, but it's coming out nicely.  Posted by Hello

It's 80 degrees out but as you can see by my hat, I'm ready for the slopes!  Posted by Hello

Friday, May 06, 2005

Ipoddy Goodness

The Crafty Conservative

Most of you will remember that my mom got me an Ipod Shuffle for my birthday. I love it so much. I keep it in my pocket. When I get a chance, I listen to some of my favorite upbeat music and dance around the house. I have some of my favorites on there already.

What's missing? NEIL DIAMOND! I haven't imported any of my music from my Neil CD's. What the heck am I waiting for? He is my all time favorite singer of all time. He was on the Today show this morning and I was going to miss it because I had to work. Well, not so! I decided to turn on the TV and I watched it with my class. Unprofessional, you say? I don't think so! Most of them DIDN'T KNOW WHO HE WAS!!! Oh, the horror! So, I consider it extremely educational. It was just to see two songs...America and Sweet Caroline (one of my faves).

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Response from Wrigley

The Crafty Conservative

Dear Christy,

Thank you for visiting Wrigley.com, to let us know about the difficulty
you've had finding Extra Cool Green Apple gum in your neighborhood.
Because we share your interest in having our products available to anyone
who wants to buy them, we appreciate hearing from you.

We've checked in our database to learn that the following stores
regularly carry this product:

*Amoco, 706 Western Ave, West Lafayette, IN
*Express Mart, 808 W. National Ave, West Terre Haute, IN
*Shell, 1160 W. US HWY 40, West Terre Haute, IN

Please check the candy aisle as well as the check-out counter displays.
If one of these stores is temporarily out of stock, you might want to
ask the manager to order some for you.

If you are still unable to find this product you may purchase them
on-line at www.elite-distributing.com, www.candydirect.com, www.hometown
favorites.com or www.candyfavorites.com.

Again, we appreciate your interest in our products and thank you for
contacting the Wrigley Company.

Sincerely,

WM. WRIGLEY JR. COMPANY

Melissa Griffin
Consumer Affairs Representative

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Lovely Lincoln

The Crafty Conservative

Did I mention that Lincoln is the home of the National Museum of Roller Skating? It's even free! If this doesn't make you want to come stay at Hotel Nelson, I don't know what will!

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Green Apple Gum Mystery Solved!

The Crafty Conservative

I found some of the Extra gum. Alas, I was disappointed. It's not that great.

I still have shingles. But, now I have meds. I also have an eye infection. More meds.

Sugar Daddy has agreed to having professionals pack up our house! Wahoo! So, I don't have to worry about that anymore. I'm SO HAPPY about that.

We had our post placement visit for Big Apple today. It's just a formality to make sure everything is okay before the adoption is finalized. I'm glad it's over.

I think I may knit some this afternoon. What a novel concept!

Monday, May 02, 2005

The Ever Elusive Green Apple Extra

The Crafty Conservative

Have you seen the commercials for the new flavor of Extra gum? It's cool green apple. I have a feeling that I will LOVE LOVE LOVE this gum. But........I CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE!!! I've searched in two states and in many different types of stores. Nowhere. Watch out Wrigley. I'm gonna send you an email.

This is the front view of our new house in Lincoln. The house goes back until it's about even with the garage and there is a finished basement with a full bathroom down there. Hotel Nelson will soon be open for business! Posted by Hello

Here is the backyard. It goes around behind the garage (on the right). Those steps in the foreground come down to the patio and there is a door to the screened in porch.  Posted by Hello

Please, no autographs now. I'm eating PIZZA! Posted by Hello

Sunday, May 01, 2005

We have a house! But, I'm the one with SHINGLES.

The Crafty Conservative

We're back from Nebraska. We were so busy trying to find a suitable place to live in 2 days, but we did it! I'll post pictures later.

Due to my weakened immune system (from the huge viral infection of a few weeks ago), and my increased stress level (uh, like see a couple of posts down) I have shingles. I had them once before when I was a senior in high school. My parents were divorcing and I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. Figures that I would get an illness that is most common in people over 60. I'm going to try to get an appointment tomorrow for some antiviral medication. Unfortunately, I opted against getting insurance this semester thinking that last semester I had a big physical (for the adoption) and this summer we would be getting insurance through SD's work. Luckily, I can go to PUSH (Purdue Univ. Student Health Center...so, why isn't it PUSHC?) for only $40.

So, enough about me. Let me talk about the house. It's exactly what we were looking for! It has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a big fenced in yard, a finished basement, a family room, a living room, a dining area, and it's in a wonderful neighborhood (a big step up from our ghetto mansion that we live in now). The only downside is that the kitchen is pretty small. But, it has new appliances. They also just replaced the roof and the furnace. We're good to go! It's nice knowing that we have a place to go to in a few more weeks.

Oh! I revealed myself to my Secret Pal, Allena. Go check out her blog. She always has lots of fun things to say and pictures of her adventures!

I still haven't heard from mine, yet. But, it's only May 1st. I can wait. I got See's Candies...who can complain about that? NOT ME! I'm still working on some of those lollipops (my fave: Butterscotch). The candy only lasted a few days, though.

Needless to say, I haven't been knitting much. I took the Hogwarts scarf to Lincoln but it didn't make it out of the suitcase. We really spent the whole time searching for a place to live. We found it at 5:30pm Saturday night, decided at 8:30pm, signed the lease at 9:30am the next morning, checked out of the hotel, ate lunch, got on a plane, and came home! I'm sure I'll have more knitting news someday. I can't go for too long without picking up the sticks.