So far, so good...

...happy to report that no further appliance tragedies have occurred since my last posting. The dryer stopped ticking. My hair dryer is mysteriously working again. And Husband replaced the motor in the furnace tonight and it seems to be working better than ever.

Keeping fingers crossed, burning incense and dancing around with a live chicken in hopes that the trend continues. ;)

Our appliances are possessed...

And yes, he just loved having me taking pictures at this point in time...

Our furnace began making a high-pitched whining sound last Saturday evening just as the Steelers-Jags game got started. (Considering the outcome of the game, I suppose it was an omen.) Husband diagnosed it as a bad capacitor, which he could replace. Considering that this is the 30+ year old furnace that was originally put in the house and that we've had blessed few problems with in the 14 years we've lived here, that seemed pretty lucky. We've got a wood stove that keeps the house pretty warm most nights anyway, so a day without a furnace during unseasonably warm weather was not a big deal.

Fast forward to today. I called Husband at work today to ask if I should be alarmed that our dryer was ticking. It was not running, but it was ticking. Like a clock. Or a bomb. He was too busy to diagnose it, so I just unplugged it and left it for him to check out when he got home. By the time he got home, I was at work and he did not hear any ticking sounds when he plugged it back in, so apparently all is well.

Or is it?

I got home from work to an empty house, Husband and the kids off to visit his grandfather. It had gotten colder all day today, thus the furnace was running. Upon coming downstairs to check e-mail and Scrabulous games, I noted a weird sound coming from the vicinity of the furnace...kind of the sound UFOs made in 60s TV shows? You know the sound. So, when Husband came home, I told him there was a UFO in the furnace. (He loves it when I tell him things like this. Really. You have no idea.) No sooner did I say this than the furnace started making the same high-pitched whine as it had made last Saturday.

Going downstairs, he shuts off the breaker to the furnace, opens it up and begins grilling me on the noise I'd heard earlier.

Him: So, what kind of noise was it making before?

Me: I told you already. I even mimicked it for you.

Him: :::heavy sigh::: Well, can you mimic it for me again?

Me: OoooooEEEEEEEeOOooooooooo

:::crickets:::

Him: So, was it like the sound of a bad bearing?

Me: :::heavy sigh::: I don't know. I'm not all that up on my bearing sounds.

Him: But you're up on your UFO sounds?

Me: Yes!

Him: :::heavy sigh::: This will be so helpful at the hardware store tomorrow.

So...he's now removed the motor from the furnace and started a fire in the wood stove. It is going to be cold out tonight, thanks to a clear sky (which, I must say, is making for an absolutely stunning view of the constellations!). And did I mention the age of our furnace? Yeah. I'm thinking we're going to be biting the big one and buying a new frickin' furnace soon. Though I did point out to the husband that we should probably weigh the cost of any new home improvements against the possibility of needing to move out of the country should Hillary Clinton actually get elected president. But that's a whole other issue. And really, it's best not to discuss politics and major appliance replacement in the same conversation. Seriously.

(Oh! I almost forgot! I was drying my hair today, and my hairdryer shorted out on me! Started to make a bad, burned electrical smell and then shut off! Granted, of the three appliances, this is the least problematic to replace, but still...what the heck is going on today?)

Inspired 365

In an effort to reinvigorate my enjoyment of chronicling my life in pictures, I've decided to undertake a photo-a-day project this year (á la Project 365 and 3191). If you'd like to peek into my world and enjoy daily glimpses of my life, you can check it out at its own blog: Inspired 365.

New Year...

After what was a busy couple of weeks for us over the holidays, I'm finally taking some time today to think about the new year. I love this time of year...I love taking the time to reflect on life, on where I've been in the last year and where the next might lead.

I used to be a resolutions fanatic, but I gave that up some time ago. Three years ago, I created instead a list of intentions for the new year...thoughts about how I wanted to live my life more intentionally. I liked having those thoughts to guide me through the year instead of a harsh list of resolutions that left me feeling guilty when they so easily were broken.

That year, I also chose to use one word as my word for the year, a word to encompass all those things I wished to focus on. Appropriately enough, that year my word was intention. Living with intention. It was also the year I turned 40. I do not think the two things were unrelated.

Last year, I chose a new word for my year...balance. Looking back, I'm not sure I achieved balance in the way I'd intended it when I first chose that word. 2007 was a year of some amazing revelations for me...primarily, I realized how much I'd been living my life the way I thought other people wanted me to live it and not paying much attention to who I was and what was important to me. I spent a lot of time last year working though some periods of anger and resentment in certain areas. It was not easy, but it was good. I let go of a lot of the fears I had...fears of disapproval and judgment from those I love. Thus, I feel like I began to balance my life out on a grander scale...all those years of trying to fit into other people's expectations, now beginning to be balanced by fitting into the life that is truly my own. And thankfully, I feel free of most of those angry feelings I went through as I was re-discovering who I really am. It was a weird, unexpected process to go through, but I'm glad it happened. It's made me a better, happier person.

So, this year I've been trying to think of another word to capture that which I want to focus on for 2008. I've decided on deeper. Now that I feel like I have a renewed direction for my life, I want to explore it more deeply, continue to get to know myself as a woman in this stage of life and examine what that will mean as things continue to change. I don't want my passions and enthusiasm to stop at a superficial level but instead I want them to go deeper into both the big things in my life, as well as the little everyday things.

I think it is going to be a good year.

No rest for the wicked...

Ignore that ugly yellow 70s era linoleum that is still in my kitchen and I manage to rationalize by telling myself it's really "retro"...

...not that I'm all that wicked, I don't think. Unless I'm PMSing, then all bets are off. Or, is it considered wicked to have signed up to be part of a stash knit-down for 2008 -- part of which is to abstain from buying new yarn as much as possible -- and yet go and purchase a boxful of fibery goodness two days before said knit-down begins? Seems rather like the binge the day before you're planning to join Weight Watchers, doesn't it?

Ok, so...I have worked every day since Christmas except Friday. Mind you, this is not a complaint, as I love my job. I just usually only work on Saturdays, which works out well for many reasons, not the least of which is that it keeps my yarn-buying opportunities to a reasonable weekly minimum. However, I offered to work extra over the holidays, and I was taken up on it, which worked out fine because -- unbeknownst to moi -- it is INVENTORY TIME! Yeay! It hadn't occurred to me that a yarn store would have to physically count each and every item in the store once a year. I figured there was software to keep track of these things...and there is...but it seems to make the accountant happy to have those figures physically verified once a year.

So, I counted. And counted and counted and counted. I dragged the step stool and the cardboard box (the one I appointed as my "official inventory box" and quietly named her "Boxy") around the shop for four days, during which time I managed to count virtually every ball of open stock yarn in the whole store. Do you realize what this means? This means I personally touched EVERY BALL/SKEIN/HANK of yarn we have out on the shelves! Hundreds and hundreds of them! And they all felt so gooooood. I love my job.

The whole process was oddly relaxing to me, because I am a geek who loves to make lists and catalog things and count things. I must have a little OCD in me somewhere too, because I came to realize that I could not count without actually touching each ball as I counted it, and if I failed to do so, I had to go back and do it again -- the right way.

Today...today I got to the 50% off bins. On most days I work, I try hard to avoid these bins as much as possible, because they are dangerous. They act like a big, black hole, sucking away all manner of reason that would otherwise keep me from being able to rationalize the temptation of purchasing 10 hanks of the most putrid color of Cascade 220 ever created. It's this drab dirt color, and so far I have still managed to resist buying it, though the more I think of it, the more I'm convinced that it is so ugly that it HAS to have the potential to be turned into something beautiful and that, my friends, would result in a personal challenge that would have me buy those hanks and set out to prove the ugliness wrong. Thus...the effect of the 50% off black hole.

Anyway, as I excavated those bins today, I found the most beautious yarns that I didn't know were there because I've been good and have been avoiding them as much as possible. But there was the most captivating color of blue Debbie Bliss Merino DK -- enough balls to make a sweater for me. To die for purple DB wool/cotton -- enough for something for my daughter. Various Sirdar Snuggly skeins in different shades of purples, which will be perfect for some baby gifts I will need this spring. Some brand (can't remember which) of this brownish, kid mohair fuzzy yarn that just said "buy me and figure out what to do with me later because I feel so nice to touch." And a couple other odd balls that just jumped into my arms.

So, I filled up Boxy (her inventory career now at an end) and brought home the goods. And considering how much yarn I touched this week, I think I was pretty well restrained.

Truth be told, though, I may have to withdraw from this stash knit-down before it even truly begins. Who am I kidding...buying no new yarn? Inventory might be behind me, but the winter sale is just weeks away! Ahhhhhh.... :}

Sorry, folks...

...but it seems that I've become the latest victim of comment spam. Thus, I've turned on the word verification security thing for commenting. I liked not having it up, but I don't like random advertising in the comments, so... :::sigh:::

The other side of Christmas...

My last two Christmas knitting projects, finished up in the nick of time!

We successfully made it through Christmas -- I'd say we survived, but that sounds rather bleak! I mean, really, it is a good holiday, after all! The day was full of activity and people. Since the kids had agreed to hold off opening presents until everyone got here around lunchtime, I assumed I'd get to sleep in more than usual. Thus, I stayed up the night before, finishing knitting and wrapping the last gift and generally relaxing.

Got to bed around 1:30, only to be woken up around 7:45 by the phone ringing. It was our oldest son, calling from boot camp! Seriously, this was the best way to start off my day. I hadn't heard his voice since he left back on Oct. 22nd. He only had two minutes to talk, so we made it fast, and of course once we hung up, I thought of at least a dozen things I wanted to say to him or ask him, but still...just getting to hear his voice was awesome. He sounded really upbeat, which was good to hear since he's been healing with a broken foot for the past few weeks and not getting to train. And I was glad to hear he'd gotten my package I'd sent...it wasn't much, but it was better than not sending him anything.

My mom and step-dad and daughter-in-law and grandson were all here by noon, when we finally opened presents and had brunch. The afternoon was pretty laid back, then around 4:00, my in-laws arrived after an impromptu invitation to join us for a very casual dinner. We'd already done Christmas with them on Sunday, but it was cool to have them over for part of the day, especially my brother- and sister-in-law who we don't see in settings other than my husband's parents' house very often...not sure why...but it's always nice when they do come over to our house.

So, definitely a full house this Christmas. It was a good day. Everyone was gone by 6:30 (everyone was TIRED), and I was in my jammies and ready to veg and recharge my personal batteries shortly thereafter. I spent the evening knitting...another pair of mitts, but this one for ME out of some yummy blue/brown Malabrigo I picked up a while back. Mmmm. Soft! :) (No picture yet, but will share one soon...are you getting tired of fingerless mitts yet? LOL)

And today began my crazy week of work. I only work on Saturdays usually, but I told my boss I would be available to work some extra hours over the holiday week if she needed me to. She ended up giving me two full days! Not exactly what I had in mind, but it is fine...I love my job, and right now, we're in the middle of end-of-the-year inventory, so I spent the day today counting yarn. I have now personally touched every ball/skein/hank of yarn on two of the four walls of the shop. LOL Not sure if I've got an inner OCD person or what, but I LOVE to count and catalog things and put them all in a big list. I find it incredibly relaxing. I am such a weirdo.

Tomorrow I get to do it all again. Woohoo! =}