Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Move is now imminent

And I will confess:  my stress level is through the roof.  Let's take a look at how things are unfolding, shall we?

This past weekend, my husband and I had a wonderful weekend away at a B&B which was a wedding gift we finally redeemed more than 18 months after the wedding.  It couldn't have been more relaxing.  Then first thing Monday morning, off he went for his work week in Raleigh.

Monday, 9/23:  I took the cat to the vet to be declawed.  No, I didn't want to do this, but he loves shredding carpet and as long as we don't own the place, that is a big no-no.  In the afternoon, I met someone at the dog park who was interested in adopting our big 75-lb anxiety-ridden dog whom we JUST got to believe that we won't abandon him.  I met this person because now we have to abandon him.  Not only would no apartment take a dog as big as him, but he hates being enclosed and would lose it if he couldn't spend a lion's share of every day outside.  Monday evening, the dog park woman emailed to say she probably isn't ready for a dog in her life yet after all.  Sigh.

Tuesday, 9/24:  Picked up the cat from the vet and have been trying to keep him medicated, quiet, and not climbing.  I didn't realize how many things he climbs on in our house until I had to keep him off of them.  He was bleeding when he came out of his carrier too, so cleaning up after him was necessary.  He's been staying in a little storage area with linoleum in our basement and seems groggy but okay.  I also called the movers and got them on the schedule after my husband's company okayed the estimate.  I also got the scanned lease from the apartment company and had to print, sign, scan and return along with an image of my ID and proof of renter's insurance.

Wednesday, 9/25:  Today I've been calling DirecTV, Verizon, Frontier Communications, power company, etc., etc. to get service moved, connected or disconnected as appropriate.  I've been making appointments to see local professionals a last time or to pick up records to take to new people in Raleigh (like my mammogram images).  And I've started making other lists so I don't manage to forget something important.

Thursday, 9/26:  We have a house showing scheduled for 5:30 so my day will be spent cleaning around the animals, then loading them both into the car and disappearing with them for about ninety minutes.  We don't have recycling pickup here so I'll probably also take the garbage can full of glass we recycle up to the one bin about 20 miles away.  I also need to go to the post office to file a whole bunch of mail forwarding orders (don't ask).  Then I'll pack for the weekend.

Friday, 9/27 - Monday 9/30:  Going to my dad's house to spend the weekend with the kids and see my husband again, who will be driving up separately.  I'll have to take both animals with me, since dog doesn't have a new home and cat's healing needs to continue to be monitored.  I'll have to leave the house pristine in case it needs to be shown.  Remind me to take anything my husband might need for another week in hotels in Raleigh, and probably most of the contents of the freezer to keep and prepare at my dad's since we cook big meals there for him and the kids.  The weekend will wind down Monday while I stay an extra day to watch my son play soccer for his middle school varsity team in the afternoon, then a five-hour drive back home with the animals.

Tuesday, 10/1:  This is my day to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before movers come to pack and load.  They'll be doing most of the packing but I still would like to move various things around so they don't get forgotten, and maybe pack a few items myself.  Remember, we're only moving about half the house into the apartment; the rest will stay furnished and staged until it sells. I'll also do all my laundry from the weekend and pack a new bag for the move.  The dog will HAVE to have a place in the shelter (we adopted him from there so they have a guarantee to take him back but haven't had room) or a foster family to go to from here no later than this day or the next.

Wednesday, 10/2:  Movers arrive bright and early.  Thankfully my husband insisted the company pay for the packing so I don't have to do it all again when I just did it all about six months ago.  I will focus on cleaning the place to leave it for an unknown period of time and making sure we don't forget anything, since it's a six-hour round trip to come back for it.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my husband can take off work to join me for this day.

Thursday, 10/3:  Movers arrive at apartment in Raleigh, so we'll have to pick up keys before then.  With luck, power and internet will have been activated right on schedule and we'll have both by evening.

Friday, 10/4:  Unpacking and getting settled; DirecTV arrives for installation in the afternoon.  I'll probably have to find a grocery store and unpack the kitchen so we can be cooking by the weekend.

Saturday, 10/5:  The local quilt guild participates in something called "Heritage Day" with an auction and boutique to benefit a local park restoration project, and I'd love to make it there if we're unpacked enough.  I think my cabin fever will be running high by then so if I power through with unpacking we should be good to go enjoy a nice day in our new city.  Come Monday morning, my job search will have to take center stage as I map my return to the land of the productively employed.

I am happy to report that my darling husband made sure to get us an apartment with plenty of space for my own sewing room, which will be part of what is loaded on the truck on Tuesday.  He knows too well that he doesn't want to live with me if I don't have my fabric and machine to turn to when I need to de-stress.  I am also excited to try to attend my first meeting of the local guild later in October.  These things are what I'm looking forward to in order to power through the next week, including the sad farewell to our dog.  With luck, nothing will go horribly awry with the plan.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Guild Round Robin

I had mentioned in my last post that I couldn't post photos of several of the things I'd been doing since they were part of our Guild's Round Robin.  Well, this past Monday night we finally had the great reveal and it was very exciting to see what had become of everyone's quilt blocks, including mine.

I had waited until the very last moment to decide to participate for two reasons:  1) I was uncertain about how my skills would hold up in this very talented and creative group of people, and 2) our upcoming move to Raleigh had no certain date as of the time I had to decide to join.  But my friend Kitty agreed to mail me anything back and forth and encouraged me to participate, so I did.  I threw in this block from my Quiltmaker testing, Pippa Armbrester's "Reflecting Cityscapes" block:

As with all blocks from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, it measured 12.5" square unfinished.  I don't do a lot of modern quilting and so I just threw a note into the bag that told the ladies to have fun!  The finished product knocked my socks off:


(This photo is from Susan Kraterfield's blog as she put on the last border and documented her work on the three blocks she put borders on.)  Each added their own note to mine.  First, Kathy Wickham decided it was too early for borders and so she pulled a copy of the magazine and added a building on each end of my block. Victoria Person had it next and decided it looked somewhat art deco and put on the beveled border at the top right area of the block.  Susan worked on it last and built on Victoria's art deco theme.  I love how it turned out.

I don't know what I'll do with it next - it's about the size of a bed pillowcase now but I think I'll turn it into a wall hanging.

I have two quilt tops going to my long arm quilter next week and am working on a few other things so I'll try to post again next week.  Right now we're in a holding pattern - the house is on the market and our lease in Raleigh doesn't start until the end of September, so I'm just enjoying the time off and home alone, getting in as much sewing as I can before the move and my unavoidable return to work.