Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da

My life goes on in Sock Wars IV for the time being, though I was the first warrior to end it for three others. I am waiting for socks in progress to arrive and crossing my fingers that they will be here in time for me to knit them on the plane this weekend.

My thoughts and best wishes are with my friends and co-workers who have experienced changes in their employment situations over the past few days, both good and bad, expected and out of the blue. Good luck, everybody.

What Will Stay

The movers will be here in the morning to begin packing us up. This weekend we have packed suitcases for the next two weeks, taken the last few pictures from the walls, and set aside some books and toys for the girls to have with them. This afternoon I am picking up keys to the hotel room we will stay in starting tomorrow night.

All of our things will end up with us in Indiana at some point, but as I look around I think about what can't be packed away. The window I watched the unexpected August rain through on the morning Bea was born. The sink where I rinsed off Ellie's lost teeth and scraped knees. The backyard stump of the ash tree that toppled over on to the house last January. The path in the floor that I paced with an unhappy baby, singing Christmas carols. The trees that we planted, the garden walls, the grape vines just now growing their first fruit.

Stop me before I knit again

I have a second Sock Wars kill under my belt. The late, lamented knitaroundgirl was very quick in sending her socks in progress, because Greg just called from home to let me know that they've arrived. My initial assassin, Lunalover, met her socky death yesterday, so I hope I can get this pair of Barcelonas out the door and score three kills before my inevitable destiny unfolds.

In relo news, I have a new job waiting for me in Indy! I will start the same day Greg does, June 19th. We've approved an offer on the house we're selling in Simi, all things are moving along nicely for our new home in Carmel (knock wood), plane tickets for me and the girls are in hand, day care for the kids is getting lined up, the movers come on Monday, and on and on. It's been quite the whirlwind.

Take Cover

My first Sock Wars kill is confirmed!

Places I worked on that pair of socks:

• My desk at work (cast on over lunch on Friday)
  
• Home - also frogged back an inch, grr
  
• LAX terminal
  
• 30,000 feet above the American Southwest
  
• The monorail (monorail, monorail, jazz hands) at the Dallas Airport
  
• Dallas Airport terminal
  
• 28,000 feet above middle America
  
• Rental car
  
• Our hotel room
  
• Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Indianapolis
  
• UA theater in Indy
  
• Backseat of tour guides car as we tooled around Indy area - also frogged back an inch here because I was paying attention to the tour and not my sock
  
• Backseat of real estate agent's car
  
• Greek restaurant somewhere in Indy
  
• Office of our real estate agent - finished the toe as we were drafting an offer on a house. He let me have a 2-day FedEx envelope and I sent it out from there on Monday afternoon!
  

Sold Out

First of all, Happy Mothers Day!

Yesterday morning we had a garage sale to get rid of some things we don't want, don't need, don't fit, or can't move. We cleared over $400 - yay! We sold lots of outgrown kid clothes, some housewares, books, a bunch of computer equipment, potted plants (movers won't move them), toys, furniture....general stuff. We also gave away the firewood in the side yard, the remnants of the ash tree from the backyard that fell over a year ago. Thanks for the new roof, ash tree, it's a selling point in our favor. It was fun but exhausting.

I met a knitter from the neighborhood during the sale and we had a nice sock chat. She even showed me her socks in progress, made from the same type of yarn I'm planning to use for my Sock Wars pair. Speaking of Sock Wars, I received the dossier of my target this evening. My target has size 10 feet - ack! I wound my yarn into center pull balls so it's all ready to go on Friday. I'm almost to the heel of the second sock of my warmup pair but can put an unfinished sock on scrap yarn if I don't finish it by the end of the week and need to free up my 1.5s. Fear my pointy needles, Bond Jane Bond!

Target Practice

In preparation for Sock Wars IV, I'm working on a pair of Groovy Socks in Trekking XXL. This is my first assassin-style knitting competition, and it should be fun. We've planned our home search visit to Indiana for the weekend of May 16th, which just happens to be the day after the Sock Wars pattern is released. So, I should be able to make good use of several hours of airplane time to work on my socks. I'm expecting to receive the dossier of my target in a day or two.

I'm giving my arms a rest tonight and catching up on some recorded TV while my husband and his sister are at the Star Wars movie. She came into town today to spend a few days with us before we move, help us with Saturday's garage sale, and to go to a Shins concert with Greg on Sunday night. The girls were a giggly mess playing with her after dinner - they really enjoyed spending time with Sarah when we were in Hawaii in January and are quite excited to be with her again.

There has been a steady stream of agents, inspectors and appraisers through the house over the last few days, but Greg's been orchestrating all of it during the day while I'm at work. I think tomorrow someone from the moving company is coming in to assess how much crap we have - sorry about all the books, moving people!

Whither thou goest...

Gee, it's been a while since I had a non-pattern post.

My husband has recently accepted a job offer in Indiana, so our family is getting ready to relocate next month. One of the first things I did was arrange and consolidate my yarn stash, which really has shrunk quite a bit over the last year. It fits comfortably into four Sterilite drawers.

I was born in Iowa and lived there until I was 12, and spent most summers there through high school, but it's been twenty years since I've been through a Midwestern winter. I've become quite accustomed to the mild California climate. We'll have a lot more use for handknits when there's actual cold weather.

There's so much to do it's better not to think about it all at once. We've been clearing out closets and getting ready to have a monster garage sale next weekend. We're talking with the relocation company tomorrow to discuss the timing of getting an appraisal on the house, making a trip to Indianapolis to find somewhere to live, and moving. I gave notice at my job late last week - my last day will be in early June. Once we get there, I need to find a job, and I haven't interviewed outside my current company for 11 years. Then there's day care for the kids, getting E enrolled in school, and learning everything we need to know about a new city.

All in all, it's an exciting change for us. I've always told people that the Midwest is a nice place to be from.