Sunday, Rainy Sunday

I was all set to go to church this morning, put the church clothes in the dryer last night and then went upstairs to check on the kids. Milo had a fever. So much for that. Checked him again this morning in hopes that he was just running hot last night, nope.

So I called a friend from church and got Max a ride to church so he can see his friends there and I settled in for a quiet day. It was a resolution of mine to try to actually HAVE a Sabbath day instead of a maybe get to church maybe not definitely work day. Those were wearing me out. So I finished up a work project yesterday and then spent the afternoon and half the evening doing what I told Chris was a mini-move.

See, Chris has made two Decisions recently (I'm done waiting for him to blog about all this. He won't have time until later in the week, frankly, and then he'll probably be painting for the next few weeks to catch up.). The first is that he's going to pursue portrait photography professionally down the road, and the second is that he is applying for the Penn State program for his MFA in Photography. We haven't a CLUE what his chances are for the MFA program at this stage in the game. But since we're never, ever moving again, he can't shop around. And the deadline for the application is Wednesday. And he didn't really decide that he was definitely going to apply until early last week.

So then he had to tear the house apart looking for his portfolio of slides. Only to find that we probably lost them all in the great Icky Rat Incident of 2004. Which means that his portfolio had to be reshot. And the program will only take slides. And Chris's photography equipment has dwindled over the years. So there were new bulbs to buy and -- it's been a huge project.

Plus the last minute nature of it all has involved lots of fedexing and begging of favors from friends and relatives and coworkers-past -- I've mostly just been sitting on the sidelines eating popcorn and watching it all with great interest. (Well, and working and cooking and getting the kids to all their activities and dealing with my little knitting dramas.)

But I noticed I had this tremendous urge to clean the house, throw things away, and pack things up. It occurred to me that this whole Start of A New Deal feeling has been accompanied by moving boxes and house showings fairly consistently in our married life and since we don't DO that any more (move, that is) I felt a little at loose ends.

So yesterday I went through all the boxes we'd pulled out of the storage closet (while looking for the missing slids) and tossed most of it. I got six boxes down to two. Most of what is gone were the last of my classroom files (which probably dooms me to returning to the classroom at some point so I can regret finally throwing away all my lesson plans) and a lot of old CTP books that I hadn't had a need for in the last year so figured I probably wouldn't in the future.

Then I went through my work files and tossed all the paperwork from the last year.

Then I reorganized the closet, four of my bookshelves, and my entire yarn stash.

In the process I found two more boxes of poetry that need to go back to last year's Main Client.

I'm still not actually done. I have to finish cleaning off my desk. But I'm pretty happy about what I've accomplished so far.

If Chris gets accepted to his MFA program I'm going to paint a room to celebrate :)

So anyway, that's where Chris is today--driving a gazillion miles to the nearest camera shop that is both open on a Sunday AND offers expedited development of slides. I'll watch the coughing, hacking twinkies, knit, read the relief society lesson I'm missing, and enjoy the day the Lord has given me.

+++++++++

P.S. For Elizabeth--the UAB was really for me, even though the whole family is enjoying it. I also have another HUGE afghan on the needles which I envisioned sharing with Chris as we watched a movie together on the cough we don't own yet. And this summer I finished a sleeveless cotton "sweater" that was for me. For the stuff that's in progress--well, that Faorese shawl in the side bar is for me and I have yarn (JaggerSpun Zephyr DK weight in Claret) and the Bridie pattern in my stash for someday for me. I have to finish a few more things before I can allow myself to cast on for that. Otherwise, I know it's vain of me, but I like receiving thrilled exclamations of love and adoration when I finish a piece of knitting and I get that when I finish something for the kids. When I finish something for me? I'm just relieved it's finally done. I am inspired to knit for babies because babies are wonderful things, even when they come in batches and I am a little late with the sweater for the last one in the batch. I will also confess that I bought the yarn for the knee-high socks in Handknit Holidays:



Which I will not start knitting until I'm at or really darn close to my final goal weight, sometimes later this year. I hold my weight in my legs and hips and so the last 30 lbs--they will come from my legs and hips. I will never in a million years have legs that look like those in the photo, so my version will have the adapations detailed at "Dances with Wool" (click on March 2006 in her side bar).

I also have some shimmer yarn set aside for myself for the Shetland Tea Shawl in A Gathering of Lace and at some point I'll get hold of some more Barefoot Mountain Colors in a blueish or purplish colorway and make myself some socks from that.