I know. It looks like a swatch but, in fact, it’s the beginning of my new sweater. It starts by knitting the cabled, horizontal waistband first, and then picking up stitches for the waist and working downard, and then on the other side to work upwards toward the shoulders. Such nifty construction!

This, you’ll remember, is my Peace Fleece yarn, my first time working with it. Love the color–such a shame the sport weight doesn’t come in more of them!

Here’s something else going out in the garbage–my one and only high school Forensics trophy. (That’s Forensics as in competitive public speaking, you understand, not the icky kind with dead bodies.)

Speaking of Forensics, I was wondering the other day whatever happened to my old English teacher/Forensics coach, so I did a Google search … one that took some effort, I should tell you, but I eventually tracked her down, working at a performing arts high school in Paterson. I sent her an email asking if she was in fact the teacher I thought she was, and she was! She wrote back and we exchanged a nice couple of emails. It sounds like she’s doing really well. How cool is that? I love getting in touch with people from my past. So, hi Mrs. Neighbor!

Incidentally, my friend Cindy is doing well, post-heart-surgery. She’s home, which is huge, and seems to be doing well. Such a relief!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the house we bid on on Saturday (sigh). Our real estate agent keeps promising us that things are going to turn around, that Mercury is in retrograde. “I know, I sound crazy, but I swear it’s true.” And the agent who was listing the house we didn’t get said he’s got a couple more “coming up” in that price range and said he’d let Gail know about them before he puts the listing up so we can get a first look, which is very nice, I think. (I mean yes, I know, that means he probably gets some commission, too, but who cares? Not me!) And there are apparently a few rentals just listed that could theoretically work, too (though so many of them won’t accept pets). So, I’m trying to keep my focus. I went back and re-read my “ad” for a new house, and still wouldn’t change a thing.

Chappy’s still confused, though. Gail came to take pictures of THIS house today, for the listing, so Mom took all sorts of things away to hide or stash in the garage (I don’t get to park in the garage anymore) to make things look extra tidy and “neutral.” I couldn’t find the soap to wash my hands at lunch!

The funny story, though? When we got our current family room furniture 9 years ago, Katy hated the ottoman. When it came, it had casters on the bottom, and the first time she jumped on it, it rolled across the room with her clinging for dear life on top. After that, she wouldn’t go near it. So we kept the ottoman to the old set also, and placed it in the living room window for someplace to watch outside.

Well, Chappy loves it, too (even if he prefers the chair with the arm to rest his chin), but this morning, Mom wanted it out of the house and started dragging it toward the garage. Only, Chappy kept jumping up on it. (“Ooh, Gram, this is a great new spot!”) Finally, Dad carried it out to go in the garbage pile. …Until Mom sat in the living room this afternoon with Chappy listlessly laying on the bare floor where the footstool had been.

Yep. It’s back in place now. I mean, we still might not have room for it in our new house (wherever that’s going to be), but there’s no reason he can’t use it NOW, right?

And, apparently, he spent most of the afternoon sitting on it, too.

I love it when Chappy wins.

Tags: Chappy, Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning // 3 Comments »