Oh right, that too!

As it turned out, Closing Day last week was even more eventful than I'd thought it would be. Somewhere in and around trying to figure out the logistics of removing an old, decrepit, annoyingly-too-big-to-fit-in-a-car picnic table from the yard before the closing, I got a phone call that ended the employment search I've been on for the past too many months.

Yes, it's big news. Yes, I went a whole week before blogging about it here (in large part because there isn't a whole more to say, as I'd prefer not to share further details with all of the interwebs). But yes, I'm very excited about it, and I'm looking forward to starting this new chapter.

And yes, I promise to have a fun post for you all soon with a favorable photo to text ratio. Well, soon-ish.

Closing! Finally!

It's a big day around here. In about 6 hours, I'll be signing legal documents to sell my house once and for all. The Awesome Fiance and I will have an appropriate combined number of mortagages -- one -- for our household. My bank account will have a respectable(ish) amount of liquidated equity deposited into it.

I'm trying to avoid focusing on the fact that I'll be losing the opportunity to be reminded of happy memories by turning a doorknob or washing a countertop -- though of course in any collection of memories, there are less than pleasant ones as well, so I'm glad to leave those behind. Most important in the silver lining category (well, other than financially) is how happy I am to hand over my house keys to the buyer, a single 20-something woman who's excited to make this, her first house, her own. I had so much fun going through that process with this house, and I hope she does too.

Goodbye, First House. *air kisses*

What I've been up to, book-wise...

As I alluded to in a recent post, I've been reading again. Wonder of wonders, three years of lengthy case law assignments didn't ruin the written word for me forever... I, apparently, just needed two years of distance and the lion's share of a year's worth of unemployment to turn it around for me.

So. I'm super excited about my recent library finds. Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth has been accompanying me to the gym lately, short stories being perfect for the amount of reading time one can get through in a bike workout.

That one might have some competition, though, becuase the books I picked up yesterday (oh, how I love the online request feature of my local library, complete with online notificaiton when items from across the state are ready to be picked up at the branch a mile from my house) are callin' my name. I've got Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, not only because I've heard it's well written, because it feels like it should be required reading for me, being engaged, as I am, to Mr. Outdoorsy. For a rare foray into nonfiction, I've got Tom Hartmann's The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, which looks fascinating (though, I hope, not too depressing). In case it does turn out to be all doom and gloom, I've thankfully also picked up Christoper Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Christ's Childhood pal, Biff. Heh. Biff. Even the title makes me laugh.

What I've been up to, knit-wise...

I don't have any finished items to show you (like I said, the last thing I completed is a gift, so can't be blogged about yet), but I do have projects to tell you about.

I'm knitting a long sleeved version of Picovoli, in Patons Grace (100% cotton), in black. Yes, I've already done this. I made the mistake, though, of knitting the picot facing on the same size needle as the body of the sweater, and because that issue presents itself at the beginning and end of the pattern, ripping out a small portion wouldn't fix it. Complete re-knit, it is. One project, of course, not being sufficient at any one time, I've also cast on for the Waist-Cincher Top by Joan McGowan-Michael, in a cotton/angora blend.

Also on the theoretical horizon are hats and scarves and mittens (mittens! I'm going to learn how to knit mittens!) to get ready for upcoming frigid temperatures. Bring it on, winter!

Random updates come in threes, too.

- I've discovered puttanesca sauce. Just had some restaurant leftovers for lunch, actually. All the pasta was gone, but the sauce was just fine on its own. Mmmmm, sodium. Puttanesca might have to be added to the list of menu items I order reflexively when it's available, along with eggs benedict and chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

- The Cold has arrived. Weather-wise, not health-wise. Car windshields have been scraped on more than one occasion. The pepper plants in the garden are all wilty and forlorn. As it turns out, though, geraniums are suprisingly hardy; there are new flower buds waiting to open, though whether they'll get the chance to do so is in doubt, what with the forecasted low temperatures in the 20s tonight.

- The latest knitted gift I've been working on is done. I can't blog about it yet, in case the intended recipient is a reader here, but I'm happy with it and I hope she will be, too.

Does pouting count as cardio?

I love autumn for lots of reasons, but the one I'm most acutely aware of right now is the fact that it brings fantastic running weather. This week, we're supposed to see temperatures in the upper 40s, and I adore running outside in those conditions.

Except... that thing I mentioned before about how my knee was hurting? Well, it still hurts. And it hurt noticeably more the last time I tried to soldier on, ignore the achiness, and put in a couple of miles. I'm going to give swimming a shot with a friend of mine who insists that it'll be fun. I've gotten used to bringing a book to pass the time while biking to nowhere (oddly, the angry music doesn't help me too much when I'm pedaling). And I might finally get around to checking out yoga. It's not the same though. None of it. I'm still kind of amazed (after, what, eight years?) that I'm a person who'd be jonesing for running in its absence, but yep, I am.

Astonishing. Impressive. Awesome.

This qualifies as all three:



I don't even know how to play the guitar, and I can tell that this guy's skills are over-the-top impressive. The part where he twists the strings over each other and creates some sort of fusion-y harmonic effect? The part where he stretches out the low string to make it sound like a bass, then retunes it in intervals as he's playing? Yeah, it's all pretty awesome, in the truest, awe-inspiring sense of the word.

His name is Peppino D'Agostino, and he apparently has a CD out titled "Made in Italy." Anyone this good deserves some publicity, and I'm happy to spread the word to the extent I can (hello, loyal readers!).

By the way, unlike me, Senor Lovely does in fact play the guitar, and his reaction was something along the lines of "[silence] ... [silence] ... that's not fair." Astonished. Impressed. In awe.

Something interesting better happen soon. Seriously.

Man, my life's been boring the past few days. Rather than subject you all to another list, be it "Things I've Learned Recently" or "Flowers We Might Grow Next Year" or an "Ambitious To Do List," I'll leave you with just one item, from the "My Favorite Things Ever" category:

- Watching Mr. Wonderful's face scrunch up in uncontrollable laughter because I've just done something silly. Like impersonating the smoke detector. Or pretending to be a ninja. The scrunching up is more than worth any injuries that could potentially result (ninjas are, of course, infinitely more coordinated than I am).

Lessons from the weekend...

- Making yogurt in a crockpot doesn't work. Or, at least, it didn't work for me.

- Homemade mayonnaise, on the other hand, is surprisingly simple to make.

- Law school did not, as I'd feared, ruin reading for me forever. Novels are my friend again!

- Ripping out an entire sweater, to be re-knit over again, isn't completely demoralizing if one focuses on the fact that it'll be more wearable when the process is re-completed. Corollary: when one is working a knitted hem, one must, must, must knit the facing on smaller needles. Must.

- Evening primroses are invasive! I should have planted them in buried containers from the start; digging them up to do so after the fact wasn't horrible, but I could have done without it. No, wait, it was actually a very interesting opportunity to see how prolific and determined this plant is to take over more land. So, I suppose, thank goodness I didn't plant them properly this spring.

- Some sort of fencing or other barrier is going to be absolutely necessary for the garden next year. Once those critters learn where the buffet is, man, they're not deterred by much.

- We need new oven mitts. Zero to ouch in under five seconds is a bad sign, methinks.

Uber-Homemade

I'm oddly motivated to make foodstuffs from scratch today. Maybe it's the recent successes egging me on (apple-bran-whole-wheat muffins, pumpkin risotto, heavily modified pesto), or maybe it's the fresh ingredients needing to be used up (apples -- so many apples -- from an orchard adventure a few weeks ago, leeks in the garden, minimal amounts of spinach and lettuce in the garden).

I think the underlying culprit, though, is a continuing desire to eat affordable, wholesome foods. We aim to steer clear of processed foods in our household, mainly for health and mindful nutrition reasons (pricing differences usually don't hurt, either). Even in trying to make smart grocery choices, though, it's easy to fall into the "wow, that's a lot of unnecessary ingredients" trap. There are lots of high-fiber options in the bread aisle, which is great, but it can be tough to find one that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup, or any number of other substances I just don't need in my system, and doesn't cost four dollars. Our bread machine and about three minutes of measuring time does the trick splendidly (though I'd also like to try one of the many versions of no-knead bread out there). Pasta sauce? For years, I steadfastly stuck with the one brand I'd found that offered an option without added sugar, until I realized that the sodium content was through the roof. Canned tomatoes + herbs and spices + red wine + immersion blender = problem solved! And don't get me started on salad dressing (if you add mustard to oil and vinegar, it acts as an emulsifier and is darn tasty to boot, yo).

So, getting back to today: I've got a batch of yogurt -- which I've never attempted before, so cross your fingers for me -- going in the crockpot. Next up, I'll set up that bread machine I was talking about, once I decide whether to make regular whole wheat or cinnamon-raisin whole wheat. I'm also hoping to attempt (another first go!) a batch of homemade mayo this afternoon.

I do not, as yet, have any desire to venture into the homemade-protein arena by raising livestock. Awesome Fiance, if you're reading this, you can rest easy there!