Wednesday, November 22, 2006

the cure week 3.0

I successfully finished everything in week 2 by Saturday at 9am. I finished cleaning the kitchen while waiting for groceries to be delivered on Friday evening. I went through the last two cabinets and put some seldom-used storage containers and baking sheets in the out box. Saturday morning, I cleaned and wiped down all of the counter surfaces again. In the two weeks of working on the kitchen, I have created two outboxes. So far, I haven't needed to pull anything out of the outbox.

This Week's Assignment:
Bones-
1. Vacuum, dust, and mop throughout apartment
2. Clean your entrance and related closets
3. Arrange to have all repairs taken care of in the next 3 weeks
Breath-
1. Declutter your entrance
2. Move all old mail, catalogs, and magazines to the Outbox
3. Look into what you need to create a Landing Strip
4. Cancel unused subscriptions
Heart-
1. Identify cool rooms and warm rooms
2. Apply the 80/20 color rule
Head-
1. Cook two meals at home
In order to keep the momentum going, I went straight into week 3. This week's focus is the entryway. AF and I are lucky in that we have a distinct foyer in our apartment. Unfortunately, we're lacking the items in the foyer that will make the space useful. I know that I want to add a bench to this area, so AF can take off his dirty boots right inside the door instead of tracking dirt all the way to the sunroom. I would also like to have some hooks for guests' coats and lighter jackets.

I started by emptying the bookshelf that is already in the foyer, and moving it into the far corner. This should make more room for a bench. I was also able to weed through the books and magazines from the bookshelf. A lot of the magazines went in the trash, but the books are sitting in an Outbox.

We have decided to forego the "housewarming" party. AF will be working every Saturday for an indefinite time...I'm going to continue the apartment therapy, but I won't stress myself out by adding party planning to the mix.

Friday, November 17, 2006

pattern search...

Be on the lookout for any patterns similar to this lovely:


Courtesy of Urban Outfitters

I'm not exactly sure why I like this sweater...I'm usually not a big fan of longer, tunic-style sweaters, but I'm really diggin' the girlie factor.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

the cure week 2.2

The workers installed new windows in the apartment on Monday, even though it was cloudy and sprinkled most of the day. Unfortunately, they will come back later in the week to re-install the A/C units in the dining room and bedroom. We moved most of the furniture back into the dining room yesterday, but there are a couple of pieces that will have to wait until the A/C untils are back in place.

I will do my best to complete week 2 by Friday...Including a nice, homecooked meal Friday night! That way, I can start week 3 on Saturday morning. Week 3 is one that I know will be difficult, but I'm looking forward to it.

Monday, November 13, 2006

the cure week 2.1

Week 2 needs to be extended. Even with a long weekend, I wasn't able to make as much progress as I wanted. I got off to a good start last week. Then, we got the notice that our windows would be replaced on Wednesday, so we had to move everything 4 ft away from the windows to make space for the workers...I know that 4 ft might not sound like a lot, but there are several windows in the apartment. Everything ended up in the middle of the apartment.

Unfortunately, it rained last Wednesday...hard. Since they weren't able to work in our apartment, AF and I decided to just live with things as they were instead of having to move it again. So, we've been living with any even bigger mess that is currently taking up most of the living room.

The window work was rescheduled to today...I hope the weather improves.

Week 2 progress:
Bones-
1. Fix one thing in your apartment yourself
2. Clean your kitchen from top to bottom and throw away old food

I made a lot of progress in the kitchen early last week. Unfortunately, when the windows were delayed everything fell apart. We moved lots of items out of the "dining room" and kitchen and haven't been able to put them back in place. I did go through all but two of the cabinets and have put several pieces in the outbox.
3. Buy a water filter and use it
Breath-
1. Run your hands over every wall in your apartment
2. Clear space for an Outbox
3. Clear one surface and use the Outbox
Heart-
1. buy fresh flowers
2. Determine your style
Head
1. Find a new recipe and cook one meal at home
I meant to cook dinner at home on Saturday night. However, I got a mid-afternoon call from a friends who was in town for the weekend, so that plan went out the window.
2. Choose a date for your housewarming
AF and I aren't all that hot on focusing on a housewarming. Unfortunately, we will be right in the middle of holidays when we finish the 8-weeks. And, he just found out that he will be working a lot of overtime between now and the new year. Good for the savings account, bad for home improvement.

Monday, November 06, 2006

actual knitting content...

I managed to finish the first of my UFOs over the weekend! (Sorry for the lack of pictures...I couldn't get any good light last night). I finished a new scarf, just in time to pull out the winter coat. I thought it was very fitting, since there's been talk on Grumperina's blog about what the proper scarf length should be. I usually like a scarf that is as long as I am tall...

For this scarf, I had decided to just keep knitting until all of the yarn was gone. That was a mistake! When I finally got to the end, my scarf measured a full 7.5 feet. Much too long for my 5'4" frame. I unraveled it to 60", and it's perfect!

I will be tackling the smaller unfinished projects first. This morning, I grabbed my unfinished sock to knit on the bus. I only have 8 pattern repeats and toe shaping to complete this project. I will make sure I can get it done before the weekend. And, with any luck, the next pictures that I post on the blog will be taken with my new camera!

the cure week 2.0

We're done with week 1. Yesterday, we walked through the apartment and made a list of things that need to be fixed. Thankfully, we won't need to do most of these ourselves. We'll probably ask the management company to take care of most of them.

We decided that the best object to get rid of was our old vacuum cleaner. We received a nicer one as a wedding gift. So, I put a sign on the old one, along with the rest of the bags that we had for it, and AF put it down in the trash room. Hopefully someone in the building will see it down there and get some use out of it. Everything else that we decide to give up will be dropped off at the Salvation Army. The old stereo gets to stick around a little longer. Every time AF says he's okay with getting rid of it, he finds some new excuse why he feels like he should hold onto it.

This Week's Assignment:
Bones-
1. Fix one thing in your apartment yourself
2. Clean your kitchen from top to bottom and throw away old food.
3. Buy a water filter and use it
Breath-
1. Run your hands over every wall in your apartment
2. Clear space for an Outbox
3. Clear one surface and use the Outbox
Heart-
1. Buy fresh flowers
2. Determine your style.
Head
1. Find a new recipe and cook one meal at home
2. Choose a date for your housewarming

Friday, November 03, 2006

the cure week 1.1

AF and I decided that weeks will run from Monday through Sunday. So, we will have a couple more days to finish off the first week of the cure. This one has been easy.

Week 1 progress:
Bones-
1. Make a complete list of repairs and solutions
2. Vacuum and mop the floors
Breath-
1. Take one item in your apartment and put it outside

AF and I talked about what should be put out, and we agree that it's probably a good time to get rid of the old stereo/8-track/turntable that used to belong to this grandparents. His father brought it from Michigan the first year AF and I lived together, because AF said he wanted the turntable...even though I already have a really nice one. It sat in a closet for two year because we had nowhere to put it. When we moved into the new apt, AF insisted that we put in the sunroom so he would have a radio to listen to...I hesitantly agreed to this demand.

We'll last Christmas, we decided to fire her up and listen to grandma's old LPs. We put on one of the records with Chrismas music, and turned on the stereo, only to rind that the damned turntable doesn't even work! Our best guess is that it was locked for shipping, but after 15 minutes we couldn't figure out how to unlock it.
Heart-
1. Buy fresh flowers
Head-
1. Sit for ten minutes in a part of your home that you never sit in
2. Look into Earth friendly cleaning products
We're still debating this point. Unfortunately, our Safeway doesn't have a very large selection of friendly cleaning products.

new Interweave!

I got my copy in the mail this week, and I really like this issue. Of course, I always think that their Winter issue is the best of the year. My favorites include the Arctic Diamonds Stole, Enid Cardigan, and Nantucket Jacket. If you don't have the issue, check out the preview. Hopefully, this will serve as motivation to finish all of my UFOs!