Hot time in Oxford

Knitting news:

Finished since my last post:

• My first ever Milk Run Shawl.  It turned out very well.  It's a worsted weight shawl, so it's much too warm to wear in the summer, but I can't wait to wear it when the weather gets a bit cooler.
• Drum roll please....I finished my plain ribbed socks.  FINALLY!  I am sort of an all or nothing person, so I did what normal people do and worked on these a bit each day (wonder of wonders!)...that's how I finally finished them.  They look and feel great.  Again, more things to wear as soon as the weather gets a bit cooler
• I've finished 4 new ball band dishcloths, too.  They're quick, so they are always kind of fun to do.

Current WIPs:

• A pair of asymmetrical cable socks.  No progress on these since my last post.  I had to rip out several rounds because I made a mistake (pattern is fine, I just need to READ and FOLLOW the pattern), so they are in time-out
• My Miette sweater. I picked this back up recently and realized how close I am to finishing...what is UP with that?  Why didn't I finish this sooner?  Why isn't it done already?  Oh right, I think it's actually a bit too small and I'm miraculously going to lose 30 pounds in the next week or 2.  I only need to finish the last bit of ONE sleeve and the button band and neck and I'm done.  Will try to finish this before the next post.
• An color affection shawl for me.  Was super excited about this when I started it, but the thought of wool on my lap is NOT appealing at the moment.
• I'm going to make a few new pot scrubbies to match my new dishcloths, too.

Chicken news:

• Since we're moving soon, the chickens are going to have to be re-homed.  I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss them!  
• They are doing fine in the heat, so far (thank goodness!)

Work news:

• I am down to just ONE job...hooray!  I am now officially the director at Jesus House.  I REALLY love my new job.  The office manager retired last month and the volunteer bookkeeper wants to retire, too.  Sheesh - I may be doing more than one job at my one job!  
• I have an offer from Deltech (our local community college) to teach a couple of courses in the fall.  I need to discern if I can or should take on the extra work.  I'm thinking I may teach one course.
• I really need to concentrate on getting some more retreats booked at Jesus House.  We have taken a pretty hard economic hit so far this year and I would like us to have a bit more in our savings account.

House news:

• Unfortunately, our house is still for sale...anyone interested in a beautiful 4 bedroom, 2-1/2 bath house in the country?  Currently, the asking price is $70,000 less than what we paid for it.  :-(  It will probably end up selling for even less.  
• The good news is: we found an apartment just a block from Jesus House and should be moved in very soon.  We've started moving some of our things over.  We were hoping to move the "big stuff" this weekend, but it's too HOT!  If it doesn't rain, we'll moving some time next week.  Then we'll move the pictures, decorations, etc over after that.  
• When all of that moving is done we need to figure out what we're doing with what remains in the house.  We'll either store it or sell it...and we're probably going to sell a lot.

The blessings of Christ be with everyone!      

WOW - it's been a LONG time since I've written!

Knitting news:  I currently have six official WIPs:

• A Milk Run Shawl in Knit Picks' jade swish worsted. I only have a few rows left, then the ruffle trim.  I am making "version 3", the one with the ruffle on all three sides, so it may still be a few days before it's done.
• The same pair of plain ribbed socks I've been working on FOREVER.  Mostly because I don't pick them up very often.  One is done and the other has about 3" of the cuff done.
• A pair of asymmetrical cable socks that I started for a sock group I'm in at my LYS.  I'm knitting them in a sweet burgundy color in Dream in Color Smooshy yarn.
• My Miette sweater.  I haven't worked on this in awhile.  Now that the weather is actually starting to warm up, I may start working on this again.
• A Central Park Hoodie for my daughter...which is languishing because I'm knitting for myself, and lastly,
• A Catkin cape.  I started swatching this, and am not loving it.  The beautiful yarn may become some other scarf or wrap for me.

Chicken news: All of the girls are grown-up now and laying.  Hermione, our silver-laced wyandotte is very strange. She is close to or at the bottom of the pecking order, but she pecks everyone.  She, Hedwig, and Myrtle all get picked on by the other girls.  The three of them have lost some feathers on their back from the older girls pecking at them.  We get six-nine eggs a day now: that's a LOT!  It's probably three too many chickens for most backyard chicken folks.  When we move, more on that later in the post, we'll probably give the chickens to our friends the Monks.  The Monks have a small farm that is close to us.  They already have 3 horses there and have been wanting some chickens, so it will be good for them.  I really enjoy my girls everyday and I am going to miss them.  Ellen promised I can come and visit any time.

Parenting news:

• Our daughter, the oldest, has been working as a PTA for a couple of years now and really loves it.  She has been married for almost three years...where does the time go?
• Our older son graduated from college two years and still loves his job.  He and his fiancee broke off their engagement this past November.  It has been very difficult for him and he is still adjusting to single life.
• Our younger son is still in Art School in Vancouver...a little more than one year down and less than one to go...yahoo!  Kirsten, Zach, and I went to see him in Vancouver at the end of March.  We all had a great time and got to see lots of interesting things and places while we were there.
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Work news:

• Only 12 regular teaching days left at UD, then a final exam.  I will miss a lot of things about my job: my friends, the students, the actual teaching...especially on lab days.  There are, however, things I won't miss: grading, having less than 10 students show up for class the day after an exam (out of 38 enrolled students), creating exams, reporting students to Student Affairs for cheating, and faculty meetings. 
• I will be starting as the director of Jesus House on July 1st.  I have been volunteering there for almost a year now and it is a wonderful, blessed place.  I really feel as though I'm on holy ground there.  There is always something to do and it varies so much from day-to-day.  I love that there is variety in the kinds of things that need to be done.  I love that going to mass and contemplative prayer are part of my "job"!  I can't wait until I'm at Jesus House full-time and I only have one job.  
• Our house will officially be listed to sell on Monday or Tuesday.  The realtor was here late last week and we're really, really close to being ready now.  Jeff and I have worked our fingers to the bone the last couple of weekends getting everything clean and tidied.  All we have left is: a little more weeding and mulch in the front flower beds (most is done), a small part of the basement (most of it is done and looking good), and cleaning out and rearranging things in our garage.  Those are our projects for tomorrow.  Then we just wait for a buyer.  We have only been in our house for six years so we're probably going to have to sell our house at a loss.  I realize that's not uncommon in this economy, but it is still frustrating to lose so much money.  Oh well, we can't take it with us when we go.  As soon as we get a buyer, we'll start looking for a house to rent near Jesus House.