so tired.

so the pantry project was (for the most part) a success. I was able to clean out a lot of things while putting everything else back. the top shelf, which had some pretty scary things on it, now holds some things from our wedding/my bridal shower that have been stored there since august 2006 (yeah, no comments from the peanut gallery). I think that I did a pretty good job with rearranging some things and reorganizing some areas to really clean up. granted there are a lot of things that still need to be cleaned - I'll be the first to admit - but it's hard to get motivated to take on a major project like that when there is the possibility that you could be moving and have to pack it all up in a matter of weeks. of course, I've been saying that for a few months now. even though we've looked at over thirty houses (if not more), there hasn't been anything that jumps out and says, "please live in me." well, there was that ONE... that we put an offer on... that turned out to be already sold... talk about major bummer. buying real estate in connecticut is hard when you are on a fixed budget... even with the market as good as they say it is.

it's amazing some of the things we've seen. probably a solid 75% or more of the properties we've seen have already been vacated (which makes viewing it so much easier and less distracting)... some because the previous owners have already moved... some because they were foreclosed on. which is, like, totally wow. there was one place we saw... great house (on the outside), great neighborhood. we walked in and the place was trashed. literally trashed. the previous owners went out of their way to put holes in the walls and leave bird poop behind in the dining room, just a ridiculous amount of stuff. the price was right, but then with all the sweat equity you'd be putting into the house... just makes it *not* worth it anymore. so gross. [cringe]

so I finally caught up on my pickle postings from the yahoo group yesterday. I had over 75 of them to go through. and not just individual emails... I mean the digests, which is maybe 15-25 postings each. I completely skipped over all the political mumbo-jumbo... there were some people that were just getting downright nasty on the boards. I didn't want to get involved. [delete] there was some discussion on the polls that mark had put up, specifically the handicapped parking poll. someone even commented, when someone had suggested/remarked on baby/toddler parking, that they chose to get pregnant, and to stop whining! I couldn't believe it. [delete] it's one thing to comment upon an opinion with your own opinion, but to comment on an opinion with something along the lines of "you made your bed now sleep in it and shut up"... it just isn't fair. it always seems to be the same people that are contributing to these and with about 1500 people in the group, you'd think that it would cross someone's mind to maybe take it off-list... when it starts to get that heated and there are only 10-15 people involved in the discussion... to me, it just seems to make sense. don't get me wrong, I am all for the free speech and people being entitled to their opinions, but some are being hypocritical... posting at one point about how people don't follow the group rules (or just good PC etiquette) and then the next moment they are the ones who are commenting back and forth to one person on-list. now that I've vented a little bit... I feel better. thank you. :)

so I am really looking forward to maine quilts this year. not that it's any different than before really, but I am even more involved now. in addition to being the signs chairperson, I have taken on the roll of show photographer! how awesome is that?! I am very excited and already have brought some ideas to the table which have, from what I can see, been received well. I am considering [4] different classes: pat speth, 'small wonders' / 'half square triangles & four patches' / 'flying geese' and cathy van bruggen, 'shades of fall'. pat's classes are friday, saturday, and sunday (respectively) and cathy's class is sunday. I've never really done an applique project before, so I am excited about learning the basics from someone who is an expert in the field rather than from a book on my own (I have no patience for that sort of thing most of the time - I'm a visual learner). I will have to decide between the friday and saturday classes... because I could do both if I wanted, but I might try and save some money and only do one other class. plus, I want to be able to have an opportunity to peruse the booths. though NOT having the opportunity will be much better on my wallet. :) I will have to tend bar a lot leading up to that weekend, and/or make a lot of quilts. we'll see. I want to do more quilts for myself this year... depends on how much 2nd-job-work or overtime at job #1 I get...

enough... I have to "work". ha ha. laughable. :)