All the Pretty Words

Yikes, it has been a long time since I’ve written. Life suddenly became very hectic, and blogging will probably be sporadic for the foreseeable future, but I will at least give an update of what’s been going on now.

I got a job at a yarn shop and really like it there. I started off part-time in mid-September and was still scrambling for a second part-time job when one of the full-time workers suddenly left. Because of that I started working eight hours a day Tuesdays through Saturdays, and I’m also volunteering at the Probation Services Office for half-days on Mondays, so those two things alone would keep me pretty busy. But wait, there’s more! I also have a third job that I do from home in which I write short nonfiction articles on various topics for a website, which eats up more time but is great because it makes staying within budget *much* easier.

I’m also taking the Psychology GRE this Saturday and the General GRE on the 26th of November, so I’ve been studying hard for those. I just took my last practice test for the Psychology GRE today and did very well on it, so I’m pretty confident! I’m less confident about the quantitative section of the General GRE, but my prep book has this great four-week study plan that I’ve been using and I think it will help me a lot.

We’ve been staying with friends and are still looking for an apartment. Finding an apartment that will accept cats, is within the city limits of Seattle, and is $725 or less is harder than you might expect, so it is taking us a while. Hopefully something will turn up soon…

On the knitting front, one of my nieces is getting married this Friday, and while we can’t make it to the wedding, I’ve been knitting a pillow for them. The cover is finished and waiting to be blocked, stuffed, wrapped and mailed. Her older sister is getting married on December 14th, so I’m knitting a pillow for them as well, but I just started on it last night. No photos of either yet, I’m afraid, but I will try to remember to take some when they are finished. I also have knit the body for a baby sweater for an impending familial baby, but haven’t knit the sleeves yet. I’m not too worried about that one since he/she isn’t due until sometime next year. No photos of that one either–such a bad blogger! :)

I have a few other UFOs floating around, but my only other major project (my true major project, actually) is currently a secret. I’m not getting published or anything like that, but it’s important and pretty and I’m quite excited about it. You’ll find out what it is in December!

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Well, it is! We went swimming today, which was the first time I’ve been in several years. I even had to buy a new swimming suit since I’ve no idea where my old one is or if it even fits anyway. I wound up with a cute black tankini with white spaghetti straps and a skirt-type bottom. It’s so much better than my old swimming suit, and is very comfortable too. We had tons of fun swimming, and I even jumped off the high (3 meter) springboard a couple of times. After we went swimming, we went to a bike shop to ask about a rack to hold our bikes on the car. We didn’t buy one, but now we know roughly how much it will cost to get one, and that we’ll be able to get an adapter to make it work with my bike, which had been worrying me since I don’t have a bar that goes straight across from the handlebars to the seat. Overall, it has been a pretty good day!

Tuesday wasn’t so good, though. I was flying back to Edmonton after going to Missouri for a week for my brother’s wedding, and ran into some trouble with customs and immigration. They wanted to know the purpose of my visit, so I told them that I was coming to Edmonton to arrange a move to Seattle with Bryan, which was the truth, but made them suspicious. Apparently the lady was very skeptical of looking for jobs online, because she made all kinds of weird faces at me while I was trying to explain things to her. I won’t go into it all, but suffice it to say that my life is pretty complicated right now and that does not seem to impress customs and immigration officials. It didn’t seem like she wanted to let me into the country, but she finally stapled a scary-looking paper into my passport and told me that I have to leave by August 31st. This isn’t so bad since we were planning to go to Seattle anyway, but Bryan can’t come into the US for another couple of months since he already used up his alloted six months of visiting time and the cycle won’t refresh until then. So this means that I’ll be going to Seattle early, and some very generous friends have offered to let me stay with them for a while until I get a job and a place to live. Bryan will go to Victoria, BC and move in with a friend of a close friend who needs a roommate for a month or two, so we’ll be able to visit each other, and then he’ll come to Seattle to live with me.

As Bryan says, it will be an adventure! The new situation both removes some stress–no more worrying about finding a job in Canada without permanent resident status–and adds some stress–I had no idea that I was going to be moving to Seattle in just a month! We’ve also made an appointment for a consultation with an immigration lawyer on Tuesday, so we’ll find out more about what that paper in my passport means and what our options are. Wish us luck!

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We arrived in Edmonton a week ago, and have become nicely settled in here. Bryan’s mom is working on some bathroom renovations and getting ready for a season of gardening, so there has been plenty to do here. Bryan’s birthday was yesterday, and I made him a black forest cake (mostly) from scratch–I did cheat a little and buy some pre-made icing because I didn’t think I would have time to make it too. We had some really nice pizza for dinner, and then we went on a long bike ride. He’s a long-time cyclist, so he has been whizzing up the hills while I puff along in the lowest possible gear. It does push me to get into shape, because I wouldn’t mind passing him on a hill for once! And now, for a photo of my shiny new bike:

It is nice, is it not? Also–please do me the favor of ignoring the dorkiness that is my borrowed helmet :)

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We have finally arrived in Edmonton after 4 days of heavy driving, and I’m so very happy to finally be here. We got in pretty early–around 5:30 PM, I think–and unloaded the super-full car. Josie is extremely happy to have a new space to explore, and it’s great for us to be able to stretch out too. We’re going to shop around for a bike for me tomorrow and run a few errands, but we’ll mostly just be taking these next few days pretty easy.

To make up for the lack of Toronto photos, behold Lettuce Knits:

I thought it was sweet that they put out the yarn for birds to use in their nests. I also finished another round of strips in the Log Cabin blanket:

I also bought so much yarn that it’ll take months for me to knit it all up.  I got roving and a drop spindle at Lettuce Knits since I’ve been wanting to learn how to spin. I also got some lace yarn there, as well as other yarn at Romni Wool and the Knit Cafe. I’ll post photos of those later–they’re all really pretty.

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I’m all packed up, all but three boxes have been mailed off to Edmonton, and the car is loaded to the gills with oddly sized things that weren’t quite mailable. In other words, I’m about to leave the vicinity!

I’m very excited, and it all feels a bit unreal. I’ve been waiting so long to get the hell out of Vermont, a state for which I have only the barest and most occasional regard. I’ve also been separated from Bryan for three weeks now, and I miss him greatly and will be so happy to be with him again.

The plan is as such: tomorrow I’m going to get up incredibly early (6 am might as well be barest dawn for me–I routinely sleep until noon when given the chance), put the last few things in the car, mail off those last three boxes, and start off for Toronto. I’ll meet up with Bryan there, we’ll stay a few days, and then on Sunday we’ll leave for Edmonton. We should get to Edmonton on Thursday after driving through much of lower Canada. Bryan says it’s a really pretty drive most of the year, but right now the leaves are just budding out and it will be rather bare. It will be great to be in Canada, though!

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