Not much knitting done in the last few days. The weather has been wonderful and we spent the weekend out seeing people. Saturday we had class, I went to my one sister's baby shower, we went out to dinner and then over to my other sister's for beer, cards and full contact Trivial Pursuit. Sunday we celebrated St. Patty's day early and went over to a friends house to help him brew his first batch of beer and have corned beef and cabbage (a meal I an not entirely fond of). Good thing Bill brought a chicken and cooked it on the grill.

It looks like we'll be painting the inside of the house this weekend and installing the floors starting Monday. WooHoo!

So, we've been thinking we wouldn't let our cats outside when we moved back to our property. We've kept them in all winter at my in-laws and I thought we might continue that. Although we live on a rarely traveled road, cats are known to stray into it. I would hate to lose a cat that way. So, now that the weather has improved they've been begging to go outside. And our barn back at the farm has been over run with mice. So many mice it freaks me out a little to go in it every morning. They've been chewing through the grain bags and making a mess everywhere. I think we're just seeing them now because they only came out when necessary while it was cold, but now it's nice out so they're running rampant. We never had that problem before so I have to believe that the cats were taking care of business. So now I think they might be going outside when we get back to the farm.

Oh, spring is just around the corner. The wind has been howling and the snow has been blowing, but it's a warm wind. You know what I mean. It's a spring wind. It's only in the mid 20s today, but they're promising 40s or 50s tomorrow.

In case anyone is wondering, it's been over 2 months since I had my last cigarette. I've even been out to the bar and not had any real desire to smoke. Pretty good for me. In the past when I've quit I obsessed over cigarettes. Not this time.

Bill and I are signed up for a reflexology (acupressure points on the hands and feet) class tonight. It should be fun. The drywall on our house is almost done. My step-father showed up this morning to mud it. That means we can paint soon...And then do the floors...And then move in.

On a sucky note, we bought a big projection screen RCA about 16 months ago. It died. Bill took it apart to see what was wrong and one of the guns that "paint" the picture on the screen exploded oil all over everything. So Bill finagled with RCA and they agreed to pay for all the parts, but only up to $80 in labor. We finally got someone out to look at it. It's gonna take about $1000 in parts and $600-$700 in labor. The only good thing is that it may be covered by our home owners insurance, or that's what the repairman told us. Makes me think I want to get that extended warranty next time.

Another weekend gone by. Saturday started out like just a normal overcast winter day. We drove up to Kuntaw class and had great time with Buno (a form a Filipino wrestling, in which you try to make you opponent touch their knee or hand to the ground). By the time we left a major snow storm was raging, the wind had picked up dramatically and the temp had dropped. Bleck.

We had to maneuver around town to get some lunch and pick a present for a "Groom Shower" which I have never heard of before. It's basically a buy me tools party for the guy getting married. Bill was going to go in on a saw but the other party hadn't contacted him, so better safe than sorry. The groom in question had grilled me several times about how to go about brewing beer, so I thought a beer kit would be a great gift. So running around made us a little late getting out of TC so Bill could get back in time for the party. What a white knuckle drive home! Of course it all quit and the sun came out just after we arrived home. And then the guy called asking Bill to go in on the gift. Just a little bit late, I think.

In knitting news, I have just a couple more inches to do on the first piece of Bill's sweater (which I have now decided is definitely the front).

Ahh, speed. It feels like I'm flying through the top down raglan. The pattern is from Knitting Pure and Simple. And simple it is.

Here's a pic of Bill's cabled sweater. Progress, slow but steady.

I started a new sweater yesterday, a top-down raglan with some harvest gold Brown Sheep Country Classic that I won off of ebay sometime last summer. I needed a break from Bill's sweater and to see some rapid progress for a change. What better way that a knit-in-the-round sweater?

It's -17 degrees this morning. That is just gawd-awful cold. Bill's almost finished with the furnace. He's taking Tuesday off to finish up. And Saturday I ordered the tile and wood for the floors. It's getting close! I'm not going to estimate how long before it's done because I'll inevitably be wrong. Something always comes up to delay us.