Job Offer

Today I received a job offer from the company in Livermore. It is owned by two brothers. I liked them. They seemed like nice people. The offer is very good. The only thing that worries me is that I will be the only office person. During the interview, one of the owners' wife expressed concern about my having little ones and taking days off (I know. Her questions are illegal). However, when speaking to one of the brothers, he said that my hours could be flexible, as long as I get my work done. I am really liking them even more. I told them that I had more potential job offers and wanted to think it over during the weekend and will give him my answer on Tuesday. Livermore is about an hour or so from Rio Vista so that is something to consider.

I interviewed with the CPA firm. The owner is very nice. I liked him. He is geeky, like me and I totally understood him in the quirky way he explained things because I am like that too. However, the pay is less than I want but the potential for learning and moving on to another CPA firm as a CPA candidate is very good. In addition, I asked if I could help out during the tax crunch and he said that once I master my job, I could. I like taxes, at least the ones I have done so far (mine and Rob's). The owner said that he will make a decision around mid-week, next week. The CPA firm is about a half hour away from home.

I guess I have a lot of thinking to do this weekend.

As for my second sock (yes. I am still working on it), I arrived at both interviews about a half hour early and sat in my vehicle knitting before the interviews. I am on the foot.

It Has Been A While

Boy, it sure has been a while since I have been here. To catch you up on things, I have changed employers. I started at my new job on 08/13. Do I like it? Well, it is a mess....the books, the procedures, just messy. It is a challenge and a huge undertaking, and I would enjoy taking it on. However, I feel that I am going to get jerked around on the pay. She hired me at $3/hr less than I asked for and she said that I will get what I asked for "when I prove myself" Okay. So, she could stretch this out for a long time. Not good. I tried to get a date out of her, like 90 days and she would not agree. What does that tell me? It tells me that she is going to lead me on as long as she can. So what am I doing? I have an interview with a CPA firm next Thursday. Although I a have a degree in accounting and had the original goal of becoming a CPA, I am not a CPA nor a CPA candidate (yet?). They are looking for a Bookkeeper. I am going to call her back and see if the position is to do their books or the books of their clients. I wonder if there is potential to do client's taxes and become a CPA candidate. I will ask.

I spoke to a potential employer in Livermore yesterday who, if I am hired, he supposedly will pay me more than I am asking. He will call me on Friday, to set up an interview for next week. At least, in the meantime, I am making more than I made at my previous employer, just not what I set out to make when I left them.

We are in our new home and it is just so hard to unpack. The boys need so much attention. That is okay. I have set my mind to not stressing over it. I figured I would get things done little by little and spend my time enjoying the time I have with the boys before they grow up and don't want to play with me anymore. Last weekend we did not do anything reall exciting. The boys and I walked to the nearby drugstore and purchased a kite. Hunter had so much fun flying the kite, he kept screaming. He was so excited. Hayden watched.

As for my sock progress. I haven't really had time to knit. I knit a few rows Saturday night. You know, I started these socks in May and am still on the second sock? Everything came at me so fast...buying a home, moving, etc. I have been so busy.

Unpacking

I have been unpacking when I can but between working and the boys, I can do very little at a time. I have to get things organized because I don't like the boxes around. It does not seem very childproof to have boxes of stuff around.

You know what was really nice? Last evening, I put Hayden in his stroller and wandered down to Main Street and into a Mexican restaurant. I ordered food and played with Hayden while we were waiting. On my way back, I picked up a menu at the Chinese restaurant. How cool is that!? I have never lived in a place where I can just walk a few blocks to a downtown area with shops and restaurants. I was so happy.

I was able to knit a few rows of my second sock today. I am slowly but surely going to finish.

This Weekend

I am so glad it is Friday. I hate that I was not able to take any time off of work to help my husband move stuff. He has been slowly but surely packing and moving our stuff all week. There is no way my boss would let me have any time off so I did not bother to ask. Anyway, it looks like we will be all moved out by the end of Saturday. I can't wait to get out of our cruddy neighborhood!!

Last weekend we met a new neighbor directly behind our house and the one to the left of the house. Both are grandparents who have a granchild, who visits often, around Hunter's age!! The other day Rob met another neighbor behind us and they have a child a year older than Hunter. The boys are going to be so happy! They will have a little network of friends around us. I was worried that there wouldn't be any kids nearby for the boys to play with and now, to my surprise, there are more than I could have even hoped for!!

Everyone we have met are friendly. It is so cool. Going into Rio Vista is like going into a different dimension or (maybe back in time). Last weekend, when we went out to eat, other men knodded and said 'hello' to my husband as we walked past, not being used to it, he missed seeing a few and knodding back. People drive much kinder too. It is just amazing. Maybe this is the way towns are in other parts of the state or country, but in the San Francisco, Bay Areaish parts of California, people are just plain rude and have the 'move out of my way, me first, attitude' (which I hate and stresses me out because I try to be polite, wait my turn, etc.). Isn't that odd, because Bay Area is concentrated with liberals (aren't they supposed to be sympathtic, etc?). I just don't get it when anyone acts that way. It is so mean. The Post Office in the city where I work, Pittsburg, is only a few blocks away. Driving there and walking to/from my car, is like going through one of those obstacle courses you see on TV, not only are you doing the course, but you have also got to dodge the things people are throwing at you. It is crazy.

I haven't really made much progress with my second sock. Maybe I will get lucky and the boys will fall asleep early tonight so I can stay up late and knit.

Lining Shelves

My Mom watched the boys on Saturday and Sunday while I scrubbed down the house (not that it was dirty, just because that's what I need to do), sprayed antibacterial stuff around and lined the shelves and drawers. I never want to move again. Anyone who has lined shelves knows how much it STINKS!! The self adhiring stuff wrinkles and sticks to itself. Then you have to pull it apart and straighten it while another side/end folds and sticks to itself. Ugh!! It was comical. I just can't believe how long it took me to line the shelves and drawers of the house! It took WAY longer than I expected. I also loaded and unloaded my SUV and hung some clothes. I just worked away for hours, without taking much by way of breaks. It is very rare that I have time to do stuff without the boys and needed to make EVERY minute count. I was actually sore on Monday for I am not used to doing so much physical work (I need to get back to exercising). My husband has pretty much taken the whole week off to move. He is finishing the dog run today and has moved almost everything from the garage to the new home.

As for my job. I am now looking for another. I need something more challenging and more lucritive. I am not using my degree at this job and need to get back on the career path.

I am still on the heel of my second sock. I have been so busy lately.

Keys

Today we get the keys to our home!! I am so excited!! I wanted to go with my husband to get the keys but I did not even bother to ask my boss. Today he took me in his office and spoke to me about my 'situation'. Our childcare lady took a week off in May, July 4-6th, and yesterday and today off. In addition, the other week Hayden was running a high fever. My husband and I split the days home with the kids. Anyway, my boss has a problem with it. I understand that an employee should have good attendance. I told my boss that my husband takes just as many days off as I do and that it is not easy for us. He went on to state that at least my husband's job has that flexibility. I told him that it is just that his boss has little ones and that he understands and is 'totally cool with it'. My boss said that it makes it difficult to run a business. What a joke. My husband makes almost twice as much as I do and has the responsibilities to match. Here, my workload is small. He knows that. This is why my predasessor quit. She had kids too. What a jerk!!! It is so frustrating!!

I am now on the heel of my second sock!! Maybe the boys will go to bed early and I can stay up and knit. Yeah right!!

What? You Completed A Sock Saturday?

Yes. It is true. I have completed a sock!! We watched a movies on Friday night and Saturday night. When Hayden fell asleep, I stayed up a bit and knit. I have completed one sock and cast on the other (I will post pics later). It took me about a month to complete one sock. Let's see how I do with the other. I spent about a half hour of my lunch break working on the second sock.

My Mom babysat the boys while I packed this weekend. I packed up the family room and most of the spare bedroom. In addition, I went through the boys' toys, threw some away, gave some away and cleaned, packed and organized the rest.

We are waiting for the bank to finish their stuff and for the other realtor to take care of some paperwork. It is not looking like we will get the keys by midweek, maybe at the end of the week. I hope at least by Friday because I want to scrub down the house (it is not dirty but, I need to clean the surfaces with antibacterial stuff because that's how I am) then move stuff in this weekend.

So Busy

I haven't been here for a while. We switched payroll companies and in addition to my regular work, I had to do some coding, testing, and today I will do some reconciling so I have been pretty busy here, at work. Plus, I am doing some catch up work because I had 2 days off last week. Furthermore, I had to get quotes for homeowners insurance and choose one before our signing yesterday. Yes. We signed the paperwork yesterday. I am so excited. Provided the seller has their paperwork in order, we were told that we could take posession early next week!! Yay!! I can't wait! My husband can't either.

You know, everything happened so fast. Around May, our landlord put a 'for sale' sign on the home we rent. It was just last month that we started seriously looking for a house to purchase, and now, we have found one and signed the final loan paperwork.

My sock progress has been suffering. I still have not completed one sock and it is a sock I started just before the Summer of Socks. I want to participate more. I also would like to be able to read more of the blogs. It is just so cool to see other's projects, ideas, yarn, etc.

Here is my latest pic of my sock:

Yarn

I had a good weekend. I woke up early on Saturday and hand painted some yarn. The boys woke up and played so I was actually able to finish what I was doing. I only did about 6 skeins. I will post some pics of them after they dry completely.

You know, after I dye some wool, it takes a lot of willpower to keep from abandoning my current project and using the newly dyed yarn to start another pair of socks. However, I am the type to stick to a project until it is complete for if I don't, I am afraid that I will have many, many UFO's sitting around just waiting for completion.

Saturday afternoon my mom and I went and had some pictures of the boys taken. Boy, Hunter loves to get his picture taken. He likes to pose too. It is so cute.

Friday night Rob and I watched one of the Lord of the Rings movies and I worked on my socks while Hayden slept on my lap. I must have held my arms in an awkward way because they started to get sore and have been that way since. I had better be careful.

Here are a couple pictures of some self striping yarn I dyed up a couple of weeks ago and posted on my Etsy store today.

Venting!!

Today has not been a good day for me. My boss is really getting on my nerves (at least, more than usual). Our daycare lady has taken a few vacations in the past year and she is also taking the 4th-6th off. Therefore, my husband and I decided to split the days. I put in a request to take the 5th off. My boss would not sign the request and put a note on it stating that he would talk to me later. I asked him earlier if we get the 5th off and he said 'no'. Therefore, he is probably going to do what he has done in the past and try to force me to find care for the kids for the day elsewhere. He has even gone so far as to tell me that our daycare lady was 'not reliable' (she has only been sick once and everyone deserves vacation). I don't understand the big deal, my workload is so easy that it is not like I am going to fall behind. Someone else here calls him 'Hitler'.

I know I have complained about him before and I feel I must do it again in order to feel better (Sorry). His memory loss drives me nuts too. He will have me do something one way and then months later he will get onto me for doing it that way (when he told me to in the first place) and tell me to do it another (he totally did that to me yesterday. I just let it go because if I say anything, he tries to find something to get onto me about)!! He makes me crazy! The gal who trained me was not here very long and did not like him and she let me know. I guess I have a higher tolerance because I lasted longer than she did. However, when he threatened to fire me when I decided to take a longer maternity leave, I was hoping he really would. Months after I came back, he told me that he found out that by law, he could have fired me. I knew that!!!

I did not get to knit because I had to go get groceries to make my lunches (I forgot to get wheat pitas). Later, I had to stop by the bank which would not accept the check I was depositing so I had to go inside. By the time I got back to work to eat my lunch, my break was over. Oh, well. It sure would have been nice to knit.

If I could only pick up the sticks and knit obsessively for at least a half hour, I would feel so much better, but I can't.

Acceptance!!!

Our offer was accepted!! No counter offer, just accepted!!! We were hoping so because we were stretching it with our offer and just can't pay a penny more. We are going to be struggling as it is with the house payment on top of the daycare costs, and my stupid large credit card bills. My husband is at this moment, meeting with our Real Estate Agent to look the house over again. He is going to look under the house, etc., just to be sure. Yes. The Agent is going to hire someone to do that but he wants to look himself too. We are so excited. A house on a large lot, across the street from the park. It is much more than I expected for what we could afford!! I prayed that the seller saw the recent news reporting about real estate because it is reported that existing home prices fell for the 10th month in a row and there is an 8 month suplus on new homes. I prayed we would get the house and we did!!! Thank you, Lord!!

When we move in to our newly purchased home, I am looking forward to taking the boys to the park across the street and knitting while they play. Furthermore, there is a state park with a beach like 5 minutes away!! I am looking forward to taking them there so they can play there too while I knit!!

I have planned to do some knitting at lunch. Finally!! I have been dying to knit!! I haven't knit since last Friday's jury duty. It is just so hard to do it at home unless the boys are fully entertained because it is such a solitary thing. Knitting does not really allow me to involve them.

I have to take a new picture of my sock progress. I will post it when I do.

Any Sock Knitters Using Addi Turbos?

I am knitting my first pair of socks using Addi Turbos (I have used dpn's before). So far, I have not found a knitting blogger who uses them. I am hoping to find one or more during the Summer of Socks 2007 If there are any sock knitters who use the Addi Turbo circulars for their sock knitting reading this post, please leave a comment so I could find your web site. I would love to see your work. Thanks.

I was poking around at the SOS 2007 flickr site and am amazed at how many people have already knit a pair of socks. Wow. Fast knitters. The socks are wonderful!!

Jury Duty

I sure am glad I reread my paperwork regarding jury duty. It was in at the Pittsburg courthouse rather than the Martinez one. Wouldn't you know, I was juror #1, the first name to be called and never eliminated. Many people obviously lied and tried to make excuses so they could be dismissed, not me. I am so honest and take jury duty seriously. In fact, I decided that before we went into deliberations, that I wanted to be the Foreman and was. We voted to convict the defendant of DUI and related charges. There was one who almost dissented but she had her facts wrong and everyone had to explain things to her. I didn't get her. Didn't she pay attention? She was an older woman who felt sorry for the defendant and either twisted the facts or ignored the true facts to try to look at the defendant in a different light than the one the facts conveyed. We all felt sorry for the defendant but it was our duty to follow the law. I was impressed by my fellow jurors. I half expected to deal with dopes who just couldn't follow the laws. Much to my surprise, with the exception of the one woman, they were all intelligent, reasonable people who picked up on the same minor facts and paid attention to every detail that I had. Please don't get me wrong, I don't think I am smarter or better than anyone. I just think I am anal and a geek. It was a pleasure to be on a jury with those people. As we were leaving the building, I heard the Bailiff tell a fellow juror that we did the right thing and that the defendant had 'priors'. Maybe by way of court orders, she will get some help and it will work.

The first morning of jury duty was spent waiting to see if there would be a trial. I used that time to knit!! I used every break except for lunch, to knit. Oh, and it felt good. However, I haven't had time since.

Saturday, we looked at houses again. We found one we liked more than any we had seen so far. Our realtor submitted our bid today and we should know by Wednesday at 10 am if we get the house. It has huge bay windows that face the community swimming pool and park. Although, it only has 2 bedrooms, it has a large front yard, a large side yard, and a large patio. How perfect is that for a couple with two little kids. I can just walk across the street to the park so the boys can play on the slides!! There is plenty of room to add on. The front of the house faces one street and the garages face the street behind the house. Yes, that is right, garages!! It has two. My husband is dying to get this house. The kitchen and bathrooms need to be remodeled, but the house is newly painted inside and has new carpets. We love it!!

Jury Duty

I have possible jury duty tomorrow at the county courthouse. I have to call this evening to see what time if any, I have to be there. It seems like every other year I have jury duty at the county courthouse. At least, I know what to expect. I do know that I have to get there early so I can get a parking space. The city it is in, Martinez, has many little 'antique' stores. They are fun to wander through. I am actually kind of looking forward to it. I know that most of the time I am there, it is just a waiting thing. Therefore, I will get to spend some 'quality' time with my knitting (something I do not get much of).

I fixed my error on the sock at lunch yesterday without too much trouble. I have been avoiding it because I hate to rip/unknit my work. However, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I was able to do a bit of knitting while I waited for and went through the carwash.

I have to tell you a story about the carwash. The guy in the car in front of me asked me to input his carwash code for him because he has trouble with his eyesight. The whole time I wondered why this guy was driving and if he could even see well enough to be on the road? Is he endangering lives by driving with such an impairment?

I became disoriented at the gas station in Pittsburgh, CA, where I work. It was a Chevron and you know how their mascots are cars? Well, the ads were in Spanish. They were not in spanish and english, they were just in spanish. Right after, I got on the freeway and a bus passed me. The McDonalds ad on the side was not in english at all, it was completely in spanish. I was tripping out. I guess it is a sign of the times (At least, where we are moving, things are still in english). There was a job I thought of applying for, however, it requires that the person in the position be bi-lingual. Why? To communicate to the illegal aliens that they employ? I think that it is discrimination to be in the United States and have to speak spanish in order to apply for an Office Manager/Accouting job. Sorry, I took 4 years of French in school.

House

I could have sworn I posted yesterday and it is not here. Maybe I thought about posting but did not? I don't remember.

We saw the newer home again. This time we decided to make an offer. The real estate agent came by last night and we signed the bid paperwork. Afterwards, my husband called the loan guy with the figure and our payment is going to be a little more than my husband expected. Money is really going to be tight if we get the house. I know, it is worth it. Plus, we should have faith. If we were meant to have the house, we will get it. My husband and I were thinking that maybe I should go back to a higher paying job. I am really not ready to be salaried and work long hours again. In addition to a higher paying job, or instead of, we were thinking that I should find a job closer to the future home to avoid the $4 a day bridge toll. This makes it stressful for me. The boys love Linda (their childcare lady) and their little friends. I really like her too and think it would be extremely difficult to find someone comparable. I guess I shouldn't stress on this stuff too much yet. I should wait and see what happens.

Here is a picture of the house. The picture is from Realtor.com:




Here is my little Hayden:


'If you're happy and you know it...'

Houses

My first choice for a home was disappointing inside. It had ugly pinkish paint throughout. The kitchen cabinets needed to be cleaned. The third bedroom was an office for it has no closet and the carpets were destroyed (they were filthy and smelled of dirty, stinky, dog!). I think the bank is asking too much for this home. If we made an offer, it would be way lower than the asking. We would have to clean, paint and recarpet it before we moved in. However, the home was only 10 years old.

The second home was built in the 60's and had the kitchen to match. However, it had a fireplace and the other did not. This one could be moved into. It had an added on room which, was bare and per the neighbor, floods during the rain. My husband said that he can fix that. I liked the floor plan on this home. With eventual remodeling of the bathroom fixtures and the kitchen, it could really be cool. The back yard is a good size and it has a good amount of space on the side for a dog run. I really like the back yard. The bank is on crack. They are asking more than the newer home. Probably because of the square footage but the extra room is not functional without work because of the flooding. No wonder the neighbor told my husband that the home has been on the market for over a year. If we bid this one, we are going at least 50k less than the asking price.

My husband is going to call the realtor today and ask that we see the second home again. This time we will ask my Mom and Stepfather to go with us for extra eyes to see what we may miss.

I worked on the sock yesterday and made an error. I am going to have to unknit a whole row and am dreading it.

Have a great weekend!

Here is some pretty yarn, I posted at my Etsy store:

Too Hot

Ugh!! It is just too hot out. I am dreading going outside. Yesterday, the thermometer on my vehicle said 102 degrees. I don't think it was really that hot out but that is what it said. Hayden had a tough time. He does not like the heat. The house we rent only has a swamp cooler and Hayden was only happy when he was held in front of it. Poor little guy. Rob got some fans going to direct the air from the cooler to other parts of the house.

Speaking of houses. We are going to look at our first choice for a home purchase tonight. If we are not happy, we will look at our second. The first choice definately has central heating and air cond. It is 10 years old and a bank repo. The outside looks a little overgrown and the back yard has never been landscaped. I hope the inside is in descent condition because I really, really want this house. It is just around the corner from a park and in a housing tract I really like. I should take pictures so my Mom could see it. I have to try to remember that.

I am ready to start on the gusset of my sock.

Here is a pic of some stitch markers I made the other night.


I posted it on my Etsy Shop today.

Sock Progress

I have been pretty busy. However, I was able to get some knitting done on Thursday and Friday at lunch. I am attempting to knit them on size 5, 12" circular Addi Turbo's. I never saw anyone using these until I went to a LYS in Castro Valley. The salesgal showed me her project. She was using them. She also printed out a pattern someone there wrote. Hence, this is my first pair with these needles and the pattern she gave me. I haven't seen many people using them. Hopefully, during the Summer of Socks, I will find someone who uses them.

We spent Saturday driving around Rio Vista, looking at houses. What a nice town! So many homes had chairs and such on the front porches and in garages with people sitting outside visiting, working and such. A couple of people waived at us. How friendly. So not like the areas closer to the Bay Area (San Francisco). This is exactly the type of place I want to live. Friendly, small, little crime. How nice!!!

I spent most of Sunday dyeing up yarn.

The owners are out and there is just a few of of here. I am going to work on my sock after I finish this post. This is what I have done so far. I know, it is a slow process for me with the small amount of spare time I have. Here is what I have so far:


I know it pools alot but that is part of the faded bluejean look.

Busy Day

It has been a busy day here at work. My boss is getting ready for his leave for surgery and we are switching payroll companies. Hence, we had a meeting with a payroll company salesperson. I did not get to knit or do any knitting related activities on my lunchbreak because the meeting lasted through our lunchtime. Oh, well. That's okay.

The dh might take the boys over to the airport in the Rio Vista area one day this weekend. Oh yeah, I am going to use the time to dye up some yarn!!!

I dyed this up recently.

Time to Buy a House

Our landlord had informed us about a month ago that he is putting all of his homes up for sale and moving. He gave some of his other tenants a 60 day notice. We have been worrying about getting ours. However, the landlord feels that since the house we live on is on the same lot as his two shops and he is selling them as one package, they buyer will purchase the property for the shops and allow us to continue to rent. That is just not good enough. We took it as a sign that we need to move out and buy our own house. Therefore, tomorrow we have an appointment with the agent we have been speaking to. We have been preapproved and soon we will be prequalified (or is it vice-versa). Anyway, after this step, we will go back to the real estate agent (who sent us to the 'loan agent').

We are moving out of Antioch. We just can't take it anymore. The illegal alien gang members playing loud music (and leave it on even when they go in their house for a while) and threatening my husband when he asks them to turn it down, the cars screeching down the street, etc. What a shame. The city went downhill fast.

Our lanlord told us how when he was cleaning one of his homes a few properties away, the neighbors from various houses played loud music. My husband told him, "welcome to our world", the illegals play their music loudly all day and night without regard for their neighbors. We call and call the police and they just get ticketed and blame us for their tickets (not the fact that they are breaking the law by playing their music so loudly, among other things they are doing). Our landlord told us that Antioch was where he had previously planned to spend the rest of his life. His plans have changed. You see, our lanlord is a barbor. He has many customers/friends. He has been telling us some of the stories about his customers getting robbed/mugged/attacked in areas that you wouldn't even think it would happen (like non-ghettoish areas). We are moving about 1/2 hour away from here, where it is pretty quiet and we shouldn't have to worry about getting mugged outside the grocery store or attacked by illegal alien gang members because we asked them to turn down their music at 10:00 at night!!!!!!!!!!

I am really excited though about getting a home. We were preapproved and started to look years ago, before the economy went south. However, it just did not feel right and I changed my mind (too bad because homes were about 2/3 of what they are now and we could have refinanced when the interest rates dipped). Oh well, everything happens for a reason.