Lots to do…

FORECAST

This rest of this week: Sunny and hot. Highs in the lower 100s.

Early next week: Sunny and hot. Highs near 100°.

ALMANAC

Average Low: 72° Average High: 94°

Ugh.  It’s been hot and I think it is more humid than usual, too.  I have avoided going out as much as i can.  Our A/C is struggling to keep up. It definitely needs some sort of maintenance.  The condenser is only 3 years old, so it should be working fine.  Probably a good cleaning (and a freon check) will be all it needs to get back to working all day.  The mornings are fine and in the late afternoon, when the sun goes behind some houses up the street, it starts to work again, but in between the house is hovering at 83°.  It was still 98° at 9pm last night.

It's not gotten down to 75° yet. It's only 5am, so it might... but I doubt it.

A look at the next 7 days

But, try as I may to avoid going out (83° inside is much more pleasant than 105°+ outside!) I think I’ve hit that point in preparations where I cannot avoid it any longer.  I’m going to have to get out of the house today.

I have to get the truck inspected (and it should pass after the disturbingly expensive trip to the shop the other day, which included an emergency brake repair… we never use our emergency brake.  How the heck did the pad wear completely away?)

Activities for TheBoy

I need to try to put together some things for TheBoy to do on the long ride to South Carolina.  I have no idea what to do for him.  We will have DVDs, of course, but I have no idea what else to bring for him.  Most of the things that he would enjoy most would prove to be difficult for him to play sitting in his carseat (like matchbox cars or even coloring, though I will bring some of this.)  I would love ideas for an active 3 year old boy who will be stuck in his carseat for 18 hours, so if you have any, please share them!

Wind Yarn, Print Patterns

I need to wind the yarn that I’ll need while we’re gone.  I don’t want to drag the ball winder along with me, so I’ll have to get the yarn wound up before we leave.  I think I will bring along the Packers sock yarn, the traitor Cowboys sock yarn and maybe an extra bit of sock yarn for good measure.  I have a pair of WiP socks I’ll bring, too.  I think that I will use old socks to keep the balls intact.  I have some old (store-bought) socks with the ribbing still useful but with holes in the feet.  I will cut the useless feet off and use the tops of the socks to keep the balls from unwinding.  I purchased a large laptop bag that will also serve as a knitting bag.  It would be nicer if it were a little wider, but I think it will work well to hold the computer and the knitting.

I will be printing off some sock patterns from the internet (and saving them on the computer, too.)  I’ll need mens, toddler, girls and women’s patterns.  I might just do plain socks, but I’m thinking about trying something more interesting.

this was taken with my iSight camera in poor lighting conditions, but it give a decent idea of what the baby socks look like.

Plain will be faster, of course, and I have some catching up to do for the 52 PP III (I will need to have 6 pairs completed by the time we get back in order to get back on track.) I am close to completing the second pair now… I finished the first of a pair of baby socks with the leftover yarn from the pair I completed the other day. I am nearly done with the second. As soon as I finish here, I should be able to finish that up (I’ll post a picture, of course!)

update: Baby socks finished!

totally washed out in the morning sun... but this pic will have to do.

Begin to set aside Laundry

I need to finish up as much laundry as I can today and begin to set aside things to pack.  I still haven’t gotten the suitcases from the storage unit, but I think I can use laundry baskets to sort it out for now.

Birthday Shopping

I have to do some sort of birthday shopping for CarKiller.  SoldierBoy suggested that we give him some clothes as he’ll need civilian clothes for when he’s off duty at AIT.  He won’t get to use them immediately, but it won’t be long before he does.  It’s a good idea, but I also need to consider whether or not he’ll be able to find room for him to carry it with him as he travels to Arizona.  SoldierBoy suggested that I might mail the birthday gift to him and he can bring it to CarKiller.  (SoldierBoy is going to be arriving in Arizona the same day CarKiller arrives.)  This is a pretty good idea, but it means that we won’t have a gift to give him on his birthday.  Hmmmm.  What to do?

Instructions

I plan to type up instructions for our neighbors who will be taking care of our critters while we’re gone.  It’s not that difficult, but there are more than a few critters to care for, so I want to get it all typed out for them to (hopefully) keep it from getting too confusing.

Lesson Plans

I give up on the idea of lesson plans before we go.  *sigh*  That’s fine, though.  I’ll just have to get serious about it when we get back.

Food and Fridges

Figuring out what we’re going to eat for the next few days isn’t going to be any easier than it has been the past few days.  I need simple and something without a lot of leftovers.  I also need to get the fridges cleaned out before we go.  I sure don’t want to come home to old leftovers and nasty fridges!

Excited!!!

In all of this, I am just excited!  I am excited to see CarKiller!!  I am also excited just to take a trip away from home.  It’s not a trip to Disney, but it’ll be so nice to get out of here with the family (most of it) and to see my dear friend, A. and 4 of her kids.

God bless you!!