So glad to see you and the cats have landed safely in the new place. I thought Dallas said it was supposed to cool down this weekend?????? I haven't commented before, but I really enjoy your blog. I hope your new home becomes a wonderful haven for you and your furry family.

Glad that you are almost all in. And to think that you even had time to do an update for all of us. Thank you. You will rightly deserve a BIG rest after this weekend.And a little white lie about working at the yarn shop, well a girl has to have yarn. lol

SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!

You are very brave, too, you and the cats!

ah, the elusive weekend post.

moving stinks. STUFF!

Congrats, congrats, congrats!

I loved reading that you found a place perfect for you and the cats.

I am a confirmed homebody - where I hang my hat and lay my head has always been so very important to me. I have a 19 pound (down from 22...) marmalade cat named Bob. I believe marmalade cats generally come in jumbo size. Also a Karelian Bear dog.

Our perfect place is much different than yours - rural - 8 acres of woods and a little cabin house, but the joy of finding that place that is right - wonderful.

Enjoy, enjoy - even the unpacking and finding the right spots for everything.

Hope you find the coffee pot soon!!

Welcome home! And have fun putting the house together, it will all happen in good time.

One of your personal philos [like mine] is to leave things "just as good or better thanb how you found them". I think this applies to people [that is you in this equation] + your loved ones. Onward + upward!

Unboxing + resettling is the fun part. Have fun making this place your new home... + just as you want it to be!

Enjoy your extra time, too! Fill it with your favorite activities!

I enjoy, have learned from + am inspired by your writings here!

:o)

Good Luck in your new place! You sound so happy with your new place. Enjoy settling in!

I'm very happy for you, and if I haven't already said so (I'm old, forgetful), I like all your projects, but I think I'd pay $50 for a little red sweater with ladybug buttons -- that was just adorable.

Yay! Poor kitties, it's always so hard on them to move. Glad they've come out now. :D

Still extremely happy and supportive of most everything you do, Laurie, especially sudden moves. I'm curious about your pepper plants. Will you have to start over with new seedlings?

Moving is such hard work.....but ohhhhhh so worth it :-) Congratulations and I'm happy the kitties are adjusting!

I'm so happy for you that you moved! Best of luck in your new place. If your kitties are anything like mine, they'll adore the steps. Up up up down down down up up up down down down up up down up down down. Rinse and repeat. :-) Congrats!

Laurie - moving is the pits until you start unpacking and then it is like everything is new. It's great that you've moved on and I'm sure you and the babies will enjoy your new place.

Congratulations again!! :-)

I've been reading your blog ever since a friend gave me your book. Congrats!! Nothing feels better than knowing you are in the exact place you choose to be not the home you picked at a sad time in your life because you didn't know what else to do.

Congrats, Laurie! How ever much it is you have to unpack, imagine what it would be like if you hadn't done all of that decluttering! Enjoy the new space!

Welcome to your new home. I am glad the cats have come out. Unpacking will be easy since this is a move you wanted to make. Happy rest of the weekend.

That mover is not a knitter and just doesn't understand how knitters accumulate yarn, that's all. Congrats on your new home! I hope you and the cats are very happy there. It sounds lovely.

Congrats on surviving the move with cats, Laurie! I spent my summer vacation driving across the entire country with two unhappy felines. It's wonderful when they finally realize no one's out to get them any longer. =)

Hurray! Happy to hear the cats are coming out of hiding. Obviously the movers have never moved a knitter. Enjoy your new digs.

Happy new home to you and the kitties! Enjoy your safe space and freedom from rampaging landscape guys. Happy, happy thoughts to you and Bob, Soba, and Frankie. Also to Roy in spirit.

Congrats, Laurie. It sounds like a wonderful start to a new chapter of your life. I guess you were decluttering all of that time for multiple reasons. Just hearing you write about it, it feels like you're turning a big corner. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Excellent! The yarn shop comment just tickled me so. What's the name of the fictional shop?

Thinking of you and sending you lots of good energy to get you through this transition!

Oh, Happy Day! Your new home sounds wonderful and I know that it will be a joyful place for you and the kitties.

Just think of your shrinking butt and thighs every time you climb those stairs :) Love your blog, love your life. I want to be you.

I'm happy for you too. Will you have a garden in your new place? I'm still reeling from that.

Congratulations! I am very happy for you and the cats! Looking forward to some pictures. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Why else, indeed? You're superwoman doing it all this weekend; glad to hear it's been going so well!

Congrats on your move! What a wonderful blessing to know you're moving forward, literally! Glad the kitties came out of hiding and enjoy the built-in stairmaster.

I am so excited for you, Laurie! It sounds wonderful, I look forward to hearing more about it.

Yay! You're in and still love the new place, and the cats are adjusting. Thanks so much for updating us!

Here's my I-used-to-work-for-a-moving-company advice. Make one room "normal". Get the furniture in place in that one room (often the living room) and hide the boxes so you don't see them. It becomes a retreat when unpacking makes you crazy. Even if the boxes are just stashed behind the sofa, it still works.

Can hardly wait for pictures! (not to rush you.)

He didn't need to know that it was your own personal LYS now did he??? Glad you are mostly in your new place. Don't make yourself nuts unpacking Monday. Enjoy your day home with your kitties putting down some roots. You can always unpack next wkdn.

Ummm, why DON'T you open a yarn shop?! Just a thought...

I agree with Martha's advice - after all, being so much closer to work now you'll have time after your work day to whittle away at the rest of the unpacking. All the best to you and the kitties in you new abode!!

Yeah!! If the "kiddens" only hid for one day that right there tells me that you're at peace in the new place.

I moved in July and the kiddens surprised me by adapting immediately. They knew this was a better place.

Summer in Arizona is not the time to start a patio container garden, so I've been using the patio to store the unpacked boxes. This has given me a "normal" clutter free place (which is unusual for me) Today is the day for finally clearing out the patio... so I feel your unpacking "pain!!

It's very nice to hear that you and yours have landed in a soft spot.

When I moved most of my stash is in a huge suitcase. The rest in two clear plastic boxes. That alone earned me the comment "man you have a lot of yarn" 20 skeins... that's all they saw 20 skeins!!! LOL

Congratulations again...LOL about your yarn! I have a number of bins myself and can very much relate!! Have fun tomorrow...hope you find your socks.

I really enjoy your blog,more than any of the others I read. Am so glad you got moved, sounds really good except for the stairs!
Pris from Oklahoma

congrats, laurie!

like you, i moved away from a place with memories of great stress to my "happy place" this summer. i hadn't planned to have pets or plants, so 'splain me why i've got a balcony full of mums, geraniums and tomato plants, and two cats, and i'm lovin' it!

i'm so glad that when you felt the need to MOVE. RIGHT. NOW!! you found a place that's better in so many ways, including the shorter commute. enjoy your new home, and enjoy seeing how the things you have now can be used in new ways and suddenly look new again.

Congratulations! I just moved, too, and sympathize with the boxes, craziness, and excitement. (Mine was made more stressful by one of the cats disappearing before I moved, but she was just found and so it really is okay now.)

Hurrah! Hope the cats settle in and you start to unwind and feel cozy in your new place. Speaking of cats-went to a shelter yesterday where my sister volunteers as a dog walker and adopted 2 young(3 month old) cats. I was mourning my T who died 3 weeks ago and fell in love with 1-kept saying only 1 as I have 2 other inside cats-but they are brothers and had been together their whole lives(and those 12 weeks spent in a cage:(-so I took both. Question-the old cat LOVES them and is enjoying watching them fly about since they have no idea of this much space. The 3 yr old cat is MAD and hissing and swatting -any suggestions for acclimating? I am keeping them in the laundry room for now so they are separate. What is that stuff you use -Feli something? Thanks-know you are busy and tired but would appreciate a word of wisdom when you have a moment. Wish I could bring a bottle of house warming wine!

You just kicked in a great memory of my dad - He always told us "Leave it better than you found it", whether it was a campsite, a job, whatever.
Blessings on your move. How exciting!

You should be proud of yourself!:) Can't wait to see pics of the new place...hint;)hint;)

yeay for you! be sure to take excellent care of yourself for the next week or so.....too much stress/not enough sleep is an invitation for getting sick.... Airborne!!! and lots of healthy snacks!! so very thrilled for you..... cant wait to see the pics!!!

Congrats....I love lara bars :)

I'm amazed at your cats - already acting normal! Also - I live in a 3-story townhouse, and you do get used to all those stairs....

Hurrah for getting moved. And for not trying to explain the yarn stash. And for stairs. I am spending Labor Day weekend and half days the rest of the week varnishing my stairs, because I own them. Also housesitting for a friend and her kennel full of 12 terriers, plus my guy Charlie. Delilah Fuzzybutt has my house to herself.

It will get unpacked. Your legs will get used to the stairs. You will have amusing stories to tell on Tuesday at work after your *shorter* commute.

And have the cats rediscovered the fun of empty boxes and packing paper?

Welcome Home Laurie! What a wonderful new chapter in your life.
Keep talking about it, I love reading of your adventures, even the mundane is interesting.

Congratulations Laurie! I've been thinking of you. See, I'm still going through boxes from my move here (this being my temporary place to stay and lick my wounds) two years ago. Yesterday I got the energy up to go through four boxes and I rediscovered my life through photos of the best times I've lived. Talk about inspiration to get up and do better! And I thank you for that. If not for this move of yours, I wouldn't have been prodded to get going through my own stuff looking for my better future.

I guess it's a circle of life sort of thing ... a push-me-pull-you make the world go round thing.

Moves are hard on everyone but my cat would absolutely FREAK. Hope everything continues to go well as you unpack and get settled into a wonderful new place.

Congratulations on surviving your move! That's the philosophy we were raised with too, leave things a little better that when you arrived. I had to chuckle about your "yarn store" alibi for towers of stashed yarn, maybe I'll try that one too!

You've inspired me to tackle The Five Hour Baby Sweater for a recently arrived bambino, perhaps I'll finish before the child attains toddlerhood. Have the kitties emerged from under the sofa yet? Ours always HATED moving.

Thanks for the blog, Laurie, as always you brighten my day :-)

Congratulations, Laurie! Just think how great things will be by (say) next Friday--lots unpacked, looking like home! Thank you for this update, and all the best.

Congratulations! You listened to your instincts and the universe came through in a big way. Well done!

Enjoy!

I bet the cat herd is wondering what the heck just happened. One day, they were sleeping in a sunbeam, and the next day, their sunbeams have all been moved and the house grew stairs.

I bet the coffee pot is in the bottom of a box that's at the very bottom of the pile of boxes.

Maybe you should have packed it with the yarn?

I DO work at a yarn store, and I too am moving. I really, really REALLY don't want to hear what the moving people are planning on saying.

Yea! Hooray! It will all come together (you know it will). I'm happy for you.

I nearly spit my coffee on the keyboard -- sometimes you have to save face with a little white lie! But you do kinda work with yarn, maybe not for a living, but on the side. So so glad you are happy and it all worked out so well!

i'm glad you're all settled in.

Wonderful!!! Can't wait to hear more about your new abode!

YEAH the WORST is OVER!

looking forward to hearing all about the new digs - is the w/d on the same floor as your bdroom?

the cats are going to LOVE those stairs!

I'm so glad to hear things are going well. Please find the camera and give us photos of all the yarn in the see-through totes please? I want to see how much makes a mover think you work for a yarn store... My husband has a hissy over my two totes and 3 hatboxes and I even keep the hatboxes in the knee hole of the desk so he never sees them.

Enjoy the seminar and Monday Off!

Yay for new place! Yay for cats growing comfortable there! Double yay for almost done moving the 'small stuff' (why is it that the small stuff takes three times longer to move than the big stuff?)

And many many yays! for yarn.

Can't believe you had time to update us. And then my mind was boggled you were at a two day seminar. Criky.

Hope the cats are settling in.

Congratulation! You did the right thing at the right time, that's how life goes on and gives you the chance to change and grow. Fabulous! And all alone, respect!

Speaking of cats and stairs and the catastrophies that can occur, I thought you might find the following story amusing.

We have a 90-year-old, two-story house with an open stairway between floors. The banister wraps around the top of the stairs and ends at the bathroom door, the first room on the right. Both of our cats are Abyssinians, a very athletic breed. Our youngest cat, Sophie who turned three in July got into the habit of jumping up on and balancing on the bannister on the second floor, often on the corner so she could have her front paws on the railing that runs one direction along the stairs and her back paws on the one that runs at a right angle to it along the upstairs hallway. (Of course, we're always scared that she's going to fall to the first floor and hurt herself.)

If we have the bathroom door closed, Sophie will even stand on the banister and paw at the doorknob since she's smart enough to know that's how we open the door.

Well, last winter, I was downstairs sitting on the livingroom sofa with a view through the foyer and up the stairs, which have a 180-degree turn at the landing. Something caught the corner of my eye -- a little kitty tail swishing back and forth like a clock's pendulum from the edge of the second floor above the stairs. I just thought it was funny that one of the cats was sitting on the floor so close to the stairs that her tail was hanging down between the ballisters.

Maybe half a minute, possibly a minute, goes by. I look up and see that tail still swishing back and forth. I get up, walk through the livingroom and foyer and up a few steps to look up. There was Sophie hanging by her front paws for dear life from one of the ballisters, her body and tail hanging over the edge, ready to fall any minute. (Picture Tom Cruise hanging from that mountain at the beginning of "Mission Impossible II.") She had apparently been doing her circus kitty balancing act again, lost her footing and in a swift and desparate move grabbed ahold of one of the ballisters with her front paws.

I grabbed her body in my hands and one-by-one had to pry her claws off the wood ballister. It wasn't easy, because she was really afraid to let go. Needless to say, we had lots of mother/daughter hugging, petting, kissing and purring after the rescue. Afterward, the poor exhausted thing napped the rest of the afternoon. When my husband got home, I said, "You are not going to believe this, but ..."

Now one would think that would have ended Sophie's acrobatic aspirations. No such luck. Fortunately, we aren't aware of any other accidents. But I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Barb in Wisconsin

Congratulations! So, in the past few weeks you've moved to a wonderful new place while attending a weekend seminar AND knitted a sweater! Hope you can spend the day tomorrow lolling and patting yourself on the back.

You can call your shop "Purls of Wisdom."

Ah, moving! Well, at least you're there now, Laurie, and you can start to get settled!

Laurie, that inner self really knows what's good for you - and the furry masters of the universe - your happiness is already evident. Have fun settling in. You'll have the legs of a mountain climber in no time. Laura UK

that man is obviously not a knitter! i dont' want to rain on your parade, but i moved into a place with 47 steps last year. you will find ways to make it not exercize getting up those steps. but, in the end you will love it anyway!

Whoa, when you decide to up and move you don't waste any time!! You have your yarn, I have my quilting fabric....and a quilting machine on a 10 ft. table. Men don't understand these things...course mine has his lawn mowers and antique cars and guns and fishing equipment. All in all I think my stuff takes up less space...at least I didn't have to build a second 2-car garage to house it all. If I move though I'd have to have one room at least 15 ft. long that wasn't the living room to put the quilting machine in.

You'll absolutely love having your own washer/dryer and dishwasher....now if the dishwasher came with someone to load & unload you'd have it made. LOL

Congratulations on your new home! I am sure that you will and your kitties will love your new place!

Congraduations and I wish you and your kitties grand times at your new place.
I the yarn, well, I would have just said the same thing..I do kinda work in a yarn shop, except for the selling part.
I have lots of yarn, and lots of patterns, and tools...just no shop and not selling. Almost like a yarn shop, right?

Glad to hear the kitties are eating normally. I'm living out of a box right now too and will continue to do so until I get into my condo. Sigh... it's a pain, but all for the best.

Love the yarn shop 'lie'. hehe

Yes. Yarn. I've packed mine, except for some that I might "need" before the final move.And all the ufos in their bags :) We'll be moving our own boxes and my multitude of boxes and bins marked 'pattern files, yarn, fabric' etc. I didn't know I had so much yarn!! I'm glad you've found a great new home, and that the catties are adjusting.

I am so happy for you!
Mazel Tov!
Ruth

Yay for moving! And boxes = free kitty forts! And you're just a yarnoholic with no 12 step program to attend!

Woo Hoo...glad to hear the family is all moved safe and sound...allbeit tired!

Best of luck to you and the kitties in the new place!

Well done! Gee you don't mess around do you. We need some pictures so we can mentally 'place' you in the new house. hugs!!

Welcome home!! Yes, let's see some photos (like you have nothing else to do at the moment). Hee.

How wonderful! Congratulations on the move. It is so nice that you will save all that time commuting and that you love your new place. You must feel great that your old landlord and his wife were so happy. Good karma for you!

I'm so glad that you took time to blog, even though you were so busy. I know we were all waiting to hear that you and your furry babies were all moved safe and sound. They must like it if they have come out of hiding. I hate moving even when it's a very good thing to do, but sometimes ya gotta.
I am very glad that things went smoothly. God's blessings on your new house!

Since I'm posting this on Monday, how did the rest of the move go? Don't sweat the boxes, unless they're in they way - the time-before-last when I moved, I made a vow to unpack one box a night then found myself plowing through six in a session because once you start, it gets easier. (This time round, my sister unpacked for me/DH when we were on honeymoon. It took us several months to sort out where everything was.)

- Pam (next time, I'm going to pay for packers and movers)

Happy Housewarming!! I would bring you a casserole if I lived closer by. What a nice person you are,
leaving your house cleaner than when you found it.
I have rented out a house, and none of my tenants ever left it cleaner. One guy just left everything, I mean everything! on the lawn. My friend helped me
sort it, and she came up with the good idea of arranging the furniture into "rooms" on the lawn,
and every day we had to re=arrange the "rooms" as people picked up what they wanted. My friend found a black hoodie in one of the bags which she still wears on cool days. I have some kitchen utensils to remember him by. So, to sum up, you are a very special kind of person. Keep spreading the positive vibes.
Marlyce in Windsor, Ontario

Laurie,
Congratulations on your new home. Glad to hear the kitties are settling in to their new environment. If they're anything like my kitties it will take a little while for them to feel comfortable. We say that cats' philosophy on life is "All change is bad!"
Were you a Girl Scout when you were young? "Always leave a place cleaner than you found it" was something we tried to install in our girls during my years as a leader.

Hate. To. Move.
Nuf said.
Also hate "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Don't mind being stronger, but sure hate the "Kill" part...
Best wishes to all!

So good to hear you have survived the moving experience. Hope the seminar has been worthwhile, too. You do sound so happy to be there. Sometimes it's better to do these things lickety split this way, in a few weeks, you'll be settled in and wonder how you did it. Welcome HOME!

OK, now you're scaring me. We are moving next week after 45 years in this house. We are ditching LOTS of stuff, but your description of living out of boxes is scary. We will be going from 2 stories with a basement and attic to a one story house with no basement. I can see yard sales in our future.

Good luck with your new home! An extra 45 minutes each way will surely add much to your life.
Judy

Welcome Home Laurie and Fur Ones!

I'm as excited about your move as you are! Congratulations.

My mother always told me to return something you borrow in as good or better condition! I have never met anyone that abides by that as well! Good for us!

Can't wait 'till you get settled. Have fun!

Oh Laurie, congratulations again. Sending a virtual homewarming hug :)

I think everyone else already said it better. So I'll just say Congratulations!

Congratulations! You survived and the best is yet to come. Welcome to your new home. Enjoy!

Congrats on your new home! It will be so nice to have more time at home during the week and be able to do your laundry without going outside!

I hope the unpacking goes well and we get to see pictures soon. :)

I'm so happy for you, Laurie! "Ya done good" as they used to say in the aulde days.

Your blog is one of favourites, for sure.

Yay! I wish you and your kitties lots of health, happiness and fun in your new home!

All that packing/unpacking and a seminar too? Your energy and fortitude on acting upon what your intuition (AKA superstition or gut) tells you is right for you is inspiring! Thanks so much for taking the time out of all that to keep us in the loop! Won't it be more fun for you to read all about this move in your own archives than the last one? Wishing you and the lovely felines much happiness in your new home.

I just finally caught up, found you about 6 months and have been reading the whole blog (well some I just skimmed through the pictures). Love your site.
But anyway, we need pictures of the new place ASAP. We are all voyeurs too, ya know. Thanks for sharing your story and thanks for the humor.

Happy new home, to you!

Laurie,
Congrats on the move! Wishing you much love and happiness in your new home!
-Meredith

I am so happy for you. Things happen for a reason, and life is moving you onto your next phase.....congratulations to you and the furry purrers.

I thought of you Saturday, when I was dripping sweat while just sitting and doing nothing. What a horribly hot day to move. But I'm so glad to know that now you're home. Packing seems endless, and it's breaking up a home, which isn't so much fun. Unpacking can take all the time you want; find the coffee pot, everything else can wait. Every thing you unpack and find a place for is building your new home. It's so positive. Have fun.

Maureen

Congratulations on your new beginning....and hooray, the comments are back!

Yes, I am late to the party.

I hope your new place provides you with many happy memories. And a balcony so you can continue to propogate your dad's chilli peppers.

So happy for you! You deserve some new and some HAPPY!

Here's to next year's container crops!!

(Hope you saved some of your dad's chilies?)

All the best wishes in your new place!!