I DO Knit Occasionally...
...I just have nothing to show for it yet. A couple of dishcloths is about it. No Giftmas Knitting for me this year. Besides—I'm infatuated with crochet right now and the cold weather has me finishing afghans I started 10 years ago. There are three on deck: Damknit's Hexagonal afghan (OK, that's new); a ripple afghan, and... I dunno, some other thing.
What I will show you, maybe this week, is my living room. Remember the mess? The mess that later translated to complete chaos thanks to unloading a 10x12 storage unit into my home this summer?
It's clearing up.
Yes, there is still a tower of boxes and tubs to sort through. BUT they are lined up neatly against one wall rather than haphazardly blocking the picture window (and giving the neighbors something to wonder about as they walk the dog). I've consolidated some stuff, moved all the boxes of "papers to sort" into the third room (my... guest room/"library"/where Dad's desk lives) which is where the filing cabinet is, and I've sorted four tubs of HANGERS into nice neat groups contained with a zip tie and carefully packed into ONE box destined for Goodwill. (There are that many extra hangers. OMG. And that's after keeping the good wooden ones and the skirt hangers to use to hold boots.)
I had to take a break, though, because the dust was getting to me. OMG, do I ever vacuum? Apparently not. *cough cough* And I'm sore. And my cleaning lady hair, OMG. I took a photo. I can't decide if I'm daring enough to put it out there in public.
Well, I've procrastinated long enough by checking email, getting the real mail (both mostly junk), and reading all my blogs... what's left is to move a few more things off the rug, vacuum it, and then... I get to rearrange the furniture.
That's actually what inspired me to finally do this. I had taken the laptop to the couch so I could sit back and work on a project, and I realized that for the past 48 going on 49 years, the couch in the living room has ALWAYS been in EXACTLY THE SAME SPOT. The couch itself has changed, but the POSITION never has!
For some reason, that bothered me! At my old house, I moved stuff around like five times before I got it the way I wanted it (then of course I moved). I decided I don't want it flat up against the center of the wall with an end table on either side and a chair on either side of that and the view straight out into the yard.
I want it at an angle.
I want to be able to choose whether to look outside OR look at the fireplace. Which hasn't been used in probably five years and I have no idea how to build a fire (on purpose) OR if it's even safe after being dormant OR who to call about it OR how much that might cost—BUT I want to be able to LOOK at it for a change.
I figure the cherry drop leaf table can go in behind it kind of like a sofa table for now. (I'm not even sure I'm keeping it. It's lovely, but... from what I recall,
we never used it anyway! My parents picked it out, so it's not an heirloom like Grandma's dining table. It's the table I was never allowed to touch, had to be careful of, and that we never used. Why did we have it?)
The end tables? Mersman. They're OK. Not my style. I much prefer the really cool retro 70s modular table I also inherited. It's blonde. It goes with my blonde stacking tables. The chairs are OK—they can form a conversation area off to the side. The long narrow glass-topped bamboo coffee table will fit, too. I think this will all work.
I hope so.
Then maybe I'll go buy that metallic turquoise paint I've been thinking of putting around the fireplace...
The thing about inherited furniture is... if it's your style, great; if it's not, you feel guilty about passing it to someone else or selling it. But what are you supposed to do, just hold onto it anyway? Cherry—not my thing. Cherry, Early American. Echh. I prefer Mission, I still like Southwestern colors (though with an update), and I like light wood. The bamboo stuff works, though. It's organic.
OK. I'm getting cold now, so I must be rested.
Thanks for stopping by, see ya later.
Labels: boring household crap
Natal Day and Empty!
Sunday was my birthday. If I live to be 90, I've lived half my days. It was spent quietly, doing absolutely nothing.
Today was Empty The Storage Unit Day. WE DID IT!!!! All out. There was surprisingly less stuff in there than I thought, but it still took three trips. There were several tubs of parental stuff. Yes, it must be dealt with. But it went in the nice shed for now. There was much less of the to-be-sorted/might-keep stuff than I thought! YAY! That feels better.
My friend C and I successfully loaded, then unloaded, a cherry table inherited from Mom, my old stove, my rolltop, the box spring I forgot was in there, the canopy bed frame, a smaller desk, a computer chair, a—well, you get the idea. Everything except the cherry table is going in the garage sale.
IT IS DONE. All of my worldly goods are now under one roof—mine—and no longer subject to fees. Yay. Phase One is complete.
Onto a shower, some vegetation and food, and then begins Phase Two—what the heckuma gonna do with all this stuff? Also known as, I guess I'm having my first-ever garage sale in a week or so!
OH—and there is positive news on the land sales front! More when it's locked in. Today... she was a good day.
Labels: boring household crap, friends, gratefulness
Camera Ready!
FINALLY! My camera is being friendly again. I replaced the rechargeable alkaline batteries the manual swears I can use with a set of lithium batteries, and all appears to be well now. (Must be the lithium—good for moody machinery.)
And so I bring you—
knitblogger goodness! Look what
Stick surprised me with! YES! My very own set of Bad Word Stitch Markers! I couldn't believe it. How cool is that? I feel special. Thank you, Stick! :-) There are a couple of close-ups on Flickr.
I'm happy to report that more progress has been made on the org front. Oooh, is that a new couch? Why, no—it's a slip cover! Who knew a slip cover could make such a difference?
AFTER
BEFORE
The lone set of curtains from my old living room got tossed in the dryer (no heat) with a dryer sheet to remove the cat hair (it worked!) and are rehung. I swapped the white wicker table for the rolling cart, putting the serger that was on the cart elsewhere and putting the little TV and DVD burner on the cart. Easier to roll out of the way, takes up less room. I'm not fond of the wicker thing anyway. Maybe it can go in the deck room when it is restored to being a useable room again.
Now this room, the Den, is all cozy and warm with rich reds and dark browns. Happy. Still stuff to sort through, but it's moving along.
Oh, I think my pot pie is done...
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap, friends, gratefulness
Aligning with Constructivism
OMG this is a long post.
So I've figured out a couple of things I can do
right now in my current life to be more aligned with the life of my vision.
- I can change my attitude
- I can change my thoughts
- I can shuffle my schedule and get out of this rut
First,
the attitude. More happy. Years ago, life felt magical. In my head, I was already a rock star. I was physically in this world, but mentally, I had my rock star life overlaid like a sheet of vellum. I felt like anything was possible. (I'm still wondering what happened to change that, and if it was sudden as in one event or just a gradual dissipation.) The key here is the "magical" feeling. Making dinner to suit me, for example, used to bring great pleasure, because I'd create offbeat dishes or stirfries or curries—stuff my Mother would never cook (let alone eat)—and I would be puttering around in my kitchen humming to myself before sitting down and enjoying my meal with great satisfaction.
Last night, out of hunger and food boredom, I fell back onto one of my rut foods—nachos. Except I make them with blue chips, and I add soy "burger" crumbles and a green & red pepper and onion veggie blend on top. It's pretty good. It's nothing special, but it's a good fall-back meal. I had a moment. It was like a time-shift. I completely forgot the events of the past couple of years and was focused on sprinkling the cheese and I
almost smiled to myself thinking about my nachos,
almost hummed merrily—
—and I stopped myself from feeling good.
In the next heartbeat, I froze, because I
realized that I'd just semi-subconsciously stopped myself from allowing a POSITIVE feeling to rise to the surface.
I prevented myself from feeling good.Isn't that awful?
That lead to spending a good bit of time analyzing the reasons why I didn't think I
should allow myself to feel good over something as mundane as making nachos. Sparing the details. Let's just say I realized I need an attitude adjustment, and that I have to consciously focus on allowing those happy feelings that WANT to come up to do so unrestrained.
Next,
the thoughts. Most of us automatically think negatively without really trying—we're conditioned that way. Everywhere you turn, on TV, in the news, there are sensationalized stories of war, economic crisis, rising gas prices, accidents, diseases, and so on, and we are constantly barraged with a message of how difficult life is. There are good messages to be found, but because they seem to originate from the religious channels and include words such as "God" and "faith", a lot of people opt not to listen to them, which is fine. I'm just trying to point out the irony.
I'm just as challenged as the rest of us when it comes to what I allow to pass through my grey matter. I am every bit as susceptible to the barrage. What I'm doing is being more conscious of what's trying to get in, as well as what's trying to get out. I'm choosing the positive thoughts. It takes practice and I slip up sometimes, but I'm trying. It's a habitual thought process, and habits take time to change.
Lastly,
the schedule. When I was a kid, my parents handled everything, giving me ample free time to play and pursue my own interests. Then one day they decided I needed more responsibility (which is fine). But suddenly, the things I
wanted to do became tainted. They became
unnecessary. They were things that you do
later, after the "important" things are finished.I would sit down to get engrossed in a really interesting book, and my Mother would say, "why don't you do something constructive for awhile rather than sit around reading all day?" Practicing guitar for a half hour to be prepared for my weekly lesson was acceptable and encouraged, but sitting there noodling for hours on end was non-productive and I should really be doing "something else". The dichotomy here is that my Mother railed on about doing the important things first, but sent a mixed message that you need to stop and have a little fun, too.
OK, which is it?
Well, I learned. I learned to do the important things first, and once they are finished, THEN I can sit down and design that sock, play with music software, dye some yarn, play with my horses... once everything else is done.
Twenty years later and I am STILL waiting for the day when the Important Things are Done and I can be free to focus on MY stuff. Someday, I'll learn to program Flash. Someday, I'll finish my album. Someday... when all the other stuff is done. When the house is clean. Or I get my masters (which I'm not sure I want). Or I move to a different house. Or...
The bottom line is, I get to the end of the day and there is still stuff. So I don't feel like I'm "allowed" to turn my attention to something that isn't "constructive" or "productive" or "important". I have a tendency towards obsessive workaholism balanced with a rebellion of doing nothing (with all the accompanying resentment) and have been known to work well past the reasonable endpoint (say 12 hours to touch up paint) even though I know I'm pushing it and I'm just going to wake up angry with myself the next day.
Mother told me part one: "Finish the important things first". But she forgot to tell me part two:
Exactly when, pray tell, will I know that all the important things are finished?At what point can I honestly and rightfully say, NOW it's OK to do my thing?Maybe she didn't know, either. Reflecting back on her life, I think she needed the answer, too.
So here's what I've decided. My time, my LIFE, is like my job. I have so many hours in which to do stuff. I'm accountable to myself for how I use this time. I've allotted 7 hours for sleep/rest (which is about what I need), and 2 hours for eating/personal care (or extra sleep), leaving 15 hours that are up to me to fill.
I've decided to break up that 15 hours into 3-hour spans. I've decided that I am absolutely prohibited from focusing on the Mass Organization Project (ie "the Important Thing") for more than six hours in one day, and that if the tasks for the day are of a more physically-demanding nature, then I am limited to three hours total. I'm starting out on an 18-hour-per-week ration at first (3 hours per day).
I establish a list of tasks to be completed within that time span (realistically), set a start and end time, and then I go. When the time is up, I must stop working and go on to do MY stuff. If the task I'm on at the end will only take 15 minutes or less to complete and be done, I can allow it, but I must make up for it by shortening the work time the following day. So if I worked 3 hours and 15 minutes today, I work 2 hours and 45 minutes tomorrow (physical labor).
I can also move hours around if I know I'm going to be doing something that requires more time such as painting a room, or if I want to take a day off from it completely I just add time to another day. Basically, I have 18 total hours per week in which I am "allowed" to do Important Things and I can shift them around as desired as long as I stay within the 18-hour limit. The 18-hour limit will increase to 36 hours once I've been successful for three weeks (21 days to a new habit).
In addition, it's a six-day week. Sundays are verboten. NO WORK ON SUNDAY. On Sunday, I focus purely on FUN. It's not a religious thing, it's a throwback to how I lived in LA when I was going to VIT: five days of focus on music studies. Friday nights out on the town. Saturday, run errands, do laundry, grocery, etc. Saturday night, out on the town. Sunday: go to the 3 for 3 movie theatre and sit through three movies in a row for three bucks (complete downtime). Later on, I replaced this with spending Sunday afternoon at
the Bodhi Tree bookstore or at Venice Beach or something equally fun. I was much more balanced then.
True, it doesn't seem like I'll be devoting a large portion of my day to this enormous task when I
should be working like mad to get it done. It might seem like I'm taking an awful lot of free time, but
that's precisely the point. I
need to do something drastic like this in order to break my unhealthy workaholic tendency and rebuild it to a normal level of Important Things Work balanced against Fun/Me-time. I have to swing the pendulum the opposite way.
By prohibiting myself from going past six hours on easy stuff (sorting papers, yarn, clothes, basic light household chores) or three hours on heavy stuff (loading up all those tubs, OMG, from the living room and taking them to the storage unit, installing toilets, etc), I'm using reverse psychology to motivate me to work. I'm not ALLOWED to work. Hmm. Suddenly, it's more appealing. Plus, there's a time limit. Having that stopping point relieves me of the guilt I feel that it's not all done yet.
How is it going so far? Today was the first day. I'm amazed. I got my entire list done. It would have been three hours, but I made a couple of mistakes. But that's OK, because it made me aware of some of my pitfalls—things I wasn't conscious of doing that have made it take longer for me to do stuff in the past. (It took 4.5 hours and yes, I'm shortening tomorrow's time.)
For example, I had some kitchen cleanup duties in there. All I had to do was take out the recycling and trash, put the dishes in the dishwasher, wash the dirty pots and pans (by hand because they stay nicer that way), wipe off the counters and stove, and put away a couple of pizza pans. Well, I got all that done in about 15 minutes (faster than I anticipated). Then I made a mistake. Instead of stopping when I completed the tasks on my list,
I added/created a new duty that wasn't necessary at the time but "while I was there"... I saw greasy grimy gunk on the range hood that was attracting fuzz, so I decided to clean IT, too, as well as the backsplash. That cost me a full half hour!
While doing a quick-sort of the tubs in the living room to make sure it was all stuff to be stored, I came across an issue of Time from 1978. OK, why? Why did Mom save it? Nothing was marked. I should have just laughed and pitched it, right? Wrong. I sat down and paged through it. It was fascinating. There were cigarette ads, booze ads, and a beautiful full-color four-page ad for the 1979 Pinto. Yep. You guessed it. Not only did I save it for its historic magnificence, but I lost a good 20 minutes of work time poring over that thing.
I got thoroughly distracted by something that I didn't need to be focusing on at the time.
I also got hungry and stopped to eat a cookie. And I forgot to factor in catbox duty.
However... I made SERIOUS progress in the living room, and I am now down about six bins' worth of crap. All because rather than looking at it as "*sigh* yuck, I have to spend all day sorting this crap in the living room it's so overwhelming I can't take it", I set a time limit and by golly—I did it! The best thing is that rather than feeling like I'd failed to "finish" yet again, I felt immensely accomplished. I felt like it was absolutely OK to stop when I did. It's liberating, I'll tell ya, liberating!
I'm almost—dare I say it—
excited about tomorrow's work period. It's like a game: how much can I accomplish in three hours? The reward being that once the three hours is up, I'm free to do ANYTHING I want to.
That's the next challenge. Teaching myself that it's OK to do something for me. I'll probably have to set up a time-limit/time-frame for that as well. Such as, I have three hours for work, then three hours for music, or three hours to spin, or sew, or read, or play games—but it HAS to be something
other than being on the computer (unless it's to compose music), Second Life, watching TV—other than what I usually fall into by default. I have to make a conscious choice to do something completely "non-constructive". (Mother's definition of "constructive" meant that it had a purpose toward the important things; she got mad once when I suggested that since I was sewing, I was constructing a garment, therefore I
was doing something constructive. I love you, Mom. In spite of it all.)
Now I'm going to get off this computer (after I finish catching up on blogs) and hit the hay.
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap, musings, positive thinking
FO, FO, ORG, THUMPERS
Are you sitting down?
Knitting content!
Not only that, but actual living, breathing, FOs!!!
And, please, say a few prayers for my Pentax camera's batteries. They have taken ill and despite being defibrillated several times, they are lying near death in the charger but it's not looking good (hence I did not get to photograph the MOST IMPORTANT THING!!! but I will get batteries when I'm out tomorrow and rectify that right away... note to self, photograph most important things first, just in case).
First up—
Waving Lace Socks (from
Favorite Socks) in Lorna's Laces
Gold Hill colorway. They grew a bit in the soaking. I hope they still fit. I have small feet and nary the courage to try them on just yet. For now, I'm admiring their beauty.
Next, we have
Embossed Leaves (also from
Favorite Socks—I LOVE THIS BOOK!) in Araucania Ranco (yarn details on
Ravelry, apologies to those who aren't yet Ravelers). This yarn... amazing. Gorgeous. Easy to knit with. I don't know what it does when washed yet—hopefully they stay true to size. If not, I have another cake of a brown colorway. I consider them done. The toe needs kitchnered (not the method on the pattern but my preference) and the ends woven, but they are done enough to show here. More pix on my Flicker
Socks page.
This is the one submission I managed to get for the Biggest Bunny Thumpers Contest over at KitKatKnits' blog. This is Tyler's foot. Zander (not pictured) is the Biggest of All Possible Cats around here but the danged battery on my camera keeps throwing a hissy fit and pretending like it's depleted of all energy when it was clearly just reloaded with fresh powerful batteries five minutes earlier. Zander's BT is a good 5.25 inches long.
Tyler, who is the second largest of my herd of five, measured in at a measly 4.5 inches or so. Hard to tell, he moved and he is very grumbly about having his feet touched.
As evident by the look he's giving me in this photo. And that's not even his evil look. You should see the Kill The Vacuum Cleaner Look.
Translation: either "I CAN HAZ UR FACE FOR MAH DINNER?" or "U TOUCHA DA FOOT I EATA UR FACE". Take your pick.
And finally, there has been earnest progress on the organization front. You'll find (if interested) a new set of updated photos on my Flickr account (just click the pix, it'll take you there).
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap, cats, FOs, sockaholism
Update on the Org
I don't yet have any "finished" rooms, but I do have areas that are beginning to show real hope. I can see my dining room table now. I'm clearing spots. I'm generating a large pile of empty boxes. I can walk through the living room again. I can actually get to my yarn closet. Books are back on shelves. Stuff is finding a home.
My method is a bit unorthodox compared to Mr. Walsh's because he would have me sort and trash first, organize/put away later. Instead, I've decided what my "zones" are (as he suggests) then moving all associated stuff into the zones (this is the unorthodox part). Then, as I figure out where everything associated with that area needs to go, I'm sorting. It makes sense to me. If I have X amount of space for this stuff, and Y amount of stuff, I know I either am blessed because I have more space than stuff (which has happened, surprisingly) or I know I need to examine my stuff and analyze if there is anything that really can just go.
I think it's working for me because now I have all of my stuff in one place/one house (storage unit not withstanding, but that's stuff that doesn't get factored in at this point). I can group the bulk of related things together and really see WHAT I have. I think that's better (for me). Rather than trying to decide what to keep or toss in one category when this portion is in one room and that portion is in another, I just categorize, relocate, THEN sort. Plus it's easier for me to deal with one category at a time, rather than trying to sort a ROOM containing many categories.
I kind of need to have it all in front of me in one big pile so I know what I have. That way, I can deal with it all at once. Better for my focus (I really do think I'm ADD). In order to organize all the kitchen utensils, for example, I need to have every utensil visible so I can group according to type then see how many of each I have and isolate the ones I really want and/or would seriously need.
Example: Today I opened a box and found two more can openers (one manual, one electric), bringing the total to five. Five seems to be my magic number. Five cats. Five TVs. Five computer monitors—two are in use. I know there's another "five" in there that I just mentioned in another post, but you get the idea. The point is, I seem to not realize I already have something (on some occasions) or I wind up with extras via inheritance, and I need to see ALL of them at once to choose what to keep.
It's working.
I do a little bit every day. Some days I do more. Some days I do less. But I still do something. There were a couple of days this past week where it occupied the majority of my day. Today, however, I lightened up. It's Sunday! Day of rest, right? I emptied the box of kitchen stuff that had been sitting on the dining table in this photo (white box with "Relay" in blue):
The majority of that stuff on the table is GONE. Relocated to its associated area, thrown out, and put away.
I also cleared off the coffee table in the living room in this next photo. The lamp stayed. The blankets were put in the clear plastic zippered sheet storage thingie (sitting next to them on the table) and moved to the hall closet (they are "car blankets", they go in the car in case I get stranded in a blizzard), the ratty ripped slippers (black and green) were thrown out (derrr), the plastic garment bags were moved, and Dad's shirt was added to the Parental Storage Tubs (it still smells like him).
Small efforts, but efforts nonetheless. I'll take more photos this week to show the progress.
It seems that I look at this as sort of like my "day job" right now. I report to it daily and spend several hours at it. I never thought it would get done, but... it's getting done. The more I do, the easier it gets to continue doing it.
Also coming up this week, I got a surprise in the mail this week (a good one) from a fellow knitblogger that deserves some attention! I couldn't believe it. It's so fun! More on that in an upcoming post (need light for good photos).
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap, breaking news, friends, gratefulness
Let the Organizing Games Begin
*** EDITED: Updated photo link 01.11.08 ***
All right. You remember this, right?
Grab yourself a snack and a bev and head on over to my Flicker photo show. Over 60 photos of the horror that has been my domain for a year and a half. Barf bags and fainting couches to be provided by the viewee.
I'll post updates as the cleanup mission continues. I've been making headway. Bookshelves have been relocated, and books are being replaced. It's a process. It's also horrifying to look at objectively and see just how chaotic it's been. How on earth have I stood this for so long? I feel like I've been wearing blinders.
One thing in my favor: at least I have visible pathways. It's just too much stuff in one place. But it's certainly fixable. (I've seen far worse.)
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap
Momentary Pause
OK, just a quick'un because I'm off to Insanknitty tonight (high winds be darned).
The Organizing ProjectThere will be photos soon. I charged the batteries, fired up the Pentax, and took Honesty Shots of the whole house (except the cat room). I've batch-resized them and will upload to Flickr later. (The internet connection has been spotty today because of the wind.) Then I'll post a couple of teasers and a link to the Album of Shame.
However, they are "old" photos now. More stuff has been moved. Things are falling into place (rather than falling on me as I pass by). There is progress.
Happy.
Visualizations, Etc.In Joe Vitale's book "
The Key: The Missing Secret to Attracting Anything You Want", there is an exercise where you have a conversation with your body, or rather, you sit down and listen to what it has to tell you. Details in the book, but I wanted to jot down my experience. I did a test with that last night. My assumption was that I'd hear first from my knees or ankles or maybe my hands.
Wrong.
First to speak was my breathing area. I noticed how tight it felt. I realized it felt normal for it to feel this way. I let it speak. It told me that it was tight and breathing shallowly like it had been doing for two years because it was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Basically, I realized I've been holding my breath for two years straight. I inquired further. My body said that the other shoe
always drops, something bad always happens, and especially after a string of days where it's nothing but good, it's like it's time.
Interesting.
I realized the source of this was because in 2006, I laid there every night afraid to sleep for fear I wouldn't hear the phone ring. I laid there afraid I'd miss that horrible 6 AM call that was bound to come (and did on several occasions). I started holding my breath out of fearful anticipation.
Well, I set my body straight on this. I reassured it that the worst was over—my parents were gone, there would be no more 6 AM phone calls and besides, the phone hardly rings anymore anyway, so relax. The other shoe doesn't have to drop. There IS no other shoe. Even if there is, we are perfectly capable of handling whatever comes our way. We (meaning me and my body) endured what IMHO is the worst possible experience one can have (loss of a spouse/child/parent) and gee, look how well we are doing on the other side—therefore we must have survived it, right? So relax—breathe deep, and expect GOOD things to happen.
You know, I feel much less tense today, and my breathing is deeper. Sometimes it tenses up, but I just keep reminding it, "good things, relax, good things".
That's all... time to be off.
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap, Law of Attraction, musings
Follow Up
The painting is finished, the blue tape removed and for once, it came off PERFECTLY (no bungled paint). I think there must've been something wrong with the paint at the old house because things chipped and flaked off too easily there. Oh well. Done with that house. Working on this one now. It's awesome. I LOVE IT!
It seems that for some reason my parents chose a very pale blue for the walls. It's noticeable now from the bathroom (which is light pink) looking out the door past the hall wall into the very pale yellowcream room. No wonder it looked like a cave! But now it's warm and cozy.
Danielle suggested I do the Clean Sweep while I have the chance. The only challenge is that I live in NW Ohio and it is January. While it was a balmy 63 today, it's damp, and it will be raining then snowing soon. Today is a fluke (a welcome one). Clean Sweeping will have to wait until spring... or even summer. I am garageless, basement-less, and otherwise space-challenged. So I'm doing the best I can with the puzzle moving.
I do plan to Clean Sweep the attic, two sheds, and the deck room come spring, though. Tools. It'll be nothing but tools.
Well, I must return to furniture moving...
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap
Yay Paint
I did it, I started painting. No pictures, though. The battery on my camera has decided for some reason that it doesn't want to play anymore. Must remedy that. There must be a recharger around here somewhere, right?
Today's mission: do the "cut-in" part. I think that's what it's called—where you paint along the ceiling line, around the baseboards, wall outlets, doors, windows.
I did it. I fired up
Alter Bridge "
Blackbird" on the CD player, moved all the stuff to the middle of the room, vacuumed, taped, and painted the above-mentioned areas. Then it was time to shower and take in a movie with B and dinner out for a change, so I cleaned up and off we went.
We saw
Enchanted. It's really cute. Of course McSteamy is one of the leads (he's awesome). There are a couple of too cute moments but there is a tone of self-deprecation that more than makes up for it. I love how Disney pokes fun at themselves with twisted send-ups of classic Disney moments. A few times the audience laughed uproariously. And Susan Sarandon's evil Queen Nerissa is not to be missed.
So the walls... I know it's just the outlining, but they look better already. I'm using Sherwin-Williams Harmony Interior Latex paint in Eggwhite, left over from the living room of my old house. Heck, I had nearly a full gallon—why waste it? Plus it has barely any odor—it's "
GreenSure", aka environmentally friendly. Safe for baby's rooms. It covers beautifully and cleans up well, too. I love it. The Eggwhite color is a very pale creamy yellow—I picked it because it conjured up the image of a late afternoon sunbeam bouncing off of a creamy white wall. It's warm. Happy.
If I can get the battery working, I'll take a before and after so you can see the difference between the Eggwhite Semi-Gloss and the old bluish-white Flat paint. The blue-white is so depressing!!! Blech! Cold. Like ice in winter. I don't know how that color came to be on nearly every wall in this place when my Mother was an artist who loved color—all my sister and I can determine is that she could no longer see color well when her cataracts got that bad. She once mistook a lovely lilac scarf for brown. Hmm. Maybe it looked tan, the white?
Anyway, it's not going to be Ice White for long. It's already warming up the room because it reflects light. I'm looking forward to painting every room in the house. It needs life.
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap
Sock Yarn Contest
No, not my contest—MeanGirl's. She is having a contest. Visit her blog,
144 Inches of I-Cord, and leave a comment about your favorite holiday tradition. Winners will be chosen by random drawing and the prize is SOCK YARN. (I knew that would get your attention!)
In other more boring news, I spent 12 hours spackling, sanding, then touching up the paint in my old house (2-story, 3 BR, 1.5 BA, large eat-in kitchen, large LR), as well as caulking the tub fixtures and surround, fixing the dimmer switch (again) and having an actual plumber check for leaks then fix the hot water stop valve on the kitchen sink and replace the faucet for me which I could have done but hey he was reasonably priced, one less to do on my enormous list. This involved much bending, twisting, gripping, wax on wax off (Karate Kid reference), and numerous trips up and down two flights of stairs (second floor bathroom, basement fuse box, second floor bathroom).
Today I am SORE AS SH**. Not to mention the paint fume migraine from two of the colors. Let me repeat that.
SORE.
As.
SH**.
Did you get that?
Good. I am off to take a third Tylenol, buy my milk and lottery ticket, and commence an evening on the couch with self-motivating lapwarmers.
Once again. Sore as... aw heck. At least it's DONE. All that remains is putting my toys (tools) away and tidying up the space. Which
photographed pretty well, I might add.
Finally finished.
Go enter Jen's contest. NOW! :-)
Labels: boring household crap, breaking news, injuries
Cosmic Butt Crack
Well, I feel better today. Apparently there was a cosmic misalignment yesterday that involved healing old wounds. (I'm serious.)
Daily Cosmic Calendar: December 03, 2007
Easy does it! The first workday of December is a whirlwind of intensity. Giant Jupiter in Sagittarius makes an abrasive 45-degree link to Chiron in Aquarius (9:34AM PST). If you are feeling wounded and hurt - particularly on emotional and psychological levels - join the club. The object is to heal old pains from the past on a high note. Helping you do that are a Venus-Pluto supportive, 60-degree alignment (2:34PM PST) and this evening's Sun-Chiron 60-degree tie (7:33PM PST). These two sky patterns can certainly assist you in neutralizing the shadow side and fallout from this morning's Jupiter-Chiron clash. The Venus-Pluto rapport also gives romantic bonds a well-deserved boost. Nevertheless, the universe is still operating in a kind of staccato, uncertain manner since Mercury in Sagittarius squares Pallas in Pisces (2:41PM PST) while the Sun in Sagittarius makes an awkward, 150-degree link to Ceres in Taurus (10:28PM PST). The Mercury-Pallas liaison reminds you to be somewhat cautious while involved in business meetings and in vital communications. The Sun-Ceres association suggests improving your diet and becoming more aware of nutritional needs. Try to maintain your productivity in key crafts and hobbies despite the strong array of challenging aspects. You may gain some solace from a Sun-Moon 60-degree rapport tonight (9:25PM PST). The Moon continues its march through airy Libra - rekindling the need to improve the quality of primary partnerships.
Whereas part of today's read:
Daily Cosmic Calendar: December 04, 2007
After yesterday's cosmic slugfest, the universe retreats into a much calmer state of reality... reflect on recent gains and losses without getting down on yourself for past errors and poor judgment. Like yesterday's psychic atmosphere in connection with Chiron, you may find golden opportunities for healing old wounds.
All I know is, please keep the cosmic slugfests at bay, willya Universe?
I find it quite interesting that my mood was indeed influenced by the planetary alignments and I didn't even read the Cosmic Calendar yesterday.
Anyway. All better now. Sun came out. Woke up in better spirits. Spent eight hours at the old house. Pulled up old carpet staples, swept, vacuumed, cleaned windows/walls, took down cat-hair-infested curtains, cleaned out fridge, cleaned stove, mopped kitchen, last-minute tidying... all the bedrooms are ready for their closeups (being photographed tomorrow for the listing). The living room is ready. The kitchen is ready. The basement? Not so much. Ran out of time and energy by 9:30 PM.
The toilets are beyond cleaning. The date stamped on the inside of the tanks reads June 1976. Wow. The original potties. It's nearly quease-inducing to think of the amount of unknown butts that have graced them since the house was built in 1976. I've had the house for eight years. It had at least 10 owners before me. That's a lot of butts. The real estate agent advised me to replace them. The faucet in the upper bath has a broken handle (no ceramic for me, thanks) and drain stopper. The kitchen faucet has developed an untimely leak around the base. I videotaped it to share with the guy at Home Depot.
I went to Home D for the toilets—the old ones are cheap, the new ones are, too. They're the most popular all-in-one kit toilet that a lot of apartments and new homes use. Isn't it wonderful? Their
spend $299 no interest no payments til January 2009 promo ends December 5th. Perfect timing. I bought two toilets, a faucet for the bathroom, a faucet for the sink, a welcome mat, two curtain rods, and 48 sixty-watt light bulbs (a four-pack for 77 cents? Steal!).
The total?
$299.07.
Go me!
Why is that so important? Because I broke my no credit card rule just for this purpose and to get the promo, I had to spend $299. I used my HD card. That way it doesn't come out of my survival money, and I have at least a year before I have to pay it off (which I will as soon as the house sells).
Guess who is installing it all?
Me.
I was all set to put the installation on the card but the guy in plumbing told me "it's easy. You can do this. It'll take you five minutes to pull out the old toilet, and ten minutes to install the new one. They charge $129 PER TOILET to install them." He went on to tell me how to do it: remove the covers at the base, remove the bolts, shut off the water, unhook the hose, pull out the old toilet, put the ring down, put the new one in place, hook up the hose, bolt it down, done. No fancy equipment needed. He reassured me that a girl in another department who'd never done any home remodeling bought the same model and installed it easily, and that if I was comfortable with my compound miter saw and installing Pergo, this would be a breeze.
Hope he's right.
So Wednesday I become a plumber for a day. My friend C, who has been a Godsend since everything erupted last year (could not have gotten moved without her help), is meeting me in the afternoon to help me install them. Should be interesting.
Someday, I'll be finished with the house, it'll be sold. Someday, I'll be released from all of this leftover stuff. Someday, the estate will close, my obligations here will end, and I'll be moved on. Someday.
Labels: boring household crap
No Messages For Me Today
I finally became inspired to drag myself up to Toledo to face the house. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The house is *knock wood* staying secure in my absence; the house next door is still listed For Sale (not good—it was pending last time, guess it fell through). The Ronganization method is what I'm using to pack up the remaining odds and ends: get a box and shove stuff in. Don't think just shove. None of it is vital anyway—it's going straight to the storage unit.
My objective: empty all rooms completely. Leave nothing behind. The original idea was to move it to the garage, but it was packed, so I skipped that step. I have a carload going over to the unit tomorrow. Everything except cleaning supplies and tools needed is out of there. The garage and basement are next. That's Tuesday, I think.
The one precious object I brought home today was the answering machine. You might wonder why it's so valuable to me—well, my Mother's last phone message to me is still on there. It's the last call she made before I moved in. It's the last recording I have of her saying "I love you". I wanted that.
There are other messages on there, some worth keeping. Others... I probably should erase but haven't yet. All the messages I missed the day my Dad was dying—my Mother's panic increasing with every message. Why keep these? I'm not sure. I just can't erase them yet.
But the ones worth keeping? About a dozen from Ron over the years. Yes, I kept them all. One was Christmas 2004. Another right after my horse died. Another on St. Patty's day. All funny. All endearing. The machine made it home safely, and upon being plugged in beside its identical twin, the machine that was my parents that still bears my Dad's greeting, I was relieved to discover the messages are intact.
Which is good, because when I unplugged the third machine on the strip to make room for the Mom/Ron machine's adaptor, the third machine which I actually use daily for incoming calls, it fried itself.
*sigh*
Oh, there goes the oven buzzer. My Beef Strokinoff is done...
Labels: boring household crap
Nightmare on My Street (30-Day Org Challenge)
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH.
This is what happens when you move a 3BR house into another 3BR house while trying to clear out the one 3BR house because it's now an Estate (meaning sorting through and distributing two dead people's stuff but not being allowed to touch it until the lawyer says it's OK) then you have a roommate move in with his own 2BR house.
There is a sofa in there somewhere. And a floor.
True, said roommate has since relocated, but... he left behind some of his stuff because the trailer he rented wasn't big enough. He'll be back for it "later", or, as he said "we can load it on the big moving truck when we move
you down to Nashville" (meaning me, meaning when we both move there and meet in the middle).
But I cannot live like this. It's the front room. The holidays are coming. I cannot open the front door. It is time. Thus, I have risen to
the Organizing Junkie's 30-Day Challenge.
I dare you to join me. What a productive month this is promising to be.
Labels: 30-Day Org, boring household crap, estate nonsense
Minor Update II
KnittingHorrible. I washed and blocked all 16 of my TKGA Master Hand Knitter L1 swatches over the weekend and to my utter horror, learned a tragic lesson in gauge and
why it is so important to wash and block gauge swatches before beginning any projects.My swatches GREW. Enormously.
My four-inch swatch became 5+ inches upon hitting the juice. Dear God. No amount of scoonching and squinching would make them conform to anything close to four inches.
With much resignation, I dug out smaller needles and worked up two swatches of garter and stockinette and washed and blocked. Huh. I used the same yarn—different color—and needles one and two sizes smaller... and got two swatches that are perfectly four inches. Shouldn't one be smaller? (Or was I distracted watching
Sid & Nancy for the 45th time and didn't notice I used the same size the second time?)
I IZ KORNFUZZED.
Oh, well. I guess I'll reknit a couple on the #7's in the off-white yarn and see if the results match. This means, sadly, that I will not make my self-imposed deadline of one year by mailing them on the 31st. Oh, well.
HomefrontCleanliness. Organization. Words that, when used in a sentence along with my name, used to invoke giggles from my friends. I'm pleased to report that the small bathroom has achieved a state of dirt nirvana. It is CLEAN. It was swept AND mopped. OK. So I've managed to sweep and mop an entire 24 square feet of a 1400 sq ft house, to take out five bags of garbage, and to sweep up dustbunnies from the kitchen and utility room. It's a start. One room down. Nine to go.
The Big SecretGetting closer to The Reveal. The timetable shifts now and then, but otherwise it's going as planned. My phone bill may be enormous. Is 7.5 hours a long time to chat?
MusicSuccess! The drum tracks for the test file arrived, my bass part went down easily, I uploaded it to the brand new Wiki the keyboardist set up (we are SO techie it's disgusting), and the guitarist has downloaded it and is working on his aspect. I just picked up a copy of
Cubase Studio 4 recording software, and I'm learning to use that. Why, when I have a 24-track digital recording machine? Uh... because everyone else on this project has it? So file transfer will be easier. Move over, graphics software. The audio software has taken over.
Other Changes
Somebody actually made it to the gym four times in two weeks. Somebody actually might stick with it this time. It helps that the community center is so nice, clean, modern and accessible, and that there is rarely anyone in there during the hours I prefer (I like to workout pretty much alone).
Labels: boring household crap, music, the band, the big secret, TKGA Masters Level One
How Do You Spell Relief?
I spell it "getting the hell out of my old house".
Today, I spent the afternoon boxing up the last remaining vestiges of my belongings at the old house. Then I carted it up from the basement, down from the second floor, and out to the car. My wonderful friend COT (initials) who for some bizarre reason eagerly volunteers to help friends move, met me around the time I was bringing down the upstairs stuff and helped me pack the Mothership.
I cannot believe that we got almost every last box in the car.
There is still about a half a car's worth of boxes and bags, and some stuff in the garage (lawnmower, garden tools barely used LOL) and then the rest is trash.
OMG. So it took me one moving van with mover guys, one UHaul (the smallest with a ramp), several car loads, and at least one more pickup truck bed full of garage stuff to get all my belongings down to the childhood home.
I'm sorry. That is just TOO MUCH STUFF. I mean, when I moved to LA back in 1989, I could fit all my worldly possessions PLUS those of the drummer who moved with me in the back of a 1989 hatchback Mustang. When I moved back to Ohio in late 1990, several boxes were shipped home, and Dad and the cat and I took a loaded Mustang down the southern route (so we could stop in Arizona to visit Dad's relatives) then up through St. Louis to home.
But I feel so relieved. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. By next week, that sucker will be on the market and soon it will be a memory. *SIGH* One down. One to go. I imagine I'll be spending the summer sorting through all the boxes, but at least they'll all be in one place. Then I can have a Pitch Party and minimize a bit. I mean, good grief. From the basement came a bunch of hanging garments with an index card attached:
Size 14. Look over on June 23, 2004.
Um, I think I might have just missed that deadline. And, no, I'm still nowhere near being a 14 again—yet.
Labels: boring household crap
I Broked It
My commitment to Knit From Your Stash 2007, that is.
OK, maybe I really didn't break the commitment, because the yarn in question will never see a knitting needle (only a loom). It just feels that way.
Yesterday, I went to my LYS. I was on a mission. Mission Accomplished. I returned home with 18 balls of yarn. All of them are different. I spent over $200.
Why would I do this, you ask?
Well... the Black Swamp Market Day is coming up at the end of the month, and my weaver's guild is hosting a booth. I'll be manning the booth with some other members for a few hours, and that means I can sell stuff. Stuff of my own. Woven stuff.
At our last guild meeting, one of the members drooled for the third time over the scarf I'd woven during the two-day weaving workshop I took in October. It's just a simple Basketweave pattern, but I guess my color choices helped. The droolee loves the way they form a sort of checkerboard effect he's never seen before (and he's seen plenty of these scarves, it's the pattern used in every one of the beginning weaving workshops). Well, that got me thinking.
If nobody else is putting together yarn combos this way, and it's striking enough to be droolworthy... maybe I should try a few more, eh? All it takes for a scarf is one skein of Brown Sheep Nature Spun, one ball of GGH Amelie (or similar), and one skein if desired of mohair.*
I'm now armed with enough to make about a dozen scarves. I'll be smart about it, though. There are three warp colors. I'll make two or more scarves per warp (production weaving!). For the Roasted Coffee (brown) warp, I have four or five potential weft combinations in mind. So, I'll warp enough for four or five scarves, then weave one, add some sheeting to separate, weave another, add sheeting, etc. Much faster than warping for each individual scarf.
If it's nice tomorrow, I'll do a photo shoot. I'm pooped now, after spending the day finishing my other mission. Since I'm Master of the house now, it seems fitting (as well as a necessary rite of passage) that I occupy what was my parents' bedroom and move out of my childhood bedroom. After two days of emptying the closet, sorting, organizing, washing the clothes (dust—OMG the dust!), packing them in bins, moving the bins to the storage unit, vacuuming, wiping down the woodwork, and mopping the parquet tiles with a good hot dose of Murphy's... THEN singlehandedly moving the box spring and mattress from my old metal frame to the green French Provincial I inherited from Mother (yes, I moved them All. By. My. Self)... it's official. I've "moved". The last bit of my parents' stuff has been packed away (the noticeable important stuff, that is; the stuff that declared them as "here").
My loom now occupies the spot where I slept for the better part of 35 years. It's behind me right now. My old bedroom becomes my fibers workroom.
There is no guest room. I somehow left out the guest room in favor of a fibers room, a bedroom, and a TV/guitar/knitting hideaway in the 3rd bedroom. Tough on ya, "guests". (Nobody visits anyway except the Phamily. Who knows if they'll visit now that Mom & Dad are gone? Besides, they took all the extra sleeping furniture.)
My Dad was right. Jobs like this go better after a beer (or two). All Hail Corona. I'd forgotten how nice it feels to sit outside on the deck on a warmish spring afternoon with a beer in hand. Oh, I saw one tiny yellow crocus that has bloomed. Spring is finally here.
Well, I'm pooped. Y'all can go ahead and Spring Forward all ya want. Me, I'm going to shower and Fall Back into my "new" bed. G'night!
*Note: these are my personal opinions, not paid-for endorsements. Just so ya know.
Labels: boring household crap, loom, stash enhancement
