Working Wednesday, November 25, 2020

~ Jenny

I’ve been worthless for most of November, but I have BIG PLANS to work in December. BIG PLANS. Also, Bob and I have decided to take some time off from HWSWAA for lack of interesting content. (Do not say we could have done that a couple of weeks ago, please. We know.)

What have you been doing the past two weeks? (Sorry about blowing off last week, I was busy doing . . . uh, nothing. Note to self: Improve blog skills.)

40 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, November 25, 2020”

  1. Sent in my latest round of reviews, scrubbed the kitchen floor, found the pieces of Christmas china that I desperately wanted on sale, and got halfway through making potholders. And survived a debate with my eldest teenage son – he is a deep thinker who is currently exploring many questions of profound sociological, political and philosophical bent. I’m trying to keep up.

    1. I’m terrified of when my 8 year-old reaches that age. He already asks a lot of tough questions. Good for you for not just shutting down the debate.

      1. It isn’t easy, that’s for sure. He hits me with this stuff that he’s clearly been thinking about and researching for days usually when I’m dead tired and my brain is scrambled just trying to formulate a coherent thought. But I try to do justice to it, and I’m grateful that he cares and respects us enough to want to test out his thinking on us and engage in these conversations.

  2. I’ve got the Christmas cards to do. Fewer than usual because I usually hand out a lot to school people in person. No holiday cookie extravaganza this year either. I’ve decided to look at this as a jubilee year, where I clear commitments off my calendar and think about what I really want to do.

    I’m making a small batch of orange roll out cookies with cranberry frosting for our little Thanksgiving dinner.

    Youngest son has been bitten by the cleaning bug again, so every night after dinner we pick a cluttered spot and tackle it. Bedrooms are clean. Closets are clean. There’s still plenty of spots to go! No, I don’t know where it comes from. Recessive gene, maybe? 😉 He does help quite a bit, but truthfully the biggest help is just him wanting to do it.

    1. Whatever your son has got, I wish my son would catch it. This house really needs a cleaning fairy.

  3. Three weekends ago I was on a quilt retreat, where I made 3/4 of the necessary blocks for a quilt. I shared that with you all (the orange and white).

    Then I saw a picture on instagram of a quilt called “Mythical Wieners”. Yes, it is dachsunds, shaped into various creatures. I dropped everything, ran to the store and picked up the pattern and the fabric. My thought – two Saturdays ago – was that I’d knock this out in a day. Yep.

    So last week’s blocks included some mer-weenies, very cute.

    This week’s blocks include two dragon-weenies, along with a dach ness monster.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CIBGB68BErx/

    I’m still in love with the quilt, and I know my dachsund loving friend (who is also into medieval things, including calligraphy) is going to just love it too. I’ve got two more dach blocks to make – a unicorn and a griffin – and some filler blocks, so maybe this coming weekend will see this done.

    Meanwhile, there’s Thanksgiving prep – including brining my turkey. I’ve got a pumpkin bar in the stove right now.

  6. Today I must overcome sloth and clean. Cooking for tomorrow is being handled by a local restaurant, so all I need to do is pick up a feast for two. (We had reservations, but my county/state/nation is nuts, so they’re not serving.) But it’s gray and raining, which affects my mood and energy, so I’ve been reading instead. Which sort of sums up my life, with a sprinkling of writing-for-hire to pay the bills and keep my mind alive.

    Thankful for this site and all the creativity!

  7. No commitment, no obligation, no apologies. Inspiration offered freely is accepted gratefully no matter when it comes.

    Over the past week I completed my second submission to an actual publisher. There are big changes afoot with my backlist.

    Also got some traction with a WIP, am up over 55000 words which means I can legit cross NaNoWriMo challenge off again.

    Aside from that, working. The work inbox calls. (the bell tolls)

  8. Hey, your got us pictures of raccoons, that counts as work. And you and Bob could talk about the weather and I would find it interesting, so there.

    I am having a very small thanksgiving, so not getting out the “special” china, not using (hence not polishing) the silver, deleted a few things from the menu, and so looking forward to a relaxed day with good food and a Christmas movie in it. Just had carpets cleaned, so I don’t even have to vacuum!

  9. It’s just my folks and me tomorrow, and I assume some football on the TV. But we’ll bring out the silver and a tablecloth, etc. It’s going to be windy and raining today and tomorrow, we’ll probably pull out a puzzle.

    5. Thanks, everyone! Jane – part of the reason it looked good as a skirt is because that photo was from ten years ago, when my rear end took up less space. Nancy – I couldn’t agree more; daughters are the best! The Carnaby skirt has probably been worn more than any garment I have ever knitted. Someday I will make one for myself.

  11. I’m moving my organization from a bad bookkeeper to a good one. It’s a LOT of work but will make my life so much easier.

    I made a cornucopia out of pizza dough (molded around a turkey vertical roaster) and will now fill it with harvest fruits and nuts for a table centerpiece/snack. Very low skills compared to what most of you do but it’s perfect for the season.
    And my kids will see it during our zoomgiving….

  12. I had a four-day weekend due to gaps between proof-reading jobs, but am now back on Penguin’s Green Ideas series, which I’m enjoying. In between I’ve been ordering more roses and clematis for the garden, working on my gardening research, and waiting to hear whether my application to freelance on gardening books gets anywhere. At least email turns out to be a good choice – I was worried it’d be lost in a crowded inbox, but the publishing director I sent it to has already replied to say she’s passed it on to the gardening person.

    It’s forecast to be sunny tomorrow, and I’m torn. Definitely want a dose of sun, but want to prepare planting places in the garden, which is only getting a couple of hours at head height by the shed at the far end. Oh, and at the front, I suppose, so I can get that ready – although it’ll be a wrench to tear out the dahlia jungle. The sun’s down behind the hills by about 3.30 at the moment, so should have time to squeeze my four hours proof-reading in then.

  13. Y’all stop talking about cleaning! Or wear a face mask – it might be contagious.

    I did some cleaning. I cleared out the recycling, emptied the trash and tossed the dead mouse (he didn’t vault the sticky trap yesterday), and stared at the clean laundry basket. As usual, the clean laundry neither folded itself nor hung itself up. I told it, “Don’t make me get out the folding gadget!” It ignored me.

    Tonight, if I’m not exhausted after work, I’ll get down the folder and deal with the shirts and shorts. I’ll sort the socks (they’re ALL white medipeds), and I’ll roll the slacks. I’ll KONDO (unless I no can do.)

  14. What I hope will be the last election board meeting of the year. We certified our county results on Monday following a contentious, conspiracy-filled meeting. Everyone spoke against certifying. Their main question seemed to be, “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?’ And no pushback from the progressive/liberal/sane contingent.

    I’m bracing for more of the same this evening. But, as long as I don’t have to deal with the minutes, I may be able to put it all behind me until next year.

    Time to change my top and take the dog out so no interuptions.

    Tomorrow is another day.

  15. I’ve dealt with Thanksgiving dessert (pie and ice cream), the bread, the drinks, the veggies, potatoes. The turkey thighs are brining, the vegan roast is thawing, and the kittens are investigating. Everything.

  16. I’m up over 16k words in my mini-NaNo, so I’m pleased. Decided on a lark that I’d see how far I could get in the WIP this month, and it’s progressing! Strictly Don’t-Look-Down writing – I’ll come up for air in December and see what I’ve done. 🙂

    My first knit sweater is progressing – I’m almost finished with the front! Happy with the results thus far. I’ll post pictures when it’s a bit farther along.

  17. Cleaning, this week I tackled the Holy Grail of cooking – the condiment door of the refrigerator. Everyone has their favorites from mustards to mayo to pickles, olives, hot peppers, roasted red peppers, jellies, ketchup vs chili sauce and so on. Really it’s just the two of us.

    2. Nadia Bolz-Weber confessed that when cleaning out her fridge, she realized that many of her condiments were “aspirational.” I might have to include the pomegranate molasses on my shelf in that classification.

    3. They last forever, don’t they? I’ve replaced French’s yellow mustard, but not much else. (My brother was searching for sage for the sweet potatoes — neither of us likes them with sugar, syrup, and marshmallows, so he found a savory recipe — and he was down to the last tablespoon of sage. Goodness knows how old it is! However, it doesn’t seem to have gone off, so I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

  18. I’ve been knitting chemo caps, trying to use up all the little left-over bits from prior chemo caps and occasionally running short, so now I have multiple caps started on multiple circular needles while I decide whether to rip them back and start over with a different color combo or else just say, “oh, heck, it’s about the warmth, not what they look like” and finish them with a random color. Yeah, it’ll probably be the ripping. Or I could buy more yarn, although that kind of defeats the purpose.

    But soon, soon, I’ll be able to celebrate by buying new yarns!

  19. My work, alas, has mostly been for the day job (an artists’ cooperative shop which is gearing up for the busy time of year while wrestling with Covid issues…Not Fun). Including today, when I went in on what is supposed to be my day off to deal with computer issues. Which hopefully have been solved, since the next day we’re open is Black Friday, followed by Small Business Saturday.

    What I have not been doing is writing. See above. Hopefully I’ll get some done tomorrow, since other than a Zoom chat with family in four states and two countries (my cousin and his family are in the Foreign Service and currently stationed in Tel Aviv), and making a relatively simple dinner, I actually have nothing planned. Heaven.

  21. By the time my grandkids leave I am so tired I really don’t wanna do anything. But I have gotten out and walked every day and I booked a TV job which I’m not allowed to talk about. And that will be December 6 through the ninth. My son Chris and I spent today making mostly vegan food. And I made some non-vegan counterparts. I think I’m the only one who’s gonna be eating the turkey but I do love leftovers and there’s always the freezer. I wish you a Joyous Thanksgiving. I have so much to be grateful for including a Disney Christmas jigsaw I may start tonight.

  22. Are “BIG PLANS” the precursor to “CLEAN ALL THE THINGS”? If so, pace yourself.

    I did a lot of marking a grading so no crafty/cooking things except for one batch of coconut curry sauce.

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