44 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, January 5, 2022”

  1. I’ve been ticking things off my list. I got shelves put up in our bedroom today, and after stabbing myself in the hand with a screwdriver, our wardrobe is now a thing of beauty and organisation, and I can actually see the bedroom floor.

  2. “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”

    — Mark Twain

    “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”

    — Mark Twain

    “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

    — Mark Twain

    AND FINALLY,

    “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.”

    — Mark Twain

    Guess who got a link to 500 Mark Twain quotes?

      1. Frogs, also not Twain: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/04/03/eat-frog/

        The ideal life quote might be real, though — the citations on that one are posthumous, not during his life, but at least it’s credited to something he actually wrote. Supposedly Chapter XXXI. In Vienna, Mark Twain’s Notebook (1935, posthumous).

        Also, the book “Hemingway Didn’t Say That” was a fun read for me a few years back. Also, I should probably stop procrastinating now.

  3. I’m finally dealing with my filing, which had been piling up for over a year. I’ve done that lot and am now going through all my files, chucking away anything I don’t need. I’m filling sacks with torn-up paperwork, ready for the compost heap. Once the files are filleted, I’m going to consolidate them into a simpler system, so filing’s a bit easier in the future. They’ll then all fit into one drawer, and the other can be used for my slide transparencies, once I’ve been ruthless with them (they used to take up three drawers, and are currently occupying seven boxes).

    Yesterday I set up mobile banking apps on my iPad for the two banks I use. I’m hopeful this is going to make doing my accounts much easier.

    Had a bonus this morning: came across a £25 RHS voucher, from a friend for my 60th in 2016, which I’d completely forgotten about. Of course, we both though I’d be moving in a few months (I put Mum’s house on the market on my birthday), but instead it was three years before I had a garden again. Miraculously, the voucher’s still valid, although it can’t be used online. So I shall have fun window-shopping.

  4. I’m working on my Goodreads account:
    All (636)
    Read ‎(542)
    Currently Reading ‎(3)
    Want to Read ‎(90)
    threw-at-wall ‎(1)
    There are a couple or four hundred that I’ve read that don’t appear in my Goodreads account because I got them from Baen or Ring of Fire Press or McMillan or that ebook publisher that Burns and Nobble bought out and raped. (Fictionwise, I just recalled.)

    Taking small bites.

  5. Last week I prepped for taxes and realized that some of the numbers in my Quicken file that had been a bit off were suddenly seriously off. (In my favor, but still…) I spent several oddly pleasurable hours finding the source of the errors and updating the file. It’s mostly Quicken’s fault–one of their updates this last year caused all kinds of trouble. The last couple of errors were all mine though. I have a terrible habit of transposing numbers. Anyway, all my totals match now. It’s very satisfying.

    1. Another good reason to stick with handwriting my accounts (which are pretty simple, otherwise I daresay it wouldn’t make sense). I choose account books with thick paper, so they’re enjoyable to write in.

  6. I’m on a family vacation in Key West, so I’m working on trying to relax. But here I am up before the family to get some writing done. I’ve agreed to write & publish 3 books and a short story this year. I’ve never written more than 2 in a year before. I’m terrified.

    Thanks to Gary for the very timely Mark Twain quote… “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.”

    1. My apologies, Kay. It seems the quote was actually uttered by someone else with the same name. Or made up out of whole cloth. I liked it, too, and it seemed so appropriate to Jenny’s blog. I downloaded a picture with it. Use the quote; forget the attribution.

  8. Moved the furniture in my bedroom so that the bed isn’t sitting on the tilt in my floor in a manner that makes me roll to the edge. It took hours and now there are piles and piles of things that I really must go through all on the bedroom floor and hiding the clean laundry basket.

    Such a pain, but it needs to be done. Small bites? I might see the floor next year!

  9. I downloaded Duolingo so I can work on my French, which is required for a volunteer opportunity I signed up for. Stayed up past midnight accidentally – not my best move…

    Have officially made my first hats – they’re for preemie babies! Family friend was in need, so I jumped on board! I’ve got 4 so far. I raided my stash for all my baby/soft yarn. It was an absolute PLEASURE to have what I needed, in variety! I’m checking to see what covid restrictions there are at the hospital, then I’m gonna start slinging away.

    Friend had a baby girl, so I was googling easy crochet flowers. I have some embroidery Floss I will try using next (didnone with yarn).

    What should I put on the blue hats?? Need an easy embellishment haha oh oh – there are easy little elephants out there I could make!

    Happy Wednesday Arghers! As always, this blog is a treasure!

  10. The first small step to reconquering my sewing room – I finished the quilting on a “big boy” quilt for my great nephew. When I asked his mom what to do, I was told that he likes purple and green and the Incredible Hulk and lots of other things (he is only 2 1/2, so is very entitled to like lots of things). So, I made an I Spy quilt, where the center of each block is different. I’ve got dogs, and cats, a zebra, monkeys, a soccer ball and yes, even the Incredible Hulk.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CYWgwKWLQ9i/

    I’m working on finishing up the binding, so this is no longer in my sewing room, and will soon be shipped off to California!

    I also started working on the quilting of the next quilt (there are three others in a pile on my floor). Small bites indeed! I’ve also been working on the crochet shawl that was scheduled to take the time between Christmas and New Year.

    Once we cleaned up the Christmas decor outside, I put up a bird feeder in the front garden. (There are three feeders in the backyard). This way, I can see the birds while I’m working.

    2. My mother made a number of quilts, of which the most popular with little boys especially were the “country playmat map” fabric, with highways for little cars and trucks to run over. Some of the little boys still had them when they were quite big boys!

  11. So many things on the ok-Christmas-is-over-let’s-tackle-all-those-beginning-of-the-year-things list…. But for three days now I’ve neglected the most urgent one.

    The tree is coming down. I always do it Jan 1 or 2, while I still love seeing it, so I won’t get tired of it. It’s almost too late…. This morning, for sure.

  12. On Monday I took all the ornaments off the Christmas tree, put them away, and got all the Christmas decoration boxes organized and returned to their rightful homes. Yesterday I took the tree down and carried it to the storage room but I haven’t managed to get it put away quite yet. That’s 2 bites of the whale.

    On Sunday I made 2 really bad drawings but they are recognizable as my sewing machine and Pumpkin the cat. I don’t have the skills yet to make good drawings but at least I’m drawing. At the end of the last class, the instructor told us that his adult students are often brutally critical about not being experts right off the bat and that we should not say anything to ourselves in the privacy of our own heads that we would not say to a child learning how to draw. I’m taking that to heart. I am, however, an adult and recognize that my first drawings are going to be bad and that’s all part of the process. Paul asked me to keep all of them so I can look back and show myself my progress which I think is a good idea.

    It’s still brutally cold and yesterday 2 of our vehicles wouldn’t start so we spent part of the afternoon working on them. On Monday we thought we might go to the big town for some stock up shopping. The roads were listed as yellow – partially snow covered – on the road report but we only made it about 5 km before we turned around. They were brutally bad not just normal-winter-driving-conditions bad and the log trucks were out in force. I told Paul I was not dying for cheap diet Dr. Pepper.

  13. Back at my job again, being a fuckup again. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

    Other than that, it’s tech week for The Producers, which is going pretty well. Other than people accidentally slamming into each other yesterday (everyone’s ok), someone complaining that a guy wearing a wig is transphobic (in this show?!? I would say not), and me being forced to flash panties to the entire audience and I am not happy about that last development AT ALL.

    But other than that, it’s going well.

  14. Today’s biggest job will be taking my new insurance information to Walgreens when I already gave it to them last month, as soon as I got the new insurance card. I called them as soon as I got the email saying that they couldn’t process the order but they refused to take any information over the phone. As a contrast, I also got emails from my doctor and her assistant saying that they had sent the script and adding personal messages. If they can do it, why can’t the pharmacy?

    1. Very interesting list and book descriptions. I’ve only read 4 of the books. I am amused that a list that points out first uses of sex, Black characters, LGBT, BSDM, disability, sci-fi, and the paranormal judiciously warns readers about the amount of diet talk in Bet Me. (To clarify, the reviewer applauds Crusie’s rounded heroine.)

      1. From a European point if view it’s interesting that the author kind of equals chubby with fat. Like with plus size models – isn’t there plenty of variety between twig thin and xxxl?
        I’m quite happy that we never get an exact size of Min!

    2. I have read exactly two of those influential romances. The other one is The Sheik, which was SO TERRIBLE I literally tore it apart. Recycled the pages and use the cover (I bought an old hardcover copy when I decided I had to know what this thing was) as a coaster.

    3. Fascinating! I’ve read eight of the books (but am hindered because I faded out of Regency romance when Regency heroines began behaving like post-1970’s sexually liberated women; for me a Regency needs to be a comedy of manners).

    4. Congrats Jenny! My other faves SEP & JAK are on there.
      I believe Min was actually described as “zaftig”…

    5. Alisa Kwitney sent it to me. I never thought of myself as a trailblazer for chubby heroines, but I’ll take it.

  16. I’m also returning to PT tonight, which I hope will inspire me to doing my exercises again. I really haven’t been keeping up my end of the deal, but today is a good opportunity to start fresh.

  17. Moved furniture around to re-organize the house and make better use of space. Project Get This House Really Organized and Clean is moving along. Someday we might even get the carpet cleaning done.

  18. The tree is down (I strung it with those copper wired fairy lights this year, which were beautiful, but tough to take off the tree. Nevertheless, she persisted.) The rest of the decorations are staying up a few more days, because I love looking at them.

    It’s not work, but we’re going into Lisbon tomorrow night for one last look at the Christmas lights (Portuguese Man O’ War jellyfish! Check them out here: https://www.travelawaits.com/2717922/things-were-loving-our-first-holiday-season-in-portugal/)

    Still working on my list of 100 – up to 42 now…

  19. I have actually created a pattern for the baby bibs I am making for the baby due before the end of the month. Now, maybe even tomorrow, I can make a muslin and see if it works. Then at last I can let all my ideas out of my head and onto the cloth. It is so frustrating not having a baby to try things on. This is why I have always made afghans for baby presents: they don’t have to fit! But my hands have told me not to commit to anything crocheted.

    Best autocorrect moment of the week: it wanted afghan to be Argh! Context 😁

  20. I haven’t been doing anything except keeping up with my cleaning.

    I think my first project has to be organizing the dog stuff. I’ve got Pixie forever now so I have to go through everything and make it Pixie-specific.

  21. Well, today I paid my auto insurance bill, did another tiny bit of writer business, and sorted the pile of paper detritus that accumulated as ‘2021 scrapbook.’ Figured there was stuff in there that I really didn’t need to scan, and yep, sure enough. Now it’s much tidier and more approachable. Note, I am still not scanning things, instead I’m in here talking to you.

    Over the weekend I did more writer business and some actual writing. Which I am about to go do more of. 🙂

  22. I found out I have a Covid. I got tested on the second and got the results today. I am feeling better but I’ve been taking a lot of naps.

    On the last day of my holiday break, which was technically Monday, I started making a quilted portfolio tote. I finished it tonight. I’m quite pleased with it. You can see it on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/reel/CYXw6ZApZKf/?utm_medium=copy_link

    Other than that I’m recovering.

  23. I’ve just been dealing with Stuff — a last-minute case of Covid meant a program to be created for a Saturday Zoom meeting, which also requires a newsletter (happily finished and emailed, especially considering that assembling material for a January newsletter is challenging since everyone fades out over Christmas / New Year) and an agenda (need to finish that one off, probably this evening, but it’s nearly done; I just need to be sure I have all the parts, save them as pdf’s, and then merge the pdf files and email it out.

    And yesterday was my brother’s Covid booster appointment — mine’s on Friday — and happily he isn’t feeling any after-effects. Today was haircut day (I came home with a small towel still tucked in my collar!) and should have been heavy shopping day, but Target’s parking lot was barricaded off. Must do something tomorrow after the dentist, because we’re nearly out of kibbles.

    Happily, tomorrow night is also a Judy Russell class on using land records to find relatives (for non-genealogists, the best records for family history are the ones that were created for a specific, preferably financial, purpose, near the time of the event or in the lifetime of the subjects).

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